THE CULTIVATOR. 
93 
Answers 10 Inquiries, &z. 
THE YELLOW LOCUST. 
Messrs. Editors— Will you please inform me through 
the Cultivator, whether the yellow locust which grows 
about Syracuse, and other parts of western New-York, is 
the kind best for timber, where strength and durability 
are wanting; and if not, which is the best kind, and 
where the seeds can be procured, and at what price? 
Van Buren , Onondaga co. N. Y., 1842. J. B. 
The yellow locust cultivated at Syracuse, and in other 
parts of western New-York, is the kind most valued for 
timber, and for which such high prices are paid at the 
ship yards of our country. There are one or two other 
kinds cultivated, the honey locust, (Robinia viscosa,) and 
the rose locust, (R. hispida,) but these are of little val¬ 
ue as timber: the first being grown for hedges, and the 
latter as a flowering or ornamental tree. The wood of 
the yellow locust when very young, is not remarkable 
for its durability, but it soon assumes a firmness which 
renders it invaluable where durability and strength are 
required. It can scarcely be propagated too extensively. 
SUN FLOWER OIL. 
• _ 
We have had some inquiries as to the method of ma¬ 
king sun flower oil; and the quantity a bushel of seed 
will make; and the uses to which it can be applied. 
1. Method of making. The same as that of linseed, 
except that the seed must first be hulled, or its hard en¬ 
velop taken off. This is done by machinery with great 
ease. If ground with the hull, not half the quantity of 
oil can be obtained as when it is hulled. Any press that 
will extract the oil of linseed, will do for sun flower 
seed. 
2. Quantity per bushel. Mr. Mann made some ex¬ 
periments which are recorded in the N. E. Farmer, in 
which only half a gallon per bushel was obtained, and 
the project was abandoned. He did not hull the seed, 
hence the failure. C. A. Barnitz, near Baltimore, on the 
contrary, obtained a gallon of fine oil from a bushel, but 
his seed was hulled, and none was lost by the saturation 
of the dry covering. When well managed, a gallon may 
be counted upon with certainty. 
3. Uses. It makes a very good oil for lamps, burning 
clearly and without offensive smell. It is found to be 
well adapted for painting', spreading smooth and drying 
with facility. For the table, most prefer it to olive oil, 
being cheaper, and having a more agreeable flavor. 
We may add here, that the quantity of seed produced 
on an acre will vary much, having ranged from 20 to 75 
bushels. The editor of the Baltimore Farmer thinks 
that the average on good corn land may be stated at 50 
bushels. 
We have no data from which to answer the inquiries 
of our correspondent at Canton, in regard to the quantity 
of oil produced by hemp seed. Hemp seed oil possesses 
many of the qualities of linseed oil, and doubtless might 
be extracted with equal facility. 
SUBSOIL PLOWING—TRENCHING. 
Editors of the Cultivator —Will you please ex¬ 
plain the term subsoil plowing, so much used of late in 
papers on tillage. How is it done? I understand it to 
mean the plowing up the soil deeper than usual; but how 
much deeper, and how is it accomplished? 
Trenching, also needs explanation. I understand it to 
be digging up the soil first on one side of a field, in the 
form of a ditch as deep as required, say two feet; then 
filling up that with the soil taken from another ditch dug 
in like manner, by the side of the first, and so on through 
the field; mixing manures or compost with the soil as it 
is thrown into the ditches. Is this right? 
Why does not some Albany dealer keep a carefully se¬ 
lected and improved stock of agricultural implements for 
sale? Some are to be found it is true; but there is no 
one whose assortment is general, or who furnishes only 
the best. Prouty and Mears, Barnaby and Mooers side 
hill, Ruggles, Nourse and Mason’s, and Howard’s plows, 
the best kind of drill barrows, cultivators, churns, cheese 
presses, models of hay presses, bee hives, &e. &c. in 
short, all truly valuable implements, and the latest im¬ 
provements should be found at such an establishment. 
Thomas. 
Subsoil plowing is intended to move the earth to a much 
greater depth than can be done with the ordinary plow, 
and to effect this without bringing the lower earth moved 
to the surface. It renders the surface more dry, gives a 
greater range for the roots of plants, admits a free pas¬ 
sage to water and air, and gradually converts the sterile 
subsoil into fertile mold. The implement is a strong 
iron plow, with a stout share, but no moldboard, ft 
is generally used by first turning a furrow with the com¬ 
mon plow, and the subsoil plow follows in the furrow so 
made, moving the earth to the depth of from ten to twelve 
inches, breaking up the dense soil or hard pan, but not 
throwing it upon the surface; and the earth so moved is 
covered by the next furrow slice of the common plow. 
The subsoil plow requires a strong team. The depth 
will of course depend on the two plows; if the common 
plow cuts six inches in depth, and the subsoil ten, then 
the earth is moved to the depth of sixteen inches. 
Trenching has for its object the inversion of the soil to 
the depth trenched; placing the original surface soil at 
the bottom, and then by manuring, or the slower effect 
of the atmosphere, converting the whole earth moved in¬ 
to the best of soil. “ Thomas” is right as to the manner 
of doing this. It is very little practiced in this country, 
except in the preparation of gardens, or for the cultiva¬ 
tion of particular plants. 
The suggestions of “ Thomas,” as to the necessity and 
propriety of an agricultural warehouse in this city, are 
deserving attentive consideration. Situated as Albany 
is, with such facilities for communication with all parts 
of the country, it is scarcely possible that an establish¬ 
ment meeting the requisitions pointed out by our corres¬ 
pondent, should not succeed. The benefits conferred on 
the agricultural public by the agricultural warehouses in 
Boston, are immense; and there is no point where one 
could be more generally useful and effective than in this 
city. We hope the hint of “ Thomas” will not be lost. 
PLOWING IN GEORGIA. 
Gentlemen —On very rocky soils, such as we in this 
section of the country have to plow, the bar share plows, 
such as your magazine exhibits, seem to be wholly in¬ 
applicable. All your premium plows are bar shares in 
various grades of improvement. Here they use the coul¬ 
ter plow, the bull tongue, or any sort of wrought iron or 
steel plow shaped thus: 
Side View. Front Vieiv. 
Plows of this kind, I am informed, (for I am a recent 
emigrant hither,) are the only ones that can be used on 
tenacious clay and rocky soils, and hilly withal. Our 
soil here is filled with broken rocks that strew or pene¬ 
trate the surface, generally weighing from five to twenty 
pounds, and sometimes fifty. The premium plows ex¬ 
hibited in the Cultivator, may doubtless be applicable to 
every surface of ground, as well plain and sandy, or 
clayey, free from rocks; but experience seems to teach 
the agriculturist here, that the single pointed plow above 
depicted, is the only one that will penetrate the ground 
here, and impose less additional work on the horse. 
These plows are drawn eaeh by a single horse. The 
harrow and roller are here unknown, it being supposed 
they could not be used or moved among the rocks. 
Farmers here may be suffering under the ignorance of 
the age, and the bar share plow and the harrow may be 
adapted to the culture of this part of the country. The 
question is but one, and can be simplified: On tenacious, 
but fertile rocky clay fields, what plows are the best to 
break ground, and cultivate the Indian corn? And can the 
harrow and roller be used with profit on such soils? 
J. J. Flournoy. 
Wellington Farm, Jackson co. Ga., April , 1842. 
We have abundance of soil at the north very similar 
to that described by our correspondent, and we find no 
difficulty in cultivating it with our plows, and in fact it 
cannot be well done with any other. What Mr. F. calls 
rocks, would inNew England be called pebbles or stones, 
and a soil so constituted would be treated somewhat as 
follows: The largest stones or rocks would be at once 
removed and made into walls, and then the plow and 
harrow would be used as though there were no stones in 
the field. It is true, our plow would require more team, 
but the whole surface would be moved, the plowing more 
effectual, and the crop proportionably better; at least ex¬ 
perience in our stony districts would justify such expec¬ 
tations. The roller cannot be used with much profit 
where the surface is covered with stones, but unless very 
large, the harrow is here never dispensed with. We have 
seen many a field, the surface covered with stones both 
loose and fast, of the sizes mentioned by Mr. F., plowed 
effectually and easily with a single pair of horses; and 
we think our correspondent, after removing the largest 
stones or rocks, would find no difficulty in treating his 
soils in the same manner. 
POUDRETTE—SOILING. 
“Moyallero” makes some inquiries as to the process 
of making proudrette at the city manufactories of that 
article, and says, “ My inquiries, therefore, are not 
merely as to the process, materials, &c. employed in the 
New-York factories, but it extends also to the best me¬ 
thod which farmers have, or can employ in the maufac- 
ture of poudrette.” 
We have before said in answer to inquiries, that we 
are unacquainted with the details of the processes adopted 
in the city manufactories; but it is certain those methods 
are not adapted to the means of the common farmer. The 
great object in the conversion of night soil into pou¬ 
drette, is to prevent the loss of the ammonia, a substance 
to which the nitrogen of plants appears to be owing, and 
which is of so much consequence, that it is confidently 
stated the value of any manure may be estimated by its 
nitrogen. To prevent the escape of ammonia from the 
night soil, plaster is mixed with it before, and while dry¬ 
ing, and ground peat thoroughly dried is also used to a 
considerable extent. The farmer, to manufacture pou¬ 
drette, has only to mix plaster with the night soil in suf¬ 
ficient quantities to prevent the formation or escape of 
ammonia, and the addition of the peat not only renders 
this powerful manure more capable of equal distribution, 
but in itself furnishes a valuable manure, and an excellent 
absoi’bent of any gas that may escape in the preparation. 
By adding the plaster, the volatile carbonate of ammonia 
is changed to sulphate of ammonia, and is thus secured 
for the use of the plant. The value of city prepared pou¬ 
drette must depend on the skill and honesty of the maker, 
but the presence of peat is no proof that the article is 
not of the best kind. 
There is another kind of animal offal which in Paris, 
is converted into one of the most effective manures; we 
allude to that of the slaughter-house, and which is mostly 
lost in this country. These offals are boiled into a thick 
soup, then made into a Stiff paste by stirring in powdered 
or sifted coal ashes, and drying the mass. All signs of 
putrefaction pass away with the mixture of the coal 
dust, and this poudrette is as free from all offensive smell 
as pure garden mold. This preparation is the “ ani- 
malized coal” of French agriculture, and is a capital ma, 
nure. 
“ Moyallero” adds—“ Sometime since I heard that a 
few New England farmers were frying the experiment 
of keeping their cattle up in the yard, the whole year 
round,—of in fact, not pasturing at all, but mowing the 
grass for them daily, when large enough. Can you in¬ 
form us as to the result? Or whether such a course is any 
where pursued, and with what success?” 
Quite a number of such experiments have been made 
in this country, and in most cases have been successful; 
at least so far as to show that a given quantity of land 
would keep a much greater number of animals the year 
round under a system of soiling, than it would in pasture 
or meadow in the ordinary way. Some of the experi¬ 
menters estimated that the additional manure made and 
saved, would pay the expense of attendance. The high 
price of labor, and the abundance of land, however, in 
this country, or perhaps still more, the force of old ha¬ 
bits, has prevented the adoption of the soiling system to 
any extent in the United States; but there can be no 
question that where circumstances render it desirable, 
soiling may be practiced with profit and success. In 
England and Germany it is common, and the system is on 
the increase. 
TOAD FLAX. 
“ Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —Growing in our lands 
there is a noxious weed; and we wish to know what will 
kill it. We allude to that plant called toad flax or snap 
dragon. [Antirrhinum linaria .] If you can let us know 
in what manner it may be destroyed, you will have ad¬ 
ditional claims on the gratitude of the 
Dutchess Co. Farmers.” 
At the west, we have had no acquaintance with this 
pest of the farmer, and are entirely unacquainted with any 
particular mode of destroying it. Wherever it prevails, 
it is very destructive in wheat fields; and where it has 
long been known, as in some parts of Massachusetts, it 
is pronounced one of the most obstinate and difficult weeds 
to destroy. There is, perhaps, no plant, however, that 
thorough tillage, and a careful prevention of seeding, 
will not eventually destroy; and on this course we should 
rely for the destruction of the toad flax. If any of our 
readers are advised of a better and more expeditious 
way, they will confer a favor on the public by letting it 
be known. 
LIVINGSTON CO. PLOW. 
F. H. Hill, Esq., P. M. Madison C. H., Va., says, 
“Several planters in this county wish to get the Living¬ 
ston co. plow, of which you have given a description in 
your paper. We wish to know the particulars; whether 
the moldboard, share, and all is cast, or whether the 
share is wrought, &c., and what will be the expense of 
getting one to Fredericksburg, Va?” 
We are unable to answer all these inquiries, but the 
makers of the Livingston plow we presume will do it 
satisfactorily. Mr. Hill may be addressed by letter. 
CULTIVATION OF THE CRANBERRY. 
We have had several inquiries in relation to the culti¬ 
vation of this fruit, the demand for which is rapidly in¬ 
creasing in our markets. Few things are more easily 
grown than the cranberry, and the cultivation is very 
simple. Nothing more seems necessary to success than 
bog or peat earth; if the bogs are sandy, so much the 
better, but too much wet is fatal to the hopes of an abun¬ 
dant crop. On the sandy coasts of Massachusetts, where 
wet bogs or meadows abound, the cultivation of the cran¬ 
berry is increasing, and pieces of ground hitherto of no 
value, now yield handsome incomes. It is found they 
grow well on these sandy bogs after draining, and the 
following is stated to be the method pursued by Mr. 
Hall, of Barnstable, who has for some time produced 
them in great quantities:—“If the bogs are covered with 
brush it is removed, but it is not necessary to remove the 
rushes, as the strong roots of the cranberry soon over¬ 
power them. It would be well, if previous to planting, 
the ground could be plowed, but Capt. Hall usually spreads 
on beach sand, and digs holes four feet asunder each 
way, the same as for corn; the holes are however deep¬ 
er. Into these holes sods of cranberry roots are planted, 
and in the space of three years the whole ground is co¬ 
vered.” Mr. Kenrick remarks, that “ although a moist 
soil is best suited to the plant, yet, with a suitable mix¬ 
ture of bog earth, it will flourish, producing abundant 
crops, even in any dry soil.” Loudon asserts that Sir J. 
Banks, who obtained this plant from America, raised in 
1831, on a square of 18 feet each wa 3 >-, three and a half 
bushels, equal to 460 bushels per acre. Any man who 
has a bog swamp may raise cranberries, by draining it so 
that the surface at least shall be dry, either inverting the 
surface, if hard enough, with a plow, or covering it with 
