THE CULTIVATOR. 
311 
depended upon for water. I trust the public will hear 
more about it, as soon as propriety will permit. 
I read the description of it, to an old acquaintance, a 
few days ago, who is a planter, and resides near the 
centre of the state of Mississippi. The self-acting pump 
he said, would be invaluable to him. He depends sole¬ 
ly upon cisterns for water throughout the whole year. 
His cistern, from which he draws water for his family use, 
is about forty feet deep, and twenty feet in diameter. He 
fills it in the winter season, because the water then is not 
only colder, but is thought to be purer. No water is 
admitted during the warm weather. Like all others, ac¬ 
customed to the use of cistern water, he thinks it the 
sweetest and best water that can be had, any where, any 
how—but could it not be much improved, in the way of 
filtering it, by means of a self acting pump?” 
Center Draft and Subsoil Plows. —W. B., of 
Laurens District, S. C., writes concerning these imple¬ 
ments as follows:— £f I think myself bound to add to the 
many testimonials in favor of Prouty & Mears’ plows. 
The subsoil plow I have used, and believe to be an im¬ 
plement of immense importance, at least in this section 
of country, where the ground is rarely plowed deeper 
than three inches, save by accident, and two inches is 
considered “ pretty deep plowing.” The self-sharpen¬ 
ing plow is a noble farming tool, doing the work to per¬ 
fection. 
“A few persons of intellect and enterprise, who wit¬ 
nessed the performance of these plows, or were informed 
by me of the ease and nicety with which they work, have 
caused me to order several of them for experiment on 
their farms. I believe that the plows I obtained from 
Prouty, of Philadelphia, were the first of the kind ever 
brought here. I saw indeed one subsoil plow, at the 
farm of one of your correspondents, at Newberry, S. C., 
Mr. W. S., a gentleman of enterprise, and a scientific 
as well as practical farmer, but it was a clumsy affair, 
requiring a full team of horses, different in every re¬ 
spect to the plow of P. & M. I believe it was made 
after the pattern of the Deanston plow, and very probably 
Mr. W. S. was the first who brought a subsoil plow to 
South Carolina.” 
Farming in Canada.— Mr. J. B. Bagwell, near 
Toronto, says in reference to the rotation of crops prac¬ 
tised in that neighborhood— 
“ Our general mode of farming here, is first a naked fal¬ 
low, wheat, then oats, then peas with wheat or a fallow 
again, and go on in rotation with an occasional sowing 
down to clover. This is not a grazing part of the coun¬ 
try, the land being more adapted to grain than grass. 
Our cattle are a mixture of Durham with the native stock; 
sheep principally of the Leicester breed, and hogs partly 
Berkshire with a pretty good sprinkling of the alligator 
and landpike breeds. The average clip of wool is from 
4 to 5 lbs. of washed wool, and the average weight of 
hogs from 150 lbs. to 300. Mutton has in few instances 
been killed weighing 40 lbs. per quarter. But we can¬ 
not boast of the heavy weights of beef or pork that you 
do on your side of the lake.” 
Soaking Seeds in Ammonia. —A correspondent at 
Princeton, N. J., writes-—“It may be of interest to some 
of your readers to give the result of an experiment in 
the way of soaking seeds. Last April, I soaked some 
oats in a solution of carbonate ammonia and gypsum, ac¬ 
cording to the mode prescribed by Mr. Campbell, of 
Scotland, as stated in the Cultivator The result was, at 
harvest, no perceptible difference from those by the side 
of them.” 
Blind Bridles. —“ Why are blinders injurious to the 
horse?” Because they gather dirt and heat round the 
eyes. Dirt irritates the eye, and heat produces inflamma¬ 
tion. Eyes were placed in the corner of the head that 
the horse might have the advantage of looking in differ¬ 
ent directions. Men, in the abundance of their imagi¬ 
nary wisdom, concluded the horse had too much sight, 
and they wished to curtail it; hence the origin of blind 
bridles. These so entrammel the eyes, that the horse is 
constantly compelled to strain them to see his way. This 
over exertion soon brings on disease. 
INQUIRIES, 
Orchard Grass. —H. C. (Jefferson co., N. Y.) This 
grass is the Dactylis glomerata. It is excellent for pas¬ 
turage on tolerably dry soils. It makes very good hay, 
but matures too early for mixing with other grasses 
usually cultivated here. Another objection to its being 
sown in meadows, is the tendency it has to form tussocks 
which render the ground uneven, and prevent the scythe 
from running smoothly and closely. It is therefore most 
valuable for pasturage, and in this respect is superior to 
most grasses. It produces an abundance of long rich 
leaves, and starts very quick after being cropped or cut. 
Owing to the lightness and chaffy nature of the seed, a 
large quantity, not less than two bushels per acre, is re¬ 
quired to seed the ground sufficiently to make a good 
sward of this variety. But little seed is produced in this 
country—the most of what is sown here being imported, 
which causes the price to be rather high. It may be 
had of Mr. Thorburn, of this city, at $2.50 per bushel; 
stated to be first rate article. 
Cob-Mill. —A Subscriber, (Greenville C. H., S. C.) 
See the notice of Pitts’ machine in this paper. Hussey’s 
“Corn and Cob-Crusher,” (see Cultivator vol. x, p. 19,) 
is well spoken of. We think it is for sale by Messrs. 
Sinclair & Co., Baltimore, Md. Messrs. Sinclair & Co., 
have also a mill for grinding corn (without cob) into 
meal, (seepage 17 of current vol. Cultivator,) to be used 
on plantations, &c., that would probably answer the wants 
of “ A Subscriber.” 
Foot-rot. —R. H. G. (Blenheim, N. Y.) In the Sept. 
No., you will find some good directions for this disease, 
in an article signed “ Grazier.” It is true the writer 
denies the propriety of calling the disease the “ foot rot,” 
but his treatment is no doubt beneficial in effecting a cure. 
Wash the foot well in soap-suds, and then apply a solu¬ 
tion of blue vitriol (sulphate of copper) or some other 
caustic substance which will kill the seeds of the disease. 
Keep them on clean dry land. 
Root-claw. —A. M. (Salisbury, Ct.) Perhaps you 
had better send to Boston for a root-claw or “ root- 
puller,” such as was alluded to on page 286, last No. It 
will serve as a pattern from which you can make others. 
This will be better than any description we can give of 
the tool, as we have no cut of it. We presume they can 
be had of Breck & Co., Ruggles, Nourse & Mason, or 
Prouty & Co., Boston. 
Threshing Machines.— M. L. B. (Salisbury, N. C.) 
There are so many kinds of threshing machines in use 
that it is not easy to tell which is best. Pitts’, Burralls, 
Hall’s, Warren’s, Taplin’s, &c., each have their advan¬ 
tages. Hall’s horse-power with Pitts’ separator, des¬ 
cribed in our last vol., page 344, is highly approved. 
It is made and sold by Joseph Hall, Rochester, N. Y. A. 
Wheeler and Brothers, Chatham 4 Corners, Columbia co., 
N. Y., also make various kinds of threshing machines, 
and we bellieve most of the approved kinds may be had 
of J. Plant, successor to L. Bostwick & Co., 5 Burling 
Slip, New York. We are unable to give prices—they 
vary according to size from $120 to $300. 
Harvesting Machine. —Hussey’s and McCormic's 
machines are good ones, if we can credit the accounts of 
them. Messrs. R. Sinclair & Co., Baltimore, Md., 
would be able to give all information concerning them. 
Straw Cutter for horse-power.— Hovey’s largest 
size, price $30, is no doubt a first rate machine of this 
kind. 
China Pigs —T. D., (Louisville, Ky.) We know of 
no pure bred China pigs. The catalogue wanted shall 
be sent you. Accept our thanks for the interest you 
have taken in the Cultivator, an additional eight copies of 
which have been sent you. 
Lucerne.—A loamy, not clayey soil, is most favora¬ 
ble to lucerne; but if it can be made to stand well and 
get through the first year, it will do pretty well on one 
that is more compact. Great care should be taken to 
keep it from being overrun with weeds the first summer, 
and to prevent this it is perhaps better to sow it with a 
machine, in drills, say eight or ten inches apart, and keep 
the spaces clean with the hoe 
