THE CULTIVATOR. 
163 
stant and thorough conviction that he would be eternally 
punished in the next world, for all the time which he 
wasted in the present. — 
I be 0- leave to return my best thanks to Mr. H. D. 
Grovefor his complimentary notice of Commentator, and 
to assure him that my remarks will certainly be continu¬ 
ed_without “ fear or favor” too,—at least so long as 
they occasionally meet with such encouragement as he 
has been pleased to give them. As for my “ touching 
tender spots,” I can truly say that should I commit any 
errors in this way, they will proceed from the head, and 
not the heart; for my sole object being to throw in my 
mite towards the promotion of American Husbandry, I 
write under the constant belief that it must be seasoned a 
little to make it acceptable. I myself cannot relish meat 
without salt, and of course conclude that others have a 
taste» * " 
Upon Mr- E. H. Northrup’s gate, I would merely re¬ 
mark, that if the wagoners and cartmen in his part of 
our country, require one te 13 feet in width,” to miss run¬ 
ning against the posts, they must still need much practice 
in driving, for the common width, wherever I have tra¬ 
veled during a long life, has been 10 feet—some few 
inches under or over. — 
Since Mr. Wm. H. Sotham calls Mr. Morrell “ a one 
sided writer on cattle,” I should be gratified to learn how 
many sided a writer he calls himself. He must be at 
least five or six sided, (pentagonal or hexagonal,) if he 
claims to be an impartial judge of all the varieties of im¬ 
ported cattle, for I believe there are not less than five or 
six kinds now in the United States. 
He says, and so say I, “ it is very important that wri¬ 
ters for your paper, should confine themselves to well 
founded facts, and not make assertions that have no foun¬ 
dation.” But unless I am greatly mistaken in the pub¬ 
lic taste, if the Cultivator contained only facts unaccom¬ 
panied by any remarks whatever, it would be as little 
read as the long genealogies in the Bible. 
Mr. Sotham himself, however, does not appear altoge¬ 
ther well disposed to practice what he preaches. Wit¬ 
ness the following assertion in speaking of some com¬ 
munication by Mr. Randall, in regard to the common 
cattle of this country:—“He may select,” says Mr. So¬ 
tham, “ the best, if he chooses, and breed them until he 
is 
the age of man, and my word for it, he will never 
breed a beast that a good judge would condescend to put 
his hand upon.” Well done, friend Sotham! for if this 
be not one of those assertions which you yourself have 
condemned, I know not what can justly be so called: un¬ 
less, indeed, you can produce some person in our own 
country who is “ of the age of man,” and who has actual¬ 
ly been making the experiment all the time he was at¬ 
taining that age, but without success. Mr. Bakewell 
made a similar experiment in England, and it is presum 
able with no better cattle to begin with, than Mr. Randall 
might probably find of what is called the native breed 
in New-York. Yet Mr. Bakewell succeeded perfectly, 
and long before he was “ of the age of man,” if Mr. S. 
means three score and ten, by that expression. Why 
then, could not Mr. Randall succeed in his State, by pur¬ 
suing the same method? 
The receipt “ to restore rancid butter to its original 
sweetness,” has been tried long ago, by at least two of 
my female acquaintance, and like hundreds of other tf<r it- 
-is saids,” (if I may coin a term,) has proved utterly 
worthless. I doubt much whether there is any cure for 
it. The best would probably be to compel the makers 
of it, if practicable, to swallow a good large dose of it, 
every morning, on an empty stomach, until they ceased 
to make any more. Commentator. 
POTATOE OATS—CALIFORNIA WHEAT. 
oats are covered with a double and very thick tough and 
closely fitted husk, and I have little doubt its increased 
bulk and weight, as well as its indigestibility, are attri¬ 
butable to this. But my object is not controversy, espe¬ 
cially with the respected author of “Commentator;” I 
merely desire that the subject may be carefully examined 
by those interested, horse owners and farmers; and if 
they find I have been led into error, you may be assured, 
Messrs. Editors, that you have not a reader that will be 
before me, in willingness or readiness most gladly to 
communicate the fact to you. 
California Wheat.— I have been applied to repeat¬ 
edly for this newlj discovered wheat, for information on 
the subject, and for seed. I believe this is the same ar¬ 
ticle with a new name, that I have been instrumental in 
killing several times in the course of my life. It is the 
old Egyptian Wheat, Triticum compositum. It has been 
cultivated in Europe in a small way, for forty years; in 
America, for thirty years; it will do tolerably well where 
our good common kinds cannot succeed, but no where 
else. I observe this humbug has just laid another egg in 
Europe; a remarkably fine specimen of the mummy wheat 
having been raised the present season by the “ Bath 
Royal United Horticultural and Botanical Society.” So 
our countrymen may look for a whole brood of this in¬ 
sect spreading over this country next year. Many years 
since I obtained a few seeds of mummy wheat from Pa- 
taken from the body of a mummy then recently im- 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker— I have read the seve¬ 
ral articles in the Cultivator, on the subject of the Pota 
toe Oats, elicited by my communication some months 
since, cautioning farmers against cultivating them, 
had intended from the first not to make any reply, as my 
original object was only to call attention to the facts sta¬ 
ted by me, as that alone would correct the evil if it prov 
ed to be one, or the error if the conclusion I had arrived 
at was erroneous. I stated the fact of the indigestibility 
of the potatoe oats, by authority of the most extensive 
livery stable keepers in Baltimore, the Quartermaster of 
the U. S. Army, stationed here, (who supplies large 
quantities of oats to the mounted troops here and in the 
Southern army,) W. Kendall, proprietor of the race 
course here, and several other horse keepers; all of 
whom have used potatoe oats, and did not discover their 
error till they had done their stock considerable injury 
and not one of whom can now be induced to pur¬ 
chase potatoe oats at any price. I did not state those 
facts as of my own knowledge, nor until repeatedly soli 
cited to do so by several of the gentlemen above alluded 
to. It will be observed that not one of the gentlemen re 
ferred to as my authority for the statement, can be influ¬ 
enced by any motive of interest or sinister design; on 
the contrary, if the article was a good one, it would he 
clearly to their interest to promote its cultivation to the 
greatest possible extent. I would therefore respectfully 
call « Commentator’s” attention to the circumstance, that 
“ facts are stubborn things,” and not to be set aside by 
mere reasoning. Suppose other kinds of oats and grain 
do “ partially pass undigested,” is that fact sufficient to 
prove that more potatoe oats do not pass undigested than 
of other kinds? And suppose potatoe oats are heavier 
than other kinds, does that fact prove that they con 
tain more nutritive matter? It is a fact that tire potatoe 
ris, 
ported from Egypt; but I soon found what it was—it. 
was the well known Egyptian wheat. So is the Califor¬ 
nia wheat, and the Mummy wheat now in the Bath So¬ 
ciety’s grounds, all the same thing, and all good for no¬ 
thing where good wheat succeeds. Let us watch the ad¬ 
vent of the new humbug from England, it will soon be 
upon us, and let us all be prepared for it, not with a five 
dollar bill for each head of wheat, which the originators 
of the California humbug had the face to ask, but with 
the knowledge which will enable us to escape imposi¬ 
tion. G. B. S. 
CULTURE OF WHEAT. 
(Continued from p. 150.) 
Harvesting of Wheat.— I believe that our farm¬ 
ers err in allowing their wheat to stand too long before 
cutting, much more frequently than by cutting too early. 
Indeed, I do not know that I have ever seen a sample of 
wheat from a crop injured by being cut too soon. But I 
have frequently seen great losses sustained by allowing 
wheat to stand until it was what is called dead ripe, when 
it will shell freely in cutting and gathering. Some va¬ 
rieties are much worse in this respect than others, but all, 
if allowed to stand too long, will subject the farmer to 
heavy losses in harvesting. The least attention to vege¬ 
table physiology, would teach us, that after the joints or 
stem below the ears have become yellow and solid, no 
more nourishment can be received, as the sap has ceased 
to circulate, by which alone it can be conveyed. I have 
found that when the wheat was cut in this state, (and at 
this time the berry will not be soft, nor very hard, but 
so the nail will indent it readily,) the grain would be of 
a fine color and quality, and the loss from shelling in the 
field, or in harvesting, a mere nothing. It is objected 
that when wheat is cut early, it is threshed with diffi¬ 
culty. This is true in part; but since the introduction 
of machines, this is of little consequence, as a properly 
constructed machine will thresh all kinds clean, and with 
sufficient celerity. The experiments made in this matter 
by Mr. Hannam, the substance of which have been given 
in the Cultivator, are I think deserving the attention of 
farmers. For seed wheat, however, I prefer that which 
has fully ripened and matured in the field. The process 
of nature, which is to ripen seeds until they fall to the 
earth of their own accord, may be advantageously imi 
tated in saving seed wheat. Independent of the wheat 
being fully matured for seed, the straw in this case is so 
thoroughly dried that no fermentation can ensue, and the 
germinating qualities of the berry are unimpaired 
4. Some Experiments. —Always a disbeliever in the 
transmutation of the cereal plants, as much as in the 
transmutation of metals, I have still felt some curiosity 
in the discussion which has been carried on in this coun¬ 
try in regard to the changing, under certain circumstan¬ 
ces, of wheat to chess. Although contrary to every 
known law of vegetable physiology, and without a single 
analogy in the whole range of organized existence, the 
transmutation of wheat into chess has found believers 
and supporters among many of our respectable farmers, 
and perhaps it would not be a subject of so much regret, 
did not the belief of the theory lead to a practice direct 
ly calculated to perpetuate the evil. The man who be¬ 
lieves that chess will not grow, or that wheat will change 
to that plant, will not be likely to take much pains to 
clean his seed, or weed his wheat from the growing- 
plants. During the controversy which was carried on in 
the early volumes of the Genesee Farmer, on the subject 
of chess, it was maintained by some that chess would not 
vegetate; that shrunk defective wheat would produce 
chess; that freezing out the roots of the plants, or muti¬ 
lating them would do the same, and that the ears of 
wheat that are left on the ground at harvest to shrink and 
swell until the “ best properties” of the grain were lost, 
would assuredly change to chess when grown. 
To test some of these theories, I marked out a piece 
of ground in my summer fallow, when ready to sow my 
wheat, which was the 2d of September, and used it for 
the following experiment:—First, I made two furrows 
across the plat of ground, in which I sowed pure chess, 
carefully picked by hand, from wheat of the same year’s 
growth. Second, in two more furrows, I sowed shrunk 
and defective wheat, picked by hand as before, and the 
worst I could select. Third, two furrows were planted 
by ears of wheat gathered from a field cut in July, and 
the ears had lain on the ground till I gathered them for 
planting. They were laid on the ground in the furrows, 
without being covered with earth, and so remained ex¬ 
posed until they germinated; indeed they were never co¬ 
vered at all. Fourth, two more furrows were sown with 
pure wheat picked by hand, and of course free from 
chess. All vegetated, the ears of wheat, the latest of 
all, a result that was to be expected; and the chess the 
thickest of all. In the spring, the plants in all the rows 
stood very well: but the chess plants had evidently suf¬ 
fered the least from the winter, and commenced their 
growth the earliest, proving that they were the hardiest. 
The chess rows tillered or spread rapidly, and were of a 
most luxuriant growth; so much so, that at harvest there 
were probably five times the number of chess heads that 
there was of wheat, in the same number of rows. In the 
rows grown from the defective seed, from the gathered 
and injured ears, and the pure wheat, there was no ma¬ 
terial difference in the product, except that the plants 
grown from the pure seed were the most vigorous, and 
gave the largest, handsomest ears. In the berry there 
was little difference. But in none of them did any chess, 
or any thing like it appear; from the shrunk wheat, the 
damaged ears, and the pure wheat, pure wheat, was grown 
and wheat only. In one of the chess rows, was a root, 
producing three or four ears of wheat; but as no one, 
I presume, contends that chess will turn to wheat, a so¬ 
lution will be found in the probability that with the se¬ 
lected chess, was taken a kernel of shrunken wheat, mis¬ 
taken for chess. 
On my soils, which are inclining to be heavy, I have 
not found the benefit from rolling winter wheat, that I 
have from the use of that implement on spring grain. 
Last year I sowed three acres after peas, the ground fine 
and in good condition. One-half the piece, and that the 
part I thought best, I rolled well, and furrowed out, to 
drain off surplus water, as usual. The other part was 
sown and harrowed in the usual manner. This spring 
when the snow went off, I found to my surprise, that the 
rolled ground had suffered the most, on a very considera¬ 
ble part of it not a root being left, exhibiting any sign 
of life. On that which was only plowed and harrowed, 
the plants stood very well, and gave a handsome product. 
Finding that nothing would grow on the rolled ground, 
I plowed it up and sowed it to oats. In this case, I at¬ 
tributed the loss of the wheat plants to the smoothness of 
the ground, which allowed all the snow to blow off, 
leaving it bare, and consequently liable to freeze harder 
than that, where the inequalities detained the snow, and 
kept the ground longer covered. 
One thing more, and I will close this already, perhaps, 
too protracted paper. There was some mildew or rust 
on the whole field, and that experimented upon, did not 
escape; but while the wheat suffered, the rows of chess 
were as bright and clean as the grass in the corners of 
the fence, near by. Not a particle of rust was to be seen 
upon it; thus proving that its character was so totally 
different from the wheat, as to render it unfit for a nidus 
to the mildew fungus peculiar to grain. 
A Wheat Grower of Western New-York. 
PORTABLE STEAM GENERATOR.—(Fig. 93.) 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —I flatter myself that I 
have now completed at my Steam Engine and Machine 
shop, No. 12 Quay st. Albany, the best article for gene¬ 
rating steam now in use. It is a combination of the ver¬ 
tical salamander with the horizontal boiler, or reservoir; 
the salamander furnace being inclosed in a casing of iron 
and surrounded by water; two pipes, connecting the sa¬ 
lamander with the reservoir, one for water and the oth¬ 
er for steam, at top and bottom, form an alteranate cir¬ 
culation of water round the head salamander. This ge¬ 
nerator is peculiarly adapted to domestic purposes, name¬ 
ly, cooking, washing, steaming vegetables, boiling cof¬ 
fee and tea, clarifying sugar, heating water for bathing, 
heating green houses, or generating steam for any other 
purposes; and are considered, by those who have them 
in operation, to be superior to any article now in use for 
the same purposes, being simple and easy to be kept in 
order, and a greater saving of expense than is afforded 
by any other boiler. They are made of four differ¬ 
ent sizes, at prices from $40 to $80, to accommodate dif¬ 
ferent families and establishments. In boarding houses 
and public houses, they will be found of great service. 
It has great advantages over any apparatus now in use, 
for applying the steam to all or any part of the above, 
purposes at the same time, or as may be wanted. This 
generator may be placed in the kitchen or out house. 
