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moved up a little farther, and thus give his hogs access to a fresh portion of the potato field.— This plant, we think, commends itself to the attention of planters on several accounts. The cheapness of the food; its being ready for use at an important season for pushing forward young hogs, (and nearly every southern planter kills his hogs young,) the greater amount of pork it enables him to raise, and the less corn it requires in the fall to make his hogs fully fat.— And we may add to these, that every hog is thus made to gather his own harvest. The cheapness of this article of food, (when the labor of harvesting is saved,) certainly cannot be questioned. For from two to four hundred bushels of roots, besides the vines, per acre, is no small amount of nutritious matter for the labor bestowed in culture. If any one needs to be convinced that August is an important month for pushing forward hogs that are to be killed in the fall, let him try to fatten a very poor hog; he will eat more than his bacon will be worth. And, in fact, a year old that has been kept poor until the pea fields are open, will yield very little bacon. This plan enables the planter to keep his hogs fat and growing rapidly from the first of August until killing time. For by the time the potatoes are fully eaten out, the pea fields may be opened, and by the time they are done and the hogs confined ten days on corn, to harden the fat, the weather will probably be cold enough to kill. And here another advantage is gained. For the most successful curers of bacon we know, all agree that the earlier you can kill your hogs, the surer you are to have your bacon free from bugs in the summer.— Planter.

GUANO. Upon the South American shore of the Pacific Ocean and the adjacent islands, is found a substance called Guano, which is supposed to be the accumulated dung of birds, that in countless myriads range that extensive coast, seeking their prey in the finny tribe of the great ocean. The fertilizing effects of the article are well known to the Peruvians, and have induced its transportation six thousand miles to the shores of England. Occasionally for the last twenty years, a ship load would find its way to the English ports, and although, perhaps, the production is too limited, and the cost of transportation too great, to permit it ever to become an extensive article of commerce, its extraordinary fertilizing properties render it a subject of extreme interest to the inquiring agriculturist. It sells in England for about five dollars the hundred weight, and from two to four hundred weight is used to the acre, One bushel is

reckoned to be equal to thirty or forty of the best rotted stable dung. This product has been analyzed, and its constituents have been found to consist of those salts, which modern discovery has shown to be most instrumental in aiding the growth of vegetable products. Indeed, so exactly does this substance seem adapted for the purpose to which it is applied, that an attempt has been made to produce it by an artificial combination of its constituents ; and it is yet hoped that this attempt will lead to a chemical composition, that will afford us an artificial manure with all the properties of the guano, at a much lower price than the natural product can be imported. When this article is fresh, it is said to be of a light greyish color, but exposure soon gives it a brownish cast. It probably only excels the dung of our pigeons and domestic fowls, because of the animal food from which it is elaborated. A ship load of guano was lately brought into the port of Baltimore, where it was sold at seven cents a pound ; a friend, who happened to be in the city at the time, was kind enough to bring us a little box of it, a part of which was applied to some geraniums and other plants by way of experiment. Much as we had heard of its marvellous effects we were astonished at the .magical result upon our flower bed.

We are yet groping in the dark upon the subject of agriculture, but a spirit of inquiry is awakened that we are satisfied will never slumber until the most astonishing and most satisfactory results are obtained.

From the Farmers' Cabinet. FLORICULTURE.

An intelligent friend, long accustomed to the pursuits of floriculture, and remarkably fortunate in raising plants from seed and cuttings, attributes his success, in a great measure, to the plan he has invariably adopted, which is, to keep his plants as near the level of the ground as possible; the windows of his kitchen affording him the best situation for striking cuttings, &c; after which come his parlor windows, and then those of his first floor; but above this, his plants never flourish. And the cause for this, he considers perfectly plain and natural; for at, and near the surface of the earth, there is always a degree of moisture floating in the atmosphere; but above, it is wanting; while the altitude of a third story, or an attic, is dry and unfriendly to vegetation.

When the season arrives for the removal of

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his plants from the house to the open air, he is careful not to set the pots on bricks or a pavement, for these are continually extracting moisture from the earth in the pots, and in hot weather th° roots of the plants are thereby scorched and dV'.ed up. He places them on the earth, and in watering, pours some between ihem, and thus the pots are kept moist and cogI during the hottest day. It is a fact, that no where have I

seen finer plants than his; nor do I know any one who can raise them with such certainty and with so little trouble or difficulty: and believing that the hint may be valuable to many of your readers, particularly to those whose labors in floriculture are chiefly confined to the house, it is communicated, in the hope that they will reciprocate, if in their power so to do.

S. Dale.

For the Southern Planter. GATE.

Mr. Editor, —You have furnished us a great deal of valuable practical matter in the " Planter" upon the subject of gates, but I do not think you have quite exhausted the subject, and therefore beg that you will re-publish the cut and description that I have marked in the number of the "United States Farmer," that I got from your office a few days since. I think the principle an admirable one, but will be glad if you will accompany the article with such comments as your better judgment may suggest. Your obedient servant,

A. G. S * * * * *.

We have turned to the article referred to, and complied with the request of our correspondent by putting the cut in the hands of the engraver. "A circular piece of plank six or eight inches in diameter, grooved after the manner of a pulley wheel, is nailed or firmly attached horizontally to the top of the heel po3t of the gate, in such a manner that its centre shall be exactly in the axi.s of the gate. To the inner side of

this circular piece, (the gate being supposed to open outwards,) in the groove, a rope or chain is attached, which passes over a small pulley fastened to the back part of the gate post, suspending a weight sufficient to swing the gate together. It is evident, that if the circular piece be six inches in diameter, the gate may be opened to its fullest extent without raising the weight more than a foot."

This is an ingenious, although not entirely novel arrangement; we have seen the same plan adopted for small yard gates, where it works very admirably, and certainly is the neatest and least inconvenient form in which a weight can be applied to keeping a gate shut. In a farm gate, a latch would also be necessary to prevent stock from pushing it open. But the weight here answers a double purpose; it not only keeps the gate shut, but it balances the gate and tends to keep the heel post in an upright position; so that if the balance of the

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gate is securely braced to this post, it will be prevented from swagging. We have no doubt it is well worthy the fanner's attention.

EXPERIMENTS IN COAL ASHES.

We applied coal ashes in the drill, mixed with the soil, for turnips, on a moist, clayey soil, and the crop in drills thus dressed was nearly twice as much as in drills without any dressing. For each peck of ashes we got nearly three pecks extra turnips. Our memorandum is not at hand, but we think about one peck was applied to a drill about three rods in length. The effect was precisely like that of wood ashes. We used coal ashes, plaster, and salt, mixed on a light, gravelly soil, for turnips, and they increased the crop nearly one half. Which ingredient was most beneficial, we know not. We used coal ashes on a light sandy soil for potatoes, and perceived no effect, excepting the potatoes were more smooth, being protected from the worms.

A gardener once showed us the effects of coal ashes. He had potatoes very fair and smooth in a garden where they used to be much injured by the worms before the use of ashes. He found that the grass grew in and around a path which was a disadvantage in wet weather, or when the dew was on, and to prevent this he covered the path a few inches deep with coal ashes, and in consequence the grass grew far more luxuriantly than before. In a low place coal ashes had been thrown to fill up, till it was fifteen or eighteen inches deep; in this soil, composed wholly of coal ashes, potatoes and beans were growing very luxuriantly.

Boston Cultivator.

LIME. Doctors Dana and Jackson, of Massachusetts, both of whom are celebrated for their attainments in agricultural chemistry, have undertaken to respond to some inquiries, from an anonymous writer, as to the action of lime upon the soil, and especially as to its agency in preventing the growth of sorrel. They both express the opinion that when properly applied it neutralizes the acid from which the sorrel springs. Dr. Dana says, that when the lime bears only a small proportion to the acid, a super-oxylate is formed that rather promotes thari prevents the growth of sorrel. When a thick coating of lime, even a pile, is laid on the surface, but a small portion of it enters the soil and unites with the acid, probably just enough to form the super-oxylate and promote the growth of sorrel; consequently, it is not surprising to see sorrel growing luxuriantly through such a pile.

From Dr. Jackson's remarks upon this subject, we make the following extracts :

" It is not contended that lime alone is capable of conferring fertility upon a barren sandy plain, or that it will meet every possible case. It will, however, do much more than is generally known, when employed in a proper manner, by skilful hands. Its principal use with the farmer should be as a chemical agent in decomposing his composts, so as to render them fit for immediate use. I have advised the farmers generally in this primary region, so poor in calcareous matter, to mix into their composts of peat or swamp muck and barn-yard manure, which have stood one winter, a bushel of recently slacked lime to a wagon load of the compost, while digging it over in the spring, preparatory to spreading it on the soil. So far as I have heard, the result of this experiment has been universally favorable, and in all the cases where I have personally directed the operations, it has proved satisfactory. A much larger proportion of lime may be advantageously employed than what I have above mentioned, but even that small quantity produces a very good effect.

" Top dressing with lime is liable to many objections, which do not present themselves when the lime is put into the compost, and thus at once neutralized. Top dressing with lime requires several years to make manifest its action, and it is not certain to act favorably, unless there is already a sufficiency of organic manures in the soil, for it to act upon.

"So long as lime is attracting carbonic acid from the atmosphere, it must act unfavorably on growing plants, but when this ceases and the acids generated in the soil by the decay of vegetable matters begin to act on the carbonate of lime, then a very favorable influence is perceived, from the disengagement of carbonic acid gas, and the formation of the organic acid salts of lime.

" Owing to this fact being overlooked, we have had much erroneous statistics on the use of lime as a manure, or amendment."

GAPES IN CHICKENS. The following is an extract of a letter received from a friend in Caroline:

"In writing to you, it will probably not be amiss to communicate a fact which will be of some interest to the lovers of fried chickens. — Some of my neighbors have entirely prevented, and others have speedily cured that destructive malady, the gapes in their chickens, by mixing a small quantity of spirits of turpentine in their food. From five to ten drops, added to a pint of meal to be made into dough, are the proportions used. I have no doubt of the universal

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and certain success of the remedy, relying, as I do, upon the character of those who have communicated it to me.

Yours, Benj'n Anderson."

TO PREVENT DECAY OF WOOD.

Take twelve ounces of rosin and eight ounces of roll brimstone, each coarsely powdered, and three gallons of train-oil. Heat them slowly, gradually adding four ounces of beeswax, cut in small bits. Frequently stir the liquor, which, as soon as the solid ingredients are dissolved, will be fit for use. What remains unused, will become solid on cooling, and may be re melted on subsequent occasions. When it is fit for use, add as much Spanish brown, or red or yellow ocre, or any color you want, first ground fine in some of the oil, as will give the shade you want: then lay it on with a brush as hot and thin as you can ; some days after the first coat is dried, give it a second. It will preserve plank for ages, and keep the weather from driving through brick-work. Common white paint may be used on top of it, if required, for the sake of appearance. Two coats should always be given; and in all compound machinery, the separate parts should be so varnished, before they are put together; after which, it will be prudent to give a third coating to the joints, or to any other part which is peculiarly exposed to the action of moisture; such as water-shoots, flood-gates, the beds of carts, the tops of posts, and all timber which is near, or within the ground. Each coat should be dry before the parts are joined, or the last coat applied. The composition should be applied when the wood is perfectly dry. It is necessary to mention that compositions made of hot oil, should, for the sake of security, be heated in metalic vessels in the open air. For when oil is brought to the boiling point, or 600° of Fahrenheit, the vapor catches fire : and though a lower degree of temperature should be used in this process, it is not always possible to regulate the heat, or to prevent the overflowing of the materials; in either of which cases, were the melting performed in a house, fatal accidents might happen.— Archives of Useful Knowledge.

CULTIVATION OF THE RASPBERRY.

The plants are frequently set out in light and poor soils, crowded together, left untrimmed, choked up with a profuse growth of weak sterns, and what little fruit they produce is nearly dried up, from the arid situation in which they are placed. On the contrary, in cool, deep, and moist .soils, in a sheltered and partially shaded place, the plants throw up suckers to the height of six or eight feet, and produce a profusion of

large, handsome, and well flavored berries. So well assured are the most eminent English cultivators of the raspberry, of its love of a cool and moist soil, that some writers have strenuously recommended the .use of bog earth and rotten leaves, in the place of the richest loam. We are well assured that the many complaints which are made of the meager produce of many raspberry plantations may be attributed wholly to the light and droughty soils in which they are often planted?

A cool aspect is of material consequence, and to secure this the north side of a fence or trellis, which will form a screen from the sun, is the most favorable; on the north side of a shrubbery or row of fruit trees is also a suitable place. If neither of these situations is to be had, an open spot in the garden may be chosen, always being careful to avoid the south or east side of a fence. A temporary shade may be effected in the open garden by planting a row of running beans on the south side.— Hovtrfs Mag.

For the Southern Planter.

Richland, July 27, 1843.

Mr. Editor,—In conformity with a resolution of the joint meetings of the two agricultural clubs of Mecklenburg County, I transmit to you for publication a copy of the proceedings of their first annual meeting, held on the 4th of July, at Cabin Point.

With many good wishes for the success of your valuable paper, and for the cause of agriculture,

I am, very respectfully,

Your obedient servant,

Henry E. Lockett.

Cabin Point, July 4, 1843.

At a meeting of the two agricultural clubs of Mecklenburg County, held this day, pursuant to a previous arrangement, on motion of Richard Boyd, Esq., A. C. Morton was called to the chair, and H. E. Lockett appointed Secretary.

After the meeting was duly organized, the President, Anderson C. Morton, rose, and in his peculiar, and forcible style, delivered to an attentive audience an address, characterized throughout with sound and practical good sense and a thorough and intimate knowledge of the subject on which he treated.

It may with truth be said that they were fortunate indeed, who had so good an opportunity of being profited by his experience as an agriculturist, and his ability as a writer.

On motion it was resolved, unanimously, by the two clubs, that the President be requested to forward a copy of his address to the Editor of the Southern Planter, and that he be requested to publish it.

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On motion, Resolved, That Dr. Tingnal Jones, Hon. William O. Goode, Capt. H. E. Lockett, Richard Boyd, Esq. and Richard Russell, Esq., be appointed a Committee to draft an address to the Farmers and Planters of Mecklenburg, respectfully requesting and urging them to form agricultural clubs or associations for the purpose of promoting the improvement of the land, and all the interests of agriculture, and inviting them to unite with us in our annual meetings, and in such other efforts as may be (Jeemed necessary for the advancement of these objects.

On motion of Dr. Jones,

Resolved, That the President be added to the Committee.

In accordance with the above resolution the Committee, after retiring a short time, presented themselves, and through their chairman, A. C. Morton, reported the following address, which was adopted:

To the Farmers and Planters of Mecklenburg:

Gentlemen,—The undersigned have been appointed a Committee to address you on a subject they deem of general interest and importance. A few of your fellow-citizens have associated themselves in clubs for the purpose of promoting agricultural improvement, and they flatter themselves that their plan, if carried generally into effect, will be of great practical utility. The clubs contain each a dozen members, who hold monthly meetings on the farms of the members, and dine always at the house of the member on whose farm they meet. At these meetings they inspect the farm, applaud what they consider praiseworthy, condemn what they regard as erroneous in practice, and discuss such agricultural subjects as may be agreed on or brought incidentally before them.

This plan is well calculated to inform the members as to the best modes of cultivation, and of managing all the various departments of the farm, and to promote those social feelings which ought to be cultivated in every neighborhood. We are well persuaded that no more efficient plan could be put in operation, and we have reason to believe that although our existing clubs are but of recent origin, good has already been effected by them. We are desirous to see the attention of the agriculturists of every section of the county directed to these important objects, and respectfully invite them to form similar clubs, and unite with us in our annual meetings and such other efforts as may be deemed best calculated to promote the objects in view.

We deem it superfluous to use arguments to prove, that the situation of our portion of Virginia requires united efforts in the cause of agriculture. Every field proclaims in language stronger than any we can use, the necessity of exertions to stay the hand of the destroyer. We

are favored by Heaven with a naturally fruitful soil, a healthy and delightful climate, and every other natural advantage to stimulate us to exertion.

All that is wanting is to rouse the people to examine into this subject and make such efforts as* its importance merits, and the tide of improvement will roll in its fertilizing waters until every waste place shall become as a garden, and " the desert bud and blossom as the rose." Come up, then, gentleman, and give us the '•' right hand of fellowship," in this cause. We shall be delighted to hear of the institution of clubs all over the county, and shall hail them as harbingers of the rapid improvement of agriculture throughout its borders, and would gladly meet all such clubs in general meetings, to be held annually on the "fourth day of July," and unite with thejn in every measure that promises to promote the improvement of our soil, and the advancement of the general interests of agriculture.

The two clubs here assembled, through us invite and urge you to form your clubs, and will hold themselves in readiness to meet you at any central point that may be agreed on, and concert such measures as may be deemed of general interest by such annual meetings.

Tingnal Jones, "1

William O. Goode,

Henrv E. Lockett I Commto

Richard Lsoyd,

Richard Russell,

A. C. Morton, J

Cabin Point, July 4, 1843.

On motion of Mr. Williamson,

Resolved, That the records of the proceedings of each club, with the reports of investigating committees for the ensuing year, be produced at the next annual meeting for general inspection.

On motion of Mr. Haskins,

Resolved, That Capt. Henry E. Lockett be appointed to read the Declaration of the American Independence, and that the Hon. William O. Goode be invited to attend and deliver an address at the next annual meeting.

On motion of Mr. Richard Boyd,

Resolved, That a copy of the proceedings of this meeting be transmitted to the Editor of the Southern Planter, with the request that it be published.

On motion, the meeting adjourned, to meet at this place at 10 o'clock on the 4th day of July, 1844.

A. C. Morton, President.

Henry E. Lockett, Secretary.

This is certainly a most novel and interesting mode of celebrating the fourth of July, and to a community of farmers none could be more appropriate. We can scarcely resist the desire we

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feel to comply with the request of the Club, backed as it is by the intrinsic excellence of the production, to give Dr. Morton's address entire to the public ; but the nature and limits of our work admonish us that we must be content to confinL ourselves to such portions of this eloquent production, as are most strictly of an agricultural character. Upon the benefit of agricultural association the Doctor with great point and force, remarks:

"All great objects are effected by similar combinations. Would you construct a railroad, open a canal, establish a bank, your individual contributions would be brought up to raise a fund for the purpose, and what individual strength could not accomplish, your collective force would easily achieve; and each individual would share in the profits in proportion to the amount of his investment. But in agricultural associations, when each one contributes his mite of information, we have at once a common fund or capital, whence each one ma} 7 not only draw the whole amount of his investment, but may appropriate to his own use the whole capital stock of the whole company, and yet leave that capital not only undiminished, but rapidly augmenting.— We must not be content to appropriate this valuable capital to our exclusive use. Sharing it with our neighbors and countrymen cannot exhaust it j like the widow's cruise, the more we dispense from it, the more rapidly will it be replenished."

To arrest the tide of emigration, the Doctor makes the following eloquent appeal:

" Emigration, like a blight, has thinned our ranks. What but bad tillage and neglect of our lands has entailed this evil upon us? The father, as a consequence of the destructive abuse of his native soil, seldom enjoys the reflection, that the home of his youth, of his manhood, and of his old age, is to be the home of his offspring, or that the bones of the generation that succeeds him, who have been his solace in life, in death, will repose by his side. Too often, alas! he finds that his own reckless waste of bis patrimonial soil has driven them even in his lifetime to seek in the wilds of the West an asylum from poverty and want, and in all probability, whilst they wander there, the last sad offices due from his beloved ones, are left to stranger hands. This should not be. Thus has Virginia been robbed of her hardy yeomanry and the brightest gems and flowers of her population to fill up other lands, to people other nations ; her glory has departed with them ; while her spacious fields, her widening deserts, where howl the wolf and herd the wild deer, might still have been the home of her departed sons. Vol. ITT.—26

" Shall this unhappy state of things continue 1 Shall the plea of necessity still carry off those who might adorn the public or the private station ? Shall the listening senates of other lands admire and applaud, while their halls ring with the eloquence of Virginia's expatriated sons?— Shall the young West cast the world in shade by the greatness of her statesmen and the brightness of her historic page, and all this at the expense of this their mother country; and shall nothing be done to stay the destructive tide? Improved modes of agriculture might have prevented this; the tide may yet be rolled back. It is you and such as you ; it is the patriot hearts of Mecklenburg, of old Virginia, that must come up to the rescue. It is the cause of our country, of our public and private interests, of our native soil, of our beloved old Commonwealth. The happiness of the family circle, of the social bond, is at stake. Let family then unite with family, friend with friend, farmer with farmer, club with club, in the great work. Our lands still possess the elements of fertility ; they are only crippled, not killed. Industry and enterprise, guided by intelligence and skill, with the stimulating the enlightening, the reviving influence of social combinations, will do much towards the great work of restoring them to their original fertility, and raising the Old Dominion again to her high and enviable position among the nations of the earth. Ought not every patriot to aspire to this? Should not every good citizen labor for it ? I may be deemed an enthusiast in this interesting subject, but I glory in such enthusiasm.

" My grey hairs admonish me that I am growing old, but I hope to live yet long enough to see, under the influence of the redeeming spirit of the age, guided by the intelligence and enterprise of the great body of our agriculturists, this whole county clothed in new garments; the meadow, instead of the broom field, fattening grasses for pasturage, instead of the poor and impoverishing natural weeds and herbage, and* the merry whistling ploughman coming home at eve rejoicing in the prospect of the plenteous fruits of his labor, instead of the dull, cheerless wight, who is ever haunted with dreams of cattle on the lift, jaded teams, and starvation, oi? the West.

" We have seen in the progress of the last five or six years ample encouragement to press on. I, for one, will not be discouraged. I am resolved to do all I can, not only at home, but wherever I go, in forwarding the great woik of improvement, and I feel assured, gentlemen, that you will join heart and hand with me in this laudable pledge, and that you, equally with me, look forward to the day when our fields shall bring, instead of three, four and five for one, some thirty, some sixty, and some a hundred for one."

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If every neighborhood could boast of an individual possessed of the intelligence, the zeal, and the warm-hearted devotion of the author of this address; of one, who would strengthen his precept by example, and by ocular proof demonstrate the advantages of an improved system of husbandry, how easy would it be to satisfy the public mind that the hidden resources of our State, much as they have been wasted, are not yet exhausted, and that upon no portion of the world has Providence more liberally bestowed its bounties, than upon the land of our nativity.

CURE FOR WHAT IS CALLED A RUN-ROUND ON THE FINGER.

That disease of the finger or toe, which is commonly called a run-round, may be easily cured by a remedy so simple that persons who have not tried it are generally incredulous as to its efficacy. The first symptoms of the complaint are heat, pain, swelling, and redness at the top of the nail. The inflammation, if not checked very soon, goes round the whole of the nail, causing intense pain, accompanied by a gathering of yellow matter, which, as soon as it appears, should be punctured or opened by a needle, not waiting till it has extended its progress ; otherwise the finger will become excessively sore and intolerably painful, and the nail will eventually come off. All this may be prevented at once, if as soon as the swelling and inflammation begin, the finger is laid flat on a table, and the nail scratched all over (first lengthways and then crossways,) with the sharp point of a pair of scissors or of a penknife, so as to scratch up the whole surface of the nail, leaving it rough and white. This little operation will not give the slightest pain, and we have never known it fail in stopping the progress of the disease; all symptoms of which will disappear by next day. We have proved its efficacy by experience, and believe that every person who has tried it has found it a positive cure, if done before matter begins to appear; and even then it will generally succeed if that part of the gathering which has assumed a yellow color is first opened with a needle and the nail afterwards thoroughly scratched all over with the point of the scissors.— Miss Leslie.

PROGNOSTICATIONS OF THE WEATHER.

A friend of ours, a captain in the United States navy, has handed us the following table for foretelling the weather, which he says he has consulted for twenty years in different latitudes in America, and has generally found it to be relied upon. It was originally composed by that eminent astronomer, the elder Herschel,

and added to somewhat by the late Dr. Adam Clarke. A knowledge of the weather a few days in advance, is of considerable consequence to the farmer, and especially during harvest-time ; and we should be glad if our readers would make their observations in accordance with these tables, and give us any information that they may happen to possess on this interesting topic.

A Table for Foretelling the Weather,

THROUGH ALL THE LUNATIONS OF EACH YEAR,

forever. —This table, and the accompanying remarks, are the result of many years' actual observation; the whole being constructed on a due consideration of the attraction of the sun and the moon, in their several positions respecting the earlh, and will, by simple inspection, show the observer what kind of weather will most probably follow the entrance of the moon into any of its quarters, and that so near the truth, as to be seldom or never found to fail.

Observation 1. The nearer the time of the moon's change, first quarter, full, and last quar-

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ter, are to midnight, the fairer will the weather be during the seven days following.

2. The space for this calculation occupies from ten at night till two next morning.

3. The nearer to midday or noon, the phases of tha noon happens, the more foul or wet weather may be expected during the next seven days.

4. The space for this calculation occupies from ten in the forenoon to two in the afternoon ; these observations refer principally to the summer, though they affect spring and autumn nearly in the same ratio.

5. The moon's change in the first quarter, full, and last quarter, happening during six of the afternoon hours, that is, from four to ten,

may be followed by fair weather; but this is mostly dependant on the wind, which is noted in the table.

6. Though the weather, from a variety of irregular causes, is more uncertain in die latter part of autumn, the whole of winter and beginning of spring, yet, in the main, the above observations will apply to those periods also.

7. To prognosticate correctly, especially in those cases where the wind is concerned, the observer should be within sight of a good vane, where the four cardinal points of the heavens are correctly placed. With this precaution he will scarcely ever be deceived in depending on the table.— American Agriculturist.

APPARATUS FOR TESTING MARL.

Since the value of rnarl has been so clearly demonstrated, especially in its effects upon the lands in lower Virginia, beds of this important fertilizer have been esteemed, and in some instances have proved, to be more valuable than the gold mines which were so much sought for a few years ago. But as the value of the latter was found to depend very much upon the gold they contained, so the marl beds are entirely dependent upon ihe proportion of lime that is imbedded in the clay; this proportion is only to be ascertained by chemical analysis, and is sometimes so small as to afford a very poor recompense for the labor of digging and hauling. It is very desirable, therefore, to furnish the owner of every rnarl bed with the means of

testing its value before he incurs the labor and expense of putting out; this we think is effected in the simplest and most exact manner by means of the apparatus described in the following letter fiom Professor Rogers, now of the University of Virginia, to the former Editor of the Farmers' Register:

William and Mary College, June 27, 1834. The apparatus which I am about to describe is intended to give greater accuracy and facility to the usual process for determining the quantity of carbonic acid in marl, or in any of the carbonates. By the common method, the two vessels containing severally the marl and the muriatic acid are placed in one of the scales of a delicate balance, and there counterpoised by

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weights put into the other scale. The acid is then poured upon the marl, and, after all the carbonic acid has been discharged, the equilibrium is restored by adding weights to one, or abstracting them from the other scale. In principle, this method is entirely free from objection, but as usually conducted, it cannot be relied upon as accurate. This want of precision arises in the first place from the escape of aqueous vapor, along with the carbonic acid which is discharged, thus making a greater weight necessary for restoring the equilibrium than is due to the quantity of carbonic acid which has escaped—and secondly, from the greater weight of the vessels containing the marl and acid impairing the sensibility of the balance, and thus rendering it impossible to estimate the carbonic acid to small fractions of a grain. The first of these objections has long been obviated in the chemical analysis of the carbonates, by causing the gas as it escapes to pass through a tube containing dried muriate of lime ; and the latter has been in some measure removed by a contrivance of the great practical chemist, Rose; which, however, as it is inconvenient and uncertain in the manipulation, I shall not here describe.

The apparatus which I have devised is, I think, free from these objections, and enables the operator to proceed with great accuracy and despatch. It has the advantage of being very easily constructed, and of being used with a balance that can be procured at a very moderate price. Moreover, the quantity of marl which is necessary for experiment in no case exceeding ten grains, specimens for analysis may very easily be forwarded by letter.

The balance which I use with this apparatus *s a small goldsmith's balance, such as may be procured for a few dollars in New York. It is very light, and turns, when unloaded, with the one-hundredth of a grain. My set of weights, obtained from Millinglon, in Philadelphia, extends to tenths and hundredths of the grain.

The accompanying figure will convey a distinct idea of the apparatus and mode of using it. One of the scales is removed, to admit of suspending the apparatus by a double thread over the hook of the beam. The other is made of something light, as a piece of card. In this way all unnecessary weight upon the beam is avoided, and its sensibility preserved.

A, is a light bulb of glass, blown very thin, from a common piece of tube, and about one inch in diameter. A cork is fitted to its mouth, and through this the tapered ends of the bent glass tubes, B and C, are passed air tight; the extremity of the latter extending some distance into the vessel. The tube B, through which the gas escapes, is filled with fragments of muriate of lime. The tube C, which contains the muriatic acid, is furnished with a light piston of

cork or cotton, in the centre of which is fixed a rod or handle, made of a small stiff straw.— This instrument, when charged with marl and acid, does not weigh more than 120 grains.— The whole load of the beam is, therefore, 240 grains, and it is still sensible to the one-hun-dreth of a grain.

The mode of proceeding with the analysis is as follows:—Five or ten grains of the finely powdered marl is introduced into the vessel A, and then two or three drops of water added, to assist the diffusion of the acid. The small end of the tube C, now removed from the cork, is dipped into some muriatic acid in a wine glass, ancf the piston moved backwards and forwards until the necessary quantity of acid has been drawn in. The tube is then replaced in the cork, and in this state the instrument is counterpoised by weights in the opposite scale. The piston being then gradually forced in, the acid is injected drop by drop upon the marl, and the gas escapes by the tube B, depositing the aqueous vapor in its passage on the muriate of lime. Allowing the apparatus to rest until the gas has entirely escaped, and the decomposition is complete, the equilibrium is restored by placing weights upon the clear top of the cork, or by removing weights from the scale. In this way the weight of the disengaged gas is accurately determined, and the proportion of carbonate of lime thence computed.

An analysis of a specimen of marl from James City, just completed, will serve as an illustration of the method. Ten grains of the finely powdered marl were introduced with a little water into the vessel A ; the instrument was then charged and equipoised. The acid being injected, the whole was allowed to rest for an hour. The weight lost was 2.91 grains. Increasing this in the ratio of 44 to 100, gives 6.61 grains of carbonate of lime in the 10 grains of marl— or almost precisely 66 per cent.

The frequent calls upon me for the analysis of specimens of marl, first led me to the construction of this apparatus, and I have since found it so convenient and accurate, that I can recommend its adoption to such of your readers as may have a taste for chemical inquiries connected with agriculture. .Any ordinary worker in glass will construct the instrument, and skill in manipulating with it may be soon and easily acquired. Wm. B. Rogers.

The farmers who are using marl will be greatly indebted to Professor Rogers for the convenient and cheap little apparatus above described—which, judging fiom his description, not only furnishes the cheapest and most convenient, but likewise the most accurate mode of analysing calcareous manures. It may be easily constructed by any worker in glass—so easily, indeed, that Mr. Rogers made his own by the

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heat of an Argand lamp, using a few common glass tubes as materials. Every farmer who uses calcareous manures ought to have some means for testing their strength, and this seems to be completely within the power of all to obtain, a# 5 ! to make use of, with very little attention. But, though the process as above described is sufficiently plain to all who have the slightest knowledge of the chemical properties of the substances used, it may appear unintelligible to others; and, therefore, we hope that the following explanations may be pardoned by those to "whom they are altogether useless.

The principle upon which the apparatus works is the same as that of the more expensive and complicated apparatus of Davy, (described in his Agricultural Chemistry,) which we have heretofore considered the best—that is, by separating and ascertaining- the weight of the car-bonic acid combined with the lime of the manure. Every hundred grains of calcareous earth, or carbonate of lime, is composed always of similar proportions of lime and of carbonic acid—which proportions, by weight, are 56 parts of lime, and 44 of carbonic acid. Of course, if we know how much weight is lost in 100 grains of earth, partly of carbonate of lime, (as marl,) by driving off its carbonic acid, the rule of proportion will show what was the amount of carbonate of lime contained in the sample of earth.

When the muriatic acid reaches the earth in the bulb, it immediately combines with the lime by its greater attraction, and the weaker carbonic acid is disengaged in the form of gas, and escapes into the air through the tube containing the dry muriate of lime—which substance attracts moisture so powerfully as to retain all that might otherwise pass out with the gas.— The same muriate of lime will serve for many experiments, as by being heated in the tube its dryness is restored previous to every trial. This salt is formed by the combination of muriatic acid with lime, and therefore every experimenter may provide it for himself by filtering and evaporating the fluid left in this process of decomposing carbonate of lime.— Ed. Far. Register.

AGRICULTURAL MACHINES. Having had some experience in the construction of machinery for manufacturing operations, and having felt the advantage resulting from its aae, we have labored hard to extend its beneficial influence to the sister art of agriculture.— Thi3 we have found an uphill business; but this must be done ; nice mechanical implements and labor-saving machines must become much more common than they are, before the same excellence can be obtained in the art of agri-

culture that marks the march of intellect in other professions. We are frequently told, this is all true, but it is impossible to adapt negro labor to the use of complicated machinery. This has been so often said, that it is generally believed, and yet we are sure nothing is more erroneous. We have seen one of the best conducted cotton factories in this country in which the operatives, nearly all negroes, work at machinery of the most delicate and complicated construction. The superintendent even prefers them, on account of the better discipline he is enabled to establish, to whites. Do they understand the operation they are guiding and superintending? Not a bit of it, either black or white. There is more talent concentrated in one of those moving, breathing implements, than their brains could comprehend in a lifetime. Had he been restricted to the production of such machinery as would be comprehensible to either a booby negro, or a common white laborer, the spinning jenny would have slept forever in the brain of Arkwright, from whom it sprung.— What, then, is the machine so perfect that it never gets out of order, or is it so endowed with intellect that it corrects itself? Not exactly, although this seems to be pretty much what the farmer requires in the implements made for his use. But in every well conducted manufacturing establishment, there is, or there is supposed to be, an intelligent superintendent, who understands thoroughly the principles of all the machines at present employed in his line of business, and readily acquires a knowledge of any improvements that may be made in the same.

We have been mortified, and almost vexed sometimes, when we would be taking pains to explain to a gentleman and man of education what we conceived to be the beautiful principle of some agricultural implement, to have him tell us, that he would send his man Jim to look at it, as he knew a great deal more about such things than he did. Again, we are frequently told, this implement, or that machine, may do well enough for a northern farmer but it will never do for our negroes. Now we think there is a little mistake in this matter ; the proposition should have been stated thus; that implement is a capital thing for a northern farmer, who will teach his men how to use it, and who sees in person that they take care of it, but it is not worth my while to buy it, to place it, as I should, in the hands of my negroes to be dis-

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posed of as they think best. A gentleman was looking at a hay-fork in our wareroom, a few days since, with which he seemed much pleased; but, says he, if I were to give it to my negroes one day, they would probably throw it down and run the cart wheel over it the next; then, said we, in all sincerity, you are better without it. But this single remark was sufficient to let us into the character of our visiter: he was undeniably and unqualifiedly a bad manager; if his negroes are as careless as that, they are badly managed ; it is impossible he can be supplied with good tools, to say nothing of labor-saving machinery ; if he is without good tools, his operations are of course poorly performed, and if he lives by his occupation, it is only because it is of that generous nature that it affords its followers a support, when most abused. Now suppose a careful northern man were to lay out his money one day in an implement, and one of his hirelings should run a cart wheel over it the next, what would be the consequence? Why the careless fellow would instantly be dismissed, and the price of the tool be deducted from his wages ; the certainty of this result and the fear of punishment makes him careful.— Would not the same system produce the same effect with the negro? If punishment invariably follow the offence, the offence will be very seldom committed by either white or black; and the difference is in the character of the masters, and not in that of the operatives, as is generally charged.

The fact is, if more order, and system, and management are not introduced amongst our laborers, (it matters not about their color,) notwithstanding our manifold advantages of soil and climate, we must be content to lag behind our less favored brethren in the art of agriculture. The application of labor-saving machinery characterises the practical spirit of the age: these inventions, which are now being translated from the sister arts to agriculture, and which are destined to introduce a new era in the history of the profession all require order, system, and discipline for their practical operation. They are concentrations of intellect, to be controlled and managed by intellect alone: but this intellect is not to be expected in the mere operative, who is intended to be little else than a part of the machine, but it is to be looked for and required in the manager and superintendent; and the more the characters of superintendent and

proprietor are united, the better. It is this want of knowledge and attention on the part of the superintendent, and not the character of the labor that exists at the South, that presents obstacles to the introduction of improved implements and machines in our farming operations.

POTATOES.

It is 272 years since potatoes were first known in Europe. They were introduced into Ireland, during the reign of Q,ueen Elizabeth in 1565, by Capt. John Hawkins, who brought them from Sante Fe, in South America. It is said that they were first planted by Sir Walter Raleigh, who had an estate in Ireland; but the natural history of the potato was so little understood at that lime, that Sir Walter resolved to renounce the expectation he had formed, of bringing this exotic to perfection in that country. When in due time, after he had planted the first potatoes, the stalks grew up, and he perceived upon the stem a green apple, he thought that was the fruit, which he had no idea of being concealed under the earth. He caused some of these apples to be boiled ; but finding them nauseous to the taste, he concluded that he had lost his labor; and for some time thought no more of potatoes. However having some time after given directions that the ground should be dug up, or ploughed, to his very great surprise he found a plentiful crop of fruit, which proved most grateful to the taste. They soon got into general use, and became the principal food of the Irish peasantry.

AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK.

The State Agricultural Society of New York, desirous that some fixed principles should be established as the basis of excellence in ■ the various descriptions of farm stock, (without reference to their relative merits as breeds,) have appointed the undersigned a committee, with instructions to call the particular attention of breeders throughout the States, to the importance of the subject, and to make the necessary arrangements for a Convention to be held at the Library Room of the American Institute, in the city of New York, during its 16th annual fair, in the month of October next,* the day to be hereafter noticed; at which breeders of stock and those interested in agriculture, are most respectfully urged to give their attendance, with a view to a full and free discussion of those forms, qualities and properties which most conduce to intrinsic value; and also that the distinctive characteristics of each separate breed may be as closely defined as possible.

* Evening of the 17th is fixed on for the meeting.

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The Society believe that the decision of such a meeting will offer to the agriculturist the best information that can, at present, be elicited; and which, they trust, may be so satisfactory to the mind of every intelligent breeder, as to lead to greater uniformity of action and opinion, and possibly become a standard with them, by which to judge and be judged, in all cases of competition.

With these views of the subject, the committee hope you may deem it of sufficient importance to be present at the proposed Convention, and lend to its discussions the aid of your experience and talents.

The committee will be obliged by any suggestions, in the interim, you may consider of sufficient importance to be communicated to them in relation to this object.

Francis Rotch. E. P. Prentice. C. N. Bement. George Vail. L. F. Allen. Albany, July 28, 1843.

€. T. Botts, Esq.

Dear Sir, —You will perceive by the above circular that we are making an effort to erect a standard of form or criterion by which stock may be judged, or to settle on such points as the majority of breeders may deem necessary to constitute, as near as possible, a perfect animal.

The principal breeders that are known to the committee will be addressed, as above, but fearing they may not attach to it the importance which we think it deserves it is the request of the committee, that you particularly notice it in your excellent paper, and urge all breeders to attend, whether they receive one of the circulars or not, for it is intended to be general. Respectfully yours,

C. N. Bement.

It is with pleasure we give currency to this circular. The object, to collect and compare the various floating opinions of the stock breeders of the United States, and from the aggregate information thus obtained to establish a standard by which the unlearned may be guided in choosing and rearing stock, is certainly a very desirable one. Although the generality of our readers are not what would emphatically be called stock men, still there are a few among them whose assistance would be highly prized by the committee.

There is no exhibition we have ever seen in this country any way comparable to the annual fair of the "American Institute" in New York. It forms the great emporium in which is annu-

ally collected the skill and ingenuity of the American mechanic, and a single visit to one of these interesting exhibitions, will do more to instil a correct knowledge of the progress of the arts in the United States, than would be effected by a twelvemonth's travel over the country.— Not only may the latest and best improvements in agricultural implements here be found, but the other arts will also be seen fully represented.

Some idea may be formed of the extent and variety of these exhibitions, when we state, that at the fair of 1842 there were exhibited upwards of 1,2C0 specimens of various kinds of workmanship, which, from their intrinsic merit and the beautiful array in which they were displayed, attracted a throng of visiters for weeks, the whole number amounting to upwards of 1 (J0,000 persons.

We have been requested to notify the public that the exhibition for the current year will be opened on the 10th day of October, and to the courtesy and kindness of the managers, of which we entertain the most lively and grateful recollection, we commend all our Southern friends, who can be present on the occasion.

JEFFERSON'S TEN RULES OF LIFE.

1. Never put off till to-morrow what can be done to-day.

2. Never trouble others to do what you can do yourself.

3. Never spend your money before you have it.

4. Never buy what you do not want because it is cheap.

5. Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst and cold.

6. We never repent eating too little.

7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.

8. How much pain those evils cost us which never happened.

9. Take things always by their smooth handle.

10. When angry, always count ten before you speak.

For the Southern Planter,

FISH.

Mr. Editor, —After reading that part of the report of the committee appointed to examine the improvements upon Dr. Venable's farm, which speaks of his fish pond, page 172 of your last number, I cannot refrain from adding my testimony, to prove that fish may be raised nearly as easily as chickens. It is but little over two years since I attempted to raise fish ;

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and at an expense not exceeding ten dollars of my own labor, I have succeeded in stocking my pond with roaches, cats, sun perch, pike, and southern chub, to an extent sufficient to satisfy the expectations of the most sanguine temperament. The roaches have been very numerous indeed, and are now quite so; but they have been lessened of late in consequence of the pike and chub increasing very rapidly, who I have no doubt, devour them by hundreds every day. The chub, however, I think is to become the master fish, as they are rapidly growing to a size which will well compare with the saltwater fish. They may be now caught in the pond from which I took mine, weighing five or six pounds, and I have no doubt I have some in my pond weighing three pounds; though I have caught noneyetweighing over one and a quarter. As yet, however, I make no business of catching these fish, except to let them loose again, for fear of destroying the stock. In this amusement I think I have discovered what may not have been brought to the notice of every fisherman. It is the custom of most persons to throw crumbs of bread into the water when they are fishing, in order to draw the minnows, that they may attract the large fish. Instead of throwing in bread that will sink, they should throw in such as will swim. The crumb and crust of lightened wheat bread and the crust of corn bread will swim and show themselves to fish at a much greater distance than the bread that will immediately sink ; consequently it will bring a great many more large fish to contend for your bait. In this way I think I have frequently brought half the fish in my small pond to one point. My pond, however, is quite small, not covering more than one-fourth of an acre. It is upon a marshy bog, not more than fifty yards from my dwelling house, and has tended, I think, to increase, rather than diminish, the health of my family, substituting pure spring water for the marsh mud.

In making a pond, all the heavy floods of rain water that are likely to come down from the valleys above the spring that is to feed it, should be turned off by side ditches ; then the dam may be made with nothing but simple earth, without the least danger of breaking from the heaviest rains.

My fish pond is only one of my hobbies; I have another to trouble you with, if you please. I have long desired to bring into use in this part of the country,—the double horse left hand mouldboard plough, as used by our transmon-tane brethren ; but I have tried in vain to do it, by constructing several ploughs of this description and offering them for sale at very low prices. The advantage of this plough over one with a right hand mouldboard, is principally this; it permits the lead or left hand horse to walk in the last furrow run, and thereby exactly

measures each furrow slice, and enables the ploughman more easily to guide his team and more thoroughly to break up his ground, which are certainly great advantages. At a muster, on Saturday last, at our Courthouse, I set one of these ploughs to work in the presence of a large crowd, when every man present, save one, acknowledged its great superiority over the right hand plough in the particulars above mentioned. Charles S. Jones. Mar Louisa C. H., Aug. 14, 1843.

EMIGRATION TO VIRGINIA.

It is staled in the papers, that the Hon. A. L. Foster, M. C, from Madison, in this State, has purchased 1,000 acres of land in Virginia, at $3 50 per acre, and that Mr. Townsend, of Buffalo, now Sergeant-at-arms at Washington, has also purchased a farm in Virginia, and that both intend to settle there.— Cultivator.

Virginia " stock" is undoubtedly rising, and the Emigration is rapidly overbalancing the emigration, of which we used to complain. Such is the effect of " the sober second thought of the people."

THE "ECONOMY OF FARMING." We arc indebted to the author for a copy of an agricultural work under this title. The text is a translation, by the Rev. E. G. Smith, of New York, from the German of Professor Burger, very copiously illustrated with notes from the most celebrated of the German and English writers upon the subject of agriculture. Although the terms cultivation and husbandry are frequently used as synonymous, they have, stricily speaking, very different meanings. The first has relation to the art of producing; the second, as its name implies, to the subject of taking care, as well of the product, as of the means by which the product is obtained. In this sense, it corresponds with our word management. By the "economy of farming," then, is meant the art of husbandry or management.— Much as we may be behind our European brethren in our systems of cultivation, it is in the other branch, and not the least important of the two, that we are most completely distanced.— The science of cultivation is, to a certain extent, involved, as yet, in the clouds of theory and hypothesis, but the subject of husbandry is a tangible practical question, upon which the experience of every sensible man must be of utility; we, therefore, consider the community

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as under great obligations to Mr. Smith for the fund of valuable information he has afforded us in this work. By an attentive perusal of its pages, the reader becomes familiar with the estimates that have been made of the value of different kinds of food, the most economical modes of feeding, the relative value of the different kinds of labor of man and beast, the quantity of labor that may be expected from each, the production and preservation of manures, and the thousand questions that are involved in the management of the labor and products of a farm. The whole is furnished in a closely printed pamphlet of 130 pages for fifty cents, and we are sure that we have already marked for extracts what will be worth twenty times the sum to any farmer in Virginia. If the publisher thinks fit to ship us two or three dozen copies, we will dispose of them for him with pleasure.

serve the cabbages well during the winter, but save much of the crop which is not considered

worth much.— Maine Farmer,

METHOD OF CAUSING CABBAGES TO HEAD DURING THE WINTER.

In the fall of the year when it is time to gather cabbages, we always find more or less of them that have not formed any heads. They may have grown well, and have a large stock of leaves, but have not closed up in the form necessary to make a good, solid, compact cabbage.

William Vance, Esq. of Readfiekl, has practised for many years the following method, which effectually closes these loose leaves in the course of the winter, thereby furnishing him with a supply of the best kind early in the spring. In the fall of the year, just before the ground closes up he gathers all the cabbages which have not headed, together. He then digs a trench eighteen inches or more, deep, and of sufficient width to admit the cabbages. He then closes the leaves together by hand, winding a wisp of straw or something else around them to keep them together, and then puts them in this trench, with heads down and roots up. He then packs straw or leaves and earth snug about them, and rounds up the earth over them. The trench should be dug in a place where the water of the rains and snows runs off and will not stand about them. A board, or couple of boards, nailed together in the form of a roof and put over the mound, may be useful.

In the spring of the year open your trench and you will find that the cabbages are all headed firmly together, and if the water has not got in, will bo solid and hard. Mr. Vance has had the goodness to send U3 a few heads which ho has formed in this way, which were very nice. By following this plan, we not only pre-Vol. III.—27

For the Southern Planter. CULTIVATION OF CORN.

JMr. Editor, —I did not design the communication, from which an extract is made and published in the July number of the Planter, for the public eye, or I would have been more careful and intelligible. "Investigator," an anonymous critic, seizing upon its imperfections as well as the errors of the printer, makes, though in a vein of sarcastic raillery, some pertinent inquiries, to which I most cheerfully respond.

In order that the system of cultivation, which my communication recommended, may be the better understood, I propose to explain the manner in which I have managed my present crop. That I labored judiciously will be known from the result, and may be conjectured by a comparison of it with that of any other on this section of the Roanoke; and it would afford me very-great pleasure to have Investigator himself institute the comparison.

A freshet prevented my planting as early as usual, or desirable. As soon, however, as the land was in order to do so with safety, it was commenced and completed. It was laid off 5 by 2, with a single stalk to the hill, and so thinned (as a substitute for re-planting) that each acre contained its requisite number, of the same age and size. After the corn was well up, and before it could be much benefitted by work, I ploughed every other row, alternately, through the crop, with a trowel hoe, an instrument well calculated to soften the land and prepare it for future operations. Having gone over in this way, I then used the turn plough in the other row, throughout, alternately, barring the corn and running only twice in a row. The corn was ancle high, the grass springing up very fast and thick, and the season favoring it. The result of this operation fully met my expectation, and the young grass was most effectually destroyed. The corn was not only benefitted by the removal of a dangerous enemy, but by converting it to useful purposes. Grass when covered in this way soon undergoes fermentation and the regular process of decomposition, and becomes no insignificant auxiliary in pushing forward the crop.

It will be recollected that now the crop is ploughed entirely over, one row with the trowel hoe and the other with the turn plough, alternately, throughout. The corn was leg high and sufficiently vigorous to bear a moderate dirt-ing (not "destroying"). The trowel hoe was run as near as possible to it, in the row previously ploughed with the same instrument, and with

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the turn plough following immediately, a little dirt was thrown to the com. The trowel hoe answered a double purpose. The land immediately under the corn was well broken, and the turn plough was kept off at a respectable distance. The weeders followed immediately after this operation, standing in the oldest ploughed row, cutting up the grass in the balk and pulling all not killed by the plough, from the fresh ploughed row into the one in which they stood. Grass dies much sooner on old than fresh ploughed land, and is not half so apt to take root again. Those who cultivate turfy lands, particularly those well set in herdsgrass, would soon perceive the advantage of this method of managing it. Indeed, I cannot conceive how it can be otherwise destroyed without constantly hoeing it, and shaking the dirt from the sod.

After getting over the crop, working every other row, alternately, in this way, the corn where I first begun had grown rapidly, but not too rapidly to plough the other row in the same manner. Every thing inviting it, the operation was performed and the whole crop then lay in the same situation. Even at this advanced stage of the crop no injury has ensued from the close use of the trowel hoe. The result, no doubt, would have been very different and the consequences most fatal, if every roio at the same time had been subjected to the operation. If the corn had been a little older and larger, and the season different, I would not have hazarded its use even according to my system. Nor would I have worked the other row as I did, if the corn had been smaller and the grass on the increase. In the first instance, I would have used the turn plough alone, dining the corn— in the second, I would have lapped the grass in the centre of the row, and then sided with the trowel hoe. To destroy the grass and render the greatest service to the crop is the object of «very working, and of course, a good farmer endeavors to effect this by changing his tools and varying their use.

The corn was now generally as high as a man's head, and each row in the same situation. I then dirted the corn with the turn plough, running four times in every other row, alternately, through the crop, and after getting over, returned and worked the other row in the same manner. The hoe hands followed this last ploughing, standing in the oldest ploughed row, cutting the grass in the latter, and hilling effectually the corn. This would have completed my labors had not a very heavy rain have fallen just after finishing the first row with the turn plough, which rendered another working in that row indispensable. I used the three teeth harrow with evident advantage, running three times in each row.

From what has been said, it will be perceived that the rows may be worked differently, though

it does not follow that they necessarily should. This was the idea I intended to convey in my former communication, though I must confess, the language justifies the other construction.— In regard to the saving of labor by this system, I repeat the assertion first made. My experience teaches me (though I have not subjected it to an accurate experiment) that at least a third more can be cultivated. The hoe work is infinitely less and lighter, and the grass more under the control of the plough. Though Investigator may be startled at the communication, corn does not appear to be injured by one row being a little in the grass if the other be clean and in order. It is more than equivalent to having the half of your crop clean, though, mathematically speaking, there is no difference.

If Investigator has low grounds, it matters not of what description or quality, and will follow this system of cultivating a part, I will pay him whatever he loses by it, if in return, he will pay me for the labor saved.

This manner of cultivation is adapted to every description of crop, and has been followed by me for several years with tobacco, with marked success. It is not, however, an invention of my own, and I feel none of that sort of attachment which generally attends the paternity of an invention. I borrowed it from Mr. C. Capehart, a practical and eminently successful farmer on the Albemarle Sound, and if success be an evidence of its value, Mr. Capehart's example will place it above every other plan.

I have never known a crop checked in its growth or otherwise injured when worked in ■ this way; and firing, which so generally attends the use of the turn plough, is never witnessed.

I have confined mj'self to the manner of cultivating my low grounds, which were laid off but one way. But high land may be cultivated upon the same principle, even when laid off both ways, and with evident advantage. The turn plough is of course dispensed with, and as we are confined mostly to a particular description of plough, the manner of cultivation cannot be so often varied. The benefit resulting from your land's not washing so much, in my opinion, should of itself recommend this system to every provident farmer. I cultivate as hilly a farm as any on this side of the Blue Ridge, and speak advisedly of its value. By the assistance of the artificial grasses, my own has been regularly improving, while some other estates on the river have been gradually gullying and washing away.

The corn of which I so highly approve, is not the Dutton, as my friend Mr. Hicks, of Law-renceville, informs me, but a beautiful white, of early maturity, moderate size, and of great fecundity. I obtained it in Maryland, and it may be what is sometimes called the Baden. It

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yields from ten to twenty per cent, more than the gourd-seed, though in weight, measure for measure, it is something lighter. It does not rot half so soon as that description of corn, nor does it shatter as much.

Thomas G. Tucker.

Northampton, North Carolina.

We are sure Mr. Tucker's ploughing is much better than his hand writing, the difficulty of

decyphering which must plead as the printer's apology for the errata in his first communication, as well as for those which we fear are too likely, from the same cause, to creep into this. We are always pleased to hear from our old schoolmate, on more accounts than one, but we do wish he would not make all his letters so exactly alike, if it were only for the sake of variety.

For the Southern Planter. COOKING APPARATUS

J\lr. Editor, —As cooking food for stock is generally practised in your vicinity, and as the saving of fuel is an object of some moment, permit me to give you a sketch and description of an invention of Dr. William A. Armistead, near Plymouth, in this State, which is admirably adapted to this purpose. It consists simply of a cast iron tube, four inches in the bore, and of sufficient length to pass entirely through the kitchen chimney and project eighteen inches on each side; it is placed in the fire-place just where the back log usually lies, and each end, after passing through the chimney, is inserted in a barrel on the outside. Cocks are put into the barrels of sufficient size to draw off speedily whatever is cooked. The pipe being open, the two barrels of course communicate with each other, and the water from one flows into the other. The ordinary kitchen fire heats the water in the tube, and you would be astonished to see how soon it begins to boil in the barrels.

Dr. Armistead's chimney is an outside one, and so situated, that water can be pumped into the barrels by the use of a small trough, as represented in the drawing.

T. G. Tucker. North Carolina, August, 1843.

WOOLLEN FACTORY. We take great pleasure in calling the attention of our farmers to the woollen factory lately established by Messrs. Jones & Mackenzie in our city. Mr. Jones, we understand, comes to us chock-full of enterprise and experience in his business, which will undoubtedly secure him success. This establishment promises to effect too great objects for our agriculturists. In the first place, the market for wool will be greatly bettered, and in the second, we shall have a fac-

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tory in our midst, where our exact wants will be known and supplied. The proprietors are now engaged in the manufactory of a peculiar cloth expressly for the purpose of supplying the Southern farmer with negro clothing. Gentlemen from the country will find much to interest and profit them in a visit to this establishment.

For the Southern Planter.

COMMENTS ON THE AUGUST NUMBER OF THE SOUTHERN PLANTER.

Rust Prevented by the Use of Ashes. —It is admitted on all hands that silica is as necessary for the support of a plant, as bone is for the support of an animal; and that for this purpose the silica must be in a soluble state, or in other words, it must have become " pure earth of common flint." And it is also admitted that an overdose of ammonia will cause grain sowed in the usual way, to rust, lodge, and fall. " But that rust proceeds from the want of the indurating quality in the straw, afforded by the (proportionate quantity of) silica," cannot hold good universally ; for throughout my observation, that land which is best adapted to the growth of the bamboo (which contains a large portion of silica) is most liable to rust grain. Moreover, grain standing very thin, seldom fails to rust; and where grain has been spilled, and thus planted at the rate of ten or twenty bushels to the acre, it but seldom rusts. The silica in wood, properly speaking, has already been dissolved, and the lye in the tub only extracts it perhaps; but I do not know that it dissolves or extracts or decomposes the silica in wood, much less do I know that by this means oak staves will be shrunken to one half their width. A strong alkali may decompose quartz and flint, but an usual dressing of ashes cannot. Ashes out of which all the soluble alkaline matter has been extracted, contain a large portion of silicate of potash, which silicate when applied, is understood to go directly to the nourishment of plants. On Long Island and other places where ashes are used most profusely as manure, they seem to be valued none the less because they may have been leached.

Report of the Mecklenburg Club. —As Mr. Botts has in substance given my views under this head, I shall only add one more remark. The committee say that " Dr. Venable's corn field was well prepared and planted, and although recently covered with a strong herdsgrass turf, gave promise of an abundant crop," &c. Now I understand by the insertion of although, that objection is made to planting corn on a grass turf. If the gentlemen intended to assert that the Doctor's corn field was covered with a strong herdsgrass turf recently growing amongst the

corn, then I say O fie ! for the Doctor; but if they intended what I understand, then I say O fie ! for the committee.

Hessian Fly. —Did Mr. McKenney never see a bug with its bill poked into a chesnut or a chinquepin 1 Did he never see thousands of eggs deposited on the hulls of peas % If he has not, I would not give a cent for his theory and observations on Hessian fly or any other insect. Whether the bug with his proboscis in the chesnut was merely feeding, or intending to deposite eggs, I will not undertake to say ; but from the egg on the pea-hull I have often traced the maggot to its lodgment in the pea, and noticed it in all its stages up to a full grown bug. As well may one tell me, that the action of the clouds can create an eagle, as that the action of a vegetable can create an insect. And as to "the perfection of the grain depending upon the proportion of insects therewith connected, which proportion is modified by weather, climate, soil," &c.—away with it. I suppose the gentleman would say my old sow must be lousy, to be in health. These remarks are rough, but I feel it my duty to speak boldly, not only on this subject, but also on that of

Gearing Horses. —This drawing and theory are both wrong. In the first place, I will remark, that in the use of a right hand plough, the right hand horse must be kept in the furrow, therefore, that end of the tree to which he is attached will not go to the right, at e, though the horse be throAvn back thus far; but must keep the line of direction. Again, although the horse at a be thrown back to e, yet this will not place the horse at b more than halfway to the position d. Let us consider the horse at a stationary, and let the horse at b draw the end of the tree forward to d, it will be seen that whilst the horse is going to the right the plough is going to the left; consequently the width of the furrow is increased, and consequently the draft is increased. It is asserted that the fulcrum or centre of motion is at c; this I deny, and assert it to be in front of the tree, and equidistant between the horses, and there it will remain always. But suppose the fulcrum to be at c, and this point always in the line of direction ; yet, as the points a, b, c, are made fast with regard to each other, and their distances equal, I cannot for my life see how placing one end of the tree back or forward can create inequality. When the tree is perpendicular to the line of direction all will admit the draft is equal—when the tree is parallel to the line of direction the draft is equal—and if all do not admit the draft to be equal at any angle, I undertake further proof*

* " Investigator," we respectfully suggest, has misunderstood this article. What he means by the drawing being wrong we do not exactly comprehend. He seems to take it for granted that the principle is only applicable to ploughing, and that the furrow horse

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213

To Mr. Woodfin. —You inquire why I prefer composting dead animals with marl, rather than plaster 1 Indeed, sir, I had not thought of composting flesh with plaster; consequently I could not have preferred marl. I would, however, remark that the dead animals of Richmond during the year, would saturate many hundred tons of plaster, and what would Mr. W. do with this quantity. The marl without other ingredient, is a good manure; and when composted with animals, it would not only decompose the flesh and absorb the ammonia, but would also dissolve the bones, hoofs, horns, and teeth; and when matured the whole could be carted and spread broadcast with shovels. I would like to know of Mr. W. how many, and what kind of dead animals he composts with plaster? How much plaster, and how applied to a horse or cow ? And whether the compost is applied to the earth by hand or not ?

To JSlr. Botts. —Although I never saw 3 r ou, yet in my last I took the liberty of casting a few round stones at you, and just as 1 expected, their direction and purpose were timely discovered ; and instead of their doing mischief, they were caught in your hands, and used for building purposes. All that I have to add is that you have left no stones on hand except such as are large; and as I am no Ajax you are now safe. As to the covering of plants or other vegetable matter, I hope that as this is the first time of calling, the cause may lie over at least one term.

Investigator.

and as your object is good they should not be overlooked.

Yours truly, T. G. T.

Mr. Woodfin has a great indisposition to make himself, as he expresses it, so conspicuous in the public prints. But we are authorised to say that he was even better pleased with his last experiment, than with his first, and that every day's experience has only the more fully satisfied him of the incalculable value of this process.

As to the poudrette, we are unable to speak. We have received -very little information concerning its action, and that little of a very contradictory character. We shall be obliged to any one with whom it has either failed or succeeded, for a report.

Hogs are not now the order of the day, and the controversy alluded to by our correspondent, has gone, as old Johnny Q,. would say, " to the receptacle of things lost on earth."

For the Southern Planter.

BOMMER'S MANURE.

Mr. Editor, —Why did not Mr. Woodfin give us the result of his last experiment with Bom-rner's manure ? An unfavorable impression is made on the public mind by the fact, and in your next some explanation ought to be given. How is poudrette likely to answer our purposes ? and how is the celebrated controversy between the Dicken's and Berkshire hogs progressing? Have Gen. Richardson and Col. Burfoot become tired of the matter? These little things give animation and spirit to the thing in the country,

can never be pulled out of the furrow; if this were j<; tree would never come into the position supposed. If Investigator will use a common single tree, all of which are attached as here directed, and pull at (h ) against a greater power at {U) he will find when he i-. dragged to [e) that his power will increase, and he will, if not loo much overmastered, begin to regain hi ground, or at least maintain his position; and:>, - because his opponent's lever has been

shortened by his new position : and this, as is demonstrated by "the drawing and explanation, in consequence of the points of draft, (a) and (b), not being in the same straight line with the point of attachment. (').

For the Southern Planter.

MEDITERRANEAN OR FLY-PROOF WHEAT

Mr. Editor, —The best wheat for seed, being one of the proper subjects for discussion in your journal, 1 beg leave to call the attention of its numerous readers to that kind known as the Mediterranean or fly-proof. Samples of this variety came frequently under my notice last year, and in this and in every instance, presented an unfavorable appearance; being dark and dull in complexion, and long and irregular in shape; in short, the reverse in every respect of the sound, plump, and bright variety known as the Red May. I regard the Mediterranean as being ! in every particular a coarse wheat, and totally j unfit for the manufacture of flour of a superior J grade. In saying this, I acknowledge that I ; speak of it from appearance only, never having ! had it tested by grinding; but to this test I shall submit it, if opportunity permits, and report to you in time for your next number. The ■ impression 1 now have in regard to this wheat, led me to believe that no experienced buyer in this market, would purchase it, except at a reduction of ten to twenty cents per bushel from the current value of other kinds.

Mr. John England, Flour Inspector of this city, and a practical miller of high reputation, has examined samples, and condemns it as unfit for Richmond flour. This Mediterranean wheat has recently been highly recommended in this neighborhood for its astonishing productiveness, and 1 have no doubt it has merited in particular instances all that has been said of it; but if the inference be drawn from particular instances that such is its general character, I am sure far-

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mers will find themselves mistaken. I can assert upon the authority of Dr. Gaines, of Powhite, Hanover, that last year he sowed two kinds of wheat, the Red May, and Mediterranean, and from his experiment, he decides in favor of the superior quality and greater productiveness of the former, and the latter he will not sow again. He offers it for seed, not upon his own, but upon the recommendation of others. On this subject I expect to collect further information, which shall be communicated through your pages in good time.

Very respectfully, &c.

R. B. Haxall.

This fly-proof wheat is an old acquaintance; two years ago, we obtained and sold in this market a large quantity of the seed. at a very extravagant price, and we are now authorised to sell a crop at a much lower rate. But independent of Mr. Haxall's opinion, which would be potential with us and with all who know him, we had begun to consider it pretty much an exploded humbug. At any rate, those who purchased it in 1841 seemed to esteem it very little in 1842. It has obtained a good deal of notoriety this year from a crop made by Mr. John Poe, in this vicinity. Mr. Poe informed us, that, sowed side by side with the common varieties, it proved itself to be extremely hardy and vigorous throughout its growth, being free from fly and rust, and nearly twice as productive as any other kind he had ever cultivated. This, however, is by far the most favorable account we have had of it.

When Mr. Haxall handed us the above, considering that his interest was identical with that of the farmer, and that his great experience in the milling business must have made him familiar with the different varieties, we asked him what kind of wheat he would recommend to the farmers of Virginia. He gave the preference decidedly to the Red May. This is, as its name imports, an early variety, and is a great favorite with Mr. John Watkins, of Ampthill, whose name it sometimes bears. It comes to maturity two weeks earlier than other kinds, and thereby, of late years, has generally, in a measure, escaped both fly and rust. It is a tender wheat, and somewhat liable to be winter killed; it should, therefore, be sowed always on strong land, and seeded thick, probably not less than two bushels to the acre. Mr. Haxall states, that it is the heaviest, and thereby the most productive, wheat that has ever passed through his mill; it is not unusual to find, it weighing from Bixty-six to

sixty-eight, and he is yet to see the first bushel that weighs less than sixty. The quality of the grain is very superior. We have no doubt, seed of this valuable variety can be obtained from Mr. Watkins, probably at the mill price.— The Mediterranean, or fly-proof, we are authorised to sell at $1 25 a bushel.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES.

More will be done for the cause of agriculture in the next twenty years than has been accomplished in the thousands that have preceded them. There are many evidences of the fact, that the public mind is awakening, not only to the importance of this fundamental art, but to the field of discovery it opens to the speculator and the philosopher. At this time of day, the press is the best index to the cunent of the public mind, and this is teeming with work upon work on the practice and science of agriculture. That art, which was formerly considered almost beneath the dignity of a "book," is now in danger of being overwhelmed beneath the pile of learning that the press is showering on it.— We have just received from the publisher, Mr. D. K. Minor, a neat volume of 280 pages, containing a re-publication of five lectures delivered by Mr. J. F. W. Johnston, " On the Improvement of the Soil by Mechanical and Chemical Means." This is a part of a series on " The Applications of Chemistry and Geology to Agriculture," which has won for its author a most enviable reputation amongst the farmers of England. We have not had time to examine the contents of this volume, but we see that it meets with the unqualified approbation of the press both in this country and in Europe: the 16th lecture, particularly, on " The Use of Lime as a Manure," has been pronounced to be the best treatise on the subject extant. The publisher has proposed to send us a few copies for sale, which at the extremely low price at which they are offered, Z\\ cents a copy, cannot fail to find a ready market.

We have at our office a number of the Pictorial Times, London, containing an illustrated description of the meeting and dinner of the Royal Agricultural Society at Derby : it is well calculated to impart an idea of the magnificent scale upon which these things are conducted in Great Britain, and we think the ideas of some

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215

of our friends may be considerably enlarged by an examination of its pages. We are much indebted to the Editor of the "Agriculturist" for the courtesy which prompted the transmission of this number, and shall rejoice in any opportunity to reciprocate his kindness.

SOWING WHEAT.

An impression prevails that our wheat is generally too thinly seeded, and that much larger crops would be the result of a freer use of grain. Captain Barclay, the intelligent Scotchman who made an agricultural tour of the United States in 1841, earnestly urged upon Mr. Marx, whose farm he visited in this vicinity, to increase his allowance to four bushels an acre, the quantity usually given by British farmers. He thought the liability to winter killing in this country, made even a greater allowance desirable.

We find an editorial on this subject in the last number of the "American Farmer," which, with all our respect for the wisdom and experience of its conductor, we must be permitted to consider, in part, visionary and impracticable.— We allude especially to the advice, or suggestion, as the Editor modestly terms it, that, there is no necessity for delaying the sowing of wheat to avoid the fall attack of the fly, for, says he, if the progress of the insect be carefully watched, it may be taken in its pupa, or worm state, and mashed by passing a heavy roller over the field. We would suggest to our friend that his finger and thumb would constitute a much more efficient implement for the purpose, and that it requires a much "nicer fit" than a roller makes with the inequalities of ploughed ground, to mash a worm.

After sobering down again to his usual style of practical wisdom, the Editor concludes with the following remarks, the excellence of which more than excuses this unwonted flight of imagination:

" We would suggest that in every instance where wheat may be sown, that the ground undergo thorough preparation, and that all should consider deep ploughing and repeated harrow-ings essential operations.

" We would advise, that if the land may not have been previously limed, that from five to ten busheLs of lime per acre be sown thereon, or an equal quantity of ashes. These quantities are small, but will be found sufficient for the uses of a season. And wherever wheat may

be sown on a clover-lay, we would sow from two to four bushels of salt to the acre.

"We would, by all means, be particular in the selection of good seed, having due regard to weight of grain, strength of straw, earliness of maturity, and quality of flour.

" We would not have any wheat sown, without having it first thoroughly washed in pure water, and then soaked in a brine of salt that would bear an egg or potato, for twenty-four hours, which when taken out should be drained, and then dried in lime. We are the more particular in insisting upon this mode of preparing seed wheat, because we have noticed many accounts of injury to the crops during the late season from smut, a disease perfectly within the control of the wheat grower, and which can never occur but from culpable neglect, as the means we have pointed out, we do know, will prevent its occurrence.

" While we are upon the subject, let us advise all wheat growers to give to his land a bountiful allowance of seed, as should he fail to do this, the bare portions of his soil will call into being some of those numerous weeds, the seeds of which are always at hand, to occupy spots left by the neglect of the husbandman.— He that wants a clean field of wheat must fill that field with wheat plants. If he does not commit a sufficient quantity of seed to the earth, nature vnll not supply them, but she will supply a crop of pestilent xoeeds to rob his xoheat plants of their food, diminish his crop, and thus punish him for neglect of duty."

RIVER MUD. We make the following extract from a letter received from Mr.J3. H. Magruder, of Albemarle:

" While I am writing, I will state the result of an experiment I made in hauling river bank mud or deposite on sandy land. My farm is on the Rivanna River, and last October I hauled out 150 horse-cart loads on an acre and a quarter of very sandy land, which had never previously borne a crop worth gathering. It was spread in the winter and ploughed in with a three-horse plough, and planted in com last spring. The result is, that the corn on this portion is now better than that on the land contiguous to it, which has always produced a good crop. So that I fully agree with your correspondent, Richard G. Morris, in his estimate of the immense value of river bank deposite."

MAKING FRUIT TREES.

When you wish to procure young trees of a particular kind of fruit for transplanting, dig around the old tree until you come to a healthy, growing root, which cut off, and turn the end