6 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[January. 
began to break down as they filled, and were har¬ 
vested early. When dried in the field the oats from 
the section (35 sq. rods) having manure on the sur¬ 
face were decidedly more bulky. Should these re¬ 
sults be corroborated, they are not without impor¬ 
tance. In the meanwhile they indicate the exist¬ 
ence of curious problems in farming that need to 
be investigated carefully and thoroughly. 
Agitation of Air in Wells. 
One great objection to the old style of log 
pump is the non-ventilation of the well. The plat¬ 
form is made as tight and close-fitting as possible 
to prevent dirt, vermin, etc., from getting into the 
water. By the use of a chain pump there is enough 
to agitate the air and water and to prevent stag¬ 
nation in either. By 
means of a cheap, 
simple contrivance, 
shown in the engrav¬ 
ing, all wells may have 
an abundant supply of 
fresh air. In the illus¬ 
tration, h is the wood¬ 
en or metal tube of a 
common lift or force 
pump; a , is the han¬ 
dle to which is at¬ 
tached, three or four 
inches from where it 
is hinged to the pump, 
a small wooden or me¬ 
tal rod, 6. If this rod 
is of wood it need not 
be over three-quarters 
of an inch in diameter, 
and if a metal one 
three-eighths of an 
inch will answer. It 
runs from the handle 
downward to and alongside of the pump-tube, 
6hown at li, passing through two or more loosely 
fitting staples, and extends to within two feet 
of the high water mark. It is provided at the 
lower end with an arm, or more properly speaking, 
a fan, e, which should be of some light material 
such as a thin board or piece of sheet iron or tin, 
eight or nine inches square. It is evident that the 
act of pumping will move this fan up and down 
from three to five inches at each stroke of the 
handle, producing a movement of the air within 
the well. By continuing the rod downward a few 
feet and attaching to the end a block of wood two 
or three inches square, the water will also be suffi¬ 
ciently agitated to prevent stagnation. 
This is a cheap and simple method, and equally 
applicable to deep and shallow wells, and if gen¬ 
erally used we would hear less complaint about 
unpleasant tasting or smelling well water. L. D. S. 
Cleaning- Farm Seeds. 
Extra clean and well-sorted seeds always sell at 
a premium. It should be the aim of all seed 
growers to get their product into the best pos¬ 
sible state of cleanness before sending to mar¬ 
ket. It is quite certain that the United States 
lose vast amounts by the enormous quantities 
of various seeds which are annually sent to 
Europe, and other countries, in a very unsatisfac¬ 
tory state. Every farmer who by care and skill 
produces a superior marketable quality of seeds 
will thus secure an extra profit to himself, and in¬ 
directly to his own country, if the seeds go abroad, 
and at the same time he will help to raise the repu¬ 
tation of American seeds. 
How are we to attain to greater perfection in the 
cleaning and sorting of seeds ? A few suggestions 
are here given, founded on long personal experi¬ 
ence, and we hope they will be acted upon by 
1 many readers of the American Agriculturist. 
In judging of the merits of a fauning-mill, or 
separator, regard must be had for the definite pur¬ 
pose for which the implement is to be used. 
Where larger quantities of such 6eeds as red 
clover or timothy are to be cleaned, the main point 
is an extensive sieve surface and an energetic, 
equalized movement, so governed as to spread the 
seeds evenly over the sieve. The longer the dis¬ 
tance the seeds move over the sieve, the better the 
work. The quick movement helps keep the sieve 
clean, which is very essential. The kind of sieve, 
the material, the size of mesh, or holes, etc., must 
be chosen with strict regard to the size and shape 
of the seeds, and the weeds, or other matters to be 
removed. Not unfreqnently, in spite of all skill, 
cases will occur in which no mechanical device 
can remove some objectionable admixture. In 
such cases we have to resort to the old-fashioned 
Hand-Sieve. 
This simple implement, when skillfully used, does 
effective work; but to use it properly is quite an art. 
One of the main advantages of the hand-sieve 
is, that the eye of the operator can follow the 
movements of the good and bad seeds, and he can 
graduate the motions of the sieve accordingly. The 
proper diameter of the hand-screen, or swinging- 
sieve, is 24 or 25 inches. The sieve is hung in this way: 
Three holes are made near the upper edge of the 
rim at equal distances, for inserting cords, so con¬ 
nected above that two of them are about 151 or 16 
inches long, the third about II inch longer. The 
cords are tied together, and continued together for 
5 or 6 inches, ending in a noose or eye, for inserting 
an S-shaped hook. Another hook is fixed in the 
ceiling, bearing a rope, or cord, with a ring in both 
ends. The length of this cord is such that the 
suspended sieve, when attached to it, hangs a 
little lower than the operator’s elbows. The up¬ 
per ring must move easily on the hook in the ceil¬ 
ing, or beam, and a little lubricating oil may be 
applied. The sieve will hang in slanting position. 
The operator being opposite the longest cord, 
grasps the lower edge of the rim with both hands, 
and by alternately lifting and sinking the hands, 
gives the sieve a characteristic, quick, swinging mo¬ 
tion to the side at which the operator stands ; only 
the lower joints of his arms move,while from elbow 
to shoulder, and the body are kept at rest. This 
gives the contents a circulating motion in a direc¬ 
tion opposite to the swinging of the sieve. The heav¬ 
ier seeds, or particles, are thus worked to the bot¬ 
tom, and thrown out against the circumference, 
while the lighter, or differently-shaped seeds, or 
matters, are forced up and in toward the center, 
where a practised workman can make them gather 
into a narrow space, and remove them with an or¬ 
dinary skimmer. When the seeds are clean they 
are emptied, and the sieve filled anew, and sus¬ 
pended again. In using the hand-sieve, for mod¬ 
erately sized lots, or such seeds as can not be satis¬ 
factorily cleaned by machinery, the quality of the 
work will, of course, much depend upon the 
dexterity of the operator. Any intelligent work¬ 
man can generally, however, do well after a little 
practice, and will then be able to skim about 200 
lbs. of white clover seed, or a double quantity of 
red clover daily. Not only for cleaning, but also 
for sorting, or separating seeds, will the hand- 
sieve, thus suspended, do good service, when the 
quantities are not too large. Red clover may be 
thus separated from alsike, timothy, etc. 
For doing this, the operator takes hold of the rim 
of the sieve at the upper edge, and jerks, shoves, 
and shakes to and fro energetically. On a sieve 
with 18 meshes to the inch, one can in this way, 
handle about 1,000 lbs. of timothy, or a similar 
seed, in ten hours. On a 14-inch sieve, about 2,000 
lbs. of red clover seed may be sorted ; on a 16-inch 
mesh, S00 or 1,000 lbs. The smaller the meshes in 
the sieve, the longer the time required for seeds to 
run through. The preceding facts are the result of a 
long experience gained in a large seed establish¬ 
ment, excelling in extra fine seed goods, and hav¬ 
ing in operation, along with the hand-sieves, a 
great number of the latest and best fanning-mills, 
separators, etc. The intelligent farmer need 
hardly be reminded that, if he sows weed seeds, he 
will reap accordingly, and if he sells poorly-clean¬ 
ed seeds, he will have to let them go at a large 
discount. J. P. B., Copenhagen, Denmark. 
Cotton Seed and Fish Guano. 
BT DR. A. OEMLER, Or GEORGIA. 
Cotton Seed. 
Chemical analysis of cotton seed shows it to be 
the most concentrated and nutritious vegetable 
cattle-food known; and experience has corrobora¬ 
ted the fact. It is considered injurious to swine. 
Cattle eliminate very little from it of the manu- 
rial elements, and their droppings, after the use of 
cotton seed as a food, as shown by Sir. J. B. 
Lawes, form a manure of the best character. Their 
albuminoids are not so ready to undergo fermenta¬ 
tion, and therefore the ammonia is not so quickly 
available, as those of animal substances ; it is there¬ 
fore necessary that they shall have been fermented. 
If the truck-farmer be at the same time a cotton 
planter, or be located where he can conveniently 
procure cotton seed cheaply, he needs no other 
strong supplement to his manure pile. Should he 
desire to increase its efficacy for a special crop, an 
addition of 40 or 50 lbs. of a good potash salt, or 
400 or 500 lbs. of an acid phosphate per ton of the 
compost, would answer the purpose, if the cotton 
seed was about equal in weight to the former. It 
is too rich to feed alone, and should be considera¬ 
bly mixed with poorer food, as straw, shucks, etc.; 
but if the vegetable grower be a stock owner, he 
should feed as much of cotton seed, or cotton seed 
meal, as possible, and save the droppings of the 
cattle. The best preparation of cotton seed is to 
compost with stable manure and prevent a too 
rapid process of fermentation. No country is 
so fortunate as the South for possessing in ics cot¬ 
ton seed, for a long number of years considered a 
mere waste product, the best cattle-food, and one 
of the best fertilizers in the world. If correctly 
appreciated, only the oil, which has no manurial 
value, would be exported. While the stores of gu¬ 
ano are being exhausted, the quantity of cotton 
6eed grows with the increasing cotton crops. 
Fish Scrap—Fish Guano. 
Moss Bunkers, or Menhaden (Alosa menhaden) 
are caught along the Atlantic Coast from Maine to 
Virginia in immense numbers. The fish are boiled, 
and after the extraction of the oil by compression, 
the more or less dried refuse, consisting of the flesh 
and bones, is sold under the above names, as an ex¬ 
ceedingly rich fertilizer. For the sandy coast lands 
I have for years given it the preference over the best 
Peruvian guano or any other commercial fertilizer. 
In a campost, it readily undergoes decomposition, 
changing rapidly into those compounds assimilable 
by plants. Placed alone in the soil, particularly in 
a dry season, it does not become sufficiently de¬ 
composed, to make the phosphoric acid of the 
bones available. This article is so soluble in sup¬ 
plying artificial fertilizer manufacturers and man¬ 
ipulators with the most soluble ingredients of 
most of their compounds, and is by them so well 
appreciated, that notwithstanding the enormous 
quantities produced by the fisheries, it has been 
difficult to procure it of late years. Along the 
coast of Florida large quantities of fish offal may 
be made available. 
Fining tlic Soil for Seeds.—A “Flanker.” 
—A western subscriber, possessing a large garden 
which is quite free from stones, uses an implement 
which he calls “A Planker.” After his soil is har¬ 
rowed, he “ planks ” it, and finds it in splendid 
condition, rarely requiring even the use of a rake. 
It is made of two heavy planks, each eight feet 
long, placed side by side ; two six-inch boards are 
laid on at an angle of 45 deg., starting at the outer 
corners of the planks, and meeting in front at the 
center. These boards are nailed firmly to the 
planks to serve as battens, and hold them together. 
At the point where the boards meet they are firmly 
bolted together, and a hole made for the clevis. 
When the horse is in motion, the front edge 
of planker is elevated a little, so that it glides 
upon the lumps, and aided by the weight of 
the driver, who stands on the back edge, com¬ 
pletely crushes them, and leaves the soil in an ad¬ 
mirably fine condition. On many soils the planker 
