THE CULTIVATOR 
109 
H;i(i I used straw instead of liny', (lie quantity cut in the above time would 
have been as great, as it is more easy to supply the machine without, interrup¬ 
tion. It cuts cornstalks with rapidity, particularly small ones. The box is 
made large, and by putting a good deal of hay in at once, or by having it close 
to the machine, one person can feed it and turn the crank at the same time.” 
The above machines may he obtained by applying to C. N. Bement No. 
82 State-street, Albany.—Price $30.— Cultivator. 
SAXONY SHEEP. 
J. Burl, Esq.—The August number of the Cultivator contains an ex- j 
tract from the reply of Mr. Henry D. Grove, (published in the N. York, 
Farmer,) to a communication signed “ R.” in the May number of the j 
Cultivator, on the subject of the relative profits of different breeds ol j 
sheep. Mr. Grove, alter conceding to R. all that he claims in respect to 
the quality and quantity of the wool of the English breeds, (Bakewell and 
South Down.) shows by facts, that the pure Saxon, under judicious ma¬ 
nagement, give a greater return of wool, in value. The most ltbetal al¬ 
lowance for weight and fineness, according to Mr. Grove’s estimate, brings 
the South Down to only $2.12 the fleece,- and the Bakewell $2.31, while 
Mr. Gtove’s Saxon fleeces, at 80cts. will fetch him $2.40. This estimate 
allows the Bakewclls 1 lb. more a head than is claimed for them by their 
advocate, R. Deduct the value of this (33cts.) and they stand only$1.98 
a fleece. 
Mr. Grove, as he himself states, was trained up a shepherd in Germany, 
and of course, is presumed to be perlectly familiar with the constitution, 
habits, wants, &c. of the Saxon sheep. It struck me on reading his com¬ 
munication, that for these very reasons, the impression might be received 
that the productiveness of his flock, would not be a fair specimen of that 
of Saxon flocks genetally, as it might, very reasonably, be supposed that 
his superior knowledge and care in the selection and management of this 
breed, would give him the advantage over the other growers. That this 
distinguished importer had succeeded in obtaining a more productive stock 
than those who have purchased haphazard, and without judgment; who 
because a sheep is imported, take it for granted that it is perfect; and 
more especially that class of buyers who have regarded fineness only, pre¬ 
ferring for instance, a buck shearing 2i lbs. to one shearing 4 lbs. where 
the first happened to be a barely perceptible shade the finest;—I say that 
Mr. Grove excels, and entirely excels such, is neither untrue, nor is it 
surprising. But to show that his estimate of the productiveness of the 
Saxon breed (in wool) is not exaggerated in the flocks of those who be¬ 
gin right, 1 subjoin the following statement. 
Mr. Hamilton Rogers, of Truxton, in this county, sheared a large flock 
of young • full blooded’ Saxon ewes, which had not obtained their lull 
growth, the average wmight of the fleeces of which was 3 lb. 9 oz. 
They are descended from the flock of Mr. Grove The wool sold at SOcts. 
—making $2.So to the fleece on not fully grown sheep. 
I will give you another instance, though not proving so much, as the 
flock alluded to (like most of those of Baxewells and South Downs, from 
which the breeders of these kinds have drawn their estimates,) is a very 
small one of [licked sheep. I have among my sheep a lot of pure Saxon 
yearlings, which clipped this spring, 3 1-5 lbs. a head. I sold the wool at 
SOcts. which brought me $2.56 to the fleece. Thi3 excels the South 
Downs by 44cts. according to Mr. Grove’s estimate, which I believe to be 
a liberal one, and the Bakewells by 58cts. taking R.’s own estimate! 
Yours truly, H. S. R. 
Cortland Village , ding. 20, 1835. 
J. Buel, Esq.—Sir—In your last number I mentioned a remedy for 
the foot rot in sheep, but was not perhaps sufficiently particular in describ¬ 
ing the manner of applying the remedy, as several gentlemen have applied 
to me dnee its publication for more explicit information. I therefore will 
state that for an effectual apphcaiion of the medicine too much care can¬ 
not be taken, and that the cure will not be certain unless the remedy is 
applied to every hoof in the flock effected indiscriminately. I have adopt¬ 
ed the following method. I yard my sheep near a stream of shallow wa¬ 
ter, one person then washes the sheeps’ hoofs clean, and hands it to a se¬ 
cond person, who holds it while a third pairs off the decayed parts and 
applies the medicine; those hoots that are not affected of course will need 
no paling, but should have the liquid applied notwithstanding, as the dis¬ 
ease is very infectious, and may exist in a latent manner. If the disease 
is of long standing, it gets into the blood of the animal, and in such case 
sulpher should be mixed with their salt at the rate of 2| or 3 lbs. to each 
half bushel of salt; it physics their blood and drives the disease into their 
feet, which when cured removes the complaint. The sheep should run in 
dry pastures, as the disease originates from their being confined to wet 
and marshy land until the glands of the hoof swell and suppurate, after 
which it becomes infectious; the application of the medicine should be re¬ 
peated as often as once in three or four weeks until the cure is effected. 
J\~elson, A". Y. Sept 5/A. S. 
Crawford, Orange Co. Aug. 3, 1835. 
Mr. J. Buel,— The fact that our fruit trees generally alternate barren¬ 
ness and fruitfulness, in a biennial period, is (I presume) known to all the 
inhabitants of this community. To change the habit of the trees by art, 
is a desideratum amongst the lovers of good fruit, such as apples, pears, 
[teaches, plums, &c. To obviate barrenness, is the object of this com¬ 
munication. 
It is well known to botanists and others, that the germ or bud of the fu¬ 
ture blossom is in an embryo state in autumn. Guided by that fact, I be¬ 
gan with a peach tree on the 25th of August, whilst the sun was in the 
first degrees of Virgo, by making a strong decoction of hops, in quantity 
about 5 gallons, and poured it around the root of the tree in the evening. 
The subsequent season, (which would according to habit have been bar¬ 
ren) the quantity and quality surpassed the products of any previous pe¬ 
riod. A repetition of the experiment for six or seven years, on the 25th 
of August, liberally remunerated me for the extra trouble and attention. 
Encouraged by success, I tried the apple, pear, and plums (several spe¬ 
cies,) with similar success. But on account of the inconvenience of pre¬ 
paring the decoction, I substituted aloes, an half pound to six gallons of 
rain water, and applied it on the first of September. Repeated experi¬ 
ments w ill justify the assumption, that aloes is a catholican in the vegeta¬ 
ble kingdom, both as a preventive and cure. It has proved a preventive 
to the malicious trespasses of a species of the wood-pecker perforating 
the bark of youngapple trees, and a palliative to the ravages of the enreulio. 
Whilst I commend to public attention, liom a conviction of utility, he 
application of aloes to fiuit trees, by painting the bodies, every spring, 
from the ground to the branches, (based upon actual experiments and ob¬ 
servations during a quarter of a century) as an agent to accelerate the 
growth of the tree and ameliorate the fruit in quality and quantity, at the 
same time I will take the liberty to protest against a piactice I have fre¬ 
quently seen in my touts through this part of the state, of painting the 
bodies of fruit trees annually with lime, (c° m,n °tdy called white washing.) 
Experience, the best of teachers, affirms, that the fruit deteriorates in 
quantity and quality, and the tree decays, and if repeated, will in less 
than seven years be useful only as fuei. 
NATHANIEL GILLESPIE. 
P. S. If the above communication should contain any new idea, you 
will confer a public benefit by publishing it in the Cultivator. With the 
author, the facts stated were the offspring of his own deliberations and ex¬ 
periments, not aided by the suggestions qf any individual. But when I re¬ 
flect on the numerous titles of books announced in the catalogues of our 
public journals, on horticulture and orchards, w hich I have never read, I 
deem it improbable that the principles commended have escaped the ob¬ 
servation of so many laborious and indefatigable observers and investiga¬ 
tors of the laws of the vegetable kingdom; nor can I calculate beyond 
mere conjecture, the difference that latitude, seasons, and soils, Sic. may 
produce in the success or failure of those e.xperimer ts. If any thing more 
in detail has been printed in any of those books which you habitually read, 
of a similar import, and better calculated to excite public attention, you 
will subserve the welfare of the community by devoting a column of your 
useful paper in giving it publicity. N. G. 
Elements of Practical Agriculture, 
By David bow, Professor of Agriculture, &c. 
SUCCESSION OF CROPS. 
As crops of the cultivated plants succeed to each other upon the same 
ground, a question to be determined is the order in which the different 
kinds should follow each other. 
All plants which are cultivated, and which are carried from the ground 
where they are produced, tend to render the soil less productive, or, in 
the language of farmers, to exhaust it. 
But plants which are suffered to decay, or which are consumed by ani¬ 
mals on the ground on which they grow, do not exhaust the soil. On the 
contrary, the decay of the stems and leaves of such plants, either naturally, 
or by the consuming of them by animals, tends to add those decomposing 
organic matters to the soil which form one of the elements of its fertility. 
This process may be imperceptible and slow, but it is that which Nature 
herself employs to form the soil, as distinguished from what has been 
termed the subsoil. 
Sometimes this process of decay is counteracted by the singular natural 
piovision, of a conversion of the decomposing vegetables into a sub¬ 
stance which itself resists decomposition—peat. But with this exception, 
the tendency of the decay of vegetables upon the surface is to add to the 
fertile matters of the soil. 
This is well understood in the practice of agriculturists. When the pro¬ 
ductive powers of a soil have been exhausted by cultivation and the carrying 
away of its produce from the surface, it is laid down to herbage, in which 
state the future vegetation which it produces tends, by its decomposition 
upon th® surface, to renovate the productive powers of the soil. Land in 
this state is said to rest. 
When land, however, has been impoverished by successive crops, and 
his become full of weeds, the laying it down to rest in that state is attend¬ 
ed with less beneficial consequences than when the soil has heen previ¬ 
ously cleaned of injurious weeds, and fertilized by good culture. In the 
former case, the process of renovation is slow, if perceptible at all; the 
