178 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[May, 
light or heavy work, as desired. The frame on 
which to mount it may be of timber, as in the 
cut, or it may be a stone or brick building if 
desired for a substantial machine for heavier 
work. The power is constructed in the shape 
of arms—shorter or longer, according to the 
power needed—fixed to a center-wheel or hub, 
which is mounted and keyed on to an axle. 
Sails are carried on these arms, of sail-cloth or 
heavy sheeting, of a triangular shape, as shown 
in the engraving, which arc fastened closely to 
one arm and by a cord at the corner (shown at 
a) a foot or less in length to another. This gives 
sufficient inclination backward to the sail to 
gain the motion required with a front wind. 
On the axle is a crank-wheel (b), which moves 
the rod to be connected with the pump, or it 
may be connected by means of pulleys and 
bands to get an upright rotary motion needed 
for grinding, or a pair of miter-wheels will give 
a horizontal rotary movement. A frame (c), is 
carried on a circular table, on which it may be 
revolved so as to enable the sails to be presented 
fairly to the breeze: a box (d) at the rear end 
of the frame is weighted with stone, to balance 
the weight of the arms and sails. A pin passed 
through holes in the circular table retains the 
frame in the position needed, and keeps the 
sails faced to the wind. 
The construction of this mill is so simple, and 
it is so easily managed, that all those of our 
correspondents who of late have anxiously in¬ 
quired for a cheap power for churning, pump¬ 
ing water, and irrigating land will do w'ell to 
study it out. A mill with arms six feet long 
may be made to do work equal to one fourth of 
a horse-power, if all the working parts are well 
fitted and kept well lubricated, as all machinery 
should be. When out of use, the sails are un¬ 
tied and removed, or they may be furled and 
clewed to the arms until again required. 
Implements for Cultivating Corn. 
The corn crop is one which requires more nard 
labor than any other grain crop on the farm. 
Generally it is planted, covered, cut up, husked, 
and shelled by hand, rendering necessary at 
least ten days’ labor for every acre before every¬ 
thing is completed. A great saving may be 
made by using machines as far. as possible. 
There arc many planters in use, more or less 
costly, but a very cheap and useful one may be 
made for a few dollars by any wheelwright, 
which will plant two or three rows at a time, 
and thus make it possible to get in twelve or 
twenty acres of corn in a day. It consists (see 
fig. 1) of a frame mounted on a wheel similar to 
a wheelbarrow frame, with handles to push or 
guide it. A box to contain the seed is mounted 
on the frame, which tapers toward the bottom, 
and thus obliges the seed to fall upon the revolv¬ 
ing cup which distributes it. This is a cylin¬ 
drical block of wood which fits closely to the 
bottom. An axle passes through it which is 
connected with a pulley outside of the box. 
This pulley is turned by means of a band or 
cord fitting into another pulley fixed to the 
driving-wheel, and every revolution of the wheel 
causes one revolution of the pulley and like¬ 
wise of the cylinder inside the feed-box. A cup 
or receptacle made by boring a hole with an 
auger or bit, large enough to hold three or four 
grains of corn, is made in the cylinder,which in 
passing around is filled with seed. The seed is 
carried on until it passes out through the open 
bottom of the box in which the cylinder is made 
to fit closely, and is dropped into a tube wdiicli 
conducts it into the furrow made by the small 
plow in front; a semicircular scraper carried be¬ 
hind covers the seed. It is obvious that by adding 
to the width of the machine it may be made to 
drop two or three rows at the same time. 
When corn is dropped by hand after the field 
has been furrowed out in squares, it may be 
covered, two rows at a time, by a simple contri¬ 
vance shown at fig. 2. It is simply a triangular 
implement, made of narrow boards six inches 
wide and six feet long, nailed together by their 
edges in the form of troughs, and fitted into a y- 
shape,with a spread of five feet between the ends. 
A cross-piece is nailed on to hold it together, 
and a hook placed at the 
point, by which it is drawn 
along the furrows and the 
loose earth drawn over 
the seed. If it should not 
be found heavy enough, 
stones or some earth is 
thrown into it until the 
weight is right. It covers 
two rows at a time and 
may be drawn by one 
horse. For cultivating 
corn we have used a har¬ 
row shaped like that 
shown in fig. 3. It is made 
wide enough to work two 
rows at a time, passing 
over the young corn in 
the intermediate row by 
reason of the vacant space left in the front where 
the teeth are not put in. A pair of handles en¬ 
ables it to be guided and managed with facility. 
Two horses are required to draw this harrow, 
and if the ground is moderately clean no other 
tool is required. Hilling up corn with the plow 
is unnecessary, and flat cultivation with the har¬ 
row or horse-hoe is considered to be preferable. 
How to Use Sawdust. —Some years ago we 
had the control of a large supply of sawdust, 
which we used as bedding for horses and cattle. 
We used it through two years, and had a good 
opportunity of testing its value in the stable and 
in the manure pile as well as on the soil. The 
main bulk of the sawdust was from pine. When 
spread on the stable a few inches in depth, it 
absorbed completely all the liquid from the ani¬ 
mals, and their coats were consequently kept 
perfectly clean, and very little labor was needed 
to keep oxen and cows free from dirt, even dur¬ 
ing the winter. When thrown out into the 
heap, this litter fermented and rotted very 
readily, without fire-fanging, and soon became 
a homogeneous mass, not to be distinguished 
from clear fermented horse-manure. It was 
used with the very best effect as a dressing on 
meadows, and as an application for potatoes and 
oats. It was readily harrowed into the plowed 
soil, and the harrow spread it very evenly over 
the grass-land. Our experience w'as so favor¬ 
able, that we should be glad to use it again. 
-—.- m €>c—-►-«.- 
Ridge and Furrow Plowing. 
It is a common practice amongst English 
farmers to plow those fields which they intend to 
put into spring crops, in the early winter, on 
what they call the ridge and furrow plan. By 
this method the subsoil is exposed to the re¬ 
peated frosts and thaws of the winter, and is 
mellowed and sweetened. Besides this the frost 
is enabled to penetrate several inches deeper than 
otherwise, lifting the compact subsoil and ex¬ 
panding it so that when it thaws in the spring 
it is loosened and rendered of an open texture. 
The mode of working is as follows: The plow¬ 
man commences at one side of the field, and 
plows a furrow towards the outside. He 
returns in the same furrow, plowing up the sub¬ 
soil and throwing it out on the unplowed land. 
He then plows another furrow parallel with the 
first, throwing the soil towards the subsoil last 
thrown out, and thus completes a ridge. He 
thus progresses throughout the field, which 
presents, when finished, a series of these 
ridges, separated by deep furrows, in which, 
the subsoil is exposed. In spring these ridges 
are either split or the field is cross-plowed. 
Fig. 3. —HARROW-CULTIVATOR. 
It is thus evident that one such plowing deepens 
the soil over half the field just as many inches 
as the plow has penetrated into the subsoil, and 
another similar plowing may be made to com¬ 
plete the strips left in the first operation. This 
operation has the advantage of bringing to the 
surface a portion only of the subsoil at one time, 
and thoroughly mingling it with the surface 
soil, after exposing it in a most complete manner 
to the beneficial action of the atmosphere for 
some months. It -would be a valuable experi¬ 
ment to make on a portion of a field to thus 
prepare a piece of corn stubble for oats next 
spring, and test the value of the process. We 
have no doubt it would be so satisfactory that 
the plan would be regularly adopted in future 
by every experimenter. Three acres a day may 
