1849. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
153 
fURBE3.S<> 
50 —palmers’ wheat drill. 
Palmer’s Wheat Drill. 
This is a recent invention, designed to combine, in a 
simple and substantial form, the advantages of the nu¬ 
merous English and American drills. In relation to its 
construction and operation, we take the following from 
the description given by the inventor: 
u The frame-work consists of a simple axle, four by 
six inches, and a pole, on the former of which is placed 
a box or hopper. One simple distributor driven by a 
cam wheel and friction rollers, conveys the grain from 
the hopper into the several drills, through hollow braces 
or levers, and the quantity in each drill cannot vary a 
spoonful in sowing five bushels. Each drill is indepen¬ 
dent of the others, and either can pass over a stone or 
other obstruction eighteen inches high, without inter¬ 
fering with the operation of the other. It will drill 
perfectly, a strip of land of any width, from four inch¬ 
es to the entire width of the machine, and will work on 
land of any shape, without wasting the grain. All the 
teeth or drills can be raised or remain in a position 
eighteen or twenty inches from the ground, rendering 
it perfectly safe to drive over the roughest places. By 
the most simple movement, the distribution of seed can 
be stopped in an instant, or continued with the same 
ease. All the injury the drill can sustain by coming in 
contact with roots or fast stones, is the breaking of a 
small wooden peg, which is easily replaced. The ma¬ 
chine is so contrived, that by a very simple movement, 
the interior work is exposed to view, and at all times, 
the grain, while passing into the drills, is in full view 
of the operator, so that he can detect at a glance, any 
stoppage of the grain, and at once remedy it.” 
For further particulars, see advertisement in this 
number. 
Suffolk and Middlesex Pigs.—-M r. Wm. Stick- 
ney, of Boston, informs us that he has lately received 
from England a boar of the Suffolk breed, and one of 
the Middlesex breed. These, in addition to his other 
swine, of the same breeds, will give a very superior 
stock. The pork of these breeds is ranch liked at 
Boston. J 
®l)e .farmers Mote-Book. 
Manufacture of Cheese. 
Eds. Cultivator —Having been so frequently ad¬ 
dressed by different persons in this and'other states up¬ 
on the subject of dairying, that to reply to each indi¬ 
vidually, would be quite inconvenient and burthensome, 
I propose answering some of the most important ques¬ 
tions generally asked by new beginners, through th© 
columns of your widely circulated paper,—hoping they 
will reach every person who deems book farming of 
sufficient importance to take an agricultural paper. At 
the low rate that such papers are now afforded, those 
who do not take one, have a poor excuse for begging 
information of their neighbors, to keep pace with the 
present tide of improvement. 
“ What kind of cows are most profitable in a dairy ?” 
It depends much upon location. If a dairyman is re- 
mote from a good grain market, where the coarser 
grains would bear a better profit fed to milch cows than 
to market otherwise, his selection should be of deep 
milkers, that will bear grain feed without accumulating 
too much flesh. If near a good beef market, where 
beef is worth nearly as much per hundred as cheese, 
look well to the size and thrift of a cow, so that if she 
is not a deep milker, she will turn well for beef. As a 
a general rule, those are most profitable that are deep 
milkers, and wall hold out a good flow of milk through 
the season, keep in good condition, and are quiet and 
gentle. He who cannot furnish plenty of good feed, 
should beware of such cows as have been highly fed, or 
his profits will be small. 
“ What is the best age of a cow VI 
From five to ten years old. I have no objection to a 
cow ten years old, for a season. She will consume more 
feed than a younger one, but her milk is richer till sh© 
begins to decline in condition, and lose strength and 
vigor. 
“ What is the most congenial feed for cows immedi¬ 
ately before and after calving ?” 
Plenty of good tender hay or grass, and a small 
quantity, daily , of such other food as is best calculated 
’ to loosen the bowels and nourish the system, without 
