10 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
no large portion of his material creation without animated existences. 
The planets are known from the stars from their motions in the hea¬ 
vens—the stars remaining apparently always in the same place. The 
latter, whose number is almost countless, are each supposed to be suns, 
or centres of other systems like ours. Their great distance from us 
may be judged from the fact, that although we are nearer to some in 
one part of the year, by one hundred and ninety millions of miles, (this 
being the diameter of the earth’s orbit,) than we are in another, the 
fixed stars appear always precisely of the same magnitude. How in¬ 
significant appears a single farm, when compared with the entire sur¬ 
face of the globe! and yet our globe, as large as it may seem, bears a 
still less proportion to the works of creation. 
Fig. 2. 
The average yield was a bushel from twelve hills, or two hundred 
and seventy-five bushels, at eighteen cents per bushel,.$49 50 
Deduct expense, leaves clear gain,... 31 50 
equal to the interest of nine hundred dollars per acre. 
Yours respectfully, A. CRARY. 
DUTTON CORN. 
Mr. Buel. —In one of your late numbers, you speak of having sent 
some of the Dutton Corn into New-Jersey, but of the success of which 
you had not heard. A barrel of it was sent to me, part of which I 
planted, and the rest was distributed among my neighbors. I planted in 
different fields, and in all instances, other kinds of corn in the same 
field, and with equal chances to each, but with very different results— 
the Dutton having, in every case, yielded more than any other—besides 
having more and better fodder from it, because the stalks are smaller 
and more easily eaten by cattle. In one field, a sward of ten years stand¬ 
ing, I planted it by the side of another kind of usual good product, and 
the two kinds produced in the proportion of three hundred to two hun¬ 
dred and fifty—two acres of the Dutton corn having produced three hun¬ 
dred bushels of ears, and the other two hundred and fifty—the land and 
the tillage in all respects the same ; and yours was cut up two weeks 
earlier than the other, being fully fit on the first of September, when I 
commenced it. N. Jersey, Feb. 1836. G. H. M’CARTJER. 
The upper horizontal row, in fig. 2, exhibits the proportional mag 
nitudes of the primary planets, compared with each other, and with 
the sun, as represented by fig. 2. 1? Saturn. If Jupiter. tJiHerschel 
$ Mars. ©The Earth. ? Venus. $ Mercury. The lower horizontal 
row, in fig. 2, exhibits the proportional apparent magnitudes of the sun 
as seen from the primary planets. A Mercury. B Venus. C the Earth. 
D Mars. E Jupiter. F Saturn. G Planet Herschell, or Georgium 
sidus. • __ 
Agricultural Improvement .—We have frequently adverted to the im¬ 
provement of Scotch husbandry. In confirmation of our opinion, we 
quote the following sentence from the December number of the Edin¬ 
burgh Quarterly Journal of Agriculture. It is the remark of William 
Aiton, and is high authority. 
“ Every person who has reached the age of fifty years, and that has paid the 
least attention to the progress of agriculture, will admit, that the produce of 
land has been far more than doubled within that period ; and every intelligent 
farmer will also admit, that our arable land is capable of producing double its 
present produce in the the course of twenty years.” 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
REMEDY FOR BOTS IN HORSES. 
J. Buel, Esq.—Dear Sir.—In the last April number of the Cultiva 
tor, is a remedy for bots in horses ; and my object in this communica- 
ion is, to give publicity to the fact, that the life of one of my horses was 
reserved by the use of that remedy, after having tried every thing that 
could be thought of by an experienced farrier. I would recommend the 
use of that remedy to all in like cases. Very respectfully yours, 
Sherburne, Feb. 22, 1836. ISRAEL FOOTE. 
The prescription is —Mix one pint of good vinegar with half a pint of good 
sifted ashes, in a bottle, and turn the dose down the horse’s throat while effer¬ 
vescing. From one to three bottles will suffice, given at intervals of twenty 
or twenty-five minutes, if found necessary. 
Knox, February 10, 1836. 
Dear Sir. —Having determined to cultivate a piece of ground with 
potatoes last season, partly by way of experiment, in the manner recom¬ 
mended in the Cultivator, for hoed crops, I chose a half acre of land 
situated in the corner of an old pasture, a part of it too wet for ordinary 
cultivation, and the remainder produced but a scanty herbage. The fol 
lowing is a statement of the estimated expense and the result:— 
Expense for underdraining,. $2 50 
Carting and spreading ten loads of coarse manure from the barn 
yard,. 2 50 
Nicely turning over the sod, by once ploughing,. 1 00 
Harrowing and furrowing, two and a half feet apart, so as not 
to disturb the sod,. 1 00 
Planting,. 1 50 
Ploughing shallow between the rows, plastering and hoeing, 
moulding up the plants slightly,. 1 50 
Twenty bushels of good seed, at twenty-five cent per bushels,.. 5 00 
Harvesting,. 3 00 
Total,.... $18 00 
CURING HAY IN COCK. 
Mr. Editor —Having been a subscriber to your valuable paper, some 
two years, and having perused it with anxiety and pleasure, and I think 
not without profit, I have bden waiting to hear from some one more able 
to give the necessary information than myself, some direction with re¬ 
gard to the curing of hay. But as I have not found any thing that seemed 
to meet my mind, I have ventured to give you my views on this impor¬ 
tant subject. 
1st. What is there in hay, that causes it to sustain and nourish animal 
life? I think, sir, that the oil that it contains, is the nourishing part. Now, 
sir, this being the case, the next most important question is, in what 
stage of its growth does it contain the most oil. This, I think, can be 
answered by reference to the distilling of perpermint; that herb pro¬ 
duces most oil, if cut when full in the blow; and I think grass contains 
most oil when in the same state. The next question is, how can it be 
cured, and in the curing loose the least oil. Perhaps this may be de¬ 
monstrated by again having reference to the distilling of peppermint. It 
is well known that if that herb is suffered to lie exposed to the sun after 
it has wilted, it loses a portion of the oil, and further, if it is suffered to 
lie packed together in a large mass, and heat, almost all the oil is carried 
off by such fermentation. 
Now, sir, if these facts are applicable to the curing of hay, then as 
soon as grass is wilted, it should be put up in small cocks, not suffi¬ 
ciently large to heat, and should thus remain until sufficiently 
cured to put in a large mass without fermentation. For in case it heats 
or ferments, it loses in weight and bulk, and loses more in oil, or in its 
nourishing properties than in both, (viz. weight and bulk,) becomes 
stiff, and loses almost all its nourishing properties. Hence I have fre¬ 
quently observed, that when the weather has been unfavorable, I have 
carried hay into my barn when it was well wilted, and by spreading it 
in the barn until it becomes sufficiently cured, so that though packed in 
a mass, it would not ferment,—that such hay is most readily devoured 
by the stock, and appears to afford them the most nourishment. 
This being the case, as many intelligent farmers have proved, it ap¬ 
pears to say that hay should not be exposed to the sun after it is well 
wilted, and should be well cured before it is put in a mass, so that it may 
not lose from fermentation. 
Dear sir, I am not a man of science and learning, and am not in the 
habit of writing for the press; but, sir, if there is any thing herein con¬ 
tained, that you shall think worth an insertion in your valuable paper, 
you are at liberty to insert it, after correcting mistakes. 
Yours, &c. SETH JOHNSON. 
We think that Mr. Johnson is right, inhis practice and in his reasons. Hay 
loses in its nutritious properties—the properties which nourish and fatten the 
animal—call it oil, or sugar, or mucilage, or what you will, by long exposure 
to the rays of a hot sun. We also dry in small cocks, after the grass is wilted. 
It then dries all alike, except a portion upon the surface of the cock—the 
baneful influence of the sun is excluded—an equalization of moisture takes 
pi .ce, and if left to cure here, it never afterwards heats in the mow or stack. 
Hay exposed several days to the sun loses its color and much of its nutriment. 
— Conductor . 
Jesse Buel, Esq.—Sir—I am induced to call the attention of sheep 
farmers, to a subject of deep interest, through the medium of your valua¬ 
ble and extensively circulated publication, the Cultivator, which I hope 
may tend to arrest the progress of a disease that is at present reducing 
the flocks in many parts of this state ; so far as I can ascertain this loss 
is confined to the full blood merinos. I made a considerable addition to 
my flock in November last of this breed, and they appeared to thrive 
well until the middle of January, about which time a few lambs were 
