1852. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
83 
Plows should Pulverise the Soil. 
The pulverisation of the soil—or especially tenacious 
soil-—is of great importance to the development of its 
capabilities for the support of a crop. Hence in plow¬ 
ing, it becomes a matter of the highest consequence 
to obtain the implement which will most perfectly effect 
this object. In the trial of plows by the New-York 
State Agricultural Society, in 1850, this was regarded 
as one of the most essential points, for u stiff soil,” and 
we are glad to see that it is receiving much attention in 
England. Mr. Peter Love, an English farmer of con¬ 
siderable distinction, has written a letter to the Mark- 
Lane Express , in which he makes some excellent re¬ 
marks on the action of plows In reference to the pur¬ 
pose alluded to. He says: 
“ If it be the fact that the primary object of cultiva¬ 
tion for the production of the various agricultural crops, 
is a well pulverised soil and porous subsoil, then the 
farmers ought to draw out the ingenuity of our agricul¬ 
tural mechanics, by giving prizes for those plows that 
will invert without smoothing and smearing the under¬ 
strata, and most effectually pulverize the greatest quan¬ 
tify of land a given depth with the least amount of pow¬ 
er, instead, as the present practice is by all our agricul¬ 
tural societies, awarding prizes to those plows that cut 
out a furrow with all three of its cut sides well smoothed 
and smeared up, and turned over in as unbroken a state 
as possible, so that it will shine from one end to the other, 
like a well moulded piece of concrete, and the bottom 
of the furrow well polished over by the friction of a 
broad soled landside and wrest, thus rendering the un¬ 
der strata almost impervious to either air or water. 
“If we could have a plow so made that it would, 
in the act of inverting the furrow-slice, break it into 
pieces, and pass over the bottom of the furrow without 
the friction of any smooth surface of iron or other ma¬ 
terial being drawn over, closing up all the pores and 
fissures in the under strata, I think there is little doubt 
but such a plow’s cultivation would approach (when per¬ 
formed at equal depths) fork cultivation. 
“ There are a great many of the best farmers who are 
of opinion that it is a great advantage to have the. fur¬ 
rows turned as completely over as possible. But the 
great evil is that when the plow is set to turn the furrow 
so, the solid furrows require so much harrowing to pre¬ 
pare the land for the dibble or the drill ; but such would 
not be the case if we had plows that in the act of turn¬ 
ing over the furrow would well crack, rent, and break 
it, and completely invert it, and cut it up from the un¬ 
der strata without smoothing the bottom of the fur¬ 
row, closing all the pores and fissures thereof.” 
Cultivation by Steam. 
An interesting article was published in The Cultivator, 
from the Ag. Gazette, on the proper mode of applying 
steam to the purposes of tillage. The author of that ar¬ 
ticle has written several others on the same subject, which 
have appeared in the journal before mentioned, one of 
which contains the following ideal description of the ma¬ 
chine which he supposes is destined to take the place of 
the common plow: 
“ Before you depart this life, you will see one more 
wonder moving upon the face of the earth, something 
of this form and fashion—to wit : A complete locomotive 
engine on four wheels, with tires 10 inches broad, and 
slightly corrugated cross-wise on the face, the fore wheels 
turning on a transome, the hind ones fixed; behind them 
(suspended) a transversed, cylindrical shaft, three feet 
in diameter, from six to eight feet long, reminding you 
of a cross-breed between a clod-crusher and hay-tedding 
machine, armed with case-hardened steel tine-points, in 
shape like a dog’s claw, each tine-point alternately long 
and short, so that the side-lap of each claw may cover 
the work of the other, and no interval or ridge be left 
unrent: the extremities of the cylinder just covering the 
wheel tracks. This formidable looking cylinder of claws, 
you will see raised or depressed at pleasure by the en¬ 
gine driver, and adjusted to slow or rapid revolutions, 
not worked by clog-wheels, but by one of the new me- 
talic bands, geared from the drum of the engine. That 
is the 1 Cultivator.’ A platform from the engine extends 
over it, ending in a sort of movable tail-board, which 
may be raised or depressed at pleasure, to regulate the 
settlement of the soil which scatters from it. The revo¬ 
lution of the cylinder is not against but with that of the 
wheels, not dragging or retarding, but helping the ad¬ 
vance of the whole machine, which is moved slowly for¬ 
ward (about half-a-mile an hour) by a detached force 
of about two horse-power, from the same engine.” 
Farmers’ Families. 
Major Patrick, in his address before the Jefferson 
county (N. Y.) Agricultural Society, gave the follow¬ 
ing advice in reference to the improvement of farmers’ 
families. Speaking of the practice, which prevails in 
some families, of keeping a portion of the dwelling al¬ 
most wholly closed, he said— 
First: let tne front part of that house be thrown open, 
and the most convenient, agreeable and pleasant room in 
it be selected as the family room. Let its doors be ever 
open; and when the work of the kitchen is completed, 
let mother and daughters be found there with their ap¬ 
propriate work. Let it be the room where the family 
altar is erected, on which the father offers the morning 
and the evening sacrifice. Let it be consecrated to neat¬ 
ness, and purity, and truth. Let no hat ever be seen in 
that room on the head of its owner; let no coatless indi¬ 
vidual be permitted to enter it. If father’s head is bald 
(and some there are in that predicament,) his daughter 
will be proud to see his temples covered by the neat and 
graceful silken cap that her own hands have fashioned 
for him. If the coat he wears by day is too heavy for 
the evening, calicoes are cheap, and so is cotton wadding. 
A few shillings placed in that daughter’s hand ensure him 
the most comfortable wrapper in the world; and if his 
boots are hard, and the nails cut mother’s carpet, a bushel 
of wheat once in three years will keep him in slippers of 
the easiest kind. Let that table which has always stood 
under the looking-glass, against the wall , be wheeled 
into the room, its leaves raised, and plenty of useful (not 
ornamental) books and periodicals be laid upon it. When 
evening comes, bring on the lights—and plenty of them 
—for sons and daughters all who can—will be most 
willing students. They will read, they will learn, they 
will discuss the-subjects of their studies with each other; 
and parents will often be quite as much instructed as 
their children. The well-conducted agricultural jour¬ 
nals of our day throw a flood of light upon the science 
and practice of agriculture; while such a work as Down¬ 
ing’s Landscape Gardening, laid one year upon that cen¬ 
tre table, will show its effects to every passer-by, for with 
books and studies like these a purer taste is born and 
grows most vigorously. 
-- . 
To Destroy Calamus or Sweet Flag. 
Eds. Cultivator —In reply to your correspondent 
who inquires as to the best mode to destroy “ Calamus 
or sweet flag,” I would say that I succeeded in destroy¬ 
ing a strong growth of it, by repeated plowings and har- 
rowings for two successive seasons. It is necessary how¬ 
ever, to drain the land on which it grows thoroughly 
first. TV ilkinson. Mount Airy Agricultural Institute, 
Germantown. Pa., Nov. 1, 1851. 
No man has ever regretted that he was virtuous and 
honest in his youth, and kept aloof from idleness. 
