43 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
The Michigan Plow. 
Are these of such dimensions and construction that 
will do good work and not cut deeper than the common 
plow, say from five to eight inches, and for that depth 
would thejr be preferable to the common plow on smooth 
land free from stone; and where can they be had, and 
what is the price ? Can they be drawn at that depth 
easily with three good horses'! A Subscriber. Eas¬ 
ton, N. Y ., Dec., 1853. 
A principal object of the Michigan plow, is cutting 
deeper than with ordinary plows, burying the top sod 
under the mellower portion thrown up from below. If 
set to run only five inches deep, the forward mould- 
. board would not cut at all and would only encumber 
the implement. This plow will not work well at a less 
depth than eight inches. With this depth, three hor¬ 
ses would draw the smaller size without difficulty. We 
believe it is kept for sale at the principal agricultural 
warehouses, at prices varying from nine to twelve dol¬ 
lars. < » 
Destroying Sweet Flag. 
Can you inform me the best way to kill sweet flag 
from low ground, as there is a good deal of it here on 
the best land. P. M. Hopkinton , N. H. 
The roots of the sweet flag run near the surface, from 
which numerous fibres extend downwards; but these 
have no buds or eyes, and will throw up nothing if 
deprived of the surface growth. The best way to de¬ 
stroy the plant, therefore, where the ground is hard 
enough, or sufficiently drained to bear a team, is to get 
a paring plow , and run it just low enough to cut off 
the fibrous roots, and separate them from the surface. 
The sod is then cut up into blocks, drawn off, and may 
be used with much advantage in the compost heap. If 
the ground is too soft for plowing, a sharp spade will 
rapidly remove the surface roots, and completely extir¬ 
pate the plant. —— 
Flowing in Weeds, &c. 
Will you do me the favor to state in your journal 
the best plow for turning in effectually fallow land 
grown up thickly in high grass and weeds, and crops 
of field Peas sown broadcast. Also the best method of 
preventing the growth of shoots from the trunks of 
fruit trees, near the ground. A Subscriber. 
To plow in tall grass, weeds, or any other green crop, 
any good plow sold at the agricultural warehouses “for 
laying flat furrows ” will be found best. There are so 
many patents or manufacturers in various localities, 
that it would be hard to name the best, but our opinion 
is that none better will be found than thos^ of Buggies, 
Ncurse and Mason, of Boston and Worcester. In order 
to press the growth flat, just as the mouldboard begins ’ 
to turn the sod, provide a stiff iron rod, to pass through 
a hole in the beam just forward of the coulter, and ex¬ 
tending downwards and backwards, parallel to the 
mouldboard, until about one foot to the right of the 
beam, and just sweeping the surface of the ground. 
This serves to bend over the tall vegetable growth, frovj, 
the mouldboard, so that when the sod is thrown over, 
the growth is all turned under, and no portion will pro¬ 
ject from the upper edge of the sod. A round iron rod, 
costing not over twenty-five centg, may be easily bent 
to the proper shape, and inserted into an auger hole 
bored through the beam, and fastened by iron wedges. 
In the absence of any contrivance of this sort, or on 
a very uneven surface, harrowing down the weeds in 
the direction the plow is to run, will much assist the op¬ 
eration. 
The only way to prevent the growth of the shoots 
spoken of, is to cut or pull them off as soon as they ap¬ 
pear. If cut, they must be pared off even with the sur¬ 
face. If a few months old, they may be easily pulled 
off, by holding the ends with the hand, and then press¬ 
ing down on them near the trunk of the tree with the 
foot. — 
Theories and Experience. 
L. Tucker, Esq. — I feel much pleasure in bearing 
witness to the great ability with which the Country 
Gentleman is conducted, and that it comes up to my 
conceptions of what an Agricultural paper should be, 
by practical instruction as to the best methods of 
farming, and literary and miscellaneous matter for the 
improvement of the mind; and most happy am I to 
see you steer clear, so skillfully, of the conceits, no¬ 
tions, and theories which most agricultural editors ad¬ 
minister ad nauseum. Theory may build an apparent¬ 
ly impregnable structure, but when unsustained by ex¬ 
periment, adaptedness and fitness to our wants, it falls 
to pieces like the baseless fabric of a vision. How 
many such have been hatched in the heated brains of 
chemists, philosophers and fancy farmers, and our 
whole agricultural community denounced as a set of 
blockheads because they could not be induced to es¬ 
chew all their hard bought experience and hail with 
joy the advent of some glorious discovery which was 
about to place us soon again within the walls of Eden. 
The transplanting of European ideas and practices, 
without reference to difference in soil, climate and cir¬ 
cumstances, is a fearful source of error of this descrip¬ 
tion. In most ca.ses the instinctive perceptions of our 
farmers, like the test-paper of the chemist, is more re¬ 
liable in practical questions than the most carefully 
educed proposition of the man of science. Of these 
some maintain that humus is insoluble, and conse¬ 
quently innutritious; others that all vegetable substan¬ 
ces should be converted into the state of humus be¬ 
fore being applied; some that all manures should be 
thoroughly fermented] others that they should be fer¬ 
mented at the roots of the growing crop; some that 
all vegetable and animal manures are worthless for 
purposes of nutrition; others that the atmosphere is 
the great and only store-house of vegetable life; some 
that mineral applications are merely stimulants, tend¬ 
ing towards the eventual exhaustion of the elements of 
fertility; others that mineral substances enter into and 
constitute a part of the vegetable as truly and essen¬ 
tially as carbon itself does As the lawyers say, the 
books are full to the same effect. The farmer, in the 
midst of these discrepancies of the doctors, winks his 
eye, and says, “possibly you are all right under cer¬ 
tain circumstances, and until you settle the question 
among yourselves, I will practice upon the results of 
