1850. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
117 
John, favored as he was in location, in good luck, 
in good sense, and in skill and experience. A Far¬ 
mer. Hillsdale , Feb. 4, 1850. 
Green an$ Dry Wood, 
Eds. Cultivator — u Green wood will last lon¬ 
ger than dry; and so will straw for cattle last lon¬ 
ger than hay .’’ This declaration was long since 
made by an author calling himself “ The Prompt¬ 
er. ” But durability is one thing, and utility is an¬ 
other; and who has not learned the comparative 
value of green and dry wood? And yet how few 
lay up in store for an equinoctial rain, or a winter’s 
snow! And how many, otherwise good providers, 
perhaps, have put off the building of a wood-house 
for ten, twenty, or thirty years, and many who have 
one continue to simmer away their two barrels of 
water from nearly every cord they burn. All will 
admit these things ought not to be so ; but the most 
common objection to the timely preparation of 
wood, is the great amount of labor required at one 
time; and for this reason it is deferred to a " more 
convenient season,” or until it must be done. 
And now, as the time for getting good is close at 
hand, I would beg leave to present to your readers 
a remedy for some of these evils, and hope my breth¬ 
ren of the mallet and the plow, will not think me 
egotistical if I should make some allusion to my 
own experience. 
Let trees be fallen and cut at such a length that 
a team will draw them on a bob-sled, to the place 
desired. Lay them together on poles lying at right 
angles on the ground; attach a cross-cut saw to a 
horse-power so geared that the crank will make 
about thirty revolutions, while the horse goes once 
round a circle of about twenty feet diameter. If 
the horse is a good walker, this motion is quick 
enough for the safety of the saw, and if well con¬ 
structed, one horse will do the work; but two are 
better to keep up a strong steady motion. A light 
balance wheel is necessary to give regularity to the 
motion. Two posts should be erected about 2i or 
3 feet apart, one side of each, nearly in line with 
the saw, a square groove in the sides, next the saw ; 
another piece fitted and screwed on at the top and 
bottom, with a corresponding grove; the wood 
about an inch apart, with the saw between. Next 
four pieces of hard wood so fitted as to slide in each 
groove and nearly touch the saw. Let each pair 
be screwed together above the saw with two wood 
screws, pinching a piece of hard leather at each 
screw, nearly to the thickness of the saw ; the lower 
piece between the lower screw and the back of the 
saw; the slides of sufficient length to keep the saw 
steady, and play so easily in the grooves as to rise 
and fall with the saw. 
There should be a safe and convenient way of 
raising and letting down the saw, without stopping 
the horse. I prefer a ten or at most a twelve inch 
crank, and a pitman, in two parts, introduced with 
a joint into a swing, suspended some ten feet above. 
A rail track thirty or forty feet long, placing the 
end of each bed-piece at the posts through which the 
saw plays. The car which carries the last end of 
the log, may be made with two wheels and an axle, 
with arms framed into the back side at such an an¬ 
gle that the ends will follow the wheels, and so bev¬ 
eled forward that the weight will be a little back 
of the bearing, and to this axle the log should be 
dogged firmly. The first end of the log should rest 
on a roller or windlass, the middle so girdled down 
that the log will keep the centre, and spikes driven 
in to draw the log forward. Apiece should be fas¬ 
tened to the out side of one of the posts, about even 
with the bottom of the log, for the block to rest on 
until it is sawed quite off, the other end to be rais¬ 
ed or lowered at pleasure. Without this, the block 
will frequently drop, taking a sliver with it which 
may make trouble. The pitman should find a rest¬ 
ing place when the saw gets through, so that if it 
is not raised immediately, it can do no injury. 
Such a machine has no electro, nor railroad speed, 
but it is got up mechanically; is a good investment 
of some fifty dollars; but if “ botched up,” it will 
probably prove a failure, and be thrown away in 
despair. I have used one four seasons. My cus¬ 
tom is to haul the wood on snow—a supply for a 
year or more; in the spring saw and split, throw¬ 
ing it into a pile; let it lie through the summer, 
and then put it into the wood-house. One man 
finds business enough to split and throw* back as 
fast as it will saw. I find it an easy and quiet w T ay 
of making wood. 
For sawing wood exclusively, I would recommend 
a cast-iron horse pow T er, w r ith just w T heels sufficient 
to get up the motion; as it would probably be the 
cheapest and most durable, and w T hen the sawing 
was done for the season, it might be put away. A 
buzz saw might be connected to saw the limbs. 
The advantages of using mostly dry wood for a 
stove, are many. There is the joy-lighted counte¬ 
nance of the “ better half,” the pleasure of chil¬ 
dren, comfort of guests, the ready kindling, warm¬ 
ing and cooking; and when the wood is cut in this 
way, the uniformity of length, the saving of labor, 
the saving of logs that would otherwise go to w r aste, 
the saving of chips, and the having it done up for 
the season. Calvin Stow. Braceville , Ohio, Jan. 
Muck as the Basis of Compost. 
Eds. Cultivator— The subject of manure, is one 
of increasing importance in the older sections of our 
country, and especially in New' - England. The in¬ 
creased facilities for transportation are bringing 
the products of the virgin soil of the west, in direct 
competition with our own, at the same time that 
our hill-sides are degenerating by continued crop¬ 
ping and the washing of rains. Far be it from us 
to decry the improvements in locomotion. We 
could not, if we would, and we would not if we 
could, put one straw on the track of the iron horse. 
We might as well dam up the waters of the Missis¬ 
sippi with bulrushes, as stop the flow of western 
products into our eastern markets. We do not 
murmur at this, but rather with an enlarged view 
of the prosperity of the whole country, gird our¬ 
selves anew for a noble competition with our wes¬ 
tern rivals. 
We do not propose to consider here what changes 
the eastern farmer might make in the products of 
his soil, to meet the new exigency in his situation, 
but rather very briefly suggest what change can be 
made in the soil itself. If any one thinks that the 
same crops can be raised, that his father lias raised 
before him, and with the same cultivation, he is be¬ 
hind the times. Fortunately there are few such 
among us. All the considerate, are looking to the 
compost-heap, as alone affording the ammunition 
wherewith to contend against our western rivals. 
As the basis of this compost-heap, I would urge the 
claims of muck, the partially decayed vegetable 
matter abounding in our swamps. With this re¬ 
source on his farm, every farmer can double his 
manure and consequently his products. I speak 
not from theory, merely, but from actual experi¬ 
ence, for in the past six years, the yield of my farm, 
