Show from the country gentleman J AMERICAN TOR on the ath instant several gentlemen were invited to witness at rochester the operation of a new machine for loosening and pulverizing the soil which has been constructed under the care of henry oreilly esq widely known for his energetic and successful labors in extending the lines of telegraph telegram mackine h throughout the united states this machine c combines the essential features of evans rotary digger with vernada Ver Vern ams nama improvement on spading machines and its object is a deep and thorough pulverization of the soil not by simply inverting as with the plow but forking it up and tearing it to pieces down to a depth of eight or ten inches the trial triai was made on the grounds of ellwanger barry two miles south of the city the soil was a medium loam loann free from stone and the ground had bad borne a crop f carrots which had been harvested some time previously the surface was uneven and the soil wet by the abundant rains the machine was entirely successful in its operation and reduced the soil to a condition quite similar to that of spading or forking except that hat it did not invert it but scattered and intermixed all portions promiscuously we need not describe minutely the machine but shall merely point out the principle of its operation the cut which we the country gentleman have given would convey a tolerable impression of its appearance if the seed box behind with its compartments were entirely removed and the heavy box frame were replaced with a lighter one A series of endless chains are furnished with projecting teeth like harrow barrow teeth and by revolving on drums or cylinders pass around with the same velocity aa as the horses move onward the teeth which are about ten inches long are thrust down into the soil by the machine and remain there without moving until the moment they revolve around a low cylinder or ro roller i lier ller behind the short turn which the chains make in passing albund this roller causes the projecting teeth to sweep round in a larger circle and thus to move three or four times as fast at this point as the chains which bold told them As a necessary result this increased motion tears the soil coil to pieces and tosses it backwards the machine had been made very vely heavy in order to guard against breakage on its first trial the manufacturers are confident that all necessary strength may be given even if the whole weight were reduced pounds making it about a ton and ana a half Y instead of nearly dearly two tons as it now is it was drawn by six horses although but four had been used it pulverized handsomely a strip of land forty inches wide at each passing passin gand and would consequently go over an acre in an hour at a speed of two and a half miles an hour if the team could endure it when the horses walked rapidly a portion of the earth was thrown off behind two feet high when they walked slowly it was thrown only a few inches the pulverization was of course more complete in the former instance the soil was left as loose as it could lie the whole motion being to raise up it instead of pressing it down as with a harrow barrow or crowding it into a mass as in plowing the advantages of this machine as they appeared to us at the time are 1 it throws the soil up and loosens it thoroughly instead of pressing 0 it down as in harrowing etc 2 it forms no subterranean crust as is always done by the sole of the plow and the tread of horses feet in the furrow b 3 the teeth clear themselves completely of 0 all obstructions and cannot clog in consequence e nc both cf the centrifugal force which t they ode ede y give to the soil and by their sudden expansion asunder as the chains pass around the lower cylinder 4 its working is not attended with the heavy friction between the bod sod and mould mohd board always existing in plowing 5 by taking a wider sweep of land at each passing a single land is able abie to direct a larger quantity of work daily than by the use of the single plow b t should culture by steam be adopted at some future time the use of this machine would be e equally bally adapted to this force and would not be e liable to the imperfect work which the gang plow attached to the moving engine Z has hitherto made on the other hand a prominent drawback is is the great weight of the machine now about two tons but capable of being reduced to one and a half tons by y lessening unnecessarily heavy portions we are inclined to the opinion ion lon also that both its cost and its weight might be still more reduced by making tze the drums much smaller and the endless chains shorter for we see no advantage in buch such a large series of teeth standing immovably in the soil at olice the only efficacious part of their working being at that point where they pass the lower cylinder further experiment will be needed to determine the relative cheapness of this mode of pulverizing tle the earth as compared to plowing in the experiment which we witnessed the I 1 teams would have worked separately and plowed as much ground to nearly an equal depth and with the same ease but when the machine is reduced in weight as proposed the results may be much more favorable the point which appear sto us especially to need further investigation and which would determine more or less its future value is is 1 the relative force of draught re required aired by using the dynamometer to draw the machine a when the teeth are out of the ground or not working and again with the pulverizing process s going on in order to determine the actual force needed to cultivate a given depth and breadth as compared with th the same work done with the plow thia is a very important point to ascertain and has an essential bearing on the economy of the forces if the power of the wedge in the plow is more than overbalanced over balanced by the friction of the weight on the sole and of or the sod on the mould doard board board rotary cultivation should be sought as the most economical of labor independently of the other advantages we have mentioned this machine cannot work on stony ground its weight and complexity and conse consequent quent cost ap appear ear to be the prominent object objections imis we tb think c however these might be greatly lessened and we are not sure but that when perfected it may become the very best machine yet devised especially in connection with steam power for the culture of the prairies and great farms of the west at all events the thanks of the entire country should be awarded to henry for his enterprise enter prize and energy in this effort to find an improvement on the mode of pulverization which has now remained essentially unchanged for thousands of years three vermont farmers one man in richford has haa acres of improved land and besides summering and wintering 19 horses so 85 cows other cattle and 55 adeep sheep bought in the ohp 8 spring r ing of 1839 head of cattle ais pastured them e m t through the season sold them in the fall and received net for pasturing he also had one and a half acres planted with with french or osier willow cut from the same six tons of green equal to two tons peeled and dried cost of peel peeling illg and drying 2 cents per pound worth in market from 5 to 2 21 cents per er pound another man in sheldon has 0 of improved land and besides wintering lo 10 horses 21 cows 2 oxen 32 other cattle and sheep sold last season value cf horses value of cattle value of wool 75 value of sheep and 50 value of hay and other produce A man in Enos burgh has acres improved land and besides wintering 1090 value of live stock sold 2500 value market cattle raised upon his farm f springfield rep mulching strawberries with straw lv petrie of pittsburg states that the best mulching for strawberries is cut straw it keeps the berries perfectly clean and if put on thick enough it will keep down the weeds keep the ground moist and prevent the runners from catching ile he hau haus s the straw out to the fields in bundles and takes a good straw cutter along with two men to cut the straw and two boys boya to carry it on in baskets the straw 8 hould should be cut short the shorter the better and spread on top of the plants quite thick and winds will work it down under the leaves and the fruit stems will shoot above the straw this mulching should be don done dony eJust juet before the fruit stems shoot we have no doubt that cut straw makes a very reliable mulch and for field culture it is perhaps better adapted than any other substance but for garden beds where the space occupied is comparatively small there is nothing to compare to tan telegraph steeping barley before sowing A writer in the homestead recommends that seed barle barie barley y should be steeped before sowing ina lna in a solution of copperas or blue vitriol 1 the same as is of ten done for wheat says it haa the effect of giving givin it a rapid start and make it come up strong 1 and dark colored he thinks the benefit equal ft e extra atra loads of manure per acre |