THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 



Extract from Lyell's Lectures. 



Many of you, I suppose, have seen the morass 

 called ihe Great Dismal, io Norih Carolina and 

 Virginia : and you have probably had an oppor- 

 tunity, as I have, o/" crossing Ihe northern extre- 

 mity of it on a railuay supported by piles ironi 

 Norfolk to Weldon. This is no le s than Ibriy 

 miles from nonh to south, and twenty fr-om eaei 

 to west covered entirely wiih various forest irees, 

 under which is a great quantiiy of moss ; tlie 

 vegetation is of every varieiy ol' size from common 

 creeping moss lo tall cypresses 130 leet high. The 

 water surrounds the roots of these irees lor many 

 months in iheyear. And this isa mostsingular lact 

 to one who has travelled oidy in Europe, that, as is 

 the case in the United Slates, trees should grow 

 in the water, or surrounded to a certain he i^ht by 

 water, and yet not be killed. This Great Dismal 

 was explored sotne years since by Mr. Edmund 

 Kuffin, author of a valuable agricultural journal. 

 He first calls attention to the (act that a greater 

 portion of the vast morass stands iiigher than the 

 ground that surrounds it; it is a great spongy 

 mass ol peat, standing some seven or eight lee 

 higher than its banks, as was ascertained by care- 

 ful measurements when ihe railroad was cut 

 through. It consists of vegetable matter wiih 

 a slight admixture of earthy substance, as in coal. 

 The source of peal in Soo'land is that one laver 

 of vegetal ion is not decomposed belore another 

 Ibrms. So it is in Chili, Patagonia, and Terra 

 del Fuego. Thus also is it in diHerent parts ol 

 Europe, in the Falkland Islands, as Darwin Iihp 

 shown. Thus, too, is it in ihe Great D.»ma!, 

 where the plants and trees are ditft-rem Irom iho^e 

 of the peat in New York. It is found on cu'tinir 

 down the irees and draining the swamp and letting 

 in the sun, that the vegetation will not be suppor" 

 ed as it was before beneath ihe dark shades ol 

 the trees. In the middle is a fine lake, and the 

 whole is inhabited by wild animals, and it is 

 somewhat dangerous lo dwell tiear it by reason of 

 the bad atmos|)here it creates. It is covered by 

 most luxuriant vegetation. We find in some 

 places in England that there is a species of walk- 

 ing mosses which are sometimes seized witti a 

 fancy to walk otT from their places : the moss 

 swells up, bursts and rolls off, sometimes bury- 

 ing cottages in its path. In some places this peat 

 has been dug into and houses have been found 

 several feet below the surface— curious antiquarian 

 remains. In the same manner the Great Dismal 

 may spread itself over the surrounding country. 



353 



HANDLING COTTON. 



Extract from the Souttiern (Miss.) rianter. 

 As you say, the subject of cotton but too readily 

 suggests i;self to the mind of every southerner— 

 and while we may flatter ourselves at haviu'r 

 arrtved to some degree of perlection in ihe culti'^ 

 vation of the growing plant, there is one point we 

 must all acknowledge has been loo muchneo-lected 

 by our planter-^. I allude to the handling oPcotton 

 after it is made or gathered from the fields-'. The 

 arucle advises the system oi' throwing cotton into 

 large piles m our gins so soon as picked, in order 

 Vol. X.—'i5 



to undergo the process of heating, h contends 

 that It diffuses the oil of the seed into the lint, 

 thereby producinn; a richer color and more sub- 

 eianiial fibre. This is an important point in the 

 handling of coUon, aDd \be views of the writer 

 are eo different from my own that I cannot re- 

 frain from offering you some ohjeciions to it, I 

 regard this system as, unforlunatelv for our own 

 interests, but loo much in practice at present. 

 Ihe low conditio" of our cotton market, at the 

 present lime particularly, calls for a relbrmation 

 among our planters, and urcres upon them the 

 necessity of sending our crops for sale in a belter 

 condition. Much can be said upon thissut-jecl— 

 too much is required, fbr me to attempt it at pre- 

 sent, and I shall content myself merely by slatino- 

 my views in relation to the system above alluded 

 to. 



1 do not think, then, that the color of cotton is 

 \n\pToved by heating, but it isa serious injury in 

 many respects. Ir is true some becomes more 

 yellow— whilst some assumes a bluish cast, conse- 

 quently not uniform— and even that which does 

 become more yellow, does not present ihe bright 

 lively color so much desired. We all know that 

 there is more or less dirt or dust in cotton when 

 brought from the fields— by heatintr, this dirt 

 stains the cotton, or rather causes i( to assume a 

 dingy, dull appearance, in contrast with the natu- 

 ral, lively, bright, cream color, whch it exhibits 

 when dried upon the scaffolds. The fibre, loo, 

 IS injured— loses its elasticity and sirengih-^ 

 becomes dead and heavy in appearance. I admit 

 that 11 fiins mo.e easily, but i» that not an evidence 

 of loss ol sirenffth ? I contend, ion, that the sun, 

 when it is exposed upon the scaffolds, will draw 

 iheoil Irom the seed, dissipate the water and 

 diffuse the oil into the fibre, much belter than can 

 be accomplished by heat from moisture— the di;st 

 will be shaken oui, or if not, will become so dry 

 as not to injure the cotton before it reaches the 

 gin stand, where it will be, or should be, entire- 

 ly separated. Cotton which has been heated in 

 piles will gin easier and laster, but not so well- 

 will be lorn off from the seed in large flakes which 

 cannot be separated by the brush, each fibre to 

 Itself, which causes it to present that carded ap- 

 pearance which attracts the fancy of the buyer. 

 These are my simple reasons Ibr believino- that a 

 thorough course of drying upon scaffolds' in the 

 sun IS the better plan, and the only practical plan 

 ol producing a perfect article for market. By 

 the one process we obtain an irregular yellow 

 color, dull, lilblcss, dingy cotton --by the other, a 

 rich, lively, bright cream-color, with more elasti- 

 city, as is plainly discovered at the press, by 

 those who have tried it. Th-^ writer above 

 alluded to IS also deceived in another fad. He 

 assigns, as a reason ilmt ihe sun destroys the color 

 of cotton, the fact, that cotton picked immediately 

 after opening has ihe richest color. This is 

 true- -and it loses its color by exposure to the 

 (/eu's, and not to the sun. So, a'so, cotton picked 

 early in the season has a richer color than that 

 picked late, and that is owning to the sun having 

 more power— dissipating the muis^iure before ft 

 has time lo bleach the cot on. 



These reflections I have hastily thrown together 

 —and they are now at your disposal— should you 

 deem them worthy of inserlion in the Southern 

 Planter, I may lioni time to titr,e give vou my 



