1852 
THE CULTIVATOR, 
243 
The Excelsior Churn. 
Patented by G. B. Clarice , Leonardsville, Madison Co., N. Y. 
A is the rotating or revolving body, worked by crank and gear¬ 
ing, as shown, or it may be attached to any motive power by passing 
a band directly on to its raised hoops G G. Two or more large churns 
can thus be driven in one frame, by passing a short band from the 
first cylinder to the second, and from that to a third, &c , thus afford¬ 
ing facilities for churning any quantity of milk and cream, together 
or" separately, at one operation. By a new and simple device, the 
body is easily made water tight at its lid and bearings on the fixed or 
permanent axles. The cross bar, or dash, is a narrow wooden bar, 
placed longitudinally above the center of the barrel or body, with pro¬ 
jections B on its upper edge, extending upward to the periphery, at 
any desired angle. Pins inserted in two side staves of the cylinder, 
pass between the projections on the cross bar, which is removably 
attached, or supported by iron braces, to the axles on which the body 
rotates or revolves. The axles are hollow, with ventilating funnels 
C C, set in blocks, and extending downward into their cavities. By 
closing the outward end of the axles, a perfect ventilation of the cyl. 
inder is effected, even when filled above the place of its axis. The 
cavities of the axles permit ihe crooked water tubes E E to be passed 
through them, to be inserted in the corked ends of the small metallic 
cylinder in the center of ihe churn. Through these tubes which 
close by their flanges, the outward end of the axles, and being of less 
diameter than the cavities, so as not to obstruct the ventilation, a 
stream of co'.d water can be kept running; the water passing down 
the outward injecting funnel through the tube, filling the tempering 
cylinder, (the small tube on the cylinder should be corked after ihe 
air has escaped,) and passing out at the waste pipe. This need only 
be used when tempering is necessary, and where running water can¬ 
not be applied, a few pails from the well will reduce the temperature 
sufficiently. A thermometer may be used to ascertain the tempera¬ 
ture of the water at the waste pipe, which will indicate correctly that 
of the milk or cream. The cross bar, tempering cylinder and tubes, 
can all be removed from the barrel of the churn, thus leaving nothing 
but the empty cylinder for cleansing. [See advertisement.] 
“Thoughts on Manures.” 
Messrs. Editors —I propose to make a few comments 
upon the following extract, taken from the second arti¬ 
cle in the March number of the Cultivator, termed 
11 Thoughts on Manures, special and general,” viz-. u The 
writer has often been amused with the theories of writers, 
on the subject of manures and vegetable nutrition. Many 
eminent men have advanced the idea, that vegetables de¬ 
rive most, or a large portion of their food from the at¬ 
mosphere. To demonstrate the incorrectness of this idea, 
we have only to suppose a case. Suppose we select a 
sterile spot in the middle of the richest prairie of the 
west, and in that spot plant corn or any other vegetable. 
What advantage will the atmosphere, which is charged 
with the exhalation of fifty thousand acres of prairie 
land, be to that corn? Will it make it grow or produce? 
The truth is, the atmosphere has the same influence on 
vegetable, that it has on animal nutrition—no more, no 
less. The nutrition is taken from the soil, conveyed 
through the ascending sap vessels to the leaves, in the 
surfaces of which it is exposed to the action of the car¬ 
bonic acid and nitrogen in the atmosphere, which pre¬ 
pares it for the appropriation of the plant to the forma¬ 
tion of wood, fruit/’ &c. 
I refer to this matter, from the circumstance that the 
position here taken, conflicts in a measure with my own 
views, and if correct, will destroy the conviction I have 
long entertained, that one of the most judicious and re¬ 
liable modes of increasing and perpetuating the fertility 
of lands that are remote from market and others, is by 
cultivating clover, luzerne, &.C., and allowing them to 
fall upon the ground ,and the plowing under of green crops. 
Now, if as assumed by the writer of the above extract, 
vegetation receives little or no nutriment from the at¬ 
mosphere, but obtains it all, or nearly all, from the soil, 
no increase of fertility would result from the plowing 
under of green crops, or the growth of clover, &c., be¬ 
cause the plants would return to the soil the exact quan¬ 
tity of ingredients they derived from it, and no more . 
Hence, the theory of the writer is in direct conflict with 
multiplied experiments, and with what I had supposed 
was a settled principle in agriculture. For it is too 
well known to need repetition, that the seeding of 
land with clover, or any grass, and allowing it to re¬ 
main a few years in pasture, greatly invigorates the land 
and augments its productive powers; and the turning 
under of green crops is attended with the same results 
Now these facts, (for they must be regarded as such ) 
