THE CULTIVATOR. 
May 
158 
a hundred thousand days of moonlight, or about three 
hundred years, supposing his crop to gow by moonlight 
every night the year round. And if a hundred days of 
sunlight are required to perfect his crop, then it would 
require only about thirty thousand years of moonlight 
before his crop would be fit for harvesting. Whether 
this would overbalance the loss of a week or two of 
fine weather in spring while waiting for the right time 
of the moon, we must leave the candid and intelligent 
farmer to decide. A friend at our elbow suggests that 
Adam’s crop of cabbages could not have advanced very 
far towards maturity up to this present time. 
Implement for marking Rows—fiuaiio. 
I am inclined to offer a notice of a simple contri¬ 
vance of my own, which I have had in practice for 
three years, and have found my crops much improved 
by it. As a planting implement, I consider it an im¬ 
provement on the old method of furrowing the rows 
with a plow, which is apt to place the seed too deep in 
the soil. Instead of a plow, I use a small wedge- 
shaped harrow, only fourteen inches wide behind, with 
seven long heavy teeth, but long in proportion. This 
pioneer harrow cuts deep, and puts the plowed ground 
in fine tilth to receive the seed, and makes mellow cov¬ 
ering for the hoe. 
For the last three years I have used the Peruvian 
Guano, composted with sandy loam, as a top dressing 
for grass lands—500 lbs. guano to the acre—and have 
obtained very good results. For corn and potatoes and 
all planted crops, I run the rows with the pioneer har¬ 
row; spread the guano along the vows—then run the 
harrow again, to incorporate the guano finely with the 
soil. The germination is accelerated, and the plant 
has every inducement to a vigorous growth. The after 
culture is followed closely with the cultivator and the 
hoe: the results highly encouraging. I obtained last 
year 62 bushels yellow corn, shelled , per acre, from 
old moss-grown pasture lands, with 500 lbs. Peruvian 
Guano alone, per acre—the year before 70 bushels corn 
per acre from the same kind of land ; but a moderate 
dressing of course manure was plowed in in the fall, 
and then 500 lbs. guano composted, and applied as 
above at planting lime. Jona. Bowers. Seekonk, 
Mass., March 1, 1848. 
Account Current with a Cow, 
I am no farmer, but I feel much interest in the cause 
of agriculture. I have often remarked the very inferior 
stock, particularly cows, of which most farmers in this 
State keep from eight to ten. I have often asked why 
they did not keep better cows, and the reply generally 
has been, “cows are high, and afford no profit.” I 
have always thought differently, and last summer made 
up my mind to purchase a cow. A friend in the town 
of Warwick recommended one, ten or twelve years 
old, called a “ native,” and I bought her. I have kept 
a regular and correct account of debt and credit with 
her, a copy of which I herewith enclose you. I know 
of no stronger argument that can be used against the 
idea of the unprofitableness of cows, which I have so 
often heard advanced in this vicinity, than these state¬ 
ments of facts —no guess-work about them. 
The cow had rather poor pasture. I hired a lot of 
about two acres, that was sown the year before to mil¬ 
let, without any grass seed. But my cow did not ar¬ 
rive as soon as I expected, and the grass and weeds 
got up considerably. I sold what could be mowed off for 
$12. The man who bought it thought there was about 
a ton and a half when he got it into the barn. Most 
of the cows in our city run upon the commons, and I 
am sure the feed there was as good if not better than 
mine had. I should have let her run out; but she 
showed a disposition to go back where I bought her, 
about ten miles from the city. You see I have bred 
two calves. The cow had twins—males—which I sold 
when they were a week old for $5. 
Cow, (Old Warwick,) Cr. 
1847. 
July 16, By cash for grass 
off lot.$12 00 
31, 2 calves, (twins).. 5.00 
Dec. 31, Milk sold at store 
of C. & G , from 
Aug. 2 to date,.. 62.17 
Cash for milk sold 
sundry persons 
within above time 8.86 
Used in my family 
2 quarts per day 
from Aug. 2 to 
Oct. 1, 118 qts. at 
4c.,. 4.72 ' 
Do. from Oct. 1 to 
date, 184 qts. at 5c. 9.20 
Hay, meal, &c. on 
hand,. 5.00 
Present value of 
cow,. 38.00 
$144.95 
Jan. 1, By Balance, $63.74. 
Should you wish to have a copy of the account at the 
end of this year, I will send it. I am pretty confident, 
however, that the credit for the cow will be increased 
from the above balance. Henry R. Congdon. 
Providence, R. I., Jan., 1848. 
We shall be glad to receive Mr. Congdon’s account 
with the cow for the present year.— Eds. 
Experiment in the Culture of Corn. 
I will venture to give a brief statement of an acci¬ 
dental experiment in the culture of corn. In 1846, I 
procured some seed-corn of a large twelve-rowed vari¬ 
ety, intending to plant it in the same field with an eight- 
rowed variety, but to keep them separate and thereby 
to test the relative value of the two varieties ; but 
by accident, after being shelled, the corn got mixed, 
and was planted in that way. When harvested many 
of the stalks (one-half I should think) produced two 
good ears of the usual length. One fact particularly 
attracted my notice, and which showed the mixture of 
the two varieties on the same stalk. Many of the 
stalks which produced two ears had one of eight and 
one of twelve rows; others two of ten rows; others 
still,* two of eight rows. Thinking that by carefully 
saving seed from such stalks as had two ears might 
tend to establish a variety possessing that valuable 
characteristic, I did so that year, and planted the 
next year, 1847, entirely from such seed; but my crop 
that year greatly disappointed my expectations in that 
respect. Still I think it worth a thorough trial. I 
would suggest to your readers that several'of them 
make the same experiment this year by mixing two 
varieties, say eight and twelve-rowed, and plant them 
together in that way, and communicate the result 
through the Cultivator after next harvest. An Old 
Subscriber. Caanan, Ct., March, 1848. 
Smith’s Patent Lever Drill. 
The annexed is a cut of a seed drill for wheat and 
other grains, invented by H. W. Smith, of Pennsylva¬ 
nia. Arrangements have been made for manufacturing 
the machine at Syracuse,, by C. Masten, of Penn Yan, 
N. Y., who owns the patent for this state. It is de¬ 
scribed as follows; 
“ The axles are of cast iron, extending half the 
width of the machine, with a flange soipe six inches in 
diameter on the end, which, with a cast iron plate of 
the same dimensions screwed on the wheels, retains the 
spokes and forms the hub. These wheels and axles may 
Cow, (Old Warwick) Dr 
1847. 
July 29, Cash for self,.. $38.00 
“ 1 bushel meal,. 100 
“ Paid for pasture, 10 00 
Aug - . 20 Oil Cake,. 4 69 
21, Hay. 10.73 
24, 4 bush, shorts, 92 
1 meal, 88 
Oct. 5, 100 !b«. oil cake, 165 
Nov. 15. 1. bushel meal, 90 
Dec. 6, Meal and Feed, 9 59 
17, 100 lbs. oil cake, 1.70 
23, Brl. meal, Corn 
and Cob,.. 1.15 
3L, Bal. to new ac’t 63.74 
$144.95 
