This book made available by the Internet Archive.

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER

123

was engaged to go out and superintend a cotton establishment in the neighborhood of Calcutta. Various surmises and reports have gone forth as to the result of this new attempt with American skill and enterprise. On the one hand, it is averred that the account from the Mississippi party is of the most favorable character; that alread}^ many bales of the finest staple have been sent into England, and that from the cheapness of Indian labor, it is impossible that we can compete with it, when properly managed ; consequently, that the production of this great staple must be greatly abridged in America, and that we have no resource but by means of a high tariff on foreign manufactures, to build up a home market for the raw material. On the other hand, it is contended, that these statements proceed from the tariff partly, and result wholly from an attempt upon their part to create a panic amongst the planters of the South. It is said, that the Bayles attempt must, like all others, prove a failure; that the soil and climate of India forbid the production of any but a short, coarse staple, and (hat the expense of transportation from India to Britain, involving a voyage of three months, is almost as great as the cost of production and transportation from America. Although we greatly doubt the ability of India to compete with our cotton country, we believe that the article has been over-produced, and that a portion of the labor heretofore applied to it may be profitablj^ diverted into other channels.

BREEDING AND RAISING SWINE. To the Editor of the Southern Planter:

Dear Sir, —As the time seems at length to have arrived, when the attention of our honest farmers is awakened, and inquiry is afloat as to the best method of breeding and raising swine, I hope you will not deny me a place in one of your columns for the little knowledge I may possess, gleaned from agricultural papers and my own observation and experience. For the belter treatment of the subject, I shall divide my remarks into six different parts.

1st. The choice of a breed. For my own part, I prefer the Berkshires; they certainlj^ cannot be surpassed for mildness of disposition and easiness of keep, and no other breed marks their progeny as distinctly as they do. Next to them, Mackay's breed is the best.

2dly. Having chosen your breed, select your breeders. I will give you now a description of what I consider a perfect hog. Small head, small ears, thin neck, broad shoulders, long and round in the body, deep in the carcass, short legs, and hams rather square than round.

3dly. The age at which they should breed. Many breeders say the}' should not go to the boar until twelve months old. I think it would be better for them to run until they are twelve months; but they are plenty old at ten months. The sow should go to the boar more than once, when he has not been used for some time before, or she will have nearly all boar pigs.

4thly. To preserve them in good health and appetite, mix with their food a little pounded charcoal, once or twice a week, or throw it to them in lumps.

5thly. The management and weaning of pigs. For the purpose of feeding little pigs, 1 have my pens so constructed as to permit them to go into their own apartment at pleasure, where food is always kept for them ; they thus becom.e accustomed to eating, and do not mind weaning at all.

6thly. Cures for diseases to which swine are subject. Measles. The existence of this disease can only be known by the animals not thriving like the rest. Give him a clean, dry bed, and mix sulphur or a little antimony with his food. Catarrh in pigs. Castor oil is very good, but wood-ashes is an almost certain cure. Blind staggers are caused by costiveness; give a dose or two of Castor oil. Mange or quinsy. Boil poke root with pot-liquor, and season with meal, vegetables, &c. and let the hog eat heartily ; give him this once or twice a week until he is well. As to fattening, but little need be said ; the whole matter consists in feeding but little at a time, ofien, and with regularity.

I hope if you think these remarks will be of service to any of your readers, you will publish them from Your friend, W.

BADEN CORN. Mr. Thos. N. Baden, of Maryland, who has acquired great reputation for his corn, which he has cultivated into a distinct variety, gives the following directions for its management, in a letter to the Editor of the Anaerican Farmer:

" But, Mr. Editor, if your friends will be careful to get the genuine seed, and prepare their land well, and lay it off five feet apart each way, and plant it the three or four last days of April, or two or three first da3''s of May, and leave two stalks in each hill—and if the land is rich they may leave three stalks in each hill—and work it once in twelve days, or at most not let it exceed fifteen days, and keep up this rule until they lay by their crop, and pull off the suckers that put up from the roots when they get a foot or eighteen inches hiizh, and they will be certain of raising a good crop, agreeably to the strength of their land. Plough your corn three times after it comes up, and you may work it over the balance of the time as

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

you please. Some persons contend the cultivator is best, but I differ frona them. Let them, however, for experiment, try a part of their field each way; then they will be better able to judge for themselves. I will undertake to say, if they work their field entirely with the cultivator, if it should be a wei season, they will be pretty well overrun with grass ; though 1 use the cuhivator sometimes.

If you think, sir, this is worth a place in your useful and interesting paper, you are at liberty to put it in some spare corner. I am truly yours,

Thos. N. Baden."

PICKLE VINEGAR,

A friend writes us, " A lady in Orange sent me a nice pot of pickles, last winter, the vinegar of which I think is particularly good, and as she has sent me the recipe, I hand ii over to the readers of the Planter."

" Ten gallons water—one gallon whiskey— one gallon molasses—one pint yeast—put all together in a warm situation the first warm weather in June, and in six weeks it will be ready for use. Put a sheet of foolscap paper in the vessel."

GUANO, THE PERUVIAN MANURE.

The rocky coast and inlets that exist in the desert district between Peru and Chili, are the great resort of millions of sea birds, gulls, &c. and their manure which has been accumulating for ages now forms masses of great thickness, and which is constantly increasing. As these birds feed principally on fish, and other marine matters, the. guano^ as the manure of these deposits is called, contains large quantities of phosphates of lime, ammonia, and other products of animal matter, and as it rarelj^ rains on this coast, the masses have not undergone the bleaching or draming they v/ould have done in other places. Thus constituted, this substance is one of the most active of manures; and has for a long time been used by the Peruvians in ihe culture of corn. A writer in a foreign journal gays in passing on horseback along the coast he frequently saw the natives driving an ass or two into the interior, with a package of this guano on each side, and when asked how ihey used it, they said they put a pinch of it in each hill of corn at the time of planting. A number of ship loads of this native poudrette have been carried to England, where it commands a high price as a fertilizer^ and present indications denote that the importation of the article will hereafter be extensive. The English farmer understands his true interests, when he extends his

expenses for manures. From the United States he collects ashes, bones, &c.—from the Mediterranean, crude nitre, soda, &c. and now he has opened the mines of Guano, on the shores of far Pacific, all of which are used for fertilizing the soil, while the same substances, not less needed where procured, are mostly neglected.

TO CLEANSE EARTHEN POTS. Mrs. Darling, in a letter to a northern paper, upon the subject of preserving butter, insists much upon the necessity of keeping the pots, in which it is put up, perfectly sweet. To effect this, she gives the following directions:

" The pots are cleansed every spring before using, by being wet all over outside and inside and turned bottom upwards in a brick oven immediately after bread or pies have been drawn and allowed to remain until the oven is cold or nearly so. I have known jars cleansed, (that had been used many years to hold soap grease,) b}' baking two or three times in the above manner, so that they were as sweet as when they first came from the kiln."

SOWING SEEDS.

A due degree of heat and moisture is necessary for vegetation, and an excess of either is as injurious as a deficiency. Some seeds are more particular than others, and possessing less vegetative powers, require more care in their cultivation. We find the following extracts in one of our exchange papers, "which we consider well worth the attention of our readers:

On Sowing Flower Seeds.

David Thomas, an experienced and very successful Florist, (N. G. Farmer, vol. 1, p. 66,) remarks :

" For large seeds, like the bean or the pea, a coarse soil is well adapted, as they can foice their way to the surface from any moderate depth: but small seeds require different treatment ; and we lay it down as a safe rule, the finer the seed, the finer should be the soil.

"How does nature, exemplifying Supreme Wisdom, sow her most delicate seeds? She scatters them on the shady giound, trusting to the rain or the frost to cover them, (of course slightly,) and they germinate before the sun has acquired power enough to scorch them. The dust-like seeds of the orchis and cypripedium sometimes grow in beds of damp moss.

"Common garden loam, whether clayey or sandj', is much improved by a dressing of vegetable earth from the woods, well mixed before planting. If prepared in the preceding autumn, and pulverized by the frost, all the belter.

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

125

" Such a soil is favorable to seeds of almost any kind, but essential lo the finer and more delicate sorts. The preparation of the soil alone, however, is not enough. Fine seeds may be smothered if covered from more than one eighth to half an inch deep; and their short roots may be parched if expose(l to the sun except in morning and evening. To a fine soil, therefore, we must add the protection of s/iacle, and in lime of drought, a regular supply of moisture. If the seeds are sown in an open border, a sprinkling of water in the evenings is best, but carefully abstain from applying so much as will bake the ground."

On Preparing and Solving Onion Seed.

W. Risley (N. G. Farmer, vol. 2, p. 38,) says:

" First soak the seeds in water from six to

twenty-four hours—some seeds being slower to

admit moisture than others, is the difference in

time required. After soaking, drain off the wa

These seeds are not quite as sure of vegetation as some kinds; still, if rightly prepared, and sown when the ground is in good condition, before the weather becomes too dry, they will very seldom fail. I'he seed should be soaked in soft water, standing in a warm place, for three or four days before sowing. The shell of the seed is very hard, and requires a long time soaking for it to become softened so that the germ can burst it open. I have sometimes known it U\\\ after being soaked, owing to late sowing and dry weather."

Planting too Deeply.

In vol. 1, p. 97, W. R. Smith states that he

"planted half an acre of mangel wurtzel with

two pounds of seed from the Rochester Seed

Store. In a few days some scattering plants

made their appearance Well, nearly two

weeks after, I was surprised to find a fair number of plants just peeping through, and from

ter, and mix the seeds with a sufficient quantity i their weak and thin appearance, evidently wea-of earth to absorb the moisture remaining on ried with their journey to the surface, which

the seeds; stir them often that they may vegetate evenly, and keep thenri in a moderate degree of warmth and moisture until they are sprouted,

they never could have reached, if the soil had not been light."

Parsnip, Carrot, Celery and Parsley Seeds are

when they are ready to put into the ground. If, all slow to vegetate, and if sown late and dry the weather should be unfavorable, put the seeds in a cool place, which will check their growth

' weather succeeds, they will not often come up. These seeds should be sown early, in fine soil.

On Soaking Mangel Wurtzel Seed.

J. Rapaljee (N. G. Farmer, vol. 1, p. 149,) says:

" I prepared half an acre of land for mangel wurtzel, and obtained the seed from your agent at Canandaigua. After soaking the seed one day, I commenced sowing; but rain came on, and the soil being rather clayey, it was a whole week before I could sow the remainder. The seed was soaked all this time, and supposing it was spoiled or injured, 1 sowed it thicker than usual, and had not enough to finish the ground. Accordingly I sent to the same place and got more seed, and sowed the remainder without any soaking; so that part of my ground was sowed with seed soaked one daj', another part one week, and a third part not at all.

" Now for the result. The part soaked one week, came up first, and much too thickly; the part soaked one day, came up slowly and very thinly; while the part not soaked, did not cone up at all. Thus showing conclus vely, the necessity of tboroucrhly soaking these seeds, and the little danger there is to be apprehended from soaking too long. I am confident that inattention to this subject, is the most frequent cause of the failure of the mangel wurtzel and sugar beet seeds."

William Garbutt, (N. G. Farmer, vol. 1, 20,) says:

"Much complaint is sometime made of mangel wurtzel and sugar beet seed failing to grow.

rolled or pressed down and kept moist. Mr. Geo. Sheffer of Wheatland, raises large quantities of carrots for feeding. He soaks the seed forty-eight hours, then rolls it in plasier, and when sown covers it from one-half to three-quarters of an inch deep.—(N. G. Farmer, vol. 2, p. 181.)

Cvcumber, Mellon and Sguash Seeds, seldom lose their vitality by age or otherwise, but when sown they often fail to grow, owing- to the ground being cold or wet. These, and some other seeds, will invariably rot if sown too early—before the ground is sufficiently warm.— Lima Beans and Sweet Corn often fail from the same causes.

Egg Plant Seed will not vegetate in the open ground—it requires a good hot bed.

Locust Seed must be thoroughly scalded, by pouring boiling hot water and letting it soak twenty-four hours.— Neit; Genesee Farmer.

HORSE RADISH FOR ANIMALS.

Austin Randall, Esq. of Paris, writes to us as follows: "1 have seen in your excellent paper no notice of the value of the horse radish for cattle. I have found it very useful for them. If given to cows in doses of a pint at a lime once a daj^, it will materially aid their appetite, and will prevent or speedily relieve cows of the disease called cake in the bag. I feed it freely to any animal of mine that is unwell, and find it of great service to ^^orking oxen troubled with the heat. I have had one ox that would eat

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

greedily a peck at a lime. Few animals refuse it; and if they do, it may be cut up and mixed with potatoes or meal." Mr. R. cultivates his corn without hillino:, and his success with his last crop (73 bushels per acre) is a favorable commentary on the practice.— Cultivator.

BACHELORS' BUTTONS. Mr. H. S. Poole, of Boston, has invented a button that needs no sewing, and stays on for« ever. How very difficult it is to procure a great good without a mixture of serious evil; this article, which is spoken of as likely to form a new era in the button line will probably render worthless the laborious calculations of the immortal Maiihus on the increase of population ; for it is a well ascertained fact that a large majority of mankind get married that they may have somebody always at hand to sew on buttons for them.

CURIOUS ARTS.

Some friend has sent us through the post-office, the following useful recipes, which if genu me—and we see no reason to doubt—are truly valuable, as well as curious. He has our thanks.

1. A Water-proof Glue. —Melt common glue in the smallest possible quantity of water, and add by drops, linseed oil that has been rendered dry by having a small quantity of litharge boiled in it; the glue being briskly stirred when the oil is added.

2. Glue will resist water to a considerable extent by being dissolved in skimmed milk.

3. The addition of finely levigated chalk, to a solution of common glue in water, strengthens it, and renders it suitable for signs or other work that is exposed to the weather.

4. A glue (or cement) that will hold against fire or water, may be made by mixing and boiling together linseed oil and quick-lime. This mixture must be reduced to the consistence of soft putty and then spread on tin plates and dried in the shade, where it will dry very hard. This may afterward be melted like common glue, and must be used while hot.— American Mechanic.

It is described as elegant in the extreme, and the order for a thousand yards was filled in pre-ciselj' nine days from the hour it was given. The most beautiful kinds, it is said, can be retailed at three shillings sterling per yard. They must inevitably supersede the woven carpets now in use, both on account of their superior elegance and cheapness.

CARE OF FEEDING STOCK.

Swine kept for breeders should never be shifted from pen to pen a short time before littering. They must not be disturbed nor be kept in small pens. When they are allowed to roam at large, they generally seek retired places in the woods, and in such cases they are seldom known to destroy their young by design or by accident.— Let them have room and their accustomed residence at such times.

A little poor wash may be given to the mother in the straw, but she must by no means have rich food till the second day. She \w\\\ be cloyed and suflfer for it for many weeks. She has unnatural longings at such times, and will often satisfy her appetite for flesh by destroying her own offspring. Some good farmers throw them a piece of salt pork at the time of littering.— Mass. Ploughman.

FELT CLOTH. In one of our early numbers we noticed a new mode of making cloth without the use of loom or spindle, simply by compressure, somewhat upon the principle that a wool hat is made. The inventor of this new article is an American, by the name of Wells, and we see, that, on the occasion of the late christening of the Prince of Wales, the floor of St. George's Chapel was covered with a carpet of the new manufacture.

THEORIES.

Agricultural theories, in the usual acceptation of the term, or guesses^ for they are little better, are as plenty as black beiries ; unvarnished facts are verj^ scarce, and yet, they are the only foundation upon which sound theories can rest; but it is much easier to build castles in the air, than to erect an edifce upon solid rock.

We wish that agricultural writers would draw the distinction, that is recognised amongst philosophers, between a theory and a hypothesis. The first is a general conclusion, supported by detailed and well ascertained facts.

Now an individual may furnish the facts, leaving others to generalize, or form the theroy, or, what is better still, he may furnish the facts, and draw the conclusion from them. He is then a "theorist" pioper, and as such, always welcome to our columns. But when he draws a conclusion, without stating the facts upon which it is founded, it is called a "hypothesis" or guess. A hypothesis may do, where a theory cannot be had, but we always exhaust the latter, before we begin to draw upon the former.

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER,

127

EARLY POTATOES.

Those who arc desirous of raising early potatoes should place ihem first in some kind of hot bed and let ihem remain till the sprouts have grown one inch or more in length. The potatoes may then be carefully removed and set in drills or hills. Rotten manure only should be used for early vegetables.

A ready mode of preparing such a bed is to spread the seed potatoes on the grass in a corner of the garden and cover them with horse stable manure three or four inches thick. Straw, or boards, or boih, may be placed on the manure to keep it from the sun and the hens. In this mode potatoes may be obtained, fit for use, two or three weeks earlier than by planting them first in earth. Care should be used lest the sprouts be broken on transplanting. If the extremities are left uncovered, leaves will immediately appear, in warm weather.— Mass. Ploughman.

OLD FIELDS.

The Editor of the American Farmer suggests the use of sainfoin in renovating those desolate tracts of exhausted land in the South, passing! under the familiar name of old fields. He recommends the following as probably the most advantageous mode of treatment. Sow a bushel of plaster to the acre, turn under two crops of buckwheat the same season, and spread thereon from twenty-five to fifty bushels of lime; then sow the sainfoin.

This grass is highly esteemed in England, especially as a renovator. It will grow upon the poorest land, only requiring a dry soil—its roots are great penetrators, and the grass, it is said, will afford good hay and pasturage, when once set, for ten or fifteen years. The celebrated Mr. Coke esteemed it very highly, and used it most extensively as a renovator.

The day, thank God, is passed, when our "old fields" are deserted for El Dorados in other lands, and the great question now is, what is the most advantageous mode of improvement?

For the Southern Planter. WHITE BERKSHIRES.

I, for one, Mr. Editor, am amused and in structed by the spirited controversy that has been commenced, and will, I hope, be continued, in the Planter, with respect to the value of Berk-shires. We lookers on should be much obliged to both the gentlemen, who are endeavoring to impress the opinions, they no doubt conscientiously entertain, upon the public. The spectator is always allowed the privilege of making a remark upon a game that is played for his be-

nefit, and I will, therefore, say to you, that I have been amused at the antipathy Parson Turner exhibits to a whiie hog. This feeling he entertains in common with almost every raiser of Berkshires I ever saw ; no matter how perfect the form of the animal and his ancestors and, if you please, his descendants, if they have been white it is enough for these lovers of the black race. Now, sir, although I, in common wiih southern men generally, have my preferences for color in the human race, I do not extend it to the swine species. I know that white is by some considered a delicate color, and, therefore, objectionable in any animal; but as far as my observation goes, even this opinion is not sustained by facts. The hardiest and most perfect race of men on earth are white men ; some of the best horses I ever saw have been white horses, and I never heard it pretended that a black sheep was to be considered the flower of the flock.

Whence arises this peculiar distaste upon the part of the owners of Berkshires to the white hog? I believe it is derived from the false impression, that there can be no such thing as a white Berkshire. What is a Berks^hire hog? The ancient hog of England, which runs farther back than the memory of man, was a large, lopsided animal, but very prolific, and an excellent nurse. Attempts were early made to improve this hog in the difl^erent districts in England, as in Berkshire, Hampshire, Yorkshire, &c. 'J'he small, compact, eastern hog was the cross generally resorted to, and by this means, great improvements were undoubtedly made in each of these districts. But the breed obtained in Berkshire by the eastern cross, was the one most approved, as uniting the size, fecundity, and nuis-ing properties of the ancient hog, with the compact form and aptitude to fatten of the little China hog. These China hogs were generally spotted with black and white, and the improved Berkshires were found of all colors, but generally distinguished by a tawny ground marked with blackish spots. It seems though, that recourse was again had to the eastern hog to improve the Berkshire. This lime the Siamese hog was called in requisition, which being generally copper colored, or black, and always small, reduced the size of the old Berkshire, and gave us the improved form of the modern Berkshire.

This is the sum total of the information that I obtain from Low, Cully, Dickenson, Loudoun, and Henderson. It would be tedious to qno'e the words of all these different authors, but Low

is so clear and distinct, withal so modern and generally recognised as the very best authority, that I cannot forbear to transcribe a paragraph from him. He says:

"The Berkshire was the earliest improved of the breeds of English swine. It has been undoubtedly formed by a mixture of the blood of

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

the eastern hog with the ancient swine of tlic country. ^J'he great irujDrover of this breed, was Mr. Asily, of Oldstonehall. The modern Berkshire, however, is of less size than the older breed ; but still the animals are usually' of the larger class of swine. Their common color is a reddish brown with dark spots, but many of the modern breed are nearly black, manifesting their nearer approach to the Siamese character, and sometimes, they are black, broken with white, indicating the effects of the cross with the white Chmese."

Now, let us remember that it is a well established fact in natural history, that alihough a wild breed nrjay preserve a distinctive color, the domestic animal runs into every variety—let us remember that animals are marked with the colors and qualities of their ancestors more or less remote, and let us remember the variety of breeds, that it seems have gone to make up this compound stock, the modern Berkshire, and tell me, in the name of common sense, why a white or any other color should not be found amongst them. Tell me why a Berkshire should necessarily assume the dark copper color of his Siamese progenitor, which Mr. Allen asserts is the invariable characteristic of the genuine breed. That such is not the case, reason and analogy would teach us, and that such is not the case, facts will fully demonstrate. Did Mr. Allen ever see a litter of pigs, from a genuine Berkshire sow by a genuine boar, that were all of the "dark rich plum" color that he says invariably marks the genuine hog; and yet were they not all equally genuine? I am very sure that I have seen genuine Berkshires of almost all colors, and it was but a few days since, that I was called to see a lohiie sow pig, belonging to Mr. Sublett, of this city, that will compare with any, in point of form, I ever saw. Mr. Sublett prefers her to any of his crack stock. She is the produce of a pair of iv/tite hogs, sent out by Wm. H. GiLLioTT, of Liverpool, to fill an order from a member of a large tobacco firm in this city, for "a pair of the most fashionable Berkshires,'^ without regard to expense.

If this article should have the effect of disabusing the mind of any of your readers of what 1 am inclined to believe, not only an idle but an injurious prejudice, my object in writing it will be fully answered.

Your obedient servent,

A Breeder.

PRUNING AND MANAGEMENT OF FRUIT TREES.

We find the following extract from a letter,

written by Mr. E. Phinney, of Massachusetts,

to a gentleman in Maryland, in the American

Farmer. The directions are from the highest

"ithority, clear, distinct, and, we believe, fault-

less. How much this pleasing and profitable branch of husbandry is neglected in the South;

" On the subject of priming apple trees, which is your first inquiry, a volume might be written. In a few words, it is difficult to give a good top to a tree unless pruning is begun in the nursery—like loo many of our children, if suffered to grow at randoiTi in youth, it is difficult to get them in proper trim afterward. If, however, this has been neglected, and the top is too thick and limbs interfere and chafe each other, these should all be taken out so that no limbs shall cross each other—and in doing this, regard should be had to an equal balance of the top. A tree with an undue proportion of its burden on one side is more liable to be injured both in root and branch. I have never known an instance of too severe pruning—we are all inclined to let too much wood grow, by which the quality of the fruit is injured. No better general rule can be adopted than to cut out all such limbs as interfere and cross each other; not only those that interfere now, but such as from their direction will be likely to interfere hereafter.

"The best time of pruning is while the tree is growing most vigorously. With us this time is about the first of June—the process of healing then commences quickly, and the wound is not so likely to canker. Where, however, a limb of considerable size is taken off, in order to ; avoid canker, it is best to cover the wound with a little common mortar, made of sand and lime, and instead of hair to mix with it, I use bristles, which are much more durable than hair, and will effectually secure the part from canker, and will remain on till the wound is nearly healed over. In Maryland, I should think the best time for pruning would be from first of May to first ^ of June.

"Thousands of valuable trees in this part of the country have been brought to premature decay and death by pruning in the months of February and March.

" The best manure for apple trees is the top mould and leaves gathered from the woods mixed with a little lime or ashes. Strong manure should not be applied direct!}' to the roots of trees. The best way to promote the health and growth of trees is to keep the ground in a high state of cultivation; let the crop of whatever is planted be v/ell manured and well cultivated, and they will require no other nourishment. Trees will not do well in grass ground if ever so much manured. You may as well plant corn in grass ground as trees. I would as soon lay my trees upon the back log and expect them to grow, as set them in grass land. If the land is tolerably good, fifteen cart loads of stable manure to the acre, spread on and ploughed in, in the spring of each year, will be sufficient for the growing crop, and at the same

\

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER

129

time afford sufficient nourishment to the trees. Plough close to ihe trees; if a root is now and then broken by the plough the tree suffers but little or no injury. Too much manure appHed directly to the roots operates like stimulus upon the human constitution, and often induces premature decay. The same manuring and cultivation that will produce a good crop, will give a healthy, vigorous growth to the trees.

E. Phinney."

TURNING IN GREEN CROPS.

The following is an extract from an address delivered by the Editor of the Farmers' Gazette before the Pee Dee Agricultural Society of S. Carolina.

The system of green crop improvement, here so ably advocated, is beginning to be a favorite throughout the whole southern country. Millions of labor, we believe, have been used in manufacturing barn-yard manure, that might have been much more profitably employed.

"A few words now as to the mode of fertilizing. This is the most important, if not the only important part of our subject, and would itself afford ample scope for many successive addresses. But time now will allow me only to throw out one or two hints. The common mode of manuring practiced among us is to haul into our stables and lots leaves and pine-straw from the woods, and mud from the swamps. These are, in time, mixed and piled up; and then, after, sometimes more, and sometimes less decomposition, they are hauled out into fields and spread, either broadcast, or in the hills and drills. This mode is copied, with a little modification, from the practice of elder countries, where land is scarce in proportion to labor, and cannot, on that account, be suffered to lie idle, or without a yearly crop for immediate use. In such countries it is necessary and it is also economical; because the price of labor is low and the price of land high. Laborious and expensive as it is, it is also found to be profitable here. But it does not seem to me to be the one best adapted to our circumstances. It is not the one pointed out by nature who works on a large scale; nor the most economical, where the quantity of land bears so great a proportion as it does here to the number of laborers; and where, of course, it can be allowed frequent respite from provision and market crops, for the purpose of producing, on its own surface, materials for its improvement. I could state a number of instances, some coming under my own observation, of manifestly great improvement in land at little cost, by turning in green crops; but as such statements are unsatisfactory unless accompanied by accurate statistics exhibiting with some Vol. 2-17

definiteness the expense, and in some tangible form, also, the degree of improvement, I shall confine myself to a single instance. It is an experiment made a few years since, by a member of this Society, and published in the Southern Agriculturist. Cowpeas were sown broadcast in a field exhausted by previous injudicious cropping, before it passed into the hands of the experimenter, and of a soil adapted to that plant. For the purpose of testing the value of the operation, part of the field was left entirely fallow, and not ploughed. In the fall, wheat was sown in the land, and turned in with the crop of green peas, and where the peas had not been sown, with the natural growth. The wheat which grew on the different ]ioitions of the field was accurately measured when harvested, and It was found that the land manured by turning in the pea crop, yielded fifteen bushels to the acre; whilst that on which nothing but the natural growth of weeds and grass had been turned in with the seed, yielded only one bushel. Here was a gain of fourteen bushels of wheat to the acre, worth probably eighteen or twenty dollars, from an outlay of a bushel or a bushel and a half of peas, in all not worth, on a plantation, more than from a dollar to a dollar and a half What merchant, or speculator in stocks, or in cotton, makes a proportionate gain on his outlay % Here was a judicious experiment, conducted by a man who understood what he was about. Account was kept of the outlay and income, and data were procured to be a guide in future operations. If the experiment had been repeated the next year on the same land, the profit would doubtless have been still greater; because the growth of the pea crop, which was the fertilizing substance, would have been much more luxuriant upon the richer soil.

"Let the planier who uses as fertilizers only compost heaps, accumulated from the woods, his lots and his stables, calculate at what expense he can, by his process, raise the production of wheat on exhausted land, from one to fifteen bushels per acre, and then choose between the two modes. An important advantage of vegetable over animal manures, in addition to their greater economy, is that the fertilit}' which they impart is more durable. It is chiefly by decayed vegetable matter that the otherwise barren sand and clay which constitute so large a proportion of the earth's surface have been converted into productive soil. Whence eke is chiefly derived the exhaustless fertilit}' of the Red River and Mississippi bottoms, and the fertility of all our river and creek bottoms ?

"I would not be understood as advising the planter to discard his compost heap. Far, very far from it. As long as it is found profitable let it be reported to. But what I would suggest is, that a well considered system of green crop manurinEf be combined with the use of it. In

TEIE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

this way the planter would soon be taijght by experience, under what circumstances and to what extent, either should be preferred to the other.

"In green crop manuring nature is made to do the greater part of the work. She collects from the atmosphere, and duly prepares the fertilizing materials, leaving them evenly spread to the planter's hand ; and requiring him only to turn them in. The quantity of vegetable matter which may thus be accumulated, by a proper adaptation of the plant to the soil, almost exceeds credibility; especially after the land has been much improved; in which state manuring pays best. More than 200,000 lbs. of green corn has been cut from a single acre in one season."

corn fodder. Every possible pains should, therefore, be taken to avoid this; and it is a good way 10 hang as much of our corn-fodder, as we have room for, on the beams and on poles extended over the barn-floors, and in sheds where it will be out of the reach of the cattle.

"As to the kind of corn to be sown, the Southern gourd-seed or the Western corn, will undoubtedlj^ give the largest weight; but much of it will be in the butt, no part of which will the cattle eat. Our common JNorthern small flint corn will yield a large amount to the acre, as it will bear thick sowing ; and the main stalk is not so large but that a good deal of it will be eaten, especially if cut up."

CORN-FODDER.

The Editor of the Connecticut Farmers' Gazette strongly recommends the sowing of corn for hay. He says it has long been practised by the dairymen in his neighborhood, and, that it is not only preferred by the cow to any other hay, but is more productive of milk than any food that can be given them. It is much used for soiling, and for this purpose is sowed at successive periods, that a cutting may always be had during the summer months. Where it is to be cured, however, he recommends that it should be permitted to mature, because, in that state, it is more nutricious, and much more easily cured and preserved than when it is cut green. If imperfect ears are formed, so much the better; by this process, the stalk maybe injured, but the grain will more than make up for the difference. On the mode of cultivation and curing he gives the following advice:

" Many persons advise to sow it broadcast, in which case it admits of no after-cultivation, and the weeds, if the land is rich, will check its growth and fill the ground with their seeds. It is best to sow it in drills two feet apart, and quite thickly in the drdls, scattering the seed over a space in the row, six inches or a foot in width. It may then be ploughed or passed through with a cultivator once at least; and in a measure kept clean from weeds. It is believed that as much fodder may in this way be obtained from an acre, as if sown broadcast.

" In pulling away corn-fodder, we have found it advantageous to insert occasionally, layers of wheat-straw. The sweet flavor of the corn-fodder is communicated in some measure to the straw; and the straw serves to keep the corn-fodder from being injured by heating. No fodder suffers more or sooner from wet or rain than

VEGETABLE IVORY.

It is said that the French discovery ships have introduced, from the South Seas, a new vegetable, resembling the cocoa-nut, but much snrialler. When the outer shell is removed, the interior presents the appearance, and possesses all the properties, of the finest ivory.

In the manufacture of articles to which its size is adapted, it is supposed, that this vegetable product w^ill entirely supersede the more costly tooth of the elephant.

From the Albany Cultivator. TO MAKE HENS LAY PERPETUALLY.

Messrs. Editors^ —I never allow cocks to run with my bens, except when I want to raise chickens. Hens will lay eggs perpetually, if treated in the following manner. Keep no roosters ; give the hens fresh meat^ chopped fine like sausage meat, once a da}?, a very small portion, say half an ounce a day to each hen, during the winter, or from the time insects disappear in the fall, till they appear again in the spring. Never allow any eggs to remain in the nest, for what is called nest eggs. When the roosters do not run with the hens, and no nest eggs are left in the nests, the hens will not cease laj'ing after the production of twelve or fifteen eggs, as they always do when roosters and nest eggs are allowed ; but continue laying perpetually. My hens always laj? in winter, and each from seventy-five to one hundred eggs in succession. There being nothing to excite the animal passions, they never attempt to set. If the above plan were generally followed, eggs would be just as plenty in winter as in summer. The only reason why hens do not \^y in winter as freely as in summer, is the want of animal food^ which they get in summer in abundance in the form of insects. The reason they stop laying and go to selling, after laying a brood of eggs, is the continual excitement of the animal passions by the males. I have for several winters

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

131

reduced my theory fo practice, and proved its entire correctness. It inust be observed that the presence of the male is not necessary for the production of eg-gs, as they are formed whether the male be present or not. Of course such eggs will not produce chickens. When chickens are wanted, the roosters must of course run wiih the hens. B.

When we met with the above astounding; assertion, that the way to make hens lay is to kill the chicken cock, what did we do; resort to Buffon, Wilson, or Audubon? No, we applied to better authority; we went straight to an old lady in this neighborhood, and asked her to solve our doubts, and she informed us, that strange as the fact may appear, it is nevertheless true, that when hens are prevented from running with roosters, they continue to lay without intermission, and never show any desire to ffo to setting-.

Rye paste is more adhesive than any other

paste; because that grain is very glutinous. It

is much improved by adding a little pounded

« alum, while it is boiling. This makes ii almost

as strong as glue.

SUBSOIL PLOUGHING.

But little is yet known in this country of the effect of stirring the subsoil of the fields we cultivate. 0\ir readers well know that in England the practice has been very decidedly advantageous. But there, under-draining generallj^ precedes the subsoil ploughing. They have in old England a heavier soil than most of ours, and their skies are more watery than those which bend over New England. Consequently our practices must be in many respects different from those of the English farmers. While Vv^e have many spots that require under-draining, it is doubtless true that it would be far from economical to under-(h-ain the mass of the fields of this country. They are, in their natural state, so dry as not to suffer from excessive moisture, while the relative price of land and labor here, the former high and the latter low, compared with English rates, is a sufficient reason why we may infer that a mode of operation which pays well there, would involve us in loss.

The objection against general under-draining, does not lie with equal force against subsoil ploughing. The latter is comparatively a cheap operation, not costing more than from four to six dollars per acre. In the vicinity of Boston, the question may be a very simple one, and settled by a cheap experiment. Will an acre of good land, well subsoiled and dressed with six cords of good manure, produce as much in the course

of crops from one breaking up to another, as the same acre would yield if not subsoiled, but dressed with seven cords of manure? This question is not settled here, and it cannot be until years have elapsed. We cannot give facts as yet which will serve as a satisfactory basis of an argument in favor of subsoil ploughing generally. But we saw several different crops last season, upon ground that had the subsoil plough run through it in the spring, and as well as we could judge by the eye, the crops on this land were eight or ten per cent, larger here than on the contiguous land treated otherwise the same. But independently of these imperfect experiments, an argument, and as we judge, a strong one, may be given in favor of stirring the earth below where our ploughs usually run.

Whoever has noticed heaps of earth that have been thrown up where wells have been dug, or where ditches and trenches have been cut, knows that the earth which has been thus moved, is far less barren than similar earth lying in its original state. Simply throwing over soils, increases their fertilit^^ Subsoil ploughing, loosening up the pan, will bring new particles in contact, will facilitate the circulation of air, and cause some chemical action. Where such action takes place, the plants generally find nourishment.

But the most obvious fact connected with this process, and the one which common farmers will most regard, is yet to be staled. Every ploughman knows, that in all old fields which have been ploughed many times, and at a nearly uniform depth, a hard pan or crust is formed by the rubbing of the bottom of the plough and by the treading of the cattle in the furrow. This pan operates to keep the surface waters from descending freely in times of copious rains, and it also breaks up that communication between the upper soil and the subsoil which favors the drawing up of water from below, sponge-wise, in times of drought. It blows hot and cold with the same breath; in other words, if you break up that crust at the bottom of the furrow, your land will be less wet when the great rains come, and will be more moist during the dry periods of summer. The principle is precisely the same as that which lets the water run through the sponge if you put upon it more than it can hold by its attraction, and which at the same time lets the sponge, if not very wet, take up the water to all its parts, if you hold one end of it in water.

This view of the matter is given in the hope that many will be induced the present season to test the value of this operation. Subsoil ploughs of different patterns, may be had of the principal agricultural warehouses in Boston. Mr. Howard has two patterns for sale at Messrs. J. Breck & Co.'s warehouse, either of which will do its work well and to any depth you choose,

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER

not exceeding ten inches below the bottom of the common furrow. But these can be worked only by a strong team; four or six large oxen are needed.

We have a plan for stirring the subsoil a little by the use of a less expensive implement. The land on which we intend to use it, is free from stones, and is rather loose than tenacious. We have looked at the cultivator tooth, and find it six inches long or more. We propose to take a stick of hard wood timber four or five feet long, and insert a cultivator tooth near one end, and the wheel of a plough near the other. To this timber we will fix a handle or handles, and make this answer our purpose on some of our lands. The work will be but imperfectly done—but as we can do this with the team that is needed to plough the surface, we shall adopt it out of mercy to our oxen and our purse. We mention the

plan, thinking that possibly some one on some rainy day may fix for himself a simple tool of the kind. We are induced to hope some good will result from this scratching in the bottom of the furrow, partly from a statement made to us by Mr. Bement, of Albany, After he had furrowed or marked out his corn ground last spring, he drew some simple hook or iron prong along in the bottom of each furrow. His corn continued green through the drought, while mat in his neighbors' fields rolled and almost perished. The difference in the appearance of this field and others in the vicinity, was so great as to induce travellers to stop and inquire the cause, Mr. B, could assign no other cause than that slight and imperfect subsoiling to which he resorted. This course might be imitated at a very trifling cost.— JS^ew England Farmer.

DRILL-BARROW

C, T. BoTTs, Esa.

Dear Sir^ —In the May number of your paper there is "a perspective view of a drill-barrow, claimed as the invention of a Dr. Horton, of Maryland," which induces me to send you a drawing of one that is much cheaper and more simple, at the same time that it answers perfectly well for sowing any kind of seed which any other kind of drill can sow. This I can certify from the actual use of for several years. The only thing about it which I claim as my own invention, is the changeable band or collar, and the mode of keeping it in place. The whole drill is so light that a boy can handle it with ease.

Figure 1 represents a side view of the drill.

The handles are 14 inches apart, and 2^ inches

wide by 14; thick for the distance of one foot two

inches from the large end. From the commence-

ment of the curve they are tapered to the small end, and reduced to the size of a common hoe-helve—the whole length of the handles being six feet. The cross bar in front is two inches by one and a half, and is fastened into the handles by tenons one and a half wide by three-quarter inches thick, one of which may project and be fastened by a wooden key or pin for taking the frame to pieces. The cross bar behind the wheels may be smaller, and about one foot from them. As the drill shows in figure 1, the small ends of the handles are elevated two feet four inches from the ground. The tooth in front may be made either of iron or hard wood in any form suitable for opening a small furrow to receive the seed. The wheels are eleven inches in diameter, and made of inch plank, having a square mortice through the centre to fit on the axle with which they turn. The

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

133

square part must continue an inch beyond the sides of I lie wheels, and the ends be made round where they pass through the handles.

Figure 2 represents a front view of the axle with the wheels, and the hollow tin vessel to contain the seed, in the centre. This seed-vessel or spheroid is eight inches high and six inches wide where the axle, which is one and three-fourth inches in diameter, passes through it. The periphery of this vessel is flattened for one and a fourth inches; and on each side of the flat part has a projection or flange one-eighth of an inch high to receive and keep in place bands that fit like a dog-collar. These bands are just wide enough to fit between the flanges, and are perforated with holes of sizes and distances to suit any kind of seed which is ever sown in drills. The figure represents the tin vessel without a band—and it must have five or six long openings between the flanges to allow the seed to be put in, and to pass out through the holes of the band—after it is put on. In using the drill, care must be taken not to fill it more than about one-third full, and to tilt it on one side as the sower turns at the end of each row. The best contrivance I have found for covering the seed, is a common trace-chain doubled, and fastened by the two ends to a couple of nails driven into the upper edges of the handles, just behind the wheels: it covers better than a roller, for I have tried both. The only wear to which this drill is subject, is at the ends of the axle; but if this be made of hard, well seasoned wood, and leather boxes be fixed in the holes through the handles, after they are much worn, I should say that one drill would last during an ordinary life, and ought not to cost more than about two dollars, although it will drill more seed in a day than six or eight men can drill by hand. I remain, dear sir.

Your sincere well wisher,

James M. Garnett.

N. B.—In figure 2 the cross bar which holds the little iron for opening the small seed-furrow is not represented.

J. E. Letton, to the

CURING BACON. By far the largest portion of our readers reside wnthin the limits of the " Old Dominion ;" from many of them, we doubt not, the caption to this article will only elicit the remark, "nobody can tell me any thing about curing bacon." It is very true, that our good old State has acquired a most enviable reputation for the manufacture of this delightful article, and there is no inan in Virginia that will not maintain, and argue by the hour to prove, that his mode of curing is preferable to all others. But we think if they would only have the patience to read the

following letter from Mr,

"Agriculturist," they would admit that there is

something novel if not plausible about his views:

PRESERVING HAMS AND SHOULDERS FROM THE INSECT FOR SUMMER USE.

In my travels through life and east of the Alleghany mountains, 1 have been always very mquisitive on their mode of making bacon, but found but a small variation from ours. Being a lover of bacon, it is almost my invariable practice when travelling and calling for breakfast or dinner, I would greatly prefer bacon ham ; and in rny travelling tour through England and Ireland in 1839, I found their bacon to be greatly superior to ours. I will state to you my mode. I believe 1 have tried and seen tried in my neighborhood, all the methods in practice of our country, and frequently fail, and I must prefer the one herein described (taken from the English.) In Enf|iand their mode of scalding is very different from ours ; as fuel is costly and not many hogs to clean in a general way as we have, they heat their water in a kettle and pour it on by small quantities and cover the pig over with straw so as to keep the heat on—their modes differ—and when cleaned neatly a.nd the animal heat is thoroughly out, then they salt their meat down and let it lie in salt from twenty-four to forty-eight hours ; (their salt is much preferable to ours,) then take it out of the salt and brush off the loose salt and hang it up on hooks to their joists in the dwelling-houses of the peasantry, there to dry in the air until about the last of February or the first of March, which is the time the fly (a large gray hairy fly) depo-sites their egg. You should have your sacks made of cheap ninepenny cotton, large enough to slip over the hams and shoulders and will let the air pass and repass around the ham and shoulder; then draw the top of the sack around the string that your meet hangs by, and tie it tight to keep the fly out. These sacks will last many years by proper care of them. There is no such a thing as smoking of bacon and beef in England ; they are very particular in cutting off the feet so as to cut them off below the knee and hock joint, to prevent the air from getting into the marrow of the bone, and keep it moist; and in hanging their hams and shoulders up, always to have the hock-end downwards to keep it from draining dry and the meat from losing its sweet moisture. Their beef is not put in sacks; drying steaks are very neatly separated, as the seams through the flesh may show, and that prevents the insect from having much of a place to do an}'- injury. This practice I have put in usage since I returned home. The sacks are three-quarters of a yard long and a half broad, though the size will be owing to the meat; the cost of the cotton sufficient to sack

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

all my family's summer meat is two dollars and fifty cents; much belter than smoking, besides the danger of the fire. I do not approve of my meat lying in salt longer than from five to ten days if the vi^eaiher is favorable for salt to dissolve; and if it is practicable to hang up I do so ; then the meat is not hurt by the impure salt that is used in our land. According to the old Virginia and Marylander's rules they let their meat lay in the salt from six to eight weeks, and that is enough to destroy all the juices that ever were m the meat. Hogs slaughtered in the latter end of November and the first of December, and hung up according to directions, will have nearly three months to dry in the pure air before it is requisite to put it in the sack; a high and well ventilated meat-house is much preferable. There has been many ladies and gentlemen to visit me, and their universal admiration of the fine flavor and red color and mild taste; more particularly they speak of the dry beef not smoked. It retains its juiceiB—in a broiled state. So I must draw to a close by saying if this is found worthy to be placed in your valuable paper, you can do so.

Yours, truly, J. E. Letton.

To many it will prove a recommendation, that Mr. Letton appears to be no scholar. To the degree of credit that such a fact secures, the writer may lay the most undoubted claim; but a man maj^ know how to cure bacon wi.*hout understanding Latin or Greek, and, possibl}'', he may slaughter a hog all the better from the skill acquired in murdering the King's English. But, if Mr. Letton's style is a little obscure, and not very elegant, still we think we see the marks of an acute observer and sound reasoner in his communication.

After all, the smoking and salting are entirely matters of taste, about which there is no disputing. We confess that our individual preference coincides with that of Mr. Letton. We greatly prefer our bacon neither too much sailed nor smoked, and the richest and juicest ham of "which it was ever our good fortune to partake, was served at the hospitable board of St. Julian, the residence of the Hon. Judge Brooke, in the county of Spottsylvania. The Judge, who, not without reason, prides himself upon the unrivalled quality of his bacon, assured us that he never subjected it to the drying and hardening influence of heated smoke.

The value of the canvass bag is well known, although it is generally thought desirable to render it impervious to the air, by a good coating of whitewash.

CABBAGES.

Cabbages are often attacked b}' grubs, resembling, if not the same, the grubs found in corn and potato hills. These last change, I believe, into brown and yellow beetles. This grub is very destructive to cabbfige-pjunts, but in a dif-ferent way from the n)aggot at the root.

The grub attacks the plant m the night, at or near the surface of the ground, and cuts it entirely off. It may generally be found without much trouble and destroyed.

The maggot works eniirely under ground— attacks first the small fibrous roots, and then penetrates the main root, where it will generally be found. The first notice you have of this hidden enemy is in the wilimg of the outer leaves of the plant, and it soon after perishes and comes from the ground like a dry stick.

The preventive I have used (and I think with good success) is essentially the same, Mr. Editor, with the one recommended hy yourself, viz: salt—but in the form of sea-water. I got the idea from the stovy of some one, who, in a fit of desperation, watered his cabbages with salt-water ; thinking, and perhaps hoping, thai ii would kill them, but which, to his asionishmeni, resulted in imparting great vigor to his plants. My plants, which were cauliflowers, were fast failing from the attacks of the maggots, and I thought the salt-water could not hurt them more than the maggots; so I applied it to them very freely, (say one quart to a plant, and that repeated several days) and it resulted, as I thought, very favorably. I have also used salt-water for the destruction of aphides or plant-lice on rutabagas, as well as the cabbage iribe, both of which are sometimes much infested with that insect.— JVeiv England Farmer.

CYMLINS.

We have been requested by a correspondent, who says he has found his account in it, to republish an article on the making of cymlins, from the first volume of the American Farmer. Our correspondent says, " I have pursued the plan therein recommended for several 3'ears, and it affords me a supply of the best summer food, not only for hogs but for my milch cows, which are fed with it night and morning. The}^ seem to relish it highly ; it improves the quality and increases the quantity of the milk; and may safely affirm, that finer butter and cream than mine, cannot be found, even in the justly famed market of Philadelphia."

The writer, to whom he refers, after citing several cases to prove that the qualities of food are imparted to the flesh of animals in a much shorter time than is generally supposed, infersi

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER

135

that pork will be "hardened" as well on two weeks as on two months feeding- on corn, and thinks, that, during the balance of the time, a much cheaper article might be substituted. He then proceeds to saj:

"Hogs as generally managed, are not only the modt troublesome, but the most cosily flesh we consume, and 1 have for many years been in pursuit of a plan to lighten the cost of their flesh, which is so absolutely necessary for the establishment of every Marylander. I flatter myself that I now see my way clear, for after two years trial, I am well.satisfied, that the use of cymlins, pumpkins, ruta-baga and clover, will enable me to send more corn to market, and with two weeks feeding upon that precious grain, my bacon will not yield to that of any person. No branch of rural economy requires more attention than feeding our various kind of stock. Our northern friends laugh and say, that in Maryland the hogs eat all our corn, and our negroes eat all our hogs. This is too true to be denied, and if my mite can in your opinion be of any use to the public, it is at j^our service.

"As early as the season will admit, I prepare ground for cymlins, or squashes, (cucurbita verucosa). Rich land is best for all purposes, but in this case, it is the first object to choose a place convenient to your hogs range. After ploughing and preparing the ground in the best manner, lay it off by a single furrow, four feet each way, and at the intersection, manure highly with well prepared manure, mixing it well with the soil, by spade or hoe. Upon this ground so prepared, plant cymlins (and the bunch kind I think best,) in every other row and hill, which will give to you, at eight feet apart each way, about 680 hills to the acre. After plan/ing the cymlins, proceed to plant corn in the rows running north and south, that is, only in one direction, between every row of cymlins, and which being eight by four apart, will give you about 1,361 hills of corn to the acre. It is unnecessary to remind the careful farmer, that the most scrupulous attention sliould be paid to this ground, while the vines are young, for after they begin to fruit and run, nothing can be done, except to pull by hand, the strong high weeds.— When the fruit appears, be careful to mark for future seed, such as you wish to propagate, for it is desirable to have early fruit.

"The drought of last summer will not be soon forgot, and yet from less than an acre of unfavorable ground, I kept in high condition more than sixty head of hogs of all ages (sucklings excepted); they had not any grain, and but little grass. It was our rule to take a certain number of rows every day, so that there was an interval of five days, and all fruit as large as a man's fist was pulled. It would

sometimes happen, that fruit was neglected until it became hard but not dry ; in this case, the feeder cracked them upon his carl-wheel. A careful and steady perton should be appointed to pull—one who will neither neglect the fruit, or tread upon the vines; for if well managed they will continue bearing until your pumpkins are ready; and these will carry you on to the fortnight before the intended day of killing.

"1 claim no merit from the cymlin culture— it justly belongs to 'I'ench Tilghman, Esq. of Talbot, and other gentlemen of that county, but believe me, that while I continue to raise my own pork, I never will omit the cymlin culture. Let us, however, not forget the pumpkin, as an able, and almost necessary auxiliary, and of which there are many varieties ; the long yellow is, I think, for many reasons, the best. Jn 1818 my cymlin patch was small, and as my object was not only to have fat pork but to save corn, I began early with the pumpkins; yet hogs could not be fatter, and njy stock of old hams, can yet testify the quality of the meat. Yet, cymlins and pumpkins are not alone a sufficient substitute for corn ; some food is necessary to carry j'ou through the winter and spring, until your clover and cymlins are read3^ The rutabaga is an excellent vegetable, which will supply your want. We now know that they are infinitely more nutritious than the common turnip—that they are sufficiently hardy to remain in the ground through the winter, and yet better, if buried in small heaps in a well shaded northern aspect. They will be found in high preservation to July.

" Clover is less injured by hogs than by any other stock, by sheep the most, and hogs after a few days will not root it up; but il is desirable that every farm should be provided with a hog-range well enclosed, uniting wood land for acorns and shade, bottom land for water, rooting and wallowing, and contiguity to clover. Ten hogs will not injure the growth of timber, as much as one cow. The hog indeed eats all the acorns he touches, but in his rootings he buries great numbers to a secure depth: the cow not only nips, and of course kills all the young sprouts of nuts, which she perscveringly hunts after, but she browses upon and tears down young limbs, and rubs and twists young sprouts from stumps.

" If I have extended my remark beyond a mere recommendation of the cymlin culture, and with a view to save grain, which is always a cash article ; it is also from a wish to encournge persons who reside upon poor lands adjoining extensive wood-ranges, to turn their attention to rearing hogs upon a large scale.

"For the cymlin, pumpkin, and ruta-baga, but little land is necessary, and for the two first articles, but little manure. Clover is certainly of great service, but if there is plenty of the

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

other vegetables it may safely be dispensed with. I would give you my opinion of the quaniity of ground necessary for twenty hogs, but fear I have already trespassed on your time.

"[ must, however, observe, that.instead of washing my bacon with warm water previous to hanging it, I have experienced the best effects from washing with a strong lie, made from clean hickory ashes.

I am respectfully, yours, &c.

A Subscriber."

RECIPE FOR THE CURE OF FISTULA IN HORSES AFTER IT HAS BROKE AND RUN.

Some time last summer, my father had a mare that had the fistula very bad, and finally he concluded to try an experiment on the disease. He first made a wash for her shoulder out of elder, {sambueus canadinis,) wild cherrj^ tree, [prumey hirgemanus^) sassafras root, {laucus sassa/rce,) equal parts of all, and boiled them on a hot fire for a half an hour. After cooling, he washed the eruption well and filled it full of saleratus, working it in with his fingers. On the third day, under this treatment, the disease resumed a considerable change; and in the course of ten or twelve days the mare was cured.

Wm. R. Thompson.

Greenup Co., Kij., Feb. 15, 1842.

Kentucky Farmer.

MANURING WITH GREEN CROPS. The Editor of the American Farmer,for whose opinions we entertain the highest respect, has taken up this subject, and handled it with his usual ability. He recommends Buckwheat, as the best known crop for turning in; first, because of the size and construction of its leaves, which peculiarly adapt it to abstract the fertilizing properties of the atmosphere; secondly, because, from the shade aflforded by its luxuriant growth, it is one of the best cleansers of land, and never fails to eradicate noxious weeds from the soil; and thirdly, because, it will flourish luxuriantly even on poor soils, that most need its renovating qualities. He adds:

"The process of ploughing in buckwheat, shoul(i be preceded by rolling; and before the plough is set to work, we would advise, that a few bushels of lime, say five to the acre, be sown on the buckwheat. By beginning in early spring, three crops of buckwheat might be grown to the blossoming state, and buried in time for sowing either rye, or wheat, and we have no doubt that, by pursuing the course indicated by us, soils measurably worn out might be made to yield good crops of all kinds, and remain in good

heart for years—and we would ask, by what process could land be manured at less expense? If there be any, we know it not."

The value of turning in green crops is sustained by Professor Dana, in a reference to a paper, addressed by Mr. John Keely to the Essex County (Massachusetts) Agricultural Society, in 1832.

In this paper, Mr. Keely states, that by repeated ploughing in of the weeds alone, he had increased the crop of rye, upon a light sandy soil, from eight, to forty bushels, to the acre. He thinks, that in ploughing in the weeds, a furrow should never be turned after the dew has been evaporated, since he doubts not that a large portion of that fertilizing property in the soil, which during the summer months is continually exhausted from the earth, is by the dew brought again within our reach, and it would be wise to avail ourselves of the opportunity to again bring it in the soil. He would, by all means, use a heavy roller after such ploughing. It would fill all the cavities left by the plough, and by pressing the soil more closely to the weeds, at once hasten their decomposition, and very much retard the evaporation of the soil.

Mr. Keely turned in as many as three crops of a season; though he attributes much of his success to the manner in which he put in his rye; this he effected by ploughing a small strip of land, sowing the seed immediately upon the furrow, and then harrowing in. Sowing the seed immediately after the plough, he considers, very advantageous to the crop. The ground being then moist, causes the seed to spring immediately, and gives a forwardness and vigor to the plants, which they ever afterwards retain.

TO STOP THE EFFUSION OF BLOOD.

Messrs. Editors, —In answer to an inquiry in the last number of the Cultivator, respecting a remedy for stopping blood, I will relate two instances of the application of cobwebs, with instantaneous and complete success. The first was a cut just below the fetlock joint of a young horse, from which a stream of blood of the size of a knitting needle spirted very swifily. A small wad of cobweb from the cellar was bound on, which <e«/zre/y stopped the blood in an instant. At another time on bleeding a horse in the mouth, the incision was made deeper than was intended, letting more blood than was designed. After other remedies in vain, the above application was made with the same effect as in the first case. H. Milton Hart.

CornwaU, Ci., Feb. 23, 1842.

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER,

137

BEETS.

The Editor of the " Farmers' Cabinet" thinks it probable, that nriany of the objections, that have arisen to the cuhivation of ihe sugar beet, arise from the fact, that the white Silesian, com-iTJonly used, is unsuited to a chmate so hot and dry as that in many parts of our country. He says, its cuhivation is confined to the northern parts of France, the more southern having been found inimical to its proper development. He suggests, that a variety, known as the yellow beet, of which the seed may be had in Philadelphia, although for particular reasons less suited to the making of sugar, contains as much nutriment, affords as large a yield, and is probably better adapted to our soil and climate generally.

Mr. Pedder was very instrumental in introducing the beet culture into America, and although he favored the white Silesian on account of its sugar properties, he obtained, long ago, the yellow variety from France, which he then recommended as a food for stock.

From the Nashville (Tennessee) Agriculturist.

KENTUCKY BLUE GRASS (GREENSWARD, POA PRATENSIS.)

The best time for sowing is as soon as you get ready after October, but if you sow before the middle of March, you may expect a good stand, particularly if the season is wet.

Lani. —Old fields, where the sun can exert all his powers, produce blue grass in the greatest abundance, and always of the best quality. The past fall we visited xVlark R. Cocknli's farm, and saw old fields on which former occupants were threatened with starvation, yielding the richest grass. It was remarkable that his mares and sucking colls, on these pastures, without grain, were fatter, if possible, than we ever saw " the noble animal" on other treatment. But inasmuch as cultivated grounds are generally used for other purposes, the beginner is informed that woodland, particularly where the timber is not too close, will produce good grass.

Preparation. —If you intend old land for pasture, break up the fields, and sow them in oats in February. Then put ten pounds of blue grass seed, a half a gallon of red clover seed, and if a little timothy or orchard grass be sprinkled on so much the better. The clover, timothy and orchard grass will give a quick pasture and afford protection to the blue grass till it gets a strong hold, after which no other grass can contend with it. If woodland is to be sown, take off the logs, brush, leaves, &c. and if the undergrowth could be taken out, it would be much better. After the land is cleaned, harrow | Vol. 2—18

it well, then sow your grass seed at the rale of ten or twelve pounds to the acre, but if you put on fifteen or twenty pounds, you will scarcely ever regret it. The lains will sufficiently cover the seed to insure vegetation.

CORN. In the May number of the Cultivator, we find the following remarks, on the old question of late ploughing and hilling corn, from Mr. L. Physick, of JMaryland, a name familiar to agricultural readers:

" I have noticed an error in the culture of plants and trees, wherever I have been, and I know no better plan to illustrate it than in showing the effect of the error on corn. In the culture of corn, it is usual to work the crop till the tassel is about to make its appearance; this is an error. Whenever the lateral roots of a plant are injured, moved or disturbed, when the stalk that is to produce the seed is matured or about maturing, or whenever those roots are covered to a greater depth at this stage of growth than nature intended, it will produce early n aturity and decay; and the yield will be just in the proportion to the extent of the error. If you will take the pains to destroy the lateral roots of a stalk of corn after its having made the last joint on the stock, you will find that it will produce no corn; and if you will displace their situation at this time by hilling, you will get a less quantity of seed than if left alone. If the lateral roots of a stalk of clover are cut off when the seed stock is forming, there will be no seed; and jnst so with other plants and trees; and the working of them at this stage cannot be attempted without injury. Yet, strange to say, it is almost invariably done. I have never suffered my corn to be worked afier one-third of the height of the stalk was attained. I plant close enough to have the corn to shade the ground at this height, so as to prevent the growth of weeds after this last working. I plant two and a half feet square, and leave two stalks in the hill, and I have never missed having as much corn per acre and as large ears as my neighbors; and much more than some of them. I never planted a crop of corn that I had not some kind neighbor or friend to tell me that I would have neither corn nor fodder. Last spring a cropper upon my neighbor's farm planted thirty-five or forty acres in corn, and I about ten acres; our fields adjoining. He planted his corn four feet square, and left three or four stalks in the hill, and worked his crop till it was ready to shoot into tassels. I quit working mine when about two and a half feet high. His field was full of weeds and grass. Mine remained clear of both weeds and grass. When our com was

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

husked and housed, he told me that I had from my ten acres nearly fifty bushels of corn more than he had from his thirty-five or forty acres, notwithstanding he told me in its early growth, that I would have no corn. Part of his ground was quite as good as mine.

"A similar and worse effect is produced in the hilling or working of plants in the latter stage of their growth, than takes place in plants and trees when deep planted. A disease is produced that hurries the plant on to early maturity by impeding the proper nourishment, by disturbing or placing the roots below where nature intended they should range for food, as well as depriving the vessels of the stalks thus covered from performing their functions. The stalks being established, it is folly for man to attempt to do that which God alone can do. Deep planting and ploughing the peach orchard after the trees have attained sufficient maturity to produce fruit, is, if not wholly, the principal cause of the disease called the yellows. By ploughing, the lateral roots are either cut, disturbed, or forced

to seek food apart from where nature intended, and thus operates as a hill placed around plants, and brings the tree to early decay.

"To conclude this subject for the present, T will say, work your plants and trees while young, so as to form good stalks, and then trust to that all-wise Disposer of events to perfect them.

"I think I noticed a remark in your paper, of the roots of the watermelon being attacked by small animalculss. Some salt added to the hills before planting will remedy that evil and give you better fruit; and salt and saltpetre sown in the peach orchard, (particularly where the orchard is worked w-ith the plough,) will assist in preventing like depredations to the roots of the peach tree.

"If you think that this hasty notice will be of any service, you are at liberty to dispose of it as 3'ou think best, and be assured that I seek neither money nor thanks for performing duties we owe one to another.

Littleton Physick."

VAN HOSEN'S PRESS FOR HAY, &c.

Messrs. Editors, —The above cut is an illustration of the patent lever railway press, lately invented by William C. Van Hosen, of Catskill, Greene county, State of New York. The frame and box of this press are like those now in use. It will be seen b^^ the cut, that the lower pannel is left out to shov^ the follower or moveable bottom of the box with the end of the lever attached thereto. At the lower ends of the levers will be Been friction rollers, with a flange on

each side to keep it on the track of the failwaj. Attached to the lower end of the levers are ropes or chains which are drawn in by the roller or shaft of the armed wheel. Upon the rim of this wheel is placed a rope, to which a horse may be attached, or carried to a capstan which is preferable; it will be seen by drawing in the lower ends of the levers, the follower is elevated, carrying up with it the article to be pressed ; and when the greatest power is required, it is

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

139

given wiihoLit any additional draft of the horse. The portion of this press giving the power being made of wood, is not so hkely to break or get out of order as those made of cast iron. The travel for a horse in lunning up a bale, if attached to the rope on the arm wheel of five feet diameter, is one hundred feet. If attached to a capstan, it is increased according to size of capstan and length of lever. While in a screw press, the travel is one mile and a half in running the screw up and down.

This press excels all others now in use for pressing hay, cotton, wool, rags, &c. &c. and will be warranted to perform well and do double the work that a screw press can with the same number of hands, with less than half the draft. A small boy can attend the horse, and the running back of the follower with perfect ease. The time required in running up the follower is about one minuie. Six bales have been pressed to the hour with ease. Bales weighing over three hundred pounds have been pressed by one man.

The construction of this power is such that it does not require a building expressly for it, as it may be placed in any barn or shed, and the horse may move in any direction or at any distance from it; and when the bale is ready for delivery, it is discharged instantly, and the follower gradually recedes as the hay is placed in the box.

The construction of this power is so simple that anj^ man can make one or keep it in order. For a small expense it can be applied where the screw is now in use, and save much barn room and horse flesh.

There are several of this new style of press now in use in Greene county, and others building in different parts of the counties of Greene and Columbia. One may be examined at the residence of the inventor, Leeds, Greene county, and one at the farm of Judge Cooke, Catskill. The latter is sunken through the threshing floor, and the horse travels outside of the barn.

W. S. Jacks.

Catskill^ March 5, 1842.

We copy the above from the Albany Cultivator, because we have had frequent inquiries made for a good hay press. The one here represented is both cheap and simple, although the writer of the article betrays, we think, an ignorance of mechanical principles, when he claims for it an increase of power, with a decrease of space to be traversed by the power. Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as an increase of power. Power is employed either in overcoming a natural adherence or repulsion of particles, and is always the product of nature, unalterable by man. The means of employing this power may, it is true, involve more or less

fiiction, and to this extent only, can one machine be said to be more powerful than another. But the resistance by mechanical means may be infinitely subdivided, which subdivision is metaphorically termed an increase of power. Suppose a man were required to move an immense bundle of sticks, in its united shape far beyond his strength; it is evident he might efl^ect his object, if he could untie the bundle, and remove them separately. This is exactly what all mechanical principles seek to effect, it is all that they can possibly efl^ect, that is, to divide the resistance, and thereby remove it, part at a time. But it is apparent, that the more the resistance is divided, the more space must be traversed, and it is therefore folly to talk of greater power, and less space, unless the friction has been greatly reduced. So far from this being the case with Mr. Van Hosen's press, we are inclined to think that the power acts at great disadvantage, especially in the beginning, when, to be sure, it is least required. But notwithstanding this, we like the principle, because this disadvantage can be overcome by causing the horse to traverse a greater space, and because, we think the machine requires less nicety in its construction, and would be easier kept in order, than any we have ever seen. How far Mr. Van Hosen can sustain a claim to his patent, we are not prepared to say; probably, the particular combination may secure it to him, but the principle of obtaining pressure by bringing a broken line into a straight one, or into two parallel ones, is as old as the hills, and is the one used in the common printing press of the day. The wheel and axle, we presume, he hardly pretends to lay a claim to.

We have been led into a more extended comment upon this article than the subject would seem to demand, first, by the great want of a good hay press in this neighborhood, and se-condl}', by the very erroneous views we have found to exist in the minds of many of our readers upon the subject of "power."

Some of our James River farmers are now reaping a golden harvest from their attempts to supply the Richmond market with Virginia \\<\.y. Hay at one dollar and twenty-five cents a hundred, is productive of more clear profit than the cotton crop in its palmiest days, and such are our natural advantages, that we need only a good press to drive the northern hay seller not only out of Richmond, but out of the whole

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

southern market. It would be as well to state, perhaps, that we have received intimations of a press that is being gotten up in our own State, supposed to be superior to any now in use. We will endeavor to procure a cut and description of it as soon as possible, which shall be accompanied with our candid and unbiassed opinion of its merits.

To the Editor of the Southern Planter.

When at your request (not persuasion) I prepared the article, published in the April number of the Planter, it did not occur to me as possible that it could lead to a controversy with any one; and I am scarcely more surprised by the communication in your May number from my friend the Rev. J. H. Turner, than at a portion of your remarks upon it. 1 intended no "attack upon the Berkshires" or on the breeders of that stock, and had 1 been aware that your object was to "lead to a conflict that would redound lo the benefit and amusement of the spectators," you certainly would never have received one ]ine from me. I am not ambitious of notoriety, and have no wish to be brought upon the stage, with a few, or many, or any "flourishes" at all.— Your cohimns (permit me to say) should be appropriated 10 more interesting and useful matter, than unprofitable controversies too often prompted by vanity or selfishness; and I much regret to find myself compelled to trespass upon them.

As a Virginian, Mr. Editor, and for the important interest to which the Planter is devoted, I sincerely desire that it may be as prosperous and as useful as you desire to make it, and to see it yielding a rich and a proud reward, to your editorial labors. But rely upon it this is not the way to accomplish any of these ends. Some indeed, like the mischievous school-boy who sets two of his fellows by the ears that he may stand by and enjoy the fight may be gratified—but I think the practical farmers who sustain your paper for other and better purposes, will turn from such controversies with disapprobation. I shall, therefore, endeavor so to frame my rejoinder to your esteemed correspondent as to observe all due respect to him, and lo afford no occasion for encumbering the columns of the Planter with a reply. My remarks shall be as brief as possible—they arc ofl^ered with a respectful apology to your readers, wiih whom it is hoped the necessity of the case will excuse me.*

* Between the Parson and the General, we believe, we arc like to got "more kicks than lialfpencc," as ilio old saying- is. Mr. Turner objects to our first editorial as too pirtial to the views of his oppononi, and ilu" General excepts to the last, as calculated to place him in tlie ridiculous liglit of an indis-idual clioatcd into a controversy, for tlie amusement of tlie pulilic.

lu the hrst place, although we know tliat General

I confidently leave it to every candid and disinterested reader of your paper, lo determine for himself, whether my April number can justly be regarded as any thing but a simple statement of my own opinion founded upon given facts— and whether, as Mr. Turner supposes, I have j shown myself, so anxious to recommend Mr. | Dicken's hogs. I leave it also lo the same class . of readers to determine bow far his disclaimer of intention " to disparage any man's hogs," is sustained by the communication itself, in which sneers, and disparagement of the ivhite hog abound. Indeed a full and sufficient answer lo most of his remarks would, I think, be afforded by a comparison of them with the very article upon which he has commented.

But our friend, the President of the Agricultural Society, is fond of an innocent joke, and . has travelled somewhat "out of ihe record" to get at one. '1 ake, for example, the turn he has given to my statement in regard to two litters of half Berkshire pigs, and a pig he purchased of me, which he says "would constitute so knotty a case" that he would not know how to dispose of it were it not that / have disposed of it niy-self. Let us see how the truth of the case disposes of it.

As to the pig Mr. Turner purchased of me, I said, " though a very fine, he is not near so large a hog as the white ones have proved lo be."— He says, (and in effect makes me say.) "ihe little inferior tawny pig brought twenty dollars, whilst it took the four large svpenor pigs lo bring thirty dollars." Now it will be perceived that I have said no such thing in the sense which is here represented, and that it is not fairly deducible from any thing that I did say.

Richardson does justice to the motives which lead to the article of wliich he complains, and that lie remains, as he has always been, one of the siaunchest and most effective friends of the Planter, still, we think, he does us grreat injustice in the construction he places upon our editorial. The whole difficulty arises, we believe, from General Richardson's lakiner it for crantrd that the controversy, which we desired to fret up, was to be a personal one. Nothing-, as he well knows, was farther from our real intention, nor do we see liow such an inference can be fairly drawn from the terms used, imperfect as tiiey are. Had we have formed so low an estimate of tlie taste of our readers, as to suppose they could be either amused or instructed by a personal controversy, we should certainly have deserved to be likened to sometliinsf worse, than an "idle school-boy, who sets two of his fellows by the ears, tliat he may stand by and enjoy the flirht." Imperfectly as we may have expressed it, we only intended to express the conviction, in which we are streng-thened as the controversy proirresses, that both entertainment and instruction mig-ht be expected from a discussion of a most inierestinjr subject, conducted by two sucli frenilemen; nor can we see how the expression of such an opinion can be at all objectionable to any of the parties concerned.

If the General did not see tliat his article was an "attack upon Berkshires," and that it would, in all prot)ability, lead to a reply in defence of that stock, which is DKiiniained to be the b< st in existence, we can only say, that it was not our fault that he failed, in this respect, to exercise his usual sagacity.— Ed.

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER

141

The facts are these. "TAe little inferior taivny pig" was one of the finest I ever saw, as Mr. Turner declared himself when he first saw it at my farm. He was decided in his admiration of it, and expressed also much graiification at the (supposed) prospect of having so fine a slock hog- in the neighborhood, I told him it was my intention to send the pig to a valued friend about forty miles from Richmond—he offered a friendly remonstrance against its removal, which, however, was unavailing. The next week afterwards, on meeting with him at the house of a friend, he renewed the subject and asked if I was at liberty to dispose of the pig, I replied that 1 was, not having actually disposed of him, but intending only, to dispose of him as slated. He then said (substantially) that rather than lose the opportunity of breeding from so fine an animal, he would give me twenty dollars for it— which, as I told him at the time, as I could not afford to refuse, I accepted. He fixed the price himself—/ never offered to sell the pig, or intended to sell him. " The four large superior^' {white) "pigs" readily commanded all that was asked for them—fifteen dollars a pair. Twenty dollars might very probably have been obtained, but that being the price of full bred Berkshires, I then supposed there was in;rinsically a difference of twentj'-five per cent, between them,

Mr. Turner next refers to the names of several gentlemen mentioned by me, and says— " Now here would be another tough case to solve were it not for som.e stubborn facts which again come to my relief. These gentlemen have tried the white hog, it seems, and most of them have manifested their preference for him by sending their sows to my Berkshire boar, and this they did when their favorite hog was more convenient than the inferior Berkshire,"

Here again the truth affords an easy solution of the other tough case imagined by Mr. Turner, and shows that the " stubborn facts" upon which he relies, are no facts at all.

The despised white boar was sold by Mr. Dicken at the Agricultural Fair in May, 1841, to a gentleman from Lawrenceville, and as it afterwards appeared, not one male of that stock old enough for service was left in the neighborhood. It was much more convenient, therefore, to send their sows to Mr, Turner's, than to the county of Brunswick— hut not one of those gentlemen did send to JMr. Turner''s^ until after the removal of the lohite hoar^ and until after a Berkshire hoar owned hij me had also heen sold and removed. I know nothing of the purchases of half Berkshires stated in Mr. Turner's next sentence to have been made by Mr. Sims—but having seen him and all the oiher gentlemen referred to but one, I can state upon their authority that they fully concur with me, and that without exception, they regret that Mr, Dicken's lohite boar was not retained for the general benefit of the

neighborhood. Another gentleman of high respectability and intelligence, an owner of Berkshire hogs, also declared to me within the last three days that he has ever since regretted he did not purchase that very boar "at any price." I quote his own words. As to Mr. Dicken himself—he parted with the animal to avoid " breeding in and in," and very naturally crossed with the Berkshire as the most celebrated hog of the day—but neither he, nor any of the other gentlemen named, are "backing out," as Mr, Turner supposes, and this I also state upon the authority of all of them I have seen.

In the next sentence Mr, Turner adverts to what I said I had heard of a difficulty with the committee last spring, in deciding a premium between Mr, Dicken's boar and his own—expresses regret that 1 "penned the sentence" and speaks of a compliment to the hog at the expense of the committee. To this I reply, that the cause of his regret is incomprehensible to me—that I cannot suppose any one understood me to speak upon the authority of that committee, (as I certainly did not) or as intending a compliment at their expense. No such intention can fairly or justly be imputed to me. After giving a detail of the proceedings in that committee he adds—"this is all that at present I choose to say of this transaction—if urged to it, I will slate more," "What more the President may have to say, or wish to say "of this transaction," I cannot conjecture, but I can conceive that any committee, however intelligent, might well have hesitated about the award of the premium in the case referred to.

I come now to what he says of my commendation of his stock of Berkshires, as to which he has made it necessary for me to be more explicit. That commendation was merely incidental—his being almost the only stock in this vicinity that 1 am acquainted wiih —it was intended to include, not the sow Virginia only, but the boar President, raised by Mr, A, B, Shelion, on which Mr, Turner got the premium—an animal not inferior, in my estimation, to any he owns. I also thought some others of his stock good—though not all of it; but as he condemns it as worthless, it is not for me to dispute the point with him.

Furthermore, my commendation of this stock carried with it no intention to "disparage" any other man's stock.

Particular circumstances have heretofore led me to a careful examination into the origin and various crosses of the Berkshire hog. I thought the improvement had been progressive, and was not aware of the "rapid decline of the Berkshires" ^Nhich Mr. Turner says was arrested by the introduction of the boar Reading. It must be also unknown to the numerous purchasers of pigs from the stocks of Colonel Burfoot, Mr. Shelton and Mr. Sublett, all of them long estab-

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

lished and celebrated breeders in the vicinity, since the dennands upon them still continue, with little or no abatement, I believe.

One more remark upon the President's communication, and I will conclude with some better authority than my own opinions. After referring to m}'- account of the progeny of my white sow bred from two Berkshire boars, he admits that the case is a strong one, but thinks a stronger, in his favor, exists at what he calls his piggery, at this very time. He proceeds to a comparison of the full bred Berkshires with the progeny (half blood) of a " sow nearly, but not quite white^^ which he had constituted wet nurse to two of his Berkshire pigs. Having seen this sow and pigs myself, I cannot conceive how Mr. Turner should have persuaded himself that it is a stronger case than the one staled by me, or even a case that deserves to be mentioned at all. The sow is an ordinary animal, not at all comparable to Mr. Dicken's; and the mother of the adopted portion of her familj^, is Mr. Turner's favorite Virginia, a very fine full bred Berkshire. It would be strange indeed if there was not a difference, and a very considerable one, between the pigs of the two sows, even, though " the sire of each litter is the same hog." As to his allusion to " long legs" in the progeny of the sow " nearly but not quite white^^ it is necessary for me to say that the v}hite pigs spoken of in my April number, were, and are as free from that defect as any full blood Berkshires Mr. Turner ever saw.

Considering his communication fully, it seems to me that he has actually " disparaged" all the Berkshires but his own favorites, much more than I have—so that instead of his taking me to task, I, (being a breeder of that stock,) might with more reason complain of him. But as he is at the head of our valued Society, and I am but an humble private, I must not commit the indiscretion, so I respectfully take leave to retire.

Do me the favor to publish with this, the accompanying extracts from the Fourth and last Report on the Agriculture of Massachusetts.

A parting word to you, Mr. Editor. Though I complain of your remarks as placing me in a ludicrous, if not ridiculous, light before your readers, justice to you requires me to say that I have not, for a moment, supposed you intended they should be so regarded—and that I have referred to them to justify mj'self, rather than to censure you.

Wm. H. Richardson.

The following are the extracts alluded to: " We have been compelled, however, in this as in many other cases, to witness the capri-ciousness of public favor; and to adopt, with the variation of only a letter, the familiar proverb, and say in this case, that ' every hog must have his day.' The popularity of the Berkshire

swine is on the wane. It is objected to them by many farmers that they are not large enough, though they are easily made to reach, at fourteen months old, 3G0 or 3.50 lbs.; and further, that ihey do not cut up well; and that the fat on their backs and sides is not thick enough, especially for packing down for fishermen, who would be glad to have their pork all fat, and whom I have seen spread their uncooked sailed fat pork, as landsmen spread butter, on their bread.

" The former objection is not made by all persons, as many would prefer for their tables the pork of a hog weighing 300 lbs. to that of hogs weighing 600 lbs. of which I have seen many in our market. With respect to the latter objection, I was half disposed at first to consider it as mere caprice, but that E. Phinney, of Lexington, a farmer in this matter 'not unknown to fame,'—and another most respectable farmer of Franklin county, admit that there is some truth in it; and they, as well as many others, prefer a cross to the pure blood. The impression is becoming general, and the butchers in Quincy market are unanimous in their unfavorable opinion of the Berkshire hogs. They admit that their hams and shoulders aie good for bacon ; but their backs, where they most require it, have no depth of fatness, and they are, therefore, unsuitable for salting. They are good breeders and nurses. They may be kept, therefore, to much advantage where the object is to raise roasting pigs for market. * * * *

" It is but just, however, to the Berkshires to say, that the unfavorable impression in regard to them, though general, is not universal. An intelligent and very exact farmer at Eraintree, B. V. French, has found them to answer his expectations. Upon recently killing a number, he was well satisfied with their appearance, and is of opinion that much of the prejudice which exists against them belongs properly to the impure but not to the genuine race."

THE HANOVER FAIR.

On the morning of the 19th of Ma}^, we started for Taylorsville, and were soon borne upon the magic wings of steam from the foul breath of the c\\.y into the refreshing air and genial influence of the country. The day was a glorious one, and secured a large attendance of both ladies and gentlemen. Although the exhibition of stock and domestic manufactures was highly respectable, it was from the specimens afforded of the " human face divine," that we emphatically pronounce that "old Hanover" has reason to be proud of her fair.

A very neat and appropriate address was delivered by Mr. C. W. Dabney, and the Rev. J.

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER

143

H. Turner, being called on to address the assembly, afforded the very highest satisfaction, apparently, by some felicitous strokes of satire aimed at the conduct and deportment of the legislators of Virginia.

The whole affair went off with great eclat, and the spirit manifested on this occasion, gives token of that lively interest in agriculture, which has been awakened throughout the length and breadth of this happy land.

WATT'S CUFF-BRACE AND GUAGE PLOUGH.

The plough here represented, is the invention of Mr. George Watt, of Alabama, who has constituted that ingenious and enterprising mechanic, Mr. John Haw, of Hanover, his agent for the State of Virginia. Our attention was first called to this plough at the agricultural exhibition in Flanover, on the 19th of May, where it attracted the most favorable notice from the committee. The peculiarities of its construction are, that the mould board is fastened to the side, instead of the bottom, of the beam. A cuff, made by bending a three-quarter iron bar into three sides of a square, is made to embrace the beam, the ends penetrating the extended upright of the mould board, the whole being secured together by screws and nuts. The coulter is moveable, so that it may be set near to, or further from, or at any angle with, the mould board.

The advantages claimed are, that the position of the beam to one side and out of the plane of the mould board, secures the plough from the common and troublesome objection of choking. This desirable object is said by some good judges, who have tried it, to have been fully attained. It is moreover contended, that the beam, not being weakened by a bolt passing through it, may be made of much less than the ordinary size, and, consequently, with less expense. The

stocking, the manufacturer asserts, can be done for one-half the usual price. The handles are fastened in the usual manner by screws and bolts to the heel of the plough; these bolts serve as pivots on which the wood work turns; thus, when the screws of the cuff are slacked, and the handles of the plough are pressed, the beam moving freely through the cuff, the hind part is depressed, and the front elevated, whereby more or less draught is given with the greatest facility. Again, by the insertion of an iron wedge between the beam and the mould board, land is given, or taken, at pleasure.

Mr. Watt has published the certificate of some of the most respectable farmers in Hanover, who testify to its great superiority. The lower part of the mould board, it will be readily perceived, may be of any shape or form, to please the fancy of the operator.

Now for our own opinion. We do not see that there is here any saving of expense. The beam, it is true, will cost a little less, but this will, we believe, be more than offsetted by the increased cost of other parts. The landing and draughting have certainly a greater range, and are effected with greater facility than in any plough w^e have ever seen, but we are almost afraid, that these qualities are obtained at the