62 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
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remainder with straw, but did not finish more than one- 
half of the part which was left, leaving, therefore, a 
third part uncovered. The whole was plowed in the 
spring in time for planting. It may be satisfactory to 
state that the field was perfectly level, and the soil of 
uniform quality throughout its extent, but thin. 
From the time the corn appeared above the surface 
to its perfecting, a marked difference was manifest 
between the two parts which had been covered and the 
part left uncovered, having examined the corn at the 
beginning of the growth of the corn, and at its comple¬ 
tion. The parts which had been covered with manure 
mid straw, stood well, being unaffected by worms. The 
color was very good and produced a fair crop; nor 
could any difference be perceived between them, as the 
owner informed me, in the quantity or quality of the 
grain when husked, so far as the eye could determine. 
On the part which had been left without manure or 
Straw, the wire-worm was so destructive, as to require 
more than once replanting. The color indicated less 
vigor, and the yield in grain inferior in every respect. 
No experiment could be more decisive or important 
as regards the corn-plant than the one related. It es¬ 
tablished two important facts. The great advantage of 
covering the ground in the fall of the year for corn; 
the other, that no difference could be perceived in the 
crop between the part covered with straw, and the part 
with manure; consequently that straw could be substi¬ 
tuted for manure in its culture. 
It has been an object of no small importance with me 
in farming, to attain to certainty, quantity with good¬ 
ness of crops, with the least expense of labor, and to 
obtain from the farm all the food or manure required 
for the various crops to be grown. That the latter ob¬ 
ject was possible I did not doubt, but in no way could I 
accomplish it so long as manure was required for both 
corn and wheat. Had grazing been combined with til¬ 
lage, there would have been a sufficiency for both these 
crops, but the farm being wholly arable, there was only 
enough for one of them. 
From being engaged in another pursuit which occu¬ 
pied me some years, and other causes diverting my at¬ 
tention from farming, it is only within eighteen months 
that I have been able to make an application of straw. 
My experience therefore is too limited to satisfy those 
who require comparative statistics, but sufficiently so to 
induce me to believe that I shall attain my object. 
The field which was planted with corn last year, 
was a timothy sod, of about three years old. It was 
covered with straw the preceding fall. The grass at 
the time of breaking it up, which was just before plant¬ 
ing, looked better than it had at any preceding spring; 
better than I have known old sods when manured. The 
corn crop equalled my expectations of it. 
The same autumn, I also covered four acres of mixed 
grasses for pasture, leaving about half an acre uncovered 
by the side of it, which had been in potatoes and high¬ 
ly manured. The grass next year upon the covered 
part was the best, and better withstood the various 
spells of dry weather which prevailed last year. 
Lardner Vanuxem. 
Bristol, Pa., Jan. 6, 1846. 
BUCKWHEAT WITHOUT GRIT. 
Did any person, who eats buckwheat cakes, ever 
have the good fortune to get any containing not a parti¬ 
cle of grit? A method not generally known, was late¬ 
ly stated to us by a practical farmer, who says that 
buckwheat raised in this way is entirely free from the 
difficulty. 
The buckwheat is sown at the usual time, but before 
harrowing, a bushel of rye is sown with it to the acre; 
they both come up together, and the buckwheat, being 
much the most rapid in growth, soon obtains the as¬ 
cendancy, the rye only forming a smooth green carpet 
beneath, which completely prevents the dashing of the 
grit of the soil by rain upon the buckwheat when it is 
cut, and otherwise keeps it clean. After the crop of 
buckwheat is removed, the rye obtains sufficient growth 
before winter, and the next season affords a good crop 
of itself. Thus, the buckwheat is protected, and two 
crops obtained from a single seeding. 
PLANTING TREES BY THE ROAD-SIDE. 
Nothing adds more to the beauty and interest of a 
country, than shade or fruit-trees by the sides of the 
roads. Of forest trees, the most proper for this purpose 
are elm, white ash, hickory, black walnut, and rock or 
sugar maple. A favorable time for transplanting, is as 
soon as the frost is out of the ground; it should by all 
means be done before the foliage puts out. Those trees 
which have grown in a dense forest, will not usually 
flourish very well on being transferred to the open air. 
It is better, therefore, to procure for transplanting such 
as have grown as much as possible in an open exposure. 
Decidedly the best are those raised in nurseries from 
seed, or which have been taken from the woods or 
fields soon after they have vegetated. 
It is sometimes objected that trees prevent the roads 
from drying by shading them too much. On roads 
which run east and west, there is some liability of this 
taking place; but on those the course of which is near¬ 
ly north and south, the sun is not as much obstructed. 
If roads were, however, laid out sufficiently wide, say 
four rods, and the trees were not planted at less distan¬ 
ces than two rods, we think little or no injury would be 
experienced from shade. 
When in Vermont last season, we noticed in many 
instances, that the roads were bordered by rows of the 
sugar maple, and that the sap of the trees was used for 
making sugar. Some of them were the handsomest 
trees, and the most productive in sugar of any we have 
seen. Being allowed plenty of room, they throw out 
numerous branches, and the tops generally assume a reg¬ 
ular conical form, while from the abundance of leaves 
the sap is well elaborated, and the saccharine principle 
largely developed. 
The white ash and the black walnut, grown in open 
situations make valuable wood or timber for various pur¬ 
poses. i( Pasture ash,” as it is called, is nearly as val¬ 
uable as white oak for any purpose, and for some pur- 
poses, such as handles for pitch forks, hoes, &c., it is 
the best of all wood. No better mode of raising this 
valuable timber could be devised, than to plant the 
young trees beside the highways. They will grow 
readily in nearly all situations, are ornamental in their 
appearance, and are not liable to be injured by the at¬ 
tacks of insects. All trees when first transplanted* 
should be protected by a strong pen of boards and stakes, 
from the attempts of cattle and other animals, to rub 
against them. 
WORMS IN THE BOWELS OF ANIMALS. 
The origin of some forms of animal life, particularly 
of some parasites, has at various times occasioned much 
discussion. Though it is by some strenuously denied 
that life in any form is ever produced spontaneously, there 
are certainly cases where we can assign no other cause. 
Parasitic animals are found springing into life under 
circumstances which seem to preclude the possibility 
of their having been produced by the ordinary laws of 
generation. Thus we find the fluke in the liver and bil¬ 
iary ducts of sheep, affected with the rot, the hydatid in 
the brain, and, stranger yet, insects of various species in 
the bowels of animals while in the foetal state. 
An article on “bots ” in the Prairie Farmer, by John 
Maddock, records a striking instance of this kind. He 
states that John Lee, of Decatur, Macon co., Ill., “had 
a mare with foal that died before foaling; the foal had no 
hair on it; he cut it open and found bots in it.” We 
presume there must have been some mistake about the 
insects found being « bots” that is the larva of the cbs- 
trus equis, as the economy of that insect is well known* 
but we can hardly doubt that some insect was found, 
and whatever species it might have been, their exist¬ 
ence is none the more easily accounted for. 
