1850. 
THE CULTIVATOR, 
153 
An0U>ct'0 to Corraponknts. 
Substitute for Wringing Clothes. —M. M. 
B., Boston. We have no information in regard to 
Robinson’s Drying Machine, except that given by 
our correspondent “ R.,” in our last volume, page 
147. We shall feel obliged if any one will tell us 
where it can be bad, its cost, &c. 
Curculio. —*S. R. G., Bristol, Ct. Wehavenot 
a cut of this insect at hand. You will find a good 
mode of destroying it described in our volume for 
1848, page 182. The insect is well described (with 
cuts,) in Thomas’ Fruit Culturist , pp. 315, 320. 
Sweet Potatoes. —S. D., Granville, N. Y. We 
doubt whether it would be an object to attempt the 
cultivation of sweet potatoes so far to the north. 
But if you are disposed to try them, get an early 
kind from New Jersey, place them in a hot-bed, and 
when the sprouts are two to three inches above the 
ground, break them off carefully, close to the pota¬ 
toes, and set them in hills or ridges, raised a few in¬ 
ches above the surface—two plants to the hill—the 
hills two by three feet apart. The soil should be loose 
and warm, and moderately rich. 
Dwarf Pear trees. —“ A Subscriber.” Dwarf 
pear trees are formed by grafting the pear on the 
quince stock. See any modern work on the culture 
of fruits. 
Wind-Mills. —E. G., Bradford Co., Pa. You 
will find some information on this subject in our vol. 
for 1846, p. 221. In a late number of the Boston 
Cultivator , Leander Morton, of Hatfield, Mass., 
gives a brief description of a windmill of his own 
invention. Its cost is said not to exceed one hun¬ 
dred dollars. He says—“ Run a shaft up through 
the roof of your wood house, with a fly wheel on the 
top, similar to a tub-wheel, bottom upwards, and 
build a round house around your fly wheel with doors 
opening to every point of the compass. If the wind 
is in the North and South, open your North and 
South doors, and give it a passage through, upon 
the extremity of the wings of the wheel. If in the 
East or West, open your East and West doors, with 
ropes attached thereto, to let on or shut off wind at 
your pleasure. Place a drum around the shaft in 
your wood house, with a connecting belt to the axle 
of your circular saw. 
Threshing Machines. —A. J., Smyrna, Del. 
For a machine that will thresh the amount you speak 
of—800 bushels per day—we would refer you to Jo¬ 
seph Hall, Rochester, N. Y. 
Separators. —A. J. Pitt’s separators we be¬ 
lieve work well. They could probably be had of 
Mr. Hall, at Rochester, or of J. A. Pitts, Spring- 
field, Ohio. 
Potatoes. —J. E., Warren County, Pa. Pota¬ 
toes do not usually do as well on the same ground 
year after year, as when planted in rotation with 
other crops; but if it becomes necessary to continue 
them on the same spot, plow in considerable vege¬ 
table matter, in the shape of litter or muck, with 
moderate dressings of animal manure. 
Grass seed sown with Buckwheat. —J. E. 
Land is sometimes seeded to grass with buckwheat, 
and in favorable seasons will catch well. 
Harvesting Machines. —G. B., Goderioh, C. 
W. See answer to inquiry under this head in our 
last number, (page 121.) 
Dorking Fowls. —We have seen fowls imported 
as Dorkings, as well as others bred here from im¬ 
ported stock, that had but four toes to a foot. We 
have no doubt that the fowls to which the name of 
Dorking was first applied, had five toes. Whether 
any of their descendants unmixed with any other 
blood, have only four toes, we cannot say. But 
fowls are now called Dorkings which are quite dif¬ 
ferent from those first described under this name. 
Carrots, Beets, &c.-— T. B., Kingston, C. W. 
The cultivation of these crops on the same land for 
for several years in succession, with good manuring, 
does not injure the land for grain crops. 
Stable Manure.— -T. B. We know of no ‘‘ar¬ 
tificial manures” that are preferable for “ crops in 
genera] ” to good stable manure. If the stock is 
fed liberally, as you say, with grain and roots, the 
manure is all the better. 
Apple Trees. —W. D. H., Berks county, Pa. 
Apple trees of good kinds can be bought here, of 
Wilson, Thorburn & Co., at $18 per hundred. 
Peat. —M. D. Jr., Lynchburg, Ya. Peat is bog 
earth, formed chiefly by the growth and decay of 
moss, in wet or swampy situations. Various aqua¬ 
tic plants and trees also grow in many instances, in 
these places. The plants add their annual growth, 
and the trees shed their leaves and drop their 
dead branches, and in time die themselves, and their 
trunks mingle with the other substances; and thus 
the mass accumulates. The lower portion becomes 
compact by pressure, and in the oldest bogs may be 
cut out in pieces,which may be dried and used for fuel. 
The modes of using it for manure have been often 
described by us. See Cultivator for 1847, p. 297. 
Carrot Seed. —M. D. Jr. The orange carrot 
and the white carrot are most productive. The 
seed of both kinds is kept at the principal seed stores 
in all parts of the country. 
Swine. —W. B. D., Pekin, Ill. There are no 
Berkshire hogs, nor any known as the “ Columbia 
breed,” in this vicinity. The Suffolk breed fattens 
easily. William Stickney, of Boston, has stock of 
this breed, imported by himself, for sale. 
Improvement of Sandy soils. —S. M., Win- 
sted, Ct. The best means of improving sandy soils, 
are to apply wood ashes, and well decomposed com¬ 
post manure. Sow red clover, six quarts or twelve 
pounds to the acre. If white clover does not 
“come in,” sow two quarts of that seed, per acre, 
mixed with the red. It has an excellent effect in 
binding the soil. If plaster is known to operate well 
on similar land in your neighborhood, sow about 100 
pounds per acre, every spring. The plaster and ash¬ 
es may be sown and left on the surface; the manure 
should be well harrowed in, or covered with a light 
furrow. The grazing of sheep is very useful in 
compacting sandy soils, and in connection with clo¬ 
ver and turneps, has been practiced with much ad¬ 
vantage. See our volume for 1847, pp. 53, 261. 
Sale of Merino Sheep. —We are informed that 
Messrs. J. D. Patterson, of Westfield, Chautau- 
que county, and A. S. Patterson, of Perry Cen¬ 
tre, Wyoming county, N. Y., have lately purchased 
of Messrs. E. & W. Hammond, of Middlebury, and 
Jesse Hinds, of Brandon, Vt., upwards of 100 su¬ 
perior Merino sheep. For one lot of 20 young 
ewes, the price is stated to have been $20 per head. 
Advertisements. —Several correspondents have 
urgently requested that articles advertised in our 
columns should have the prices affixed to them, and 
we submit whether the interest of both buyer and 
seller would not be promoted by this measure. Per¬ 
sons might in many cases be induced to purchase at 
once, rather than to take the trouble to open a 
correspondence to learn prices. 
