FARMERS' REGISTER— GAM A GRASS. 



415 



presorvers, may ride secure upon the mountain 

 wave; and if clad also with waterproof garments, 

 be doubly secure. When IMr. Dunwit, the cele- 

 l)rated a;ronaut, descended in Boston Ray, he took 

 the precaution of girdino- himself with one of 

 these life-preservers, aud to this lie said, he owed 

 his safety when he lei! into the water. 



Several of the steam boats are furnished with 

 these life-preservei-s, and they serve the addi- 

 tional purjjose of a pillow to lay the head on, as 

 they inay be folded. They are made to buckle 

 round the waist, being pre\'iously inflated, and as 

 they are air, as well as water jiroof they will re- 

 main in that state as long as you may desire. 



Tliis is a most valuable article for our public 

 ships, packets, steam boats, and otfier vessels to 

 possess, in case of shipwreck; as by this means 

 many valuable lives might be saved, which other- 

 wise would be lost. 



In one of the buildings upstairs, we found them 

 manufacturing liose for fire engines; small pipes 

 for conducting water above ground, traces for car- 

 riages, &c. This hose is made of stout duck, 

 coated with the rubber and cemented with the 

 same; so that neither needle or thread are used. It 

 may be made of any strength as you may treble 

 tlie thickness of the duck. It promises to super- 

 cede the leather hose, being considered more plia- 

 ble, perfectly watertight, and not so apt to be in- 

 jured by being trodden upon. I could not but ad- 

 mire the ingenuity of the contrivance of a substi- 

 tute for the roller to preserve the rotundhy of tlie 

 small pipe, namely, by pumping air mto the cavi- 

 ty as tliey proceeded, so as to keep it expanded. 

 These pipes being made of several thicknesses of 

 duck, remain of a cylindrical shape after being fi- 

 nished. 



It is impossible to say to what useful purposes 

 this elastic gum will be applied; it has opened a 

 new era in the arts of life, and from its pliant na- 

 ture, it must, in many cases, be substituted for 

 leather. To all who are exposed to wet or cold, 

 it proves a safeguard, and its economy is equal to 

 its utility, for at this factory a person may clothe 

 himself in a suit of waterproof garments, of a 

 handsome exterior appearance, Ibr the small sum of 

 eleven dollars. 



GAMA GRASS. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



A good deal of interest having been elicited by 

 some communications which appeared on gama 

 grass in the first volume of the Farmers' Regis- 

 ter, I have thought it might not be amiss to ofler 

 a word on that subject. About the 15th of May 

 last, I had occasion to visit in the county of Hali- 

 fax on Dan River. I found that the gama had been 

 long known on that river by the name of fox-tail, 

 that it had been used as food for stock on a small 

 scale, and that it grew spontaneously and luxuri- 

 antly wherever it had a fair chance. I was in- 

 formed by one gentleman tliat he had cut a small 

 quantity for hay, and that he intended to plant, or 

 had planted, a small meadow of it. I saw it grow- 

 ing in land of ordinary quality — it had attained 

 the height of more than three feet, without ihe 

 appearance of a seed stalk. On the 18th instant, 

 I accidently came across two tuffe of it growing on 

 a red clay bank on my own farm, which I cut and 



weighed. Each tuft covered a space of about a 

 foot in diameter, and they weighed together twenty 

 pounds, after having dropped nearly all the seed, 

 and many of the blades liad dried up. The fodder 

 appears to attain its full growth before the seed 

 stalk springs fi^om the root. The blades on the 

 bunches cut, were four feet six inches high, and 

 the seed stalks about six feet si.x inches. I after- 

 wards found many tufts of it growing on a galled 

 hill-side that had been suflered to grow up in the 

 common shrubbery: on this land, too poor to grow 

 a medium crop of corn, it grew to the height 

 of from four to six feet. I cannot undertake to 

 speak of the merit of this grass as a food for stock. 

 When I rode up to a bunch, my mare eat it with 

 great avidity, and seemed to give it the preference 

 to other grasses that were equally in reach. From 

 the specimens I have seen, I should think it Avell 

 worth cultivation, tor litter for our fivrm-pens and 

 stables. But if stock will eat it at all in winter, it 

 must be valuable, since no grass I have ever seen 

 can compare with it in luxunance. It is to be 

 hoped that the judicious and intelligent farmers of 

 this section, will make a fair experiment of it, be- 

 fore they condemn it. It is certainly a coarse grass, 

 but not more so than the ox-grass, which is a good 

 grass if cut early. In this section of the country, 

 where tobacco is the staple, every thing that 

 promises to add to the sustenance of man or beast, 

 ought to be regarded as worthy of attention. If 

 I can possibly find leisure, I shall plant a small 

 spot with the roots, with a view of ascertaining its 

 value as a meadow grass, and make known the 

 result. 



September 30, 1834. c. 



Sir — I am instructed by the "Charlotte Agricul- 

 tural Society," to forward the enclosed communi- 

 cation, (read before the Society,) with a request 

 that you will publish it in the Farmers' Regis- 

 ter. 



Very respectfully, yours, &c. 



A. C. BIORTOIV, 



Sec'y of the Society. 

 Charlotte Nov. 1, 1834. 



ON THE MANAGEMENT OF HORSES, MULES, 

 AND MAA'URE. 



The management ot' the teams of mules and 

 horses, and raising manure, are subjects that de- 

 serve and ouijht to receive great consideration. 

 The capital tolceep up good teams on a planta- 

 tion too-ether with the annual expense of sup- 

 portino-'^them, form so great a portion of the 

 charges of keeping up tlie_estate, that no estate 

 however well managed in other respects, can en- 

 dure for fifty years extreme bad management of 

 the teams, much less when neglect in raising ma- 

 nure is added to it. The good management of 

 teams is often the most obvious cause of the 

 thrift, and increase of weahh of the planter. To 

 their bad management, may justly be charged in 

 many cases, the waste and ruin of the estate. I 

 take up the subject with the full knowledge that I 

 shall not do it justice; but with confidence that I 

 shall call the attention of other members to the 

 subject, who will be able to do more justice to it, 

 and put all to reflecting on its vast importance. 

 The constitution of a horse is said to be very much 



