34 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
mencement as coeval with their administration of power; for, besides be- ] 
ing a test farm systematically managed, its manufacture and collection of 
the various farm implements—its specimens of geology, mineralogy and 
botany—the exhibition of its animals—the order and regularity of all its 
operations in husbandry—the circulation among our farmers of useful intel¬ 
ligence collected there, either from practice or experiment—the aids it 
will give to our agricultural journals—and, above all, the young men it 
will yeariy send out to every portion of our country, to vivify by their in¬ 
telligence, and fructify by their industry, whatever place they settle in, 
will be so many claims to popular favor—for they will be constant and 
living evidences of its great usefulness. 
I remain your friend, &c. J. P. Beekman, 
Kinderhook , Jan . 26 , 1837.” 
VAN BERGEN’S CULTIVATOR.—Fig. 5. 
The - above is a figure of a Cultivator invented by A. Van Ber¬ 
gen, Esq. and for sale at Thorburn’s Agricultural Warehouse.:— 
It consists of three bulls, (A. A.) connected by two cross slats, 
fastened in the outside pieces by thumb screws, (f. f.) and which 
admit of the machine being contracted or expanded at pleasure. 
The three forward shares are triangular; the two behind are mould¬ 
ing shares, and, by shifting, may be made to turn the earth to or 
from the plants, at pleasure. It is drawn by a horse, and can be 
regulated as to depth by the bridle (B.) It may be used among 
all rowed crops. 
Our national motto once was, “ millions for defence, but not a cent 
for tribute .” A correspondent suggests the following parody, as 
suited to the action of the legislature upon, the surplus fund :— 
“ Millions for the professions, but not a cent for the arts of productive 
labor.” 
If it is true, as is alleged, that soine farmers in our legislature, 
are averse to giving any public monies to aid agricultural improve¬ 
ment, we do not hesitate to say the sentiment is unworthy of them; 
and that enlightened men will be apt to charge them with either 
ignorance or jealousy—ignorance of the value of rural improve¬ 
ment, and of their duty—or jealousy lest others may be enabled to 
surpass them—and their own profits and popularity be consequent¬ 
ly lessened. __ 
Hollow Wooden Rollers may be constructed by most farmers, at 
a very moderate expense for iron work. Take three cast off fore 
wagon or other small wheels; place two of them six feet apart, 
and the other in the centre ; fix an iron axle through the naves of 
each, so as to connect them together, and serve to draw by ; upon 
these, strong, planks, cut very narrow, and bevelled at the edgeg, 
are to be firmly nailed lengthwise, until the roller is completely 
covered. It may then be mounted in the usual manner. If addi¬ 
tional weight is required, as wall generally be the case, it should 
be hung on the axle within the hollow. The draft of a roller is 
lessened by increasing its diameter: for it has been proved, that 
the same strength which is required to draw a roller of half a ton 
Weight, over a height of two inches, when the diameter of the cy- 
lynder is one foot, will suffice to draw rollers of 15 and 184 cwt. 
when their diameters are respectively two and three feet. 
Italian Rye Grass. —S. J. Bayard, of Seneca, advises that his 
Italian Rye Grass promises to stand the winter well. A small 
patch in our grounds, last winter, also did well. This grass is 
adapted for early spring feed, and should our climate not prove too 
severe, will be a valuable acquisition to our husbandry. Mr. B. 
asks what variety of the pea is best for field culture 1 We answer, 
the marrowfat, if designed for market. 
TILLAGE HUSBANDRY. 
WHEAT. 
Soil. —Good wheat cannot be grown upon a soil which does not 
contain both clay and carbonate of lime. Those denominated wheat 
soils by Von Thaer, contain at least 40 per cent of the former, and 
two per cent of the latter, though 50 or 70 of clay, and 4 to 6 of 
lime, are found in the best wheat lands. Heavy loams and stiff clays, 
with a due proportion of carbonate of lime and humus, or vegetable 
mould, give the best grain and the best crops. 
Cultivation. —The writers upon British Husbandry recommend a 
naked fallow, or, where the land is of a light nature, to sow upon 
one ploughing after a clover ley. We shall ere long show, by the 
practice of eminent farmers whom we intend to quote", that the 
naked fallow, even upon stiff clays, may be dispensed with, with 
great advantage to farm profits. When it is intended to sow upon 
a clover ley, it is recommended to plough a month before the time 
of sowing, that some decomposition of the sod may take place, and 
that the land may have time to settle. Whether these advantages 
will counterbalance the benefit of sowing upon the fresh turned soil, 
will depend upon the season, or humidity of the climate. If the 
season is-dry, and continues so, the advantages of the fresh plough¬ 
ed soil are likely to be superior. A second ploughing, on a Glover 
ley, is not only considered useless, but prejudicial; as it not only 
wastes the fertilizing properties of the sward, but it impairs the 
compactness of light soils, upon which clover is principally grown, 
and thus renders them less adequate to the production of a strong 
and healthy crop of wheat—compactness of the soil being a material 
requisite to the favorable growth of this grain. To produce this, it 
is not uncommon, on dry soils, and in dry weather, to turn sheep 
upon the young wheat, both before the frosts in the fall, and in the 
spring. Machines are also employed to compress the soil, con¬ 
structed for this special purpose. 
Manure. —The propriety of applying barn-yard manure to the 
wheat crop, though it may have undergone partial fermentation, 
and be applied on a naked fallow, is seriously questioned. “ Ex¬ 
perience has shown, that its application is very generally rather 
productive of an increase of straw than of corn ; that the crop is 
thus subject to be lodged ; and the wheat has been found inferior 
in weight, as well as more subject to smut, than when it has been 
avoided.” It has been found more beneficial to apply the manure 
to a hoed or fallow crop which precedes the wheat. And it is urg¬ 
ed, that where naked fallows are inevitable, and yard manure is 
absolutely required to ensure a crop, it should be previously mixed 
with refuse earth, as the scrapings of roads and ditches, to form it 
into a compost. We are rather inclined to favor the practice, up¬ 
on stiff clays, and when the manure has rotted, of applying it after the 
last ploughing, and to harrow it in with the seed. The manure 
has then parted with its volatile properties, and its enriching qua¬ 
lities consist in fine carbonaceous matter, which the rains carry to 
the roots of plants ; it tends to ameliorate a stiff clay, and serves 
to preserve the young grain from the injurious effects of frost.— 
As wheat abounds more in gluten, a substance analagous to animal 
matter, and affording nitrogen, than most other plants, it has been 
supposed that animal manures, as fish, oils, bone dust, horn, and 
urine, would be peculiarly beneficial to wheat grounds, and several 
experiments seem to warrant the conclusion. Lime is also often 
beneficial, but we are admonished to be cautious in its application; 
“ for, if applied in a caustic state, it acts so powerfully as a stimu¬ 
lant, that if the land be not supported by an aquivalent application 
of putrescent manure, it will speedily be exhausted. If mixed in 
composts of dung, or other putrescent matter, it also prevents their 
fermentation, (1) and it should, therefore, never be laid upon lands 
in which those manures are not already decomposed ; but it mate¬ 
rially assists in the destruction of weeds and insects, and, there¬ 
fore may be employed with .manifest advantage when discreetly 
used. Mild lime, or lime in an effete state, is, on the contrary, of 
a totally opposite character ; may be used with perfect safety in 
the formation of composts, and is not injurious when laid upon the 
land after the application of dung. It also binds sands and gra¬ 
vels, while it opens clays. In whichever state, whether effete or 
caustic, the lime be applied to a wheat fallow, it should, however, 
be completely combined with the surface soil previous to the sow¬ 
ing of the seed.”— British Husbandry. It is to be borne in mind, that 
the English practice, to which the preceding remarks refer, is to 
apply from 200 to 400 bushels of lime at a dressing; and it is pro¬ 
bable that the course-recommended by M. Puvis, of applying ten 
