1838] 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



303 



September.) I am confident, from the result of 

 an experinuMit that I niaile last year, and the aji- 

 pearancB of ilie present crop, that a manurin<r 

 witli ihe creek-grass will double the crop of corn 

 the first year. 



From experiments (hat 1 have made, I find that 

 the best way to apply the creek- trrass is to scatter 

 it in Ihe furrow between the old corn-beds, without 

 plouixhino; it in until the following spring, at the 

 usual time of listing for corn. 



The scow that I make use of to get the grass 

 out of the creek, is twenty-five feet lonir, from 

 eight to nine feet wide, and fourteen inches deep, 

 with a deck. The scow cost, including every 

 thing about thirty dollars. I make use of rakes 

 and pitch-forks to get up and handle the trrass with. 

 I remain yours, respectfully, 



John T. Rice. 



For the Farmers' Register. 



COVERING COTTON SEED WITH THE COUL- 

 TER. BENEFIT OF PLOUGHING CLAY-SOILS 

 AFTER RAIN. 



Rockbridge, Fa. June 23, 1838. 



About the 20th of last month, (May.) I planted 

 our cotton patch. A part of the seed, (all of 

 which had been soaked in warm water for a few 

 hours, and then rolled in plaster,) was covered 

 with a hoe, say two or three inches deep : the 

 other and larger part, by numinij a coulter a single 

 time along the drill and thrnufrh the seed, plenti- 

 fully scattered in the row. This operation covered 

 most of the seed, and probably at various depths, 

 from one-fourth of an inch to three or four inches. 

 In a few warm days, the cotton coultered in was 

 regularly and beautifully up ; but not a grain of 

 that covered with the hoe ; nor did the latter come 

 up for a week after, nor until the surface of the 

 ground, which in the mean time had become co- 

 hesive from a heavy rain, was broken with a rake. 

 It then began to come up very leisurely, and as 

 yellow as saffron ; and is now at least ten days in 

 growth behind that covered with the coulter. 



Again, having ploughed over a field of corn, 

 from the 1st to the 10th instant, I began, a day or 

 two afterwards, to reverse that operation, by run- 

 ning a two-horse harrow over each row of corn. 

 This was continued lor a day. We then had a 

 heavy shower of rain, which stopped the harrow 

 lor a day or two, when it was again started, and 

 the field finished. I had, lately, several times 

 heard my overseer say that there was a great dif- 

 ference in the corn that had been harrowed before 

 and after the ram. I supposed it imacrinary ; but 

 being in that part of the field yesterday, where the 

 hands were pIoutihin<j, I was surprised at the dit"- 

 ference in the corn, to a row. That which had 

 been harrowed betbre the heavy rain above-men- 

 tioned, was hardly knee-high, the blades generally 

 yellow and somewhat striped, while the rows ad- 

 joining, and throughout that part of the field har- 

 rowed after the rain, on land of the same quality 

 as that harrowed before it, was waist-high, and of 

 a rich green color. Not remembering at the time 

 what the overseer had said about the difference in 

 the corn harrowed before and after the rain, I ac- 

 cused him of negligence in the application of plas- 

 ter, when planting the corn. He affirmed and in- 

 sisted that all had been plastered alike. The boy 



who had been charged with dropping plaster on 

 the corn just before it was covered, and tiiC hands 

 that covered if, all supported the tdfirmntiou of the 

 overseer. Well, then, if fiy the testimony of 

 two or three witnesses, every word is established, 

 there is a benefit in working our clay-lands after 

 heavy rains, of which I had often heard, and 

 soMieiimes seen instances, but never one so strik- 

 ing as in the case jusl mentioned. 



R. Grigsby. 



[We know how to appreciate the good efTects of the 

 mode of coveiing cotton seed above described, by the 

 experience of five years, during which (much to tfie 

 detriment of our farming and farm-improvement) we 

 were engaged largely in cotton-culture. The plan of 

 covering then pursued, though in principle the same 

 with Mr. Grigsby's, was far more expeditious and eco- 

 nomical. After the seed (without any preparation of 

 wetting or otherwise) had been str«'wed along the shal- 

 low furrows made to receive them, large two-horse 

 harrows, (or drags,) or two smaller harrows coupled 

 together, with straight and pointed teeth, were passed 

 over the whole surface, just as if to cover wheat. The 

 direction of the course was generally the same as that 

 of the cotton-rows ; but this was not important, as in 

 crossing, at the ends of the lands, there were very few 

 seeds drawn out of the rows. The seeds were well 

 separated, and mixed with soil, by this operation, and 

 placed at all depths, from the surface to two or three 

 inches below. The coming up well of either the up- 

 per or lower seeds was almost certain. Though we 

 have abandoned cotton-cidture, the same mode of co- 

 vering seed we still practise on all old corn-land ; and 

 continue to approve of itas a great saving of labor, and 

 at the same time, as helping much the tilth and good 

 condition of the field, by the thorough and deep har- 

 rowing. — Ed. Far. Reg.] 



From the Genesee Farmer. 

 AGRICULTURAL CHARLATANISM. 



We perceive in our agricultural papers notices 

 of the method of making manure discovered by 

 M. Jauflret, and some of our contemporaries 

 seem to consider it as almost miraculous. We 

 may as well say here, as we think we have not 

 noticed the matter before, that M. Jauflret pro- 

 fessed to be able to change by means of a lie, 

 used by sprinklmg siraw, leaves, plants, even 

 woody stalks of a finger's thickness into first rate 

 manure in an incredibly short space of time. The 

 preparation was kept a secret, and the announce- 

 ment caused a great sensation in France and 

 England. A committee of the French Academy 

 of Agriculture gave their testimony in its favor, 

 and demands for the right of using, or the sale of 

 the liquid, flowed in upon M. Jauffret from all 

 quarters, while the cash that accompanied the 

 orders, rapidly accumulated in his pockets. A 

 proposition last year to invite M. Jauffret to Eng- 

 land, from some circumstance failed ; but some 

 English gentlemen visited Paris at the expense, 

 we believe, of the London Farmer's Magazine, 

 for the purpose of determining the value of the 

 invention. Their report was decidedly adverse 



