FLOODING MEADOWS. 



463 



iracted bnt little more than half the juice. This 

 year's crop is from rattoons five years old. His 

 production of both cotton and Sujrar this year 

 will exceed the last He plants black peach 

 land. 



Capt. Duncan, on Caney Creek, and James P. 

 Caldwell, oa the Brazos River, have also been 

 emineuth' successful in planting cane, and in 

 no instance have the rattooiis been lost by the 

 frost. Last year there was not frost enough to 

 kill- the vegetables in our garden, and tliis fall 

 we have been emii-ely free of frost till the 20th 

 ofthis month (November.) 



The experience derived by planting cane 

 liere seven years, proves that it matures earlier, 

 :md the mildness of our fall season gives us 

 longer time to grind than the Loui.siana planter 

 usually enjoys. As to our lands, no difl'ercnce 

 of opinion exists with those who see them ; their 

 quality is unrivaled, and large bodies may be 

 had, not subject to ovei-flow, nor requiring the 

 hast ejrpense to drain them, at frera S3 to $6 

 per acre ; 1000 acres in Louisiana, of less real 

 value, would cost probably S50,000, a sum that 

 would buy the Texas planter not only this quan- 

 titj- of land, but also from 70 to 80 hands to work 

 it. An item in interest is thus saved, amounting 

 to $4000 annually. I have no positive data to 

 prove the differenee of transporting our sugar to 

 the northern cities, compared with freights from 

 New-Orleans to same ports. Thelfe has been 

 but little competition in the commerce of Galves- 



ton, yet the freight on uncompressed cotton for 

 three years, has been but \ cent per maximum, 

 and I cent minimum to New- York ; and I deem 

 it fair to say that v.ith the competition that will 

 naturally arise, and the ease witli which Galves- 

 ton can be approached from the Gulf, compared 

 with New-Orleans, with the gi'eat savin? to 

 vessels in not being compelled to pay hish port 

 charges and steaming npt the Mississippi River, 

 will keep our freights as low as they will be 

 from New-Orleans. There is anotlier import- 

 ant advantage which the Texas wiU ever pos- 

 sess over the Louisiana planter : it is in obtain- 

 ing his beef from his ever fat herds of cattle, 

 and pork, com and potatoes from his farm, at an 

 inconsiderable expense. 



I have deemed it necessary to say this much 

 in reply to the article of .Judge Rost, which, 

 from false data, does us great injustice. Nothirig 

 can be fartlier from my intention than to dero- 

 gate from the many advantages wliich your gal- 

 lant State possesses for the culture of Sugar. 

 With tlie Judge, I fully believe that she has 

 nothing to fear from onr competition ; for, with 

 reasonable protection, to give us the vastly in- 

 creasing market of now i!0.000,000 of consumers, 

 with a margin for near 200,000 hhds. now tilled 

 by foreign importation, we can both march on, 

 hand in hand, identified in our interests, and 

 only rivaling each other in a vain attempt to 

 supply the increasing demand for the richest 

 agricultural product of tlie earth. Colvmbia. 



FLOODING MEADOWS. 



I.v answer, for the present to a correspond- 

 ent we believe in Connecticut or Vermont 

 whose letter we have mislaid, we give the fol- 

 lowing from the Farmers Magazine : 



PRACTICE OF IRRIGATION. 



The first operation on the intended meadow 

 is, to free it thoroughly of water by draining. 

 If springs exi.«t, they should be cut off by drains 

 of sufKcient depth to reach the source of injury. 

 Bnt, in addition to this, the land, if the soil is 

 clayey, or re.sis upon a tenacious subsr)il, should 

 be effectually furrow-drained, so as to afford a 

 ready egress" to the water underground. The 

 land" is then to be leveled and otherwise pre- 

 pared. If it is already in old turf, it will be 

 well to pare oil' the sward with the spade, and 

 after having dug and prepared tlie ground, to 

 replace tlie turf. In this manner the meadow 

 will be ready for the reception of the water, as 

 soon as it is formed. But should there be no 

 turf upon tlie ground, or should this turf be filled 

 with useless or innuiritious plants, the land 

 should be thoroughly worked, leveled, and olli- 

 erwi.se prepared, and then sown with the sui^- 

 ble i-'rass-seeds. The.xe grass-seeds may be 

 so\vB in autumn. ^Ve cannot however, in tliis 

 case, admit the water during the first winter. 

 We must retain the land in pasture for the 

 whole of tlie following winter and summer, so 

 that tlie young plants may establish tliem.selves 

 in the soil. Bnt in tlie second winter we may 

 generally admit the water. The ground maybe 

 in part prepared bj- the plow, and we may 

 even economize expenditure by taking a crop 

 of some kind before we begin to level and oih- 

 (••231 



erwise from the meadow : but generally it is 

 better to proceed at once with the formation of 

 the meadow, and employ the spade in place of 

 the plow for leveling and preparing the ground 

 for the reception of the grass-seeds in autumn. 

 Along the higher side of the meadow is first to 

 be formed the main conductor, to which the 

 ^vatc^ is earned, and from which it is conveyed 

 over the surface of the meadow. The earth 

 taken out of this trench is to be cniploj-ed in 

 banking it, and filling up hollows in the surface 

 of the ground. The size of tlie main conductor 

 must be proportioned to that of the meadow, 

 anil llie quantity of water to be conveyed. 



The next operation is. forming the main drain, 

 at the lower part of the land to be flooded. It is 

 of the same size as the main conductor, and the 

 earth taken out of it is to be employed in bank- 

 ing or filling up hollows. The surface of the 

 nieadou-, supposing it to be flat is now to be 

 formed into beds or planes, from 30 to 40 feet in 

 width, extending from the main conductor to the 

 main drain. These beds may be elevated about. 

 12 inches at tlie center : thev are not cun'ed like 

 the ridges of a plowed field, but form incline 

 planes from the center to each side. At leaving 

 the main conductor tliey may be 20 inches wide, 

 gradually narrowing to nearly a j>oiut at their 

 termination when they reach the surface. If 

 stops of solid earth are left, these may be 6 inches 

 either way, with their diagonal in the line 

 of tlie feeder, and such of them as are not re- 

 quired may be afterward removed. The earth 

 taken out of these feeders is to be employed in 

 making good their own banks, and in leveling 

 the inequalities of the surface. Corresponding 

 with the feeders, and alternating with them, are 



