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may interest some of my agricultural friends to know that a law was enacted in the twelfth century prohibiting the use of horses in vae plough; and though it has been a dead letter for a 'long time, I think it lias never been repealed. The celebrated English hunter is supposed to derive its origin from a cross between the race horse and some heavy Spanish chargers, brought into England in the reign of Edward the Third, and they have ever Bmce formed a distinct class. It was during the reign of this king that horses were >lfirsfc classified, giving us reliable data to trace them down. Up to the period of his rule, one circumstance had operated to keep up the large size and strength of the horse, without reference to his improvement in other respects; this was, the immense weight of armour worn by the riders in time of battle; and the objection could not be removed until the discovery of gunpowder. After this time the breed of English horses steadily improved; though, long since then, the progenitors of the gigantic horses of the present day were brought from the marshes of Walcheren, and the ancestors of Eclipse and Flying Childers were imported from the sands of Arabia.

Even then, the Duke of Newcastle, considered the best authority in the kingdom, said that the meanest hack of foreigu extraction could produce a better progeny than the finest sire of a native breed; and no one was able to foretel that the time would come when the princes and nobles of other lands would be as eager to obtain English horses, at an exorbitant price, as the English ever were to procure those of foreign extraction.

Before leaving this branch of my subject for the American horses, it may interest you to hear some of the stringent laws made to secure the improvement of the breed in England.

That stem and despotic old king, Henry the Eighth, paid particular attention to the matter, and he did not hesitate to enforce the most arbitrary provisions to attain his end. One was, that no brood marc should be allowed unless she was at least fourteen hands high; and to this circumstance we may attribute, in a great measure, the almost total extinction of the small breed of Scotch and Welsh horses. Also r every archbishop and duke was obliged to keep seven stud horses, each above three years old, and not less than fourteen hands high. Every clergyman whose income equalled five hundred dollars per annum, and every layman whose wife wore a French or imported hood or bonnet, must keep one such horse. Any failure to do this was

punished by heavy fines and penalties. Though the rule was so strict upon the nobility and persons of wealth, (for five hundred dollars per annum was then an income of more actual value than ten times the amount at the present day), the common people might keep any mares or horses that they thought proper; the greater expense of the breeding horses inducing the king to render their keeping obligatory only upon the better classes. While upon this subject, I am reminded of the origin of the term "hobby/' applied to any particular idea a man may take up. We frequently hear the expression " he has got on to his hobby horse." The term was first used in this way: the Irish horses are small, and of a peculiar appearance, and at one time were much sought after by the whole English nation^ They were termed " hobbies," and the name of the horse finally became fastened upon those who sought after them so eagerly, and the remark, "he has got his hobby at last," came to be used with reference to any other thing which occupied a large share of the thoughts of any one.

Queen Elizabeth repealed most of these en actments of her father, to give greater facilities for the possession of horses suitable for carriages, those articles of luxury being first in troduced in her reign. Up to that time, a queen herself possessed no better mode of conveyance than to ride on horseback, on a pil lion, behind a gentleman, and in the imposing coronation ceremony, as at other times, the queens did ride in that manner. The necessity of obtaining good horses for so many car riages gave rise to a largely increased de mand, which did much to improve the breed, though the number employed excited consider able alarm at one time, so much so, that a bill was brought before the House of Lords " to restrain the excessive and superfluous use of coaches." Fortunately it was not passed, though it is an evidence of the simplicity of our forefathers in that age.

I will only mention one other English horse, before proceeding to another topic. It is Flying Childers—the first native born English race horse, and the progenitor of the now unequalled English horse for the race course. He was the immediate descendant of an Arabian horse, obtained from Aleppo; and as he was the first so he was the fastest race-horse ever in England. He ran over a race course three miles, six furlongs, and ninety-three yards, in six minutes and forty seconds. At another time be ran four miles in seven minutes, and in one single minute he ran within a small fraction of a single mile. This speed

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never been quite equalled in this country, the fastest horse being Fashion, and the quickest time being seven minutes and thirty-two seconds, over a course four miles in length. The great double race, between Eclipse and Sir Henry, ha3 often been spoken of as one of the best contested and most remarkable. I think that Sir Henry was the better horse: and, in the first race, he beat Eclipse by twenty-two feet. In the second trial, however, he was beat by Eclipse by eleven feet, and the victory was undoubtedly gained by the superior management of his rider. I refer to the fact as evidence of the necessity of having good riders, and those who thoroughly understand the animal, as well as to have a good horse itself.

Though I am not an advocate of horse racing, I consider it an innocent and beneficial amusement when compared with many others: and I believe the day is not far distant when America may invite every other nation to a trial of horses, and beat them with ease.

With regard to the horses of America, we learn that large numbers were brought over by the early Spanish and English discoverers. The first were imported by Columbus, on his second voyage, in 1493. The first brought to any territory now belonging to the United States, were landed in Florida, in 1527, by Cabaca De Vaca. They were allowed to run loose during the dissensions that followed, and multiplied to an almost incredible extent, es pecially in South America. Although the climate in South America would seem to be suitable for the proper development of the horse, as it is for cattle, yet he has never attained te more than secondary importance. In large wild herds, they roam about, acting in admirable concert to oppose the attacks of wild beasts, which share the vast wilderness with them. Men have often fallen victims to their temerity in approaching them, arid travellers have frequently found their own horses shake off their burdens, break away from restraint, and dash off to meet: a body of their free companions, if they happen to meet them. The native;-, take them with the lasso, and only ride the horses, leaving the mares to run wild. They make no attempt-; to breed, but flatch a horse when they need him, and break him to their use by the most violent measures. They never bring them to market; and it is <said that a foreigner, who vtfas once riding a mart;, was so hooted at and pelted by the na-iive. 1 -, that he narrowly escaped with his life.

The wild horses found in North America wlwn the West wan first explored were snore

hardy; they were of Spanish extraction, and had been brought into use by the natives to a great extent, though many wild herds of immense numbers still roam freely over the prairies of our western territories.

The race cf horses which originated these now used in this country and in Canada were imported from various nations.

In 1609, one horse and six mares were brought to Virginia from England. In 1625 a few Dutch horses from Holland were imported into New Netherlands, now the State of New York. In 1604, M. L. Escabot brought the first horse into Canada and Nova Scotia, then known by the Indian name of Acadia. The first horse brought into Massachusetts was from England, and was imported by Francis Higginson, in 1629. In 1678 they existed in considerable numbers in Louisiana. The Indians on Red River, in Texas, used them in 1690. The early French settlers in Illinois had them in considerable numbers in 1750.

The same vessels brought over the first importations of cattle, sheep and swine, and they have increased so as to form a most astonishing portion of the wealth of the country.

In the present year, 1855, the number of horses may be set down at five millions, worth on the average sixty dollars a piece, and valued in all at three hundred millions of dollars. The whole number of horned cattle is estimated at twenty millions, averaging twenty dollars, and valued at four hundred millions of dollars.

The number of sheep is twenty-three mil lion, at two dollars, equalling forty-six millions of dollars.

The present estimated value of swine is ore hundred and sixty millions of dollars, being thirty-two millions head, worth on the average five dollars apiece.

From the small beginnings I have mec turned, the whole value to this country is now the immense sum of nine hundred millions of dollars, and the value of the land used for agricultural purposes is three billion and five hundred million of dollars, the whole covering an area of about three hundred and five millions of acres.

The West India horses may properly be classed with those of America, and they gene rally exhibit the characterizing marks of the nation to which the. island may belong.

The Canadian horses are of French origin, and to this stock we are indebted for most of the trotting horses in the United States. It is a mark-. J peculiarity of the Canadian hcr3e

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that he always trots, as the Arabian horse always canters. Other breeds exhibit all the peculiarities of movement, including the trot, canter, and amble; but the Arabian horse never trots, and the Canadian rarely canters. Besides the trotting horse, we are indebted to Canada for many of the most serviceable specimens of the cart and dray horse, of their size, and in the northern part of this state, in Vermont, and other sections on the Canada line, they arc met with in great abundance.

The United States do not, as I have mentioned, possess any thing which may be called a, native stock ; but many of the horses found here arc superior to any others, owing to judgment in crossing breeds, care in raising, and by a close observance of all circumstances which will improve good qualities and correct defects; so that I may say without hesitation, and after long observation, that they combine all the excellencies of other nations. It was supposed that the horse sent from Morocco to Gen. Jackson, and the Muscat horses sent to President Tyler, would materially improve the American race; but they were small, though justly made, and I think the country has derived no benefit from their possession.

Much of this excellence is obtained by changing a horse from one section to another, provided the change of climate is not one which will have a deleterious effect. Thus a horse brotight from the Western prairies to the seaside, soon gains in weight, power of endurance and value; and the .same is observed when ao Eastern horse is carried West. A horse with the heaves, taken from New York to Illinois, will be cured of the disease, and I have noticed many other favorable changes. Still there is always more or less necessity for acclimation ; but a judicious course of management will result in much good to the horse. • The change, however, will be injurious, if the new climate is not healthy. Thus, a horse taken from here to South Carolina soon depreciatc« and becomes of less value. A horse taken to Mexico feels the change of climate at first very sensibly, but the purity of the air and the excellence of the feed soon add largely to his useful-uess and value, and he is much more highly estimated than the native Mexican mustang, which partakes of the uncertain and flighty character of the people who raise him. A horse brought from Kentucky or the Western States, or from Canada, requires about a year to become acclimated to our section. Our own horses, when taken west, are deemed far superior to any others. On a trip to Kentucky I was riding on a stage, and asked

the driver where he obtained his horses. He replied that they came from northern New York; that they were brought out there by some parties who had a mail contract, and were liked so well that they always kept them. Their own, he said, arrived at maturity earlier, but did not last half as long; that the New York horses far exceeded them in endurance, and that there was no such thing as driving them off the track. The Kentucky and Tennessee horses are good for the saddle but not for the collar. In fact, custom is every thing, and though it will sometimes do much towards training a horse for uses to which he is naturally unfit, yet any horse accustomed to the harness can rarely be made serviceable for the saddle, and a good saddle horse is soon spoiled if the collar is put upon him. As the Cod of nature has not endowed any one man with all knowledge, so he seems to have distributed the qualifications of animals, in such a manner that judicious management will make each superior in a different and distinct sphere. I was once in Boston, looking at the immense truck horses, and enquired where they came from. I was told that they were obtained from the highlands of New JEIanip-shire and Vermont. They were better for that purpose than any others, while for the the lighter spring carts of this section the heavy eastern horse is not so suitable.

The slow Canastoga horse of Pennsylvania was formerly used in teaming over the Alle-ghanies ; they weighed from fourteen to sixteen hundred pounds, and I have found from experience that they had not the endurance to labor as the horses qf our section.

Once the custom was to esteem the Nar-ragansctt pacer as the best horse in the country; but that was prior to the Revolution and before my time, though I well recollect several fine specimens of the breed.

The horses of Carolina, Georgia and other southern states, cannot work as well as those of a more temperate climate. In fact, I hav< frequently observed that the horse attained a higher degree of excellence in a temperat* section, while mules and the darkey were iitti <'< for the south.

No horse can endure labor all the time. A* few months in the pasture, after being high fed and worked for several years, will renew his energies, as sCated periods of rest and recreation will preserve the vital energies of' man unimpaired through a long life. And l by a wise law of Providence, which is as beneficial to the beast as to the man, a horse

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will do more labor in the six days than if he were worked the whole setrn.

In reference to the peculiar excellence of the horses of this state, I might say that I have driven a pair two hundred and forty miles in three days, or eighty miles per day, without injury. Amongst the many hundreds and perhaps thousands of drivers and teamsters in my employ. I had a slow moulded man by the man of Dana Brown, who drove for me some ten years, and always drew the largest loads in the same time, and with less fatigue to his horses, than any other driver I ever knew. His horses would look better on the same feed than those of any other, and they always appeared in good condition, while those in charge of others gave unmis-takcable evidence of improper usage. Forty, fiftv. and even sixty hundred weight has he drawn over the Catskill mountains with one pair of horses, and I am only doing him an act of justice to say that he never wore out a lash, and hardly a -mapper, in the whole time. Whilst other teamsters had sick horses, his were always in good condition. The whole number of teams I had in ore year averaged in every three working days 2.600 pounds to Prattville and 3000 pound* to Catskill, a distance of 36 miles, making about two and a half millions of pounds in fall. I mention these facts as illustrating the great benefit of good management of horses, and of good roads.

In feeding a horse it should be remembered that corn ha« a tendency to make him slow, as may be witnessed in the slow moving corn ted horse of Ohio. Oats are more suitable to develope all his qualities, and from fwelve to sixteen quarts per day should be given.

With regard to the natural longevity of the horse, nothing can be said with certainty. They have been known to live thirty or forty, and in some rare instances even sixty years ; but ill usage frequently destroys them before they are nine or ten. I think that under ordinary circumstance- fourteen years would be a fair average.

Too much importance cannot be pi ced upon the judicious breaking and management of this noble animal. It should be ma that of a child : by no other means can he be ■duced to '<> cheerful and ready obed A sullen and dogged submission will result, rue. from cruel and brutal treatment, but:: prompt and eager response to the wish of the ride/, can only be obtained by patient 1 think there are few horses baulky ure, and I believe most are madi ;-;,-r- ivho are blessed ivifh far lesa i ins the horse himself ha -

On the subject of the diseases of the horse, and other points concerning him, as nearly every one is his own doctor, I will get over that'point very quickly.

There is one thing to be remembered, however, in obtaining good horses, which must receive attention, or the stock will in evitably depreciate. It is, that the same stud horse should never remain in the same locality more than three or five years at the farthest. The constant mingling together of the same blood in the human family leads to both physical and mental depreciation, as is peculiarly illustrated in some of the old crowned heads and aristocracy of Europe. Owing to their prejudices against other classes of society, they have intermarried with each other, until they have become so closely related that they are far inferior to the common people. It is a fact well known, that the lower branches of European legislatures possess far more intellectual ability than is found in the aristocratic branches, and it is from this cause. The superiority of the American race is mainly owing to its freedom from prejudices of rank, so that marriages are made without reference to absolute high social position. The same rule holds good with all inferior animals. There is hardly any farmer who is not familiar with the fact as applied to his poultry yard; and as I said before, it is of immense importance in keeping up the good qualities of the horse; so much so, that great disappointment will surely result, if it is forgotten.

In conclusion, I desire to say that the history of the horse can hardly be entered into without obtaining a general knowledge of the various epochs in the history of the world, and in that point of view alone it may be considered a matter of no secondary impor tance. Though apparently only a research into one branch of natural history, it opens a field of examination into the manners and customs of different ages, and exhibits ths gradual but -ure march of intellect and intelligence from me g< aeration to another.

WiEE Grass; —Mr. J. C. Johnson, of King William I as deposited in our office several roots of wire grass nearly as large as aspr-ragus, and perhaps quite as large when they were fresh. They are now a little shrivelled, but a medium nor mea$ur< d a full inch and uce.

it must have been good inm.1 where they gre . but ( ■ suspect Mr. Johnson would prefer almost any Other proof of the fact tr> that furnished us.

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

For the Farmer and Visitor. SPAVIN.

BY W. M. ORMOND, V. P. -

The nature and seat of spavin have been much mistaken by many men that have owned horses afflicted by this disease. They have been put to much expense and anxiety, which could have been prevented, had ^he disease been properly understood.

I have in my travels through cities and towns, met with men, who have told me they could cure a spavin of any kind in one month; but when I questioned them as to the nature of the disease, they knew nothing about it. They did not know how many bones composed the hock joint, or how it M r as constructed, but they could cure.

They might cause, by some counter irritation, the horse to rest the limb, until nature could strengthen the injured parts; but in nine cases out of ten they work the wrong way, and in the place of doing good do harm by causing a greater inflammation in the joint than otherwise would have existed. As a consequence, there is more stiffness of the joint than there would have been had the poor brute not had such quackery practised on him.

Spavin is a compound of two diseases, Known as exostosis and anchylosis. The former signiiies hypertrophy, stiff joint, absorption of inter-articular cartilage, and substitution of bone. Anchylosis, however, does not take place in what is called the true joint, the tibia and astragalus, but it generally appears beneath the true joint, within its collateral or inferior articulations, known as the tarsal bones.

I have at my office some very tine specimens of spavin, and other anchylosis of joints which have caused lameness for some years; and I should be happy to find a man that has the ability to cure such spavins and ring-bones.

Spavin has been a disease that has had many severe experiments tried on it; but all have failed to restore the hock to its former utate of soundness. Nor need we wonder at this; for when the cartilage is ossified, there is no means that we know of to restore those parts, therefore the horse must naturally have a stiffness of the joint. There have been a great many horsemen who have suffered their horses to be treated for spavin in a most brutal manner, by men that have had no more feeling for a horse than if it had been made of iron. A gentleman has a horse, the subject of spavin, and hearing of one of those " raagic mer. 1 ' being in the place," who can

cure the spavin, the poor brute is given into the hands of his tormentor to be cured. However well qualified by observation and experience the latter class of men might be to prescribe for simple forms of disease, they cannot be trusted to perform an operation, one of the most difficult and dangerous, and one that requires a knowledge of anatomy and physiology to diagnosee it with any degree of accuracy. Surely, when men unacquainted with the mechanism of a joint, undertake to restore it to a healthy state by means of agents whose actions are to them unknown, then their weapons are like a sword in the hands of a madman.

The treatment of spavin is simple enough,, but far from being always effectual. The owner of the horse will neither consult hi& own interest nor the dictates of humanity, if he suffers the chisel, or the gimlet, or the pointed iron, or arsenic, to be used. There are means that can be taken, which will accomplish our object, and be much more to the credit of humanity. When we find that there is an inflammation in the joint, we should give the horse rest, and apply some cooling evaporating lotion to the part, but should this fail to accomplish the object, we had better apply a stimulant, such as the tincture of cantharides, applied in a mild form.

In the first place it is not best to breed from spavined mares or broken down horses. There are two causes for spavin, namely: predisposing and exciting; the latter being more rare than the former. It is true, there can in general be found an exciting cause for spavin; but if we take the pains to trace back the breed of such subjects, we shall find that it was a hereditary predisposition, and on the first opportunity it has made its appearance. A horse that has a well constructed hock seldom has spavin. We are most apt to find this malady in short, round hocks.

Spavin is so common in these parts that if a man purchase a horse with a sound hock, he thinks himself safe, but I wish the reader to understand that spavin is not always visible; that is, there is not always a bony tumor to be seen on the hock; there might be anchylosis of the cuneiform bones, and after the horse has been driven a short distance the lameness might disappear so that it could not be detected.

Many horses have been treated for hip and stifle lameness when it has been no other than spavin. The hock joint being the most important joint of locomotion, we should, on purchasing a horse, examine the part thoroughly, and have a good idea of its form. The joint is composed of six bones, exclusive

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of the tibia and tarsal bones. They are in | two layers, the lower is three in number, called the cuneiform bones, which rest on the tarsal | bones. Each of those bones is covered with ! elastic cartilage, and each admitting of a certain degree of motion. The diminished concussion is diffused among them all, and thereby neutralized and rendered comparatively harmless. Each of those bones is covered not only by cartilage, but by a membrane secreting synovia, so that in "fact these bones are formed into so many distinct joints, separate I from each other, and thereby guarded from injury, y et united by various ligaments, pos-I sessing altogether sufficient motion, yet bound | together so strongly as to defy dislocation. Rut there is often an injury done to those bones that is not always accountable for. The I smith often does much towards this by his in-jjudicious management of the feet, by not I making the shoes or feet level, and thereby [causing the weight and concussion to be I thrown on the inside splent bone, which pro-I duces inflammation of the cartilaginous ends 1 of those bones.

And should the inflammation not be speedily

■ subdued it will soon convert this cartilaginous I substance that unites the splent bones to the i shank into bone, and thereby have an enlarge-»ment and a stiffness at the joint.

I would suggest that the best way to free | our country from this malady is to select such

■ stock for breed as is perfectly free from such Idiseases, and leave the young colts ; at home I when we require the services of the dam. and I not do as is so commonly done in this vicinity |now-a-days^-tie the colt to the side of its ■dam, and drive it all day. It is much better ■to leave the colt at home fasting, than to over-Idrive the little animal so as to ruin him for ■life

For the Southern Planter.

By request, I am induced to enquire why the farmers in lower Virginia do not give the preference to the left hand plough ; not because there is any difference in the work done by tbese ploughs, if the mechanical construction is the same ; but because there is a great advantage to be gained in ithe attaching animals to the left hand, and the Seam can be better managed, and therefore the plough on the whole works better and easier to the ploughman.

j It is thus explained: The leader or line horse •works in the furrow, and to the short end of the thribble tree. From his haim ring a 4 foot crowding stick passes to the bit of the middle horse, % similar stick from the haim of the middle horse, fco the bit of the off horse. Now see that your norses stand up abreast, let a coupling strap pass from the bit of the middle horse to the trace of the

leader, and tied just behind the back band, also a similar strap from the outside horse's bit to the middle horse. A line from the leader, to the left hand of the ploughman, having a loup at the end to hang on the wrist. You are now ready for work, and he who tries the left hand plough with his horses or mules thus attached, will never use another right hand plough. The advantages are so apparent when tried, that I deem it wholly unnecessary to enumerate them. If your teams are not well broken, the left hand plough will accomplish one third more work each day than the right hand. If they are well broken the left still will have an advantage, and if your land is bedded (of consequence giving many finishing furrows) the advantage becomes more perceptible. With the left hand, every animal is under the control of the ploughman. A fast or free horse can be worked by the side of a slow one without danger of hurting him by his taking too much of the draft. If your leader js thoroughly broken you need care very little whether the other two are colts; all will go well if they do not gobackwards. Before I let you off, one word as to ploughs. Any common workman can make a plough that will be a good one, if care is had to these all important points.— Let the beam be long, as a short one is hard upon the backs of your animals. Let the handles be long and sloping back that your ploughman can by a greater beverage more easily control the plough. For a 3 horse plough let the height under the beam at the nose or clevis be 17h inches, measuring from the bottom or underside of the beam to the floor or plough bench (for every plough ought to be builded upon a bench) and let the land side of the beam be in line with the iron land side from heel to point. The point of a 2 horse plough should set to land l£ or 2 inches. By thus constructing your plough you can get rid of using that most outlandish looking affair called a Buck, which they say will make a plough almost go in the opposite direction from the power attached, it is so very adjvslabU. We will suppose your plough made right. If it comes from your shop repaired, and takes too much land, work your middle horso closer to the leader ; if too little land, put him further off as the plough will follow him. If too deep, tie back bands back a few links ; if too shallow, put them forward a few links. I have my ploughs so made that we wear them nut without ever making any alteration at the clevis. I should have said that you may increase orlessen the depth of your plough by lengthening or shortening your traces. A Farmer.

P S -The farmers of lower Virginia are wo-fully behind the age in the use of agricultural implements. Many of them have good tools and are totally at a loss to use them to advantage. The misfortune is the proprietor does not know how to give instruction as to their use. This is the secret; farmer's sons are not practically taught: overseers for generations have remained unimproved. You have labor here, if you wish more, to bring this to be thought of. The ploughs of lower Virginia, and indeed most of their implements, are miserable contrivances, put up by Yankees, and by negroes who know nothing of the mechanical principle.

The Violet grows low, and covers itself with its own tears, and of all flowers yields the most delicious and fragrant smell. Such is humility

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

ANALYSES OF SOILS.

LABORATORY 01' THE STATE CHEMIST,

No. 29 Exchange Buildings, Baltimore, Mar. 15,185&.

To the Editor of the Southern Planter ;

Dear Sir :—In the first number of the fifteenth volume of your paper, is an article on the Analyses of Soils, in which their claims are first misrepresented and then of course condemned, in a style as flippant as the statements are incorrect. This article is copied byyou from The Michigan Farmer, who thus writes :

" During the past ten years there has arisen a class of men, who at all times were willing to make all the processes of agriculture depend on the announcements which were to come from the laboratory of the chemist."'— " According to the notions they promulgated it was just as easy to grow a crop of wheat on a field of dry sand, as it was on the best iimestoue soil that ever lay ' out of doors;' and so with all other crops: these mediums would prescribe as quickly for a soil as a spirit rapper for a diseased person."

The first paragraph quoted above is untrue. So far as my knowledge extends, there is not a respectable analytical or agricultural chemist who has maintained that all the processes of agriculture depended " on the announcements which were to conu hum the laboratory of the chemist."

As to the second, there may have been, and doubtless are, quacks in chemistry, as there are in medicine, law, divinity, and in the editorial profession. But should an honest press condemn the science of medicine because quacks have professed to cure all diseases with some infallible pill or potion ? Or shall law, " whose font is justice, and whose seat is the bosom of God," be abolished, because men, under its mantle, have practised knavery ? Ought the holy calling of the ministry, its purposes and uses, to be dispensed with, because men, under its guise, have violated its holy precepts ? or should the agricultural press be suppressed, because some who conduct it, and who hold themselves up for guides, know neither the operations of agriculture from practice or experience, nor its theory from study or science ? It is an easy matter to make an allegation, but the proof is .sometimes difficult. If any one, under the knowledge of " The Michigan Farmer, or the editor of any other paper, has made professions such as those quoted above, let the Michigan Farmer publish his name, and condemn his pretensions, and not brand a class of men (agricultural and analytical

chemists,) as fools or knaves, without proof and without reason.

I shall not follow this article in all of its italics, as it is as full of assertion as it is bare of proofs. I shall only examine some of the special allegations as they are made.

1st. " Liebig, the most celebrated of them," &c, " his compound proved utterly worthless in its application to the growth of crops." This is untrue. Liebig's Compound acted well on crops, but could not be prepared at a price which would make its application profitable. He only made the mistake which thousands unacquainted with manufactures had made before him : the cost of the raw material and its manufacture left no margin for profits, and hence the manufactory did not pay ; but at' this day, manures are made, sold and used with profit, dictated by the same principles which actuated Liebig in his factory. If Liebig is to be sweepingly condemned, then with him must be condemned all mineral manures : lime, magnesia, plaster, bone dust and salt, must be declared useless, because he declared their essential necessity to all crops grown for food, and inasmuch as there was no natural source from which silicate of potash and soda could be procured as manures, and he endeavoured to provide for this by forming them artificially, and the manufactory was too expensive to be followed with profit, we have an ex cathedra announcement that his compound was utterly worthless, and therefore chemical science of no use to agriculture!

We next have a letter of a Mr. S. W. Johnson, " a young gentleman pursuing a course of chemical instruction at Munich." This gentleman first adduces Boussingault's testimony against soil analyses, ;< that they are more curious than useful." Why did not Mr. S. W. J. also state, that Mr. B. believed that manures owed their value almost exclusively to the nitrogen (one of the constituents of ammonia) which they contained, and that therefore it was useless to ascertain the amount or determine the nature of the mineral matter in a soil, because mineral manures, as such, could produce but little benefit ? If persons admit the force of this reasoning, that mineral manures, as lime, plaster, bone-dust, salt, &c. &c, are useless, let them also coincide with the opinion of Boussingault, which is contradicted by the practical experience of every country where farming has been practised, from the banks of the Rhine to the Potomac, and by farmers of every age, from the days of the Pharaohs to the year I 1855.

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139

As to the assertion, " that analyses were made by Liebig, Rose and others, in which x material difference existed/' I think it very doubtful that any such trial was ever made, and more so, if made, that some of them failed to detect important elements found by others, if they carefully examined the samples. Indeed, if we are to judge of the correctness of the other statements of this witness (Mr. S. W. J.) by this one—that the addition of one ton of guano to an acre of soil would make no perceptible difference in the results of an analysis, we must utterly discredit every thing he says. The addition of the phosphate of lime in one tenth of that quantity of guano, can be ascertained, and in less than that quantity to the acre has been again and again detected in my laboratory. I shall not further discuss this subject, but refer you to my Fourth Report to the House of Delegates of Maryland, page 42, as marked and herewith sent.

The article from the Michigan Farmer then goes on to speak of the " physical condition' 1 of the soil, as if the determination of that was not equally a part of an analysis as well as the mere determination of the constituents.

Stockhardt is next appealed to. He may say, but I have not seen or heard it, that a mere chemical analysis of a soil will not show its productiveness—and no agricultural chemist of any standing has ever said that it would. Stockhardt, however, most emphatically declares the necessity of a knowledge of the constituents of a soil as an indispensable guide for properly manuring it. Neither Stockhardt nor any one else, who has ever given much attention to the subject, would pretend to estimate the productive quality of a soil by a chemical analysis alone: but he nowhere in his lecttires speaks against the utility of soil analyses, but holds them, when properly performed, as indispensable adjuncts to the application of manures, and the interpreters of the principles on which depend successful results. His meaning then is perverted, if his language be correctly quoted; for on page 24 " Stockhardt's Chemical Field Lectures to Agriculturists, Cambridge, 1853," speaking of the nourishment of plants, he says, " for this reason then, an exact knowledge of the chemical elements of plants, of the soil, of water, and of the air, must be deemed indispensable." Again, on p. 49, u On increasing the growth of plants by manuring," he speaks of the absolute necessity of a knowledge of the constituents of the toil, in order to apply the proper manures.

The work quoted above is a most admirable one on the principles of agriculture, and can not be recommended too highly to the farming community, and I am sure that no intelligent planter or farmer of Virginia, after having once read it, would be without it for double its cost. The Michigan Farmer goes on to speak of the benefit of " soils lying fallow," " of fertility depending on a, change in the condition of the soil," " of insoluble ingredients becoming soluble," and then eomes the following : " Tn fact, if it be admitted that the chemist can estimate quantities with the utmost accuracy and nicety desirable, yet he cannot get qualities or conditions in their true light." If the writer knew any thing of chemistry he need not be told that the qualities or conditions of substances, as to their solubility, &a, so far as vegetation is influenced by them, arc as easily determined as their weight. He evidently knows nothing of analytical chemistry, and his opinion is worth nothing.

You state, Mr. Editor, that you have been induced to quote the above remarks because letters have been written to you on the subject of soil analysis, in which great stress was laid on the knowledge to be derived from them, as better than good cultivation and the manure bed; and you likewise admit that something may prove advantageous for a short time, as a, temporary stimulant, and that stimulants exhaust in proportion to their power of forming an unnatural yield. Now, in reply: agricultural chemistry nowhere teaches proper cultivation nor the manure bed to be dispented with; nor does it recognize any such thing as a stimulant to a soil; nor does it any where tolerate slovenly cultivation. It insists on thorough cultivation as the sine qua nan of succei-s. It-teaches the necessity of certain substauces in the soil as indispensable to fertility, and by analysis not only discovers tb.e quantity of these substances, but also the form in which they exist, and directs how to change them into a proper form, if they do not already so exist^ and also determines the quantity of the necessary constituents which a. good crop of wheat, or any other crop, takes from the soil. The quantity of mineral matter, viz : lime, magnesia, phosphate of lime, gypsum, salt, and potash, &c, in an acre of boil, can be determined by it with more correctness than practical nieu ever apply them as manures.

As to trusting to a, mere chemical analysis of the soil to measure its productive capacity, no chemist at all acquainted with the practical operations of agriculture would t;ike the con-

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

stituents of a soil per se as a measure of its capacity. In my 2d Report to the House of Delegates of Maryland, p. 23, I have stated the conditions of soils under which vegetable life best flourished. " From the known and ascertained conditions of soils of known fertility, from the composition of crops that are grown for food, from the effect of %he application of manures, it is to be concluded, that the productiveness of a soil, to the extent of the production of tlte plant, is due, 1st, to the presence in exact ratio, of the mineral constituents named above, viz : lime, magnesia, potash, soda, j>hosphoric acid, sulphuric acid, chlorine, Sfc.

■2d. Tluz condition in which these substances are found, as to their solubility.

3d. The capacity cf the soil, as to its physical texture, to supply the growing plant with organic food from the atmosphere.

The proportion of the several mineral constituents adapted to produce fertility, and the requisite physical structure, can be found, or at least approximated, by a large number of careful analyses, made in different seasois, of soils which are already productive.

The kind and quantity of manures best adapted to renovate worn out lands can be shown only by their analysis, and the noted results of manures upon these lands."

These are the doctrines which were laid down more than four years ago; and daily observation of the results of manures, predicated on soil analyses, and experience in making these, and the testimony of intelligent practical men, have confirmed my faith in their necessity as the cheapest and most certain aid to the fertilization and renovation of worn out lands.

If there be any gentlemen in your state desirous of having these analyses inade ;/ let them send samples of their soil to this office, and I will guarantee them, to the full extent of my means, from any toss which they may sustain in consequence of my recommendations. They will find, that the analysis of soils leads to the cheapest, speediest and most certam method of improvement.

James Higgins, State Ag. Chemist of Md.

How to raise Onions. —This vegetable requires salt, to bring it to perfection. Put it in at the rate of six bushels to the acre. Manure from the hen-house, and a coating of ashes, will produce onions that will make a person's mouth water, as well as his eyes.

For the Southern Planter. HARROWING WHEAT.

Mr. Editor :—I would say that on or about the first of March last I wanted to sow clover and timothy seed among my wheat, which, in some parts, was nearly covering the ground. I thought the top of the ground too hard to sow and leave the grass seed to chance whether it got into the earth or not, so I ordered two horses to be hitched to a heavy twenty tooth drag (teeth straight) and pulled it all over the wheat grounds. The crop of wheat is some fifty bushels, golden flint seed. This operation caused great surprise by all who witnessed or heard of it. Some took me for a madman, that was determined to destroy as fine a lot of wheat as any in these parts; others, passing the road stopped and looked on with astonishment; some, not believing their eyes at a distance, must come into the field to see and know if I was really ruining my wheat. But, sir, so far from ruin it has been a means of improving the wheat, as may be seen by strips left through the field not harrowed, and the operation is so fine for putting in the grass seed, I think, sir, uone should hesitate to drag their wheat in early spring. I would say, however, if the land is of unusual lightness, then it would be injudicious to drag. The wheat then requires the roller, not the drag.

If you, sir, choose to make any use of what is here communicated, you are at liberty to do so. Yours, truly,

Wat. Huntington.

Drake's Branch, Charlotte.

To make Honey. —Take five pounds of coffee sugar, and two pounds of water; heat over a slow fire; when nearly scalding hot take from the fire, and add one-half pound of honey in the comb; when blood-warm add one-fourth of a pound; when cold strain and add five drops of the essence of peppermint. It will add to the flavor if there is a little bee bread in the comb. This is excellent on buckwheat cakes. Try it. I. P.

Royalton, N. Y., March, 1855. Rural N. Yorker.']

Measurement of Hay in the Stack. — Ten cubic yards of hay, well settled, will make a ton, except in the case of clover hay. Twelve cubic yards of that will also make a ton, or near enough in all eases to buy and I sell by.

THE SOUTHERN FLANTi.

'1.41

INDIAN CORN.

Some valuable information in relation tu Indian Corn, and the extent to which It is produced in the United State.-, is given in the last number of the Cincinnati Railroad Record. We condense the most important facts and figures. The writer con-rends that Indian Corn i~ the most important 'crop in the United State*, and that if the Cotton were obliterated, ii would not work so much injury as the loss of two-thirds of the crop of Indian Corn. And yet the culture o; maize is confined to a belt of about thirteen degrees. In fact, three-fourths of the con; raised in the United States is produced between the 33d and 42u degrees of latitude— spier south of the former or north of the latter. corn is not a profitable crop. But little is raised in Europe, as the climate is not adapted to its culture. The produd Her acre in this country, on good land, is rhonf forty bushels, and generally speaking; it it the most certain ferop raised. In some portions of Ohio, one hundred and fifty-five bushels have been produced on an acre. The corn crop of the I'nH'-il State's; ai intervals often years, icaa at! fojlotH :

liushels.

377,531,875

592,071.104

30,579,80f»

120,424,00a in the Valley

Crop of IVgQ, census df J -is 11'. Crop of 1*49, census of 1850.

Actual increase.

214,539,229

Increase, •')-) pi-r i eat.

Nov,-, tel ii- compare this increase with that or the other lca'din'g crops, and we have these figures:

. Increase of Indian C,ohY, 58 per cent.

Wheat. 10

Oafe, 20

Wool, 50 " •

Cotton, 24

Potatoes. 0 "

Tobacco. 0 ,:

This is certainly a very remarkable result. It

Snows that both nature and agricultural economy are agreed that Indian Corn is the great staple, the most profitable article cultivated in this country. The Cotton Crop has increased very rapidly ; but we sec not half bo fast as that of Indian Corn.

The census shows another fact: that either in the extreme South or North, the averages fail off so fast as to confine the practical growth of maize to the central belt. Thus:

Bush. Average of corn per acre in the States of

Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, South

Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia, - 10 Average of corn per acre in the States of

Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky, - 30

Average of corn per acre in New England,

New York and; New Jersey. - 28

In New England and New York corn raises a pretty good <-rop, where it can be grown; but there is but. a small quantity which is worth cultivating in this article.

A stronger illustration of the sectional growth of corn will be found by taking the corn crop of certain localities, thus:

Bushels. Product of Indian Corn in New England, New Jersey, and New York, 30.794,000

Product of Indian Corn in Ohio, Kentucky; Tennessee, Indiana, and Illinois, -Product of Indian Com in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina,

We thus see that the five States of the Ohio raise about double the 1 raised in fifteen States of the North and South. If we add to this the products of Western Pennsylvania and Western Virginia, also in the Valley of the Oh' o, the product of this valley'will be more ;': half the crop of the United States.

The foreign export of corn has never been large.

in comparison with the domestic consumption. It

is however considerable, and is rapidly increasing.

The following figures exhibit the export of Corn

meal for each successive; thn - y, ai since J8S5:

Bushels. [u 1835-38, 449,179

hi 1838-41. - 1.272.312

in 1841-44'. - 2,098,192

In 1844-47, - 18,992,122

in 1847-50, - 25,069,035

In 1850-53, - 8,328,795

Notwithstanding the falling off in 13GO-5::, the export of Indian Corn is really increasing. In 1854, the export was much larger than in the previous year, and this must continue to be the case. The ports of Europe, such as Great Britain, to which the expert has been chiefly, are learning the use of corn, and acquiring a taste for it; so that, being the cheapest grain, it will ultimately become-the one most in demand.

.There is another important aspect in which lc<

view this immense product, viz: the commerce in

corn, and its tonnage and movement. According

[bo the record, the ports af Cleveland, Sandusky,

j Toledo, and Chicago, on the Lake, probably receive

'and export full twenty millions of bushels of corn.

! If we look to the whole country, not less than fifty

millions bushels of corn arc moved in bulk. But

in addition to this, all the whiskey and fatted hogs,

with a large part of the cattle of commerce, are

corn in another form. They would not exist for

market, if it were not for corn. Now, we have in

the United States three millions of fatted. t&gtt; c7

which at least two millions are ratted on com.

We have six hundred thousand barrels of whiskey,

which enters into commerce, and we have at least

half a million of cattle fatted on corn. In tonnage

then, we have this aggregate:

50,000,000 bush, of corn, 1,600,000 tons.

2.000,000 hogs (at 200 lbs.) 200,000 "

000.000 bbfs. of whiskey, 100,000 <:

500,000 cattle. 170,000 ; -

Aggregate,

1,970,000

Two millions of tons, then, is the least of freight furnished the various lines of transportation in 1849-50. But at the current rate of increase the corn crop of 1800 will reach nine hundred millions of bushels, and the amount of freights furnished by it will be not less than three millions of tons. Now this is enough, in addition to the passengers that would necessarily be furnished along the lines, to furnish a profit for three thousand miles of railway !

But this falls short of the reality. For as the crop increases, the surplus increases much faster.

THE SOUTHERN PLANTEK.

For example, pbe above tonnage requires but, 100,000 bushels surplus on a crop of tiOO.000 bush-sis; but if tbc crop becomes 900,000 bushels the surplus will be more than 200.000. There is rea-soi to believe, therefore, that the corn crop of I860 will actually furnish employment for 4,000 miles of railway.— Bait. Amerratn.

I Published by order of the Executive Committee'.} BLUE CLAY.

I design ia this communication to present to the consideration of ihc State Agricultural Society of Virginia my expeiience in the tt.se of blue clay and the effects resulting from its use.

3Jy farm is located in the county of Prince George, three miles south of James river; the land i.s generally light, with a clay subsoil, but portion? of it have no clay substratum. On portions of this farm marl is found varying in strength from 25 to 75 per cent. AH the arable land has been marled in the proportion of 300, or more, bushels io the acre. And the most of this marling- was executed at least fifteen years ago.

This marl is about six feet thick, mostly dry. of a buff color, containing clam shells, oyster and other shell.-, some perfect, others decomposed partially: next to this marl is found a blue marl, inferior in quality, of a blue color abounding in sand. This marl contains very large bones, some of the vertebral bones, measuring eight or ten inches in diameter. This blue mar! is about four feet thick. Immediately subjacent is found this blue clay of unascertained depth, but which has been excavated to the depth oi twelve to fourteen feet. This clay in physical appearance presents a homo-gentous mass, but by careful examination it is found to contain innumerable shining particles. This clay is blue in its appearance, feels and cuts like soap, tenacious but somewhat friable. By atmospheric exposure either at the pit or after having been applied to land it soon breaks up into small masses, eufficiently fine to he spread with a spade or hoe, or even to be scattered with hand, as I have some'imes used it as a top dressing to clover. Rain and freezing also sufficiently disintegrates it tbfr agricultural purposes. I consider it one of our best fertilizers, not inferior to lime or mar!, abounding in carbonate of lime. Its use was commenced l>y me more than twelve years ago. It was analyzed by Professor Hare, of the University of Pennsylvania, but I have misplaced the report. He was of opinion that it possessed no fertilizinsr property whatever. Professor Rogers, pi"the University of Virginia, also subjected it to analysis—" Composed, (he s-ays) almost entirely of a silicious clay, having a few shining particles of mica. ' Silicia, )

Alumina, $

Qixde of Iron, about 7 percent Carbonate of Lime, a trace. Sulphuret of Lime, a trace. Carbonaceous Matter, a trace.

almost cntirclv.

It abounds in Alumina, Bisulphuret of Iror Sulphuret of Lime, Acid, Ammonia; and som other ingredients according to another analysi: but many grains of allowance should be mad for the present infancy of agricultural chemistry

The first experiment 1 made with thi clay was upon a remarkably light piece of Ian that I was endeavoring to improve by th [application of our common red clay ; at th 1 same time I hauled out about twenty bushels < this earth. It was here spread, sown in oats an clover seed; the clover vegetated upon al but died out during the summer upon the Ian upon which the red clay had been apph'ei but continued to grow finely and luxuriant! where the blue clay had been applied ; an during this year some of the stalks of clove grew to be knee high, and was the best on th farm. After this, I have continued to use from year to year, until I have nearly applie it to every part of the larm, and some portion twice, with very satisfactory results. Upo some portions of the light land I have know the blades of corn to turn yellow, but whethe it was owing to a superabundant application ( this earth or to other causes, I have not ye satisfied myself, but uniformly it makes the Ian produce more corn and the blades are of deeper green. On wheat, the increased pre duct particularly on my light fields, ha been very apparent both in the growth of th straw and the number of bushels. This eart is particularly adapted to the growth of peas, think I may safely say the growth of the vine have been nearly doubled since the commence ment of its use. Now al! my corn land is so we down in peas, unless I am deficient in seet This gives me an additional product of whea that I estimate at four to five bushels t the acre. This mode of getting a green fallot with peas I consider to be the more economic? with me, and I get a more luxuriant growtl I avoid the trouble and expense of fallow ing land exclusively for peas, and the troubl of getting in the peas is much less with th corn, for it is not necessary to give any add tional ploughing, and I am not yet satisfie that the pea crop produces any detriment t the corn crop. But I have now an experimer in progress to ascertain the fact.

I have taken some pains to sow my Ian in eastern shore bean, and here again the valu of this manure is very apparent, the benefick effects being equal, if not greater, than whe applied to peas ; but this latter plant beloDg to the pea tribe.

My usual mode of using it is by applyip about a hundred and fifty bushels to the acre But this year 1 applied about two hundre bushels more to land that had had an applies tion of an hundred and fifty bushels of thi earth. My corn is decidedly better than ; ever was on this field before, and the pea as luxuriant as if they had been heavily ma nured ; but where this earth was applied thi year the peas were much better than the pea on the land which had had an application c this earth three years ago.

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

I4iv

It is true, for several years I have been remarling my lands, also with marked benefit, but it is only with the marl 1 remove to get access to the blue clay, as I consider I get more benefit from the latter than the former. This opinion is not peculiar to myself. Dr. A. Bryant, a farmer of Prince George, informs me that he has discovered greater benefit from the use of his marl, than is manifested by that of his neighbors, and he attributes the superior benefit to the fact that he is in the. hahit of mixing about four feet of this clay, which he finds at the bottom of his marl pits, with his marl. So far as my experience goes, I have never used this blue clay to lands that had not been marled or limed. I carried some a distance of four miles and applied it to land that had been limed; a close, stiff, tenacious soil, and applied it to clover with marked benefit.

This earth acts promptly. On one occasion, the clouds indicated rain ; I ordered a boy to haul several loads and scatter it on clover, and in a very few days the benefit from its use wa3 very apparent in the increased vigor and greenness of the clover. This earth is soluble in water. Soon after a rain, if one rides or walks in a field on which this earth has been spread, a strong sulphureous odour is manifest and rather unpleasant; the same may be discovered at the pits. This is much more evident after a rain than at any other time.

Again: another fact connected with the solvent powers of rain is, that vegetation is considerably increased in the direction of the descent of water where this earth has been applied on the sides of hills.

It is beneficial to lands that have not been limed or marled, to our knowledge.

Mr. McGee, of Prinre George, who lives twenty miles south of James river, has used this earth, and also what is called olive earth, with decided improvement upon lands that had had no lime or rnarl ; but this land may he naturally calcareous. This blue clay is found at the bottom of his marl pits ; he applies about three hundred bushels to the acre. A portion of hi3 land was remarkably poor and light; he observed it has been in succession of crops under the regular rotation, for a great number of years, and was unproductive, producing about one and a half bushels of corn to the acre. After the application of this earth, without any additional manure, the same land produced about four barrels; wheat and clover also grew successfully.

Another fact connected with this earth is of a very important character. The sheep sorrel, a plant common with us and remarkable for the acidity of its leaves, generally disappears after land has been marled or limed ; but it reappears after the use of this blue clay and grows more abundantly and luxuriantly, and this is the most serious objection to the use of this clay. Now this fact presents a stubborn reality "against some of the fashionable theories of the day. Hen peas are increased in quantity and are more productive ; the eastern shore

bean becomes more abundant, and the clover increased in growth and improved in color ? corn and wheat increased by the application of" an eartii that causes the sheep sorrel to re-appear on land from which it had disappeared by the use of marl and lime. From this and other considerations. 1 should infer thai acidity is not opposed to fertility.

This earth also possesses the power of" counteracting the injurious consequences resulting from an over application of the carbonate of lime, or what is popularly called marled burnt land. The bisulphuret of iron being placed in justaposition with carbonate of iirne, chemical affinities may produce new combinations. Sulphuret of lime may result, and productiveness the ultimate consequence, or the caustic properties of the lime may be neutralized. On ray farm an example may be seen of a piece of land in which all vegetation was destroyed, mould, &c, gone, and the land presented the appearance of worthless sand. which has been restored to comparative productiveness by no other manure than this blue clay. This clay is usually hauled upon the land after it is broken up, sufiered to remain until it breaks up into flakes or becomes somewhat pulverized, when it is shattered. Here we occasionally find round balls about the size of large marbles and round, presenting a dirty appearance on the exterior, hut internally iheee-balls are crystaline. To what principle', to-which ingredient in its constitution are w*> indebted for its fertilizing property ? Is it because its nietalic oxide forms a base with which humic acid unites, and this combination is subsequently easily dissolved by r.dn water. and is thus assimilated by the growing crops? Or may not this oxide form other combinations with lime or other inorganic substances? or may it not more properly be. a positive manure, independent of chemical affinities or atmospheric combinations ?

We are thrown upon the ocean ol"conjecture;: theory may he piled upon theory, and one hypothesis upon another without affording satisfaction to the man of science, or without materially benefitting the agriculturists.

Professors Hare and Rogers inform us that alumina abounds in this earth. Who knows the effects of whale oil, fish oil. &c, uniting with this earth ? It is impervious to water in its present condition in the pits. It may in this form retain other organic animal matter. But it is not my object to discuss a theory or advocate a system, but to invite the attention of farmers to the use this invaluable fertilizer.

The effects of this earth on the appearance of my land, on my growing crops, upon peas, vegetation, clover and eastern shore bean are positive realities that it. is impossible to eradicate, and I shall continue to use this earth so long as beneficial results follow its use. All of which is respectfully submitted to the consideration of the Agricultural Society of the State. Rort. Harrison.

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER

PARSON SURELYS EXPERIMENT.

his wife was utterly astonished upon learning i:v a. c. SERffitK l the nature of ' the contract her husband had

I entered into; but the pastor only smiled and

The small parish of Fallowdale had been | bade her wait for the result.

for some lime without a pastor. The members | Time flew on; at length the hot midsummer

were all farmers, and they had not much money i days were at hand. ' For three weeks it had not

to bestow upon the support of a clergyman ; yet j rained and the youn? corn was beginning

to curl up beneath the effects of the drought. In this extremity the people bethought them-

thev were all willing to pay for anything that could promise them any due return of good. In course of time it happened that Rev. Abraham Surely visited Fallowdale. and as a sabbath passed during his sojourn, he held a meeting in the small church. The people were pleased With his preaching, and some of them proposed inviting him to remain with them and take charge of (heir spiritual welfare.

selves of the promise of their pastor, and sorae of them fastened to hie dwelling.

'•Come." said Sharr, whose hilly farm was suffering severely, we want some rain. You remember your promise."

'• Certainly," rejoined Mr. Surely. " If you will call a meeting of the members of the par-

:_l, 1 ...:n u :.l r__ _ -v • • ••

Upon the merits of this proposition there was ieh, I will be with you this evening

a long discussion. Parson Surely had signified his willingness to take a permament residence at Fallowdale, but the members of the parish could not so readily agree to hire him.

"I don't see any use of hiring a parson."' said Mr. Sharp, an old farmer of the place. "He can do us no good. If we've got any money to spare, we'd better lay it up for something else. A parson can't learn me anything."

To this was answered that stated religious meetings would be of great benefit to the younger people and a source of real, social good to all.

"I don't know about that," said Sharp, alter iie had heard the argument against him. Sharp was one of the wealthiest men in the parish and consequently one of the most influential. "I've heard tell," he continued, " of a parson that could pray for rain t and have it come at any time. Now if we could hit upon such a parson as that, I would go for hiring him."

This opened a new idea to the unsophisticated minds of Fallowdale. The farmers often suffered from long droughts, and after arguing, awhile longer they agreed to hire Parson Surely upon condition that he should give them rain whenever they wished for it, and, on the other hand, that he would also give them fair weather when required. Deacons Smith and Townsend were deputed to make this arrangement known to the parson, and the people remained in the church while their messengers went upon their errand.

When the deacons returned M. Surely accompanied them. He smiled as he entered the church and with a graceful bow he saluted the people, there assembled.

" Well, my frierrds," he said, as he ascended the platform, in front of the desk, "I have heard your request, to me, a*nd strange as it mayappear I have come to accept our proposal; but can do it only on one condition; that is that your request for change of weather must be unanimous.

This appeared very resonable, since every member of the parish had a deep interest in the farming business, and ere long it was arranged that Mr. Surely should become pastor of Fal-imvdale, and that he should give the people rain whenever they asked for it.

When Mr. Surely returned to his lodgings

With this the applicants were perfectly satisfied, and forthwith they hastened to call the flock together.

The hour I'or the meeting came round, and Parson Surely met his people at the church; they were all there, most of them anxious and the remainder curious.

"Now, my friends," said the pastor, arising upon the platform, " I have come to hear your request. What is it?" »

•■ We want rain," bluntly spoke farmer Sharp: "and you know you promised to give it to us."

'■ Aye—rain, rain." repeated half a dozen voices.

" Very well. Now when will you have it 1 "

" This very night. Let it rain all night long," said Mr. Sharp, to which several other? immediately assented.

"No, no, not to-night," cried Deacon Smith. " I have six or seven tons of well made hay in the field, and I would not have it wet for any thing."

" So have I hay out," added Mr. Peck. "We won't have it rain to-night."

" Then let it ram to-morrow."

"It will take me alt day to-morrow to get my hay in," said Smith.

Thus objections came up for two succeeding days, and at length, by way of compromise, Mr. Sharp proposed that they should have rain in just four days. " For," said he, "by that time all the hay that is now out can be got in and we need not cut any." " Stop, stop," uttered Mrs. Sharp, pulling her worthy husband 6martly by the sleeve. " That is the day we have set to goto Snowhill. It mustn't rain then !" This was law for Mr. Sharp, so he proposed that the rain should come in one week, then resuming his seat. But this would not do. Many of the people would not put off so long. "If we cannot have rain before then, we'd beuer not have it at all," said they.

In short, the meeting resulted in just no conclusion at all, for the people found it utterly impossible to agree upon a time when it should rain.

"Until you can make up your minds upon this point," said the pastor, as he was about leaving the church, " we must all trust in the Lord." And alter that the people followed him from the place.

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER

14£

Both Deacon Smith and Mr. Peck go* their hay safely in, but on the very day that Mr. Sharp and his wife were to have started for Snowhill, it began to rain in right good earnest. Sharp lost his visit, but he met the disappointment with good grace, for his crop smiled in the rain.

Ere another month rolled by, another meeting was called for a petition of rain, but this time the result was as before. Many of the people had much to dig, and rain would prevent them. Some wanted the rain immediately, some in two and some in three days, while others wanted to put it off longer. So Mr. Surely had no occasion to call for rain.

One year rolled by, and down to that time the people of Fallowdale had never once been able to agree upon the exact kind of weather they would have, and the result was that they began to open their eyes to the fact that this world would be a strange place if the inhabitants could govern it. While they had been longing for a power they did not possess, they had not seen its absurdity, but now they had, in good faith, attempted to apply that power under the belief that it was theirs, they were getting beyond their sphere. They saw that Nature's laws were safer in the hands of Nature's God than in the hands of Nature's children.

On the last Sabbath of the first year of Mr. Surely's settlement at Fallowdale, he offered to break his connection with the parish, but the people would not listen to it. They had become attached to him and to the meetings, and they wished him to stay.

"But I can no longer rest under our former contract in regard to the weather," said the pastor.

"Nor do we wish you to," returned Sharp. " Only preach to us, and teach us and our children how to live and help us to be social and happy."

tAud," added the pastor, while a tear of pride stood in his eyes, as he looked for an instant in the face of his own happy wife, '"All things above our proper sphere we will leave with God, for he doeth all things well."

•Salt and Ashes for. Wire Worms. —Last spring I had a piece of meadow land in a high state of cultivation, which I ploughed on the 16th of May about six inches deep, and turned the grass all under : I then harrowed it thoroughly on the 19th, and planted with potato--. After dropping the potatoes I took good ashes two parts, Nova Scotia plaster one part, and salt one part, and put in a good handful previous to covering. I had only 80 bushels to the acre, and the largest crop of grubs and wire worms I ever raised. So much for salt and ashes to destroy worms. My potatoes were very badly eaten by the worms. B. B. Hackstaff,

Lawrenceville, N. Y. Rural N. Yorker.']

Cure for Grape Mildew. —Mr. J. Hayes gives through the English Gardener's Chronicle the following cure for the grape mildew:

Take half a pound of black soft soap, from three to four ounces of black sulphur, the same quantity of soot and quick lime, and add water sufficient to enable them to be worked with a paint brush. As soon as the vines are pruned, paint the wood well over with this mixture, rubbing it well into the rough parts with the brush. I have not seen the least symptoms of mildew since I have used it, either in the house or out of doors, although we had plenty of it before the application was tried. This, therefore, may be worth the notice of vine growers in foreign countries, the ingredients employed being cheap.

Olive versus Lard Oil. —At a late meeting of the Farmer's Club, connected with the American Institute, Prof. Mai*es asserted that what " we received as pure olive oil in the . market, is nothing more nor less than the surplus lard sent by our pork merchants to France, where it is transformed into the genuine article of sweet oil, and returned to be used at the tables of those very persons who exported it in the solid state." This is certainly refreshing information for the lovers of pure sweet tabic oil among us, and is no doubt perfectly true. We venture to say, that not one tenth of the oil sold for that of the olive, in our country, is any thing else than lard oil.

Any person can convert the common lard oil sold for burning in lamps, into as good sweet oil as that which is generally sold for olive oil, by the following process: Take say about a quart of the common oil, and place it in a clean tin pan, and set it on a stove; bring it up to about the heat of scalding water, and then add about 'one quarter of an 03. of sal soda, dissolved in half a teacupful of hot water. Stir this into the oil for about five minutes, then take off the vessel, and allow it to cool. When the sediment settles on the bottom of the vessel, the clear should be poured off into a clean bowl through a white cotton cloth, to strain it. The oil obtained by this treatment is sweet and pure, excellent for oiling fine machinery, and for making perfumed oil for the hair.— Scientific America/'.

Quantity of Lime in Burnt Shells.— One hundred and eight bushels of shells will make seventy bushels of quick lime, which will slake to one hundred and twenty-five bushels.— Farmer's Register.

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

RICHMOND, MAY, 1855.

TERMS.

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ADVERTISEMENTS.

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%^° Postage on the Southern Planter, (when paid in advance,) to any part of the United States one cent and a haW per quarter, or six cents per annum.

GREEN CORN FOR SOILING AND FOR HAY.

It has always been a favorite idea with us, the sowing of corn for soiling and for hay; and though we have tried it several times, and have always been disappointed on account of the difficulty of curing the fodder, we have never despaired. Now that we are on a farm where the absence of cross fences, the scantiness of the herbage, and the danger of depasturing up-country cattle, make it expedient and safe to keep stock confined during the summer, we mean to try it again.

But to avoid blunders as far as possible, we wrote to Mr. Lewis Bailey of Fairfax for his experience with corn; and having received, it, we shall novv communicate it to the public. Mr. Bailey is known to some of our subscribers by the fine beasts he has exhibited at both of our State Fairs, where he has taken premiums on an essay on dairy management, on ploughing with oxen, and on his stock of various ages and different sexes. Better stock of their kind—and they are our favorites, theDevons—have not graced the r.b.ow grounds.

" I have been sixteen years in Virginia, " says Mr. Bailey, " and commenced seeding corn for summer feed the first year I came. I have never missed doing it but one summer, and then I learnt its value by being without it, more than I did any year that I had a plenty of it.

"I have sowed the early northern eight-rowed corn two seasons, and found it was no earlier, and that it produced but little more than half as much as the Virginia corn sowed at the same time. When the northern corn was large enough to cut or in blossom, the Virginia corn was not so forward, but it was larger and longer, and produced more and better feed.

'"' I have often sowed in drills, and though the labour of tillage is greater, I have never found any resulting advantage in product. On a farm of about one hundred acres of grazing, plain and meadow land, I have usually sowed from fifteen 8oj twenty-eight bushels of corn for summer ar.d winter feed.

" The ground for this crop should be ploughed in the fall or early winter for an early spring crop, and well manured at that time if stable manure is to be used; and the ploughing maybe deferred for the summer crops until the spring and summer. In all cases, if the land is not rich make it so. For the first crop sow about the middle of April, or a few days earlier or later, according to the season, but at all events as early as possible. For the- next crop sow again in about twelve or fifteen days. Let the interval between that and the next crop be still longer, and increase it for each successive sowing, as the season becomes more and more favourable to the rapid growth of the corn.

" The ground having been got into good order, I harrow in the corn, and if after four or five days I find much of it uncovered, the boys go over it with sticks about an inch diameter and three feet long, and mash down the grains that are not covered. But on clover sod, or other fresh ploughed land, after spreading the manure as evenly as possible over the surface, I sow it with plaster, then sow the corn and turn all under with a light two-horse plough, ploughing only deep enough to giyl a good covering. I follow the first plough with Ruggles, Nourse & Mason's subsoil plough. The firet plough, with a sharp point and share, is worked with one horse, and runs about three inches deep; the subsoil plough, a light one, is worked as deep as the horses can pull it to advantage. Both have the guage wheel attached.

<; I sow from three to four bushels per acre. For four horses and fifteen milch cows I have used about two acres per month. My cows are fed morning and night in the stables, and run in a short pasture during the day. My horses are fed in the stable all the time. The first and second

1^** ,

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

147

will not yield as much per acre as later sowings, because the season is not so well adapted to the growth of corn.

" I begin to feed it as soon as the tassel appears, cutting after the dew is off in the morning, and hauling in in the evening. But when the corn gets its full growth, cut and feed at your >/onve-aience.

"I hare found much difficulty in making hay of it. That which is intended for early winter fodder I cut and stand up in the field, never laying it on the ground. I make medium sized shocks, using two bands, either of straw or fodder, (straw is best,) to secure it, and tie one quite near the top, the other as low as convenient. What 1 wish for later feed I cut and lay in swathes, like wheat left by the cradle, only spread more over the ground. It is left there to wilt for three or four days, then taken up, if free from rain-water, and laid on a top stack, or as we term it, fodder house, with both ends open. It is put on the frame, just as tops are-from two to two and a half feet thick, securing the top with the corn, straw, or coarse grass to keep out the rain. If the corn lodges or blows down, and does not rise again, you will be obliged to lav-it on a top stack frame, as it will not save well in the shock. On no account bind it in sheaves, as the rain gets under the bands, and will produce

■ I estimate the yield to average from seven to eight tons of dry winter feed per acre."

Here, then, according to the statement of a man with fifteen years experience, in Virginia, is a certain resource for abundant grass and hay in one and the same plant, and here is a quality which gives our noble and beautiful rnaize an additional claim to rank first among the cereals in this country. It is the only plant we know of which gives bread, grass and hay in one.

We know that repeated failures have discouraged the many persons who have tried it, but we hope they will not yet despair. We know that intelligent persons, who will admit the suitableness of this product for cows and hogs, will yet discredit the practicability of using it as a food for horses that are hard at work; but, in refutation of the argument^ they can adduce, we beg to remind 'them that Mr. Edmund Ruffin, among his rar-m». randa as commissioner, states the fact that the Cuban horses of all sorts eat. nothing else. The -ame fact was stated to us a good many years ago by our friend N. P. Trist, Esq., sometime con--ui at the Havana, who informed us that the diminutive but hardy and vigorous horses of the island, (they use stallions there entirely,) fed on nothing else, will go on the gallop, the common gait, sixty miles of a day, with a heavy rider. The splendid mules they have, too, for their vo-lantes, or huge gigs, eat no other food, though they are all Kentucky raised and accustomed to ton in the ear. We have ourselves done some of

the hardest fallowing on green clover for rack food, and never hurt a horse by it. Indeed, for ten years, when we practised soiling habitually, or pasturing the horses on good grass or clover all night through the late spring and the whol© sum mer, we lost only one per cent, of our team, or one horse in ten years out of an annual team of ten horses. We know farmers who make their com. and summer-fallow pretty tight land, with scarcely a grain of corn, by following Mr. Gilmer's plan of spelling their horses alternately.

It is true that a horse with his belly-full of green food must be treated in a somewhat different man iier from one who ha-* only a moderate portion of highly stimulating food, or colic or broken wind will be the consequence; but it is only necessary to give him more time to eat and digest his food, and to give it to him heavily at. night and more sparingly at mid-day, when he requires any how most generally more rest, than victuals.

We shall return to this subject at another time, and treat it more elaborately. It has a very im portant bearing on the rural economy of the whole South. For the present we have written enough. But not too much, if the advice we give is followed, and our subscribers decide, not to try an experiment, but to follow the simple rules of Mr. Bailey. We feel confident that an observance of them, a patient and intelligent observance, will save thousands of dollars to the community. It is not too late to begin this year, for the most that any one will have lost by our delay in this article will be only the first sowing, or one month's feed.

ALI5EMAKLE INSURANCE COMPANY.

This Institution, advertised in this number of the Planter, is a Virginia Institution, whose man agers, as most of its stockholders, arc well known to us. We have enquired of that one among their number with whom we are best acquainted, and feel authorized to recommend it to the public. We have done a considerable amount of Insurance with the concern upon our own account, and greatly prefer it to the Yankee Companies, of whose solvency and management we know nothing. Some of these have laid a heavy tax on Virginia and then have failed to give the expected security from loss. We know of several cases in which this Company has paid its losses promptly, and we believe that no useless impediments will ever be thrown in the way of losers.

The life and fire departments are particularly worthy of attention of our friends in the interior of the State,, This institution has been in opera tion only ab~out nine months and by its caution.",, prudent policy has already secured a large hold on public confidence. Agents in the principal towns of the State.

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

Jefferson County Dogs. —A writer in the- Charlestown Spirit of Jefferson, complains of the depredations of dogs upon sheep. Within a circuit of a few miles, in the southern part of Jefferson, it is stated, $400 worth of sheep have, within the last two months, been destroyed by dogs. The writer estimates that there are 3000 families in Jefferson county, and that there is an average of two dogs to a family—making the enormous number of 6000 dogs in that small county. Some families have as many as five and six dogs. An army of 6000 dogs to prey upon the property of the people of the county the writer thinks a serious evil, and advocates a tax as a remedy. It is maintained that " it costs as much to keep a dog as it does to keep and rear a hog. But if that estimate is too high, take one-half of the above estimate, and still we have the enormous sum of $15,000 to keep the dogs of Jefferson county; for surely no one will deny that it costs half as much to keep a dog as a hog. Fifteen thousand dollars ! (exclaims the writer). Money enough to educate all the children in the county for one year, and, at present prices, give a "half barrel of flour to every family in the county."

Stocking Knitting Machine. —This is amoug the latest novelties in New York. It was patented in 1851, but, with the exception of a few in Connecticut, has not been practically tested. The Mirror says :

A girl ten years old can knit half-a-dozen pairs of stockings in a day, working the machine by . hand or foot. In a factory, with motive power, one person can manage a dozen macnines. The stocking is entirely made by the machine, from top to toe, and no nimble fingers of industrious elderly maiden, sitting by the hearth corner, could 'widen' or 'narrow' or 'heel' or 'toe' more perfectly. The invention is now in the hands'of a stock company, who are about to apply it in a large factory in this city, and who offer for sale rights to use the machines.

BREAKING COLTS AND OXEN.

We are indebted to Mr. Howard of the Boston Cultivator for the following cut and description of a mode of breaking colts, which it strikes us is first rate.

We wrote for it, because on the farm of W. W. Gilmer, Esq., many years ago, and afterwards at Col. T. J. Randolph's, we saw a similar device for breaking oxen—similar, but simpler, in that nothing was required but the post A. and one of the poles B., with its free end fitted to receive the bow of a yoke. To that simple contrivance it was only necessary to haul up a young steer, or an old one,

a bull stag, say, yoke him iu, and " let him rip." With kind treatment, they can in that way be broken more easily than in any other mode we know of, and without the barbarity of tying their tails together.

We think our horse breaking friends in Augusta and Rockingham had better try this plan and report the result.

Prom the Boston Cultivator.

Messrs. Editors: —A little more than one year since, having three fine colts, that were wholly untutored, I adopted a new expedient for bringing them into subjection, which succeeded to a charm. Several of my neighbors availed themselves of the privilege gratuitously offered them by the use of my apparatus in breaking their colts, and in every case they were delighted with the ease, safety and thorough success of the scheme. Last Autumn, having bought another large and vigorous colt of three years past in age, and wishing to bring it under subjection, I resorted to the same method that was found so effectual last season, which has been equally satisfactory, both to myself and my neighbors, who have either availed themselves of the use of the apparatus, or have witnessed its operation; and in compliance with their suggestion, I send you a drawing of the run round, now in rig in my yard for breaking colts. To the machine thus completed, I harness the colt, I care not how ugly or UHgained, buckling the pole strap so short that he will have no slack harness; then tying his halter to the cross-bar, I pull off his bridle and let hitn have a fair chance, and his own course. He never runs at first for fear of the wheel before him, but alternately trots and stands still. After the colt has been harnessed an hour or so, 1 seat myself astride the rear pole at the point where the inner end of the bar supporting the whipple-tree is attached, when he generally starts offal a rapid speed ; I retain my seat until the colt comes to a stand, which is always after he has been from six to twenty rounds. I then feed him a handful of oats, and put a wisp of hay in the rope which confines the pole strap, and leave him to pursue his own course. He should be kept harnessed in this way through the day, being visited frequently with the oat dish, and supplied with hay, where he can help himself at will.

The second day, let the colt be bridled, with leading lines attached, and fed a few oats as soon a3 harnessed, then left for some lime to promenade at his leisure, then' drove, and taught to start and stop at bidding. After being drilled in this way for half an hour, make fast one of the wheels to a post a little outside of the range, and leave him for an hour or more, thus teaching him to stand ; keep him harnessed through the day, occasionally feeding, driving, backing and teaching him to stop and to stand still, but using no harsh measures, for none are needed. After three such days

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149

of training, I have always succeeded in making a celt completely manageable, and hesitate not to take my wife on board a cutter or wagon for a ride, having done so repeatedly. I consider the above method for breaking colts cheap, safe, expeditious and effectual, and those who have examined the affair, say that a colt broken to go in that machine will go anywhere.

Explanation of the Drawing. —A A post set

firm in the ground, and rising three feet, with a

shouldered three-inch round tenon or pivot at

the top.

B B Two straight rough hard weod poles,

thirty feet long, eight inches in diameter at the butt ends, and four inches in diameter at the

tops. One of these poles is confined on the top of the post, six feet from the butt end by a

round mortice, three and a half inches in diameter. The other pole is lapped into the first.

near their but ends, made fast by locking,

and by a two inch pin.

C C The hind wheels of a lumber wagon,

fitted on the end of the poles. D. Crossbar, a rough pole twelve feet long,

bolted at each end on the long poles, four

feet from the wheel hubs. E Rough pole, bolted on one of the main

poles and on the cross bar. to support the

whipple-tree. F An augur hole bored through the forward

pole, in which is fastened a rope for confining

the pole strap of the harness.

Phineas Fir.Ln.

Dickey's Butter-Worker. —An advertisement of this now almost indispensable fixture in every well managed dairy will be found upon the cover of the journal. In confirmation of the accompanying testimonials of those who have tried the butter worker, we may add, that we had one of them used in our own dairy during the past year, and speak knowingly when we award it the credit of having already saved in labor alone its first cost—to say nothing of the superior quality of the butter over that worked by hand. We have no hesitation in recommending this butter-worker to dairymen, as being well worthy their attention, and preferable to any thing of the kind that has come under our notice.— Farm Journal.

TO CURE SHEEP SKIN WITH THE WOOL ON

Take one table spoonful of alum and two of saltpetre; pulverize and mix well together,, then sprinkle the powder on the .flesh side-of the skin, and lay the two flesh sides together,, leaving the wool outside. Then fold up the skins as you can, and hang them in a dry place. In two of three days as soon a? they are dry, take them down and scrape them with a blunt knife till clean and supple. This completes the process, and makes a most excellent saddle cover. Other skins which you desire to cure with the fur on, may be treated in the same way.

We can speak in favor of the above recipe It does all it promises. Such skins make excellent mats for in-doors.— Farmer'.-i Companion.

NEW CORN-CUTTING MACHINE.

H. E. Wilson of this county has invented a machine for cutting'up corn, which it is believed wif' form a considerable addition to the agricultural implements of the country. He is about to apply for a patent. We find the following notice of it in, the Daily Republican:

The Indiana Corn-Cctteh. —This is the nsrua given to a new agricultural machite, for which a patent is to be applied for by the inventor, H. E Wilson, of Hendricks county, now one of the door keepers of the House of Representatives. Wc have examined a drawing of the machine, which is intended to cut two rows of stalks as it proceeds, something after the manner of the machine reapers though not exactly. The knives, as the machine progresses, are made to cut diagonally, downwards, while the stalks fall back upon racks at each side ; and are occasionally discharged by means of a lever, the effect being similar to that of the horsc-rake contrivance of this kind, reversed, or bottom up.

A working model will be got up for practical experiment. If good, the machine will be very rnlnnblc to the farmer and cattle feeder.

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER

WOOL DEPOT OP THE foESSRS. CRENSHAW.

' himself and knows a. great deal of the subject Oar readers who are interested in wool may Poetically, and consigned them our wool at once, remember that last.summer we called their atten- They have rece «% effected a sale of all their tJoi) to the establishment, of a woo! depot in this \ wooli, > an(1 'hough they labored under the usual

difficulties of a new undertaking and had to con tend with the additional disadvantage of a depressed wool market and hard times, and had, is was to be expected i:i the outset, a comparatively small stock, we may congratulate their consigners, as well as the firm, on their success. 't

r"or the information of those farmers who may aot have read what we said of the benefit of a wool depot last year, we will merely state that, so far iVom letting a smalt lot go st a sacrifice and losing sight of the individual in the mass, a wool depot always commands better prices the more wool it has, because there can be made a greater number of the grades of wool, there are never less than six, we think, adapted to each particular department of manufacturing. So that a firm which had ten thousand pounds of each kind would stand a much better chance for good prices than a man who had only a few hundreds which could not be " stapled,'' from its small quantity.

At the Messrs. Crenshaw's establishment all of the wool of each man's consignment is sorted and a separate account kept of it, and though all of that grade is sold in the lump, yet each man gets more for it in that way than if the buyer had to purchase and sort it himself, because he must rc-sel! all that he does not want. It may be news to many of our farmers who work up their own wool at home to learn that they include in one piece of cloth what would make six or eight different kinds in the hands of nearly as many different manufacturers ; but it is true, and in that fact alone they may see the great advantage of a depot to a wool grower. We hope to be able to illustrate it more fully in our next by publishing, in whole or in part, Messrs. Crenshaw's account sales.

We have said more on this head than we meant when we took it up, but not more than its importance demands. We believe in sheep and wool, and if the Planter shall be instrumental in increasing the quantity of both in Virginia we shall not have been without our reward.

City, by the Messrs. Crenshaw, and suggested the importance of having a market here at home in preference to relying on more distant places of Whether from respect of our advice, or from other reasons, we ;;re pleased to know that many sent their wool to the Messrs. Crenshaw, ho have lately sold their whole consignment at prices which are very satisfactory to the parties we Lave heard from, and must be so to all, since they compare very favorably with any sales made during the past season at more distant points in :he United States.

We recur to the subject at this time because the season for the new crop is approaching and growers must be making their arrangements to sell. The enterprise of the above gentlemen has been tested by success, and we now, more confidently than before, recommend our friends to try them. There is this further inducement to consign to them; j the more wool that can be brought together in I one house the more certain is the manufacturer to come after it and the better chance consequently for a good sale. There is no wool factory of any kind in Richmond—to the shame of the city be it .spoken—so it is only adding to the expenses of sale to stop it here in the usual way. Still as each farmer produces too little to sell directly to the manufacturer, and can offer him no inducement to that kind of traffic, it is evident at. agent must intervene, and the question is, shall the manufacturer send an agent to deal directly with the farmers or shall they employ an agent to deal directly with Mm? It is of small moment to the manufacturer where that agent may be located so he is accessible by railroad and can command wool enough to make it to his interest to look at his stock. But is it not better for the grower to employ a,u agent here at home with whose character and responsibility he is, or may at pleasure become, acquainted, than to trust to a more distant consignee ? and particluarly if it is remembered that the expense of transportation, in detached parcels, is much heavier to the farmer than of a large lot to the manufacturer who buys at first hands and can get it from Richmond on his own account at rates almost, if not quite, as low as from any other point !

We thought well of this enterprise from the first, considered it indispensible to the growth of wool as a great Virginia staple, which we estimate as of the very highest importance, next to wheat; were glad it had been undertaken by such reliable and energetic gentlemen as the Messrs^' Creasnaw, one of whom is a heavy wool grower

Foh rm: Bi:n[;e'it or Anti-Ant. —We give you a sure remedy—procure a large sponge, wash it well, pres's it very dry; by so doing it will leave the small cells open—lay it on the shelf where they are most troublesome, sprinkle some fice white sugar on the sponge—lightly over it; two or three times a day take a bucket of hot water to where the sponge is, carefully drop the sponge in the scalding water, and you will slay them by the thousands, and soon rid the house of those troublcsemo insects. [Exchange.

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151

FAILURE IN A STAND OF GRASS, AND A REASON FOR IT ASKED.

Fr*xk G. Ruffin, Esa., Ed. So. Planter:

Dear Sir: —You have farmed some years, successfully I suppose, and have lived in that time and until recently, adjoining one of the very best agriculturalists of our country. You are also, I presume, intimately acquainted with some of the very best farmers of Virginia, and of the Union; and you have now become sole Editor of the Southern Planter; and no doubt you have access to all the chief agricultural periodicals of America, in the way of exchange. Under such circumstances, some of us small farmers, and subscribers to your valuable paper, look to you as the great Doctor, who will give us a cure for all the many ills which now threaten our agricultural prosperity. No doubt the many suffering patients will crowd in their numerous cases, and most urgently plead for advice; so you will please excuse an old friend for troubling you with a perplexing case of his, and modestly requesting a prescription therefor.

Having long been convinced that the cultivation of the grasses would yield more profit to the outlay, and be far more easy and pleasant labor than i3 imposed by any other crop we can make, at least under the present disastrous reign of the joint-worm, Hessian fly, and tobacco fly, and (with us last year by far the worst of all) the destructive hordes of chinch bug which assails with equal destructiveness every crop, save only the tobacco, pea, and buckwheat, I was induced to try my hand upon the grasses. I have succeeded pretty well until last summer, when the greatest effort I ever made, was completely foiled. I will lay the circumstances before you, and beg for some advice, which I trust you will give, and thus save many from the like heavy failure in future.

A change in the public road brought a portion of my prettiest and most expensively improved flats into full view; and I resolved to beautify it by putting it into meadow, the best ever seen in these parts. The lot of six acres was in tobacco year before last. In the fall of that year I doubled the beds of eighteen feet to thirty-six feet, with a four-horse Livingston plough, and cleared out the furrows nicely with shovels: by the spring it was as thoroughly pulverized as any land I ever saw. Last spring I seeded it with oats—three bushels per acre—with the intention of ploughing them in, and then seeding the land with peas, buck-wheat and timothy; but the chinch-bug compelled me to cut them. They were a fine

crop, though worse lodged than any I ever had. I then reversed the beds with a three-horse plough, and, in August, reversed again with a four-horse plough. Then T sowed peas, buck-wheat and snaps at the rate of a. bushel to a bushel and a half per acre, harrowed them in, and then sowed three gallons of clean timothy seed per acre, and rolled them with a heavy four ox roller on the 19th of August. It did not rain till the 9th of September, when ail came up well. It was the nicest preparation I ever saw. The timothy was pronounced 'too thick hi the fall The peas, buck-wheat, &o. I thought would protect the young grass from. the cold of winter, and yield some food in the spring; but, to my great mortification and sax-prise, the timothy is nearly all dead. I have seeded it again—upon the snow in January— and at the same time sowed by hand sixty bushels of mixed lime and ashes upon it. If it does not look sufficiently thick by April, I shall then re-sow, plaister and roll it, as toc> much has been done to give it up so. Now what was the cause of this failure, and how cao it be prevented in future? The land was thoroughly drained by five blind ditches, and as nice water furrows as I can make. I think it was too light, and admitted the cold to the roots. My Randall and orchard grass was much injured, seeded upon heavily-guanoed wheat lands.

So you see we arc trying to improve in thee« parts. We are about to have an agricultural club of twelve members, first for the benefit of ourselves, and then to give out our results to the public through your paper. We expect to hold our first meeting next month, and then once a month at each member's house, successively, when we will minutely inspect every thing of agricultural interest on the whole farm. We will select a subject upon which each member will be required to experiment, and to give the result of his views in writing: one of these will be selected and sent to your paper monthly; and from this much good will result to each member, and if so, to our brethren of the plough elsewhere. If these pieces should prove worthy of publication, and the like societies could, as they should, be gotten up all over the State, it would greatly lessen your labors, and at once swell your paper to double its present size and usefulness; and be-one great means by which it might be placed in the hands of every farmer of Virginia at double (half?) its present price. You shall hear from me more fully next month. In the mean time permit a friend to give you a little hint. One great cause of the Virginia farmer's doing so little, is, first, he is too much a mac

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

of intention, going to do great things, but always postponing its commencement, "We are too slow. Now as you occupy a high place in our midst, and a good example iroinyou might t«ll well on us, suppose you, at once, do as I think you promised to do. Just add on a little steam and press out your paper on the first of each month, for which it is intended, and not wait until the month is half-gone ere we get it. Again, make your year close on the day of the Virginia Fair; at which time require a full payment of your dues, and I think your collections would be far more prompt, as the Fair, of itself, would remind us of the pittance due you for a whole year's good we had been receiving from your labors.

Most respectfully yours.

Geo. C. Gilmer. Buckajdand, Albemarle, March, 1855.

at a future day. There is no reason why they should be.

We hope the Planter will now be issued punctually. It was out the first of April, and under the management of Mr. Bailie we think we can promise punctuality for the fature. When we lag we hope our friends will remind iis of it.

We are very painfully aware that we are looked rapon somewhat in the light of a Doctor, as our j'riend, Mr. Gilmer, asserts, and have protested against being " the physician in spite of himself," wntil we are tired of it. In this particular instance, we do not think the history of the case is given with sufficient minuteness, and we suspect that -.evcrai circumstances are unintentionally omitted by Mr. G., which it is important to know before giving an opinion. Not the least among these is ihe kind of soil. For instance, if the land is of she character of soil of the Southwest Mountain, a great deal of which is washed down upon Buckeye land creek at some points along the mountain streams which flow into, and indeed form, that creek, then, from our knowledge of that land, and our experience of the pea crop on it, we would not hesitate to say that the land had been made too Sight by the peas and by repeated ploughing*/ In (and of an opposite character the failure might result from defective drainage, which frequently exists to a most injurious extent, even when least suspected, and in some cases where the greatest -ind most praiseworthy 'efforts have been made to drain thoroughly.

But we publish Mr. G.s communication to call the, attention of others to it, who may explain, if f hey can, the unfortunate result of his so persevering attempt to get a stand of grass*

We are glad to hear of the determination to get up a farmer's club in that neighborhood, which we know well and deem a very improvable section. However shortlived snch associations are, (and they generally last bus a short time,) we have acver known them fail to do much good. Why

TARTARIAN SHEEP. We have seeu several accounts going the rounds, of Tartarian sheep, and they are said to possess the merit of yeaning twice a year. We have not paid much attention to them, looking upon them as a sort ofBarnum, and thinking that those who know what Tartary is, would not be apt to go there for sheep, or any thing else in the Agricultural way, unless perchance they have a fancy for learning to live on mare's milk. We merely notice them now to say that those who wish sheep that have lambs twice a year can get them more cheaply perhaps than from the owners of the Tartarian stock. In the more Southern States sheep yean twice a year habitually. In Mississippi ire know they do; we have heard the same thing of Georgia, and we presume is is true of South Carolina, especially on the coast. Thither then let those look who want that kind of stock, or if not so let them import the Dorset sheep of England, who possess this quality in a slight degree.

But in our climate is this peculiarity any recommendation to a breed of sheep, and under our ordinary farm management is it desirable 1 It is as much as our best farmers do to raise one -crop of lambs well, and those who do that woula be better employed in setting the example to their neighbours than in trying experiments of such questionable utility:

ESSAYS AND NOTES. BY EDMUND RUFFIN.

they are so ephemeral we may attempt to explain | badly printed

It is unnecessary for us to say a word in commendation of any agricultural writing of Mr. RuffiD, and we now intend to do little more than give notice that, a volume of his essays have just been published by our enterprising friend, J. W. Randolph. The volume embraces fourteen essays, nearly all of them of a practical character and some of very great V3.1ue. We have read most of them in another form, but have only had time, since the date of their later appearance, generally in an enlarged and improved form to read " the essay on Draining," which we have studied closely. It is the best treatise for the agriculture of his particular section, and for the kind of land he professes to prescribe for, that we have ever seen. We don't know an -equal investment for ten times the money.

We are sorry that the typography and getting up arc not equal to the merits of the work. It is

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

15S

KIDGELINGS.

A correspondent wishes to know whether Itidge-i.ings can be safely castrated, and whether they Jhave the procreative power.

When a colt is first dropped the testicles are

ear the kidney*. They are soon forced into pro-jrer position by the contraction of the duct in i ..-'nich they are lodged. But it sometimes happens I hat they are stopped in transitu —occasionally both !but more frequently one—and are permanently retained in the abdominal cavity. Whether, when palf gelt, the power of procreation remains, depends Ion circumstances. If the hidden testicle is in such f. position in reference to surrounding organs as to rompress it and prevent its full development, the bower does not exist; but if its position allows full development then the power does exist, though the animal is rarely so rigorous as he otherwise iwould be. This explains the contradictory accounts we hear in regard to the procreancy or [impotence of such horses.

I It results from the above that an attempt to cas-hrate them is not always successful, but is always ftttended with great risk. To get at the testicle an 'incision must be made into the cavity of the abdo-pen, and if peritonitis—an inflammation of the lining membrane of the cavity—does not ensue idirectly, as most likely it will, it is very apt to be produced by the irritation of the operation of belding. To do that the hand must be introduced knd the testicle felt for. In th» search other organs may be injured, and if found and removed it will produce considerable hemorrhage and irritation, especially if of full size. None, therefore, pat a surgeon, and a good one at that, should La permitted to perform the operation.

Ridgelings are generally " squealers,'' but they are almost always fine horses, hardy and vigorous, which is some compensation for the trouble they give. If we had one, we should not value him a cent the less on account of this objection, and would rather prefer him for the saddle or quick irsft. In fact, we are in favour of gentlemen's ridkig and driving stallions, and regret that the fashion and false delicacy are opposed to it.

CAPACITY OF BOXES.

We published in the last issue a table of the capacity of boxes. An acute friend has favoured us with the following in correction of that. A comparison of the two will show the errors of the firs*. publication.

CBAUNCEY P. HOLCOMBE OF DELAWARE.

We regret to announce the death of this gentleman. He was one of the most useful, public pirited and distinguished farmers of his State, ind was in the full tide of life and energy. His ieath is a real loss to the agricultural public, particularly at this time, when he had undertaken to tart a movement in opposition to that one-sided tind of protection which taxes farmers for the benefit of manufacturing and commercial interests

d at the same time, by a reciprocity treaty, ex-)0ses thern to the competition of a great grain-lg country.

SEYMOUR'S PATENET BROADCASTING MACHINE.

We again call the attention of our subscribers-to this machine. Since the last number of the Planter was published we have sowed with it one hundred acres in oats, and they arc now up. We never had a crop so well seeded or that promised better.

As to the quantity of work that it will do, ws can only state our own experience. One horse works the machine with perfect ease, it being no heavier than a single gig. The driver, in our case, was so engaged that he c'ould not get to the work-sooner than an hour by sun arid had to leave it about the same time in the evening. We had four three-horse harrows in the field and a three-horse plough to 3weep the water furrows. The land required only once harroviing to get it in order, the tilth upon the fall, and winter ploughing bc-irc remarkably fine. Dividing the work of preceding and following the machine, as occasion required, so as to keep all the work well up together, we found that it was perfectly able to keep ahead of then. It sows a breadth of ten teet, as fast a horse can walk, and carrying twobuahefcat a time, does not require as many stoppages as are necessary with a man who seeds by hand and can carry a much less supply with him. The seeding, too, is entirely independent of the wind and was done with us a.a well during very high winds, which prevailed most of the time, as during a calm, because the seed are delivered so close to the ground. We not only recommend the machine, therefore, to every farmer, but we urge them to buy it, not on Mr. Seymour's account, who is nothing to us, but their own.

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

EFFECTUAL METHOD FOR DESTROYING RATS.

A correspondent of the Genaessee Farmer gives the following method for destroying rats. He says:

" One day a stranger came to the house to buy some barley, and hearing my father Mention the difficulty he had in freeing the house of these disagreeable tenants, he said he could put him in the way of getting rid of them with very little trouble. His directions were simply these: mix a quantity of arsenic with any sort of grease, and plaster it pretty thick around all their holes. The rats, he said, if they did not eat the poison, would soil their coats in passing through the holes, and as, like all furred animals, they are very cleanly, and cannot endure any dirt upon their coats, to remove the offensive matter they would lick their fur, and thus destroy them-tselves. This plan was immediately put in practice, and in a month not a rat was to be seen about the house or barn."

the corn crop, but which is amply proved in the high prices. If, in 1855, (as is very probable,) the wheat crop should be a good one, it will be larger than that of 1852, so that that year is the proper one to compare by.

Table ok the Wheat Crop in 1852.

STATISTICS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE WHEAT CROP.

As an article of commerce, wheat has been raised in surplus in several countries; but, taking the whole earth into view, the production of wheat has never equalled the demand for it. There have always been countries which, in pursuit of greater gain from other crops, or, in consequence of natural deficiencies, have not raised enough for their own :»ood; and, if we equalize the crop, we shall 5ind there has never been enough.

In giving the statistics of wheat in this vountry, we state in advance, that the production of wheat, in the interior of the United States, is of great consequence and interest to our western railways. A single fact will place this in a striking point of view. In the year 1854, the-wheat crop of Ohio fell short of a fair average, ten millions of bushels. The whole of this was taken from the surplus— that which would have been carried to market. The consequence is, that a single railway fell bhort in its freight business to the extent of seventy thousand tons !

The following is a table of wheat production in the United States for 1852, being found by adding the average annual increase to the census of the crop for 1849, and substituting the crop of Ohio, as ascertained by the State Assessors. In 1851 the crop was not as large as in 1852. by probably twenty-five millions of bushels: a fact which has not been generally recognized in the noise which was made about

This may be regarded as a full crop for the year 1852; and although, as in the States of Kentucky and Tennessee, the statement is in some instances low, on account of the basis in these States, the crop of 1849 being a deficient one, yet, in the main, it is very nearly correct.

Now, the fair allowance to each person in the United States is five bushels, which is just the amount; but we have three millions of negroes in the South, and probably two millions of whites in the same region, whose bread-stuff is almost exclusively Indian corn, i The allowance for the fire millions is twenty-live millions, and supposing the stock on hand to be ^iifricieut for seed, this is all, even in a good year, we have for export; but, what can we have from such ;i crop as the Ia^t? Absolute! '. nothing.

\

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER

In the above are three classes of States, (as to the wheat crop,) divided as follows :

1st. The Surplus States. —These are, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa.

2d. States which supply themselves. — These are New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The last two States are included here for reasons stated above, because their crops in the table are below their usual average.

3d. States importing their bread. —These are, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, N. Carolina, S. Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and California, sixteen States, or more than half the American Union. These are the manufacturing, cotton planting, sugar, and mining States. These States find it, as they think, more to their interest to buy ether people's bread, than to make their own.

In a common year, such as 1855, (with no blight on the harvest,) may be, the surplus States will export something like the following amounts of wheat, viz :

5,300,000 bushels. •2,700,000 11,300,000 •2,200,000 6,000,000 3,000,000 3,000,000 300,000 5,500,000

30,300,000

Pennsylvania,

Maryland,

Ohio,

Indiana,

Illinois,

Michigan,

Wisconsin,

Iowa,

Virginia,

Total,

This is fourteen millions of bushels more than what can be afforded for foreign export; but this fourteen millions is what the manufacturers and planters cat, and enters only into the internal commerce; so does the whole amount of what is carried to foreign countries, for that must be carried to port.

Of the above fourteen millions, about eight millions are consumed in New England, and *i.e residue in the South.

We come now to the question, What is the movement of wheat in commerce ? And what is the railway movement? It is not very pfficnlt to ascertain this. We have about (as above) forty millions of bushels exported from the producing Stat"-:. That must all be carried off. Then we have the consumption of wheat in the large cities :md towns of the producing States, which mu-t be transported from fifty to one hundred miles. TV population of these cities and town"

amounts to about one and a half millions; and require about seven and a half millions of bushels for their consumption. We have then this result of the wheat commercial movement, viz:

Foreign export, - "25,000,000 bash.

Domestic export, - 15,000,000

Consumption of cities and

towns in the producing

States, - 7,500,000

Aggregate, - 47,500,000

This is equal to one million six hundred thousand tons of freight. It is very easy to see from the above statement, where the great ports for the distribution of wheat are. The principal ones are as follows: Philadelphia, Baltimore, Richmond, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Sandusky, Toledo, Detroit, Milwaukee, Chicago, St. Louis and Cincinnati. In a comaion wheat year, such as 1852, 1853, and as we suppose we shall soon have again, the shipments from these ports will verify the above tables in every particular. Boston, New York, New Orleans, &c, handle a great dea: of wheat and flour, but they are not orig : ii3l shipping ports of this article at all.

In a short time we expect to show the whok agricultural export of Ohio for 1854.— Mam-field's R. R. Record.

Breeding Turkevs. —Every turkey breeder is not aware of it, but it is a fact, that Of either sex, one old turkey is worth two yearlings for rearing young ones. A turkey does not arrive at its growth and maturity till tb> next fall after two year* old, and of consequence, to its full strength and vigor for bree'd-iug in the best manner. The continual repetition of keeping young gobblers and pullet? for breeding, as some people do, reduces the size of their 3'oung till they arrive at scarcely half the weight they should do. Besides tali, the young of these immature birds are exceedingly tender, and much more difficult fee raise than those of old birds. We have tried this thing thoroughly, and are convinced of the difference.

Were we to choose our bird3 for the rorj best breeding, both hens and cocks should not be less than three years old, and then the cock should be from a different stock from the hcos We think that turkeys bear breeding from, close affinities less successfully than any other fowl—at least we have found it so-—and we would never breed a cock to hens when closely related, if it could be helped.— "Montgomery fAdper.

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

For the Southern Planter. USEFUL HINTS FOR VIRGINIA GARDENERS.

BY E. G. EGGEMNG, FLORIST.

May is the third and last of the spring months, and as most of the vegetables are already in the ground, the chief duty to be performed is to keep the garden clean. This will constantly employ the diligence of the workman, as "grass, and noxious weeds spring up continually and in the greatest abundance." Our directions for the kitchen garden, this month, will mainly relate to such plants as mature late iu the season.

KITCHEN GARDEN.

Egg Plants should be planted out now, so soon as a wet spell of weather prepares the ground for the purpose. Soon after they are removed they should -be covered with trash tobacco, to guard them against the ravages of the fly. If •once attacked nothing can save them. Preventive measures are the only safe measures.

Peas and Radishes. —A few of each may be Howed at short intervals to keep up a supply.

Cabbage Plants —These should still receive an application of lime or trash, as heretofore directed, k> preserve them from the insects.

Tomatoes —A full crop may be planted without delay. When removed from the bed they- should be supported by sticks if they are tender and weak. The soil should not be over rich, and it is especially important that the plants are not shaded. Let them stand where the sunshine will fall full upon them.

Peppers —These may be transplanted during the month.

/■lower garden.

Like the kitchen garden there is scarcely anything to do this month but to keep things clean. Should the green fly make its appearance upon the rose bushes, notwithstanding attention to the cautions heretofore given, we know of no efficient remedy but a liberal use of trash tobacco.

A Caution —It is often the case that when the garden is hoed it is done carelessly, with here and there spaces untouched by the hoe. Every inch of the earth should be disturbed. Furthermore, it is the custom, after hoeing, to rake over the surface, taking away all tb.£ weeds which have been rooted out. This is improper. Let the weeds lie on the surface, where they not only do no harm but are a, positive benefit. If they are chopped up when the sun is shining (and the ground shouid be heed at no other time,) they will wither soon and die. Then as they lie they shade the earth and keep it moist, while they enrich it as they decompose. If left growing they would exhaust the soil and impoverish the plants, but when cut down they may be allowed to lie where they fall and no injury will ensue but a decided good.

Watering Plants— From the constant enquiries which are addressed to us wherever we go we are convinced that a small opuee in this number can bo profitably employed with some suggestions concerning the use of water in the green-house, in the garden and the field. Water enters largely into the composition of all the vegetable creation and i.i essential to tlie healthy growth and development of every plant. Some plants require more than others, and our task would be endless if wr attempted to go into specific details concerning all r.he shrubs and plants cultivated in conservatories

and gardens. This is not our object, but merely to give a few plain hints, which may serve to guide those who have sound judgment and discretion.

_Wc remark, first of all, that plants are oftener killed by having too much water than for the want of it. Plants should have water only as they need it, in other words, when they are thirsty. As to plants in green houses, in pots or tubs, water should be supplied only when the earth is dry and dusty. How often it i,s to be poured on must depend upon many circumstances, and we can not give any rule for the guidance of the gardener, save that already given. The water used should not be such as is just taken from the well. That is too cold. The water should bo drawn and allowed to' stand exposed to the influence o\' the sun at least one day before it is employed.

As to watering vegetables in the kitchen garden, we do not approve of that at all, except as we have indicated in former numbers. We would substitute deep cultivation. Where the spade is used let trenching be resorted to, and in the field with the plough, subsoiling is the remedy. By breaking the earth deep it will retain more moisture and in very dry seasons the sun's rays will draw up moisture from the lower deeps.

Water applied to trees soon after they are planted may do good or harm, according as it is judiciously or injudiciously applied. When a tree has been put in the earth no water should be given until it gives signs of having rooted itself and is beginning to grow. If put on sooner the plant does not absorb the water and it only serves to rot the roots. After the tree begins to grow then the application 'of water will greatly facilitate its p'rogress. Trees planted out late in the fall should never be watered, as generally through that season and the winter the earth is well supplied with water from the clouds.

Water should not be supplied to any thing, whether trees, flowers or vegetables, during the hotter parts of the day. Early in the morning, or late in the afternoon are the proper periods, and the latter always preferable.

When water is applied, to guard against the baking of the earth, the space immediately around should be covered with tan bark, or trash, or manure—indeed any thing will answer that will shield the ground from tlie fierce heat of the summer sun. This accomplishes a double good : it prevents the earth from baking, and the formation of fissures which let in the heat to the roots of the plant, and retain the moisture which else would be evaporated by the sun.

In watering trees*, most people commit the error of putting the water where it is not wanted and where it can do no manner of good. That is to say, they pour the water just around the stem of the tree, where there are no fibrous roots to suck it in. It should be poured down where the outer ends of the roots extend, as there it comes into immediate contact with the mouths of the tree, which imbibe all the nourishment that is obtained from the soil.

CUTTING CLOYER FOR HAY.

We had promised a respected correspondent to publish, this month, the essay of Mr. Edmund Ruffin, on cutting and curing clover buy, but -.•:• find that we have over-calculated the capacity of

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER

157

the Planter and have no room for it. But those who wish to see the essay, can do so by purchasing Mr. Ruin's book, just published, to which we have referred elsewhere. In the same connection, thev will please see the following, extracted from p. li of the present volume of the Planter:

Mr. Ruffin, if I remember aright, after turning the recently cut clover, so as barely to wilt both sides, throws into little heaps, enough to be conveniently taken by the hay fork and carried to the little stack. I tried this plan with a part of my crop one year, and foimd the scorching sun not only parched the top of the piles, but penetrated them to a very considerable depth. Since then I ' let one side be exposed to the sum just long enough barely to wilt it, then turn and lap the brows, and let the other side be also dried and wilted. Then at once take from the rows to the little stacks. This is not only a saving of labor Brat makes better hay.

We think it will be time to publish the essay in Dime, very few persons cut clover before that time ; no one can this year. And as the Planter now appears the first of the month it will do then as well as now.

For the Southern Planter. IRISH POTATOES.

It really seems that the Irish potato is about to become extinct. I understand that they are selling in Richmond at six dollars per barrel, which is at the rate of at least a dollar and a half per bushel, and " small* potatoes" at that.

It may be well to state, that some years ago, seed being scarce and dear, I raised some from the slip, in the way of transplanting yams and sweet potatoes; and the result was, that the slips produced better potatoes than those planted whole and growing up in clusters. Nothing is gained by having more than two or three slips in a place. True, you make more potatoes in number, but all of them will be small.

Let house-keepers and gardeners try the xperiment the present year, and I will vouch that if the seasons be good and the ground suitable, there will be no failure, if the slips be carefully drawn. This ought to be done by holding down the old potato with the left hand, and carefully insertiug the thumb and fingers of the right hand along the slip to be drawn for transplanting, and carefully slipping t off the old potato with the thumb and finger :r.dg.

Let us try too this year to raise seed from the apple or ball which grows on the vines. There may be a good chance to renew the stock and arrest the rot so destructive to the tweed of Irish potatoes. Let us try it, at all !?ente. T. H. A.

TEE WATER MELON.

The history of the watermelon, so much esteemed for its sweet, delicious and cooling juice, as well as that of the muskmelon, or canteloupe, which is equally prized for its rich aromatic pulp, may be traced back to remote antiquity. The former, which is generally considered as the melon of the Jews, mentioned in various places in the Bible, is believed to have originated in Egypt or Southern India, where it has been cultivated from time immemorial. It would appear that it was unknown to the ancient Greeks and Romans, as no definite information respecting it can be gleaned from their authors. The muskmelon, which is represented to have been a native of Asia, was known to the Greek and Roroaa physicians, and its properties and uses described by them at length.

The kind of muskmelon most esteemed among amateurs in various parts of Europe, and described, is the " canteloupe," so called from a place about fourteen miles from Rome, the country seat of the Pope, where this fruit has long been cultivated. This variety is stated to have been brought thither from that part of Armenia which borders on Persia, where it grows in the greatest perfection and abundance. The flesh of this melon, when fully matured is delicious, and may be eaten with safety, without injury to the dyspeptic or those of the weakest stomachs. The form of the canteloupe is generally roundish, with a rough, warty, or netted outer rind or skin. The size of the plant is rather small, and the flesh for the most part of a yellowish color, though with some it is green.

Paten? Office Report.

WILL ASHES DISSOLVE BONES 7

Owing to the indisposition of farmers generally to use sulphuric acid to reduce bones to pulp or powder, many persons, knowing the value of the bone3 cast away from the kitchen of every farm house as worthless, have racked their brains to discover some means of turning them into account. Some have had them broken and ground like plaster, which when mixed with the soil becofflfes a valuable and lasting manure, but not very speedy in its operation. It has beex\ known to many that bones heaped together, and co vered with some moist substance, would heat and soften, and could thus be prepared for the field; but the best account we hare seen is the following, given in a reeenl number cf the Country Gentleman.

If the question be asked, will ashi :■ diasoltfc bone-? the answer is, No: not : -, '\- e proper

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

sense of that term—not as water dissolves sugar or salt. But if it be asked whether ashes will reduce bones to a condition in which they will be speedily available to plants, the answer is, Yes. The Hon. Phillip Pusey ascertained several years ago, and, after carefully experimenting upon the discovery three cr four years, published in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, that bones, if placed in a pile and covered over with wood ashes, of fossil coal, leached ashes, common soil, or sand even, will heat and crumble to powder. He showed, as the result of careful experiments, several times repeated, that bones treated in this way become a valuable manure; and upon the strength of his own experience he recommended the course to 'EWlish farmers.

A friend of ours, in whom we have entire confidence, informs us that seven years ago he fell into the practice of reducing bones by means of ashes, by a sort of fortunate blunder. Being at the head of a very large family, in which fresh meat was largely consumed, he found that his Irish cook was in the habit of throwing all the bones out of the back window. This drew such a bevy of dogs, with voices bass, tenor and treble, about the house, that it was impossible to sleep quietly. In order to withdraw temptation from the dogs, and to preserve the bones for the use of his land, to be prepared in some way then unknown, he ordered the bones to be carried and put into an old sugar hogshead, placed in a grove at a little distance from the house, and the ashes from the kitchen to be thrown on them, the hogshead to bo uncovered that' the rain might fall into it. Whenever an offensive smell arose from the bones, which was only in dry weather, he found that a little water thrown on prevented it. As soon as the first hogshead was filled anotheV was placed by it and filled, and then another. His intention was to use the ashes sad bones on Indian corn, supposing that by the next spring the bones would be somewhat softened, so much so that they might be pounded to pieces with a sledge hammer en a fiat stone. The hammer and the stone were actually procured for the purpose. But no bones were found, except near the top of the hogshead last filled. Instead of the bones, were found soft saponaceous masses, retaining the form and size of the original bones, but none of their hardness. They were easily cut with a shovel and mixed with the ashes; and when so mixed, and applied to corn at the rate of a half pint to the hill, they proved an <:;• elleni manu ■ for corn.— "Farm Journal.

RICHMOND MARKET!*, APRIL 28, \$!.

Java 14«

Apples —Va. $5 per bbl. none in market. Bacon— City cured hog round, lOcts. Western Sides (new) held at 9|c, no old in market, would bring 8AaS{c, new Shoulders, 8f a 9c, Hams, 10Jal2£c, Smithfield hoe round, lOJc.

Butteb— Mountain 30 to 35 cts., Roll 20 to 25 cts., do Goshen 35a37 cts., old and inferior, SalOJ cts. Beeswax —25Aa26£ per lb. Cotton —9}a9J cts. per lb.

Cotton Yarns— 17al8 cts., cash. Cotton Cordage 29 cts., per lb.

Corn —We quote 100al05 cts., per bushel; in small lots, sales at 105 cts.

Corn Meal— Si 15.

Coffee— Rio 10iallj;cts, Laguyra 111 c, Mocha 15 c.

Flour —Stock light and receipts small. We quota country superfine at #11-}, extra $12, family $12^. Flaxseeb— We quote at $1 60 per bushel. Feathers —Live geese 40 cts. per lb. Fish— Herrings, N. Carolina, clipped, $7 per bbl., Halifax, clipped, No. 1, $5} ; No. 2, $4|. Shad—$8. Mackerel, No. 1, $21 per bbl., half bbls. $11, No. 2, $12 50, No 3, large, $5 50a6, No. 4, $4 50a$5. Ginseng —30a35 cts., per lb.

Grass Seeds —Clover $6 75a7 per bushel, Timothy $4a4 25, Herds' Grass $1 25al 50 per bushel.

Guano —We quote $50 from wharf, $50 50 delivered for Peruvian, Mexican Guano $30a$35.

Gunpowder —Dupont's and Hazard's Sporting, F, FF. and FFF, $4i, Blasting, $2,75a$3 per keg.

Hoop Poles —We quote at $7a$8 per thousand. Hides —Slaughtered 6} cents per lb., green weight; c»lf skins, green, $1. No Spanish Hides in market. Hay— Sales from store $1 25.

Iron and Nails —Pig Iron, no sales since of note and prices nominal, $32a$40 per ton, Swedes $107 50 per ton, English refined and Tredegar $95, Common English $80, American country $35. Cut Nails 4-*c, cash, 5e. time.

Liquors —Brandy, Otard. Dupuy & Co. $3a5 per gal.; A. Seignette, $2 25a$ 1; Saze'rac, $3 25a $4 50; Hennessey, $3 95a$5; Peach, scarce at $la$l 25; Virginia Apple, 60c. aS5c; do> old, 75c.a$l 50; Northern do, 55a75c; Imitation, i 45a47Jc. Rum, New England, 45c. Gin, Holland, $la i $1 50; American 45 cts.

Lead —Pig Cja6jc, cash and time. Labd —Prime Lard, in bbls. 10 alOJc, in kegn, Halite. in pails, 13c.

Leather —Good stamp 20a22c, per lb., damaged 18c, poor 15a 17c, upper leather $1 50a$3, as in size, weight'' and quality, the latter price only for superior heavy sides. Skirting and harness Leather t is more plenty with less demand. We quote 20 to 29c, as extremes, principally sales 22a26c.

Lime— $1 37J in store, $1 25 from vessel. Molasses —New Orleans 30a33c. por gallqn. No Cuba and Porto Rico received yet.

Oats —Stock very light—sales at C5cts. per bush. Offal —Bran, 25c. per bushel; shorts, 50c; brown stuiM 60c. shipstuff, 100c.

Potatoes —Stock on band much diminished, and we f quote $1 65 per bushel.

Plaster —Lump sells fit $5 25 oh the wharf, ground

$9 per ton, calcined $2 CO per bbl;

Ryu —$1 25 per bushel.

RlCE—New 6a6i cts. per pound.

Salt —Liverpool fine $1 60 per sack from whan

Sugars —Fair to strictly prime New Orleans 5afiJ- cts,

Porto Rico 5aG, Cofl'ee Sugar 7a8{, refined lojf 9}a9J,

crushed and powdered 3Ja9c.

Shot —7a? $ cts. per lb.

Teas —Imperial and Gunpowder 55c.u$i 20.

Tobacco —Wo quote Lugs at $1 75a5 25 ior ,r.:enor,

good and fine $5 75a6 75. Common Leaf $7 50a3.

Common S r.Oii? Good §9 DOalO 50. Fine stemnvng 1JJ. j

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER

159

Wheat— Prime red $2 57J, do white $2 62J. Good quali-ies $2 45a$2 55 per bushel.

Whiskey —Richmond rectified 37£a38i cts. Cincinnati !2c., 4 mos., nominal, none now in market.

Wines —Port, Burgundy $la$2 50 per gallon; Port luice, $2 50a$4; Madeira, Sicily 45ca$l 75; Old Madeira, [2 50a$4; Sherry, Permartin, Duff Gordon and Amontilado, &2aS4 50.

Wood— Oak $3 50 per cord, $2a2 25 for Pine, retail Si 50a5 for Oak, §3a3 25 for Pine.

Wool. —The following quotations are for sales of about i 0,300 lbs., made at Crenshaw & Co.'s Wool Depot in :his city, all of the wool having been previously graded iccording to quality and condition : Extra fleece Saxony ind Merino, 55c; No 1 do. do., 00; No. 2 do, part blood, Wc; No. 3 do. do., 35c; No. 4 do. do., 33c; No. 5 do. lative, 30c Tub washed, No. 3, 29c; do., No. 2, 30c; lo., No. 1, 32c. Unwashed 20 to' 25 per cent, discount as n condition.

Beef —54 50, 5a5 50 per cm. gross, which is$9al0 and (11 net.

Hogs —$7 J perhuudred, supply moderate.

Sheep —Mutton sells for $3a7 a piece for ordinary and superior Sheep.

Stocks —Va. 5 per cents, (34 years) no sales; Va. 6 ►er cents (25 years) $96; State Coupons $97; Bonds ;uaranteed by the State, $99; Richmond City Bonds, (34 rears) $97; Va. Bank stock 74 ; Farmer's Bank stock 104 Exchange Bank stosl! $106; Richmond, Fredericks burg Lad Potomac Railroa/i stock, 95 dol.; Va. Central Rail Scad stock 35 dol.; Richmond and Petersburg Rail Road itock 45 dol.; Richmond and Danville Rail Road stock, SO del.; James River and Kinawha stock 13 dol.

PAYMENTS TO THE SOUTHERN PLANTER,

To the lid of April, 1855. AB persons who have made payments early enough to le entered, and whose names do not appear in the following eieipt list, are requested to give immediate notice of the Hussion, in order that the correction may be made in the texi issue:

2. Sampson to January 185G 1 25 L\ J. Wallace to January 1855 2 50 r. Moore to January 1855 1 00 A.. Curtis to January 1855 2 50 roha Slocum to January 1850 3 50 r. Gaskins to January 1855 P«. Wallace to January 1859

3. S. Satcliell to January 1851 Can:. W. M. Walker to Sept. 1855 T. A. Allen to January 1856 pol. D. B. Hancock to January 1856 r. Baylor to January 1856 EL 3. Hathaway to January 1855 ~\ Huntington to January 1856

. W. Green to January 185a B. Miller to January 1855 r. W. T. Banks to January 1856 Chandler to January 185''. Gravatt to January 1856 ; . Whitehead to January 1856

fl. Marshal] to January 1856 jlkley to July 1855 k Cocke to January 1856 . P. Collier to January 1856 11 to January 1856 . !'•»..■ :1I a January 1856

itchfleld to January 1856 . Traylor to January 1856 . Traylor to January 1»5-er to January 1856 . •. y 1856

1 00 I muai •.' 1857 1 00

1 00

4 00 1 00 1 00 1 00 1 00 1 00 1 00 1 00

5 00

1 00

2 00

1 00

2 00

1 00

2 00 2 00 1 00 1 00 1 00 I 00 I 00 1 00 I 00 1 00

00

G. H. Houston to January 1856

G. Breant to January 1857

Judge W. W. Crump to January 1856

L. P. Ellis to January 1856

F. Griffin to January 1856

J. M. Garland to January 1856

W. M. Harrison to January 1853

W. G. Clarke to January 1856

Mrs. A. M. Moore to January 1856

E. Goode to March 1855

Col. W. Bailey to January 1856

J. Young to January 1856

J. E. Johnson to January 1856

E. Y. Wimbish to January 1856

Dr. R. V. Barksdale to January 1856

A. Hamlet to January 1856

F. C. Stainback to January 1856 J. W. Pleasants to January 1856 P. P. Nalle to January 1865

W. J. Webb to April 1855

G. Depp to January 1856

G. J. Anderson to January 1853

J. D. Scott to January 1856

J. 0. Perkins to January 1856

J. M. Thomas to November 1865

J. T. Henley to January 1856

James Roane to July 1855

W. R. Hatchett to January 1856

R. D. Hill to July 1855

Miss N. Perkins to January 1866

J. C. Tuttle to January 1856

W. W. Porter to June*1855

T. D. Bell to January 1856

C Dimmock to January 1855

W. Goddin to July 1856

H. Rhodes to January 1853

W. Palmer to July 1856

Col. T. H. Ellis to January 1866

J. A. Nun to January 1856

W. S. Fontaine to January 1856

Col. H. C. Cabell to January 1856

Dr. T. B. Anderson to January 1866

W. G. Fretwcll to July 1855

H. W. Barksdale to July 1865

J. Burton to January 1856

W. F. Wilkenson to January 1856

M. D. Echols to January 1855

B. Dodson to January 1856 W. Wilson to January 1856

J. H. Tanner to January 1856

A. Anderson to January 1856 G. M. Moss to January 1856

C. Walters to January 1856

W. J. Carpenter to January 1857 C. A. Specei to January 1855 8. Jones Cralle to January 1856 J. Collins to July I860 Dr. J. Morris to Januruy 1855 J. L. Ege to May 1856 T. Young to January 1858 S. II. Ragland to January 1856 J. H. Vaughan to January 185G F. H. Mays to January 1830 C. H. Biuns to January 1856 I;. M. Jones to January 185C

B. Howell to January 1855 R. Keatts to January 1855

W. R. Hankins (dee'd) to Januar/ 1866 J. H. Hankins to January 1356 J. Massie to September 1855

C. Q. Good'.vin to January 785G ']' Dai iel to .1 m tar I860