276 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 5 



per hour — saws his own timber at the rate of one 

 foot per minute, and dresses his flax in proportion. 

 The machine is carried by two-horse power. 

 The expense does not exceed three hundred dol- 

 lars, and a mere trifle will keep it in repair. It 

 will be of great advantage to iarmers, and espe- 

 cial!}' in neighborhoods denied the advantages of 

 water-power. — Farmers' Cabinet, 



From the Southern Agriculturist. 

 ON GRASSES. 



Afheiis, Ga., March 6, 1S37. 



Dr. James Davis: 



Dear Sir — I have to day read, with great plea- 

 sure, your article, in the Southern Agriculturist, 

 "On Grasses for South Carolina;"* because, in it, 

 you speak, I think, in proper terms of the Gama- 

 grass. 1 began my experiments with it, about 

 the same time with yourself, and very soon be- 

 came convinced of its exceeding great value. 

 My attention was directed to it fi'om the convic- 

 tion, that we must look among our native grasses, 

 if we wished to procure plentiful supplies of fo- 

 rage for our cattle. 



You remark, that the only objection you know 

 of to this grass, or rather the only difficulty at- 

 tending its culture, is the difficulty and tardiness 

 of propagating it. Allow me to suggest, most 

 respectfully, that your "objection" is ver}' easily 

 obviated. All you say of the difficulty of collect- 

 ing the seed, I have found to be exactly true, I 

 attempt not, therefore, to collect seed ; but let it 

 drop ; and dig over the surface of the soil in the 

 fall to cover the seed where it may happen to lie. 

 In the spring following I find it comes up thick ; 

 and taking advantage of a moist day, I take up 

 the young plants, and set them out where 1 want 

 them to remain. They are so tenacious of life as 

 to occasion no loss in transplanting. 



I have tried another mode of propagation with 

 equal success. I take up the old bunches early in 

 the spring, and divide them ; and set them out 

 again (just as shallots are divided and set out); 

 and I have found that they grow without any dif- 

 ficulty. 1 have taken up a single bunch, one 

 year old, that when divided gave me seventy 

 plants. 



In either of these modes, if diligently pursued, 

 there is really no difficulty of propagation to com- 

 plain of; when we consider the very great value 

 of the thing when it is done: and its very great 

 durability ; as you may easily prove by figures. 



An acre set 2 by 2 feet, will contam about 

 11,000 plants. Suppose a bunch one year old, 

 when taken up and divided, gives only 30, in- 

 stead of seventy ofisets. To plant an acre the 

 second }^ear, you have to begin with 366 plants. 

 Taking both modes together; that is, dividintT 

 tlie roots, and taking up what comes up from the 

 seed, and half that number of plants would be 

 enough to begin with. But suppose it required 

 double the number; I think tardiness of propa- 

 gation should not be an "objection,'"' especially as 

 an acre once planted will last a man his lifetime, 

 most probably. 



* See Farmers' Register, vol. iv. p. 581. 



As to duration, the only information I have is 

 derived from a gentleman of Alabama, who states 

 that nineteen years ago he enclosed a lot of it, as 

 he found it growing on his land ; and that now it 

 is better, and yields a greater crop than when he 

 enclosed it. 



1 have ascertained satisfactorily, that thirty 

 thousand pounds of green grass to the acre, is a 

 moderate crop. Carefully dried, the loss is as 17 

 to 5 : that is, 17 pounds of green grass will give 

 5 pounds of well-cured hay. 



No man who has the slightest regard for the 

 independence of his own state, or for his own 

 comfort, should lose a moment's time in getting a 

 few acres well set with grass. For hay, or green 

 food, or soiling, both in case of cultivation and in 

 value, it is as far above the clover and timothy of 

 the north, as our cotton is above their onion crops; 

 and the only thing that can prevent its universal 

 cultivation here, will be our over propitious cli- 

 mate : adding another to the many facts already 

 existing, going to establish the truth, that where 

 nature is over bountiliil man is always a spoiled 

 child. 



if the hints I have given shall be of any ser- 

 vice to you, I shall be particularly gratified. 

 Very respectfully, 



Jabies Camak. 



Columbia^ S. C. March 11, 1837. 



Dear Sir — The testimony you add in your es- 

 teemed favor of the 6th inst., in fiivor of the cul- 

 ture of the Gama-grass; and the suggestions you 

 offer for surmounting the difficulty of its propaga- 

 tion, are particularly gratifying. Fully persuaded 

 as I am of the vast importance to this state, and, 

 I have no doubt, to Georgia likewise, of cultivat- 

 ing the grasses in conjunction with the cultiva- 

 tion of our fiivored staples, I cannot but hail, as a 

 happy presage, every eflbrt that is attempted in 

 furtherance of that object. And as the gama- 

 grass must assuredly hold out a fair promise of a 

 rich reward, I think every intelligent patriot dis- 

 charges one substantial duty, when he encourages 

 the extended cultivation of it. 



Your suggestions for fiicilitating the propaga- 

 tion of this valuable grass are striking ; but still I 

 am afraid they do not remove the difficulty, so far 

 as we would wish. 



You speak of letting the seed drop and lie, and 

 digging the surface of the soil in the fiall, to cover 

 them. When they come up in the following 

 spring, you transplant them where you intend them 

 to grow. Now, according to my observation, this 

 plan, in the usual close way of planting, is only 

 practicable during the first and second years of its 

 growth ; before the grass has spread much, and 

 before it has taken on its wonted luxuriance. On 

 my lot, which is high sandy land, and not very 

 rich, after the second year, if I do not cut it, but 

 leave it to go to seed, the sward becomes so rank, 

 and covers those spaces between the drills so 

 densely, that it would be absolutely impracticable 

 to dig the ground under it in the fall. Indeed, it 

 is with no inconsiderable trouble that we can 

 wade through it to gather the seeds from their 

 spikes. And moreover, if 1 ever had a crop of 

 young plants in the spring, under the deep and 

 jtieavy bed of dead grass that covers the ground, 



