As soon as the corn is up and the rows show them¬ 
selves, go through with a cultivator and scrape the 
earth and weeds away from the corn. For this purpose 
take a common five-toothed cultivator, and take out all 
except the fore tooth, and put in four others (like 
mould-boards or little plows) right and left. This can 
be done at a plow-shop for about three dollars, (and 
this instrument should not be dispensed with when 
much is to be raised.) The hind tooth of this instru¬ 
ment can be run within an inch of the row, so that a 
space will be left only two inches wide when planted 
with Emery’s planter. Put this through twice in a 
row, by following up one side and down the other. 
Next run through the shovel-plow; which if done in 
time, will hill up the corn a little and cover all the lit¬ 
tle weeds in the corn. Lastly, put through the corn- 
plow when the corn is waist high, and turn the furrow 
towards the corn. This is generally sufficient cultiva¬ 
tion, and little or no hoeing need be done, or pulling 
out, except at the ends of rows where too much seed 
has been dropped in turning about. 
Now for cutting, scraping off the seed, and curing 
the brush, &o, I fear that I should occupy too much 
space in your paper to describe the process. But I 
will just say that the corn should be cut (except what 
is wanted for seed,) when the seed is in the milk. The 
seed should then be immediately scraped off, and the 
brush put up under cover, in a dry-house made for the 
purpose, where it will curs in about a week, when it 
can be packed away and more green brush put up in 
its place. In which case the brush will all be green 
and bright, and worth a third more than bleached, 
stained and frost-bitten brush. Much more might be 
said, but I fear I am too tedious already. M. Daven¬ 
port, Iowa. [Another paper from our correspondent, 
with any further details on this subject, we are sure 
would be read with great interest. Eos.] 
A CSieap 'Western Fence. 
I wish to speak about a Kansas Fence, so that all 
poor men as well as the rich, may have a good fence 
if they have a little timber on their land and labor in 
themselves. The fence looks something like the fol¬ 
lowing 
Fig. 
Fig. 1. 
The strong timber of any kind, is morticed one hole on 
the top, and stands thus (fig 
2.) on the ground. Then the 
next piece is made to fit, and 
when put up looks thus, (it 
may be crooked,) (fig. 3.) 
Fig. 2. Then anything long enough, 
rails, poles, boards &c., may be nailed on, one nail 
each end, looking thus when nailed, (fig. 1.) Then 
the pieces morticed, put through, save a nailing, 
so that but two rails are nailed on, the rider rests on 
the crotch formed by the 
mortice, (fig. 4.) The whole 
leans outward or inward 
as the owner desires ; and ~ . 
all on not in the ground. When put down, sufficient 
can be done by striking down the ends to give it hold. 
o n 
r 
Ji.. & 
— tA\ 
— - — 
The fence can be stayed to prevent blowing down 
(fig. 5.) thus, in the fence, say 
every five or six rods. 
Now the advantages of this 
fence are—every kind of piece 
can be used, long for rails, 
shorter for mortice posts, still A , Jg< 
shorter for stays; it can be moved at any time, is very 
substantial, and all a farmer needs to buy is nails. He 
can make it as high as desired; and a fence against 
hogs with another rail if needed. I have calculated 
the expense, and I think this is a stronger, quite as 
cheap, and much more durable than the Winegar 
fence, or any other I ever saw. It is heavy, very strong 
and must be lasting. This might be put up with the 
annealed wire instead of nails, where the wire is 
cheapest. The ends need chopping thin enough for 
spikes, if heavy timber is used, and all kinds can be. 
1 still think Kansas, with her salubrious air, rolling 
prairies and oak studded bluffs, is the finest country I 
ever saw. John Doy, M. I). Kansas Territory. 
- a - 
On the Composition and Value of Barley. 
Recent scientific analyses of this grain demonstrate 
that it possesses high value as a feeding substance,—a 
fact which has been discovered by some of our more 
discriminating farmers, from observations made during 
practical trials of it. Our “ constant readers ” will 
probably recollect the testimony to the value of barley 
which one of our most observing, judicious and valued 
correspondents, Mr. John Johnston, has given to the 
public, on several occasions, through our columns. In 
our issue of Dec. 3, 1857, after remarking that almost 
all Western New-York was proposing to sow barley the 
next spring, and that it seemed probable that it would 
pay them better than wheat, Mr. Johnston makes the 
following statement:—“ Barley will and does make ex¬ 
cellent beef, mutton and pork, but in beer it is worse 
than wasted. There is no difficulty in making a two- 
year old steer weigh from 1,100 to 1,200 lbs. live weight, 
by feeding thirteen to fifteen bushels of barley meal 
from a calf a week old until he is two years old, with 
good pasture in summer, and clover hay the first win¬ 
ter, and cornstalks or hay the next winter, with about 
ten bushels of the meal, which is much better than 
making beer. Farther, nothing is better than barley 
to fat sheep.” 
We indulge the hope that this testimony will have 
some influence upon those farmers who have raised 
crops of barley the present season, and that they will 
govern themselves accordingly in disposing of this 
grain, preferring to feed it to their stock and convert 
it into meat, manure, &c., rather than sell it to those 
who will manufacture from it “a drink to stupify a 
portion of the community.” 
Before chemists had investigated the composition of 
barley, or found it rich in nutritive matter, plain, prac¬ 
tical people had discovered that it was an excellent 
food for man as well as for beast. Wheat having here¬ 
tofore been so very abundant and cheap in this coun¬ 
try, barley, as well as some other grains in common 
use in some other countries, has been undervalued and 
neglected as an article of human food. A glance at 
some of the statistical returns and tables relating to 
the breadstuff's consumed in Great Britain and Ireland, 
will show that barley is largely used in these countries 
