Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1867-07-27
Asns nnafa, gamBaEs "a.
tailed.

Me- Tin makes many ullccliuhs
10 tho Culliyalor aud hy scricr
~ Qucetlone implicr others not cx'
proNly stated
l'rcsumlng that he really and ia
good faith requires Il truthful reply,
/ will state what ! have known aud
Seen, which IL not satisfactory ~ Mr.,
TIN, will he ~ lar convincing to
your other readers m a. induce
them 10 mako further inquiry DO
fore condcnning tho Cultlvalor rs
II humbug,
But. first, for Mr. Gilt's questions
tan an'sit on n buggy seat,
aud bar of, or dirt young corn or
cotton in workmanliko manner
Answcr,--A man can sit on the
Stafford Sulky Cultivator, and bar
oil cotton or corn ut any stage OF
It's growth, and IN ten minutes re.
verse his plows, aud turn round and
dirt it, and by means Of the pat
cnt grating attached, no will silt in
TO II finely pulvorizcd soil, and
throw no clods, old stalks, or trash,
onthe young plants, driving n live
" team ut the rate OF full three
,nil,s mn hour aud not breaking or
covering up n stalk in the row, aud
all this IN the very best OF work =
manlikc manners,
Must you, in determining the
width of your row, DO governed by
the quality Of the soil, or the guage
of your buggy wheels p
Answer-You had better consid
err both. If you want more distance
for your cotton and corn, you can al
low more space in the rows If less,
you can plant thicker in the rows,
But ms the Cultvator is adapted
to the usual distance, that is four
feet, it is to be presumed man of
ordinary discretion will not have
purchased q cultivator to run in
three foot rows, nor in rows much
exceeding four feet. If determined
to use the cultivator at any cost, l
suppose there is no practical differ
cncc in altering one TO suit his pur-
: pose.
The next question is somewhat in
vOlved with differences and assump-
tions; but l understand it to relate
to tho necessity Of having straight
rows. 70 which ! would reply that
have seen the much dcrided Sulky
CnItivator do excellent work in corn
laid off in the unexact manner COM
mon in Texas, the rows by no means
slime straight" and the corn very
far from straight in'the row, and
varying from four to full five feet in
width.
Mr.. Gift, l presume, has nevcrex
amined n Cultivator or seen it at
work had no done so, he would
have observed that while the team
walks steadily on, with the pole and
draft straight in the general direc-
ton of the row, by'a simple but pc
culiar appliance operated by the dri-
ver's feet, the plows can be zigzag
ged, in and out, to work in any sort
of Irregularities, while the team is
not barrasscd by gceing and having,
nor time and labor lost in throwing
the pillow out of the ground and
stopping to knock off clods and un-
cover bent and smothered plants in
the manhcr necessary with the old
style of tools. When the row was
the right width, that is, four feet or
little wider, the Cultivator cleaned
it perfectly; when five feet, there
was q little strip ofgrass and weeds
left in the middle; but next the corn
the work was perfect.
entirely concur with Mr.. Gift in
his statement that the greater part
ot the work ought to be done before
planting, by deep blowing, subsoil-
ing and manurlng; but l think his
being thrown into a tempest of in
dignation by the supposition that
the cultivator protested to do all this
is quite unreasonable. He inquiries,
Twill the Stafford Cultivator break
deep and thoroughly pulverize the
soil and cultivate the ground before
planting ?" ,-..
Answer-"No, Mr.. Gift, it will
not at least not in its present form.
4 strong machine, on thesaino mod
81, might answer" But at present
we prefer the gang plow and sub
soiler to do the rough, heavy work
The intention of the machine is to
cultivate the crop after it is planted,
. and in planting it may be very uso-
full, as it covers cotton or corn in
first-rate style. But it does not pre-
pare ground for planting, nor sub
soil it, nor manure it, as Mr.. Gift
implies that it ought to do; neither
does it pull stumps, nor gin cotton,
nor shell corn; indeed, there is a
good deal of work on most farms
that this unfortunate machine can
mot do. lift protested to do any or
all Of these things, it might justly
DO termed what Mr.. Gift calls tan
agricultural humbug. Mr.. Gift next
asks, snow what benefit would q
market gardener, cultivating forty
acres in vegetables, derive from a
buggy plow?" which he triumphant
ly answers for himself: "None you
will readily admit! :" ts
But as / have set out to answer
all his questions, win, with his per-
mission, not admit his conclusion
neither readily nor otherwise, but
reply, that in all my limited expert
ence / have never known market
gardener growing the usual variety
Of vegetables for sale, able to cult
vate full four acres, much less forty
10 the hand. If this be what Mr..
Gin means, then should by all
means advise the gardener to get o
cuItivator and set out all his truck
IN four foot rows, and run through
them diligently every day during
e.. 1eaneuf. - sIa kaCf moss hl a.