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F A R iM E R S ' REGISTER. 



raense wide spreading horns, like those of the 

 buffalo of Ab}6sinia, are said to he the descen- 

 dants of inferior breeds I'rcm JMexico. They are 

 now among the largest and finest in the world, 

 and supply with excellent beet the markets oT Lou- 

 isiana, Mississippi and Arkansas. They are rs- 

 pecially prized lor the team — are used in pluugli- 

 ing, and are said to travel with ease in a wagon 

 at the rate of lour miles per hour. To the rich 

 grasses abounding in Kentucky and the Opelousas, 

 must be ascribed the improvement of these breeds 

 of cattle. In Kentucky, the grasses are clover 

 and timothy, or herd's grass, and several species 

 ol paiiicum, poa, elymus, and digitariaj the two 

 first have been introduced, and the others are ex- 

 otics. The grasses in the Opelousas I am not ac- 

 (juainted with ; they are evidently natives, and as 

 the climate where they ilourish does not differ ma- 

 terially i'rom that of Carolina and Georgia, it 

 would be very important to introduce the seeds and 

 cultivate them in our southern country. 



Although it would always be advisable to make 

 experiments on the native grasses of the country, 

 as best adapted to the soil and climate, and afford- 

 ing the lairest prospect of success in their cultiva- 

 tion, yet it must be admitted, that nearly all ef the 

 most valuable fruits, grains and grasses, were not 

 originally natives of the countries where they are 

 now most succcessfully cultivated. The cereal 

 grains and finest fruits were not originally natives 

 even of Europe. The Irish potato is infinitely 

 more productive in the Green Isle than in South 

 America, its native country, where the largest spe- 

 cimens I have seen were not larger than a bean. 

 The rice, sweet potato and cotton plants of Caro- 

 lina, have a foreign origin; and the clover and 

 timothy, which are more valuable to the northern 

 and western states than all the gold mines in the 

 world, were imported from the east. 



It must be admitted, that the maritime districts 

 of Carolina and Georgia, and we might salely in- 

 clude the middle country, and a great portion of 

 Alabama, notwithstanding a fine climate and a 

 moderately good soil, have in reality no pastures. 

 Our crow-foot and crab grasses, although excel- 

 lent food for cattle, are only annuals, and the fields 

 which produce them require to be ploughed and 

 manured, (a labor which is seldom submitted to;) 

 our hot suns of summer dry the earth and parch 

 up the grasses— little hay is made to feed the cat- 

 tle through the winier, and they are left to seek a 

 precarious subsistence among the rane-brakes, 

 which, owing to clearings, fires, and other causes, 

 are daily diminishing. Towards spring they re- 

 mind us of the description Col. Crockett gave 

 us of his neighbors' hunting dogs — " so poor that 

 that they had to lear: up against a tree to bark." 

 To give them the pickings of the early brome 

 grass, the woods are set on fire, and away go the 

 flames, destroying the young timber and btirning 

 up the rich mould on the surface of the earth, 

 which has been collecting for years — many a pa- 

 nel of fence is burnt up, and many a day is wasted 

 in consequence of having summoned out all the 

 hands on the plantation to light the fire. The 

 grass springs up, it is true, but in that state affects 

 the cattle unfavorably, weakening them by con- 

 stant purgation, and about the time the cows be- 

 come mothers they are found in the ditches or in 

 the mire — the flight of the buzzard, and the dogs 

 on the plantalion indicating where our treasures 



lie hid. I should be happy of an assurance that 

 this is an exaggerated picture of our irrazin^ and 

 larn,mg system, yet whilst I see hay brought in 

 bundles from New Ensland to Chuilesion, and 

 thence reshipped to Columbia and Camden — 

 whilst I am constantly witnessing our poor and 

 diminutive breed of cattle, and am doing penance 

 on salt butter from New York and New Jersey, 1 

 caimoi but think that we are sadly deficient in the 

 cultivation of suitable grasses, on which all the 

 prospects of the dairy, the beef market, and the 

 improvementofonr soil, depend. It would be fal- 

 lacious reasoning to argue that our souihern coun- 

 try cannot become a grazing country, because we 

 have, as yet, found no native grasses adapted to 

 this purpose. Great Britain was once a sterile 

 country, dependent on its mountains and on ila 

 continental neighbors fijr Its butter and meats; at 

 present, with a population increased one hundred 

 ibid, it supplies the wants of its inhabitants, thou- 

 sands of whom derive their whole subsistence 

 from the products of the dairy. The island of 

 Jamaica, which has no productive native grasses, 

 and which formerly imported every pound of but- 

 ter and beef, has been abundantly supplied with 

 both, by the simple introduction of Guinea grass, 

 a native of Africa. We have in Carolina been so 

 infatuated with the cultivation of cotton and rice, 

 that we have paid but little attention to our native 

 grasses. There are several species that have been 

 undervalued, and others are only known to the 

 botanist. Our Gama grass, {tripsacuvi dactylsi- 

 des,) may have been pufied loo highly at one 

 time, hut appears now to have fallen below the 

 standard of its real value. I have had a bed of it 

 in my garden for th^ last ten years ; it has never 

 been affected either by our hottest summers or 

 coldest winters — not a root of it has required trans- 

 planting, and it is at this moment, if possible, 

 more flourishing than ever. Horses do not relish 

 it in its green state, as it is a coarse grass, but 

 readily eat it when made into hay. Cows and 

 mules are fond of it, and thrive under it. Tlie 

 rice grass (leersia oryzoides) succeeds well in very 

 wet soils, but the seeds are difficult to preserve. 

 The hay is equal to that of timothy, but the plant 

 is only adapted to particular kinds of soil, and in 

 dry seasons is an uncertain crop. These grasses, 

 as well as the white clover, are indigenous to our 

 soil, and seeds and plants can be obtained in many 

 portions of our state. We have upwards of two 

 hundred species of grasses indigenous to our 

 southern states, and it will not be presumptuous 

 to say, that some of them may be found well 

 adapted for pasturage and hay. No country has 

 ever been known in which some kinds of grasses 

 for pasturase and hay may not be cultivated with 

 success. If the native grasses are not adapted to 

 the purpose, those of similar kinds in other cli- 

 mates may be advantageously introduced. The 

 plants of China and Japan are known to succeed 

 well in our climate, those of Thibet, Persia, the 

 island of the Mediterranean and Morocco, being 

 in nearly the same latitude, as well as those cf 

 portions of South America and New Holland, 

 miiiht be introduced with a prospect of success, 

 and it would be surprising if some among the va- 

 rious grasses that succeed well in these countries 

 might not be equally well adapted to our own soil 

 and climate. 

 Rut the cultivation of grasses is not alone es- 



