THE CULTIVATOR. 
55 
tie, and in general, no difference where it was used and where not. In the \ 
second year it was a manifest benefit to grass, making nearly half odds; but t 
not so much to corn. The plaster I then used was more of a gray colour, and r 
I think finer than any other used. The farm, I believe, had been plastered for 
eight or nine years with tolerable success before I came in possession of it; hut 
where the main difficulty in the use of plaster lies I know not, but would be 
willing to learn, for being of limited means, I know not how to waste so much 
time and money. I shall make some farther experiments. I would also in- e 
quire if the cultivator or horse hoe, and Robins’ corn planter, will work well r 
in stony ground ? And also, what is the relative value of chip manure, and i 
the best mode of applying it? t 
Having seen in the Cultivator a short notice quoted from another paper, c 
stating that buckwheat straw “ is better for milch cows than the best timothy 1 
hay,” I will state some of my experience on that subject and the crop. The t 
year before last, one corner of my corn field being much injured by the grub i 
or cut worm, I sowed (on the 3d of July) one acre and a half with one bushel £ 
and a half of buckwheat. About one acre was ploughed entirely up, having 
sown a part of it before ploughing. The other half acre (on which was consi- ( 
derable corn) was but partially ploughed, and the remainder of the seed cover- s 
ed with the hoe in hoeing the corn. The season was favorable, and when the ( 
grain was ripe, the straw (where there was no corn) was so thick and luxuri- < 
ant, that it retained nearly its primitive greenness. After standing four or five s 
days in the bunch, (the weather being fine except a slight shower,) it was i 
threshed and the straw secured in the barn. The yield was 73 bushels of buck- 1 
wheat, or nearly fifty bushels per acre, besides the corn. I presume the acre < 
which had no corn, yielded from fifty-five to sixty bushels. I could see no difle- 1 
rence between that which was ploughed in, and that which was only harrow- ' 
ed after the plough. No manure was applied. The straw was pitched once : 
over to prevent its heating, and I found that not only my cattle, but horses, ] 
(to which it was mostly fed) would eat that straw quite as freely as the “ best 
timothy hay,” or any other hay. But it appears that where the straw assumes 
the dull red colour, and where it is thick and large, (but owing to drought) it 
does not retain its leaves and greenness, but turns a whitish dead colour, (as : 
was the case with much of mine last year,) it is of but little use as fodder, and 
more especially so if it is exposed much to the weather after the seed is ripe. 
There are other matters of which I would write, were I not aware that your 
time and columns might be better occupied. And as to publishing this, of 
course I leave it to your better judgment. 
Yours truly, C. L. DUDLEY. 
REPLY TO MR. DUDLEY’S QUERIES. 
Gypsum does not, in our opinion, lose its virtues by being kept over in its 
ground state. According to the general received opinion, it enters into the 
structure and forms an essential constituent of some plants, and must undergo 
decomposition before it can be received into their mouths. Hence the finer it 
is ground the better for the crop. As it requires from three to five hundred 
parts of water to one of gypsum to dissolve it, our practice has been to sow it 
in April, or earlier, upon grass grounds, and before the last ploughing, for corn 
and potatoes. Plaster fails to benefit wet grounds, and often produces no 
sensible effect when sown late upon grass, or when the sowing is followed by 
a dry spell of weath°r, because there is not moisture enough to decompose it. 
Plaster is not found, on analysis, in the narrow leaved plants, as timothy, 
wheat, rye, &c. and it is a matter of doubt whether it is directly beneficial to 
them. It is also said, that many soils naturally contain enough of this material 
for the wants of crops; that it combines only in certain proportions with other 
elementary principles of plants; and it has been alleged by two of our most 
eminent agriculturists, John Taylor and Judge Peters, that where it is applied 
annually, a bushel to the acre is as good as a ton. See Chancellor Livingston’s 
experiments in another column. 
Neither the cultivator nor Robins’ corn planter are adapted to very stony 
grounds, though the former may be used where the stones are small and loose. 
. Chips, like all other vegetable matters, will make manure—when they have 
rotted—but not before. They rot best in piles—and the process may be ac¬ 
celerated by mixing with them unfermented dung, or lime, in an open expo¬ 
sure. When decomposed, they may be applied as a top dressing to grass, po¬ 
tatoes or other crops. They may be applied, in a half rotted state, to aspara¬ 
gus beds, and around fruit trees, to good advantage.— Conductor. 
Wheatland, Monroe, April 17th, 1837. 
J. Buel, Esq. —Dear Sir, —It is with pleasure that I, through the medium 
of the Cultivator, acknowledge the obligation which the farmers of Western 
New-York are under to Thomas Weddle, of East Bloomfield, Ontario, for the 
laudable zeal he has exhibited, in introducing so much valuable stock into the 
country. In the autumn of 1835 he emigrated from England, and brought 
with him a number of cattle, horses, sheep, and swine, viz. seventeen horses, 
sixteen head of cattle, eighteen sheep, number of swine not recollected. The 
horses are of the Cleveland bays, and racing breeds; the former I consider a 
valuable acquisition, being a beautiful bright bay, and uniting size, strength 
and action, equal to any thing I ever saw. The racers, of themselves, are not 
of miich value to farmers; but should they cross well with the heavy horse, 
which Mr. Weddle is trying, they may produce a very valuable breed. The 
cattle are of the pure improved short horned Durhams; they are large yet well 
proportioned, fine in the bone, soft in the skin, and exhibiting in a great de¬ 
gree all the evidences of good provers, and are very peaceable and docile. 
The sheep are of the improved Leicester breed, of a large size, early, and easy 
feeders, yield a good fleece, weighing from six to eight pounds; the wool is 
long, but soft and silky. They cross well with the Merinos, the half bloods, 
(with a Merino cross;) are large, healthy sheep, yielding a heavy fleece, of a 
fair staple, sufficiently fine for ordinary purposes. Mr. W. in selecting the 
above stock in England, was at the trouble and expense of selecting them from 
different families, which will enable him to breed the pure full bloods, without 
breeding in and in, which has so often been very injurious to the offspring of 
our imported stock. Mr. Weddle can give the pedigree of any of his animals 
when desired; but to all good judges who see them, they need no recommenda¬ 
tion, and any one who wishes to purchase or takes pleasure in seeing fine ani¬ 
mals, will be well compensated for paying him a visit. 
Yours sincerely, WM. GARBUTT. 
M. ON STEEPING SEED CORN. 
To the Editor of the Cultivator ,—I am induced, by the perusal of Mr. Bow¬ 
ers’ communication on corn culture, in your last paper, to submit a few re¬ 
marks upon one subject alluded to in that communication. I agree with him 
in his commendation of the early maturity and prolific qualities of the Dutton 
or Buel corn. I also agree with tiim upon the advantages derived from the use 
of the roller and the cultivator, and from smooth hoeing, or hoeing without hills. 
But 1 cannot agree with him in his recommendation, (for his observations up¬ 
on the subject amount to a recommendation,) of the steeping of the seed and 
rolling it in hot tar. I will state the reasons for my disagreement with him 
and present views on this subject. ’ 
In the spring of 1832 I steeped my seed corn in water, in which a portion 
of lime had been dissolved. I did not note the length of time it remained in 
steep, but it was steeped pretty thoroughly. It was planted upon a flat piece 
of grolind, with a retentive subsoil; the season was a wet one, and very little 
of the corn came up, so little, that the whole field had to be replanted. In the 
seasons of 1833 and 4, as well as in 1836, I simply wet the seed and"rolled it 
in plaster; there was no failure in either season. In 1835 I procured some of 
the Dutton corn for seed, and agreeably to the directions in the May number 
of the Cultivator, for that year, (page 36,) I steeped a portion of it, for twelve 
hours, in water poured on at 196 degrees, 16 degrees below the boiling point 
which is about the heat directed in the Cultivator. I then applied a coating of 
tar and plaster, in the manner directed in the article referred to. The corn” so 
prepared, was planted on the 25th of May. On that day, another portion of 
the corn was put in steep, and similarly treated, except that the water used 
was not as hot, (the heat was not noted,) less tar was used, and a small quan¬ 
tity of salt-petre was dissolved in the steep. This seed was planted on the 
26th of May; there not being a sufficient quantity of the Dutton corn to plant 
the whole field, it was finished with some eight rowed corn, the production of 
the farm, which had been selected from the hill the previous fall for seed 
which, for want of time, was simply wet in hot water and tarred slightly! 
The weather, at the time of planting, and for some time afterwards was ex¬ 
tremely dry, and the soil was in a dry and powdery st’te. 
Under date the 3d of June, I find the following note in ray diary: “ The 
seed corn, which was planted on the 25th ultimo, has failed to vegetate 
while that which was planted on the succeeding day, as well as the eight 
rowed corn used to complete the planting of the field, is mostly aboveground 
It well be recollected that the whole of the Dutton corn was purchased at the 
same time, shelled at the same time, and indiscriminately mixed ; it was plant¬ 
ed in the same field, upon soil of the same quality and preparation, and under 
the same circumstances, except the slight difference in the preparatory process 
This difference, under ordinary circumstances, might not have produced the 
difference in the result; but under the peculiar state of the weather at and 
subsequent to, the time of planting, I think it a sufficient and the true cause 
My neighbor C-planted his field, immediately adjoining my corn field" 
on the 28th of May, three days after mine was planted. He planted dry but 
his corn made its appearance above ground sooner than mine, and the young 
shoots were more vigorous and healthy in their appearance. I have no doubt 
that, owing to the excessively dry season, the whole of my seed was injured 
and its germination retarded by the steeping and tarring. I attribute the grow! 
ing of the portion of the seed which survived, to the circumstance that the 
preparatory treatment was less energetic. It grew in spite of it. [Mr. A_ 
informs me, that the whole of his corn crop has failed, and that he steeped his 
seed.] I am decidedly of the opinion, that the steeping of seed of any kind is 
detrimental when the weather, immediately succeeding the planting is unfa¬ 
vorable, either from cold, dryness, or excess of moisture.” 
Subsequent reading and reflection have confirmed me in this opinion. I 
have no doubt that the steeping of seeds, in favorable seasons, has the effect of 
accelerating the germinative process, because all seeds must imbibe air and 
moisture before germination commences. If they are not charged with mois¬ 
ture therefore, when sown, they must imbibe it by a slower process from the 
soil. Could we always calculate upon propitious seed-times, it would be un¬ 
doubtedly, advisable always to steep. But we cannot control the elements 
If the season should be very wet, as in 1832, the soaked seed will be apt to 
perish from repletion of moisture; and, should the season be dry as in 1835 
the moisture is absorbed by the thirsty soil from the seed, whose vessels dis¬ 
tended by the water it had previously imbibed, contractand become indurated* 
and the germ, whose vital action had been prematurely excited, shrivels and 
dies. While on the other hand, seed committed to the soil, in Its natural dry 
state, retains its vitality for a considerable length of time; and, under unfavo¬ 
rable circumstances, its vital principle remains dormant and uninjured until a 
favorable state of the soil and atmosphere calls it into action. 
For the above reasons I deem it the safer practice, as a general rule to sow 
or plant seeds, Indian corn particularly, in a dry state. I particularize Indian 
corn, because it is the tenderesl of our grains; and a check in its infancy is of¬ 
ten destructive. We often hear of the successful results of steeping seeds’ 
and of the use of various fertilizing mixtures for that purpose. I am aware ah 
so, that the practice is a very ancient one; Virgil tells us that, 
“ Some steep their seed, and some in cauldrons boil, 
With vigorous nitre, and with lees of oil, 
O’er gentle fires; th’ exuberant juice to drain 
And swell the flattering husks with fruitful grain.” 
Yet, notwithstanding the antiquity of the practice and the respectable testi¬ 
mony in its favor, my own experience and observation lead me to the opinion 
that it is more often injurious than beneficial. We should probably have heard 
of some failures, were it not for the circumstance, that while many note and 
communicate the successful results of their farming operations, but few take 
