Having seen and known this machine from 
the start, we can bear testimony to Us good 
qualities, and consider it worthy of thenamo 
it bears. 
ging a cellar or even in building a fence at 
right angles to another. We hope every 
boy who reads the Rural New-Yorker 
will take a good long string or garden line, 
some stakes and pins and a ten-foot pole and 
l Arrlutcdure 
THE EXCELSIOR EEAPEB AND MOWER 
Holler with Fluster uml Genus Seetl Sotvev* 
J, Dunham writes the Rural New- 
Yorker (in answer to correspondents) that 
the above-named implement is manufactured 
at Etna, N. Y.—that lie purchased one two 
years ago, and it works first rate. It might 
pay the manufacturers to advertise in tho 
Rural. 
MARTIN BOSES, 
Seldom in the history of American inven¬ 
tion of agricultural implements has there 
come under our observation an event of so 
much significance and such perfection of 
original arrangement, as the production of 
“The Excelsior," which was brought out in 
1861, just when there was a necessity for the 
utmost economy and ctllciency of agricul¬ 
tural labor. Tho two pioneer rival Imple¬ 
ments of IIussky and McCormick had been 
in the field for many years, and were sup¬ 
posed to embody nearly every available prin¬ 
ciple applicable to harvesting machines; 
but these and others, following the same 
general principles, did not satisfy such a 
man as John F. Sf.irerling, a young 
farmer of the county of Summit, in the State 
of Ohio; and to obviate the great physical 
labor imposed by the old harvesters, after 
several years of study and experiment, 
(which demonstrated his ability as a me¬ 
chanical genius also,) brought, out the 
machine now so widely known as “The 
Excelsior Self-Raking or Dropping Reaper 
and Mower.” 
Tho Excelsior was a success from the 
start, both as a Mower and as a Reaper, but 
to make it still more a necessity in the har¬ 
vest field, Mr. Seiberuino invented and at¬ 
tached the Dropper, which is one of the 
most important features of modern applica¬ 
tion to reaping machines. The accompany¬ 
ing engraving represents the Excelsior w ith 
tho Dropper attached, which consists of a 
scries of light slats fastened to a head piece, 
like one-half of a revolving hay rake. This 
head piece is hinged to the cuttev-har; the 
reel sweeps the standing grain to the knives, 
and the gavel falls upon the Dropper, when 
the driver, by the pressure of his foot at 
Your correspondent, W. T?., in Rural 
New-Yorker of March 4lh, asks “ how to 
construct martin houses, and how to attract 
the birds.” We are surprised to learn that 
any one who has ever lived in a country 
w here martins spend the summer, should 
not have observed the simplicity of the 
“marlin boxes,” and the ease and rapidity 
with which these little black chatterers will 
accommodate themselves to any old box, 
keg, hole, or other safe retreat prepared for 
thorn. However, perhaps,your inquirer lias 
never been a close observer of birds and ani¬ 
mals, and we will say to him that all the in¬ 
ducement or “attraction” necessary to cause 
the martins to lake possession, is for him to 
prepare the house, or box, and in a few days 
after the martins come—which is about the 
first of May—they will take entire possession. 
The box house does well if made of any 
small box about fifteen 'nichessquare (which 
can be had of any grocer,) with a division 
pul in it so that two families can inhabit it. 
A. square bole should be sawed out at the 
bottom edge, opposite each division,and the 
bottom nailed on. Place the box on a pole, 
(from twelve to fifteen feet high,) or on the 
gable end of a roof; or even in a tree, and 
your house is finished. It. can he painted or 
not, or even made in fancy designs, which 
uraltsi 
DAILY RURAL LIPE. 
PIELD NOTES, 
practice tins until they can square tho foun¬ 
dation of a hen-liouse, pig-pen or barn. 
A Crop of Wisconsin Wheat. 
I give you herewith (by way of contrast 
with the statement of J. S. W., in Rural 
New-Yorker, Jail. 14,) a detailed statement 
of outgo and income of ten acres of wheat 
raised by my father in 1866 •, 
tun acres, dr. 
To plowing:, harrowing- and sowing six 
days, at ft. $24 00 
Harvesting 11 men and one team ono day, 
at. $3.50.'.... 17 50 
Stacking 4 men ami two teams one day, 
a i $3.50. l‘> 00 
Til resiling cost. 47 50 
Marketiny. 18 00 
15 bushels of soed, at $1.50. ... 22 50 
NOTES P0R BUILDERS, 
Open Slat Floors for Siablcs. 
By making open, slat, Hours, cattle keep as 
clean in winter in the stable as they do in 
pasture in summer. When I was a hoy, it 
was my chore to milk in the winter. My 
father kept his cows on a level, tight floor. 
In cold mornings their backs somewhat re¬ 
sembled a rainbow ; and with their sides all 
dripping with filth, milking was no desira¬ 
ble job. Then imagine a little, timid, white- 
headed hoy facing a great, surly father, with 
a pail of milk tinctured with something re¬ 
sembling lye, and having a keen knowledge 
that he is to partake of it for breakfast' 
With such experience, the biggest fools 
ought to learn something. My father al¬ 
ways claimed that a good old way was good 
enough for him; lie never did like book¬ 
farming.— Richard Jew E r r, Tioga Co., N. Y. 
TEN ACRES, CR. 
By 150 bushels of wheat, sold at $1.50 per 
bushel . $675 00 
Not gain.... .. ■ • • $500 50 
Board is included in Hie above rates Of la¬ 
bor. 1 should advise J S. W. of Suspension 
Bridge, N. Y., to stop farming, or come to 
Wisconsin. — Nonius Wilkinson, Clifton 
Wisconsin. 
Yellow Dent Corn. 
Wxt. Navin, an enterprising Indianinn, 
kindly states, “ for the benefit of the readers 
of the Rural New-Yorker,” that on sandy 
soil, previously cropped with oats, and ma¬ 
nured at the rate of. thirty-eight loads per 
acre, plowed five inches deep, he grew an 
average of ono hundred and thirty-six bush¬ 
els of sound cars per acre; that it ripened 
earlier Ilian other corn, and he with great 
care selected the earliest ripened, soundest 
and best formed care for seed, and from 
stalks bearing t wo ears, if sound and large, 
lie has t wo huudttjy^’oishels of t his corn for 
seed, which is vapidly selling at fifty cents 
per pound, and $2 for five pounds. Big 
thing, Navin! Advertising rates cau al¬ 
ways be found in the Rural, and cash 
should accompany the advertisement. 
Grocnlioilso AvchI tret ure. 
Can you refer me. to a good book giving, 
information and plans for ornamental green 
houses, or if you think the matter of suf¬ 
ficient interest to your readers generally, 
will you take up the subject in your columns V 
—A Subscriber. 
“Woodward’s Graperies,” or “Leu- 
char’s Hot-Houses and How to Build 
them,” are works that will give you the de¬ 
sired information. See our hook list for 
price, etc. 
TURNIP CULTURE. 
are quite attractive to the eye. This accom¬ 
panying rough sketch will convey my idea. 
A hop, or other rapid-growing climber, if 
planted at the bottom ot ilie pole, will climb 
up it, and cause it to look quite ornamental 
and picturesque. Wo have one two stories 
high, made like a diminutive Gothic cot¬ 
tage, which is quite pretty. The house 
should he made before the martins come, as 
they are generally in a hurry to locate and 
go to “ housekeeping.” By all means, give 
them some kind of a home. W oodman. 
Flatter lor Corn. 
Tiie past season I used plaster alone on 
one piece of corn, skipping two rows, which 
I harvested separate, and also two rows each 
side of the nnplastered. This was a triangu¬ 
lar shaped field of one acre and one-fmmli. 
The corn on the two not plastered weighed 
183 pounds; shortest rows, plastered, 334 
pounds, longest rows, plastered, 374 pounds; 
or about 100 pounds of corn by using plaster 
to 73 pounds where not used. There was 
150 bushels of corn on this piece. Allowing 
At a recent meeting of the Ancnstev 
Farmers’ Club a discussion of this subject 
took place, in which Mr. George Taylor 
advocated thick sowing upon the heavier 
soils, stating that the multiplicity of plants 
coming through the soil at once had the 
Gleet. of*brcaking and pulverizing any hard¬ 
ness which might exist in tho land. 
In reference to freely knocking about the 
young plant at thinning time, Mr. John 
Weir would not advocate such practice, 
hut would be careful, when turnips were 
sowed in drills, to remove the earth from 
around the young plant, Mr. W. stated, in 
answer to a question by Air. Craddock, 
that he had sown alternate rows of turnips 
with superphosphate, and had found the 
effect in the rapidity of growth of plants 
thus treated to be very marked. He would 
also use manure, plowed under in the fall, 
as well as superphosphate, but would see 
that die manure was not too long. He had 
plowed manure in the drills in spring, but 
diil not approve of the custom. In some 
special seasons this plan might be beneficial, 
but as a rule lie found there was danger of 
hnviug to leave the drills open to the sun so 
long as to dry out the manure, and it also 
gave much extra trouble. 
Mr. Bain was always particular not to 
use long manure, because it was not so solu¬ 
ble to the crop, and Mr. Craddock found 
that the presence of strawy manures was 
apt to cause the cultivator to pull up the 
plants. 
All the speakers laid down as a rule that 
the great secret of success in turnip culture 
was thorough pulverization and preparation 
of the land. They also agreed that the best 
time to drill up was as soon after rain as the 
horses could be put upon the laud. 
In answer to Mr. Craddock, Mr. Weir 
said he bad tried turnips on old sod, and 
found that, owing to the presence of a great 
mass of grass roots, the crop was very hard 
properly to take care of. He would advo¬ 
cate leaving the plants fifteen inches apart, 
and drills thirty inches apart, thus securing 
plenty of room to use the horse-hoe, and in¬ 
suring a crop of large turnips, which were 
W'-‘ 
' ' —~i i ■' ~ ' ... . 
! 'XV-'i-- 
^ j. 
TIIE EXCELSIOR REAPER AND MOWER. 
4 of ears, it would make bundle, and it falls nicely upon the platform 
•c difference in favor of to form a part of the next bundle. 
3 bushel to the acre—R. ^ ^m seen the engraving, the Ex- 
' 1 ' ' celsior is an iron frame machine, with a for¬ 
ward cut; is neat, strong and portable; well 
balanced and easily managed by the driver 
alone, in all situations. 
The manufacture of the Excelsior was 
commenced on a small scale, in an obscure 
town, in 1861, but so large was the immedi¬ 
ate demand that a wealthy stock company 
was formed, which put up extensive and 
vKI&y.V! 
Horne illaunre lor Corn. 
A CORRESPONDENT of the RURAL NEW- 
Yorker at Latonia Springs, Ky., writes: 
“ I have a large quantity of horse manure, 
which I propose to put on my corn ground. 
I wish to apply it to each hill. Which is 
best, to put it immediately on top of the 
grain, or wait, until covered, and then put on 
the hill ?" Neither is best. If you are 
going to apply to the hill, plow a deep fur¬ 
row where the rows are to be, and put the 
manure in the furrow where you want the 
hill, cover it with two or three inches of soil, 
drop the com on top of this and cover it. 
quite extinct in this vicinity—an event de¬ 
voutly wished for, and, it is to be hoped, 
consummated. 
