100 
THE CULTIVATOR 
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A FARM GATE—(Fig. 63.) 
Editors of the Cultivator —I herewith send you 
a rough sketch of a gate I have had in operation for some 
time, and find it answers an excellent purpose. It can 
be built by any farmer and costs but a mere trifle, as the 
materials can be procured on any farm, and are not valu¬ 
able for any other purpose—recommendations which 
will render it the more acceptable to a great portion of 
my brother farmers, as it requires no outlay of money, 
and is yet exactly the thing they want. In traveling 
through the country, I have discovered generally the 
most wretched defects in gates and bars, of anything that 
relates to fencing; not unfrequently finding a farm tole¬ 
rably well fenced in all other respects, and the bars mise¬ 
rably defective, to say nothing about the time spent in 
taking them out and putting them up, and gates, if any, 
in a miserable sagging, tattered condition, rendering their 
crops insecure for the want of a little labor and attention. 
I will give you the plan I built mine upon, and the kind 
of materials used, which can be varied according to cir¬ 
cumstances, with the chance of improvement which all 
new things are apt to undergo. For the top and bottom 
piece of the frame, I split a chestnut sapling so that each 
piece, when dressed out, would work about two inches 
by four; the end pieces about 1| by 3, and the middle 
slats still smaller, all of the same kind of materials. I 
then put one board at the bottom, morticed through the 
end pieces with two small tenons at each end; the re¬ 
mainder I fill up with small soft maple poles, let through 
the end pieces by a l.{ inch auger, and fastened with half 
inch pins, just cutting the side of the tenons, which pre¬ 
vents weakening them too much, and secures them 
equally well, and nail the poles and board to the middle 
slats. I then take a chestnut pole about six inches through 
at the butt, and 22 feet long, and hew the butt end so that 
the flat part that goes across the gateway will be from 4 
to 6 inches wide, to receive the forward roller, which is 
plain; the small end that extends back of the gateway, 
need only be straightened to receive the rail upon which 
the back roller traverses; the rail may be sawed out of 
three-fourths or an inch oak board and 1£ inches wide, 
and rounded on the top to receive the back roller, which 
is concave, and may be made of wood or cast iron; then 
put the rollers which should be six inches in diameter, 
with a mortice into the bottom piece at suitable distan¬ 
ces; then to keep the gate in its place and properly se¬ 
cure it, set into the ground two pair of large stakes, 
straight on the inside at each end of the gateway, just 
far enough apart to let the bottom and top pieces pass 
easily through, and put a pin at the top to secure them 
properly. Objections may be raised as to the durability 
of the soft maple poles, but those who have not used 
them are not aware what length of time they will last 
when the bark is taken off. It may also be said that both 
rollers should be concave and a bar of iron run across the 
gateway. With those who are willing to incur the ex¬ 
pense, there can be no objection, but for all ordinary 
purposes the plan I have proposed will answer; there is 
no difficulty in opening and shutting them by a child eight 
or ten years old with ease, and I think less liability to 
get out of repair than swinging gates, not so liable to 
be operated upon by the wind, being built of small*poles, 
and not so troublesome in winter on account of snow. 
Claverack, Dec. 14, 1841. John Martin. 
LETTERS FROM MR. PETERS—No. IV. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —Your able correspon¬ 
dent Commentator, in the May number, seems to doubt 
an assertion of mine, that we are not 30 years behind 
England in our agriculture. I may be. mistaken: but 
notwithstanding his doubts, I think I shall not give up 
the point yet. 
We may not have the capital, but we have what is al¬ 
most as good, enterprise and industry, and these in time 
will accumulate the capital. 
England, 30 years ago, in every thing save her im¬ 
proved stock, was not one step more advanced among 
the great mass of farmers than this country is now. I 
doubt very much whether there was any thing like the 
general knowledge among the English farmers, that there 
is now among the American farmers. I go still farther, 
and assert that even now, there is as much knowledge 
among the great mass of our farmers as there is among 
English farmers. We fail in practice, and that is mainly- 
owing to the want of capital. I would ask Commentator, 
as he is a much older man than I am, if he is not aware 
that nearly all the improvements in agricultural imple¬ 
ments and machinery, in the last 20 years, have been 
made in this country? And, excepting the improvements 
in stock, I would further ask him what great improve¬ 
ment has been made by England within the same time; 
and has she not borrowed as much from us as we have 
from her? True, she has celebrated agricultural writers, 
but excepting peihaps Davy, none who have done as 
much as either Chaptal of France, or Liebig of Germany, 
for the real improvement of agriculture. 
We have not as much good stock as they have, but we 
have as good, because we are constantly importing from 
them, and selecting the best. For instance) Mr. Pren¬ 
tice has as good Short Horn Durhams, and Messrs. Corn¬ 
ing & Sotham as good Herefords, as can be found in Eng¬ 
land, and there are any number of breeders of as good 
swine as can be found there or any whei’e. 
If We only had a judicious and well digested system, 
we should be but little if any behind our mother coun¬ 
try, taking our agriculture as a whole. We have not yet 
the taste tnat is everywhere displayed around the cottag-e 
and home of the farmer. One reason has been that we 
have had no wealthy nabobs scattered about the country 
to lavish money upon their estates, and thus make 
us sensible by contrast of the difference between refined 
taste and no taste at all. We are however improving 
from each others example. The farmer begins to find 
time to set out trees, to fence in his front yard, and to 
help his women to cultivate a few rose bushes and flow¬ 
ers, and feels all the better when he contrasts the pleasant 
appearance of his home thus improved, with the naked 
pi’ospect ai'ound the house of his more careless and indo¬ 
lent neighbor. 
In the trim appearance of the country, we are indeed, 
a gi-eat deal more than 30 yeai’s behind England; but in 
all the essentials of good farming, we are but a few years 
behind her; and I shall see, if I live to my three score 
years and ten, our agricultui'e fully equal if notsupei’ior to 
hei-s. When more at leisure, I may recur to this subject 
again, but in the meantime hope Commentator will look 
more into the subject, and see if I am not nearer right 
than he at first supposed. T. C. Peters. 
SUGGESTIONS TO FARMERS—No. II. 
Messrs. Editors —An agriculturist shoxdd never over¬ 
look these two laws of Nature—1st. That which keeps 
the earth covered with vegetable production, and which 
is necessary for the continuance of vegetable growth. 2d. 
That lor the continuance of its kind. All organic pro¬ 
ductions, being possessed of a set of generant organs for 
re-producing their kind, cannot be disturbed,when these 
functions are developed for procreation, without injuri¬ 
ous results. 
We cannot look upon our fields and forests, without 
being forcibly reminded of this wise and unalterable 
plan, and the manner in which nature provides to keep 
up their continuous succession. Upon this depends the 
result of the product of our soil, and whenever we step 
aside from the examples set before us by nature; over¬ 
reaching her to gi-asp at human ambition, our science 
falls, and we either have to retrace our steps, or sink in¬ 
vidiously to our own desires. Wherever the earth is 
without vegetable growth, it is barren, and the wisdom 
displayed in keeping up its fertility, is clearly set forth 
in the decomposition of her own productions, and these 
laws are the same in all climates and upon all soils. 
Then to produce the best and most happy results, what 
should be the practice of the farmer? The first thing to 
be attended to on all exhausted soils, is to restore it to 
fertility. 2d. To prevent as much as possible, the es¬ 
cape of gaseous matter from the soil. 3d. To plant our 
crops in sueh manner as to afford the greatest yield. 
The improvement of the soil has been and is a sub¬ 
ject of deep consideration and interest to almost every 
farmer, and has elicited from men of great genius anti 
science, years of indefatigable labor, each in his course 
arriving at something new for the alleviation of our toil, 
or to increase more abundantly the munificent produc¬ 
tions of our farms. In following them into the intricate 
depths of science, let us not forget what nature is achiev¬ 
ing in her laboratory; if she can enrich our fence cor¬ 
ners and our woodlands, by keeping them covered, while 
we impoverish the field, let us not overlook the lesson. 
To enrich our lands, they should never be left without 
a covering to protect them from the sun of summer, and 
as far as our abilities extend, from the severe frosts of 
winter. To insure a good crop of wheat, and at the same 
time, improve the soil, two green crops should be turned 
under during summer, with the use of salt. In the slow 
decomposition of vegetable matter, I have found an ani 
maleul production, that has been supposed to be harm¬ 
less; but I have hail reason to believe otherwise, and 
find that common salt is a good corrective. Under the 
supposition that the land does not want lime, two green 
crops plowed under during summer, will, in a great 
degree, protect the earth from the influence of the direct 
rays of the sun, and the crop receive the exhalations 
from the soil to be returned to it, and with the use of 
salt, will produce a better ci’op of wheat than manure 
from twice their quantity, after undergoing a decompo¬ 
sition in the stomach of cattle, and be a more permanent 
improvement of the land. 
To retain the gaseous matter in the soil, nature keeps 
it closely covered, and by this covering, each plant re¬ 
ceives a continuous and equi-necessai-y quantity; while 
if the putrifying vegetable substance was exposed to the 
direct influence of the sun's rays, it would be thrown off 
into the atmosphere in vapoi', as I presume all excess of 
gaseous effluvium is for the common benefit of nature’s 
grand design, and with the use of lime and plaster, those 
gases which appear necessary can be retained. 
To plant our crops so as to afford the greatest yield 
with the least laboi - , is the great desire of every farmer; 
and as we are not to be informed by that person, whoever 
he may be; and you say it is not Mr. Bridgeman that is 
invested with this inestimable secret, then allow me to 
ask his name,* his residence and his occupation. Mr. 
* The name of the person who applied to Congress for a reward 
for an important discovery in terra-culture, is Russel Comstock, 
a resident, and we believe a farmer, of Washington, Dutchess 
county, N. Y. 
Bridgeman might at least have given his name, and not 
left his readers in ambiguity of construction. 
The greatest error appears to be committed in our corn 
ciops and peach orchai'ds, and this is for want of the 
proper application of the two laws of nature, that head 
this article; and I believe that thousands of days labor 
are expended in violation of these two laws, that are 
worse than useless. I know fi-om the result of my own 
farm, that from the ground—under common culture by a 
good and attentive farmer—that produced about 400 bush¬ 
els of corn, planted four feet square, I have taken nearly 
nine hundred bushels, with less labor (except the husk¬ 
ing,) when planted and worked consistently with the 
above laws: and this is not the only instance, but in eve¬ 
ry crop that I have ever planted of this kind. Plant this, 
and all othei* hoed crops, close enough to prevent spon¬ 
taneous growths at the time when the vessels for forming 
seed are maturing, so as not to be under the necessity of 
working them at this time, and I will venture to predict 
that we shall not need the aid of thatpei'son, whose name 
I have not learned, nor the million of dollai’S to confirm 
the belief, that a pi'otecting covering fox* the sui’face of 
the earth, by close planting or otherwise, following na¬ 
ture m the course she points out, is the cheapest, best 
and only safe system for the farmer to adopt. 
Lyttleton Physick. 
Ararat Farm , Cecil co. Md ., May 12, 1842. 
PHILO COMMENTATOR. 
Gentlemen— I am an admirer of the strictures of 
Commentator; he is evidently a writer of a sound dis¬ 
criminating mind and a clear head. Well written criti¬ 
cisms designed in all kindness, and specific answers to 
inquiries from your many readers seeking information, 
are among the most valuable articles with which you 
treat your readers. 
I should be highly gratified if he would pursue his la¬ 
bors con amore. In the meantime, will you permit one 
who has been a “ looker on hei-e in Vienna,” some three 
score years in this breathing world, one who has no other 
pretensions to worldly wisdom than what he has picked 
up in the bye-ways and highways and corners of the fen¬ 
ces of the Republic of Letters, to follow a humble gleaner 
of the tares from the golden grain that your Cultivator so 
successfully disseminates. 
Covered Wells —In your January number your an¬ 
swer is not full enough on the subject of covered wells. 
In all wells the least disposed to produce sulphuretted 
waters, as nearly all do that are in the region of the tran¬ 
sition or secondary rock, covering is fatal to them, as it 
presupposes the use of the pump. Sulphuretted hydro¬ 
gen gas is heavier than common air, and as it is given 
off by the water, forms an atmosphere above it, which 
has a tendency to keep the whole mass surcharged and 
consequently impure and noxious. In all such wells there 
is no security but in the use of the bucket; in the draw¬ 
ing of the water and from the drippings of the bucket, a 
constant circulation and change of air is kept up, the wa¬ 
ter procured is from the surface which has given up its 
gasses, as it has a tendency to do as soon as it is free from 
the pressure of the superincumbent earth; while the 
pump always takes the water from the bottom just as it is 
produced, charged with all its noxious gaseous contents. 
These ai*e the whys that all well waters ai*e pui*estand 
best, that are drawn with the bucket. 
The complaint as to worms, insects and reptiles, is 
owing to the imperfection of the walls at the surface. 
Let about three feet of the upper portion of the walls be 
laid in mortar or clay, with a well fitting platform and a 
tight curb, and the defect is cured. 
One word on the subject of bad water. Great fears 
have been indulged in—whole countries have been ana¬ 
thematized as uninhabitable and fatal to life, from the 
whims of early settlers. Now sir, my belief is, on that 
point, that you may eat the devil and drink the vil, head, 
horns and all, but you must not breathe him. There is 
no water in nature, so bad that you may not use it for all 
the common uses of life; there is none so bad not even 
the “ green mantle of the standing pool,” but I have used 
while hunting and traveling with a pack horse the track¬ 
less prairies of the west; the water used on ship board 
by sailors, frequently is so putrid that they have to hold 
the breath and strain the living mass with the teeth while 
drinking it, and yet it does not affect their health. 
Hard well waters, whether from carbonic or sulphuric 
acid’s holding the earths in solution, are pure in compa¬ 
rison with the Sai’atoga chalybeates, or sulphur springs 
of this country or the south, and yet they are the very 
hygean fountains that poets dream of. The gastric juice 
is the purifying menstruum that corrects the contents of 
the stomach, and you may drink of the standing pool 
with safety, while the breathing of its noxious malaric 
exhalations is fatal to existence. 
Gates—A man once asserted that honesty was the 
best policy; another asked « how he knew it V> He re¬ 
plied, “ by the Lord Harx-y I have tried it.” So with 
Mr. Garrett’s gate, of which an engraving is given in 
this numbei*, for I have tried them for several years. 
There is no sagg to them—boys may enjoy the perfection 
of human happiness—to swing on a gate and eat candy, 
and not disturb them. When well made, they will sink 
a half an inch in dry weather and regain it again in wet 
weather. I should prefer the bi-ace to be toed in at the 
foot, and dropped in at the top at the point where the 
middle post joins the top rail, and with a crotch hinge 
at the bottom, so that it will open either way, and shut 
of its own accord. 
Slug. —Mr. Hodges’ communication on the slug that 
