77 —IJiDKRK.NBKMT HORSE RAKE. 
®I)e .farmer’s Note-Book. 
Independent Horse Rake. 
This rake was patented by Calvin Delano, of East 
Livermore, Maine, Feb. 27, 1849. It is fitted to the 
wheels of a single horse wagon, and tended by a man 
or boy, who can stand on the platform, forward of the 
rake, drive the horse and gather the hay with certainty 
and ease. By placing the foot on a lever attached to 
the axletree, the hay is discharged in winrows. Each 
tooth acts separately and independently, its head being 
suspended on a rod or hinge, over the axletree, one 
tooth being attached to each head. It is applicable to 
rough and smooth land, and applies with equal pressure 
on each kind of surface. 
This rake has been considerably used in Maine, and 
several of the best farmers in that state have given cer¬ 
tificates expressive of their satisfact ion with its operation. 
For particulars address R. H. Chase, Albany, 
Rust, Osage Orange, &c. 
Eds. Cultivator—I do not propose to instruct any 
one, but as you do not often hear from this part of the 
country, it may not be out of place to allude to a few 
items of consequence here. 
Rust. —In common with most parts of the Great 
West, we have been visited with this malady. Never, 
in this county, and perhaps I may add in this part of 
Ohio, as well as in the adjoining counties of Virginia, 
has there been more wheat in the ground, rarely has it 
looked better, and probably, in no previous instance, 
have we counted with greater assurance upon the 
avails of this crop—than this year. Yet almost in a 
day, our crops were cut off, and some of the most pro¬ 
mising fields in the country have not been cut. There 
will not, with us, be more wheat threshed than was 
sown. It is not so bad every where, and we are glad of it. 
We have not yet been informed of either the true 
cause or adequate remedy,* but are resolved to try 
again,* sow less ground and prepare it better. 
The Mediterranean seems to be the favorite variety 
here, at present. Our millers, who first condemned it, 
now understand how to grind it, and like it very well. 
Nothing will conduce so much to the improvement of 
our wheat crop, as the free culture of clover. 
Osage Orange. —Our farms along the Ohio and 
Muskingum rivers, are subject to inundation, by which 
we lose a large amount of fencing. Having suffered 
in this way, I procured last spring 4,000 plants of this 
shrub from Mr. Bateham of Columbus,—one-half for 
myself, and the other half for a thrifty English farmer, 
who is my nearest neighbor. 
The plants were long coming, and consequently some¬ 
what injured, and we lost some 500. Each of us set 
about a fourth of a mile along the Muskingum. His 
ground had been previously prepared by throwing up 
with the spade in winter, and consequently, the plants 
have grown rather better than mine. My plants are 
now from a foot to four feet in height. 
We have both of us, come to the conclusion, that 
we might have gained a year by pinching off the tops 
when they were six inches in height, early in June, as 
it would cause each branch to send out six or eight la¬ 
teral twigs, which in turn might be shortened in July, 
and thus secure a good and compact hedge, of one to two 
feet in height, the first year, and by adopting a similar 
course the second produce a hedge. This may not an¬ 
swer everywhere, but upon our soil and in this climate, 
with good culture, it probably will. We were led to 
think of it by plants being accidentally broken off. 
The only objection which I perceive can be urged 
against this method, is that it produces smaller branch¬ 
es. True, it dwarfs the plant, but with us, the great¬ 
est objection to the orange is, that is is too luxuriant 
and rank. This seems to make it finer, and better 
adapted for hedges. We expect to set more in the 
spring, preparing the ground in winter. 
