MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
AUQ. 31 
S42 
<farm Jmplenient'). 
J. H. MELICK’S IMPROVED STRAW PRE¬ 
SERVING THRESHER. 
Tin; common threshing machine tears the 
straw all in pieces, which is ail well enough 
where the straw is only to be thrown into 
the yard for manure or used for bedding, 
lint it often happens that the straw is want¬ 
ed for other purposes, and especially rye 
straw, which may bo wanted to put up in 
bales or bundles, or to be used for Idling 
beds, or for any other purpose for which 
straight, straw iH desirable. To 
meet this demand is the object of 
tho invention herewith Illustrated, 
by J. II. Mkuck of the New York 
frlato Agricultural Works, at Al- *, , 
bane, manufactured by tho Wittcr.i.- 
Eii & MELUK < ’<>. 
The chief feature of this thresher 
consists of a cylinder live feet and 
four inches in length, on the periph¬ 
ery of which there are numerous 
plates of malleable iron, having a 
corrugated surface, which iu re¬ 
volving pass near acorrugated con¬ 
cave or bed piece. The nnthreshed 
alraw is fed sidewise rather than 
endwise into tho machine; the 
grain is threshed between the cor¬ 
rugated plates of the cylinder and 
the concave which is below, and the 
straw is delivered as oven and 
straight as the sheaves were before 
beam and very long and raking in their 
handles. This gives the plowman great 
leverage and enables him to guide the plow 
with great precision, striking his furrows as 
straight as a line. They are also capable of 
adjustment as to width of furrow, by an 
extension bar between the mold-board and 
bind side. The depth of furrow i« regu¬ 
lated, as in all plows, ly the hitch of the 
clevis; the medium furrow is seven inches 
deep by nine inches wide. 
The Antes plows are stocked a trifle larger 
in tho bourn, with short, upright handles. 
The share and mold-board are both concave 
throughout, thus lifting the furrow-slice 
and laying if over, instead of partly crowd¬ 
Thc rear of the cow stables form part of 
the enclosure of the great yard, which is the 
principal manure factory. Another side of 
the enclosure is the rear of the long line of 
hog pens, with the rain-drip into the yard 
all around. The hog pens are comprised in a 
long, low building, just wide enough to al¬ 
low of a walk in front of the stalls for the 
passage of the barrow which trundles the 
feed to the troughs, while the rear doors 
open directly into llie great yard. Here 
are thirty to fifty nice Berkshire hogs, whose 
business it is to breed pigs and daily to 
work over the manure of the yard. 
The surface of the yard is made dishing, 
with quite a pool in tins center, which is al¬ 
l^omologiciil. 
POMOLOGICAL GOSSIP. 
Apples for Iowa.— James II. Lemon, Uii- 
,T. II. MKLICK’S IMPIfOV KI > 
r |'H,A W I *1 i FISK It V I N < f 'l l I K’ b’,s 1 T ER. 
they 
advan- 
were threshed. A few of its many 
(ages arc as follows : 
It, has no spikes to break or mash the 
straw, and to get out of order. 
it is provided with separate spring liars, 
which act to open any bunch or mass of 
straw fed into the machine, necessary for 
the thorough threshing mid cleaning of the 
grain from the straw. 
It has a yielding incline over which the 
material passes to the concave, so that any 
substance, such as a stone or stick, may be, 
forced out, between the edge of the yielding 
incline and the concave or rubber, thereby 
tending to prevent damage, to the machine. 
It lias nearly twice the space fur receiving 
the grain that ordinary machines have, 
which adds very much to its working fa- 
cili ty. 
'I'lli:i machine was patented in 1800, and 
ha - heretofore made its way in t he woild 
solely on its own merits, and if success is 
any test of merit, the increasing demand for 
these threshers fully settles that question, 
PLOWING AT BEACON STOCK FARM. 
We made brief mention in the Rubai. 
New-Yokeeb last week, of a trial at Bea¬ 
con stock Farm, of the plows or the Ames 
Plow Works alongside of the imported 
Scotch plows in use by Wiujam < roziek, 
tho fanner of that domain. We did not 
consider the trial as at all conclusive as to 
Ilm actual or comparative merits of the 
American plows, from the fact that the ex¬ 
hibitors Of the latter had no experts of 
their own to manage their implements, and 
none of the plows were tested with a dyna¬ 
mometer. Mr. CnoziKit very courteously 
tendered the use of Ills teams and plowmen 
to the gentlemen whom he had invited to a 
friendly contest, and iu all other ways af¬ 
forded such facilities for a fair trial, ns lay 
in his power, liberally dispensing the hos¬ 
pitalities of the Dki.ameteb and Crozier 
homesteads to all who were in attendance. 
The. objects, which he freely avowed, in get¬ 
ting up the trial, was to show how he could 
do all manner of desired plowing with one 
pattern of adjustable Scotch plow, and to 
induce American manufacturers to go into 
the making of these plows lbr the benefit 
of American farmers, to obviate the ex- 
and inconvenience of importing 
pense 
thorn. 
Tho Scotch plow is very long iu the point 
and moldboard, both of which present a 
convex Conical surfaoo on tho turning side, 
the bottom edge of the mold-board curving 
inwards toward tho laud side, so that the 
bottom of tlm furrow, when opened, is 
(mite narrow, and when tho next furrow- 
slice is laid over there is no open space at 
the foot, making a complete lap-furrow, 
lying close ill all it s parts. When asked if 
liat furrows, as made by most, American 
plows, were not generally preferable to lap- 
furrows, Mr. t’no/.imi replied that tlm office 
of the plow was to turn the furrow, while 
the smoothing of the surface fora seed-bed, 
was the ottloe of the harrow. That is his 
view of the case, with which many good 
farmers will not agree. 
The Scotch plows are stocked short in (he 
ing it over, as with the Scotch plow. On a 
strong blue-grass sod, as we have iu tho 
West, we. should expect to see the green 
stuff better covered by the American than 
the Scotch plow; and also on old land 
where then* is a good deal of stubble or 
foul trash; but as there was very little of 
sod on the lauds which were plowed at Bea¬ 
con Stock Farm, we had no demonstration 
in this particular. A double Michigan plow 
of the Ames Co., did some capital work, 
covering all surface trash completely and 
running so nicely, that the plowman did 
not touch the handles for rods at a time. 
Also a loose ground plow in a stubble field 
did its work as well as could be desired. 
The Scotch plows worked well in all situa¬ 
tions, and In the hands of the experienced 
Scotch plowmen, with their mighty Clydes¬ 
dale teams, the work was as artistic and 
exact as t he most fastidious mechanical eye 
Could desire. The Scotch plowmen are pro¬ 
verbially expert in the furrow, and scrupu¬ 
lously exact, in the mechanism of their 
work, coming as near to the description of 
agricultural artists, as such a homely oper¬ 
ation is capable of being made. 
----- 
A Sheaf Carrier. The Rochester, Minn., 
l’ost speaks of a sheaf carrier attached to 
the Marsh Harvester. It consists of a sim¬ 
ple platform, on which the sheaves are car¬ 
ried until a half dozen are collected, when 
by a movement of a lever by the hand of 
the driver those arc thrown off, and on the 
next round an equal number are thrown off 
beside them. The a pa ratua is the invention 
of n Mr. Clark uf that place, and works so 
satisfactorily that about 100 have been sold 
in that vicinity. It is proper to say that 
I lie Marsh Harvester is so constructed that 
(lie binder or binders stand mi a plat form 
of l he machine and bind t he grass as if is cut. 
MAKING BARN-YARD MANURE. 
We have spoken of the manure factory 
as the grand bank of deposit and discount 
on the farm, especially on a tillage farm. A 
notable example of t his is what wo saw at 
Beacon Stock Farri), under the management 
of William Crozier. Here are forty to 
fifty'cows, kept in the stables during the 
day time, at greeu feed in summer, and 
allowed to go out for fresh air and exercise 
upon the pasture during the night. 
The stables arc long, narrow buildings of 
sufficient width to allow of a walk iu front 
of the stanchions, for tho convenience of 
feeding, and a walk in the rear of the cows 
for the purpose of handling the manure. 
The stable floors are just, long enough to 
allow a COW to stand upon, when she is well 
up tn the stanchions. Immediately* in the 
rear of the stalls is a vat running the whole 
length of the stable, some six inches below' 
the floor of the stalls, and about three feet 
iu width. All the droppings from the cows 
and the refuse feed fall or are raked into 
this vat, which is also supplied with muck 
from without . Here is the beginning of the 
manure works. 
ways filled with a rich mush of well-worked 
cow manure, straw, seaweed, muck, etc., 
and, being water-tight, affords a mud-bath 
for any venturesome hog which is disposed 
to wallow or Hwim in such an unctuous ele¬ 
ment. All the drippings of the stables and 
pens go into this central manure factory, 
where the busy hogs turn it over and tram¬ 
ple It, day by day, until is thoroughly mixed 
and the straw stuff considerably decayed. 
But. iu this condition tho mass is not yet 
at its best as food for plants. Tim genius 
of the Beacon Stock Farm is not a man to 
be satisfied with anything hut the best, so 
the contents of tho yard are carted out to a 
field and laid in a heap which looks like the 
immense earth-works of an entrenched 
army'. Here it ripens into the perfection 
or fort ilizatiou, and iu due time is discount¬ 
ed to the fields made ready for its recep¬ 
tion, which thereafter bear the burthen of 
abundant harvests. 
-- 
ECONOMICAL NOTES. 
Fish Guano—The Long Island Men¬ 
haden Fisheries.—The conversion of a 
fish known as Menhaden into oil and fish 
guano mi Long Island, has become a tre¬ 
mendous business, as the figures wo give 
will show. Years ago the Long island 
farmers used to catch these fish and cover 
one where a hill of corn was wanted with 
great results. Finally they began to de¬ 
posit them in tho furrows made by the plow 
and cover them. Later years companies 
have been organized to ext ract t he oil from 
these fish, and convert the residuum into 
what is known as fish guano, which is held 
in high esteem as u fert ilizer. During the 
two weeks ending August 17. the Long Is¬ 
land waters have literally swarmed with 
these fish. One company ha • taken 1,300,- 
Oftit of them, realizing ' I per thousand for 
them. Another company has taken 3.000,- 
000 of these fish. One company has ren¬ 
dered into oil and guano .1,01)0,000 of these 
fish the present season, without, running it 
its full capacity. The price of these fish 
was formerly sixty cents per 100, but the 
rate is lately fixed at *1 per 1,000; and yet 
fishermen assert they could make money ut 
that price if they could sell all they catch. 
Only about one-third are taken by the fac¬ 
tories. 
Home Fertilizer.—I wish to obtain from 
some of your readers a recipe for making a 
borne fertilizer. 1 have a large quantity of 
cow and horse manure, well sheltered, and 
of good quality*, and I desire to add to it 
such chemical salts as w ill Increase its value 
and lessen the quantity required per acre. 
Will not some one of experience give me a 
formula, suited to the growth of corn and 
cotton, with all the particulars of mixing 
and cost of ingredients.—T. I). B,, A inert- 
CU4t Ga. _ 
Sulky Flow in Texas.- “ Tarheel ” 
requests some Texan correspondent of the 
Rural New-Yorker, who lm - had it, to 
give his experience with I lie sulky plow on 
the prairies of Texas—whether they will 
pay, and if t he soil of the liogwullow prai¬ 
rie will stick to the plow sotw tobe trouble¬ 
some—if so, if there is no way' Of avoiding 
it by using steel hoes. How much land can 
one man cultivate with one of thorn? 
ion City*, Iowa, sends tho Iowa Homestead 
the following list, which is numbered as pre¬ 
ferred. 
Summer.— I, Sweet June, yellow; 2, Wil¬ 
liams’ Favorite; 3, Red June, red; 1, Red 
Astrachau. red. 
Full .—I Duchess of (Mdenberg, largo yel¬ 
low; Fameuse, handsome, red streaked; 
3, Jonathan, red streaked; 4, Wagoner, 
deep red streaked; 5, Pomme Hrise, Canada 
grey ; 0, Wine Sap, red cheek. 
Winter \'uricticn.~ I, American 
Golden Russett or Downing; !i, I^it- 
tle Bed Komanttuo, deep red; 3, 
Newark Pippin, lively green, Coxo 
127, 4, Rawin'* Janet, dull st reaked; 
5, Domino American, Ram bo fami¬ 
ly ; 0, Blue Pearmain, streaked with 
bloom. 
Those are all good growers except 
Pommo (.rise and Pear main. The 
earliest bearers are Duchess, Wil¬ 
liams’ Favorite, (Early Washing¬ 
ton,) Fameuse, the Junes and Wag¬ 
oner. Heaviest bearers are the 
Romanite, (Court House Crab, of 
Pennsylvania,) Holden Itussctt, and 
eventually the little Pomme Hrise 
comes into time, pays for forbear¬ 
ance and patience with heavy crops, 
toothsome and sound. There are 
over twenty-five kinds of Holden Russetts 
sold, but the true kind stands sloughs like 
a willow, and prospers on high grounds. 
If you intend to plant in Iowa, preserve 
this list. 
Richardson Pear.—Tho Prairie Farmer 
1ms received this pear from Jonathan 
Hum; ins, Woodburn, Macoupin Co., Ill., 
mid says of it,:—“It is a variety highly 
prized by him as a market sort, being a vig¬ 
orous, healthy and productive tree, and an 
early and very handsome fruit. Origin, 
New England. If we remember rightly, 
this pear was traced back to an old Con¬ 
necticut tree. Shape, pyriform. Calyx 
rat her large, open, stem long (1.10 inches) 
and tolerably strong. Skin smooth, green, 
covered with numerous darker green dots, 
and from one-third to one-half covered with 
a bright, brownish red, somet hing like that 
of the Louise Bonne de Jersey. Flesh coarse, 
granulated, dry, sweet. Capsule rather 
open; seeds, numerous, small. Jlipens in 
July, this year, about tho 15th. Must be 
picked early and house ripened, we pre¬ 
sume, inasmuch us our specimens late-gath¬ 
ered, are rot ton at the core; third rate in 
quality. This pear is very handsome and 
healthy, and will be profitable until public 
taste improves and asks something else than 
fine color and bigness. ” 
Thu Shockley Apple an a Keeper.— 
The Plantation of August 14 says:—“Our 
distinguished orchardist friend, Dr. B. 
Hamilton, of Dalton, has placed upon our 
table two Shockleys, In remarkably fair 
condition under the circumstances of their 
history. They are of the crop of 1871; kept 
through the Winter, and shipped to Ala¬ 
bama, in an express package, last Spring. 
Tim consignee not being found, they are 
just, now returned no rot some bruises. 
This shows the remarkable keeping quality 
of tin* Shockley; it is a very prolific bearer. 
Wo do not regard it as a nice eating apple. 
Tetofski Apple in W iseousin.—A. G. 
Tuttle, Bamboo, Wis., writes the Western 
Farmer, that this apple proves to bo earlier 
than the Rod Astrachau, as most of the 
crop was past season Aug. S). He thinks the 
tree valuable “ for its extreme hardiness, 
early bearing, early ripening, great beauty 
and fair quality of its fruit, compared with 
other early varieties. It is especially valu¬ 
able in a new country, as it, gives a return 
of fruit as soon after planting as the currant 
and most of the small fruits. » 
llaie'H Early Peach in the South. The 
Rural Alabamian lias letters from Austin, 
Texas, and two from different parties in 
Natchez, Miss., speaking highly of this 
peach, declaring that is lias been, with them, 
entirely free from rot this year. 
A New Illinois Peaeli Is announced as 
having originated with a Mr. Alexander, 
Alt. Pulaski, III. said to be three weeks ear¬ 
lier than Flale’s Early ami of flue quality. 
Minnesota A miles.—There wa a horti¬ 
cultural Fair at Minneapolis, July 3 and 4, 
at which the following apples of last year’s 
growth were exhibited in good condition: 
Ben Davis, Holden Russet, Tuliman Sweet, 
Little Romanite. Limber Twig, Jonathan, 
Rawle’s Janet, and others. 
