180 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
DOWNING’S WORKS. 
‘‘The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America.”— 
This new work of Mr. Downing, which has been for 
some time in press, is announced to appear about the first 
of this month. 
We are glad to see a second edition of his “Landscape 
Gardening’,” and “ Cottage Residences,” has been so soon 
called for. The first part of “ Cottage Residences” has 
already appeared; and it is announced by the author that 
Part II. which is in prepara .'?n, will contain hints and 
designs for the interiors and h miture of cottages, as well 
as additional designs for farm 1 lildings. 
The second edition of the Landscape Gardening” will 
be out in a few weeks, some delay having been caused 
by the number of very beautfful new illustrations introdu¬ 
ced into this edition. A considerable portion of the work 
has been re-written, and many additions and improve¬ 
ments have been made by the author, to render it as com¬ 
plete as possible. 
Transactions of the New-York State Agricultu¬ 
ral Society for 1843. 
This volume is just published. It comprises 671 pa¬ 
ges. Among the many interesting and valuable articles 
it contains, is a treatise on Insects injurious to field crops, 
orchards, gardens, and domestic animals, by the late Wil¬ 
lis Gaylord, Esq.—an article on the Diseases and In¬ 
sects most injurious to the Wheat crop, by John J. Tho¬ 
mas —Report of experiments in cultivating various kinds 
of Wheat, by Gen. Harmon of Monroe county—the Geo¬ 
logical Survey of New-York, in its influence on the agri¬ 
cultural and other industrial interests of the State, by 
Professor Hall, &c. &c. Taken altogether, it is a vo¬ 
lume highly creditable to the Society from which it ema¬ 
nates. 
“ Clater and Youatt’s Cattle Doctor, with numer¬ 
ous additions by J. S. Skinner, assistant Post-Master- 
General, §c. Lea & Blanchard, Philadelphia. 
This is one of the best works of the kind that has ever 
been published, and we do not hesitate to recommend it 
to every farmer. By consulting its pages he will be able 
to manage his stock in all cases better than would be done 
by the ignorant cow-leeches to whom the treatment of 
the diseases of our domestic animals is generally entrust¬ 
ed. Attention to the diseases of domestic animals is a 
subject very much, nay, criminally neglected in this coun¬ 
try. In the language of Mr. Skinner, in the preface to 
his work, “ To say nothing of the duty which common 
humanity enjoins on every one, to be prepared with com¬ 
mon medicines, and directions for the use of them, which 
may enable him to extend prompt relief to speechless suf¬ 
fering; on the sordid score of self-interest alone, the most 
calculating, it may be supposed, will not hesitate to pro¬ 
vide himself with a book which in teaching him to be 
his ‘ own Cattle Doctor,’ may enable him to save the life 
even of the meanest animal on the estate.” 
To the original work of Clater and Youatt, Mr. Skin¬ 
ner has made extensive additions, and among these is a 
valuable Essay on the use and management of Oxen, and 
an interesting paper on Sheep Husbandry; he has also in¬ 
creased the value of the work by numerous illustrations 
which are not contained in the English work. The vol. 
(250 p. 12 mo.) is got up in good style, and sold at the 
low price of 50 cents. 
CUTTING WHEAT EARLY. 
From our own experience, and from the experiments 
made by others, particularly the ably conducted ones of 
Mr. Hannam of England, of which an account has been 
given in a former volume of the Cultivator, we have 
been convinced that farmers much more frequently err 
by allowing their wheat to stand too long before cutting, 
than by harvesting too early. We have never known an 
instance where loss was sustained from early cutting, but 
there is not a year passes in which more or less loss is| 
not suffered by standing too long. Cut early, the berry 
is whiter, the skin thinner, and the flour better. The! 
following, which we find in the Michigan Farmer, wil 
add to the proofs already given in the Cultivator, tha 
our position is correct. It is part of a letter from Dr 
Eld ridge: 
“Amasa Andrews, Esq. of this town, harvested sixty 
acres of wheat last season, while it was so green and 
unripe, that every farmer in the neighborhood thought, 
and did not hesitate to declare him mad. He commenced 
cutting ten days before any other person thought of be¬ 
ginning, and finished before others had begun. The ber¬ 
ry when cut was soft, and in that state known as “being 
in the milk.” He has now threshed it; and being some¬ 
what curious to learn the result of the experiment, I to¬ 
day went, in company with Mr. Andrews to the mill, 
and examined the w r heat. I found it plump, with a pecu¬ 
liar transparency of the berry, I never before saw-— 
which is to be attributed to the very thin coating of the 
bran. We weighed some and found it weighed just six¬ 
ty-three lbs. to the measured bushel; and the experien¬ 
ced miller informed me, that it made more, flour and less 
bran than any wheat he ever saw.” 
QUICK GERMINATION. 
As a general rule, it will be found that a seed planted 
in such a manner as to ensure a quick germination, and a 
sufficient supply of nourishment afterwards, will give the 
most vigorous plants, and the most abundant returns to 
the cultivator. On this fact depends much of the benefit 
of manuring, and the difference also which results from 
the application of manures at different times. No seed 
requires to be buried deeper than is necessary to ensure 
moisture, and exclusion from light. If buried so deep 
that the nutritive matter of the seed is exhausted (and that 
alone forms the first and most important supply of food) 
before the shoot reaches the air, or the root the manure 
intended for its use, life may be continued, but in a state 
fatal to a good product. The experience of turnep grow¬ 
ers, or those who sow small seeds to any extent will 
show the correctness of the above rules. If the manure 
is covered so deep that the roots must have a growth of 
weeks before they reach a proper supply of nourishment, 
the plants will be feeble, their growth slow, and a check 
will be given from which the plants rarely recover. If 
on the contrary the seeds are lightly covered and the ma¬ 
nure fine and mixed with the earth in which the seeds are 
deposited, the growth will be rapid, and the impulse 
given at first is rarely lost in the growth of the plant. 
Bone manure has long been celebrated for the rapidity 
with which it brought forward crops to which it was ap¬ 
plied. The fact that it was drilled in with the seeds, and 
therefore placed in contact with them, or in the position 
where its influence would be most sensibly felt in giving 
a rapid and vigorous germination, was for a while over¬ 
looked, and virtues were attributed to the substance, that 
in a great measure belonged to the method of using. The 
more thoroughly decomposed ordinary manure is, the 
quicker will its influence be felt on the young plant; and 
it is found that sown in drills with wheat or turneps, it is 
not inferior to bone dust in promoting a speedy and vigo¬ 
rous germination. The philosophical experiments of 
Davy showed that the most benefit would be derived 
from manures if used in a fresh or long state; and the de¬ 
composition of vegetable matters, or the preparation of 
compost was for a while abandoned, and the manure de¬ 
posited as recommended by the philosopher. Experience 
soon showed, however, that while the soil was made 
better by the use of undecomposed materials, there were 
some crops to which the theory was not applicable; but 
that where a quick growth was indispensable, manure in 
the state that gives immediate nourishment was to be pre¬ 
ferred. Thus in Great Britain the use of rotted or com¬ 
post manure for turneps has again become almost univer¬ 
sal; unless in those districts where good management 
has rendered the soil already so fertile and rich, that the 
immediate effect of the manure used is not required to the 
perfection of the crop sown. Farmers, therefore, in the 
preparation and use of their manures should be governed 
by the nature and condition of the soil to which it is to 
be applied; and the plant which it is intended to nou¬ 
rish. 
