638 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



never ascertained the weight per acre, but promis- 

 ed to do so the present season, andinlbrin us of 

 th3 result. 



Manures, and iheir application.— \ye were 

 much •fraiified on asccrtninin*? the great attention 

 paid to the collection and application of manures 

 in this section of country. Every where we visit- 

 ed, this branch ofagriculture appeared to be deem- 

 ed of primary importance. We were too late to be- 

 liold the large accumulation on the different plan- 

 tations, hut°we saw preparations making (or the 

 collection ofa new supply ibr the succeeding crops. 

 The plan usually is, to cart the corn and cotton 

 stall<s into the pens as opportunity oders, and con- 

 stantly to accumlate in them, pine and oak leaves 

 on which the cattle are nightly penned. This 

 compost, when applied to cotton, is spread in the 

 furrow at the rate of an ox-cart-Ioad for every 

 fifty yards square. To corn it is applied in the 

 hill. 



Cotton seed is highly prized here as elsewlicre, 

 as a manure for corn. The practice varies. By 

 some it is applied under the corn, but most gene- 

 rally above, in quantities of from one lo two pints 

 to the hill. That which is applied under the corn 

 gives tlie most luxuriant growth, whilst young, 

 and hence is apt to mislead the planter ; but when 

 earing time arrives, it is found not lo be equal to 

 that t^o which it has been applied later and on the 

 hill. It is highly probable that a large portion of 

 its good qualities become exhausted belbre the 

 corn requires it at earing time, and that it will be 

 more efficient if applied later— siill, however, it 

 appears to us, that placed on the top of the hill, 

 and left so long exposed to the action of the wea- 

 ther, must also exhaust its valuable properties. 

 Would it not, therelbre, be better to have the first 

 furrow run near, (throwing the earth from the 

 corn, the cotton seed placed in these furrows op- 

 posite the iiills on each side, the earth returned by 

 the plough and the seed covered. The whole 

 strength of the manure would, in this manner, be 

 retained ; and when we recollect that the valuable 

 properties of cotton seed reside almost entirely, if 

 iiot wholly, in the oil it contains, and that this is 

 easily and rapidly dissipated by heat, we may, 

 perhaps, see the utility of removing it ii'om the 

 immediate and direct influence of the sun, and in- 

 terposing a medium which will absorb and retain 

 the gases as they are disengaged. There are 

 probably no salts of consequence to sink, and the 

 loss sustained by this species of manure, is by 

 evaporation, not infiltration. Cotton-seed is also 

 applied to cotton, (sometimes mixed with other 

 manures,) being spread in the furrows at the rate 

 of from thirty to forty bushels per acre. A curious 

 circumstance connected with the application of 

 coilon-seed as manure was mentioned to us by 

 Col. Williams. JNlany years ago he manufactured 

 oil I'rom cotton-seed, and applied the refuse as ma- 

 nure. He (bund that when the cake was used in 

 pieces larger than about Ibur inches square to the 

 hill, the plants were decidedly injured. In one 

 instance it was applied at the rate of between 

 three and four hundred bushels per acre. Not 

 only the crop was destroyed by the application, 

 but even the lertility of the soil Ibr many years. 



Gypsum has been used with decided success, as 

 a manure (br cotton : but the difficulty in obtain- 

 ing it, has prevented its more general use. The 

 seeds, in all the experiments, were merely rolled 

 in the plaster. In one field in which every alter- 

 nate five rows were thus mannred, the growth 



differed so much in color as to give a riband-like 

 appearance to it. There are some exiieriments 

 making this year, which we hope to have reported 

 in future numbers of this journal. 



In clearing new land, Col. Williams does not 

 permit any thing to be burned, bui buries as much 

 as possible. The larger logs, which cannot be so_ 

 readily got rid o\\ are piled up in dilierent parts of 

 the field, and when they commence rotting, they 

 are moved every year or two, thus manuring the 

 portions of field where they happen to be. 



Two other modes of improving his soil, have 

 been resorted to by the Col. with decided success. 

 The first is by altering their textures by the inter- 

 mixture of sand with clay and clay with sand. 

 The improvement has been decided and great. 

 Clayey soil is more improved by the carting on 

 and admixture of sand, than is sand by the ad- 

 mixture of clay. Considerable quantities of ground 

 have, in this way, been improved. 



The other mode has been by under or sub-soil 

 draining. This has been resorted to with great 

 efiect, and we saw several acres of swampy marsh 

 ground, which in its original state produced only 

 rushes and the usual growth of sucli lands, entire- 

 ly reclaimed, «s dry as any other part of the field, 

 and judging from the old stalks of corn, it had |>ro- 

 duced a better croji. This piece was (he first at- 

 tempt made by Col. Williams, with which he has 

 been so thoroughly satisfied that he has under- 

 drained al! the land in his extensive fields v/hich 

 require it. 



TO SUBSCRIBERS, I\ REGARD TO CONDITIONS 

 OF THE farmers' REGISTER FOR VOL. IX. 



Every individual whose name is on the sub- 

 scription list of the Farmers' Register is respect- 

 fully requested to read and consider the following 

 remarks, with the same degree of attention as if 

 they were addressed to himself specially and par- 

 ticularly. 



For the last two years, a continued effort has 

 been made, at great risk and cost to the publisher, 

 by means of a reduction of the price contingent 

 on certain conditions, to extend the circulation of 

 the Farmers' Regis^ter, and thereby to increase its 

 beneficial effects on agricultural and general inte- 

 rests. (See the Conditions, and appended remarks, 

 at page G39 of vol. vii.) The expected benefit to 

 the public, so far as (bund in the extended circula- 

 tion of the work, has been considerable ; but not 

 enough so lo compensate the publisher for the addi- 

 tional outlay for the mucli larger increase of the 

 copies printed of the two last volumes (7th and 

 8th) made, in misplaced confidence of the liberal 

 offers being appreciated, and more fully met, by 

 the agiicultural public. However, it is not for the 

 publisher to complain on that score. The like con- 

 tingent reductions of prices, foradvanced payments, 

 will be continued, with slight variations, which 

 will not be less advantageous (if availed of) to 

 subscribers, and which are required because of the 

 many cases of misunderstanding of either the let- 



