THE CULTIVATOR. 
23 
provided the roller be also used. The fact appears to be, that no¬ 
thing is necessary to the vernal growth of the plant, but the pre¬ 
servation ot the apparatus which contains the saccharine matter 
which is ils proper vernal food ; so that it the roots and top be cut 
off, and the bulb be planted in a genial soil, the plant will grow. 
iNutwithstauding the argumeu s which have tieen urged m favor 
of sowing wheat late, it must be conceded that, when early sown 
and our holds are cultivated in the usual manner, it produces the 
largest crop, it it survive the cold season. VVhether such improve¬ 
ments may not be made, as to combine the benefits of a sure and 
large crop, is a question still opt n to investigation; the proba¬ 
bility is, that both advantages may be secured, by a more correct 
knowledge of the proper tune to sow, and of the best methods ot 
culture. 
In the first volume of transactions of the society for the promo¬ 
tion of agriculture, arts and manufactures, instituted in the state 
ofNew-York, it is stated that, in Huntington, Suffolk county, fifty 
two bushels of wheat had been raised by manure on an acre of land, 
and Mr. Downs is said to have raised on a poor gravelly dry soil, 
by the use of fish as manure, at the rate of 128 bushels of rye an 
acre. In this case, the rye would doubtless have lodged and been 
of little value, were it not that it was twice eaten off by Ins neigh, 
bor’s sheep which broke into the lot; once when the rye was nine 
inches high, and again when it was about six inches high. 
The porduction of so large a crop of wheat and of rye must have 
proceeded from causes which are steady and umfotm in their ope¬ 
ration, and if all the circumstances which had occurred to produce 
them, had been distinguished and noted down ; similar crops might 
have been again raised. Some things which occurred during the 
cultivation of this rye crop, may be ascribed to accident or chance, 
so far as Mr. Downs’ sagacity was concerned, but the causes which 
proxnnately accasioned the crop, did not work by accident or by 
chance, but agreeably to laws or rules from which they never devi 
ate. This uniformity of operation lays the foundation for making 
future discoveries, and brings within the grasp of our faculties the 
knowledge of increasing our crops by methods the least laborious 
and expensive. 
The period may arrive when the farmer shall pursue his methods 
of culture with an anticipation of the consequences which will result, 
analagous to that of the mechanician in the construction of a ma¬ 
chine, and when by direct means, he shall procure greater crops 
than ever were obtained by mere empirical trials. 
Time was when the greatest philosophers taught the doctrine, 
that all things pertaining to the surface of the earth were too irre¬ 
gular and too much under the governance of chance, to admit of 
scientific inquiry ; this error has, within the two last centuries, 
been dispelled. But a similar error, in regard to rural affairs, is 
embraced by almost all our practicial farmers, and the task of cor¬ 
recting and exposing it, is devolved, it would seem, upon the unaided 
efforts of a few individuals. Here then is the difficulty. 
MOWING AWAY GRAIN. 
It is desirable in mowing away grain not only to guard against 
the depredation of vermin, but also to obtain the greatest stowage. 
To accomplish these objects it is necessary ,first to .'ay a course ol 
sheaves round the outside of the hay with their buts out and close 
together. The buts of the second course should just touch the 
bands of the first; those of the third course, should lay on the 
bands of the second, and the same rule of placing the last course 
a little higher up on the preceding one, ougfu to be observed 
throughout, so that the layers of sheaves should have a convex 
form, gradually rising from the outside towards the centre, and for 
this purpose the centre ought to be well filled in. By this arrange¬ 
ment every layer will be a little more crowning than the previous 
one, and so it ought to be. The centre of a mow will always set¬ 
tle more than the outside, and if the layers are made level, they 
will soon become concave or dishing, as it is termed, and there 
will be a general pressure of the exterior sheaves towards the ccn 
tre, of which the consequence will be an unoccupied space between 
the buts of the sheaves and the sides of the barn. But if the lay¬ 
ers of grain are of a convex form, the outside sheaves will, as the 
mow settles, be pushed back by the central ones, close against the 
sides of the barn, upon the same principle on which both sides oi 
a log will be pressed out by the force of a wedge driven between 
them. For a similar reason, if hay be put at the bottom of a mow 
of grain, the surface on which the grain rests ought to be a little 
crowning. But still the mow, as our harns are usually construcied, 
will not have that compactness which it ought io possess; the buts 
of the sheaves which rest on the girts are prevented by the girts 
from settling, so that a space is left beneath them, which both oc¬ 
casions a loss of stowage and affoids a passage into the mow for 
mice. To correct this evil, the girts should not be more than 
three inches broad, and further strength, if necessary, should be 
supplied by giving them greater depth. 
DESTRUCTION OF WEEDS. 
The spirits of turpentine, 1 have found a subtle poison to all 
plants experimented upon, and among others I have applh d it to 
milkweed, burdock and Canada thistle; a tea-sponful dropped on 
the stem, will run down and destroy it to the ground, and if the 
root is not, on the first trial, destroyed, a repetition will be suffi¬ 
cient. This remedy may be of particular use where weeds start 
up from under stone walls or other inaccessible places. 
Johnswort is regarded by many farmers as more noxious than the 
Canada thistle. It frequently usurps whole fields to the exclusion 
of all the valuable grasses. On some spots of land covered with 
this weed I spread gypsum, at the rate of three bushels an acre, 
and had the satisfaction to find that the spots were soon covered 
with a thick mat of while clover and other grasses; while the 
Johnswort was part running out. It is quite possible that a less 
quantity of gypsum per acre might answer a similar purpose. 
COMPOST. 
There are two ways of making a compost, or mixture of earth 
with manure. Agreeably to one method, a mound is formed in the 
barn-yard or near it, consisting of alternate btds of manure and 
earth ; when the manure has fermented, the mass is turned over 
with the spade and partially mixed. Aft< r a renewel and subsi¬ 
dence of fermentation, the materials are again turned over with a 
spade, and more thoroughly blended together. The compost is then 
drawn out and spread on the field. 
The other way of mixing earth with manure, is much less labo¬ 
rious and expensive, and is thought to be, in many respects, more 
advantageous. The method is this. In the spring of the year, 
draw out all the manure, including straw, cornstalks, cobs and all 
other coarse materials fit for the purpose, into the field ; spread it 
and turn the whole under the soil, from six to twelve inches deep, 
with the plough. In order to have the work well done, one or 
more persons must follow the plough, and with a rake, or hoe, or 
fork, place the coarse manure in the bottom of the furrow. 
When the manure is not spread over the whole of the field as in 
common cases, and the coarse materials cover a still less portion 
of it, one person is sufficient to follow the plough. But when a 
lot is entirely covered with coarse manure, two followers will be 
required, and even three if the business is not properly arranged. 
The following regulation will save the labor of one hand, by ren¬ 
dering unnecessary the passing and repassing of the raters, which 
the method suggested by our first thoughts would require. The 
first raker must set in after the plough, and continue his course; 
when the plough has performed one bout, the second raker begins. 
The first raker upon completing his round will stop; for he will 
find the furrow here filled with manure by his companion ; but his 
stop will not be long, for the team will be close upon him, barely 
allowing time to step aside and permit it to pass; when he again 
sets in with his rake, or hoe, or fork. In this way the business 
will be conducted with great regularity and to the best advantage. 
When the manure has been thus buried underground, it is usu¬ 
al to plant corn in the field, that plants may be present to partake 
of the food which the manure furnishes during its decomposition, 
and also, to keep the field constantly producing valuable crops, 
(n autumn, after the corn is gathered, the soil is turned over with 
the plough and, with the assistance of the harrow, the decomposed 
manure and the soil are well mixed together. The compost is 
now perfected and the field is in a state of preparation for winter 
grain. 
To this method, it has been objected, that the gases, which first 
escape during the fermentation of manure, are poisonous to plants, 
and that their disengagement should be effected, in places where 
they could not exert their efforts injuriously. The results of seve¬ 
ral experiments which L have made, would appear to speak a dif¬ 
ferent language from this. 
I excavated a spot in my garden, about a foot deep, and filled it 
half full with clean wheat straw ; over this was thrown the soil 
which had been displaced, and melon seeds were planted. The 
