1848. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
147 
HIW«E HARROW AND CULTIVATOR. 
Messrs. Editors— At your request I hasten to give 
&, drawing and description of my Harrow and Cultiva¬ 
tor, to which allusion was made in my communication 
m your March number upon the culture of corn. I do 
siot know who to credit with the invention of my har¬ 
row. It was made somewhere in Jefferson County, N. 
Y., I believe, and l bought it of a man from that sec¬ 
tion. It is by far the most effective harrow I have 
ever used; doing as thorough work at once in a place 
as the old-fashioned harrows will at three times—par- 
elicularly if the surface of the ground is somewhat 
sae ven .. 
Description— The harrow is composed of two pieces 
of frame-work connected by hinges. The bars or stiles 
are 3 by 3 inches of white-oak timber, and connected 
together by slats as represented in the cut. The ends 
of the bars are rounded and secured from splitting by 
iron bands. The hinges A A go together like common 
barn-door hinges; they come to a shoulder against 
plates of flat iron nailed on to the wood-work at B B. 
The hinges pass entirely through the frame-work— 
gradually tapering—with nuts screwed on at C C C. 
There are two points of draft, D d, which is quite an 
advantage ; because when the teeth get dull or dubbed 
off by constant use in the direction D, it is only neces¬ 
sary to hitch on to the other point d, and you have 
sharp teeth again. There are thirty teeth in the im¬ 
plement, and it harrows down very fine; and yet it 
will readily be seen that no two teeth are so near to¬ 
gether as to be troublesome about clogging. My har¬ 
row is 5 feet long, and 5 feet 3 inches wide; with teeth 
of 3-4ths iron;. For harrowing in grain and grass- 
seeds, it may be made lighter—say of some light, 
smart timber not over 2h inches square, and the teeth 
5-8ths of an inch square. 
The annexed cut represents my Cultivator. It is a 
patented implement, by Woods, Bates & Wells, some¬ 
where in the State of New-York. An agent for selling 
rights passed through this town a few years since and 
sold the right of making and vending for this vicinity 
a fellow townsman. At my suggestion, he made 
some alterations in his patterns which I deem of im¬ 
portance. In the first place, the teeth are made longer 
from the frame-work to the ground, which obviates the 
objection of clogging, for now there is space for any 
impediment to rise along up the teeth and. slip off, 
without getting bound in, at the point of contact of 
the iron and wood at X X. The space from the bottom 
of the wood-work to the bottom or sole of the tooth is 
11 inches, while most, cultivators have not a space of 
more than 6 or 8 inches. In the second place, the 
teeth are made fast in the frame with a large thread 
and nut on the top, the advantage of which will b© 
hereafter noticed. 
Cnltivalw —Fig. 4S. 
Description' —The point of draft A, is the continu¬ 
ation of a wide, thin piece of iron, secured by two 
bolts B C; and by taking out the bolt C the point of 
draft may be raised or lowered,—thus altering the 
depth of the work—and other holes in the iron admit 
this bolt through it and make all fast. The forward 
tooth D is a double mould board. The teeth E F are 
single mould boards or miniature plows; and at weed- 
ing-time they are reversed, thus turning the earth and 
all large clods, that might otherwise roll over on to the 
young and tender corn, away from the hills, thereby 
enabling the holder to work up close to them without 
danger of burying them up. At the next hoeing, the 
teeth are replaced, as seen in the cut, and the earth is 
turned towards the corn. The frame may be expanded, 
or contracted, at pleasure, by loosening the nut and 
bolt at Gr, and putting through other holes in the straps 
of iron H H. As the frame work is expanded or con¬ 
tracted so must the points of the teeth E F be altered 
to correspond, or travel in a proper line; and it is only 
necessary to put them in the right direction, and then 
screw the nut on top down snug, and the teeth will be 
kept in their proper place. The points of the teeth 
are screwed on to the mould board the same as any 
plow-point is, and when they become worn may be ta¬ 
ken off and new ones substituted. The cut represents 
the teeth as coming to a sharp point ; but, in fact, 
they do not; they are squared off like a plow-point. 
Brattlcboro, Vt. March 28, 1848. F. Holbrook. 
The oil of Birch is said to be used in Russia for 
tanning leather; particularly for the skins of sheep, 
goats, calves, &c„ Dr. Holmes, of the Maine Farmer, 
states that the peculiar aromatic smell of this oil, which 
is very pleasant, has the effect to keep out moths and 
other insects. He suggests that as there are plenty of 
birches of various kinds in Maine and other portions of 
the northern section of the country, the manufacture of 
this oil might be made a profitable business. 
