THE CULTIVATOR, 
Answers to Inquiries. 
New Apples. —(A. Norton, Sandy Hill, N. Y) 
The Byron Whiting is a new variety which origi¬ 
nated at Port-Byron, Cayuga Co,, N. Y. It is reported 
to he a great and constant bearer, and a uniformly 
fair fruit—qualities of great and increasing importance, 
since, of late years, our fruit generally has become so 
much injured by the scab or mildew. From specimens 
we have examined, however, we are inclined to think 
it not high enough in flavor to entitle it to general cul¬ 
tivation. 
The Melon, or Norton’s Melon, is a most excellent 
fruit in quality, but a slow grower, and moderate 
bearer. 
Decay op Stumps.— S. H W. We cannot perceive 
why the height of cutting should make any difference 
in the period of decay, although high stumps do not 
usually stand so long, in consequence of the greater 
ease in tearing them out. Cut low, and kept covered 
with a heap of turf or earth, stumps will soon decay. 
Wheat Drills.--#. H. A. The grain drill man¬ 
ufactured by Pierpont Seymour, of East Bloomfield, 
Ontario county, N. Y. is the most general favorite in 
this state. Bickford & Huffman, of Macedon, 
Wayne county, N. Y. manufacture a good and sub¬ 
stantial drill, scarcely inferior in excellence. Our cor¬ 
respondent may learn further particulars by address¬ 
ing them. 
Wind Power.— J. W. G. We shall give the de¬ 
sired information within a few weeks, or as soon as we 
can procure the necessary cuts. 
Hop Culture— H. G., Sheldon, Vt. —This subject 
was fully treated of in our journals for last year. You 
will find in The Cultivator for 1853, just the informa¬ 
tion you want, from one of the best hop-growers in the 
country. 
Corn Planters.— E. Ellis. The best planters with 
which we are acquainted are Emery's and Wood¬ 
ward's. There may he others as good. Emery's, 
when,used with horse power, will plant seven or eight 
acres a day, more evenly than by hand. The cost is 
about $15. We believe it is kept for sale at several 
of the agricultural stores. Woodward’s is regarded 
by many as the best. It is a New Hampshire machine, 
and we do not know its price, and place of sale—will 
some of our correspondents inform us ? 
Dynamometers.— Will you please inform me wheth¬ 
er or not there is an instrument or fixture for testing, 
the draught of plows ? If so, where can it be obtain¬ 
ed, and what is the cost of it? G. T. F. 
The dynamometer, or force-measurer, is like a large 
stiff spring-balance, measuring several hundred pounds, 
one end of which is attached to the plow, and the other 
to the team that draws it. The index shows with ac¬ 
curacy the force applied. There are several modifica¬ 
tions. Such an instrument would be of great use to 
farmers in selecting plows and other implements of 
draught, but we do not know where it can be obtained, 
nor the cost. 
What Crop should follow Buckwheat. —I had 
made preparations to plant corn, on a field that has 
been sowed to buckwheat for some years past, but have 
become somewhat fearful of so doing, owing to the re¬ 
marks of a number of your correspondents touching 
that matter, and if torn does not succeed after buck¬ 
wheat of course I dont wish to plant it. Will carrots, 
potatoes, or white beans succeed any better ? or should 
the field be seeded to grass at the next sowing of buck¬ 
wheat. 
Carrots. —Could you inform your readers as to the 
best method of raising carrots, and their relative value 
for stock as compared with grain. Are they worth as 
much as oats for feeding horses ? 
Farmers’ Clubs. —Do towns in your state generally 
sustain Agricultural Clubs ? We have one with us, 
that I think of much value to its members. The mem¬ 
bers have been experimenting the past winter on feed¬ 
ing farm stock, the results of which, should they prove 
valuable and you desire it, we would communicate to 
you. One, as regards feeding a work horse, may be 
valuable. One of our committee requested to experi¬ 
ment, reports, that he feeds his horse twice a day a 
basket of cut hay, (the heat,) weighing 4 lbs., and 5 lbs. 
of cob meal each time, making 8 lbs. of hay and 10 
lbs. of the meal per day—the expense to him being 
$1,54 per week. His horse works ail the time, and is 
fat. Yours, F. A. Willard. Harvard. Mass. 
We greatly need accurate experiments on the rota¬ 
tion of crops. There are various conflicting opinions 
on the points inquired of by our correspondent, owing 
to the common way of forming opiniohs from single 
facts and from guess-work. If any of our correspon¬ 
dents can furnish reliable information, it would be 
gladly received. 
A few towns only in our State maintain town agri¬ 
cultural societies or clubs. Where they do, they have 
had an excellent influence. Conversational meetings 
on practical subjects, among intelligent farmers, are 
eminently useful as well as interesting: We hope our 
correspondent will furnish us the results of the experi¬ 
ments he alludes to. 
Carrots do not contain the substantial nutriment 
found in oats, but are most excellent as a feeding in 
connexion with grain, during that portion of the year 
when dried fodder only can be obtained. The requi¬ 
sites for their successful culture are simply these : Good 
fresh seed, a deep, fertile, clean soil; very early plant¬ 
ing, to iusure even vegetation; and clean cultivation 
from the moment the second leaf appears. A drill for 
sowing is indispensable to field culture. 
Skunk Cabbage. —Will you have the kindness to 
inform me the best method of destroying the Skunk 
Cabbage or Skunk Weed? Some of our meadows have 
this weed' in them, and if it can be killed by cutting, 
in what month should it he cut, and what time in the 
month, and of what depth below the surface should it 
be cut? By answering the above questions, you will 
confer a favor upon a New Subscriber. Hart¬ 
ford , Conn. 
Cut with a long bladed or grub-hoe, well below the 
part supporting the leaves, when the plant has nearly 
obtained maturity. This remedy applies only to wet 
meadows not cultivated ; when drained and subjected 
to tillage, this weed will of course soon be eradicated. 
If any of our correspondents know a better way, they 
will confer a favor by giving the information to our 
readers. 
Estimating Hay in Bulk. —A correspondent in 
your last issue inquires the number of cubic feet of 
hay for a ton. If the hay be closely pressed, as at the 
bottom part of a bay, 450—if lightly, as on a scaffold 
or top part of bay, 500 ft. Wm. J. Pettee. Lake¬ 
ville, CL 
Bullock’s Seed Planter. —I saw in a last year’s 
number of the Cultivator, an advertisment of “ Bul¬ 
lock’s Patent Seed Planter,” and you would confer a 
favor on me by giving your opinion as to the efficacy 
of the machine. L. A. J. Litchfeld Co., April -20. 
A correspondent in Ontario county, R. J. Baggerly. 
Esq, writes us that he ordered one of these Planters 
last year—that “ it was thoroughly tried with corn, by 
several intelligent and practical farmers, and they all 
pronounced it a total failure.” 
Black Cayuga Ducks.; — E. B., Amenia.—These 
ducks are said to have descended from the wild black 
duck, and to have been bred distinct from any other 
variety for twenty years or more. We believe they 
can be procured of Mr. J. S. Clark, Throopsville, 
Cayuga co., N. Y. -- 
A box 7 inches by 8 inches square, and 4-8 inches 
deep, will contain a half gallon. 
