THE CULTIVATOR 
181 
No. 2, Revolving Hay Rake. ■— Of this implement, I have two 
kinds ; one has been in use for some years, the other is a new one, 
described in vol. 2d, page 165, of the Cultivator. That the revolv¬ 
ing hay rake is a labor-saving and useful machine, in smooth mea¬ 
dows, no one will attempt to deny who has ever used it. One man 
and horse will rake, upon an average, five acres per day with ease, 
and do the work well. They are getting into general use in ali 
parts of the country, and will, no doubt, in a few years, supercede 
entirely the use of the common hand rake. 
The advantage of the new over the old rake is, it is lighter and more 
simple in construction, easily repaired by any ordinary hand employed 
on the farm, and where there are small stumps and stones, the surface 
uneven, you can adapt it to the unevenness by lowering or raising 
the handles. I found it very useful where the meadow is laid off in 
small lands, by raking across them. 1 also found it very useful to 
follow the other rake, as it does the work much cleaner. 
To those who are not already supplied with a horse rake, I would 
advise them to furnish themselves with one of Pudney’s Revolving 
Horse Rakes forthwith. They are manufactured by Messrs. Pudney 
and Cowley, Stamford, Delaware county, N. Y. 
No. 3, The Expajiding Cultivator —I find very useful for many 
purposes, such as pulverizing and loosening the soil, instead of cross- 
ploughing, covering peas and oats, dressing corn, potatoes, Swedish 
turnips and all drill-crops. The one used was of my own construc¬ 
tion. It is figured and described in the present number of this pa¬ 
per. 
Some of these implements have been sent to North-Carolina, and 
used with great success on the cotton and corn plantations, doing 
the work of two ploughs, and the crops much more benefited by the 
operation. 
They are on sale at the Agricultural Warehouse of Mr. Wm. 
Thorburn, No. 317 N. Market-street, Albany. 
No. 4, Hale's Horse Power —I have had in operation since Au¬ 
gust, and consider it equal, if not superior to any I have seen in ope¬ 
ration, where the power of one horse is required. It is a very easy 
and simple operating power, very portable and compact, easily re¬ 
moved, and not liable to get out of order. I have attached to it, a 
thresher, a saw for slitting boards for pannel fence, and another for 
sawing wood, a small mill for cracking oats, corn and otl er small 
grain for feeding stock, a vegetable cutter, a corn sheller, and I in¬ 
tend to attach a grind-stone. This power has been in use at the 
east for some time, and much approved of. I am well satisfied with 
the machine I have, and can recommend it with the fullest confi¬ 
dence. They are manufactured by Gilcrist &. Co. Waterford, N. 
York. 
No. 5, Greene's Straw Cutter —I have had in operation for two 
years, and consider it superior to any other machine that I have 
ever seen in operation—“and just what the farmers want”—the 
opinion of Mr. John Frey, of Palatine Bridge, to the contrary not¬ 
withstanding. 
A very neat and substantial article is manufactured by the Messrs. 
Shuler’s, of Lockport, New-York, and on sale at the Agricultural 
Warehouse of Mr. Wm. Thorburn, Albany. 
No. 6, The Corn Sheller —which I have in use, is a very neat, 
strong and substantial article, being made entirely of iron. It is 
figured and described in the 7th No. of the present volume of the 
Cultivator, and on sale at the Agricultural Warehouse, No. 317 
North Market-street, Albany. 
No. 7, Craig's Angled Harrow —is the most perfect implement of 
the kind in use. It consists of two parts, joined together by iron 
rods, having hasps and hooks. Each part consists of four bars of 
wood, technically termed bulls, and connected together by an equal 
number of cross-bars, of smaller dimensions, morticed through them. 
It has forty teeth, and although light, is very substantia], and when 
in operation, covers a space of six feet. By a peculiar construction 
of gearing in front, it can be made to operate as occasion may re¬ 
quire. It is very useful to harrow in seeds. 
They are also for sale at the Agricultural Warehouse, No. 317 
North Market street, Albany. 
No. 8, Hatch's Sowing Machine — “though last, not least,” is 
certainly a very useful article on a farm, and one I do not hesitate 
to say, the proprietor or hands on a farm will make no objection to, 
for it rids them of a very tedious operation. It sows plaster, lime, 
ashes, &c. in stormy or windy weather, and much more perfect and 
even than can possibly be done by hand. It can be guaged to sow 
any required number of bushels to the acre. I am also informed, 
that with a trifling alteration, it can be made to sow small grain and 
seeds of every description. 
One of these macliines was put in operation on my farm, with 
plaster, and I was so well satisfied with the operation that I pur¬ 
chased it on the spot. 
It is very light and simple, and sows a space of ten feet at once, 
and will do the work of three or four men. I can recommend it to 
agriculturists with the fullest confidence. 
Julius Hatch, of Great Bend, Susquehannah county, Penn, is the 
patentee and proprietor. CALEB N. BEMENT. 
Three Hills Farm, Dec. 1836. 
Salisbury Centre, Dec. 7th, 1836. 
Judge Buel—Dear Sir, —As I am not a practical farmer, it may 
be, (and that very justly too) my pen has no legitimate place in your 
columns. Yet as I have perused that valuable publication about 
two year, I feel a pleasure in owning myself one of its votaries. 
It is a prevalent opinion that the Cultivator is alone calculated for 
the farmer ; and that for all other classes it is useless and nugatory. 
Experience has taught me otherwise, I cheerfully confess. From the 
perusal of this paper, and reflecting upon the subjects therein con¬ 
tained, I am convinced agriculture ought to rank as high in the ca¬ 
talogue of sciences as any of the professions ; and that too, to un¬ 
derstand it rightly, and practice it successfully, we need the aid of 
an education as much as in law, medicine or divinity. But how is 
the cultivator of the soil to be made to believe this doctrine—he has 
to account to no one for the mismanagement of his farm—he has 
followed the footsteps of his father and grandfather, and certainly 
thinks he is right. Now it is evident, if he had to account for his 
practice as strictly as the attorney or mechanic does to his employ¬ 
er, the evil would be remedied. But this is not the case. He has 
nothing (as he sees) of a duty to call his attention to the perusal of 
agricultural publications—to the study of philosophy or chemistry, 
&c., when all those studies are necessary in carrying on the business 
of the farm. Draining, rotation of crops, and finally all the opera¬ 
tions upon the farm partake more or less of a scientific nature.— 
Then when shall we find the adequate impetus ? I answer, let the 
legislature appropriate an adequate sum of the surplus revenue to 
agricultural purposes, in each county in the state, and then we shall 
see a speedy change in the face of nature. When the farmer can 
receive as a premium a specific sum upon the amount and quality of 
his crops, cattle, &.C., he will not need to be urged to take a publi¬ 
cation upon the subject—we shall not see the richest portions of his 
soil covered with wild grass and water. I have already been more 
prolix than I intended ; but the subject is of too much importance to 
leave in a moment when flour is ten dollars per barrel, and cows at 
$2225.. 
If this is worth giving a place in your paper it is ad libitum, and 
if you reject it the author will deem your decision correct. 
Yours with respect, E. H. SMITH. 
EXTRACTS. 
MARL—( Concluded from page 163.) 
ANALYSIS OF MARL. 
The value of marl, as a manure, must of course be referable to the 
nature of the different kinds employed. It is, indeed, evident that, 
being intended to correct or improve the soil, its constituent parts 
should be known, and their qualities explained before any use 
can be rationally made of it; and, therefore, the more accurately its 
properties are ascertained, the more confidently may the propriety 
of its application be determined. Farmers, indeed, cannot be expect¬ 
ed to be sufficiently acquainted with chemistry to be able to analyze 
it, though the most calcareous sorts may be known by means of 
acids, as applied to lime; or, the common earthy kind, when put in¬ 
to water, will fall to pieces, allowing a considerable portion of sand 
to fall to the bottom of the vessel: by which simple tests, they might 
often derive considerable advantage. Its qualities are, however, 
more generally taken, by mere practical men, more upon trust de¬ 
rived from the experience of their neighbors than from any actual 
knowledge of its properties ; but although, when thus guided, they 
cannot go far wrong, yet they may be misled by circumstances of 
slight apparent difference, and, in cases of new pits being opened, no 
certain estimate of its effect can be formed until a complete analysis 
has been made. This should, indeed, be done in all such instances ; 
for it costs but a trifle, is easily performed, and without having re- 
