SOLON ROBINSON, 1851 477 



once occupied by that people, is its native home, and that 

 it will flourish in all places of parallel latitude. It does 

 grow and form a good fence, but is not to be depended 

 upon. Dr. Camac^ told me that his father's hedge was 

 killed to the ground in the winter of 1834, and '35, but 

 grew again from the roots. In latitude 32°, in Missis- 

 sippi, it was killed the same year so it never sprouted, 

 except here and there a stalk. Although it forms one of 

 the most impenetrable hedges, when in vigorous growth, 

 it would never answer to depend upon a plant for general 

 farming purposes, which is liable to be destroyed in one 

 night of hard frost. 



In mentioning the name of the late Dr. Camac, I can- 

 not pass it by without leaving a slight tribute to his mem- 

 ory, as one who was alive to the importance of working 

 a radical change in Southern cultivation, and teaching 

 the people that agriculture was a science, which required 

 study and improvement of the mind to improve the soil. 



The people of the south owe a debt of gratitude to this 

 good man, for the benefits they have derived from that 

 excellent agricultural paper. The Southern Cultivator, 

 for he was its founder. He also introduced a variety 

 of choice fruits around his mansion in Athens, to demon- 

 strate to the citizens how easily they might provide them- 

 selves with such luxuries, upon a soil and climate where 

 they already enjoyed the still greater one of health. 



Improvement of the Soil in this part of the state can 

 be best and cheapest brought about by the use of lime, 

 and peas as a substitute for clover, with the addition of 

 some fertilizer, such as guano, bone-dust, or phosphate of 

 lime, and an improved system of cultivation, with im- 



' Dr. James Camak (spelled variously Comae, Camac, Camak), 

 Athens, Georgia. Removed from Milledgeville to Athens in 1817. 

 One of the builders and a director of the Georgia Railroad. First 

 president of the Central Bank, and editor of the Georgia Journal. 

 Died June 16, 1847, at the age of fifty-tsvo. Contributor to the 

 Farmers' Cabinet, October 15, 1843. Knight, Georgia's Landmarks, 

 Memorials and Legends, 2:662-63; Southern Cultivator, 5:104 

 (July, 1847); American Agriculturist, 6:260 (August, 1847); Al- 

 bany Cultivator, n. s. 4:257 (August, 1847). 



