44 
THE CULTIVATOR, 
Feb« 
ance of being trodden down, as is often the case where 
men walk upon the ground. The carrots were sowed 
in much the same manner as the onions, with the ex¬ 
ception that eighteen inches space was allowed for the 
rows, instead of fifteen. A small quantity of plaster was 
sowed with the seeds. 
When the carrots and onions were up sufficiently high 
to hoe, I commenced at one end of the rows, and hoed 
in as far as I could conveniently reach. Two pieces of 
board, each near three feet long, and ten inches wide, 
were placed in two of the rows I had commenced hoe¬ 
ing, and which I wished to finish. I then stept on to 
one of the pieces of board, and hoed on as far as I could 
conveniently reach; then stept on to the other board 
in the adjoining row, and hoed an equal distance in that 
row. Then, with my hoe placed against a nail fastened 
near ane end of the board, I moved the board I had just 
left, about two feet in advance; then stepped on to it, 
and moved the other board in like manner. Then hoed 
two feet ahead, moved my boards again, and so pro¬ 
ceeded on to the ends of the rows. This process, al¬ 
though not quite as expeditious as without boards, not 
only left the ground in a very mellow state, but many 
of the fine lumps were broken which by the common 
method of hoeing would not have been. The land pre¬ 
sented, after this process, the appearance of having had 
a roller passed over it, and I think it was better fitted 
to withstand a drouth than it would have been if left in 
a rough state. 
The onions were hoed three times; and at each time 
when the ground was in a sufficiently dry state to pul¬ 
verize. The carrots were hoed in much the same man¬ 
ner as the onions, and in addition the ground was 
loosened up between the rows with a dung fork just be¬ 
fore the tops became so large as to prevent such an ope¬ 
ration. The earth was not heaved up with the fork, 
as is commonly done in preparing beds for sowing, but 
it was barely loosened by running down the fork and 
giving it a pry. Some of your readers will perhaps 
think I am very particular in describing my mode of 
procedure, and to such, if any there are, I would say, 
it was by attending to the small matters as well as the 
large, that, under Providence, I was enabled to realize 
so large a result. 
The implement I have referred to for sowing the 
seeds, I will now endeavor to describe. The bottom 
of an old fashioned coffee pot was knocked out.* The 
pyramidal shaped top was soldered on fast. A hole near 
one third of an inch in diameter was made in the ex¬ 
treme end of the top for the seeds to run through. The 
whole was then inverted, and a handle near two feet 
long was nailed to one side to hold it by when in use. 
The seeds about to be sowed were thoroughly mixed 
with sand that was dry and had been sifted to free it 
from lumps, small sticks, &c. On account of its sim¬ 
plicity and cheapness; on account of the even and sure 
manner in which it distributes the seeds, and on account 
of its being well adapted for sowing short rows as well 
as long ones, it is well calculated for extensive use. 
I will also describe a simple, cheap and useful instru¬ 
ment I used to dig my carrots and parsneps. It was 
made out of a piece of large sized wagon tire about 
fifteen inches in length. One end was sharpened, and 
the other slit down near three and a half inches. The 
part on one side the slit was left straight to be inserted 
in the handle. The part on the other side was turned 
down horizontally, to place the foot upon when the in¬ 
strument was in use. With one of these implements, a 
man will dig, in a given time, one quarter more of pars¬ 
neps or carrots than he could with a common spade. 
Sandlake , Dec., 1845. S. S. G. 
DESCRIPTION OF A MOUNTED STONE-BOAT. 
Take a stick 3 by 4 inches, and 4 feet long, on 
which place a pair of strong wheels, 18 inches in di¬ 
ameter. Take another axle, 4 by six inches, 6 feet 
* By the by, I do not use coffee, as I deem it—unless in sick¬ 
ness—an unnecessary, and to many, hurtful drink. 
long, into which frame a tongue suitable for oxen or 
horses, as the case may be, then borrow the forward 
wheels from your lumber wagon, and place them on 
the long axle, and you have the movements” finished. 
Then take stone-boat plank of the usual form and bolt 
the hind ends fast to the under side of the short axle; 
pin a piece of scantling across the forward ends, into 
the center of which drive a strong iron staple and con¬ 
nect it by the swivel to the under side of the long 
axle. The reason why the forward axletree is longest, 
is, to give room for the wheels in turning. The above 
combines in a great measure the advantages of a cart 
and stone-boat, viz., ease of draft and facility of load¬ 
ing. Highlander. 
Nov. 8,1845. 
EXPERIMENTS WITH NEW KINDS CF WHEAT. 
Editor of the Cultivator-— Perhaps it may not 
be uninteresting to you to hear a few particulars regard¬ 
ing some experiments which I have made in growing 
certain kinds of wheat, that have recently attracted so 
much notice in Europe, and more particularly in Eng¬ 
land. Among the most celebrated growers of wheat is 
Col. Le Couteur. This gentleman has particularly re¬ 
commended three kinds, called by him the Bellevue 
Talavera, the Jersey Dantzic, and the Downy White. 
Col. Le Couteur was kind enough to send to me in a 
letter, a small quantity of each of these sorts of wheat 
before I left England. I obtained also, in London, a 
small quantity of the Victoria Wheat, which Sir Robert 
Ker Porter introduced from Caraccas, in South America, 
and which was favorably spoken of by Humboldt. I 
likewise procured some of the Whittington White 
Wheat, brought originally from Switzerland. All these 
I sowed in September, 1843. The following winter de¬ 
stroyed all the plants of the Jersey Dantzic, and nearly 
all those of the Bellevue Talavera, and the Downy 
White. Those however, of the Victoria and Whitting¬ 
ton wheats survived the frosts of that inclement season. 
At harvest a few ears only of the Bellevue Talavera 
and the Downy White were obtained. The crop of the 
Victoria and Whittington wheats was pretty good, but 
each crop was rather late in coming to maturity, and 
each was therefore affected with the rust, and the grain 
was shrunk. 
The seed of each sort thus obtained was sown in Sep¬ 
tember, 1844. The wheat plants stood the winter very 
well; the Bellevue Talavera not appearing on this oc¬ 
casion to suffer to any perceptible extent. At the har¬ 
vest of the present year, the crop of Victoria wheat 
was very good. The Whittington was not so good. 
The Bellevue Talavera yielded remarkably well; for 
although a very small quantity of seed was scattered 
thinly over a space three yards by four, measuring 
twelve superficial square yards, yet the product amount¬ 
ed to about three quarts, which was at the rate of near¬ 
ly thirty-eight bushels per acre. I may add that no 
manure was applied to the land, but it had been merely 
fallowed after a crop of oats; and on each side of it, 
Mediterranean wheat grew, which might yield a pro¬ 
duct not exceeding twenty bushels per acre. The ber¬ 
ry of the Bellevue Talavera wheat is white and large, 
with a thin skin; its straw is sufficiently strong and not 
too long; and it does not shell out when allowed to re¬ 
main uncut after it is lUlly ripe; but in addition to these 
good qualities, it has the desirable property of ripening 
very early,—more early, indeed, than any other de¬ 
scription of wheat grown in this part of the United 
States. It is consequently less liable to be affected 
with rust. The Bellevue Talavera wheat, therefore, 
is probably destined, when perfectly acclimated, to 
become a valuable acquisition to the farmer of this 
country. Moreover, according to Col. Le Couteur’s 
experience, the Bellevue Talavera wheat will, cceteris 
paribus, yield much more per acre than the best kinds 
of English wheat. Hence it willbe obvious that it is 
of primary importance for farmers to make a judicious 
selection in regard to the sorts of wheat which they 
