THE CULTIVATOR. 
89 
their depredations will be hailed with pleasure by the 
horticulturist. 
If the following mode of preventing the ravages of 
this insect should perform what it promises, it may he 
considered one of the greatest discoveries of the day 
for the fruit grower, in those districts infested by the 
woi’m. We copy from the Hartford Courant: 
“ Capt. Chauncey Treat, of East Hartford, has dis¬ 
covered a complete remedy against the ravages of the 
canker-worm, simply encircling the tree at the surface 
of the ground with Scotch snuff. The writer of this 
has examined the trees on Capt. Treat’s premises, and 
found the circle of snuff completely fringed with thou¬ 
sands of dead worms. These trees were all tarred, and 
where the snuff was used, no worms appeared on the 
tar, and where the snuff was omitted the insects nearly 
covered the tar.” _ 
HORSE RAKES. 
Having received several inquiries as to where these 
rakes may be had, the price, &c. and not being able to 
give the desired information, we publish the annexed 
descriptions and cuts, which are sufficiently plain, we 
trust, to enable any common carpenter to construct one, 
either of the common or revolving rake. 
The Common Horse Rake—[Fig. 56.] 
This is made of 
a piece of strong 
scantling, 3 inches 
square, and 10 feet 
long, into which a- 
bout 15 teeth are 
inserted horizontal¬ 
ly, and made of 
strong white ash or 
other tough wood. 
The teeth should 
be about 22 inches 
long, and one inch 
by I 4 at the place 
of inseit'on, and ta¬ 
pering on the under 
side, so as to give 
them a slight turn 
upward at the point 
to prevent their 
running into the 
ground while using. 
The draught ropes 
are attached to the 
end of two project¬ 
ing pieces of wood 
parallel to the teeth 
at each end of the 
rake. These pro¬ 
jecting pieces should be about one-third of the length 
of the teeth. Those unskilled in the use of the rake, 
sometimes attach the ropes at once to the ends of the 
head; in this way, it becomes almost entirely unma¬ 
nageable. The forward ends of the draught ropes are 
to be fastened to the horse’s collar, leaving space enough 
between the horse and rake for the collecting hay. 
Handles, like those represented in the figure, (fig. 56,) 
are to be inserted in the head near the middle, for 
guiding the teeth and lifting the rake from the ground 
when necessary. 
In using this rake, instead of the teeth moving on¬ 
ward upon their points, as in the common hand rake, 
they run along flat upon the ground, passing under and 
collecting the hay; when full, the handles are thrown 
forward, the rake emptied, and lifted over the winrow 
for another load. The rake thus passes backwards and 
forwards, across the field, always emptying opposite the 
last heap, and thus forming regular winrows at right 
angles with the path of the rake. A few hours’ prac¬ 
tice will enable any one to use this rake without diffi¬ 
culty, the only skill required consisting in keeping the 
points of the teeth just so low as to pass under all the 
hay, and yet not run into the ground. When small ob¬ 
structions occur, the handles are depressed, thus caus¬ 
ing the teeth to rise, and the rake passes freely over. 
Large obstructions, as stumps and stone heaps, require 
the rake to be lifted from the ground. 
The chief recommendation of this kind of rake, is 
its cheapness and simplicity. A good one need not cost 
more than two dollars. It may also be used on rough¬ 
er ground than the revolving rake, as it is more easily 
lifted over obstructions. Where the ground is very un¬ 
even, the teeth should be much shorter. When one 
becomes well accustomed to the use of it, work may be 
done nearly as fast with this, as with a revolving rake, 
though much more laborious. Twelve acres of hay, 
part of it yielding nearly three tons to the acre, on a 
meadow of the writer, were raked into winrows, by 
means of one of these rakes, in about six hours, work¬ 
ing time. It possesses another advantage over the re¬ 
volving rake—it may be used for scraping the winrows 
into heaps for drawing, and if the hay is stacked in the 
field, for drawing the hay to the stack. A man with a 
rake and horse, not only raked the hay, but drew it at 
the same time to the stack, a distance of from ten to 
twenty rods, as fast as an active man could pitch with 
a fork. A hand rake need scarcely ever be used on the 
meadow, as all the scattered hay may be raked up in a 
short time after the rest of the hay has been drawn off. 
The horse rake is very useful in raking stubble of 
wheat, and eminently so in pulling and gathering peas. 
Shafts, instead of ropes, have been attached to the 
head of the rake, and have been strongly recommend¬ 
ed ; but they diminish the simplicity of the rake, and 
appear to possess no advantage on the whole, and for 
gathering and drawing hay, are positively detrimental. 
The Revolving Rake. 
This is much more complex in its construction than 
the common horse rake, but possesses advantages over 
it in ease and expedition in raking. Its peculiar advan¬ 
tage is the facility with which it may be unloaded, re¬ 
quiring for this purpose but a slight elevation of the 
the handles, and without stopping once in crossing the 
whole breadth of the meadow. 
Its construction is as follows : The head A B, fig. 57, 
is a piece of strong scantling, three inches square and 
ten feet long, through which eighteen holes, one inch 
square, are made to receive the teeth, which are pieces 
of the strongest white ash, one inch square and three 
feet long, projecting equally on both sides of the head 
when inserted, and forming a double row of teeth, each 
about eighteen inches long. The draught chains or 
ropes, D D, are attached to the forward ends of two 
curved arms E E, which are connected at their other 
ends to the head of the rake by iron straps passing 
round the head so as to allow it to revolve freely. G, 
fig. 58, represents a portion of one of the curved arms, 
showing the hole formed by the iron strap, and H re¬ 
presents a part of the head which turns in this hole. 
These arms are held firmly together by the cross piece 
I. An improvement in the curved arms is made by 
constructing them of two pieces at right angles, in a 
form similar to a carpenter’s square, the first or short¬ 
est piece rising perpendicular from the head, and the 
other projecting forward, and to which the draught 
chains are attached. By this construction, more space 
is allowed beneath these arms for the collection of the 
hay. 
The cross rod K, connecting the handles C C. serves 
for guiding and managing the rake. These handles are 
connected to the head by a contrivance precisely simi¬ 
lar to that of the curved arms. At the middle of the 
handles is a cross rod P P, upon which turns the small 
frame M. which is connected (by turning joints) by 
means of the rod N, to the cross piece I. This rod 
must he of just such length, as to cause the frame M, 
when pressed down upon the teeth by the handles, to 
touch them within about half an inch of their points ; 
by this, the teeth are pressed flat upon the ground ivhile 
raking. To empty the load, this frame is raised by the 
handles beyond the reach of the teeth, and they pass 
it freely without touching. The rake is unloaded by 
means of the following contrivance. Outside of the 
handles C C, are two pieces of wood F F, turning free¬ 
ly upon the two projecting ends of the rod P P, as pi¬ 
vots with their lower ends resting upon pieces of iron 
fastened crosswise on the head of the rake, just out¬ 
side of the joints connecting the handles to it. The 
shape of these pieces of iron is shown in a detached 
view at O, fisr. 58. When the handles are raised, the 
pieces F F are thrown forward on these pieces of iron 
until they strike the projecting part of them, when they 
immediately act as braces, and cause the rake to rise 
with the handles. The points of the teeth thus strike 
in the ground, and the horse continuing in motion, cau¬ 
ses the rake to make a semi-revolution, emptying the 
load, and throwing the back row of teeth forward to be 
filled as before. The handles C C, should be perfectly 
parallel, that the pieces F F, may play freely. S is a 
strong iron brace, fastened at each end to the handles, 
and at the middle to the cross rod P P. 
The cost of this rake is about six dollars. 
The revolving rake is better adapted for use on large 
farms and smooth meadows, and the common horse 
rake on small farms and rough meadows. 
Report on Agricultural Schools. 
We are gratified to observe that the important sub¬ 
ject of agricultural and horticultural schools has not 
been lost'sight of by our farmers 5 and we trust it will 
not be untif either by private or public munificence, the 
influence of such institutions are fairly tested among 
us. We have the fullest confidence that a school on the 
plan of some of those existing in France, Germany, 
or Prussia, would not only render the most essential aid 
to the cause of agriculture, but be the means of rearing 
up for the public service a body of men with men¬ 
tal and physical powers, well trained for the most 
arduous employments or duties. One such school 
put in successful operation, would furnish an ex¬ 
ample for many; and we might hope to see in every 
state such schools, as we now see colleges, in every 
direction, diffusing the lights of science and knowledge. 
We have before us an able Report, made to the Ag¬ 
ricultural and Horticultural Society of Seneca county, 
at the annual fair, held in Ovid, on the 4th of March, 
1840, by A. B. Dunlap, Esq. It is a well written and 
just exposition of the claims of the agricultural public 
to such institutions; of the benefits they would confer; 
and the principles on which they should be established. 
We should be glad to hear that the enterprising and 
wealthy farmers of that beautiful section of the state, 
had resolved to carry out the design here so skilfully 
presented, and set the Union an example of the first 
agricultural school this side the Atlantic. 
Our space will only allow a few limited extracts, 
where we should be pleased to quote largely. In an¬ 
swer to the question, “ Why has not the farmer attained 
that rank in society to which his dignified calling en¬ 
titles him ?” Mr. "Dunlap answers correctly and ob¬ 
viously— “ The farming class is not sufficiently educa¬ 
ted.” 
The report proceeds to point out the kind of educa¬ 
tion necessary for the farmer, the advantages accruing 
from such an education, and the impracticability of ob¬ 
taining it at any existing institutions. On these topics 
he has the following cogent remarks : 
“No system of education at present in operation in this 
country, combines so perfectly the great objects to be aimed 
at, namely, the full development of the physical, intellectual, 
and moral powers, as would be done in an agricultural 
school. Here the student could obtain that kind of know¬ 
ledge which would make him a thinking and observant be¬ 
ing. Here he could be taught in such a manner, as would 
make him capable of inquiring into the cause of things, and 
of making his own logical deductions. Here he could ob¬ 
tain an education that would make him not a mere book¬ 
worm—but leave him an active, useful citizen. An edu¬ 
cation that would effect the greatest good possible, with 
the least expense.” 
Art, is the name given to the operations that arise 
from necessity; science is the result of leisure and re¬ 
flection. Herschel has said that “ science is the know¬ 
ledge of the many, orderly and methodica.Iy digested 
and arranged, so as to become attainable by one.” It 
is the union of art and science that is required to ren¬ 
der agriculture what it should be, and what it assuredly 
will be, however long such a consummation may be de¬ 
layed. On this point the Report says :—“ There are no 
schools in this country where the science and art 
of farming are united—where theory and practice are 
combined. This is what is aimed at in an agricultural 
one—it aims to throw around what is often called 
a dull and plodding art, the dignity and allurements 
which science can impart—to place the business of the 
farmer upon the broad basis of the unchanging laws of 
nature. This end cannot be accomplished upon the 
farm to any good purpose, because there are no adequate 
means within the operator’s reach. The farmer’s son has 
not the implements necessary for the work; he has no one 
to direct him in his investigations. Years have rolled 
away, and how little progress has been made in investi¬ 
gating and understanding the laws of nature; and espe¬ 
cially the bearing of these laws upon the cultivation of 
the soil. The great reason is, that the man of science 
is at present confined to his closet, and does not furnish 
the application of the general principles he inculcates; 
and even when he attempts this,he makes such errors as 
to bring his well established laws into doubt and contempt 
among the practical class. On the other hand the mere 
practical man, is looked upon as of an inferior rank 
in the scale of being, because he cannot explain 
none of the wonders, and is blind to so many of the 
beauties that surround him. The very reason why the 
business of the farmer has not attained that elevated 
stand to which it is justly entitled, is because the farmer 
is conversant with matter without understanding a 
single law by which it is governed; hence it is that 
science and art mutually aid and advance each other— 
that the one gives dignity and efficiency to the other.” 
The plan recommended in the Report, is the same in 
substance as the one recommended in the May number 
of the Cultivator, for 1839, and is probably one em¬ 
bracing all the essential points of an agricultural school. 
Experience here, as in Europe, would doubtless suggest 
improvements ; but the grand object of such institutions 
is so direct and easily defined, that any trifling defects 
in arrangement could hardly vitiate their usefulness. 
Of the utility of such schools no one entertains a doubt ; 
and their practicability we hope to see tested, either by 
