640 



FARMERS' REGISTER— PLANTING CEDAES— SOUR SOILS. 



ON RAISING CEDAKS FR03I THE SEED, AKD 

 TRANSPIMJVTING THEM FOR HEDGES. 



[We annex below the extract referred to by our 

 correspondent, and thank him for pointing^ut what 

 we had Ibrgotten, and still more for adding thereto his 

 own experience on the subjecl.] 

 To the Editor of tlie Farmers' Regi.ster. 



FayeltevlUe N. C, Feb. 16th, 1835. 



Mr. S. Hobson (whof?e inquiries were made in 

 your No. 9) will find in page 22 Vol. III. of 

 the American Farmer, the mode of" raising cedar 

 hedges from the seed. I have followed the direc- 

 tions given there with the most satisfactory re- 

 sults. More than half the cedar berries prepared 

 and planted agreeably to those instructions vege- 

 tated and flourished well. 



I have not lost more than one tree in 50 by 

 transplanting, unless the tops were cut off. In that 

 case the trees die or decline so as to be of little ac- 

 count: they will improve by severe trimming if 

 the top is left perfect. 



I prefer a wet season in March or April for 

 ♦transplanting ever-greens, but have succeeded by 

 taking proper pains at all seasons, except the ex- 

 tremes of heat and cold, 



B. R. 



From the American Farmer. 



Gather the berries in November or December. 

 Rub off tlie skin and wash the kernels — rubbing 

 them well between the hands, so as to get off as 

 much of the resinous substance as possilile, then 

 mix them, with unslacked ashes, and let them re- 

 main in the ashes for a fortnight; then plant them 

 in drills as you would peas, and they will vegetate 

 and come up the fbllo^ving spring; and being well 

 nursed, they will in two years be fit to plant out 

 in hedges — about the first of March is the proper 

 time for planting them — throw into the bottom of 

 the trench, light rich earth, such as may be had 

 from the surface of productive ground. When 

 the trees attain three fiiet high, you should begin 

 to train the hedge — about the middle of summer, 

 is a suitable time lor this operation, and it ought 

 to be carefully continued until the hedge is as high 

 as you may desire it — about seven feet high, and 

 three and a half feet broad is sufficient. 



N. B. The better you cleanse the kernel, the 

 more certainly the seed will vegetate^ — by proper 

 care an excellent hedge may be expected in seven 

 years which for beauty and durability, cannot be 

 surpassed either by thongs or any other growth. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 

 SOUR SOILS. 



3fr. Tucker — Are not Mv. Ruffin's ideas about 

 sour soil* more fanciful than true? I believe that 

 we may analyze our soils as strictly as we please, 

 and find notliing in them assimilating to oxalic 

 acid. That this acid exists in sorrel, and many 

 other vegetables, I conceive is no proof that it ex- 

 ists in the earth. Remove the sorrel and other 

 vegetables, and then analyze the soil in which 

 they grew, and if any oxalic acid is found, then 

 we may conclude that it exists in the soil; but if 



* Gen. Far., vol. 4, p. 385 and Fanners' Register 

 p. 633, both quoting from the Essay on Calcareous 

 Manures. 



not, I think we should conclude that it is derived 

 from the atmosphere like most other peculiarities 

 found in vegetables — such as potash, sugar, lime, 

 gypsum, aroma, tannin, &c. 



It appears to me that plants derive these by the 

 peculiar formation of their pores, in the same way 

 that a crab apple stock is made to produce the 

 sweet pippin by grafting, but I may be mistaken 

 and really wish lor information. 



DUSIO. 



[The author of the work referred to above is both 

 wifling and anxious to have the doctrine of the acidity 

 of soils, as well as any other of his novel or doubtful 

 positions, submitted to the test of the most rigorous 

 scrutiny — and is ready to defend them, if necessary, 

 or to yield to and abide by any just condemnation pro- 

 nounced by those more enlightened by science, or by 

 experimental knowledge. But it is unnecessary to 

 reply to the doubts or objections of a writer on the 

 properties of soils, who sets out with assuming that 

 the lime and gijpsum "found in vegetables" "are de- 

 rived from the atmosphere."] 



REMARKS ON PUTRESCENT MANURES, AND 

 THE OPINIONS OF J. B. ON THAT SUBJECT. 



To tlie Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



February 14/A, 1835. 



Dear Sir — In the Januar}' No. of your excel- 

 lent journal, [page 497] there is a long communi- 

 cation signed J. B., with wliich, upon th« whole, 

 I have been very much gratilied — not only because 

 it is u])on a subject highly interesting to all owners 

 of soils which reqviire nmnures — as most of our 

 Virginia lands do most sadly — but because the V\^ri- 

 ter has, in my humble opinion, treated it remark- 

 ably well. Still, as all men will differ, and as he 

 himself has invited the utmost freedom of discus- 

 sion in regard to every opinion which he has ad- 

 vanced, as well as to the arguments urged in sup- 

 port of it, I will venture, in my desultory way, to 

 offer some remarks on particular parts of his com- 

 munication. 



To prevent any misconstruction of my motives, 

 on account of the character of my comments, I 

 will merely add, that I do not believe the public 

 attention, in these times, can possibly be attracted 

 generall}', to any discussion tohatever — no matter 

 how important the subject may be, unless the par- 

 ties engaged can prevail upon themselves to spice 

 it as highly as they can. The public taste is de- 

 plorably vitiated m this respect — and consequently, 

 must be indulged to a certain extent — even where 

 the sole view is, to correct it: just as a doctor en- 

 velopes his curative physic — or wdiat he hopes 

 will prove so, in something not medicinal, merely 

 because it will not otherwise be swallowed. With 

 this key to all I mean to say, your correspondent, 

 I hope, cannot mistake my feelings towards him, 

 or my motives for expressing myself as I may do 

 — being perfectly willing that he, or any other cor- 

 respondent of yours, should make equally free 

 with every opinion or argument I may utter. 



The first of his assertions from which I nmst 

 dissent, is tliat which he has italicised, and thrown 

 into the form of an antithetical axiom. Since he 

 seems to design it as a kind of corner-stone to 



