THE CULTIVATOR. 
161 
THE BOSTON CENTRE-DRAUGHT PLOW. 
Prouty § Meats’ Self-Sharpening 1 atent, with new Gearing. 
The advantages secured by the new gearing attached 
to this plow, are many and great. By drawing from back 
of the standard, the beam is secured from breaking; the 
plow is kept more firmly into her work, and a remarka¬ 
ble degree of steadiness is communicated, greatly increa¬ 
sing the power of the beam; while the facility of taking 
more or less land, and raising or lowering the point of 
draught to the greatest exactitude and without altering the 
back bands of the beam, by means of the elegant arrange¬ 
ment at the head of the beam, is truly surprising. The 
wheel, larger, and running on the outside of the beam, 
enables the plowman to carry over the last or clearing 
furrow with the greatest ease and precision, the wheel 
then passing up the open furrow on the left, quite inde¬ 
pendent of the single furrow-slice, from which the wheel? 
when placed under the beam, is continually running off. 
The Boston Centre-Draught Plow, with the new gear¬ 
ing, may now be considered the “ Ne plus ultra;” for as 
it is conceded on all hands, that spade labor is the perfect¬ 
ion of good husbandry, the plow which comes nearest to 
that criterion must be the best for all purposes. The 
above engraving is the portrait of a plow that has been 
found capable of breaking up two acres and a half of sod 
ground in a day, with a team of three mules abreast; to 
turn it from a two horse plow to a three horse a 
breast plow, or vice versa, requiring the labor of a few 
minutes only. [See advertisement.] J. P, 
Delaware, April , 1844. 
SALTING AND CURING HAY. 
Messrs. Editors —In the January number of the Cul¬ 
tivator, I find some remarks of yours on salting hay for 
stock, which are something different from my views of 
the subject. I suppose the difficulty with Mr. Cartwright 
was, that he depended too much on the salt, and that his 
hay was so much heated uy being housed too damp, that 
it proved injurious to his horses; and that salt had little 
or no agency in its injurious effects. 
Your statement, that salt may be properly used to pre¬ 
vent damp hay from being damaged, does not agree with 
my experience on the subject; for as far as I have obser¬ 
ved, the salt increases the dampness, and should be spa¬ 
ringly used on wet hay as well as dry. Most farmers in 
the hurry of the hay making season, are apt to house too 
much of their hay in a green, damp state, and use salt so 
profusely as to injure it, and the stock that consumes it. 
Stock need but little salt in winter, and more than to make 
their food palatable, must have a contrary* effect, and be 
eaten from necessity rather than choice. 
My practice is to cure my hay properly and put two 
quarts of fine salt to a ton, taking care to have the lumps 
well pulverized. Curing hay in the cock, is the only 
right way, though most farmers are slow to believe it, 
and many have condemned the practice, because they 
have not patience to wait long enough. I know of no 
other way to cure clover without serious loss. 
The above was written before I read a communication 
from R. L. Pell of Ulster county in your March number, 
and had not his theories in other respects reminded me 
of the observations you made on readers of agricultural 
papers in the February number, I might not have trou¬ 
bled you with this communication, but have adopted his 
plans in future. As it is, I think I shall let farmer A. iry 
them first. Ten dollars worth of grass seed to an acre, 
would look large to farmers that do not usually sow over 
two; and using ‘ ‘ straw, chaff, and refuse hay, to make 
compost, because it contains substances required in the 
animal economy to form muscle, blood, horns, hoofs, &c.” 
would hardly answer for stock farmers. If Mr. Pell has 
made any considerable quantity of hay in that way, and 
fed that exclusively any considerable time to his stock, 
and not lost them, I think they must be of a different tem¬ 
perature from my neighbor's cow, that was killed by eat¬ 
ing salted cucumbers, or my pigs that shared the same 
fate by drinking a pail full of swill with one pint of salt 
in it. Yours, &c. Dahiel S. Curtis. 
Canaan, N. Y., March 6, 1844. 
TRANSFERRING BEES. 
Messrs. Editors— It is with pleasure that I comply 
with your request, in giving a description of an easy 
mode of transferring bees. I do it any time of the day, 
although it is besi when most bees are abroad. If there 
are any bees on the outside of the hive, sweep them off' 
with a wing or feather. « Then take it from the stand 
and reverse it upon the ground; spread a sheet upon it 
with a string or hook fastened to it in the centre over the 
centre of the hive.” Then place the empty hive where 
the old one stood, to receive the returning bees. “ Then 
lay a double blanket or carpet, or some thick cloth so as 
to make it dark within; the corners are then to be thrown 
on the top out of the way of the hammer, which is now 
to be applied,” (lightly but rapid,) <£ first upon one side 
and then upon another; they roar loud when the hammer, 
ing commences, but in less than a minute their noise will 
abate, when the cloths should be raised by the string two 
or three inches, which they will immediately answer by 
their roaring in consequence of having more room; the 
hammering to be continued; the cloth to be raised slow¬ 
ly; and when it is raised six or eight inches in the cen¬ 
tre, it can with perfect safety be raised from one corner 
of the hive, so as to see the motion and speed of the 
bees in leaving the combs and running up into the cloth. 
The raising of the cloth must be slow and gentle, govern¬ 
ed as much as possible to the accommodation of the 
bees; in ten minutes time the cloth in the centre should 
be about two feet from the hive, by which time probably 
the bees will all be in the cloth; the hammering, how¬ 
ever, is to be continued until they have all, or nearly all, 
left the hive, when the top cloth is to be carefully taken 
off, the sheet raised from the hive by the string or hook 
and spread open, the bees uppermost;” directly in front 
of the empty hive, the bees will soon take possession of 
it; guide the queen, if she can be be found, and disturb 
the bees gently with a feather. If there be any bees 
left in the old hive they will soon leave the combs by 
blowingin; sweep them off and put the hive where the 
bees cannot find it. The bees will work with renewed 
activity as if they had not been disturbed. 
J. Wells. 
Ulster Co., N. Y., April 9th, 1844. 
In cultivating the earth, the condition of man’s success 
is his industry upon it. 
In raising domestic animals, the condition of his suc¬ 
cess is kindness and benevolence to them. 
