124 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
April 
I have thus sketched what I believe to be the most 
simple bread making- machine (considering its efficien¬ 
cy) that can well be made. I have had one in use for 
many years, and speak from a knowledge of its per¬ 
fect efficiency and adaptedness to the work. The bread 
made by it cannot be distinguished from that kneaded 
by a regularly instructed baker; and one of its great 
merits is, that by varying the size you may adapt it to 
a small family or a large hotel: for I have tested it for 
this latter purpose, having been the proprietor of a 
fashionable summer retreat far in the interior, where I 
could not always procure experienced bakers, I had to 
contrive something to aid me, and after I had had one 
of them made I found no difficulty, for then the pastry 
cook also made all the bread, and the bread was al¬ 
ways light, and there were fewer failures in making it 
good after I commenced using this machine, than when 
the hands were used in kneading it. The size best 
adapted to a small family would be a roller about 9 
inches long, and from 10 to 12 inches in diameter; the 
space between the rollers may vary from 1 to 2 inches. 
By bringing them so close, and continuing the revolu¬ 
tions a length of time, you have all the effect of a ba¬ 
ker’s brake for biscuits, produced, and of course you 
may make most excellent biscuits. 
This machine possesses, I believe, all the requisites 
required by R. W. Jr., for claiming the premium offered 
by him, being “ an effective machine for kneading and 
mixing dough, that shall be simple in its construction, 
easily cleaned, to occupy a small space, durable, and 
not to exceed $5 in cost, for one to work 5 lbs. of flour 
at a time;” and I enter it, therefore, in competition 
with that described in the December number of the 
Cultivator. In fact, knowing its efficiency by actual 
trial for several years, I hesitate not to show it against 
even the very expensive one described by Loudon in 
his Encyclopaedia of Architecture, &c. L. South 
Carolina , Dec. 20, 1847. 
Rearing Lambs for Market. 
At our request, Mr. George Edwards, of Mechan- 
icsville, Saratoga county, has furnished us the follow¬ 
ing account of his mode of managing sheep and rear¬ 
ing lambs for market: 
u As my farm is near our large markets, and well 
adapted to what I call mixed husbandry —that is sheep, 
grain, and grass—the soil a loam, high and dry—I find 
the rearing of fat lambs the most profitable branch 
of farming. The ewes have generally been bought in 
September—always selecting those of rather coarse 
wool, they being larger, and generally the best nurses. 
The rams (pure South Downs) are put to them early in 
November, and the lambs are dropped about the first 
of April. The ewes are fed during the winter with 
corn-stalks and straw, and about one month before 
lambing and from thence till they go to pasture, they 
are each fed with three quarts of brewer's grains per 
day. 
“Last year, 100 ewes raised 100 lambs. The wool, 
which was sold at Troy at 32 cents per lb., brought 
$104.75. Twenty-five lambs sold at $2 each, one ram 
lamb $5, one do. $3, and the remaining seventy-three 
at $1.75 each. They were all taken away by the last 
of July. The ewes were sold to the butcher at $2 
each in October—so that the hundred ewes realized 
$490.50. 
“ It is desirable to get rid of the lambs early, that 
the ewes may have time to fatten, so that they maybe 
sold to the butcher in the fall—giving room for a new 
flock which should be bought in for the next season. 
“ It is a good mode, and one which we have fre¬ 
quently adopted, if we have a piece of rye which had 
been sown on a clover sod, (or where the land was 
otherwise in good order) to plow the stubble the very 
moment the rye is off the field, and sow turneps. The 
furrows are first harrowed with a light harrow, length¬ 
wise, and then crosswise—the seed sown broadcast, 2 
lbs. per acre—ending with rolling the ground with a 
very light roller. The turnep called the stubble tur- 
nep, is preferred. A larger quantity of seed is sown 
than some use, in order to get a good stand in spite of 
the ravages of the fly. I have now procured one of 
Emery’s seed-planters, and shall probably sow the tur¬ 
neps in drills henceforth—the rows two feet apart, to 
give space to work between them with a horse and 
small plow, or cultivator. As soon as the turneps are 
up about two inches, we put on the light harrows, pas¬ 
sing both ways, keeping a straight course. If the tur¬ 
neps are in drills, the drags are only run across the 
rows. About two days after the harrows are run over 
the turneps, they are gone over with hoes, and thinned 
where they are in bunches. 
“Ten acres of turneps, with a tolerable even plant, 
will supply and fatten 150 sheep, and will afford fine 
keep for them from the first of October to the end of 
November, (if there is not much snow) at a time when 
pasture is generally short. About one acre should be 
fenced off to commence with, and after four or five 
days, add about one-fourth of an acre every other day. 
At first the sheep will appear not to like the turneps, 
but after three or four days they will eat them rapidly. 
A boy should be placed with the sheep for two or three 
hours each day, to chop up the shells—the sheep will 
fallback and eat them up clean. 
“ While the sheep are on the turneps, it is an ad¬ 
vantage to give them a little cut hay in troughs—say 
about three bushels per day for 150 sheep. 
“Let any man try this plan, and if his land is in 
good heart, he will not only find his sheep get really 
fat, but they will leave the land in fine condition for a 
spring crop. It must be observed, the more attention 
that is paid to keeping down the weeds, the better will 
the crop pay cost.” 
Red Root — (Lilhospermum arvense .) 
C. M. Stark, of Yates county, N. Y., says in the 
Transactions of the N. Y. Ag. Society, that 30 years 
ago the red-root was unknown in Yates county—now, 
it is so abundant, by neglect and increase, that hundreds 
of bushels are purchased at the oil mills at 19 cents per 
bushel; and if one dollar per bushel were given, the 
hundreds would be thousands. The ripening of this 
seed makes a tremendous draught upon the soil. 
When first introduced, it may be cleaned out by care¬ 
ful, close, and constant weeding. This we know. 
But farmers generally will not do this till they have 
learned all the evils, and then it is too late. In such 
cases, it is proposed to eradicate it by a proper rota¬ 
tion. Plow once for wheat, 8 inches deep, to throw 
the seed too deep for germination, doing the rest of the 
work by the cultivator. Then, next autumn, plow the 
stubble the same depth, to bring up the seed, and har¬ 
row it; it will grow. The next spring, plow very shal¬ 
low, or cultivate, and sow a spring crop. Again plow 
and harrow in the fall, cultivate in the spring, and 
plant corn as early as possible. This, if well tilled, 
will clear all growing weeds. Plow again early in 
autumn, the same way, and next spring sow some other 
spring crop. Then, seed with grass. The red-root, 
being a biennial, can hardly stand such a course. 
To prevent carting seeds out with manure, it is re¬ 
commended to thrash, and burn the wheat straw in a 
heap, on the field where it grew, looking to the straw 
of the spring crops to furnish manure. Then, keep a 
look out, especially near trees, for plants from seed 
dropped by the birds, which are to be carefully weeded 
I out. 
