THE CULTIVATOR. 
127 
prevents their becoming’ dry ; and they should be kept covered with 
earth, and a few plants taken out at a time, as they are wanted. 
Furrow planting is performed by opening a furrow with a trench¬ 
ing plough, or two common ploughs, following in the same furrow, 
and opening the soil to the depth required for the roots of the trees. 
The plants are set in the furrows at the proper distance, and the 
earth filled in with the spade. 
Distance. —In profitable forest tree planting, seedlings of three 
years’ growth, or plants which have remained two vears in the seed 
bed and one year in transplanted nursery rows, should be planted 
on their timber sites, three feet apart every way, the soil being thin, 
light or sandy. On stronger land, well prepared, the distance may 
be four feet. Trees of the age alluded to, will vary from nine to 
twenty inches in heighth, say the English writers, but with us they 
will generally much exceed this, particularly the elm, soft maple, 
plane, and many other species. It is always desirable, that seed¬ 
ling beds should be sheltered by trees, buildings or tight fences, from 
the inclement winds of winter. 
Works that may be referred to. —Useful and Ornamental Planting, 
Loudon’s Encyclopaedia of Agriculture, Planter’s Kalendar, Pontey’s 
Profitable Planter, &c. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Marl. —J. M. M. who dates at Valley, Pa. is advised, that he will 
find his inquiries answered in the extract upon marl, which we com¬ 
mence to-day, from the Farmers’ Series of the Library of Useful 
Knowledge. Marl is found combined with sand- and with clay, and 
sometimes in an almost pure carbonate of lime; and it is of various 
colors, though it is generally of a light brown, specifically light, and 
abounds more or less in fragments of shells. The presence of car¬ 
bonate of lime may be detected with good vinegar—as this causes 
an effervescence when it comes in contact with the dry carbonate. 
The request in regard to the manufacture of cheese, shall receive 
early attention. 
We ask pardon of the respectable writer of “O/tto,” for the inad¬ 
vertent omission of his communication in our last number. 
Ground Moles. —A. Foote, of Williamstown, complains of great 
injury done to his fruit trees, in winter, by the moles or mice, and 
asks to be informed of some mode which will preserve them from 
like depredations the coming winter. There are two modes of pre¬ 
serving fruit trees from the depredations of moles, near the surface 
of the ground, in ordinary winters, though neither o‘ these would 
have been sufficient to protect all in such a winter as the last; for 
in many instances, where the snow was compact and impervious to 
them near the ground, they passed over it, and barked the plants 
two, four, and even six feet above the ground. One mode of pre¬ 
vention consists in treading the early snow firmly about the collar 
of the tree. There is generally grass or weeds about trees, which 
keeps the snow loose, and permits the passage of the mole under it. 
We have been in the practice, several years, of having the sod 
about our fruit trees, in grass grounds, turned over in September or 
October, and trodden down, and this has saved them from the mole. 
Another mode, recommended in the proceedings of the Society of 
Arts, is, to take seven parts of grease and one part of tar, blend and 
mix them well together, and with this composition brush the trunks 
of the trees, from the ground upwards as far as may be required. 
The tar is offensive to all animals, while the grease mollifies it so as 
to prevent its becoming injurious to the trees. 
Our correspondent at Augusta, Georgia, W. J. Hobby, asks to be 
informed of a remedy against the worms, which destroy the culinary 
productions, particularly those which prey upon the cabbage. “ I 
have known,” says he, “ a decoction of tobacco, of snuffj and of 
salt, of ashes and lime, sprinkled over them, and the worms appear¬ 
ed to thrive upon them all. I do not know that snuff' even made 
them sneeze.” Will some correspondent suggest a remedy for the 
evil 1 We know of none. 
The Silk Business. —We have received a communication from a 
respected female correspondent, Mrs. P. B. Westcott, which con¬ 
tains some useful hints to silk growers—that they sow the seed, and 
plant the trees before they erect costly silk factories; that they 
should take care that their worms do not hatch before there is food 
for them; that the black mulberry affords leaves some days earlier 
than the common white or multicaulis, &c. The reader is desired 
to correct an error in the former communication, in line 18, p. 184, 
vol. 2, by adding not between “ would” and “ have.” 
O' Those of our subscribers who find it inconvenient to remit for 
the 3d volume, are respectfully informed, that the 4th volume will be 
continued at the present price; and that, as the year will soon ex¬ 
pire, remittances for the 4th volume, by those who intend to continue 
to patronize our labors, may profitably be sent with subscriptions 
for the 3d, and where desired, for the 2d volume also. 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
CHEAP STRUCTURE FOR GRAIN AND HAY. 
Huntington, August 15, 1836. 
Jesse Buel, Esq.—Sir,—The remarks upon “stacking grain,” 
contained in your August number of the Cultivator, induce me to 
recommend a kind of barrack, which I have used for several years, 
and which I think pays for itself in a short time. We will suppose 
that you wish to erect one which shall contain one hundred loads of 
grain or hay. Take twenty posts of twenty feet in length, and about 
eight inches diameter, and set them in two rows ; let the rows be 
sixteen feet apart, and the distance between the posts the other way, 
twelve feet; the posts must be put four feet in the ground; frame 
plates on these posts from end to end of the rows, and bind them to¬ 
gether crosswise by girts, let in about two feet from the top; 
strengthen this cross-work by braces eight feet long; you will un¬ 
derstand, of course, that the braces go from the girt to the posts. 
Set on the plates, rafters of such length as will allow an Albany 
board, (when laid on for covering,) to project one and a half feet be¬ 
low the plate; make use of one and a quarter inch stuff for lath, 
laying one ro\V at the ridge, another about midway of the rafter, 
and a third just clear of the plate. In putting on the roof-boards, 
every other one rides, and ought to lap upon the edges of its sup¬ 
porters one and a half inches. The ends of the building are to be 
boarded from the peak till within six or eight feet of the ground, 
(this makes a string-piece or two necessary, which may be of plank,) 
and accommodated with a largo window, having a sliding shutter. 
On the sides of the building, you board down from the plate with 
three Albany boards, remembering to have a strip of plank about six 
inches wide, to tie them together in the middle. It will be well al¬ 
so, to cut pieces of board along the ridge under the board that rides, 
—this to prevent rain or snow from driving in. Your barrack is 
now completed. 
In mowing away, you drive under, and fill one joint, or the com¬ 
partment included by four posts, at once ; when you get to the last 
end, that must be filled from the outside, through the window. 
These buildings are cheap , they preserve grain and hay in a per¬ 
fect state; they obviate the necessity (often a very galling one) of 
employing an artist to stack; grain never grows in them ; this may 
appear like repetition ; but I must be excused for contrasting them 
with stacks, in thi-s important particular, they will shelter several 
loads at a time, when you are threatened with showers; or, you 
drive under several loads at night, and let your hands store them 
away before breakfast; being a part of the day often wasted, even 
in the busiest season of the year. In winter, when the exterior 
sheaves of stacks are penetrated to the bands with snow and sleet, 
so as to prevent thrashing for days, the grain in these buildings 
may always be got in, in order, excepting perhaps a very little on 
the windward side, which should be kept by itself till dry; poultry 
make no impression on grain in these buildings. 
The last one which I built, (being No. 3,) was calculated for forty 
loads, and this cost me (exclusive of timber which was cut on the 
farm) $65.20. Persons who have not locust for posts, would do 
well to char the surface which is to go under ground. 
Permit me now to ask a question. Are you familiar with the use 
of the horse-rake, the revolving rake ; and did you intend to apply 
your remarks about curing hay in cock, to a country where this rake 
can be used '!* 
With high respect, your obed’t ser’t, 
A SUBSCRIBER. 
P. S. In mowing gram under these barracks, it is best to keep 
the middle of the mow highest, and to give the outer course of 
sheaves a good pitch. Moreover, a floor of poles, or rails,1 aid up¬ 
on stones so that cats can go under, answers a good purpose. 
* We are familiar with the revolving horse-rake, and commend it greatly on 
old or thin meadows. Clover belongs to alternate husbandry, where the grass 
ought to be too heavy for its use; and it is not used in our mode of making 
elover hay, till after the crop has been carted from the field .— Cond. 
