109 
1846 . THE CULTIVATOR. 
Mr. Harris Bingham raises potatoes after wheat; ma¬ 
nures lightly with coarse straw dung from the barn¬ 
yard; plows in the spring, plants early, hoes twice; 
uses a compost made of equal parts of plaster, lime, 
house-ashes, and salt; applies a table spoonful of the 
compost on each hill at first hoeing. This compost, he 
says, invigorates and strengthens the stalk, aids it in 
elaborating the sap, which greatly facilitates the exha¬ 
lation of the ammonia caused by fermentation in the 
hill, and prevents rot. 
By Committee . It is believed that this is a valuable 
experiment. We have tried the same the past season 
with perfect success, with the addition of sowing one 
and a half bushels of salt to the acre, broadcast over the 
field when the weather came in hot about the 20th of 
July. Salt is cooling to the soil, and stimulating to the 
plants, and this gives health and soundness to the tuber. 
Moreover, it is believed, so far as this course has been 
practiced, the potatoes keep better in the cellar. 
Mr. Lamb recommends cultivating sugar beets for 
stock. Cattle and sheep are exceedingly fond of them, 
and the saccharine matter they contain is proof of their 
richness. They are raised similarly to carrots, but 
more easily and profitably. 
Mr. Q. C. Rich recommends subsoil plowing for car¬ 
rots. He uses the common plow in the same furrow 
after the surface furrow is made. The committee are of 
the opinion that the subsoil plow is by far a better im¬ 
plement to do this service. The common plow brings 
too much of the subsoil on the surface. Not so with the 
subsoil plow. It only loosens the subsoil so as to let 
down the roots where the land is moist. We have one of 
these plows, manufactured by D. Prouty & Co., Boston, 
Mass., which works admirably. 
John M. Weeks, for Committee. 
CULTURE OF FLAX. 
Mr. Tucker —In a crop of flax every part is valua¬ 
ble, and well directed labor will reap its reward. On 
the 25th of May, 1845, 1 sowed three pecks of seed upon 
an acre of land, which, the year previous was green¬ 
sward, and produced oats, wheat, and potatoes. The 
soil was gravelly loam. It was plowed in the fall, and 
dragged several times in the spring previous to sowing, 
to destroy the weeds. No manure was applied to it. 
From the above ground I obtained fifteen bushels of 
clean seed, which sold for eight shillings per bushel, 
and 250 lbs. dressed flax, sold for $7-§ per hundred lbs. 
Footed up it will read as follows:— 
15 bushels seed,.. $15.00 
250 lbs. dressed flax,............ 18.75 
$33.75 
Paid for dressing,................ $6.25 
Do. for extra labor, ... 2.00 
$8.25 
Then I have left for my own labor and the use of my 
land, $25.50. Upon ordinary land, without manure or 
extra tillage, what grain crop would have yielded me 
more nett profit, with less expenditure of capital. 
Some get more bushels of seed, and many less. The 
greater the quantity of seed, as a general rule, the less 
will be that of flax. 
The facilities for harvesting and dressing flax are 
much greater than in former times. It was once 
thought to require too much labor to make it profitable; 
but the existence of labor-saving machinery has in¬ 
duced many to go into it, because it is profitable, and 
the dread of work is counterbalanced by the large pro¬ 
fits it yields. 
Will flax grow and -seed well year after year on the 
same land? Does it exhaust the soil more than other 
crops? What manure is best calculated to impart to 
the soil that principle which the flax has extracted? 
If some of your correspondents will answer the above 
questions, they will do the public a favor, and greatly 
oblige a farmer. B» 
Leyden, N* Y*. Feb* 2 5th, 1846. 
SCRIPTURE’S CARRIAGE WHEEL.—(Fig- •) 
Description of the Drawing.-—A is a perspec¬ 
tive elevation ot the wheel entire—B. is a detached, or 
one-half part of the nave or hub, in which rests the 
ends of one-half of the spokes—C, is a cross section of 
the entire wheel, showing the position of the spokes 
and the separate parts of the hub— a, a, a, represent the 
pipe-box, passing through the two naves, or cheek 
pieces— c, c, having on the inside a connected flange of 
the same diameter as the naves, and covering the open 
end of the one next the vehicle, while at the other end 
a screw thread is cut to receive the screw flange, or 
front of the hub, represented by b, which, by means of 
a wrench, is screwed firmly upon the pipe box; by 
which means, the two naves being accurately fitted to 
the pipe, are made to approach each other, thereby 
causing the spokes to act as powerful levers, and pro¬ 
ducing the same effect that is sought to be obtained by 
resetting the tire of the ordinary wheel, but with the 
very important difference, that while the one is effected 
by a considerable expense of time and money, and with 
a positive injury to the wheel, the same result is brought 
about in the other by a few minutes application, and 
without incurring any expense or injuring the wheel. 
The advantages claimed for this wheel, are, great 
economy, consisting in the durability of the hub, which, 
it is said, “ will last for a generation;” and the facility 
with which it may be kept in order. Ordinary wheels 
become rim-bound in consequence of inadequate sup¬ 
port in the hub ; while by this method of constructing 
wheels, this difficulty is obviated at once, by applying 
the wrench to the hub and turning it up, more or less, 
as the case requires. 
The inventor and manufacturer is E. S. Scripture, 
Stapleton, Staten Island, N. Y. 
BURNING STRAW FOR MANURE. 
Mr. Editor —I have taken your paper some eight or 
nine years, but I do not recollect having seen anything 
about burning straw as manure for a summer-fallow. I 
have tried the experiment two or three times. The 
course I have pursued is as follows. I plow my ground 
the fore part of the season, harrow it down well, and 
then draw out the old straw that was stacked the year 
before, and which is quite dry. I spread it six or 
eight inches thick, as it lies loose on the ground, and 
it lays a month or six weeks. When I get ready to sow 
my wheat, I set fire so the straw. The effect produced 
is equal to a good coat of well-fermented manure. My 
wheat often turns out at the rate of 35 or 40 bushels per 
acre. I have tried burning the straw on sandy, gravelly, 
and clayey soils with good effect. 
Now, I ask, what produces the effect described? ,s 
it the ashes, and how do they operate? 
E. H. Parshall. 
Farmers A’.le, Seneca Co* N. Y., Feb*, 1846. 
