22 



FARMERS' R E G I S 1^ E R 



ber to the beginning of May, on ihe carrots pro- 

 duced Irom tliree acres ol'Iatul. The animiils, ilu- 

 rin£f the whole of this period, lived on ihcse roots 

 with the addition of only a very small quanliiy of 

 hay; and thirty hogs were fattened on the refuse left 

 by the caltle." 



How immensely are we behind the scientific 

 farmers of (he older parts of the world in thrift 

 and and economy ! and Iiow dearly are we paying 

 for our neglect of these things! Among us if a 

 farmer were asked to support the above stock, if 

 he pursued the usual course, he would put the 

 three acres in corn alone, or with the addition of a 

 few cornfield pens or pumpkins; and with good 

 cropping and his utmost llirili, the produce would 

 ecarceiy subsist the horses alone one-third of the 

 above lime. 



It will be perceived that all the articles of food 

 for hogs above referred to, are fall and winter fruits. 

 Unless they are gathered and preserved, we will 

 still be without a cheap food durinif the spring and 

 summer. To supply this g^ip, I must confess 1 

 know of no iiood substitute to ihe rye, clover, and 

 grasses of ihe Norih ; and to them we should turn 

 our attenlion as speedily as possible. 1 ftjar the 

 melons, cymlings, &.c. sn-jgested by 'An Inqui- 

 rer,' could not be produced sufficiently early to 

 lake their place to any great advantage. J. J. 



ON PREPARING ICE AM) FILLING AN ICE- 

 HOUSE, SO AS THE ICE MAY KEEP FOR TWO 

 OR THREE YEARS. 



From tlie Gardeners' Magazine. 



Sir. — None of your correspondents havfng 

 laid before us the proper method of preserving ice, 

 so as to keep in an exposed situation through the 

 hot months of summer, for one, two or more years 

 as may be required, I now venture to do so. 

 Most gardeners who are in the habit of laying up 

 ice annually for summer use, complain of its mel- 

 ting away too rapidly. This, I presume, is owing 

 to tlie method they practise to preserve it. To re- 

 medy this evil, the metliod which 1 have practised 

 for a considerable number of years, with the most 

 gatifying success, is as follows : 



In the month of December or January, when 

 the water-pools are frozen to a sufficient thickness, 

 say one or two inches, proceed to l)reak the ice in 

 pieces, and draw it ofi the water with iron hooks, 

 conveying it to the ice-house in carls, as quick as 

 possible. Before throwing it into Ihe house, three 

 or four men should be employed to break it in 

 small pieces, about the size of common road 

 metal. Then carry it into the house, where two 

 men should be again employed in pounding it 

 almost to powder. Lay the bottom and the sides 

 of the house with a layer of wheat straw three or 

 lour inches thick. After there are about two feet 

 of ice thus pounded, take ten pounds of salt, and 

 dissolve in ten gallons of boiling water. When 

 the salt is sufficienily dissolved, pour it on the ice 

 through a common garden watering-pot ; thus 

 going on regularly every two feet watering, and 

 laying the sides with straw, till the house is filled, 

 finishing with a double quantity of salt water. 

 After it has been in eight days and when it has 

 subsided, fill up closely with small bundleeof straw, 

 to exclude all air as far as possible. 



An ice-house filled in this manner will be found 

 when opened in summer, to be as firm as a rock, 

 and to require at all times the force of a pick-axe 

 to break it up. It will be found to keep three 

 times longer than the common method of filling 

 ice-houses, and is more suitable for being received 

 fi-om the icehouse for use, as it will keep three 

 limes longer when exposed to the air. I was in- 

 duced to try the above metliod, on account of our 

 ice-house being placed in a very exposed situation. 

 The sun shines from rising to setting on it, and it 

 was found impossible, before adopting tliis plan, 

 to keep ice above a year, and now it keeps three 

 years, and the last of it is as good as the first. 



SUGAR VERSUS COTTON. 



From tlic Baton Rouge Gazelle. 



We are aware that it has been a queslion for 

 some time past with our planters, and one which 

 truly deserves attenlion, whether the culture of 

 sugar can be carried on in Louisiana with as much 

 profit and success as that of cotton. The opinion 

 has obtained pretty generally throughout the 

 state judging from the remarks of planters and 

 other sources, that the crops of sugar are attended 

 with much less certainty, and the profits fall con- 

 siderably short of those of cotton ; and consequent- 

 ly it is no unusual thing to see a large sugar plan- 

 tation converted into cotton fields, and valuable 

 sugar houses used for mere storage, or allowed to 

 stand idle. 



The eflect of cases of this nature is of the most 

 prejudicial kind to the cane-growing interests. 

 Young planters are by this means deterred from 

 entering into lliis species of business from the I'act 

 of seeing others leaving it, without stopping for a 

 moment to reason, or enquire upon the subject. 

 Such we think, ere long will regret the step. 



The prospect of the cotton market at present is 

 any thing but favorable, and it is ever, by far, 

 more fluctuating and uncertain than that of sugar ; 

 and we should not be surprised if the crops of 

 many plantations this year should sell at a less 

 rate than the actual cost of making them, and es- 

 pecially where these plantations are purchased 

 upon a credit, at ten per cent interest. This sink- 

 ing condition, then, of the market, should have 

 the effect of encouraging those already engaged in 

 the cultivation of the cane, and lead others to ex- 

 amine into the subject. 



We have been at some little pains to obtain in- 

 formation on the comparative profits arising from 

 the cultivation of these two great staples ; and the 

 results so far appear to be decidedly in favor of the 

 sugar planter. 



An acre of ground which will produce four hun- 

 dred and fifty pounds clean cotton, will produce 

 twelve or thirteen hundred pounds of sugar, be- 

 sides the usual portion of syrup and molasses. 

 This we have been informed by planters whose 

 fields lie side by side. And the amount of labor 

 required lor the latter is no greater than the for- 

 mer, lour and five acres being the average quantity 

 for each hand to tend. What arc tlie conclusions, 

 then, to be drawn from these facts? — They are, 

 that the ratio in pounds between the sugar and 

 cotton, is nearly that of three to one, or that the 

 same land willl yield three pounds of sugar to one 



