1849. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
223 
Allen & Whittlesy, and Messrs. Gibson, Shotwell &, 
Co., of New-York, have made some shipments of meal, 
and that the parcels have brought from one shilling to 
two shillings more per barrel than any other dried 
meal in market. Mr. S. further states that the rea¬ 
son why there has not been more meal sent abroad, is, 
that the home and Canada demand has been so great as 
to take all that has been made by the machines now in 
operation. Much of that which has gone to Canada, 
is said to have found its way to the West Indies and 
South America. Mr. S. says the price of the meal 
sent to New-York has been from two to three shillings 
per barrel more than the Jersey or Brandywine meal. 
English Trarneps. 
It has been a Yankee maxim, from the days of the 
Pilgrim fathers, that— £< turneps should be sown on the 
25th of July, let the weather be wet or dry.” The 
common English flat turnep will usually do well, if 
sown on proper soil, any time from the 20th of July to 
the 10th of August. They may not yield so largely as 
when sown somewhat earlier, but the roots will be 
sweeter, and will keep better. 
The white turnep is not a very nutritive vegetable; 
but as it may be grown on lands from which a crop 
of hay or grain has been taken, the same season—is a 
good fallow crop, leaving the ground in good condi¬ 
tion—and is useful in feeding sheep, cows or young 
stock, in the early part of winter, it may be made a 
profitable crop, in many instances. The grass or grain 
stubble may be plowed in, and a dressing of fine ma¬ 
nure, compost or ashes, spread and harrowed in. The 
seed may be sown with a seed-drill,—the quantity va¬ 
rying from one pound to two pounds per acre. If the 
seed vegetates well, and the young plants are not at¬ 
tacked by insects, a pound to the acre will give a 
“ good stand”—the rows being twenty inches apart,— 
but there is more certainty in the use of a greater 
quantity, and to guard against emergencies, it is better 
to use plenty of seed. After the plants have got well 
into u rough leaf,” and are secure from injury by the 
fly, they should be thinned to the distance of six to eight 
inches in the rows; and the ground should be kept 
clean by the harrow, cultivator and hoe. 
Cement for Cellars. 
Eds. Cultivator —A cellar may be made dry with¬ 
out draining, by means of good masonry; that is, if 
both materials and workmanship are of the best kinds 
for that purpose. The excavation being made to any 
depth required, and wide enough to allow the walls to 
be faced on both sides, let the foundation be laid with 
at least six inches of concrete, in two layers of three 
inches each; the first left to set , so as not to be easily 
disturbed before laying the second. 
The concrete to be made as follows: Take any kind 
of sound durable stone, and break it as is done for 
McAdamised roads; the largest pieces to be no larger 
than a pullet’s egg, and the smallest the size of an 
acorn. Take, also, of the best water lime, or cement, 
one part, and of sharp sand, perfectly free from mud 
or loam, three parts, and in a tight mortar box, with¬ 
out water, incorporate thoroughly the cement and sand, 
until every grain of the sand be separately rolled in 
the cement. Then add w r ater to make it mortar, which 
must be thoroughly tempered, so that if it be kept to 
stand a while, no water shall collect in any depression 
left on the surface of the heap, which is the best test, 
perhaps, of its being sufficiently worked, while at the 
same time it is sufficiently moist to be pliant with the 
trowel. 
The broken stone is now to be mixed with the mor¬ 
tar, in such quantity as will leave each piece of stone 
fairly embedded in the mortar, and as much stone as 
possible with that provision. It is then with dispatch 
to be laid down in the foundation, as already directed, 
and of such width as to project a little on each side of 
the thickness of the wall, and, of course, around the 
whole cellar. 
The floor will be of the same material, and is to be 
done in the same way, the whole of each layer to be 
well beaten down and compacted with the back of a 
shovel; and, at last, all to be finished with a thin coat 
of the cement mortar. The floor, however, need not 
be laid until all the other work is complete. On the 
foundation, as described, the walls are to be built, with 
equal care, of stones and mortar, made of one part of 
cement and three of sand. Every crevice must be per¬ 
fectly filled with mortar, and the stones so completely 
bedded and pointed as that no one piece may touch 
another. 
As Mr. Johnston says about draining, the true way 
to go about this kind of work, is to go at it as though 
it was to cost nothing,” and there will be satisfaction 
in the end. 
In making the concrete, the broken stone should be 
perfectly free from dust and dirt of every kind; and 
unless it is clean, should be w T ashed. If inland sand'is 
quite clean, it is better than lake sand,—the latter 
being rounded by the rubbing of the particles against 
each other, caused by the motion of the water. 
There should be no quick-lime used; it has a ten¬ 
dency to slack longer than people think for, and pre¬ 
vents the cohesion of the cement. 
Frost will not injure it if once fairly set; but that 
also requires time, and it should be protected by some 
nonconducting substance on the ground, and as high as 
the walls outside, for at least one winter; and the 
work should be all completed before the frost comes. 
Very good cement can be had in Buffalo. I do not 
remember the makers name, but I think the place was 
called Avon; and I think the merchant was Daw. It 
cost $1.75 per barrel some years ago. W. S. j Elli- 
cottville, May 25, 1849. 
Wire Fences. 
Eds. Cultivator —I was much interested with a 
late article in your excellent journal from H. Y. L., on 
the subject of Wire fence. There are many who, like 
myself have never seen such a fence, and would like a 
little further information. What is the mode of fasten¬ 
ing the wires at the end of the fence ? What means 
are used to tighten the wires, and is there not danger 
of their breaking in winter from the effects of frost, un¬ 
less they are loosened ? Boring holes in the posts, 
while it is attended with considerable labor, must tend 
to weaken them, if not to hasten their decay. 
Why might not small staples driven into the posts to 
confine the wires, answer well instead of holes ? 
Would wires 5 inches apart, and 20 feet between 
posts, make an efficient sheep fence? If not, why 
might not smaller wires (say No. 16) be placed between 
the larger ones. Will those w*ho understand these mat¬ 
ters, be so kind as to give us a little “more light.” S. 
W. 
Sheltering Sheep. 
Eds. Cultivator —Permit me to call the attention 
of farmers in Ohio and other sections of the country, 
to the importance of providing shelter for sheep^ and 
other domestic animals. I have had some experience 
in keeping sheep at. stacks, exposed to the drizzling 
rains and” sudden changes of the weather during the 
winter season. In the winter of 1847 8, I put one 
hundred to stack, and gave them plenty of hay and 
some grain through the winter. The loss was over 20 
