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second, 1 lb. 11 oz., and the third, 1 lb. 12 oz., "whilst the largest single ear weighed only 1 lb. G oz.

I have given the above in hopes that it may induce others to turn their attention to the subject, and report the result of their observation, in the Planter. As I have been for several years selecting nny seed corn from stalks bearing two or more ears, I think it not improbable that the general size of my corn may be somewhat diminished.

The actual weights are given above: the double ears were invariably gathered from the single stalk, and in every case the largest ears were selected from the corn crib as the representatives of the single ears : it is possible that even they may have grown upon stalks bearing double ears.

Your obedient servant,

John Hart.

Louisa, March, 1843.

CUTTING WHEAT. In the last volume of the Planter we gave the results of some experiments made by Mr. " Hannam," of England, to ascertain the state in which wheat can be cut to the greatest advantage. These experiments excited great interest at the time, and Mr. Hannam's conclusions were confirmed by the experience of several of our correspondents. Since that period we have received several contradictory statements, and one particularly from a high source, stating that good flour could never be made except from wheat fully matured. We see from the ' Cultivator,' that Mr. Hannam has repeated his experiments on a larger scale, and that they have resulted in the strongest confirmation of his original conclusions, viz: that what he terms the "raw" state affords the greatest bulk and weight of wheat, and the best article for manufacturing purposes. That our readers may the belter judge what is intended to be designated

by the " raw state" we give a synopsis of the

experiments. Five different cuttings were made

as follows:

No. 1, reaped August 12th, stacked Aug. 26th.

No. 2, " " 19ih, " " 31st.

No. 3, " " 26th, " Sept. 6th.

No. 4, " " 30th, " " 9th.

No. 5, " Sept. 9th, " " 16th.

No. 1 was very green, only fully formed in

the berry, and raw ; No. 5 was fully ripe. No.

5, in the sample, was bold, but coarse; while

Nos. 1 and 2 were finer in the skin, but small,

showing they had shrunk some. The raw cut

No. 3, was unexceptionable, being as plump as No. 5, and superior to 1 and 2, in thinness and uniform cleanness of skin. There was little difference between 3 and 4, except that the last was more rough than the first.

It was No. 3, cut a fortnight before it was fully ripe that is designated as " raw." From the various experiments, which seem to have been fully and fairly conducted, it appears, that No. 3 is superior to all the other varieties; giving more per bushel than No. 5, by 6^ lbs. of flour; and a gain of about 15 per cent, on the flour of equal measures of grain. 100 lbs. of wheat No. 3, makes 80 lbs. of flour; while 100 lbs. of No. 5, yields 72 lbs. showing an advantage of 8 per cent, in favor of grain cut raw.

In grinding, it was found that No. 5 ground the worst, worse than No. 1. In No. 5, were a greater quantity of flinty particles which would not pass the bolt, than in any of the others. The bran from No. 5 was coarse and heavy ; while that from No. 3 was " thin as a bee's wing."

The actual value of flour for the purpose of nutrition, depending in a great measure on the gluten it contains, a sample of Nos. 3 and 5, was analyzed by Prof. Johnston, and he found them to contain respectively. No. 3, 9.15 per cent, of gluten; No. 6, 8.9 per cent, of gluten. Thus proving that the wheat which gave the greatest quantity of flour, gave also the best.

For the Southern Planter. COAL-TAR ON ROOFS.

Messrs. Editors, —In your Planter for March 'An Inquirer" wishes to know the value of coal-tar applied to the roofs of houses. Some ten years ago, having renewed the shingles on my dwelling, I gave them a coat of the coal-tar, and am weH satisfied that the effect has been beneficial. It penetrates into the wood about as deep as oil, and it has maintained its lustre almost unimpaired by the weather. I think it will render the roof as nearly fire-proof as any other liquid substance. 'J'he only objection to it is, that it makes the shingles shrink considerably, and inclines them somewhat to crack. This, however, is not the direct eifect of the tar; but because of the greater power which the rays of the sun have on all bodies of a black color. I would recommend that the shingles be not more than 4^ to 5 inches wide; that they be nailed on during a dry season and made to fit close; and that the tar be applied when they are perfectly dry. The roof should have two coats.— The tar should be warmed over a fire in order

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to make it more fluid, and the first coat particularly should be well worked in between the shingles. It gives a black, glossy color to the roof, and cannot fail to add to its durability.

T. S. P.

NEW a ^THOD OF GROWING ASPARAGUS.

The Editor of the Horticuhural Magazine, recommends a trial of the following method of growing asparagus, which is practiced at Nice, and of which a high account is given in the London Gardeners' Chronicle. Take a quart wine bottle; invert it over the head of a stalk of asparagus just rising from the ground, and secure it by three slicks so that it cannot be knocked over. If left in this state, the asparagus will grow up into the interior of the bottle, and, being stimulated by the unusual heat and moisture it is then exposed to, will speedily fill it. As soon as this has taken place, the bottle must be broken, and the asparagus removed, w'hen it will be found to have formed a thick head of tender delicate shoots, all eatable, and as compact as a cauliflower.

Stockley, JS'ansemond Co. Feb. 21, 1843. To the Editors of the Southern Planter:

Gentlemen, —I notice in your valuable periodical that Mr. James Gordon look the premium offered by the Henrico Agricultural Society last year, for the best acre of sweet potatoes, viz: 644| bushels to the acre, which we Nansemond planters think an enormous yield. The sweet potatoe crop is one of our chief staples, and we pride ourselves more on the quality than the quantity of the article. I do not think the average crop in my neighborhood has exceeded 75 bushels per acre, during the last five years. The object of this communication is to beg the favor of Mr. Gordon to give us his ^^modus operandi" through the medium of the Southern Planter, the quality of his land, quantity and kind of manure used, &c. &c.

Whilst my pen is in hand, I will give my limited experience with regard to the mooted point of suckering corn. After a trial of five years, I have satisfied myself that irreparable injury is done the corn by pulling off the suckers. I think that in consequence of the wounds inflicted on the growing plant, the crops of fodder and corn are both greatly diminished. I will cite one year's experience, (1840). My corn was planted 4| by 4 feet, and two stalks allowed to remain in the hill. In July it was not unusual to see four suckers on many stalks. I directed twenty rows through the middle of the field to be suckered; balance left with all the suckers on ; at gathering time, very many of the suckers had each a full ear on them, growing from the side of the stalk, many of the parent stalks produc-nig two large ears. The suckered, produced

no more than the unsuckered parent stalks. The latter furnishing me an additional quantity of both grain and fodder, independent of the labor saved.

D. H. Hatton.

In an experiment of sowing corn broadcast, on the 1st of June, at the rate of one and a half bushels per acre, on rich land, Gen. Harmon, of Wheatland, Monroe county, New York, obtained 18 tons of green stalks per acre. The stalks were small, and almost entirel}' without ears, and so full of saccharine matter, that the cattle ate them perfectly clean when dry, though they were not cut up fine. The yield was estimated at six tons dry fodder per acre, and was raised on a clover sod turned over and sown the last of May, and the corn cut September 15. The saccharine matter, which goes to supply the corn in the ear, is retained in the stalk when not suffered to ear, and materially adds to its nutritive properties.— American Agriculturist.

For the Southern Planter. TO DESTROY IVY, &c.

Ivy and laurel may be useful, but until I ascertain their value, I shall continue to eradicate more or less of them every year. One inducement to destroy ivy is for the purpose of adding to rny arable and pasture fields; and another is the preservation of my sheep from this poison. The use of the grubbing hoe for this purpose is a tedious business, and I have determined to try an implement which I shall call a Grab. I have no doubt but that an implement can be made of iron, which will tear up by the roots every ivy, and dogwood, and other stole and brush rooted shrub. Those of much height should be cut off a few feet above the ground, and the grab fastened toward the top, and immediately under a knot or limb. A yoke of oxen hitched to the grub, by means of a chain, will do the work; but in some cases, it may be necessary to assist, by cutting a root at the off side. What think you of an implement after the fashion of a blacksmith's tongs, much stronger of course, with the handles widely extended, and the grab end curved inward and somewhat sharp; or what think you of an implement after the fashion of dividers or compasses ; one side being 12 inches long with a ring attached, and the other 9 inches long and terminating in a hook ? Now if a chain be drawn through the ring and dropped over the hook I think we shall have a severe grab. The inner edge of this should also be sharpened, and the plates should be 2^ or 3 inches broad and about 1 inch on the back.

1 would be very thankful to any one who will insert in this paper, the model of a grab on a belter plan than either of the above.

D. D.

February 18, 1843.

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We noticed in an agricultural store in Boston a very simple and efficient implement, that we think would probably meet the views of our correspondent. We will endeavor to represent it in the following drawing. It may be called

A GRUBBING HOOK

Three bars of iron, two inches wide and a half inch thick, about two feet long, are welded together at one end, where they terminate in a ring through which a chain may pass. The other ends, which are hooked or bent as represented in the engraving, are separated, the two outer ones diverging three inches, each, from the centre bar. A hole is dug on one side of the bush or shrub to be eradicated, and the prongs of the hook are inserted under the roots. The team (oxen are best) is then hitched to the chain passing through the ring, and with one crack of the whip the work is done.

For mere shrubs, a m.uch smaller and lighter hook than the one described would be more handy and equally efficient.

GARDEN VEGETABLES.

Early Cucumbers. —The following has been found by the writer, an easy and successful way to raise them. Place small pieces of dead turf, as large as one's hand, just below the soil in a hot bed, and plant the cucumber seeds upon them. When the stems are two or three inches long, the pieces of turf are removed, plants, roots, and all, to rich garden soil, and they will advance rapidly in growth and produce fruit two or three weeks earlier than those planted in open ground. Suitable turf is easily obtained where grass has been inverted the previous summer or autumn. The young plants should be set out as soon as they will probably escape frost.

Early Tomatoes. —Where there is no hot bed, these have been succesfully started in pots kept in a warm room, and the fruit ripened a weekortwo in advanceof thoseotherwisetieated.

While the fruit is yet green, I have much accelerated the ripening, by removing the larger leaves from dense bunches of the fruit, and placing white boards behind them, so as to reflect the sun's rays strongly upon them. They soon

became red, while the rest remained unchanged in color. Would not planting them, as well as many other of the smaller garden fruits, against a white washed fence or wall, prove of great advantage? It is estiniated in England, that a good wall for fruit is equal to an advance of six degrees towards the equator; why then is this powerful means of producing early fruit, so generally overlooked in this country?

Early Potatoes. —It is well known that the eye end of a potato will yield a crop earlier by some days, than ihe root end. This appears to be owing simply to the earlier growth of the sprouts from the eye end. Earlmess will be greatly increased by placing the seed potatoes in a box of moist sand, early in spring, in a warm place in the house; and then planting them when the shoots are about two inches long, taking care not to break them off.

Lime. —Its tendency to diminish the growth of leaves and stem, and increase that of seed and fruit, is well known. It had been applied two years before to the strawberry bed, at the rate of about half a bushel to a square rod. A

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similar effect was observed on tomatoes, when the manure they received, which was well rotted, had a small quantity of lime thoroughly mixed with it. The growth of their stems was moderate, and the product in fruit, very abundant. Others, manured withoat lime, grew abundantly in stem{ .md the product of fruit not quite so great. Slacked lime was used. The difference might have been owing to other causes; at any rate, more experiments are needed.

Early Lettuce. —This wasobtained at least three lueeks earlier than other lettuce sown in the hot bed, by taking up plants, sown the previous autumn in open ground, and transplanting theim into the hot bed as soon as it was made. They were urged forward in growth rapidly, by the new heat they received, and formed heads four or five inches in diameter, while the other lettuce was hardly an inch high.— Cultivator.

For the Southern Planter.

King William, Feb. 15, 1843.

Messrs. Bolts & Burfoot,—I send you below a condensed statement of some of the experiments reported to the King William Working Agricultural Society at their fall meeting. You are aware each member is bound by the constitution to report an experiment made by himself to every meeting under the penalty of one dollar. The day of our meeting at tMulberry Hill Tavern was not very favorable, nevertheless, it was well attended and some specimens of superior butter, articles of domestic manufacture and animals were exhibited. On such of these as were thought worthy premiums were awarded, and an interest in the Society excited which we hope will be increased and lead to valuable results.

Respectfully your friend,

W. GWATHMEY.

Lewis Littlcpage's Experiments.

1. Impressed with the opinion that fall fallowing for corn was more injurious to the land than spring, about 25th of March this year, he prepared the land and planted in corn, which proved a very short crop—the fallow was in clover—the cut worm very destructive. His conclusion is that the loss of corn is greater than the benefit to the land.

2. The ro^^^'s on which com was shocked, in his wheat field, were sown in oats in spring— and clover seed sown over the field. That on the oat rows grew much more luxuriantly, and when the same field was fallowed for wheat, the effect was very apparent in that crop also.

George R. Tram's Experiments. 1. Soaked seed corn in copperas water two days, (half pound to the gallon of water.) It

was not pulled up by the crows or destroyed by cut worm. Other corn adjacent, without copperas was destroyed.

2. In 1841, sowed clover seed after corn, the last time it was worked. They came up and the crop succeeded very well.

Corbin Braxton's Experiment. Planted harvest beans which did not mature in time for ruta baga.

Edward Hill's Experiments.

1. On peas planted with corn. Two rows of corn planted in peas, every other hill, j'ielded by accurate weight one pound of corn less than the two next adjoining without peas, both cultivated alike,

2. On drilled wheat. An acre drilled nine or ten inches apart, cut and threshed carefully, yielded only a few gallons more than an acre sown broadcast, immediately adjoining. Considers it not worth the additional trouble of drilling.

William S. Fontaine's Experiments.

1. On harrowing in clover seed th^ last of March on wheat, alternate rows were left un-harrowed. The harrowed wheat, to the eye, for a fortnight appeared benefitted. The clover to this time is better set.

2. Ten acres of purple straw wheat was cut in the dough state—product about 60 bushels, very much shrivelled, and unsaleable if it had not been mixed with the rest of the crop. Ten acres, rather better land, fully ripe, gave me 82 bushels wheat, plump to the eye, and weighing 57 lbs. to the bushel.

From a partial experiment he is induced to believe that wheat after corn, produces more in single than double beds.

Richard Gwathmey's Experiment. Discovering rust in his late crop of wheat, he commenced harvesting, and continued six days. Having carefully slacked the first and last days, cutting separately, he selected a dozen bundles from each, and threshed them ; and on weighing, he found the product of the first dozen to be three-fourths of a pound heavier than the last. He afterwards sowed ten grains of the green parcel, each of which sprouted readily and put up a vigorous spire.

William Gwathmey's Experiments. 1. Lime applied on low light land with black soil, (150 bushels to the acre,) will not destroy sorrel. Six rows of this limed land without any other manure than the natural grass, yielded 763 ears of corn, measuring 7 bushels. Six of the same adjoining, liberally top-dressed with stable manure, when the corn was well up, yielded 1,000 ears, measuring 10^ bushels.— Six, of land adjoining, top-dressed with the manure alone, yielded 777 ears, measuring 7^ bushels.

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2. To ascertain the effect of covering up the vines in cultivating the sweet potato, he had the vines covered in two rows, and designated by a stake. The two rows adjoining, planted with similar seed and cultivated (as the crop,) with the earth drawn up, leaving the vines uncovered, yielded three pecks more, of larger potatoes.

Reported by request of the Society.

W. GwATHMEY, Secretary.

The very interesting address of the President, Dr. Corbin Braxton, which, by the unanimous vote of the Society was requested for publication, (and promised) has not yet been furnished.

THE LOCUST TREE.

There are probably but few trees more beautiful and ornamental than the locust. It is also valuable for timber, being of a close, solid texture, and as durable for most purposes, as oak or walnut. The trees often attain a large size, and at the proper season of inflorescence, the yellow locust, is festooned with clusters of white flowers, which give it a most beautiful appearance. We have several of these trees growing, and in many sections of our Slate they are beginning to become quite common, and are propagated both for ornament and use. The great ditficulty, however, experienced in causing the seed to vegetate, operates as a discouragement with many; it requiring to be prepared before planting in order to soften the hard and shelly pericarp or hornlike envelope in which nature has deposited the germ. This is performed in the following way. Having first separated your seed from the pods place them in an iron porringer, and pour over them a quart of water, previously healed to the boiling point. Set the porringer aside, and suffer the water to cool gradually. After twenty-four hours decant the water from the seed, and select such as have opened for immediate planting. If any yet remain hard, let them undergo a similar submersion, and at the end of the next twenty-four hours, select again such as have opened, and continue this process until all that are capable of vegetating have opened, and been planted out. Another plan and perhaps a somewhat more economical one, so far as time is concerned, is to subject the seed to the action of nitric acid^ mixed in the proportion of half an ounce to two quarts of water. The seed should be steeped in this mixture for twenty-four hours before planting, and the water kept tepid or slightly warm by means of a stove or oven. In this case it is not necessary to repeat the process as the good seed will at once evince signs of vitality and germination, while that which continues to be unaffected at the expiration of the twenty-four hours is probably foul or imperfect and should be thrown away. Seed, thus prepared,

if planted in a rich, warm soil, in April, will take a vigorous start, and the plants be fit for transplanting in the course of the second or third year after. The trees should never be suffered to stand nearer than fifteen feet apart in any soil, and should they be consigned to one thin and light, the distance should be tiventy. As they increase, care should be taken to clear out all dead wood from the tops, and to keep down the shoots, where the soil is rich, which will sometimes issue from the roots.

Maine Cultivator.

So valuable has the locust become, not only for posts, but for its uses in ship building, that its growth would probably afford the very best use to which many of the light lands on our water courses could be applied. Facility of water transportation is an indispensable requisite to the profitable produce of any kind of timber. The locust is said to be a great improver of the soil, inasmuch as it returns more than it draws from it, its deciduous offal being particularly enriching. No man ever saw a locust tree without a peculiarly luxuriant growth of grass underneath it.

The crop would be a slow but sure one.

For the Southern Planter. BURNING COAL.

Messrs. Editors, —As it seems that the farmers are about to commence binning coal for agricultural purposes, and as they are generally ignorant of the process, I will add my mite to what I conceive to be a good cause, by giving some directions.

Seasoned wood is best, because it burns more thoroughly in less time, consequently requiring less atienlion and producing more coal. Regular colliers cut their wood into cord length, but the farmer may save time by cutting his six feet. On level ground kilns are generally made circular; on hill sides they may be made an oblong square, the length being up and down hill. A kiln of sixteen feet diameter is a good size ; and now for its construction. Drive down a peg for the centre, around which draw a circle at the distance of eight feet; on which circle drive pegs, or what is better, cut amarrow trench with a grubbing hoe. Cut blocks of wood three feet long, with which build a pen on the centre nine feet high ; around which set i)p your wood, with the large end downward, and about two feet from the pen. As the wood is packed, fill underneath with short pieces; and as the packing advances fill throughout with other short pieces, for the purpose of giving a slope for covering.

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The pen, and filling near the heart of the kiln, should at any rate be of seasoned wood, otherwise the fire will start badly.

When the foundation is complete, the next thing may be to arrange the air holes. These are made at the bottom of the kiln and about six feet sf^ irt, by laying two blocks of about two and a half feet long, and six or eight inch(!s thick, with one end against the kiln, and twelve or fifteen inches asunder; over which lay broad pieces of wood. Now proceed to cover by casting on leaves or shavings and earth. When the earth has ^been packed three or four feet high, stand thereon and cut off any spur ends which may be likely to obstruct a neatly finished covering; which spur ends with olher blocks of three to one foot long are to be packed on and around the upper portion of the pen and on the foundation ; and thus rounded off neatly for covering. Now proceed to cover till nearly closed, when a few armsful of seasoned wood must be cast to the bottom of the pen, then fire, and more dry wood till filled. When the dry wood is fairly on fire lay some billets of wood across the top, and cover with leaves and earth.

The air will enter the kiln through about half of the air holes, and the smoke, or rather steam, issue from the remaining half; and so soon as the kiln is fairly on fire every crevice above the air holes should be closed. In ten to twenty hours after being under way, the heart of the kiln will have become hollow, when blocks of wood should be filled in, and again closed.— Where the steam strikes, the fire is extinguished, consequently when the wind continues at one point, that side burns first which is to the wind, and on this side in windy and dry weather it ■will be necessary to close the air holes by degrees as the kiln sinks; but those on the opposite side should be kept open ihrotighout, that the steam may pass off as quickly as possible.

Once in three or four hours the kiln, or kilns, should be attended, and the whole body beat or stamped down, so that the pores may be kept closed, and any point likely to break, detected and timely repaired. One man can attend five or six kilns. When the steam ceases to issue the wood is charred, and the sooner the coal is drawn the better. For this purpose a rainy or snowy day is preferable, or if water is convenient the coal maybe extinguished with this ; otherwise it must be done by casting on the dusty particles of the covering.

For drawing down the coal the hoe is best, and for dusting the shovel is best. Large kilns will require drawing at two or three different times, at intervals of eight to twelve hours.

Two cautions and I have done. Have you put out the fire? you say yes—well, go around and put it out again ; and after starting off, go back and put it out once more. And lastly, mind bow you stamp about the top of a kiln Vol. III.—Jl

when the heart is hollow, for there is some danger of fallmg in.

A Collier.

Amherst, March, 1843.

ADVICE ON THE CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF TOOLS.

From a new edition of the Cabinet Maker's Guide, we quote the following:

" The goodness of saws, chisels, and other edge tools, depends upon the quality of the steel, which should be uniform throughout, and it is always belter to have ihem tempered too hard than too soft, for use will reduce the temper. If at any time you wish to restore the temper, and to perform the operation yourself, the best method is to melt a sufficient quantity of lead to immerse the cutting part of the tool. Having previously brightened its surface, then plunge it into the melted lead for a few minutes, till it gets sufficiently hot to melt a candle, with which rub its surface; then plunge it in again and keep it there until the steel assumes a straw color, (but be careful not to let it turn blue,) when that is the case, take it out, rub it again with the tallow, and let it cool; if it should be too soft, wipe the grease off and repeat the process without the tallow, and when sufficiently hot, plunge it into cold spring water or water and vinegar mixed.

"By a proper attention to these directions, and a little practice, every workman will have it in his power to give a proper temper to the tools he may use.

" If a saw is too hard, it may be tempered by the same means; if you are near a plumber's shop, you may repeat the process conveniently and without expense, when they are melting a pot of lead.

"In other cutting tools you must wait till the steel just begins to turn blue, which is a temper that will give it more elasticity, and at the same time sufficient hardness."— American Mechanic.

February 13, 1843. Messrs. Botts & Burfoot :

Gentlemen,—An illness from which I am just recovering has prevented me, until now, from asking you for as much room in your paper as will suffice to notice a very abusive attack upon myself, signed "Vindicator," which was one of the first things I saw upon opening your .Tanua-ry number. Your sense of justice, I hope, will grant my request, especially when I assure you, that I shall strive to be as brief as possible ; and shall have nothing more to say to Mr. Vindicator, even although he should repeat similar abuse in your next number.

This writer presents himself to your readers

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in the imposing character of a volunteer champion of Virginia husbandry ; and the first specimen he has given us of his powers in that capacity, is, not only to accuse me of " most grossly misrepresenting" the agricultin'e of my native Slate, in a letter addressed to the Corresponding Secretary of the New York State Agriculiiiral Society, at his own request; but to assert, as of his own certain knowledge, that I am a man so fond of my joke, as not to scruple, at any time, to sacrifice the truth to it. These are not his identical words; but 1 take it to be the plain English of the expression, "that he will indulge it (his joke) at the expense of things dearest his heart:" in other words, he will tell a falsehood, if he can make people laugh by it. This truly, is a very pretty cha-racier for one whom he calls "confessedly a Virginian, every inch of him!'' His argument to disprove what I have stated as facts, is, that he has never seen what / have stated that / have seen; therefore, such things can never have been seen by any body. \\'hat I have uttered as mere matters of opinion, and especially in relation to the average produce of corn and wheat per acre, in the tide water portion of Virginia, which latter opinion he styles, "a charge of still greater import," he treats as if equally demanding a refutation. Such as he attempts to give, if thrown into the form of syllogism, would stand somewhat thus. All the people in the tide water part of the State must be in a starving condition, if the average produce of corn per acre be only fifteen bushels, and of wheat only five bushels.

But they are not in a starving condition.

Ergo,—my opinion as to the average produce of our corn and wheat per acre, must be utterly wrong Quod erat demonslranlum..

Now, if the character for truthfulness and fair dealing which I have been striving through a long life to aiiain, can be destroyed by such an attack as Vindicator lias made upon it, then is the effort to sustain it no longer worth making. Cut I confidently trust that it will remain what it has been for years past, notwiihslanding this most unwarrantable assault; and that none who have any knowledge of me will ever question my facts, however they may dissent from the opinions I deduce from them. Had Vindicator been equally intent upon doing justice both to me, and to the cause which he professes to have espoused, as he seems to have been on defaming me, he would have given your readers, at least the substance of what I said in favor of our agriculture, in the letter which forms the subjpct of his animadversions. 'J'hen, vour readers—very few of whom will probably ever see my letter—would have had an opporlunitj' of forming a tolerably just opinion of it. l-iit as Vindicator has managed the matter, they are all left to suppose, that the whole of this let.er

contains nothing but ridicule and abuse of Virginia husbandry. Such must be the impression left on the njinds of all who have read only Vindicator's representation of it. Permit ire, therefore, to quote a short paragraph which, I confidently trust will suffice to acquit nie full}', with every impartial man, of all the charges which this self-created chanipion of Virginia husbandry has brotight against me.

In one part of my letter to the Corresponding Secretary of the New York Stale Agricuhural Society there is the following passage;

"From the low averages which 1 have given you of the staple crops in middle and lower Virginia, you will probably form but a poor general estimate of the progress of husbandry in our State. Nevertheless, I can assure you, that in the aggregate, it has been very great in the last ten or twelve years; and that during the last two or three, it has advanced almost at a geometrical ratio. But this advancement, where it is most conspicuous, is still so partial and confined to particular neighborhoods, and so slight elsewhere, that strangers who have no personal knowledge of our Slate, cannot form a correct opinion, merely from hearing what is supposed to be the general average of our agricultural products per acre. To judge well of the whole extent and amount of our progress in husbandry, they should know the past as well as present condition thereof. They should see the best as well as the worst of our farms; they should examine those around our towns, on some of our navigable rivers, in the Valley of Virginia, and in several of the counties immediately below our first range of mountains. Then, indeed, they could decide, as our Congressmen say, ^understandingly' on the subject; and such an examination, I am confident, would discover to them many farms as well nnanaged, in every resjiect, as any in the United States; although, in proportion to our whole territory, the mmiber would probably be smaller than in fome of the States north of the Susquehannah."

I will quote no more, but leave it to every impartial man to decide, whether there is even a shadow of propriety or justice in calling a letter which contains such staiemenls, "a most gross misrepreseniaiion of Virginia agriculture."

After having had so much cause lo condemn and to resent the conduct of Vindicator towards myself, I am erraiified to find, that there is at least one thing for which I can and will thank him. It is, that he —an entire stranger to my family—not having the most distant connection wiih them, so far as I know and believe, .should have proved himself so much more sensatively alive lo the agricuiiural fame of my paternal •riandfather, than /, his naughty grandson, have done. My only excuse—if indeed, svch a deed admits of any—is, that I had the story from my .own father, who, I presume to say, was

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probably quite as good a son as Vindicaior himself; that the o!il genileman did not enjoin me to secrecy; and, therefore, that I thought myself at liberty to repeat it, particularly as there could be no stronger proof of the condition of our husbandry in lower Virginia. Whether it was inf r oiU of place for me lo say any thing of such a remote period, I shall leave it to others to decide.

I remain, gentlemen,

Yours, with regard,

James M. Garnett.

There is nothing we have so earnestly endeavored to avoid as the admission of personal controversies into the columns of the Planter, and yet, notwithstanding our utmost vigilance, they have on one or two occasions insidiously crept in. When we received the article of " Vindicator," which was delivered in person, we scanned it with a careful eye, and seeing nothing in it but a critique upon a.public document, mixed with a little raillery to be sure, we gave it admission that the public might judge between the author and Mr. Garnett. We are extremely sorry to find that Mr. Garnett takes an entirely different view of the article, and exhibits an irritation that we conceive it by no means calculated to excite. If a gentleman writes a public letter, he has no right to object to its being criticised, provided the criticism is free from insulting personalities. To find fault with the production, without attaching some blame to the author, is impossible, and for us to declare that we would admit no piece that inculpated an individual, would be to say, that we would admit no comment upon any article that was published. The facts adduced by one individual may be denied and controverted by another, the arguments of the one may be replied to and refuted by the other, but no personal abuse, ungentlemanly language, or charge of dishonorable motives, shall be indulged in the Planter, whil.st we have charge of its conduct. Our general course, and particular and often expressed respect for Mr. Garnett, will, we hope, satisfy that gentleman that we conceived the article of " Vindicator" free from those objections. Thinking so still, hard as it is to resist an appeal such as Mr. Garnett makes, and coming from such a source, we would have refused to publish his communication, had we not received a request from " Vindicator," to whom we sent if, that wc would do so, with an assurance that Mr. Garnett had wholly misunderstood the spirit of the article,

which was written in a pleasant mood by one of his warmest personal friends and admirers, and, we will add, by a gentleman who never entertained an unkind feeling towards him in his life.

From the New York Central Farmer. ON DITCHING.

As I agreed to give you a description of my mode of ditching, 1 will now redeem my pledge. About twenty years ago, 1 purchased iny farm in Whitesboio', and on this farm was about 130 acres on the Mohawk flats, and about 60 acres of that was covered with black ash timber, alders and bogs, and the water stood on it nearly the whole year; the 60 acres were not worth as much for any use then as 5 acres are now. Not being acquainted wiih farming much, I did not know how to commence right, but my first object was to injprove my low grounds. 1 commenced by making small ditches which would soon fill up. I then made a bank or dike with a small ditch on each side, but that did not altogether answer the purpose intended for a ditch and fence. About three years ago I commenced in a different way, which seemed to answer all the purposes intended, that is, to drain the land effectually, and at the same time make a good fence. 1 make my ditches six feet^\ide at the surface of the ground, and three and a half or four feet deep, as the land may require, with a slope so as to bring it about one foot on the bottom, and take the turf from the top of the ditch and lay it up on each side with the sam.e slope as the diicb, about one and a half feet high, leaving a lip of about four or five inches on each side of the ditch ; on placing the rows of turf that distance back from the ditch, to prevent its caving in by the frost till the bank becomes solid. I make small sluices in the lowest places, through these side banks, for the water to draw off" from the top of the ground. The raising of the banks on each side makes the ditch about eight feet on the lop, with slope bank, so that horses or neat cattle cannot easily get over it; si.eep will run over it. I lay out my lots from twenty to twenty-four rods wide; three ditches drain the land effectually. 1 have raised a very good crop of corn on some of the lowest of this land this year, and it has been a very wet season.

I will now say a few words about my mode of cultivating these low grounds; they are most profitable for meadow—I theiefore seed them down as soon as they are subdued by ploughing, or the ground is smooth, they may be brought into a good quality of grass hy sowing on seed and harrowing. I find it very profitable lo give these lands a ihin dre.ssing with manure; it improves very much the quality and quantity.

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER

Managed in this way, I gel three or four tons of hay from each acre; I have taken four tons from 140 rods of ground, well dried. The best time to put on manure is soon after mowing; it will not need it more than once in four or five years.

I have made nearly 500 rods of these ditches; the}' cost about five shillings per rod ; they are the cheapest fence I can make, and by cleaning out the dilches, you can keep the fence in good repair.

Yours, Julius Watkins.

Whitesboro', JVov. 19, 1842.

For the Southern Planter.

TO IMPROVE A PINY OLD FIELD.

First belt the trees and cut down the bushes. The following year cut and burn every thing

into coal which is large enough, and scatter the burnings. That which is not large enough for coal should be spread on gullies and galls; and this should be completed by the middle of March. Now mark off the ground with a coulter, sow oats, (and grass seeds, if you please,) and cover with the same inriplement. For the purpose of making equal distribution of the manure, and to avoid cost in carriage, the kilns should be placed at about fifty feet distant; and that they may be of about equal size wood should be moved as required. Or if there be a surplus, the wood or coal can be moved elsewhere. At fifty feet distant, we have about eighteen kilns to the acre, which, if producing only one hundred bushels of burned earth and coal to the kiln, is one thousand eight hundred to the acre, ,vhich 1 would apply to the spot, and then comes

the blessing.

Old Flu.

For the Southern Planter.

GATE.

I

Messrs. Editor?^ —In No. 1 of the Southern Planter for 1843,1 noticed an article on the subject of engravings, in which you express a wish that your friends should forward you sketches, &c. with description of implements or fixtures which are of a novel or interesting character. I have taken the liberty to furnish you with one, which, whatever may be its merits in regard to interest or novelty, I cannot but flatter myself will be found useful to farmers. I therefore send you the abovesketch,theobjeclof which is to give you an idea of securing gale posts so firm as not to be moved by frost or otherwise ; it can be used either for post and rail or the common

worm fence. The only thing necessary represented above, is the brace from the top of the back post of the gate to the first corner of the fence. All that is necessary is that it should be secured at both ends, as the weight of the fence at the corner is sufficient to keep the back post in a perpendicular position; therefore, if you think it desirable to publish it, you may, with the assurance that it will answer an excellent purpose, as experience has proved it without doubt. I will here remaik that it would be necessary to place the first pannel of fence in a straight line with the gate when shut; when the gate is open, the brace will not act as repre-

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

85

sented, but the dnvation of that posiiion will not be for any lengih of time; if so, there can be a pebble or soaieihing else subsiimted that is convenient to be placed under the outer stile of the gate.

Yours, &c. William Rice.

Bnt^-ewater, Feb. 1, 1843.

From the American Agriculturist. CONE'S DYNAMOMETER.

Gentlemen, —I send you a rough drawing and description of a very cheap, simple, and effectual dynamometer. Every farmer can have one if he chooses; the only thing is to hit upon some plan to have them uniform throughout the Union.

Mr. Cone exhibited his plan at the Genesee Cattle Show and Fair, in October. The time was so short, however, after the ploughing match was over, that it could not be applied to any of the ploughs. It was sufficiently iried, however, to satisfy any one as to its accomplishing all that could be required of the most perfect instrument.

Take the beam of any patent scales that will weigh as high as 10 or 12 cwt. Suspend it by the upper hook, and put sufficient weight upon the lower hook to balance the beam. Then hang upon the small end a one pound weight, and put sufficient weight upon the lower hook to balance. Ascertain the number of pounds upon the lower hook requisite to balance the one pound. The beam used by Mr. Cone required 32 lbs. on the weight hook to balance one at the small end. Hitch the lower hook to the clevis of the plough, and the team to the upper hook. The small end rims out upon the land side, at right angles to the plough. From the small end of the beam bring a wire near to the handle of the plough; attach to this wire the upper end or hook of a common spiral balance, and make the other end of the balance fast to the plough.— T/ffi apiral balance becomes the index to the force reqv.ired to move the plough. Thus if the index of the balance marks fourteen pounds, then the force exerted on Cone's scale would be 14 X 32 = 448 pounds.

You perceive at a glance, that the principle is perfect. It brings the index directly under the eye of the ploughman, and it is easy of application to any other subject, when it is desirable to ascertain the force necessary to move a ponderous body.

In applying it to a plough, it should be so constructed as to work perpendicularly instead of horizontally. This could be done by having a guide made fast to the beam in which the beain of the dynamometer should play. The balance cotdd then be made fast to the upper .'^lat or round of the plough, and be more convenient for observation ; besides it would not be effected by any inequalities on the surface of the ground.

Unless soiTie person takes i.;p the subject, I fear we shall not have a uniform scale. I wrote to Mr. Ellsworth, the Commissioner of Patents, asking him to give the dimensions, and then we should have it uniform throughout the Union. If no other person does it, I will prepare one by the first of February. Sincerely yours,

T. C. Peters.

Darien, JV. Y., December, 1842.

For the Southern Planter.

A TABLE,

Shelving the number of corn hills and other plants

in an acre of ground.

Feet. Feet. No. of Hills.

20 by 20 108

19 by 19 120

18 by 18 134

17 by 17 16 by 16. 15 by 15. 14 by 14-13 by 13. 12 by 12. 11 by 11 10 by 10.

9 by 9

8 by 8

7 by

6 by

6 by

-150 -170 -192 -222 -257 -302 -360 -435 -5-37 -680 -888

6 1210

5^—1320

Feet. Feet. No. of Hills. 5 by 4 2178

by 3— by 2— by 1--

hy^-

by 4—■ by 3— by 2— by 1 — by3i-by 3— by 2— by 1 — by 2-1-by 2— by 1 — byl-

—2914 -4356 -8712 —2151 -2722 -3630 — 6445 -10890 -3555 -4840 —7260 -14520 -6969 -10890 -21780 -43560

H by

5 by 5 1742

Messrs. Editors, —I send you the above as a very useful and convenient table that I have compiled for the "Planter." The calculations are, I believe, entirely correct.

Permit me to congratulate you on the March nurrjber. It is worth all the money I ever paid you.

Yours respectfully,

Ph. B. White.

From the Farmers' Cabinet. FENCES.

Messrs. Editors, —As materials for fencing are becoming more scarce exery year, in this part of the Slate, our farmers have been turning their attention for some time to the means of lessening the expenses which are continually occurring, to keep their farms in stjitable repair. Our fences are either the worm, pcst-and-rail, or ihorn. Unfortunately for us, the thorn has been attacked by insects, which have injured it exceedingly— in some instances it has been almost destroyed. The post-and-rail fence has now become very expensive, m consequence of the scarcity of while oak timber—the best of which

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER,

is purchased to be cut into scantling and ship stutf. The plan now coming into use for the wonn fence, is to set it upon a good sized stone, elevated at least six inches from the ground, as hereiofoie.

The rads are first prepared in the following manner:—A measure—say of shingling lath, of the length of the rails, is procured, and holes bored about half an inch in diameter, and four inches from the ends; it is laid upon the rails, and holes bored in them corresponding wiih those in the measure. When a number of rails are so prepared hy boring, and ready to be put into fence, an iron rod suitable to the holes so bored, is set upon the stone or block, on which the fence is to stand, and then the rails are to be inserted on the rod until the panel is completed. The rod is to be bent about one and a half inch at the stone, so that when the fence is completed, it may be clenched or bent over the bottom rail—the panel is secured by making a hitch with a chain or rope, over the joint, and then bending or clenching the iron rod on the top rail—some prefer driving a small wedge at the side of the rod, instead of clenching it, so that the fence might the more easily be removed, if at any time it should be found necessary.— The most expeditious and convenient way for making such a fence, is for two persons to be engaged at it at the same time—one at each end of the rail boring the same simultaneously, and then assisting each other in placing it in the fence. A man can bore many hundred holes in a day, and the expense in preparing and setting up a panel, including the rod of iron, would not exceed the expense of preparing and setting up a panel of posi-and-rail fence. A great advantage to the farmer in this method of using the iron rod is, that it holds the rails so completely firm at the joint, that no wind as yet, has been of such violence as to move it from the foundation; such a fence, made of good cedar or chesnut rails, will endure until it wears out with old age.

In the ordinary worm fence, each joint requires two stakes, which of cedar or chesnut, cost with us considerably more than the rod of iron. The oak post undressed, is worth about fifteen cents—the two slakes for each joint of the fence, worth twelve and a half cents. Now counting all the expense of boih kind of fences, I am well convinced that the iron rod fence is cheaper by fifteen cents a panel than the post fence—besides, the posts rot out, and it will be necessary to obtain a new set every twelve or fifteen years—and then there will be a loss of at least ten per cent, in supplying the place of broken rails and re-sharpening ihem and others. The iron rod will cost about seven cents—for a five-rail fence, it should be cut about four feet nine inches. The lap of the rails need be no more than about four inches, and the worm

about four feel—such a fence, with this worm, will stand the heaviest blows that we are accustomed to in this climate, especially if the rod be well clenched on the top rail. There may be a saving of one, or even two rails to the panel, in substituting blocks of wood cut short, and bored so as to suit the rod through which it is to be inserted.

If the above communication may be considered worth inserting in the Cabinet, it is freely at your service.

An Old Farmer.

Salem County, JV. J., Dec. 22, 1842.

We have our doubts about the value of this mode of fencing, although there is something novel and ingenious in it. We incline to our old opinion, that post-and-rail, when properly made, is the cheapest and neatest fence that can be constructed. However, a writer in a subsequent number, in whom we think we recognise an old and experienced friend, lauds the plan very highly whilst he suggests some improvements, which will be found in the following extracts from his communication:

"In the first place, then, I find that a worm or angle of three feet, is sufficient for the purpose of perfect strength; producing an elegance of curve, far more pleasing to the eye than the straight fence, for any situation, and requiring but ver}' little more ground space than it: while, at that angle, the loss in the length of rails in a panel of eleven feet, is nine inches only ; a fact, which would scarcely be credited, were it not proved by demonstration. But in the directions given in the Cabinet, there are some things which, I think, can be improved upon ; for it must be very difficult to bend the rod of iron at the stone and clinch it over the bottom rail, if the rod he of a size to give sufficient strength to the fence, without shaking and injury to the work; neither can 'an inch and a half of bar be sufficient length for the purpose. And then, what is to keep it in its proper place on the stone, unless that be broad, in proportion to its height? Now, in my plan, I have overcome this difficulty and objection, by merely letting the iron rod into the stone about an inch and a half, and fixing it there with melted lead ; a labor and expense not worth the naming, when compared with the service rendered It seems to be intimiated also, that a panel at a time can be finished; but it will be found that the rails must follow each other singl}', for a considerable length of space, before one panel can be finished, as the ends of them must lap one over the oiher— but this is of no importance. Not so, however, with the proposal to clinch or bend the rod over the top rail—a work which I should deem al-

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER,

87

most impossible, without destroying the fence by siiaking: it to pieces. And then, in the event of any of the rails failing, or a wish to remove or repair the fence, how are these clmchings to be raised up, without breaking them off, and injuring 'he fence? Now, for this trouble and diiiiculiy, I have substituted the very simple plan, of punching a key-hole within half an inch of the end of each rod ; and when the top rail—which should be stout and half round—is placed, I shall procure a piece of iron hoop, say six inches in length, punch a hole in the middle

five cents a pound. The rod will consequently cost about fourteen, instead of seven, cents, to the panel.

For the Southern Planter. THE PREPARATION OF THE LAND AND THE CULTIVATION OF THE TOBACCO CROP.

NO. II.

JMessrs. Editors, —In accordance with the

plan proposed in my last cominunication, I shall of itfor the reception of one end of the rod ; in-'follow IVir. Minor in "the Preparation of the sert it, and drive a key through the hole and Land and the Cultivation of the Tobacco Crop." clinch it; and then bend the ends of the hoop jThe preparation which he recommends for new to fit exactly, and embrace the end of the top'giounds, is much better, and more ihoiongh, rail. Thus, 1 have a fence erected in a much than that which is usually practiced; and I

shorter time than would be required for the fixing a po3t-andrail fence, that can be removed in a quarter part of the lime; and the first cost

should be glad lo see it universallj' adopted.— But our writer when he comes to speak of lot lands, remarks that "In general it is considered

cannot be one half as much; while the inser- iarf economy to manure land for lubacco, ho\h be tion of the rods into the stones will constitute it! cause the quantity required for that crop is one of the strongest that can be devised ; as the ' greater than for any other, and because the qna-angles, acting on the principle of the arch, pre- jlity of the product, as well as that made on low sent a resistance that cannot be overcome by grounds, is coarser in fibre and less marketable." any common occurrence. 'rhis is the erroneous opinion to wliich I alluded

" Unless the stones are of considerable thick- in ihe close of my last number. And I fee! fully ness, I would advise a block to be put under the I assured that if we have made no other improve-first rail; and before placing the top rail, a block | ments in the last twenty years in the growth of of sufficient thickness to raise it to the required , lobacco, we certainly have in this particular.— height for pinning or keying down tight upon And I think it would not be difficult to show, the~ iron hoop, must be supplied ; this will re-!'hat the practice founded upon this opinion, has quire care and a little practice, but neither art ,tlone more to injure the planting section of Vir-or much labor. When the fence is finished, the gima, 'o lay waste its lands and timber and im-top rail ouirht to range so as to form a perfectly poverish its people, than any one whatsoever, level line;"and this is to be obtained by seeing ,Y">-i see at once, that on this principle, the axe that the tops of all the rods are of the same 'must of necessity be appealed to every year for height, before placing the first rail. It is need-; a crop, and ("as it is considered bad economy less to advise, that these blocks of wood be of i^o manure,") the lands thus cleared are after a the most lasting and enduring nature, and not few years worn out and exhausted. And thus liable to split. And I would take the present | the unhappy planter, as if haunted by ihe ge-opportunity to urge upon your readers, the great |nius of poverty and pressed bard upon by gul-importance of cutting all wood designed for: lies and hens-nest grass and pines, betakes him-fences, and indeed for every other purpose, in self year after year with fancied security to the

May ; strip oflF the bark and split it to the size required, and expose it to the sun's rays, by setting it on end. I have long satisfied myself, that such limber will last— hoiumany times longer I can't say —but I went some time ago to see a post which ha;l been cut in full leaf, and placed in its position in the revolutionary war, and there it remains, firm and sound at the present day ; and at the same time I brought away portions of a part of a fence, which had already stood out two other sets of rails cut in the autumn and winter— that having been cut in May or June, and placed immediately in fence."

The cost of the iron rod is either misprinted or under estimated. Half inch round iron weighs about ten ounces to the foot, and is worth about

forest. He puts forward his veteran knights of the grub-hoe lo wage a war of extermination upon the dogwood and chinkapin bushes—and while "up by the roots" is their watch word— they of the axe follow in quick succession, and attack the sturdy Spanish oak, fore and aft, front and rear. With the like zeal and intrepidity, they are followed by the heavy armed knights of the maul and wedge, who march slowly and stearlily to the conflict—seeing the forms of their stately victims lie prostrate before them, iheir limbs mangled and severed from the body, with savage ferocity they attack the limbless trunk— "drive home," they shout, and sever every ligament. This wasting warfare is thus prosecuted with a zeal worthy of a better cause, until the poor planter is routed by a hoarde of creditors; his knights, seized with their arms upon them.

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

are channred to some olher service, wliile he, lookiiiij wnh iriuaii)h on the ruin he has wrought, winds his way to the fur West.

Bui to be more serious. The expense of clearing an acre of well timbered foiest land, is much greuier than is coinmonlj supposed. If any one will take the trouble to estunate it accurately, as I have done, he will find ii to cost him by the time he gets his ground ready to plani, about twenty dollars per acre. This alone, it seems to me, ought to be sufficient to deter planters from adopting clearing as a system.— For I am well convinced, and I appeal with confiiience to all who have fairly tried both the clearing and manuring systems, for confirmation, that a planter who has lands which were origi-nall}' preity good and not g-uUied, if he will keep slock enough to consume the ofTal of his wheal and corn crops, and haul corn-stalks, weeds and leaves or other vegetable matter to his stable-yards and cow-pens, can manure two acres with less expense than he can clear one —and further, that he can make, at the lowest estimate, twice as much tobacco on his manured acre, and get a higher price for it per hundred. These are not theoretical but practical facts. The manuring system is comparatively in its infancy, and none of ns have done one-fourth of what we might and ought to do. And that man, or set of men, who, by their efforts and example, should be in-struuienlal in breaking down the clearing system and establishing the manuring on its ruins, ■would deserve to be considered the greatest benefactors to the tobacco growing section of our Stale.

Bj' the adoption of the manuring system our estates, instead of being constantly cut down and worn out, or (as a facetious friend of mine observed) " Re-Pining" under our operations, would be enhanced in value. Our principal would be rapidly increasing, while we were at the same time drawing ihe heavier interest.— Under this system, too, all descriptions of labor on the farm can be usefully employed. The old and the young can collect litter and spread it on the land, while only a portion can cut or maul, or hill new grounds. And lastly, the crop on old lands can be culiivaied mostly with the plough, and here we have a great saving of that most expensive of all labor—hoe-labor.

Wiih regard to the preparation of lot lands before the manure is applied, there are two modes practiced by our best planters. The one is to coulter the land close both ways, and the other to use the turning plough. The first I should consider best for high land ; where there is but little vegetable matter on the siuface, and especially where the soil is thin or exhausted. The last is preferable on flat lands, which should be thrown into four or eight row beds. When the manure is applied the land should be thrown into single beds three and a half feet apart.—

Where we have old loss well set in the artificial grasses, I think it a matter of great importance lu fallow them in Julj^, or when ihe vegetation IS at ils mool luxuriant slate. We thus secure the greatest amount of vegetable matter in the soil—it fernjenis and rots with greater facility and the land works easier and produces better the ensuing season. 'I'here is a difference of opinion among some judicious planters whether it is best to plant in hills or beds. On rough, stiff, or flat lands, the hill is unquestionably preferable—but on light, soft, high lands, the bed answers well and is a great saving of labor; I have tried both, and much prefer the hill if I have time to make them, inasmuch as it ensures a better preparation of ihe soil, and enables us to plant when it would be too wet to plant in the bed. Should the season be late and unpro-piiious, I would never lose the opportuniiy of plaining by waiting to hill, if I had my lands bedded.

Passing over the time of planting, priming, topping, &c. on which our writer is sufficiently explicit, we come to the casualties or diseases to which ibe crop is subject. The first mentioned by our writer and bj' far the most serious, is the spot or firing, or more properly the rot. This is caused by loo much rain, and is more liable to occur on sand}' soils, and less so on those that are stiff, red, or thirsty. It is of much rarer occurrence of late years than it was formerly, which is ascribable, doubtless, to the improvements in management and cultivation which experience has suggested. The mode formerly practiced was to cultivate the crop almost level, and to keep the soil beiween the hills loose and well broken; under this mode of culiivaiion, immese losses were sustained almost yearlj' by fire. But by adopting just the reverse of ihis, by scraping up carefully with the hoe all ihe loose earth among the hills, as deep as the plough has gone, and throwing it on ihe hills, and leaving the ground among the hills as hard, if possible, as a path,—the leaves of the plant, when it is large enough to take the rot, will shield the hill from the rain, and throw the water off on the hard ground, which soon runs off, and the crop is protected. A sufficient quantity of vegetable matter turned into the soil will also do much towards preventing ihis disease. This is proved by ihe well eslablished fact, that the first crop on a clover and herd?grass fallow where the land is very .sandy, does not fire, whereas the second or third are almost certain to do so unless some vegetable substance is turned into ihe soil, and hence such lands (sandy loam river or creek flats) should not be cultivated two or three years in succession, let them be ever so rich, without applying some vegetable matter or other. These are matters of the greatest importance, for there is no disease more destructive to the tobacco crop than the one we are consi-

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER,

89

dering, and I verily believe, if we could have cultivated oui" crop last j'ear in this way, as unfavorable as the season was, we should have escaped the disaster. But the summer was so unusually wet, we were unable to cultivate our crop in our usual way, and it is the first lime ve hav^ suffered wiih the disease. I would :ot be understood to say that it can always be Drevented, but 1 do believe that it can be gener-illy done, and in the way I have above indicated. r will only add that I very much question the propriety of ever ploughing the crop afrer the plants have got large enough to take the roi, on account of the loose earth ihat is thrown up.

Another enemy of the tobacco crop is the cut loorm. This is not, as stated by Mr. Minor, the larvce of the black bug, but of a fly resembling the candle fly. This fact was first established by a friend and relative of mine, Mr. Thomas F. Venable, of Prince Edward, who is an accurate observer; he imprisoned the worm in a close vessel, and fed him until he passed from the chrysalis to the fly state. But as it reganis the mode of preventing or destroying them, I must request you, gentlemen, or some of your correspondents, to give lis some practical information on the subject. This catching them one by one on the hill, and destroying them, is too slow and tedious and ineffectual, if we could do better. We have tried several experiments on this subject, but have not succeeded. We are now in the midst of another. We broke np our tobacco lots last summer according to custom, which were thick set in grass, we are now re-ploughing them, to see if exposure to the frosts will not interfere with the hatching out of the worm. If we succeed, I rnay drop you a line; till then believe me Yours respectfully,

N. A. Venable.

Lunenburg County.

find killing an innocent bin!, or trouncing a poor frog, I will have no mercy on him.

Wickedness excepted, there is a time for all things, except one—and I would ask the lazy lubber, what is that?

Argus.

Amherst, March, 1S43.

For the Southern Planter. SHORT HINTS.

Stop there! that's a live tree, therefore, it shoulil not be injured or disfigured by sticking your axe into it. And that fire too! nobody of thought would build a fire against a tree.

If you wish your son to be a successful farmer, you must cause hirn to understand that farming is an honorable business.

Sow your seeds in time, and lake time to sow your seeds.

Boy, don't count your licks; but make each lick count fojr itself.

The most graceful sight in the world, is a buzzard saihng at a great elevation, but when he comes down, I grow melancholy, and begin to charge rnyself with some fault.

O y^z ; take notice! that the first bad boy I Vol. Ill—12

PEDDER'S FRANK. From our respected friend, Mr. Jas. Pedder, of Philadelphia, we received a few days since a bundle containing, amongst other things, a copy of Frank, or "Dialogues between a Father and Son on the subject of Agriculture." This little work, which is dedicated particularly to the juvenile class of the agricultural community, is replete with the soundest truths of morality and agriculture. To cherish the gentler feelings of our nature, to elevate the farmer into tl5e kind neighbor and generous friend, whilst he is instructed in the principles of his profession, is exactly the task for which Mr. Pedder's disposition and information most eminently qualify him, and in this little work, these objects have been attempted in a style and manner ihat do equal credit to the head and heart of the author. We should be very happy, if we could, by extending the sale of his valuable book, repay, in part, the many favors and polite attention, for which we stand indebted to Mr. Pedder.

For the Southern Planter. TIMBER.

Messrs. Bolts 6f Burfoot, —Although I am no theorist, I fear nevertheless, that any information at ray command, derived from experience, or observation, will fail to shed much light upon the inquiries submitted by Mr. Tunstall in your last number. Still I am unwilling to withhold any facts in my possession, bearing upon the matter, to which he refers. The aim of the planter being the communication of practical knowledge, rather than the utterance of speculative opinions, I will very briefly detail some of the results of rny limited experience.

About nine years since, I made an aqueduct of chesnut logs about six hundred yards in length. The logs, being about a foot in diameter and the bore about two inches, were laid down in a green state with the bark on, and from two to three feet below the surface of the ground. At this day they are in a sound state, being only a little decayed on the outside, except one of them, so far as I am aware, which was partially decayed, when put down, and which will have to ba renewed. There are

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about one hundred and forty of these logs. I was advised to use chesnut in preference to other timber, not only as being more lasting, when placed below the surface of the earth, but as not being liable to the obstructions, occasioned by the formation, or growth of small roots, or fibrous matter within the conduit, effectually checking the passage of water, and to which oak and pine are peculiarly liable. The year following the construction of mine, a friend also made an aqueduct of oak logs, several of which he has been compelled to take np, but for what cause I have failed to learn of him, which I now regret. Oak, too, imparts a very unpleasant taste to the water. But all this is somewhat apart from the point of Mr. T.'s inquiry. The durability of chesnut as a material for fencing-rails is universally known ; and it is a fact, perhaps, not so generally known, that no timber of the valuable kinds decays with greater rapiditj^, when in immediate contact with the surface of the earth, where it is exposed to the combined action of the elements, as moisture, heat, &c. When chesnut is used for posts, there are only two methods, I am acquainted with, to guard against rapid decay at the part just referred to. The first is, to fill up the post-hole with stones, so that the rain-water may pass, as it falls, into the earth; and the direct contact with earth and water in a measure be avoided, and thus the action of the sun, which follows, is beneficial, instead of being injurious. This plan is suited only to high and rolling land, and not to flat and low ground, when the water must collect around the post in greater or less quantity. One fact should be specially borne in mind ; no kind of timber, whether locust, walnut, chesnut or other, made into posts, ought to be set up in fence, for at least nine months after being cut. If not well seasoned, and particularly if green, the process of decay, which otherwise is scarcely perceptible, becomes very apparent in a few years. The other method, and it is the better, (though it is practicable to unite the two, but I have never seen it done,) is to cause the posts to be VI*ell charred for several inches above and below the point where they touch the siuface. In hewing them, the workman should take care not to reduce them too much at this part, viz: at and below the first mortice, so that in burning, the danger of weakening the post may be avoided. In short, both oak and chesnut posts, prepared in this way, will last very many years ; and all kinds should be kept from nine to twelve months before being put in the earth. Besides the kinds already mentioned, sassafras, chinkapin, white walnut as well as black, mulberry, box oak, and I believe, catalpa, (sed quaere de hoc,) are excellent for posts; and all should be seasoned, but oak and chesnut require charring to the depth of half an inch as before remarked. The other inquiry, as to the season of the

year in which timber should be cut, involves a mooted point and leads lo some little speculation. The return of the sap into the roots in winter is a very ancient and a very common fallacy, as Mr. T. intimates. What then becomes of it ? Why, if I dare utter Latin again, it is functus officio; or in vulgar parlance, it is used up. Possibly the necessary answer to a single question may satisfy him. How does he account for that umbrageous foliage beneath the refreshing influence of which he has so often reposed, while luxuriating in the beauties of nature, as they evolved before him in all their expansive loveliness, to the charms of which, one of his refined taste and keen sensibilities is ever alive? or whence those concentric circles, traceable by the naked eye, when the tree is sawed asunder, one of which is added every 3^ear, and denotes its age with such unerring certainty ? Now I submit, with all deference, that the sap is the material of which, in part at least, the leaves and new wood are formed; in a word, the food of the plant, and to form which must require a large amount, The pores being certainly the conduits, are we to be taught to believe, that the sap is the mere agent by which the nutriment, forming the new growth, is conveyed, and that it does not enter into organic combination; whose office is analogous to the expanded leaves, which are said to act as lobes in supplying the plant with atmospheric air? But even upon this latter idea, may not the disappearance of the sap be explained upon the ground, that having performed its office, it has passed by evaporation from the body of the tree, just in the same manner as aqueous particles are passing off momentlj' from the surface of the human system, when in health; except that in the former case, it is periodical; in the latter, without intermission. The other, however, seems to me to be the better opinion. For wood, as we all know*, is a compound substance of which water is a component part, but in what proportion I am not chemist or botanist enough to tell. We know that the formation of the leaf and wood begins with the first signs of vegetation. When the operation ceases is a little more doubtful. The leaves are fully developed long before the arrival of summer; but the growth of the wood goes on actively to a much later period; probably to the first of August. After which, if I might hazard an opinion, timber may be cut with safety. With few exceptions, any kind may be destroyed in August, root and branch, without danger of sprouting, by simply cutting it down, which seems lo show, that the sap is exhausted and all power of reproduction effectually paralj^zed.

It is an express order, I believe, of the Navy Department, to have all the timber for the construction of our ptiblic vessels felled between the 20th October and the 20th of February, and for

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most uses, among practical men, the period for cutting is from August to March. I presume for the reason, that the quantity of sap and moisture in the wood is so great, from March to August, that the timber, when split is very apt to spring or warp, and also to crack ; both of which effects injure it. Nor is this all. Being very green and sappy, it is very difficult to rive. The process of growing imparts increased tenacity to it, owing to the formation of what laborer's call hen^s teeth in the outer grain of the wood. Later in the season, or in winter, none of these objections occur. In speaking of ' oak,' in the preceding remarks, white oak is meant.

I am assured by observing men, that rails made from black, red, and chesnut oaks, after the bark is stripped off for the tanner, decay rapidly. Trees, the bark of which is for the use of the tanner, are always cut in this latitude in May, when the sap or juices abound ; and further, that as scon as new wood, or sap^ indurates, which is believed to be about the last of June, or first of July, the timber then cut will soon cast the bark, and the white rim, or sap^ becomes as hard and as durable as the heart itself. After all, a series of experiments, carefully made throughout the year in different kinds of timber, can alone settle the question as to the best time for cutting it. This might easily be done, though it would require time to perfect it, as time is an essential ingredient in the question, Tanners must have bark; but if the opinion here indicated be correct, ought not all other descriptions to be cut, as soon as the new wood is perfectly formed, or the precise period is clearly ascertained, by cutting in May, June, July, &c. and the rails, if made into rails, kept under the eye of him making the experiment.

James M'Ilhany.

Loudoun^ March 3, 1843.

For the Southern Planter.

Patent Office, March 1, 1843.

Messrs. Editors,—I hasten to inclose you a small quantity of tobacco seed, with a copy of Mr. Ellicott's letter, hoping that this new experiment will prove highly useful. Very respectfully,

H. L. Ellsworth.

Patuxent Iron Works, Anne Arundel Co. JVfd. ) February 27th, 1843. j

Hon. H. L. Ellsworth :

Sir, —The tobacco seed you gave my brother Andrew, which you represented to be from Spain, has produced plants mostly having leaves on them fourteen inches wide, which is sufficient size for wrappers; which is not the case with Havana plants.

The tobacco appears to be of very superior quality, a sample of which I shall send you ; also some of the segars as soon as I have them made up.

I send you nearly all the seed I have saved, believing tobacco from this seed will be equal to ihe best Havana.

Yours, with respect,

Elias Ellicott.

Two very small parcels of tobacco seed, one marked as " Ellicott's," the other as " from Consul at Trinidad," were received wiih the above. We keep them for Mr. N. A. Venable, as a small return for his valuable communications to the Planter.

THE FARM HORSE. We have received from Mr. Cocke, who inherits a love of the horse, a request to insert an advertisement of his horse, " Black Hawk,'' admirably adapted, as he conceives, to the propagation of an active and powerful race of roadsters. In the veins of Black Hawk, runs the blood of the imported " Sarpedon" and Gen. Cocke's " Roebuck," whose stock for stoutness and game, upon the road, is celebrated in Virginia. We take the liberty of inviting Black Hawk to the exhibition of the Henrico Agricultural Society this spring. Accompanj^ing the advertisement we received the following communication:

To the Editors of the Southern Planter:

Gentlemen, —I send the inclosed notice of my horse for publication on the cover of your paper, (with suitable figure) to appear, if possible, wuh the forthcoming number— i. e. on 1st of JMarch, to be continued for two months thereafter.

I will state in connection with the notice of the horse, that having, in common with m.ost Virginians, a strong love of horses, but never having indulged a taste for the sports of the turf, my partialities led me some years since to commence breeding that noble animal for the more useful purposes of the saddle and harness, with the view of uhimately propagating a distinct race of roadsters, which, like the English Hunter, should be unrivalled under the saddle and in the light draught of pleasure vehicles. My plan has been to select mares of good blood, size and useful qualities, and otherwise particularly adapted to my mode of breeding—and to put them to the largest and best of the thorough bred horses of the State, and to cross and re-cross upon this stock until animals of the desired qualities shall be produced. I have at present some twenty or more mares—colts and stallions—from which I am breeding upon the

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above plan. Many of the colts are very fine and remarkable for size—especially those of the second cross—and I have every indication so far of the final success of this plan of breeding, which was commenced and is prosecuted chiefly

for the gratification of a passion for fine horses, but at the same time not without the hope that it may in the end prove of some public benefit. Very respectfully yours,

Philip St. George Cocke.

STRAW CUTTER .

Experience has long since demonstrated that there was no implement upon the farm productive of greater saving than a good straw cutter. Repeated experiments made at the North and reported with the grealest accuracy, have shown a saving of one-third to the farmer who cuts up all his long feed. Impressed with the absolute necessity for one of these machines upon every well managed farm, we have paid great attention to its construction, and had some months ago brought it to such a state of perfection, as not on\y to entirely satisfy ourselves, but, what was much more difficult, to satisfy the numerous purchasers of the article. In this satisfaction our northern friends partook in a very large degree, as was manifested by the award to us, last fall, of the first premium of the New Haven Agricultural Society, the third premium at Alb.iny, where it was broken and out of order, the first premium at Philadelphia, where it was exhibited in competition with the very implements that were preferred to it at

Albany, and again the first premium and a silver medal at the great exhibition of the American Institute in New York, where it again met and defeated its Albany rivals and dozens of other competitors.

For this cutler, with the numerous testimonials of its durabiiil}'', efficiency, and ease of management in our possession, we claim, without arrogance, the palm over every 01 her made in Europe or America. But there is still one difficulty. To make so perfect a machine, with every facilily of labor-saving machinerj'', with every disposition to accommodate our prices to the times, we are unable to furnish the cutter for less than t/iirtij dollars, whilst we continue to make it up in a manner to sustain its well earned reputation ; but we are constanlly beset by small farmers, who think they cannot afford to give so much for a straw cutter, with the inquiry, " Can't you make us a cheaper cutter, which, if not so good, will yet answer our purposes ?" To answer this demand, we have just

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gotten up and patented an ariicle upon an entirely new principle, which works to a miracle. It is represented in the engraving: it differs not very greatly from the usual form of guillotine straw cutter, in which a gate is made to work up and down l!_ means of a lever, except in this, that the gate, instead of moving perpendicularly up and down, moves ohliquely to the straw, so as to enter and run, as it were, with the grain of the straw. By this means, the greatest ease of cut is obtained. Let the reader go out to his wood pile, and throw his axe first perpendicularly and then obliquely into a log of wood, and he will have a pretty good idea of the advantage of this mode of cut. Again, when the gate moves perpendicularly up and down, there is a constant tendency, especially when the knife is dull, to force it off from the bed plate against which it cuts. By this means a wear and play in the gate is engendered, by which the cleanness of cut is entirely destroyed. If the gate moves obliquely the other way, that is, makes an acute, instead of an obtuse, angle with the straw, the mode in which we first tried it, this difficulty is greatly increased ; but when the gate moves as in this cutter, the knife is drawn in by the grain of the straw, technically called "eating," and a constant cleanness of cut is ensured. These two advantages render this knife, which we can sell for ten dollars, superior, we believe, to any cheap cutter in use.

If thought desirable, a board may be set up in front at any required distance from the knife, as a guage, against which the straw, which is fed by hand, may be pushed, so as to regulate the feed to any lengih required.

To grind the knife, it is only necessary to turn a single screw, when the whole gate may be slipped out, and the knife may be ground without being removed. To small farmers and private stables in cities we believe this knife will prove to be exactly what has been long wanting.

BoTTS & BURFOOT.

For the Southern Planter.

SOWING CLOVER SEED.

Messrs. Editors, —You will please to order me four barrels of poudrette; 1 should like to gel it this month. If yon have any on hand, please inform me forihwiih. I wish lo try experiments with it during the present season, and should it answer my expeclalions, I shall deal

move largely in the article in future. Your cutting box has saved me during the past winter, the price it cost me. Two hands can cut shucks, hay, or fodder enough for fifteen or twenty horses in ten or fifteen minutes with it. Your last number contains a drawing of a box for sowing clover seed, which I consider an useless piece of lumber. I follow the plan of my neighbor, Mr. Hewlett, which is to mix the qunntity of clover, or any other seed, you may wish to sow to the acre with one bushel of moist (not wei) sand, and let the seedsman sow froin his apron as he would wheat. It thus comes up uniformly and regularly. Yours truly,

Rob. FI. Nelson. March 9, 1843.

For the practised and skilful sower, the plan recommended by Dr. Nelson is better than any implement that can be devised, but with any other hand, the box is invaluable in securing an even^and equal distribution of the seed.

As to the Cutter, we could add a hundred equally flattering testimonials to that of Dr. Nelson, who has been using his now for two or three years.

CREDIT aUOTATIONS.

We quoted from TuU^ under the head of " Selections," in 5ih number of our paper, on the subject of "Pulverising the soil." We find this same article in a December niimber of ihe New England Farmer, quoted from the Southern Agriculturist, which paper credits it to the Southern Planter as original. We protest against thus robbing the dead of its righiful dues.

American Agriculturist.

If the Messrs. Allen are as desirous to do justice to the living, as they are scrupulous of "robbing the dead," they will please state, that the article alluded to, was marked in the Southern Planter as a quotation.

For the Southern Planter.

PREMIUMS

For the next Meeting of the Agricultural Society

of Henrico, luhich will be held the last week in

May. For the best stallion calculated to produce

stock for the saddle, harness or draught,

the property of the exhibitor, $15

For the best brood mare, do. do. 10

For the best male saddle horse, do. 10

For the best mule raised by the exhibitor, 6 For the best work horse, do. 5

Committee of Jitoard —Augustus Mordecai, D. W. Haxall and Poiteaux Robinson.

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For the best bull, the property of the exhibitor, $10 For the best milch cow, do. 10 For the best milch cow, raised by the exhibitor, 10 For the best pair of oxen, property of exhibitor, 5 Committee of Award —Jacob Shook, Albert G. Hobson and Benjamin Franklin. For the best boar, raised by exhibitor, $5 For the best brood sow, do. 5 For the best boar, the property of exhibitor, 5 For the best brood sow, do. 5 Committee of Award —Charles Marx, John N. Shields and L. W. Chamberlayne. For the best buck, the property of exhibitor, $5 For the best lot of three ewes, do. 5 Committee of Award —Thomas S. Dicken, C W. Gooch and William Carter. For the best specimen of domestic wine, not less than one gallon, the production of exhibitor, $5 Committee of Axoard —R. B. Haxall, James Lyons and William D. Wren. For the best specimen of ploughing, to be performed by the farmer himself with his own plough and team of two horses, $10 To which Messrs. Botts & Burfoot add a straw cutter at $30 and a plough at $10, 40 Committee of Award —Hill Carter, Randolph Harrison and Richard Hill, with authority to fill vacancies.

For the best corn sheller, Diploma.

For the best cutting machine. Diploma.

For the best threshing machine, including

horse power, $10

For the best specimen of farming tools, axes, hoes, spades, &c. 5

Committee of Avmrd —Corbin Warwick, H. L. Carter and George W. Bassett. For the finest specimens of poultry, such as geese, ducks, turkeys, hens and chickens, a premium of $2 50 for each specimen.

Committee of Award —Thomas B. Bigger, A. Robinson, Jr. and Edwin Hill.

Stock and articles which have heretofore received premiums are excluded from competition. ^^ There is another list of premiums to be added to the above, chiefly for horticultural products, which we could not obtain at the time of going to press,— Eds. S. P.

We have long entertained the opinion, which we have frequently expressed, that a thorough knowledge of the mechanical part of his profession, was wanting in the southern farmer.— From a long experience in mechanical business, we are peculiarly aware of the advantages possessed by any proprietor who is thoroughly in-

structed in those arts practised by his subordinates. Although it may not be necessary for the wealthy farmer to submit himself to the di'udgery of manual labor, we all know how important it is that his hands should be skilled in their several occupations. Even if he has a practical overseer, it is all important that the proprietor should be able to superintend his superintendent.

The captain of a ship prides himself on being able to handle a rope better than any man aboard, and scorns to give an order that he could not execute. So a farmer, from the driving of a nail to the turning of a furrow, should have no superior; this, with his better education and higher intellect, the master, with a little practice, will soon accomplish. Impressed with these opinions, and satisfied that no better test of a good farmer can be obtained than his ability to excel in that art which lies at the foundation of good husbandry, we have put at the disposal of the Henrico Society a cutter and PLOUGH, to be disposed of as advertised above. We are happy to say that already some of our most respectable farmers haveentered their names for the contest, which will be, we are inclined to think, one of the most animating and interesting that has ever been witnessed in this country. One gentleman, a distinguished writer and a celebrated farmer, says he would enter, if the time of trial could be postponed, so that he m\^\. learn to'plough.

TOMATOES FOR COWS.

It is not generally known (says the L. C. Advocate) that this vegetable is a superior article of food for milch cows. We have tried it two summers, and it is decidedly superior to any other vegetable we have yet tried. They add greatly to the quantity as well as to the richness of the milk, and give a rich golden color to the cream and butter, which is at least pleasant to the eye, even if the flavor is not so improved. We do not know, however, that they impart any richer flavor to the butter.

We have known a cow to refuse them when first offered, but soon became very fond of them ; others, we believe a large majority, eat them greedily from the first. Thus far we have fed them only in the raw state; but if boiled with corn meal, say half and half, or two-thirds tomatoes, they will doubtless be far better.

To one who has a dairy farm, the cultivation of an acre or two in tomatoes would be repaid by greater profit than any vegetable we know. From one acre not less than eight bushels may

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be gathered daily from July until frost. There is some trouble in picking them, but then nearly every farmer has children ; his little boys—ay, and his big ones, too—would not be the worse for a little work. We should be glad to see the experiment tried on a larger scale than ours, and to Ib^vn the result.

SWEET POTATOES. We observe that a correspondent of the " S. Western Farmer," in Mississippi, declares, that from a thorough trial he is fully satisfied that sweet potatoes, as a food for stock, are far superior to ruta baga, and that he believes they as far excel the sugar beet. Our early subscribers will remember that a northern emigrant declared, in the first volume of the Planter, that if the northern people could raise the sweet potato, they would abandon all other roots.

TO PRESERVE FLOWERS FRESH FOR A LONG PERIOD.

Procure a flat dish of porcelain ; into which pour water sufficient to nearly fill it; in the water place a vase of flowers: over the vase place a bell-glass, with its rim in the water. This is similar to a " Wards's case," in principle, although different in construction. The air that surrounds the flowers being confined beneath the bell-glass, is constantly moist with the water that rises into it, in the form of vapor. As fast as the water becomes condensed, it runs down the sides of the bell-glass into the dish ; and if means be taken to enclose the water on the outside of the bell-glass, so as to prevent its evaporating into the air of the sitting room, the atmosphere around the flowers will remain continually damp. This plan is designated the " Hopean apparatus." The experiment may be tried on a small scale, by inserting a tumbler over a rose bud, in a saucer of water.

Gardeners' Chronicle.

TOBACCO. We were struck with the views of a distinguished planter of Cumberland, who was speaking to us a few days since upon the subject of the tobacco crop. He thinks, under the system that is now prevailing, it is destined to be the great renovator of our worn out lands, and that it will yet accomplish for Virginia what turnips have effected for the coimty of Norfolk, and British husbandry in general. He contends that it is not an exhauster, but that, being like the turnip a broad leaved plant, and

being removed before it matures its seed, it draws its sustenance, in a great measure, from tlie atmosphere, and is, according to all established principles, an ameliorating crop. That the lands of our planters have grown poor, he thinks, proceeded from other causes than the abstract cultivation of tobacco. In the first place, our ancestors were too prodigal of the gifts of nature, and the treasures of the barn-yard were too long permitted to waste their sweetness upon the desert air. Secondly, when their successors were driven by necessity to the collection and use of manure, the tobacco planters concentrated all of theirs upon their tobacco lots, which, on account of their superiority, were immoveably devoted to this valuable staple, and that so far from the tobacco having exhausted, it is a notorious fact that the best part of every plantation is that which has been devoted to its growth. It is in fact the corn and oats, cultivated by this system without manure, that have exhausted the land. But, says our author, there is no crop, not even the turnip itself, that from the saving of manure that it induces, and the high degree of tillage it requires, forms as good a preparation for succeeding crops; and all that is wanting, as he contends, to demonstrate its value, is the new system, which makes every portion of the farm that is to be improved a tobacco lot, alternately; thus making a rotation, of which tobacco shall form a constituent part.

From the Connecticut Farmers' Gazette.

FOR CORN—A RECIPE.

Mix plaster, unleached ashes, and quick fine lime together, in the following proportions :—two parts plaster, two parts ashes, and one part lime, and apply a small quantity of the mixture to each hill of corn immediately after the first hoeing, and see if it don't go a " leetle" ahead of any thing you ever tried to make corn grow.— Be sure to leave one row without the application, "jest" to see the difference.

Novice.

THE SPIRIT OF THE TIMES. This valuable hebdomadal has come to us this week accompanied by a spirited and faithful portrait of W. R. Johnson, Esq., which in after days will be worth a year's subscription to the paper. In this age of cheap literature, the Spirit of the Times stands " solitary and alone," a monument of what an Editor can afford to do