J 



THE i 

Bcbotcti to Agriculture, horticulture, ana the fi)ouscholti em. 



Agriculture is the nursing mother of the Arts. 

Xcnophon. 



Tillage and Pasturage are the two breasts of the 
State. — Sully. 



C. T. BOTTS, Editor. 



Vol. IVi 



RICHMOND, DECEMBER, 1844. 



No. 12. 



For the Southern Planter. 
ON LIME— AS USED IN PENNSYLVANIA. 

He would render good service lo the cause of 
agricultural improvement, (especially in districts 
of old country where the primitive fertility of 
the soil has been exhausted by continued milking 
without feeding until the cow is stripped to skin 
and bone,) who would show the maximum price 
at Avhich the farmer can economically afford to 
use lime as a manure. 

It is understood, for example, that lime may 
be bought in Georgetown, D. C, by the quan- 
tity at twelve and a half, perhaps ten cents a 
bushel — the question then is, how far the farmer 
can haul it into the countiy and spread it, before 
it begins, like the Indian's gun, to cost more 
than it comes to? — and that depends, to be sure, 
on the nature of the road and the kind of team 
and vehicles employed and at what expense 
they are maintained. Whether his driver be 
bond or free ? and this last branch of the ques- 
tion branches out again into the question of dif- 
ference of expense between slave labor and free 
labor, for it by no means follows that because 
the man belongs to you, that therefore, his labor 
comes cheaper than if you hired either a slave 
or free laborer, at eight or ten dollars a monih — 
because, for every slave laborer of your own, 
3"Ou may be encumbered wiih a woman whose 
labor is not equal to her expenses, and with se- 
veral children — consumers of much, and producers 
of nothing — moreover the interest on the value 
of the slave is to be considered — what would it 
cost to insure his life and to insure him against 
running away ? while the capital is at best, con- 
stantly wearing and tearing onwards towards total 
loss. To give these speculations a practical 
bearing, let us take the case of lands, which 
may be bought in almost any quantity between 
this (Washington) and Fairfax Court House, 
for, from four to six dollars an acre, well watered 
and eminently healthy ; as much so as any part 
of New, or of Old England. Can that land be 
economically improved with lime from the Po- 
lo mac, costing there, say ten cents a bushel? 
One hundred bushels is considered a liberal 
dressing and then it is believed this five dollar 
land would produce from forty to fifty bushels 
of corn and twenty bushels of wheat per acre, 
for, without knowing, I believe, the substratum 
of the land in thai region is cloy; I know, as 
Vol. IV.-34 



well as a man can take time to look at the qua- 
lity of land, when going over it at three-quarter 
speed in pursuit of "an old red" that the super- 
stratum of the hill sides about Ravensworth, 
appeared to be clay, and red enough and poor 
enough too. 

Suppose an outlay of fifteen or even twenty 
dollars, on a first cost of five dollars, to result in a 
yield of forty-five bushels of corn, equal to twen- 
ty-two dollars and fifty cents, and twenty bushels 
of wheat, equal, at the Georgetown mills, one 
year with another, to twenty dollars, would it 
not be a good investment ? provided the pur- 
chaser buys no more at a time than he can soon 
improve! Remember that, unlike it is in Ma- 
ryland, the proprietor has from Virginia access 
by a good road over free bridges to market 
within from five to fifteen miles. 

My pen would easily glide into a comparison 
of the advantages- of location here, in a healthy 
and civilized country, one of the glorious old 
thirteen ; as compared with the base of the 
rocky mountains — I mean the eastern base — 
while yet there are some content to stop this 
side of Oregon ; but I have not time. In fact, 
Mr. Editor, I only meant to send you the in- 
closed paper, on the use of Lime in Pennsylvania, 
and to tell how it came into my hands. 

Doctor Darlington honored me with his 
audience of an agricultural harangue, recently at 
Wilmington, and there, incidentally, mentioned 
that at the instance of Judge Wilkins, he had 
written out some observations on the subject for 
the use of the President — and well knowing 
that no light reflected from his lamp should be 
hid under a bushel, I prevailed with the Doctor 
to send me a copy, and not knowing any coun- 
try where information on such subjects ought to 
be more valued than in the Old Dominion ; and 
forever grateful, moreover, for the kindness with 
which my good friends in that State have al- 
ways received, and even over estimated my poor 
endeavors to speed the plough. I send it for in- 
sertion in the Southern Planter, that's all. 

J. S. S. 

Westchester, Pa., Sept. 30, 1844. 
J. S. Skinner, Esq.- 

Dear Sir, — In compliance with your request, 
I proceed to furnish you with the chief portion 
of my letter to Mr. Wilkins, on the use of Lime. 



266 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



I fear you will be disappointed in it : but such 
as it is, you are heartily welcome. I first gave 
my own experience, as follows : — " Twenty-five 
years ago, I purchased a small farm of sixty- 
one acres, which had been greatly exhausted by 
the bad treatment of a succession of tenants, 
(renters,) who took all they could from the land, 
and put nothing on it, except the scanty and 
annually diminishing manure made upon it. I 
commenced immediately to apply lime, accord- 
ing to the practice then pursued, here, viz : 
spreading forty or fifty bushels of fresh slaked 
lime (wetted so as to reduce it to a powder,) on 
each acre of ground which had been ploughed 
and harrowed for Indian corn. When the lime 
was thus spread, as equally as possible, the 
ground was again harrowed, marked out, and 
the corn planted. In this way, each field was 
limed in succession, as it came into cultivation: 
and as my little farm was divided into six fields, 
of course it required six years to give the whole 
a dressing of lime. At the end of twelve years, 
I had gone twice over the fields, in the manner 
mentioned ; and had applied about six thousand 
bushels of lime. By this time, the effect of the 
lime — combined with what little manure could 
be made — was such as to double, if not treble, 
the produce of the land, — especially the grass 
crops. Still, I was unable to manure, sufficient- 
\y, the whole of even my little fields, as they 
came under culture ; and I became convinced it 
was bad policy to be ploughing more ground 
than could be well manured. I then ploughed 
onhy half a field, for each crop; i. e. first, Indian 
corn, with lime, — then barley or oats, the next 
year, — and in the autumn succeeding these, I 
manured the ground well, and sowed wheat, 
with timothy seed at the same time — and adding 
clover seed in the spring following. This is the 
usual routine of crops, in Chester county. The 
year succeeding the wheat, the field becomes a 
fine meadow of clover and timothy, — which is 
kept up for mowing, a couple of j'ears, — and 
then, the green grass, and other natural grasses, 
having come in, (as we term it,) the field is in 
the best condition for grazing — i. e. feeding oxen 
for beef, — or for keeping a dairy, — as circum- 
stances, or the inclination of the farmer, may 
prompt. By reducing the quantity of ploughed 
land, as abovementioned, and manuring it well, 
when sowed with wheat,timothy and clover, I 
found that one-half of my little fields produced 
larger and better crops, than the whole had pre- 
viously done; while at the same time, this in- 
crease of crops (as must be obvious,) was at- 
tended with a diminution of labor. By this me- 
thod, too, the land is less exhausted by cropping ; 
the fields have a longer rest, under the shelter of 
a valuable herbage, arid the quality of the soil 
becomes thereby decidedly improved for future 
crops. I hold it to be of the greatest importance, 
in improving land, that not an inch more should 



be ploughed than can be well manured ; and if 
is an established maxim with our best farmers, 
that a field which is not left in a better condition 
at the close of a course of crops, than it was at 
the commencement, has been injudiciously ma- 
naged. We have ascertained, here, of late years, 
that in addition to the dressing of lime on the 
Indian corn ground, as before stated, it is of 
great advantage to apply lime as a top dressing, 
on the pasture fields. I incline to think it ia 
even more beneficial in this way than when put 
on ploughed land. It is exceedingly favorable 
to the growth of the valuable grasses ; and 
when the soil is stiff", it tends greatly also to 
mellow, and otherwise ameliorate its condition. 
Of latter years, I have chiefly applied lime as a 
top dressing on the grassy turf; and many of 
our best farmers now give that mode the prefer- 
ence. But the fact is, it never comes amiss, in 
any mode. It will well reward the labor, if ju- 
diciously applied, boih on the corn ground, and 
on the grass land, after the wheat crop. I prefer 
moderate and repeated dressings, say thirty to fifty 
bushels per acre. On poor lands, the first dress- 
ings should be light, gradually increasing the 
quantitj' as the quality of the soil is improved. 
It has been ascertained, that the belter the land, 
the heavier may be the dressing of lime ; and 
on some of our best soils, as high as eighty and 
one hundred bushels have been put to the acre, 
with advantage. I suppose the fact is owing 
to the greater quantity of vegetable matter in 
rich soils ; for lime always does most good in 
conjunction with vegetable matter, — and hence, 
also, the importance of manv.ring well, when 
lime is employed. It is chiefly on this ground 
that I account for the beneficial influence of lime 
as a top dressing on the sod, where it mingles 
with the dead vegetable matter on the surface. 
By its favorable influence on the grasses, lime 
increases the chief element of manure, which is 
so valuable an adjunct ; and thus, like jealousy, 
it may' be said to 'make the meat it feeds on.' 
By furnishing the material for manure, and that 
manure, in turn, increasing the salutary action 
of the lime, the means of the skilful agricul- 
turist are augmented almost in a geometrical 
ratio. 

"To recapitulate. briefly, then, the practice of 
our Chester count} farmers, in the use of lime, 
and apply their experience to exhausted lands, 
elsewhere, I would say, first, make all the ma- 
nure possible, and plough only as far as that 
manure will reach ; secondly, dress the Indian 
corn fields with about thirty bushels of lime to 
the acre, increasing the quantity as the land 
improves ; and, lastly, and firstly, and all the time, 
apply lime as a top dressing, whenever opportu- 
nity offers, on all the grass fields of the farm; 
taking them in turn, so as to allow each the 
longest period to lie, before it is broken up with 
the plough. One great recommendation of top- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



267 



dressing, is, that it can be done at any of the 
seasons of leisure, when the farmer is not pressed 
by the business of seeding, or harvesting. By 
faithfully pursuing this course, we have qua- 
drupled the value of our worn-out lands, here, 
within the last forty 3 r ears; and I can only say, 
that if it will not do the same for the exhausted 
soils of Virginia, they must be very different 
from. those of Chester county." 

In reply to the foregoing hasty and desultory 
remarks, Mr. Tyler (for whose use they were 
written) suggested the difficulty of changing 
the system in Virginia, where the farms and 
fields are very large, and the farmer conceives it 
necessary to make large crops in order to sus- 
tain himself, and desired my opinion in reference 
to that difficulty. I felt the force of the objec- 
tions, and am very sensible of my inability to 
afford a satisfactory answer. The following is 
a copy of what I had to say on the subject, 
which is also at your disposal: 

" I should be pleased, if it were in my power, 
to furnish satisfactory answers to the inquiries 
propounded in your favor of the 16th instant, 
(September,) but I am aware of the difficulties 
attending an entire change in any established 
system of Agriculture: and especially under 
such circumstances as those you mention. Agri- 
cultural habits are, I think, the hardest of all 
others, to break in upon ; and in some instances, 
they seem to be necessarily controlled and fixed 
by the character of the soil, or by the institu- 
tions and customs of the community. In the 
tide-water districts of New Jersey, Maryland, 
Virginia, and perhaps the whole of our maritime 
frontier, where a light sandy soil predominates, 
I am sensible it is difficult, if not impracticable, 
to introduce the grazing system, to which our 
farmers are so partial, in Chester county. Loose 
•sands will not retain manures like stirrer soils- — 
neither are they so propitious to the growth of 
those valuable natural grasses, which are the 
main reliance of the grazier; and hence the 
proprietors of such lands are compelled to resort 
to frequent crops of grain. Yet I believe, even 
naked sands may be vastly improved, by re- 
peated dressings of lime, and a liberal admixture 
of argillaceous earths. But, of course, such 
lands, and all exhausted lands, can only be gra- 
dually reclaimed. The farmer must be content, 
in those cases, to cultivate a very limited sur- 
face ; and what he does, must be done effectually, 
or he can never expect to procure an enduring 
grassy turf. I do not know that any sugges- 
tions which 1 can make, will be applicable to 
your farm, under the circumstances; but if the 
soil is a good loam, or is cohesive enough to 
hold manure, and favor the growth of the va- 
luable grasses , I hould think it might be brought 
gradually, and advantageously, into a condition 
for grazing. It may not be practicable, at once, 
to diminish the extent cultivated, without di- 



minishing the grain crops ; but an equivalent 
might perhaps be found, in a reduced expendi- 
ture for labor, by the gradual substitution of 
grazing for cropping ; and as the soil improved, 
there would probably be a larger and better 
crop of grain from a smaller surface of land. If 
you can thoroughly manure to the extent of for- 
ty acres (as you state), I would say, fence off a 
forty acre field — lay it clown with wheat, clover 
and timothy, or orchard grass — give it a top 
dressing of lime, when the wheat comes off — 
keep it two or three years as a meadow for hay, 
and then let it continue undistuibed, as a pasture 
field, until its turn comes to be again ploughed. 
If you find a good turf, or sod, of green or blue 
grass, superseding the clover and timothy, I 
should think there was a strong inducement to 
persevere in that system. You could then pro- 
duce a few good beeves for the market, in lieu of 
an exhausting crop of grain, while the soil 
would be actually improving under the process. 
That is our method, here; and we find it an- 
swers well. In this way, you could bring in a 
forty acre field at a time, until the whole farm 
was put under the grazing system. The labor 
and expense of culture would be thereby dimin- 
ished, and thus prove a set-off against any di- 
minution in the proceeds of the grain crop. Top 
dressings of lime might be beneficially repealed 
on fields which had lain a few years in grass; 
and when those fields came, in turn, to be 
ploughed, you would probably find the product 
of grain considerably increased. I should in- 
cline to reserve all the manure for the wheat 
crops ; and apply lime to the Indian corn grounds; 
and also as a top dressing for the pasture fields. 
By having several moderate sized fields in grass, 
the stock can be transferred, as occasion requires, 
from one field to another — and thus, by frequent 
changes, have the advantage of fresh pasture. 
The stock, moreover, should never be loo nu- 
merous for the farm ; and never, if avoidable, be 
allowed to remain in any field so long as to crop 
the pasture too close, for that is always injurious. 
These views, you will perceive, are based upon 
the supposition that your land is adapted to the 
formation of a grassy turf, by the means sug- 
gested : hut, if the soil is too sandy, or other- 
wise unfitted for that treatment, it may, after all, 
be expedient to continue the present mode of 
cropping, with such aid_ as lime and manure 
can afford. In case of doubt, the experiment 
might be tried on a small scale, until the capa- 
city of the land for grazing is fairly tested." 

The preceding extracts contain all that I said 
on the occasion referred to, and, I believe, all 
that I have to say, respecting the use of lime, in 
agriculture. You will, doubtless, find it a te- 
dious story, but it is difficult to be at once brief 
and explicit in such matters. As the subject 
seems to be attracting attention in different parts 
of our country, I propose to give a summary 



268 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



sketch of our practice here, in an address which 
I have been invited to make to the Philadelphia 
Society for Promoting Agriculture, on the 17th 
of October. It will, of course, be substantially 
the same as what I have now furnished ; but, 
if the address shall be published, I will do my- 
self the pleasure to send you a copy. 

With the highest respect, I am, 

Dear sir, your most obedient, 

Wm. Darlington. 
John S. Skinner, Esq. \ 

Washington City, j 

In selecting our paper as the organ for com- 
municating to the public this valuable essay, 
Mr. Skinner has done us a favor, for which we 
thank him in the name of our readers. 

Mr. S. ought by this time to have learned 
that when he promises an article to an agricul- 
tural paper he excites expectations amongst its 
readers, which can only be satisfied by its ap- 
pearance. A little while ago he hinted at an 
intended communication upon the varieties of 
wheat exhibited by Gen. Harmon at the New 
York show ; b} r sending it to us shortly, Mr. S. 
will save us the trouble of answering many in- 
quiries for it, at the same time that he will gra- 
tify a large poriion of our readers who are deeply 
interested in the subject. 

P. S. — Since communicating the paper from 
Dr. Darlington, I have ascertained, by conver- 
sation with respectable farmers of Montgomery 
county, in this State, that there they consider 
liming so important, and economical, that they 
deem the capital they can command, well em- 
ployed in applying lime, at the rate of one hun- 
dred bushels to the acre ! — and, what is more, they 
send eighteen miles for it, and pay twelve and a 
half cents a bushel. Making a fair charge for 
the expense of hauling and spreading, and they 
estimate the lime when thus applied, in ihe 
neighborhood to which I refer, at 25 cents a 
bushel, or $25 to the acre! They can show 
that the increase of the crops in the first round, 
or rotation, gives them back their ouilay, which 
is making near twenty per cent, per annum, af- 
ter allowing or deducting six per cent, for interest, 
supposing the capital to be borrowed, and leaves 
their land at least, one hundred per cent, better 
than in its original state. What business will 
pay a better interest? But alas ! where can he 
borrow the capital to buy his lime? and what is 
the guarantee that when he does borrow, he will 
so invest, and apply it skilfully 1 The best 
guarantee, and let young farmers remember it 
well, is their own character for industry, economy, 
intelligence and punctuality. • 

Your "business note," I think they call it — 



one that is to be taken up at " sixty days after 
date," is worse to him than nothing. If given 
at corn planting time, it "comes round" before 
the corn is " in silk," he gets a little stereotype 
notice, J. S. S., $117 — — cenis, due 29-1 
June, 1824, BANK OF VIRGINIA. Such 
accommodation is no better than a broken reed, 
and the " moneyed man" finds a thousand ways . 
to "turn over his capital" better than lending it 
on long time, at six per cent. How then are 
our worn-out lands to be improved 1 That is a 
question worthy of anxious consideration, and 
so is another — Can grain be made, profitably, 
with slave labor? J. S. S. 



PREMATURE APPLES. 

Every apple that falls from the tree before the 
crop is ripe, should be gathered up and given to 
the hogs. Almost every such apple will be 
found on examination, to contain a small worm 
or maggot, which is said to be the curcidio in its 
pupa state. This worm will leave the apple 
soon after it falls, and enter the earth, whence it 
returns in the spring, in another form to recom- 
mence its depredations upon your fruit. 

Farmers' 1 Gazette. 



SHOES. 

The Journal de Paris, says that an operative 
in the Rue des Vielles Andridttes, has invented 
a machine to make shoes, by means of which 
anj' person possessing sufficient slrengih to turn 
a wheel, can in 'the course of a day finish fifty 
pair of excellent shoes of every size. 



WOOL. 
With some very interesting specimens of beau- 
tiful wool, which we preserve for the inspection 
of our friends, we received the following : 

Charles T. Botts, Esq. 

Dear Sir, — I send you some samples of sin- 
gularly fine and beautiful wool, taken from two 
flocks of the pure Electoral Saxon sheep, ihe pro- 
perty of the late Henry D. Grove, of New York. 
They were sent to me by Dr. Cook, one of the 
executors. The sheep were to be publicly sold, 
in Ohio and New York, in the course of the 
present autumn. The reputation of the Saxony 
sheep is doubtless well known to you and many 
of the readers of your valuable journal. They 
are probably unequalled in ihe United Slates. 
Mr. Grove being a nal ive of Saxony, and brought 
up as a practical shepherd, succeeded by his 
skill, in acclimating this, perhaps less hardy, 
variely of sheep, so as to make them as easily 
kept in this country as in their native land.— 
The samples I understand were put up just after 
being laashed, and consequently do not show to 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



269 



as much advantage as they would have done in 
a few days more. As it is from the wool of the 
Saxon sheep that the finest cloths are manufac- 
tured, it may gratify the curiosity of such of 
your readers as are in the habit of calling on 
you, to examine these specimens of extraordi- 
nary wool. I send them, therefore, for that pur- 
pose, with a sample of wool from the fine South- 
down ram, which I imported in 1841, from Eng- 
land. The weight of a fine Saxon fleece would 
be, I presume, not more than three or four pounds, 



that of a good sized Southdown, eight or ten. 
I was present at a sheep shearing at Allhorp, 
(Lord Spencer's,) in the spring of 1838, and I 
think he had several Shear Hogs whose fleeces 
were more than twelve pounds each in weight. 
They were of the improved Leicester stock, I 
think, and not very large. 
Very truly, dear sir, 

Your friend, 

A. Stevenson. 
October 22, 1844. 



ORNAMENTAL C O U N TRY HOUSE 




We extract from the Cultivator another cut 
of an ornamental country house. We wish we 
could inspire a general laste for the beauties of 
architectural design. A man. may ride from 
morning till night through the most refined and 
wealthy portion of Virginia without seeing as 
tasty a dwelling as the one represented in our 
engraving, cheap and simple as it is. Yet no- 
thing adds more to the beauty of a country 
than an ornamented homestead ; it isn't only 
that the eye is pleased, the heart is gratified by 
this evidence of our devotion to the shrine of 
our social affections. Patriotism too, that love 
of country which by association inspires the 
warmest feeling for all those who enjoy the 
delights of that country in common with us, is 
intimately connected with the beauty of the 



landscape. Why does the Swiss sigh for his bar- 
ren hills, but that he remembers with delight the 
beautiful prospect of mountain and of lake that 
constituted the scene of his youthful joys 1 The 
poor son of Erin never forgets the verdant fields 
of his native isle, and his heart warms instinc- 
tively to all who have suffered and enjoyed in 
common with him its oppressions and its beau- 
ties. The Highlander reverts incontinently to 
his lochs and his hills, and the exiled English- 
man longs for the villas and gardens of the low- 
lands. The American alone looks back upon 
gloomy forests, disfigured rather than ornamented 
with rude and shapeless dwellings. Except in 
some few instances, where nature has placed 
him amongst, the loftiest and noblest of her 
works, during the course of a long life he has 



270 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



probably never seen a single object calculated 
to gratify the mind of a cultivated being: and 
who can tell how much of the goodness and 
kindness of our natures is attributable to the 
beauty of the objects with which we are sur- 
rounded'? The sunny skies of Italy generate 
a softness and gentleness that are proverbial, 
whilst the clouded and smoky atmosphere of 
London, is said to produce a rooroseness that is 
the prolific source of innumerable crimes, and 
not unfrequently ends in self-destruction. 

Motives then of private policy and of public 
good instigate us to add to the blessings of the 
noblest political institutions that the world ever 
saw, the additional enjoyment of a cultivated 
and pleasing landscape. 

Are we to fight this battle alone? Is there 
no true hearted son of the Old Dominion, who 
will gird on his armor and help us to war against 
this sordid love of pelf, or want of taste, which 
prevents our homes from indicating to the pass- 
ing traveller, the intelligence, the kindness, and 
the refinement which we know frequently render 
a shabby, old, unpainted domicil, where pillow 
cases are substituted for window panes, the sanc- 
tuary of the best affections of the human heart. 

There is one gentleman who has promised to 
come to our aid, and who has intimated that he 
would furnish us with a plan of dwelling better 
adapted to our "peculiar institutions" than any 
we have yet given to the public. We know his 
ability, and long for his communication. 



For the Southern Planter. 

FRUIT TREES. 

Mr. Editor, — The time for planting out fruit 
trees has now arrived, and no farmer who has 
not yet furnished himself with an orchard should 
neglect the present season. He owes it to him- 
self, to his family, and to society to do so. What 
is there which contributes more to comfort, en- 
joyment, and health, than a good orchard ? — ■ 
There are few to be found who can say that 
they are not fond of good fruit, and if that 
should be true, surely no farmer would be willing 
to deny to others such an enjoyment. But per- 
haps some may say that they cannot afford the 
expense. There are certainly but few who de- 
serve the name of farmer, that cannot plant out 
a moderate sized orchard, say fifty or one hun- 
dred trees, which will cost him from fifteen to 
twenty dollars per hundred, and so in proportion. 
And if he can't plant out the whole number de- 
sired, this fall and winter, let him make a be- 
ginning, and add every year till he has an or- 



chard of the requisite size. Let it not be said 
by any one, (as I have heard,) that I shall not 
live to enjoy it. There is a selfishness in the 
sentiment, of which we should be ashamed. — 
We should live for others as well as for ourselves, 
which is one of the dictates of Christianit}' as 
well as of patriotism. Such is not the course 
of our Northern friends, and see the result. In- 
stead of supplying ourselves with fruit, we are, 
to our reproach, furnished from the INorth with 
those varieties which can be transported. Let 
every farmer feel a pride, arid so far consult his 
own interest as to set about a change in this 
matter. True economy requires it — comfort, 
health, and every other consideration require it. 

To those who are inclined to enter upon the 
enterprise, I would make a few remarks. Do 
not from a false economy encumber your land 
with worthless seedling trees. The expense of 
good fruit trees, is comparatively trifling, and 
will cost you no more to cultivate and rear them, 
than the most indifferent scrubby seedlings. — 
The difference in the value of the fruit of one 
season, will more than make amends for the dif- 
ference in expense. 

And while 1 am on this subject let me recom- 
mend our own native Virginia nurseries. Why 
should we go to the North for every thing? — 
Our nurseries contain all the valuable fruits 
which are to be found in the nurseries to the 
North. These men live amongst us, why not 
patronise them? They are reliable men, who 
would not deceive you — men in whom you 
might confide to send such trees as you order. 
It is rather calculated to move the indignation 
of even a smooth tempered farmer, to find that 
years after he has incurred the expense and 
trouble, his trees prove worthless, which has 
sometimes been my misfortune. 

The writer, from a knowledge of the gentle- 
men, can recommend Joseph Simon, near Rich- 
mond, for his genera] and choice collection of 
fruits — Thomas S. Pleasants, near Petersburg, 
may also be relied upon to furnish peaches of 
rare and choice varieties. There may also be 
others who deserve confidence. 

The writer of this has no interest whatever 
in any nursery. He has himself been at the 
expense of hundreds of dollars to Northern nur- 
series for his own use, and often been disap- 
pointed in the varieties ordered, or the manner 
in which they have been forwarded, by which 
they failed to grow. Our own nurseries can 
now furnish them more conveniently, — more 
promptly, — more to be relied on, and with more 
safety. 

Yours, respectfully, W. J. D. 

Petersburg, Oct. 23, 1 844. 



Every gate-post on the farm should have an 
auger hole bored in it, to be filled with grease 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



271 



raid plugged up, lo grease the latches and hinges. 
Want of grease, if often observed, but from not 
having it at hand, it is generally never applied. 

Selected. 



REAPING MACHINES. 
We have received a long communication from 
Mr. McCormick, who has just returned from 
the north-west in answer to Mr. Hussey's article 
published in the October number of the Planter. 
Our limits compel us to razee this communica- 
tion, and we sincerely hope that in doing so we 
may omit nothing that Mr. McCormick would 
deem very pertinent to the merits of his ma- 
chine. The original paper will be retained for 
the inspection of those who desire to inform 
themselves more particularly of the merits of 
this controversy. We make the following ex- 
tract : 

I, like Mr. Hussey at one time, have been dis- 
posed to let my Reaper manifest its superiority 
by its operations, and — Mr. Hussey's opinion to 
the contrary notwithstanding — think there is 
the strongest proof of its having done so. I 
had supposed the world grown wise enough to 
know that the only certain test of the value of 
all such agricultural implements as those offered 
to the public by Mr. Hussey and myself, is ex- 
perience. Hence they very wisely and properly 
require, before they stamp with their approbation 
any thing of the sort, a series of experiments, 
confirming beyond doubt their practical utility 
and efficiency. And this is the touchstone by 
which I wish my machine tested. And I can- 
not think that any thing calculated to entertain 
or enlighten your readers — that any useful re- 
sult will grow out of a controversy of this sort — 
a warfare of words between my adversary and 
myself. And feeling no apprehension from Mr. 
Hussey's competition, I have no time to spare 
from making machines to meet the public de- 
mand for the next harvest — to be wasted in this 
idle tournament. But as he has again attempted 
to show that injustice has been done hirn; that 
he has been cheated out of the favorable stand- 
ing which rny machine occupies before the pub- 
lic ; and has informed the public of the failure 
of one of thern, it may be thought, necessary 
very briefly to advert to some of the facts in the 
case. 

As Mr. Sampson's was one of the first ma- 
chine.-; that I sold — sold on his application be- 
fore I was prepared to guarantee its perform- 
ance — and the only one that has failed, I will 
commence by saying for Mr. Hussey's comfort 
that Mr. John R. Sampson (who purchased ihe 
first) stated to me al the close of the last har- 
vest that he expected to want one and his bro- 



ther-in-law (Dr. Wood) another, for the next 
harvest. It is probable that after the failure of 
one, (I had proposed correcting a defect in it, 
which was, however, not done,) he would take 
care to be well advised before purchasing an- 
other. Can Hussey say this of all or any of 
the machines built by him and disused in Vir- 
ginia, Maryland, and elsewhere 1 

As to the several trials that took place be- 
tween the two machines during the harvest of 
18-13, it would be a useless repetition and waste 
of time, to go into a particular examination of 
them. Hussey's views of them, in his " Self- 
Defence," No. 2, were given to the public 
through the columns of the Richmond Enquirer 
of Sth July, 1843, and in other papers, together 
with Mr. Watkins' opinion of his machine. Mr. 
Roane's preference and purchase, after signing 
the report at Hutchison's, &c, were also pub- 
lished before in the Planter, which I was dis- 
posed to let go for what they were worth. He 
staled that he thought Hussey's the strongest 
and probably best machine for heavy wheat ; 
and I think it probable that his sympathies may 
have been a little excited. In the Enquirer of 
July 14th, (1843) — which paper, like yours, 
was kindly thrown open for the discussion — at 
a time too when it was probably not without 
some interest. I replied to Mr. Hussey at some 
length, showing his discourteous challenge, my 
published acceptance of it — and appointment se- 
veral days previously at Mr. Hutchison's, by the 
arrangements of Rev. J. H. Turner and others — 
with my proposition that it should be made a 
full test of speed by the day, &c. — that he did 
not appear on the ground until ten or eleven 
o'clock, and cut but an acre or two, (while I cut 
seventeen acres in less than a day,) and only 
asked allowance to be made by the committee 
in making their report for the small size of his 
machine — that some of the committee remarked 
after making their report, that ihey considered 
it sufficient to give the preference to my ma- 
chine, while they were of opinion that it had 
several important advantages over his, viz : cut- 
ting damp wheat ; depositing it at the side, so 
that it is not necessary to bind it when cut ; (often 
it does not suit to do so ;) saving it cleaner, hav- 
ing canvass behind lo prevent it from dropping 
off the platform into the stubble ; two, instead 
of four horse (or mule) power, and about two- 
thirds the price, &c. — that two or three days 
previous to this trial, and without my know- 
ledge, Hussey had given notice in the neigh- 
borhood of Mr. E. L. Wight, of " Tuckahoe," 
that one of my machines would be put in opera- 
tion there, and that his would also; that a con- 
siderable number of gentlemen attended, (Messrs. 
Sampson of the number,) and that, in conse- 
quence of a little shower of rain Hussey was 
compelled to admit that his machine did not 
suit well to cut damp wheat, having at last to 



272 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



turn his four mule team around twice in a space 
of twenty paces, and then drive at a trot to get 
through, while mine was not impeded by the 
dampness — (Mr. Wight said he would not have 
his machine — yet has Mr. H. "had the satis- 
faction to think his machine was preferred." I 
would not deprive him of this satisfaction, so 
long as I have the satisfaction to receive their 
orders for the machines) — that after this he went 
higher up the river (James) to Mr. Carter's, to 
cut tangled wheat, and from his own account 
(to a gentleman in the neighborhood) failed, 
complaining that even Mr. C. did not go to see 
his machine operate — that he had his two ma- 
chines together at Mr. Wight's, when he knew of 
the regular trial to take place at Mr. Hutchison's, 
and yet why not be able to get one as well as 
the other to make battle in so important a con- 
test? — that after the cutting at Hutchison's, he 
again challenged me to a trial at Mr. Roane's 
in cutting tangled wheat, and in the attempt to 
cut some such there, he broke the blade of his 
machine, and rake, and failed — (I made no at- 
tempt to cut it, as it was too much down to be 
cut with any machine but a simple scythe or 
hook, but did cut other tangled wheat in the 
field) — that my machine did cut several acres 
more wheat in the day than his, &c. 

Is more evidence required as to the real im- 
pression which has been made upon the public 
mind by the two machines, Mr. Editor? Yes. 
The inquiry will at once arise, are we yet to 
look to the operations of these machines upon 
paper, as set before us too by interested parties, ! 
or has that unerring test of experience not al- ! 
ready spoken in this matter? If so, what does 
it say ? Well, in addition to Mr. Roane and 
Mr. Watkins, Mr. Hussey has succeeded in get- 
ting statements from one or two persons in Jef- 
ferson county, under what circumstances of com- 
parison I know not, or whether they saw my 
machine operate — that it is considered of no ac- 
count ! If this statement proves any thing, it 
only proves, I suppose, what I had learned in a 
letter I received from James Madison Hite, Esq. 
of Clarke county, who purchased the right to 
Jefferson and seven other counties, viz : that he 
had built and sold fourteen or fifteen machines, 
a few of which did not do well in consequence 
of defects in workmanship, &c, but generally 
they had given great satisfaction, and he calcu- 
lated on building a considerable number for the 
next harvest, and has ordered of me one hun- 
dred blades. Although Mr. Hussey, as has been 
stated, had two machines at Richmond in 1843, 
and had another there last harvest, I have not 
heard of the sale of either of them; and yet it 
might be inferred from his statement that he had 
been selling many machines, and "neglecting 
his interest by not publishing the certificates." 

Since the harvest of 1843 (and including that 
harvest), when I had the trials with Mr. Hus- 



sey, my reaper, as he has observed, has been 
widely diffused throughout the wheat growing 
parts of this State. Near half the county rights 
have been sold to persons who had either used 
the machine or resided near to where it had 
been used the previous harvest. It has also 
been diffused during the last harvest and since, 
by sales and contracts, through Maryland, Ken- 
tucky, Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, Illinois, Mis- 
souri, Wisconsin, Michigan, and New York. — 
The manufacture of two hundred and fifty ma- 
chines at one place, (Cincinnati) for the next 
harvest, has been contracted for, besides many 
other important contracts in other parts of this 
vast region. The permanent popularity of my 
reaper has already been so far established, I 
trust, as to place it out of danger of passing 
into oblivion after a short-lived reputation, as I 
think has been the fate of Mr. Hussey's cutter. 

As this has already been extended, Mr. Edi- 
tor, much longer than I intended when I com- 
menced, I suppose you will not find room to ap- 
pend certificates to it, I should be glad to fur- 
nish you with a few if you can give them a 
place in your next. 

Very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

C. H. M'Cormick. 

November 8, 1844. 

P. S. — Having already received many orders 
for the next harvest, and as this demand pro- 
mises to be considerable, it is desirable and may 
be necessary that persons wanting my reaper 
should order soon. I could have sold several 
more last harvest if I had had them in market ; 
but my object is to meet the demand, and when 
wanted orders should not be deferred. With my 
thanks for the liberal patronage heretofore re- 
ceived, I have only to add that my terms will be 
the same as heretofore, viz : $100 at the facto- 
ry, or $105 at Richmond, at four months from 
harvest, warranted to perform in the best man- 
ner, as usual. 

More full accounts may be seen shortly in the 
Whig and Enquirer. 

C. H. M'C. 



VALUABLE RECIPE. 

To clean mahogany and marble furniture no 
soap should ever be used for them — they should 
be washed in fair water, and rubbed with a clean 
soft cloth till dry. A little sweet oil, rubbed on 
occasionally, gives them a fine polish. The fur- 
niture should be rubbed over with a cloth dipped 
in oil, then rubbed over with a clean cloth till it 
appears dry and polished. White spots on var- 
nished furniture may be removed by rubbing 
them with a warm flannel, dipped in spirits of 
turpentine. Ink spots may be removed by rub- 
bing them with a woollen cloth, dipped in oil of 
vitriol and water mixed, being careful not to 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



273 



touch any part of the furniture that is not spotted. 
As soon as the ink is extracted, rinse the spot 
with pearlash water, and then with fair water. 
It is said that blotting paper alone will extract 
the ink, if rolled up tight and rubbed hard on 
the spots. If it answers the purpose, it is alto- 
gether best to use it, as there is always danger 
attending the use o'f oil of vitriol, it being so 
powerful as to corrode whatever it may get 
dropped on, without its effects are destroyed by 
the use of an alkali. — American Housewife. 



GUANO; 
This subject is continually pressed upon our 
notice by the certificates of its efficacy with 
which the country is flooded. We know how 
cautious our friends are and ought to be of the 
glowing accounts that are from time to time put 
forth of the magical value of different articles 
which live a day, are forgotten, and yield in turn 
to their successors. The number of these im- 
positions and the greediness with which, in de- 
spite of experience, they are clutched at by the 
farming community prove the need and value of 
a concentrated fertilizer. 

The expense of making and hauling out 
farm yard manure is felt to be a heavy draw- 
back upon the profits of the farm, and yet it is 
universally admitted to be an indispensable re- 
quisite to good farming. We will not consent 
to institute a comparison between guano and 
stable or farm yard manure, when the one has 
to be purchased and the other is made at home, 
for we will consent to do nothing which may 
have a tendency to relax a farmer's exertions in 
what we believe to be the most important de- 
partment of his business, the collection and pre- 
servation of the domestic sources of fertility. — 
But with all our exertions the home product will 
go just so far and no farther ; there is always 
a portion of the crop that it will not cover. — 
Then after the domestic resource has been ex- 
hausted we are willing to consider whether the 
farmer can make money by buying guano at 
three cents a pound (its present price in the 
Richmond market,) and applying it to land that 
would otherwise go un manured. Every calcu- 
lation of this sort must rest on its own bottom, 
for the cost of the guano will vary with the dif- 
ferent locations to which it may be transported. 
All that we can do, therefore, is to lay before 
our readers the statements o'f its effects when 
applied to different crops. 

From hundreds of such statements we have 
You. IV.-35 



selected the following furnished us by Mr. Peti- 
colas, of Petersburg, because it is very exact, 
very satisfactory, and because we and our read- 
ers, generally, know the source from which it 
comes to be perfectly reliable : 

Charles T. Botts, Esq.. 

Dear Sir, — In compliance with your request, 
I will simply state, that from the numerous tes- 
timonials of the surprising efficacy of this ma- 
nure in France, England and the United States, 
t was induced to try it on white turnips, sowed 
28th August, in drills, leaving one row unma- 
nured, against a bed of equal size heavily ma- 
nured, sowed 27th August. 1 applied the guano 
in eight days after they were up, (by making a 
small drill with a light hoe on both sides,) at 
the rate of 1 lb. to twenty yards. In ten days 
after its application, the tops without one drop 
of rain, were double the size of the manured 
bed, and of a richer green color. At this time 
the turnips average fifteen inches in circumfer- 
ence, whilst those in the manured bed are not 
more than one-half the size, and the unmanured 
row will not make, judging from present ap- 
pearances. Accidentally some long scarlet ra- 
dishes were mixed in the turnips, which grew 
to an enormous size, averaging more than one 
foot in length, and very tender; we ate them 
about the 10th October. In another small bed 
to which I applied the guano, there were some 
old beets reserved for seed and a few carrots, 
both of which grew rapidly, and the carrots are 
now by far the largest I have ever had. I then 
applied it to two-thirds of the cabbages on a 
sandy hill, (which is so poor that the remain- 
ing cabbages are not over six or seven inches 
high and will certainly never head,) the others, 
with three or four exceptions, are fine hard heads; 
those which have not headed are very large. I 
have since tried it on two-thirds of an acre in 
turnips, sown from 28th September to 2d Octo- 
ber. To the first drills in this bed, I applied the 
guano at the bottom of the drill, interposing 
about an inch of soil, and then sowed. These 
did not come up, and I suppose were killed in 
germinating. I have since re-sowed, and do not 
despair of making turnips from those sowed 28th 
September, as they are growing rapidly. 

It has been applied in this town with complete 
success to peach trees, at the rate of a table- 
spoonful to each tree, producing an abundant 
crop without a worm, and larger than usual. — 
Also to a few stalks of Indian corn, a tea-spoon- 
ful to each stalk. If it produces in like propor- 
tion in fields, we should soon have the poor 
lands about Petersburg producing like James 
river low grounds. 

I have also tried it on a variety of shrubbery 
and late flowers with surprising results. The 
monthly roses to which it was applied are now 



274 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



in full bloom, and the chrysanthynums are larger 
than usual. Several gentlemen in the vicinity 
have tried it this fall on wheat, which looks 
finely. 

Upon the whole, I consider it at three cents 
per pound, (the price it sells for in Petersburg,) 
as, beyond all question, the cheapest manure we 
have. It recommends itself by the strongest 
considerations to the agriculturist and horticul- 
turist ; first, from its incredible fertilizing power ; 
secondly, in the facility of its application; and 
thirdly, in its durability when amalgamated 
with the soil. An acre of ground may be hea- 
vily manured in a few hours by a single hand. 
Probably the best method of applying it to small 
grain crops, is to mix it with about four times 
its bulk of gypsum, woods earth, ashes, or pul- 
verized charcoal, and sow it at the rate of 300 
lbs. per acre, with the last harrowing. To to- 
bacco or Indian corn one tea-spoonful, pure, or 
mixed as above, around each stalk or plant. — 
For plant patches, it must be first rale, as it 
keeps off insects and gives great energy in a 
very short time. 

Your friend, A. Peticolas. 

Petersburg, Nov. 1, 1844. 

P. S. — I omitted to mention that I cut down 
two crops of weeds in my manured bed of tur- 
nips, and pulled up in a few minutes the large 
weeds in the guano bed, there being no small 
ones introduced with the guano. A. P. 



POUDRETTE. 
Some time since we stated that Mr. Minor, of 
New York, had promised to furnish us with di- 
rections that would enable every farmer to con- 
vert the night soil of his farm into poudrette. — 
This promise excited a good deal of interest, 
and we have had frequent inquiries for the di- 
rections ; we have not heard from Mr. Minor, 
but substitute the following excellent article, 
taken from the Cultivator, for his communication: 

DISINFECTION OF FECAL MATTER— ITS 
CHEAP AND IMMEDIATE CONVERSION 
INTO MANURE. 

Agriculturists are acquainted with the pow- 
erful properties of poudrette manure. The ex- 
pense of its preparation and transport has hitherto 
limited its use to gardens and farms in the neigh- 
borhood of its manufactory. From the facts 
contained in the following letter, laid by M. Du- 
mas before the French Institute in July, and 
which we commend to the serious attention of 
our readers, we learn that this potent auxiliary 
of production may be made quickly and at a 
trifling cost on every farm. The disinfecting 
agent used, is the sulphate of iron, or the cop- 
peras of the shops, which can be purchased at 



$1 37^ the hundred pounds. Should the prac- 
tice of using it for this purpose become general, 
it is evident a great addition will be made lo the 
resources of agriculture, particularly in the neigh- 
borhood of towns and villages. There is one 
application of the solution of copperas, not al- 
luded to in the letter, which we would suggest 
to those who shall make a trial of it ; we mean 
ils application to the ordinary dung-hill. If each 
new layer added to a manure heap were sprin- 
kled with copperas water, much, if not all of 
that most valuable element, the ammonia, which 
is now lost by its volatility, would be converted 
into a fixed salt, and thus saved. We suppose, 
of course, that the double decomposition which 
ensues on the addition of sulphate of iron to 
human excrement, would take place equally in 
the farm yard, a fact easily determined by expe- 
riment. T. 

Translated from the Moniteur Industriel of July 13, 
for the Cultivator. 

Sir, — In experimenting upon the simplest and 
most economical practical means of saturating 
the carbonate of ammonia of fecal substances, 
I have ascertained that sulphate of iron is to be 
preferred. This salt in small crystals and of the 
commonest quality, may be had for eight or ten 
francs the quintal melrique, (220-| lbs. avoirdu- 
pois — in Albany, copperas is sold at from $1 
37^ to $1 75 per 100 lbs.) and is more easily 
transported and managed than acids, which may 
occasion accidents in unpracticed hands. But 
sulphate of iron offers another remarkable ad- 
vantage which must secure for it a preference. 

The noxious and disagreeable effluvia exhaled 
by fecal substances, proceeds chiefly from the 
volatilization of carbonate of ammonia and sul- 
phuretted hydrogen gas, which has been often 
fatal to scavengers. If we pour a solution of 
sulphate of iron into fecal matters, a double de- 
composition immediately takes place ; the sul- 
phmic acid of the sulphate combines with the 
ammonia, converting it into a fixed salt, and the 
iron forms with the sulphur, sulphuret of iron. 
The exhalations of ammoniacal vapor and sul- 
phuretted hydrogen immediately disappear, and 
the fecal substances lose all but a slight smell 
peculiar to them, combined with the odor of the 
little vegetable matter they contain, and are not 
at all offensive. 

When these substances are sufficiently liquid, - 
the solid excrements are dissolved (in great part); 
what remains, precipitating as a blackish slime. 

I obtained this result by treating in the above 
manner, the contents of my house privy. The 
liquid I used at two degrees of strength for wa- 
tering my garden, and the blackish deposit of 
trifling volume which had subsided, was spread 
upon the beds without occasioning the least in- 
convenience. 

Fecal matters saturated with a solution of 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



275 



sulphate of iron may be transported by day as 
easily as common manure, without incommoding 
any body. As they form a very rich manure, 
they can be carried to greater distances than or- 
dinary dung, and be readily diluted to two de- 
grees to be used in the liquid form. (By two 
degrees, are meant two degrees of Beaume's 
hydrometer, which is graduated to 72 degrees 
generally — the first degree corresponding with 
water taken as unity — the last representing a 
liquid of twice the density of water, so that 2 
degrees indicates a liquid of a density 1 1-72 
greater than water.) 

Fecal substances without previous saturation 
lose their carbonate of ammonia, which volatil- 
izes, and are thus deprived of their most ener- 
getic fertilizing element. 

The greater part of human excrements are 
lost at the present day, because they are not 
collected with care nor properly treated, on ac- 
count of the repugnance they inspire. Yet they 
are of immense importance to agriculture. The 
solid and liquid excrements of a man may be 
estimated at 1.65 pounds per day, or 618 pounds 
per annum, containing 3 per cent, of nitrogen, 
or 18 pounds, a sufficient quantity, according to 
Boussingault, to produce 880 pounds of wheat, 
rye or oats. 

Some portions of a meadow which I watered 
last year with a solution of ammoniacal salts at 
one degree, of two quarts to the square yard, 
still continue to exhibit superior vigor of vege- 
tation, and will yield double the quantity of hay 
that the unwatered part will give. The result 
exceeds my expectations, for I did not think 
that the action of a small quantity of ammonia 
would continue for several years. I no longer 
doubt that it will be felt for three years at least. 
Ammoniacal salts may thus be easily made to 
supply the wants of soils where dung enough 
is not produced — for if we admit that S80 lbs. 
of these salts at 5 cents and 3 mills, or about 
$47, are required to manure two and a half 
acres for three years, the annual expense would 
hardly be $16, (about $6 40 per acre,) which 
would be more than compensated by the in- 
creased production. 

I am, &C ScHATTENMANN, 

Director of the Mines of Bouxwillier. 



THE CORRESPONDENTS OP THE PLANTER. 
We take the liberty of making the following 
extract from a private letter, because we esteem 
it a tribute justly due the distinguished individual 
to whom it refers : 

I congratulate you, sir, on the last number of 
the Planter. Mr. Venable's communication on 
the rnean3 of preventing the destruction of to- 
bacco plants by the fly, is worth all the money 



I ever paid you. Mr. Venable is one of my 
countymen, and I am proud of such a citizen. 
He is truly an agriculturist, practically as well 
as theoretically : a communication from his pen 
is always plain, instructive, and interesting. 
October 19, 1844. 



INSTANTANEOUS BEER. 

Put to a pint and a half of water four tea- 
spoonfuls of ginger, a table-spoonful of lemon 
juice — sweeten it to the taste with syrup or 
white sugar, and turn it into a junk bottle. — 
Have ready a cork to fit the bottle, a string or 
wire to tie it down, and a mallet to drive in the 
cork. Then put into the bottle a heaping tea- 
spoonful of the super carbonate of soda, cork it 
immediately, tie it down, then shake the whole 
up well, cut the string, and the cork will fly out. 
Turn it out, and drink immediately. — American 
Housewife. 



C. N. BEMENT, ESQ.. 
We are obliged to Mr. Bement for a copy of 
his address delivered before the Housatonic Agri- 
cultural Society. It is replete with the sound 
practical sense for which the author is distin- 
guished. We make the following extract as 
illustrative of the benefit to be derived from 

MIXING SOILS. 

" Some nine or ten years ago in the early part 
of my farming, I had occasion to deepen a well, 
about six or eight feet. The earth thrown out 
was a tenacious blue clay, just damp enough to 
cut into lumps, and adhesive enough to retrain 
so. After finishing the well, the man who had 
charge of the farm was at a loss to know where 
to deposit it. Having a bare sandy knoll in one 
of the fields, which was not inaptly termed 'per- 
sonal property' from its being wafted about by 
every breeze, here to da)', and there to-morrow, 
it occurred to me that the clay would hold the 
sand and form a soil. I accordingly ordered it 
deposited there in heaps, the same as if manure. 
This was in the summer. In the fall the lumps 
were scattered over the surface and left to the 
action of the rain and frost. In the spring it 
was found to have broken down, crumbled and 
slaked like lime. These heaps were reduced 
and the clay evenly spread over the surface. The 
field received a coat of manure, was ploughed, 
and sown with oats and peas. That where the 
clay was applied, produced the largest and most 
vigorous growth, of any other part of the field. 
In the fall it was sown with rye and seeded 
down with timothy and clover. The rye as 
well as the clover was much more vigorous and 
heavier, on that than any other part of the field. 
In fact, the person who occupied the farm after 



276 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



I left it, informed me that he lost his crop of 
grass on that part in consequence of its lodging. 
Thus the personal was made real or fast proper- 
ty, and remains so to the present day. 

" Having experienced such beneficial effects 
from mixing clay with sand I was afterwards 
induced to try what effect sand would have on 
a rather retentive soil. The garden at Three 
Hills Farm, is a stiff clay loam resting on a 
strong tenacious clay subsoil, rather inclining to 
moisture. The second year after I purchased 
and took possession of it, I caused a coat of 
sand, from six to eight inches in depth, to be 
put on one of the squares, which was spaded in 
with the manure, and I had the satisfaction to 
witness the most gratifying and happy results — 
the crop on that square was far superior to any 
other in the garden. Since then I have caused 
over five hundred one-horse cart loads of sand 
to be put in the garden, and the effect is still 
visible although the sand has disappeared." 

Also the following upon the use of 

SALT FISH AS MANURE. 



" Four years since I applied six barrels of 
spoiled salt fish to a strip of potatoes in a field 
of four acres, in comparison with } r ard manure. 
To every hill I put half a herring or mackerel 
at. the time of planting, covering it with the po- 
tato. The season proved a dry one, and while 
the vines in the other part of the field suffered 
greatly from the drought, those where the salt 
fish were used maintained a dark, vigorous and 
healthy color, vines very large, long, and con- 
tinuing green some time after the others were 
shriveled, dried, and dead. On digging them 
in the fall, I found them much larger in size and 
nearly double in quantity to those where yard 
manure was applied. 

"At the time I attributed the great yield, over 
the others, to the animal substance, as nothing 
but the bones of the fish were found in the fall, 
but on further reflection and observation, I am 
inclined to think that the salt was the most 
powerful agent after all, as will appear from the 
crops taken off the three following years. 

" The next crop I took from the field was ru- 
tabagas, and that part where the salt fish was 
used showed a much more vigorous growth of 
plants, maintained the same dark, healthy ap- 
pearance, and could be distinguished from the 
rest at a great distance ; but on lifting them in 
the fall I found that the great growth of top 
was at the expense of the bottom, the bnlbs 
were smaller than those in the other parts of the 
field ; thus for rutabagas it proved rather inju- 
rious. 

" Last year the field was sown with oats, and 
produced a very heavy crop. The strip where 
the salt fish were used, was visible to the eye at 
a great distance from the field, and the straw 



much larger and longer, but just as the heads 
were filling out a severe storm of wind and rails 
prostrated it ; before which it presented the most 
vigorous growth of oats I ever beheld. 

"After the oats were taken off, I had it 
ploughed deep, and the stubble well turned un- 
der, harrowed and rolled until well pulverized, 
and then sown with wheat, and stocked down . 
with clover and timothy. The plants soon made 
their appearance, and grew off vigorously in 
the. fall, but owing to the small quantity of snow, 
and the severity of the frost in the winter, much 
of the grain was killed. During the summer 
the same vigorous growth, dark color, straw 
much taller, heads longer and better filled on 
that part of the field where the fish had been 
applied, were noticed by all who passed, and 
the lines where the fish were used could be 
traced by the eye at a great distance. 

" The question now presents itself, which is is 
that has been such a lasting and powerful agent 
in producing such extraordinary fertility 1 Is it 
the flesh, the bones or the salt, or all combined? 
The animal matter disappeared the first season, 
and nothing but the bones were to be seen, and 
the quantity of salt was so small, that it would 
seem hardly possible that it would have such 
an effect. Salt, as a manure for grass lands, 
has been used in England with varying success. 
It is said to sweeten the herbage, and when 
sprinkled about and over a portion of pasture, 
cattle, sheep and horses will constantly repair to 
this salted portion, in preference to any other 
part of the field. It evidently, therefore, renders 
grass more palatable to live stock, and upon 
consulting the old agricultural writers it was 
found that notices of salt as a manure, were 
many and important, and that it had been used 
in various agricultural operations from a very 
early period." 



CLEANING SILK. 

The following directions for cleaning silks are 
by one of the first Parisian dyers : Half a pound 
of soft soap, a tea-spoonful of brandy, and a 
pint of gin; mix all well together; with a 
sponge or flannel, spread the mixture on each 
side of the silk without, greasing it j wash it in? 
two or three waters, and iron it on the wrong 
side ; it will then look as good as new. 



TO CLEANSE FEATHER BEDS AND MAT- 
TRESSES. 

When feather beds become soiled or heavy,, 
they may be made clean and light by being 
treated in the following manner : Rub them over 
with a stiff brush, clipped in hot soapsuds — 
When clean, lay them on a shed, or any other 
clean place, where the rain will fall on them. 
When thoroughly soaked, let them dry in a hot 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



277 



sun for six or seven successive days, shaking 
them up well, and turning them over each day. 
They should be covered over with a thick cloth 
during- the night; if exposed to the night air, 
they will become damp, and mildew. This 
way of washing the bed ticking and feathers, 
makes them fresh and light, and is much easier 
than the old fashioned way of emptying the 
beds and washing the feathers separately, while 



it answers quite as well. Care must be laken 
to dry the bed perfectly before sleeping on it. — 
Hair mattresses that have become hard and 
dirty, can be made nearly as good as new by 
ripping them, washing the ticking, and picking 
the hair free from bunches, and keeping it in a 
dry airy place several days. Whenever the 
ticking gets dry, fill it lightly with hair, and 
tack it together. — American Housewife. 



For the Southern Planter. 
APPARATUS FOR MEASURING HEIGHTS. 




•Mr. Editor , — As a ready mode of obtaining i 
*.he height of objects, seems to be attracting the J 
attention of some of your readers, I send you 
a representation of an apparatus, which I think 
is better adapted to effect that object than any I 
that has yet appeared in the Planter. 

Suppose the tree in the engraving to be the ; 
object whose height is required. Construct a 
right angled triangle, a, b, c; of which the side 
a, b, shall be equal to the side b, c. This trian- 
gle may be formed either by fastening together 
three strips, three or four inches wide, or by 
sawing a square piece of plank diagonally 



across. Attach this triangle to a staff, the length 
of which shall be equal to the height of the eye, 
and plant it at such a distance from the tree as 
will bring the side a, c, in a line with the top of 
the tree — then extend the line a, c, until it meets 
the ground at 3. If particular accuracy be re- 
quired, the plumb line may be used to obtain 
the exact perpendicular of the staff. 

Now, as from a to b is the same distance as 
from b to c, hence from 1, the top of the tree, to 
b, the foot, will be the same as from 2 to 3. 
Yours, very respectfully, 

E. D. 



278 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



For the Southern Planter. 
HOLLOW HORN. 

JMr. Editor, — I recollect having seen it re- 
commended in one of the late numbers of the 
Planter, to saw off the horns of cattle, as a re- 
medy for the disease known as " hollow horn," 
and I have no doubt it might be attended with 
benefit in many cases. I have been a close ob- 
server of this disease for many years, and will 
give you my opinion of it. I will first say 
something of the cause and character of the 
disease, and then inform you of a long tried and 
most successful remedy. I have often heard it 
said, by way of ridiculing the disease, that a 
hollow belly produces the hollow horn. On the 
contrary, I esteem it a most formidable and fatal 
disease, existing frequently where it is little sus- 
pected ; it extends beyond the horns and per- 
vades the whole system : hence cows without 
horns may have, not the hollow horn, but the 
same disease. In the last forty years I have 
examined and cured many cases, and I have 
universally found what is called the "rot in the 
tail" connected with the disease of the horn. — 
They begin to decline and continue to do so, in 
spite of the best attention you can pa}' them. 
Upon feeling the horns, you will find them cold, 
and on raising the tail, it will be seen to bend 
short about three or four inches from the end, 
where it is entirely soft. Now, although it may 
be true that a hollow belly sometimes produces 
the hollow horn, yet I have known it come on 
very suddenly, and it frequently attacks fat cat- 
tle ; it generally makes its appearance in the 
spring. It is my impression that it is caused by 
exposure to cold, the effect of which is exhibited 
in the horns and tail. Poor cattle suffer more 
from cold than those in. better condition, and in 
this way it may be that they are more liable to 
the hollow horn. It is possible that through 
the spine the horns and the tail may be more 
intimately connected than would at first appear. 
It is also my impression that cattle in good con- 
dition, resist the disease better and finally over- 
come it, without its having exhibited itself in its 
external form ; but if after lurking in the system 
it finally comes to light in the horns and tail, the 
attack has the appearance of being a sudden 
one, and is considered more severe than usual. 

Now for the remedy. I have admitted that 
sawing off the horns may in some cases be ef- 
fectual, but I have known some cows to have 
it repeatedly, when this cure could not be so 
readily applied. My plan is to bore a hole with 
a gimlet in each horn, three or four inches from 
the head, on the under side, to prevent rain or 
snow from getting into it. You will find the 
horn hollow, though a little blood may appear: 
at the same time, part the hair about three inches 
from the end of the tail (on the under side is 
most convenient,) and split the tail from that 



point upwards, about three inches : let the inci- 
sion reach quite to the centre, for you will not 
find a particle of bone. Open the cut, and fill 
it with salt ; close it up, and wrap a rag several 
times around it, which should be fastened with 
a string not tied too tight ; leave the holes in 
the horns without putting any thing in them. 

I have never known this remedy to fail, and 
I have often seen it, administered when they 
were down, enable them to rise in six hours. — 
But when the cattle were very fat and discharged 
a foul viscid matter from the nose, I have some- 
times been unable to relieve them. 

I have little doubt that nine-tenths of the cat- 
tle in Virginia die of this disease, and frequently 
when it is unsuspected. I know that many 
will be incredulous about the efficacy of this re- 
medy, but all I ask is, give it a fair trial ; at any 
rate, I am not afraid to show my approval of 
Mr. Venable's ideas concerning anonymous wri- 
ters, by subscribing myself, 

Yours, respectfully, 

W. TlMBERLAKE. 

Belle Jib; Oct. 28, 1844. 

P. S. — Whilst I have my pen in hand, I will 
make a suggestion upon another very important 
subject. I think we can never succeed in im- 
proving our cattle, sheep, and hogs, whilst the 
males are permitted to run at large, by which 
we are not only disappointed in obtaining the 
cross we wish, but our calves, lambs, and pigs 
come at a season which renders them almost 
worthless to the owner. I therefore suggest, 
with due deference, that your subscribers use 
their influence to obtain the passage of a law, 
which shall prevent such animals, especially 
bulls and boars, from running at large. I am 
sure, for many reasons, that it is the interest of 
the whole community, and that it ought to be 
done. W. T. 

We think the suggestion of Mr. Timberlake 
a feasible and most excellent one ; certain it is, 
that it is useless for us to be talking about the 
advantages of improved stock, and the princi- 
ples of judicious breeding, as long as we are 
liable to have our sows invaded by every runt 
of a boar that may chance to roam the woods. 
A general law for restraining stock has been 
advocated by many, and might be possibly pro- 
ductive of more good than evil; but the sense 
of the community is against it, and there are 
many poor people whom it would deprive of the 
only food they have for their cattle. As to this 
proposition of Mr. Timberlake's, for the restraint 
of males, whilst it would be invaluable to the 
judicious breeder, we see little or no inconve- 
nience that it would cause to any. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



279 



FERMENTED AND UNFERMENTED 
MANURES. 

Mr. F. Mortimer Butler, an ingenious cor- 
respondent of the New York Farmer, contends, 
that animal and vegetable matter should never 
be permitted to undergo fermentation, but that 
it should be reduced to the state of insoluble 
mould by use of an alkali, before it is applied to 
plants. It is true, he says that their food will 
not, under such circumstances, be brought to 
the rootlets or mouths of plants in a soluble 
form, but that this mould, by the slow decay 
which a proper tillage induces, will evolve gases 
that will furnish a much greater and more eco- 
nomical supply. Hence he concludes, that ma- 
nures fermented and unfermented. long and short, 
are equally to be avoided, and that all ought to 
be united with an alkali to bring them to a state 
of mould or dry rot ; when they will neither be 
washed away by rain nor quickly evaporated 
by the atmosphere. He, therefore, recommends 
the use of lime and compost beds. We copy 
the following : 

From the Farmer and Mechanic. 

LIME AND BARN YARD MANURE IN 
RAISING WHEAT. 

" We saw recently a parcel of very superior 
red wheat, weighing 64 lbs. per bushel. The 
wheat in question was the product of a field 
which a short time since was part of a waste 
common that had been uncultivated for many 
years, and was deemed to be too poor and worn 
out to yield any thing. After enclosing it, the 
present owner put lime upon it in the proportion 
of one hundred bushels to the acre, and subse- 
quently followed the lime with a liberal applica- 
tion of stable manure. Last fall the field thus 
prepared was sowed in wheat, and has just re- 
turned a crop of the very best quality, averaging 
thirtj' bushels to the acre." 

Mr. Fleet, — Permit me to direct your atten- 
tion to the above paragraph, taken from the Bal- 
timore American. It shows the benefit to be 
derived from lime and barn yard manure when 
the two are used together. The fact is the more 
valuable since the crop is wheat. Since insolu- 
ble matters cannot be taken up by the roots of i 
plants, our farmers have been led to argue, that 
any substance tending to render manures inso- 
luble must be injurious to them. And since 
lime renders the soluble portions of stable ma- 
nures insoluble, they have condemned its use in 
conjunction with such manure. This decision, 
however, does not rest on practice, but upon 
hypothesis, and consequently is liable to be re- 
versed. 

Permit rne to suggest the necessity of draw- 



ing a distinction between the state in which 
manures exist in the earth, and the state in 
which they are taken up by plants, especially if 
we wish to arrive at just conclusions respecting 
their action. 

"It is known that the earth is the common 
stomach of plants, and as such, receives their 
crude food ; which crude food we term manure. 
For plants there is also a common power of di- 
gestion, the decomposing influence of the atmos- 
phere. Under this influence manures assume a 
fluid or gaseous form, and become the digested 
food of plants. We might then, with propriety, 
make this distinction. The crude material to 
be recognized as manure, which when digested 
by the atmosphere should be considered as hav- 
ing become the food of plants. And thus we 
would be led to say that manures may be either 
of a soluble or insoluble nature, but the food of 
plants becomes either a fluid or gaseous body. 

By such distinction we can read the nature of 
the fact which I have called your attention to 
that lime had rendered the soluble portions of 
the stable manure insoluble. In such a state 
they could not have been taken up by the wheat 
plants. But lime induces in this manure the 
action of slow combustion, through which it is 
converted into gaseous and fluid bodies, and thus 
becomes the food of the plants. 

The points to be derived from this experiment 
are, that the plants were mostly fed upon gases 
and water, and produced much grain. Had 
stable manure been used alone, the crop would 
have yielded much straw and but little grain. — 
Some three summers back I was engaged in 
Ulster county, dry rotting barn yard manure by 
composting it with lime and earth. My neigh- 
bors objected to the course, stating that the ma- 
nure would be rendered insoluble. Upon being 
informed that that was one end that I wished to 
produce, they raised another objection, that the 
manure would be "fire-fanged." 

Upon being assured that such action was im- 
possible, since the earth, being intimately blended 
with the manure, would prevent it, they then 
resolved to leave me as one bent upon the pur- 
suit of his own folly. After the dry rot of the 
manure had been effected they were surprised 
on beholding a fine yellowish brown friable mass, 
possessing the mechanical properties of mould, 
in place of the products of fire-fanging. 

The good effects of this manure upon crops 
gave equal surprise. One of my neighbors 
took the matter into consideration, and afterward 
stated to me the following fact : He had some 
years previous bought a tract of worn out land, 
for nine dollars the acre, and put upon it all the 
barn yard manure that he had to spare. But 
as that quantity was less than his judgment dic- 
tated as being required by the land, and since 
lime was then considered as a manure, he made 
up the deficiency in lime. The manure was 



280 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



first spread and then the lime : thus the two 
came together. He remarked that the land 
yielded a heavier crop of wheat than he had 
ever obtained before or after that time. He had 
attributed the crop to the lime. Had tried lime 
upon other lands but could not obtain a like re- 
sult. He had not since then used lime in con- 
junction with barn yard manure. 
Respectfully, 

F. Mortimer Butler, 



TO CLEAN WOOLLEN AND SILK SHAWLS. 

Pare and grate raw mealy potatoes, and put tc- 
each pint of the potato pulp two quarts of cold 
water. Let it stand five hours, then strain the 
water through a sieve, and rub as much of the 
potato pulp through as possible — let the strained 
water stand to settle again — when very clear, 
turn the water off from the dregs carefully. Put 
a clean white cotton sheet on a perfectly clean 
table — lay on the shawl which you wish to 
clean, and pin it down tight. Dip a sponge, 
that has never been used, into the potato water, 
and rub the shawl with it till clean ; then rinse 
the shawl in clear water, with a tea cup full of 
salt to a pail full of the water. Spread it on a 
clean level place, where it will dry quick ; if 
hung up to dry, the colors are apt to run, and 
make the shawl streaked. Fold it up while 
damp, and let it remain half an hour, then put 
it in a mangier — if you have not one, wrap it in 
a clean white cloth, put it under a weight, and 
let it remain till dry. If there are any grease 
spots on the shawl, they should be extracted 
before the shawl is washed. — Am. Housewife. 



TRANSACTIONS OF THE NEW YORK 
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 

We are much indebted to Mr. O'Reilly, the 
Corresponding Secretary, for two sets of the 
"Transactions," lately received; one of these 
we have delivered, as requested, to the President 
of the Henrico Agricultural Society, and the 
other we have deposited on the shelf which is 
appropriated to our most valued works. We do 
not know whether these books are to be found 
in our bookstores, but we do know that the far- 
mer could afford to obtain them at almost any 
price. They are replete with the most valuable 
and practical agricultural essays we have ever 
seen. 



NEW METHOD OF FILLING ICE HOUSES. 

Messrs. Gay lord <§• Tucker, — Croton water and 
pure ice is all the go in the city of New York, 
these temperance times, which induces me to 
recommend an easy and cheap method of manu- 



facturing and filling a house with ice in a pure 
and solid state, in the best possible manner for 
preservation. 

This house or celler designed for ice, must 
stand near a conductor of water ; and the top of 
the bouse should be so constructed that it may 
be moved at pleasure, that the inner part may 
be as much as possible exposed to the weather. 
Insert a pipe stem into the conductor, that the 
water may spin through it at an elevation of 
seventy-five or eighty degrees into the air, in a 
direction so that in its fall it may enter the space 
where it is to remain during the season. This 
water being cooled by rising in the air, the force 
of the steam is broken in its fall, and if the 
weather be sufficiently cold, it will immediately 
congeal into one solid mass of ice quite pure,, 
and in the best possible position for preservation. 

S. W. Jewett. 

Weybridge, Vt., Sept. 29, 1843. 



A dinner was to be given by the Glasgow 
people to the great chemist Liebig, on the lltr* 
November, the Earl of Eglington to pieside. 



TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS. 
This number brings us to the termination of 
our fourth year's labor. At the close of the last 
year, we were persuaded, against our better judg- 
ment, to stop the paper until we were paid 
again in advance. To our cost we discovered 
the folly of such a course. We lost fifteen hun- 
dred good subscribers, who, either from, pique, 
delay, or indifference, failed to renew their sub- 
scriptions. Much to our astonishment, and great- 
ly to our regret, we found that many of our best 
friends were offended at our having stopped- 
their papers, and thus we not only lost subscri- 
bers, but created enemies where we felt every 
desire to please and accommodate. In this way, 
our list has been greatly weakened, and we are 
compelled to beg the assistance of our friends 
in retrieving the effects of our error. Taught 
by experience, we have adopted the opposite 
course ; and shall hereafter continue to send the 
paper to all those %oho do not order it to be 
stopped. Any gentleman, therefore, who does 
not think he gets his dollar's worth for his mo- 
ney, will please notify us immediately of his 
desire to have his paper discontinued ; those, or* 
the contrary, who appreciate our humble endea- 
vors in the cause of agriculture, and who are 
willing to lend a helping hand to bestow on us 
a living reward for our labors, will oblige us by 
filling and transmitting to us the subscription 
list, with which this number is accompanied. 



8939 8197 

05/01/97 



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MflB H 



WILLIAM AND MARY LIBRARIES 



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