FARMERS' REGISTER— KEEPING SHEEP— KNITTING MACHINE, 



753 



groutid all winter, and come up in the fo!!o\vins2; 

 Sprin<T. or this fact I was assured by the Norih 

 Carotina gentleman who gave them to me. He 

 also stated, that they were deemed more valuable 

 in that state — at least in the eastern part of it, than 

 any other Indian pea: so much so indeed, that in 

 renting out land, it was a common slii^uiation, that 

 the whole of the corn-laml should be ))lanted with 

 these peas, from a general belief, that, if the vines 

 were all left on the ground, it might be cultivated 

 every year, without being impoverished. The 

 qualities ascribed to this pea, belong also to a jet 

 black pea, (not a crowder,) which I have heard 

 called the ^Hory pea;'''' ahhough why or whcr.5- 

 fore, I could never ascertain: for in toryism T have 

 never heard of any thing good, whereas, this 

 black pea seems fully equal to the two last men- 

 tioned varieties in all their most estimable proper- 

 ties. I once saw a very small kind of pea, of a 

 bottle green color, when pefectly ripe, and with a 

 black pod about four or five inches long. It was 

 recommended to my father as a fine soup pea; but I 

 cannot recollect whether he ever tried it for that, 

 or any other purpose. He jjlanted them but once, 

 and I never heard of the variety afterwards. This 

 is the pea which I have already noticed, as being 

 sn)aller than the ladies' pea. 



The cow pea or Yeatman — the claret colored 

 crowder, and the tory pea, are later in coming to 

 maturily, than any of the other varieties. Whether 

 tliey are more productive in peas, I am not sure; 

 but believe that they are so. Of their producing 

 more vine, I am very certain. They are, there- 

 fore, greater improvers of the soil where the 

 whole vine is either left on the ground, or plough- 

 ed in, as a green dressing, than any other peas. 

 But the whole of the vine at least, must be re- 

 turned to the land, or it will certainly be impover- 

 ished, instead of being improved. Many, I know, 

 entertain the fatuitous belief, that the mere culti- 

 vation of the Indian pea will improve land — even 

 where the whole crop is taken off entirely; but it 

 is quite as silly a notion, as that ascribed only to chil- 

 dren, of "e«Z(/ig their cake and having it tooj''^ for 

 the truth is, tliat no plant ever yet cultivated by 

 man, can by any conceivable means, enrich the 

 soil where it grew, if every part of it be removed: 

 and accordingly the whole annals of agriculture 

 furnish not a solitary flict to invalidate this as- 

 sertion. That some crops injure land less than 

 others is universally known, and believed; but the 

 reason of the fact, very few comparatively speak- 

 ing, have taken any trouble to ascertain. Can it 

 be owing to any other cause than that the ] lints 

 which injure least, restore 7nost of" their own siUj- 

 stanceto their mother earth, when they are forci- 

 bly taken from her? This, you will perhaps say, 

 is speculation. Be it so, and take it for no more 

 than 'tis worth. 



But let us return to the Indian pea. As a green 

 dressing for land, I believe it to be much superior 

 to buck-wheat, or to any thing else that we have 

 tried — simply because it will produce a greater 

 quantity of vegetable matter on land of the same 

 (luality; and the poorer the land — if deemed worth 

 cultivating at all — the more manifest will this ex- 

 cess of quantity be. If taken off entirely, few 

 crops exhaust land more; but the vine of all the 

 varieties makes an excellent long forage for com- 

 mon work horses, oxen, milch cows, or sheep; in- 

 deed, it is fully equal, when well cured, to any 

 Vol. 11—60 



other long forage whatever, and superior to many 

 kinds, fbr'every sort of stock, except riding and car- 

 riage horses. The curing of tlie vine is some- 

 what ditlicult, as it requires more days' sun than' 

 any other jjlant cured for hay. It may, however, 

 be secured considerably sooner by stacking the 

 vines in alternate layers of some six or seven 

 inches thick, with dry wheat, rye, or oat straw, 

 taking care to sprinkle a little salt on each layer of 

 vines. By this means the dry straw becomes near- 

 ly as good forage as the vines themselves. Sheep 

 and cattle are |)articularly fond of it. Many ex- 

 perienced farmers have assured me, and my own 

 experience confirms their opinion, that the diy 

 peas will fatten a horse, ox, sheep or hog, sooner 

 than Indian corn; but the latter nmst be given to- 

 wards the end of the process "tn harden the fat,'''' 

 as they style it. As food flir man, ninety-nine in 

 a hundred, I believe, prefer the Indian pea to the 

 English. This preference among our negroes is, 

 I iliiid<, universal. 



I have said nothing of the various modes of 

 culture, because I take it for granted no farmer and 

 planter, where the Indian pea ia known at all, 

 can be ignorant of it. 



J. M. G. 



From tlie Genesee Farmer. 

 IvEEPiNG SHEEP. 



Sowed three bushels of oats to cut before they 

 are quite ripe, for my sheep; this I have found to 

 be the cheapest and best method to winter sheep, 

 of the many ways that I have tried. The sheep 

 will cat it all clean, straw and all, and with it get 

 grain enough (and that being green, I believe it 

 far better than ripe,) to keep^iiem in good condi- 

 tion. I never had a distempered sheep that was 

 kept in this way. Tv\^o good sheaves per day, 

 will last twenty sheep through the winter; some 

 days three sheaves and some but one, viz: when 

 they get to the ground; I have tried it and do 

 know. Now, say five months, 150 days, 300 

 sheaves, that would make twelve bushels to the 

 hundred; would be thirty-six bushels of oats, and the 

 straw. If any of your correspondents can do bet- 

 ter, and with less expense I should be glad to 

 know it. 



From the New England Farmer. 

 KNITTING MACHINE. 



Mr. Editor — Allow me to call the attention of 

 the public to a machine for knitting stockings and 

 other knit work, to be seen at tlic Agricultural 

 Warehouse, No. 52 North Market st. It is a 

 snudl neat, operating machine by which persona 

 in indigent circumstances, and children may be 

 emjjloved to great advantage, and it opens a good 

 field for the 'investment of capital. It occupiea 

 about a cubic foot and is operated upon by turning 

 a crank, which reriuires no more power or skill 

 than a conunon hand organ, except when neces- 

 sary to widen or narrou', a stitch is dropped or 

 added b)' hand. The machine does the work of 

 six expert knitters, and is very simple, and does 

 its work with astoifishiui'; rajjidily and precision. 

 It is superior to the slocking loom, as that requires 

 an apprcnticfsiiip to learn to work it, and is not 

 calculaleil fijr fiuuilies, whereas this machine can 

 be worketl bv any intelligent little giri, after a few 

 minutes ins'truclion. It is cai.able of knitting 



