THE CULTIVATOR. 
195 
botany, and particularly of that most distinguished of 
them all, the justly celebrated Liebig; yet I hesitate not 
to say, that the mere ipse dixit, even of Liebig, should 
not be admitted without some proof. They have given 
it, I think, in abundance; but I have not here room to 
cite it. The fact mentioned by Mr. Garnett, of the bodies 
of young trees, around which a ring of bark had been 
taken off, soon growing larger above the ring than be¬ 
low it, appears to me to be one proof, although not 
mentioned, I believe, by either of the writers alluded to. 
If Mr. G. imputed the whole of this greater growth to 
atmospheric influence, I think he was wrong; as the 
obstruction of the sap in returning to the roots was pro¬ 
bably in part the cause. But Mr. A.’s case of a vein 
swelling when a man’s arm is tied up to be bled, has no 
analogy to the tree case, if he will pardon me for saying 
so; unless, indeed, upon the supposition that one part 
grew in the earth; and that if our legs had a ring of skin 
taken off, all around them, the parts above the ring 
would soon attain a greatly disproportioned size. 
In conclusion, I will venture to say, that if Mr. Gar¬ 
nett is the man I take him to be, he will be so far from 
thinking any of Mr. Armstrong's remarks “ disrespect¬ 
ful to him,” that he will be much gratified at the very 
favorable opinion which Mr. A. has expressed of him 
and his opinions. — 
Mr. P. R. S.’s method of extirpating the toad-flax, 
snap-dragon, or ransted, as some call it, is probably the 
only effectual one; for it is perennial. It is the antir¬ 
rhinum of the botanist. Some 8 or 10 years ago it was 
introduced into our garden as a beautiful flower, and I 
have been annually pulling it up ever since, but have 
not yet got rid of it. — 
Our friend Solon Robinson’s comparison of newspa¬ 
pers to mustard holds good in more respects than one. 
We often meet with preparations of the latter which are 
utterly worthless; and so we do of the former. We 
should therefore examine carefully before we buy, or we 
may get moral poison for our money, instead of a whole¬ 
some mental stimulant. — 
I can assure your worthy and well informed corres¬ 
pondent G. B. S. that I am quite as averse to controversy 
as he can be; and had no other object in my former re¬ 
marks about potatoe oats than to elicit farther inquiry 
relative to a grain which had been so long in high esti¬ 
mation among us, and certainly had very good looks in 
their favor, if nothing else. 
t£ A Wheat grower in Western New-York,” whose 
communication is continued in this number of your pa¬ 
per will prove, if I mistake not, as good “ a hand at the 
business” as any you have among your numerous corres¬ 
pondents; and I earnestly hope he will long be one of 
them. I would particularly recommend what he says of 
cc chess” to your friend Mr. T. Hudson of Ohio, whose 
promised experiments I trust will be forth coming be¬ 
fore next year passes otf. Might I risk a prophecy with¬ 
out offence, he will convict himself of having entertain¬ 
ed a very erroneous opinion. 
As Dr. N. B. Cloud has been pleased to mention me 
in speaking of the South American evergreen grass seed 
which he lately sent you, I will barely inform him, that 
some of the Musquit grass seed has been promised to 
me, and that I will certainly try the two together if I 
receive them. The result of the trial shall be published, 
whether it prove favorable or not. 
In regard to the culture of foreign grapes in the Unit¬ 
ed States, I beg leave to state a single fact. Two or 
three varieties, the distinctive names of which I do not 
know, but which appear to be too tender to bare well in 
our climate, have grown most vigorously, and produced 
abundantly when grafted on our common native vines. 
In a single season I have known the grafts to grow 20 
or 30 feet. Commentatob. 
SALT, POULTRY, &c. 
Farmers, Salt your Cattle in the Winter. —I have 
long practiced salting my htfy when put in the barn, and 
supposed that would be sufficient for the cattle during win¬ 
ter. But last winter, I kept saltbefore them constantly, and 
found that they consumed quite as much as they did in the 
summer, and therefore consider it as necessary. 
Liverpool Salt for the Dairy. —Some writer for 
the Cultivator has stated or suggested, that good butter and 
cheese cannot be made, by salting with Liverpool blown 
salt. For a number of years, we were of that opinion, 
and took pains to get the best rock salt we could. But for 
several years past we have used none but sack salt, bought 
as Liverpool, and we all consider the butter and cheese quite 
as good as when we used the other kind. It may take a 
little more in quantity, as it is lighter than rock salt. 
Top-Knot Hens.— An inquiry is made in the last num¬ 
ber of the Cultivator, for some genuine Poland or top- 
knot hens. Mrs. Langdon, my next door neighbor has one, 
and there may be others in the town. Some seven or eight 
years ago, I procured a couple of that breed of hens, male 
and female. I am confident they were pure full blooded 
topknots; they were said not to sit but once in seven years. 
As I wished to keep fowls for their eggs, and not for their 
chickens, I was much pleased with the description. Du¬ 
ring the two first years I succeeded without any difficulty, 
in raising about thirty, the number of hens I wished to 
keep. Not one of the full bloods offered to sit while I 
kept them. The part bloods would sit a week or ten days, 
but never long enough to hatch chickens. The top-knots 
first raised having become old, and not producing so many 
eggs as young hens would, and being more mischievous, 
(as it is well known, that old hens do not lay as bounti¬ 
fully as young ones, and grow naughty withall,) I tried 
for two or three years to raise more chickens ; but from 
some fatality, not at all attributable to the kind of hens, I 
could not succeed in raising a single chick—got discourag¬ 
ed, and determined to keep no hens as they were trouble¬ 
some to my neighbors, and last spring killed all but one 
half blood. She has layed all summer but never offered 
to sit. 
I consider the top-knots altogether the most profitable 
hens for me to keep. As to feeding hens, I am fully sat¬ 
isfied they do not consume half as much grain, when kept 
where they have free access to it, as when fed to them daily. 
Yours, C. Butler. 
Plymouth, Conn. Oct. 29, 1842. 
NINE PLAUSIELE REASONS FOR SUBSCRIBING 
FOR THE CULTIVATOR. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker—M y destiny is to labor 
—to cultivate the soil—to obtain my “ bread by the sweat 
of my brow”—Father Adam like—an honorable avoca¬ 
tion. My hand is callous by the habitual and daily use of 
the implements of the farm, and more accustomed to 
wield the plow than the pen, which may account for all 
deficiencies in my communications. 
But, notwithstanding all this, permit me to adduce a few 
reasons, which have been conceived while following the 
plow, or other ways engaged, why farmers should sub¬ 
scribe for the Cultivator. 
1. Every farmer should subscribe for the Cultivator, and 
read it; because a vast deal of manual labor is unnecessa¬ 
rily expended, and completely lost; and a great extent of 
soil remains in an uncultivated condition, year after year; 
and benefits no one a farthing, merely for the want of the 
information, which an agricultural journal so abundantly 
imparts. 
2. Men of most occupations through necessity^ require 
reading adapted to their various pursuits. 
The moralist must have his Advocate—the divine his re¬ 
ligious periodicals, in order to keep up with the spirit of 
the times; and to learn the condition and changes in com¬ 
munity ; and the progress of the moral and religious world. 
The politician, the lawyer, and physician, must read ex¬ 
tensively ; and devote much time to matters relating to 
their occupations, or they make little or no proficiency in 
their professions. 
And shall not the cultivator of the soil, to whom the 
votaries of pleasure, and the whole professional class look 
for support, avail himself of the information, adapted to 
his pursuit, which he so greatly needs. 
Now the Cultivator will furnish him with abundance of 
the necessary information, both theoretical and practical; 
and the result of experience clearly demonstrates that if 
he would be the most successful cultivator of the soil, and 
a connoisseur in agriculture, he should combine his experi¬ 
mental knowledge with what he reads;—and theory and 
practice should go hand in hand. 
3. The stock of most farmers is improvable; and as it 
should be the aim of every one, to improve his stock of all 
kinds, and at the least possible expense to make it the most 
profitable, he can find in the Cultivator portraits of various 
animals, which in competition stand unrivaled; and all 
the requisite knowledge to guide him in matters relative to 
the treatment of cattle ; and particularly to sheep hus¬ 
bandry. 
He will find, also, in the veterinary department, prescrip¬ 
tions for the treatment and removal of most of the dis¬ 
eases, to which animals are subject. 
4. There may be (as has been the case.) information in 
the Cultivator which may be the means of improving the 
condition of the farms of many—of improving their stock 
—of saving the lives of many neat cattle, and thereby en¬ 
riching the pockets of the owners many hundreds of dol¬ 
lars. 
To corroborate this assertion, I would refer to the tes¬ 
timony of Mr. Woodward, Cultivator, p. 68, who, speak¬ 
ing of agricultural journals, says, “ could I have had the 
Cultivator, with the present light on the subject of farm¬ 
ing, when I first commenced (eighteen years since,) I 
think it would have been more than $1,000 benefit to me. 
Also, to the testimony of that enthusiastic and devoted 
friend to agriculture, Commentator, who, speaking of the 
value of your paper, says, “ your two statistical tables, 
alone, would be a bargain at $2.00, could they not be ob¬ 
tained elsewhere.” 
Also, a writer in a back volume says, “ your last num¬ 
ber saved me ten dollars .” And another, “ I consider 
each number worth a fat cow.” 
Need we more than this ? Does any one question such 
testimony? The opinion of such gentlemen as I have 
quoted, with me, ranks exceedingly high —I can rest as¬ 
sured that they speak the unexaggerated truth. 
5. The proper value of the various manures of the farm 
are not duly appreciated by the majority of farmers, be¬ 
cause a correct application is not understood; and thus, 
much of the good effect, which it should produce, is lost 
in toto. 
Now, much light is reflected through the medium of the 
Cultivator on the great subject of manures—much may 
be learned in regard to the manufacture of compost, &c. 
which is, in a great measure, the grand means of keeping 
the soil in its greatest state of productiveness. 
6. From the earliest history of agriculture, until the 
present time, the implement most to be relied upon in til¬ 
lage, because of its efficiency and almost universal appli¬ 
cation, is the common plow; and in the Cultivator may be 
seen cuts and descriptions of this, and other implements 
of great utility, such as the harrow, drill-barrow, cultiva¬ 
tor, &c. of which all may avail themselves, in the greatest 
degree of perfection. 
7. The Cultivator, wherever it circulates, is an agricul¬ 
tural lecturer ; and by whomsoever it is perused, it scarce¬ 
ly fails to exert, in some degree, a beneficial influence on 
them; and where its precepts are practiced, and strenuous¬ 
ly adhered to, the most unobserving mind would quickly 
remark the decided change that has been produced. 
8. Each volume of the Cultivator is worth double the 
annual subscription to bind, and to place in an agricultur¬ 
al library, as a volume to which reference may be made, 
in relation to the various sorts of husbandry; and in fact, 
to every thing appertaining to the affairs of the farm. 
It embodies a grand mass of facts, which in most cases, 
are the result of long experience—it contains the improve¬ 
ments, which have been, and are now being made, in the 
cultivation of the soil; and, also, many in the mechanical 
department. It embodies the experience of many of the 
most scientific agriculturists of America—which alone, 
could not fail to render it valuable, useful and instructive to 
most classes of community. 
It is not a publication of dignified pretensions, merely; 
but one of unadorned verity —of extraordinary intrinsic 
merit, which furnishes a rich supply of food, alike to the 
illiterate and to the man of science. 
The plain and unaffected style of expression, in which 
the subjects are handled so meritoriously in the edi¬ 
torial department, is such that both old and young readily 
comprehend the idea, which the author would convey. 
9. Modern agriculturists are annually making new im¬ 
provements in the living science of agriculture; and 
men of science are continually enlisting in this noble 
work; and are bringing along with them boundless stores 
of useful knowledge; and by the light of science, are put¬ 
ting to flight those spurious and traditionary principles of 
antiquity, to which our ancestors adhered with such death¬ 
like grasp ; and which were such insurmountable barriers 
to the improvements in agriculture; and they are evincing to 
the world, on principles strictly scientific, how barren soils, 
and those, which, by an injudicious system of management 
have become completely impoverished, may be resuscitated 
and restored to their native fertility ; and they are publish¬ 
ing the result of their research and investigation, to the 
world, through the medium of agricultural journals. And 
now, if the farmer neglects to avail himself of the infor¬ 
mation, which his imperious necessities demand—if he 
will not awake from his stupor and arouse to a sense of his 
condition, from this chilling apathy of indifference and 
unmindfulness of the changes, which are transpiring around 
him, and engage heart and hand in promoting the great 
cause of agriculture, as the march is rapidly onward, he 
must content himself to sit down in ignoble ea.-o and live 
unknown and die unmourned—to be a “ cat’s-paw’’ of art¬ 
ful speculators—a “ hewer of wood and drawer of water.” 
These, Messrs. Editors, are a few general reasons why 
every farmer should subscribe for the Cultivator; and I 
might easily double this number. But I trust, that these 
only will be sufficient to convince any reflecting person of 
the great advantage there is to be derived from, and the 
great need there is in the farmer’s subscribing for the Cul¬ 
tivator, or some other agricultural work. 
They will, also, deter any one from discontinuing their 
subscription, it is hoped, at the end of the current volume; 
and be an inducement for those, who are not subscribers, 
to transmit their names without delay. And in conclusion, 
let me request every subscriber to use his influence, when 
it is possible, to obtain one new subscriber, for by so doing, 
he will contribute very materially, towards promoting the 
great business of cultivating the soil; and through agri¬ 
cultural journals, in a great measure this noble work is to 
be accomplished. Truly yours, S. E. Todd. 
Lansing, Tompkins Co. N. Y. 
PLOWING UNDER CLOVER. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —On reading in your 
No. for the present month the inquiry of your corres¬ 
pondent of Selim’s Grove, Pa., anti your answer, on 
plowing under heavy clover, I could not resist the inclina¬ 
tion to tell you what I know about it. On experiencing 
the same difficulty mentioned by your correspondent 
some years since, I studied for, and found a remedy, 
viz: to the beam of Prouty’s or Ruggles and Nourse’s 
plow attach a circular cutter 8 inches in diameter. In 
land clear of stone, a cast iron one is as good as any. 
Mine is 1^ inches thick in the centre for 2 inches of the 
diameter; then three-fourths inch, tapering to an edge. 
In stony soil, a ring of steel is made and put in the 
mold, and the center cast on it. The pin in all plow 
wheels should be cast steel. I do not know but the 
“ star cutter ” I saw at your office would do, but think 
not. Near the end of the beam attach a heavy chain; 
the other end doubled on itself, should trail in the former 
furrow, and will bend the tops of any green crop so 
as to cover them. I have seen Mooers and Barnaby's 
plow work. It does well, but not as smooth as ei¬ 
ther of those above mentioned. I think Yankee inge¬ 
nuity could attach the wheel to that, in such a mode as to 
do the work required. My plow does not clog twice in 
half a day on an average. The wheel walks directly 
through 3 inches of the surface, cutting all before it. 
Norridgcwock, Me., Oct. 11, 1842. James Bates. 
Murmur at nothing; if our ills are reparable, it is un¬ 
grateful: if remediless, it is vain. — Lacan. 
