1853. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
177 
Tiffany’s Draining Plow. 
Ditching Plow. 
The above cut represents a ditching plow, in¬ 
vented by Mr. J. C. Tiffany, of Coxsackie, 
Greene county, N. Y. It consists of a main stan¬ 
dard, to which are attached two movable eleva¬ 
tors, with mould-board attachments, and to the 
point are fastened three knives—the center one 
attached to the front edge of the standard, to split 
the dirt, so as to pass freely eaeh side of the stan¬ 
dard. The side knives are fastened to two move- 
able lips or arms, which are fastened to the sides 
of the standard. These knives cut the sides of 
the ditch. The whole body of dirt being thus 
loosened, it passes up the elevators, and Is thrown 
off upon the side by the mold-boards, in order 
to remove the dirt already deposited, provided 
the depth of diteh is not obtained by the first cut. 
The plow is followed by a 
flexible jointed spreader, 
made to open and contract, 
in the shape of a triangular 
harrow, .(Fig. 2.) which 
removes the dirt from the 
side of the diteh, and out 
of the way of the next ele¬ 
vation. By the contrac¬ 
tion of the spreader, the 
deposites are placed evenly 
upon the top of the-ground, 
and when the ditch is fin¬ 
ished, and the tile or other 
earth can be returned again by reversing the 
spreader. The sides of the ditch can be cut slop¬ 
ing or straight, and the width of the ditch is re¬ 
gulated by the width of the elevators. The bot¬ 
tom of the plow is made slightly hollow, so as to 
overcome some of the friction, and make it of 
lighter draft. The depth can be regulated by the 
beam, which is made to oseilate upon the front 
standard passing through St, and is held firm by a 
pin passing through the beam and bind standard, 
near the handles of the plow. Thus the trouble 
of shifting the clevis is in a great measure remov¬ 
ed. Application has been made for a patent, and 
a brass model will be on exhibition at the Crystal 
Palace in New-York. 
Fig..-2. 
material is laid, 
the 
Culture and Value of the F. rsnep. 
Messrs. Editors —As one who has lived twen¬ 
ty years upon a farm, searching all the while for 
reliable information, both from his own experi¬ 
ence and from that of others, ought to be in pos¬ 
session of some “fixed facts” and settled opin¬ 
ions; and ^ duty, propriety, and fraternity re¬ 
quire that we should allow others the opportuni¬ 
ty of benefiting by our experience, I feel moved 
to give you a few items of information which I 
think very satisfactorily settled by evidence with¬ 
in my own observation. 
Disliking long prefaces, and trusting that all 
your correspondents will dispense with them, I 
commence the brief summary of my experience 
and observations of twenty years, by a statement 
in regard to the value of parsneps. 
Parsneps for Hcgs. —One of the things which 
I consider well settled, and a reliable and useful 
item of knowledge, is this: that parsneps, either 
raw or cooked, but preferably cooked, with the 
addition of apples, potatoes, &c., occasionally, 
were it only to prevent the appetite from being 
cloyed by “ eternal sameness,” constitute the best 
kind of food whereon to fatten a hog. They are 
also the best kind of roots for milch cows. Both 
hogs and cows eat them with avidity, and to the 
milk and butter they communicate a good, a deli¬ 
cious flavor. I have seen it stated some years 
ago, that beef made from parsneps brings the 
highest price in the London market. I think, 
though I may be deceived by imagination, that 
pork made from feed chiefly composed of pars¬ 
neps, is sweeter than when made from anything 
else. 
This is not the only recommendation which may 
be justly bestowed on the parsnep. Among its 
other good qualities is this—that ft requires no 
care or housing in the fall, as all other roots do. 
In all the middle, northern, and western states, 
potatoes, carrots, and turneps must be harvested 
and housed, or buried; and even when all this is 
done, and with good care and judgment too, a 
portion will frequently be ruined and lost by 
frosting, overheating, or decay from other causes- 
Parsneps, on the other hand, require no care in 
the fall, as they may be left without injury in the 
ground all winter. They may also be planted 
earlier in the spring, as the frost does not injure 
them, even at the earliest stage of their growth, 
so that this root crop interferes the least of any 
with employments which crowd upon the farmer 
in the spring and fall. It continues to grow 
through the whole season, until the ground freez¬ 
es in winter; it requires no expenditure to gather 
or store it ,• it may be taken up on several occa- 
