258 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
The potatoe is well liked, in connection with other food, 
for sheep, and particularly for fatting cattle. The stock 
fatten well on it, and the beef is of good quality. The 
only objection to the potatoe, is the difficulty of feeding 
it in cold weather. 
Washing Sheep.— Mr. Morse's plan for doing this 
is worthy of notice. A dam is thrown across a small, 
clear and rapid stream, near his barns. The bottom of 
the pond thus raised, is so covered with small stones 
that it is impossible to make the water muddy or sandy 
in the least. A platform is laid from which the sheep 
are taken into the water, and when their wool is cleaned, 
they pass out by a hard, McAdamized bank, to a clean 
grass-lot on the opposite side. Four men can work in 
the water at once, and two thousand sheep may be com¬ 
pletely washed here in one day. 
Barns and winter shelter. —Mr. Morse’s barn 
and fixtures for winter sheltering and feeding, are well 
arranged. The yards are well protected from the cold¬ 
est winds by sheds attached to the barns. In the sheds 
are racks and feeding boxes sufficient to accommodate 
the sheep in bad weather. In fair weather they are 
mostly fed out of doors. When the yards are covered 
with snow and are hard and clean, they are sometimes 
foddered on the snow. Water is brought in an aqueduct, 
and there are troughs in each yard through which the 
water is constantly running. 
Grass Lands_ Mr. Morse mows about three hun¬ 
dred acres annually. The average yield of hay is one 
and a half to two tons per acre. He has one field of 
sixty acres, beautifully set in grass. He prefers plowing 
his meadows or grass lands as little as possible. The 
first object is to get them as level and smooth as possible, 
and the grass thick and even. When the sward becomes 
bound or the grass declining, manure is spread on in au¬ 
tumn, made fine and worked in with a bush or harrow. 
The ground is naturally moist, and the manure being 
put on at this season of the year is not wasted by evapora¬ 
tion. The fields show that the system answers well. 
Fencing, draining, &c.— A considerable part of Mr. 
Morse’s farm, was naturally too wet. In the division of 
the farm by fences, he has had regard to remedying this 
defect. Trenches have been dug to the depth of two or 
three feet, (according to the nature of the ground as to 
wetness,) and filled with :-mall stones, of which there 
have been considerable quantities on some parts of the 
farm. The trenches so filled answer the purpose of 
drains, and the fences are erected on them. What is 
called “half wall,” is a kind of fence quite commonly 
made on the farm. It consists of stones, the largest 
of which would not probably weigh over two hundred 
pounds, laid up in a double row, to the height of two 
and a half to three feet, and the fence finished by two 
boards or rails, the posts for which are set before the 
stones are laid up. Besides these trenches other drains 
have been made and covered. In this way, many acres, 
which, when Mr. Morse came into possesssion of the 
farm, a few years ago, were nearly worthless, now con¬ 
stitute some of his best lands for hay. 
Maple Sugar. —The manufacture of this article is 
carried on to a greater extent in Vermont than in any 
other part of the Union. It is now in many cases pro¬ 
duced with profit, and no doubt may be made a source 
of considerable income. We were surprised at the 
quantity of sugar which is produced from a tree. We 
saw a handsome sample of a hundred and thirty-six 
pounds made from twelve trees, by Mr. Isaac Landon, 
Cornwall. Mr. Morse made a thousand pounds, and Mr. 
Lyman Hall, a neighbor of Mr. Morse’s, made twelve 
hundred pounds last spring. We have samples of Mr. 
Morse’s which are excellent. The whole lot would 
readily command ten cents per pound. The process of 
manufacture has been much improved of late. Mr. M. 
now boils the sap in shallow pans, and it is “ stirred off” in 
graining. But as we do not fully understand the business, 
we hope Mr. Morse or Mr. Hall will furnish an article 
in relation to it. 
The quantity of sugar that might be produced from an 
acre properly planted with the sugar maple, has never, 
perhaps, been ascertained; but we have no doubt that at 
least fifteen hundred pounds might be easily obtained. 
Allowing one tree to a square rod, or a hundred and 
sixty to the acre, and estimating the produce at ten 
pounds to the tree, (which is less than is frequently got,) 
the aggregate produce would be sixteen hundred pounds. 
The trees might often grow on land not valuable for 
other purposes, as on rocky hill-sides, and by the borders 
of fields and highways-—so set as not to keep the roads 
wet by their shade. What are called “ second growth” 
trees are preferred for sugar. They have generally lar¬ 
ger tops and more leaves, by which the sap is probably 
better elaborated. 
TRIAL OF THE CENTRE DRAFT PLOWS. 
Mr. James Pedder, general agent for the sale of 
Proutv and company’s Centre Draft Plows, brought 
to this city in May last a number of these implements. 
They being comparatively but little known in this vicini¬ 
ty, several persons were desirous that a public trial should 
be made with them under the supervision of a judicious 
and impartial committee. This was more especially 
wished, as an unfavorable report had reached thiscountry 
in regard to the performance of this plow, and that of 
Messrs. Ruggles, Nourse and Mason, at the exhibition of 
the Royal Agricultural Society of England last year. The 
work of the American plows at this trial was represented 
as decidedly bad —a result for which we are wholly una¬ 
ble to account, except on the ground of the plowmen not 
being well acquainted with the somewhat peculiar con¬ 
struction and operation of these plows. We have seen 
the operation of several of the most celebrated English 
and Scotch plows, which have been brought to thiscoun¬ 
try, among which we will name that of the celebrated 
Ransome plow, which received the highest prize at the 
English trial referred to. With the exception of this, 
we are confident we have seen no imported plow, which, 
everything considered, can be deemed equal to the Ame¬ 
rican plows mentioned. The Ransome plow which we 
saw, was imported a few years since. It is unquestion¬ 
ably a good one. Some late improvements are said to 
have been added, of which we cannot speak. We know 
not what would have been the result of a comparative 
trial of this with the best plows made in thiscountry; 
we however hope that such trial will yet be made—but 
at present we can only express our concurrence gene¬ 
rally with the conclusions of the committee in regard to 
the work of the Centre Draft Plow, as set forth in the 
following report: 
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 
We whose names are underwritten were solicited to ex¬ 
amine the Centre Draught Plow and witness its perform¬ 
ance, at the farm of T. Hillhouse, Esq. The perform¬ 
ance of this duty was certainly far from being courted by 
any one of us. But having been selected for that pur¬ 
pose, it would have been uncourteous to have declined; 
and haying performed the duty, it is incumbent upon us 
to report the result of our examination. We have no 
desire, we must state in the outset, unduly to magnify 
the Centre Draught Plow, nor to praise unduly its per¬ 
formance. Neither can we be prevailed upon (even if 
desired so to do) to undervalue all or any of the various 
new and improved plows now before the agricultural 
community, which are brought in competition with it. 
But we nevertheless willingly report truly and fairly the 
facts in the case. 
The committee are almost strangers to each other- 
inhabitants of different parts of the state—chiefly, if not 
entirely, practical men, and accustomed to use (and per¬ 
haps prejudiced in favor of) other plows. Yet, with 
entire unanimity, we concur in the opinion that the 
Centre Draft Plow is not surpassed by any plow 
with which any of us are acquainted. The work per¬ 
formed by it is equal in excellence to any thing we have 
ever seen, and performed with as little labor and fatigue 
by both plowman and team, as it could, in our opinion, 
possibly be done. 
Perhaps nothing more than the above need be said, as 
it comprises in general terms all that we can say, or 
that it can be desirable to say. However we will add: 
This plow can be adjusted with the greatest nicety, 
