222 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
July 
sage of the wind up through the centre of the wheel 
pressing upon the inner surface of the buckets. The 
wheel which the patentee has erected, is a temporary 
one, merely to exemplify the principles, fourteen feet 
in diameter, and seven feet high; and produces from 
one to five horse power, according to the strength of 
the wind, and propels a grindstone, a circular saw, and 
he intends to add a pair of mill-stones for grinding 
provender. It operates admirably. 
What constitutes the great value of this novel and 
highly ingenious invention, is the cheapness of its con¬ 
struction, and its consequent adaptation to the almost 
infinite variety of objects for which power is required. 
It can be constructed of any size, to produce from one 
dog power to a hundred horse power ; and from its sim¬ 
plicity and consequent ease of management, is brought 
within the reach of every farmer and mechanic. By 
its aid, the farmer may thresh his grain, saw his wood, 
draw water for his stock, cut his feed, grind his proven¬ 
der, churn his butter, grind his axes and scythes, &c., 
&c. The mechanic, by its aid, can propel his planing 
machines, his turning lathe, his trip hammer, his cir¬ 
cular saw, grind his bark, split his leather, saw his 
shingles, grind his tools, slit out his stuff, saw out his 
felloes, &c., &c., &c. 
In fact, we can see no reason why it is not destined 
to become one of the most valuable inventions of this 
inventive age. And we sincerely hope and trust, that, 
the ingenious inventor and his enterprising partner, Dr. 
Bridgman, will receive that ample remuneration which 
is ever due* though not always awarded to genius and 
enterprise.” 
SEASONABLE HINTS TO ORCHARDISTS. 
There are some points, too often neglected, and of 
very great importance, of which some will need only 
reminding, to put in practice. Nothing is more essen¬ 
tial at this season of the year, for newly transplanted 
trees, and indeed for all fruit trees for several years 
after setting out, than thorough , clean , deep , and wide 
cultivation. A hill of corn will thrive as well planted 
in a thick grassy field or meadow, or in the midst of a 
field of wheat, as a fruit tree. Potatoes, beets, and 
some other low hoed crops, may occupy the ground 
where young fruit trees stand, if they are kept well 
hoed; but if such crops have not been thus planted, 
spare no time in rendering the soil about the trees deep 
and mellow, for several feet on each side—a little cir¬ 
cle only three or four feet in diameter will not do. 
Hundreds of experiments have proved, that trees in a 
field where the whole soil is kept as fine and mellow as 
an ash-heap, will grow from ten to twenty times as fast 
as those which are neglected and become choked with 
grass or weeds. The fruit on large as well as on small 
trees, will also be very much improved by keeping the 
ground mellow. An owner of a fruit orchard which 
had become grown up with grass, said that by the ac¬ 
cidental rooting up of the grass by the pigs, his fruit on 
one tree was so much improved in size and flavor, that 
he should scarcely have known the kind. An old peach 
orchard, a few years since, was mostly occupied with a 
crop of peas; but one row was planted with a hoed 
crop, the consequence of which was, the latter row 
was conspicuously marked out by its darker green and 
more thrifty appearance, at a distance of half a mile. 
Another matter, which may be now attended to with 
propriety and economy, is the budding (inoculation) of 
apple trees. Many owners of orchards resort only to 
grafting, and pay perhaps some itinerant grafter a high 
price for mutilating their trees. Buds may be easily 
inserted, even by a boy ten years old, if the branches in 
which they are set are vigorous and thrifty, so that the 
bark will peel freely; in this case, they will scarcely, 
in a single instance fail; but heading down and thin¬ 
ning out must not be forgotten the next spring. Where 
large trees have been grafted last spring, and the grafts 
have failed, numerous young and fine shoots in most 
eases spring from the upper extremity of the trunk; 
these will be in fine order this summer for budding. A 
bud will scarcely ever live in a slow-growing or stunt¬ 
ed branch or stock; but in a thrifty one, on which the 
bark peels freely for the insertion of the bud, failure 
will hardly ever take place, even if performed by a 
novice. Early in 8th month (August) is usually the 
best time for budding apples. 
Those who have pear trees should keep a look-out 
for fire-blight, and the very day that the first branch 
turns black from its effects, let it be cut off at once two 
or three feet below the affected parts, and so continue 
as long as any part of the tree continues to be affected. 
It is better to cut away three quarters of the tree, than 
to lose the whole by neglect. There are many fail¬ 
ures from a want of promptness and boldness in mak¬ 
ing the necessary excisions. A fruit cultivator who 
has a large orchard of pear trees, has suffered four differ¬ 
ent times within the last twenty years from the attacks 
of the fire-blight, and as often put a stop to its ravages 
by a quick and thorough application of this remedy; 
though some of his fine trees had quite a mutilated ap¬ 
pearance before he had done with them. Burning the 
lopped branches, is considered by many as all-essential, 
and can do no hurt in any case. 
The black knot on the plum tree, is also cured in the 
same way, if the remedy is promptly and incessantly 
applied; but as it does not extend over the tree so 
rapidly as is often the case with fire-blight, little more 
than the part immediately affected need be cut away. 
AGRICULTURAL GEOLOGY. 
Mr. Editor. —In the Geology of the fourth district 
of New-York, the red marl of the Medina sandstone, is 
said to give color, and in some instances, to constitute a 
large proportion of soils covering that rock. The 
country between the Ridge road and Lake Ontario, is 
spoken of. I wish to know what crops are generally 
grown there; or to what crop the soil is most adapted. 
It prevails in many parts of England, and bordering on 
Wales, where it is considered generally good for wheat, 
but producing barley in greater perfection. I remem¬ 
ber a locality in Shropshire of this nature, and it was 
particularly subject to the growth of wild poppy. I 
mention this circumstance because I think the nature of 
soils, in fact, the geology of a country, may be known 
from the plants most natural to them. 
I will trespass one moment more upon your valuable 
time. Professor Emmons in his Geology of the second 
district of New-Y'ork, says—“ It is the opinion of many 
of the best informed agriculturists, that lime is essen¬ 
tial to fertility. If this view is correct, then no reason 
can be offered why the unburnt limestone should not be 
useful, for the state in which it exists in all soils must 
be that of carbonate. The scrapings of roads, in Eng¬ 
land, where limestone was the material used in mend¬ 
ing them, has invariably been applied to land as ma¬ 
nure, generally, I believe, under the impression of the 
unthinking, that the vertue was that of common soil 
impregnated with horse dung. The first time I was 
struck with the use of pulverized limestone as a ma¬ 
nure, was when in Gloucestershire, where I enquired 
of a farmer the effect of the road scrapings; he said 
it was almost equivalent to lime. The limestone was 
somewhat argillaceous, and consequently softer than 
the Trenton limestone. Has the application of road- 
scrapings from a macadamized road, where the mate¬ 
rial was Trenton timestone, come under your notice? 
If so, was the effect similar to that of an application of 
lime? I mean in an increase, in the plumpness of the 
seed and not in the growth of straw. C- T. Albot. 
Stokes, Oneida Co ., 1846. 
Note. —We have called on Prof. Hall, who sur¬ 
veyed the 4th district of this state. He states that the 
a country between the Ridge road and Lake Ontario 55 
is very good for wheat and Indian corn, which are the 
principal crops grown there. We have also conversed 
with Prof. Emmons in relation to the use of limestone 
in the manner mentioned by our correspondent. We 
