THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



391 



instrument used is tiie common rafter level, having 

 a stride of twelve feet, with, a plumb bob suspend- 

 ed I'rora the crown by a very ttiiall cord, so boxed 

 as to prevent the iiifluerice of the wind. The 

 grade is indicated by a mark on the cross-bar, say 

 iwo and a half leet from the crown. The grade 

 that you may wish may be asceilained by first 

 finding a perfect level. This is best done by re- 

 versing the ends of the instrument, until thr 

 plumb-line will stand at the same j)oint on the 

 cross-bar. Then place under one end of the level 

 a block just the thickness that you vviuh your 

 grade, and the plu.nb-lme will indicate the de- 

 clination on the cross-bar. 1 usually commence 

 operations near the liighest point of the land and 

 in the middle of the intended ditch, and let that 

 point divide the water, having it to run each way. 

 By this method I encounter a less volume of wa- 

 ter at any one poiii'. The dnch being marked 

 out by a chop with a hoe at each step ol the level, 

 it is opened by running several furrows with a 

 plough, and the dirt drawn out on the lower side 

 with weeding hoes. I preler the ditcties wide ra- 

 ther than deep, and concave in the bottom. A 

 plough may pass them without inconvenience, 

 and they occupy about the space of one corn-row. 

 The necessary number being laid out and opened, 

 you may proceed to lay out your guide lurrows, 

 by the mark that indicates the true level. The 

 space between the guide furrows will be filled by 

 running parallel rows alternate to the guide rows, 

 the width thai you may desire, lor eiihercorn or 

 cotton, uniil the space is filled, finishing with 

 short rows where they may be required, as belore 

 directed. The land is then thrown into beds by 

 the rows, the beds opened, and the crop planted. 

 In the cultivation, if the level is well preserved in 

 the rows, and the water-lurrows kept well open, 

 all the water will be reiained in common rains; 

 but if the rain should be so greai that the land 

 cannot absorb it, nor the water lurrows hold it, it 

 passes over the bed in a sheet — because of the in- 

 clined plane formed by the horizontal rows — and 

 is received by the ditch and borne off. If the 

 grade of the ditch is a proper one, and well pre- 

 served the whole length, and properly opened and 

 well attended to the first year, when a turf will be 

 formed on its bank, I will ensure it not to break by 

 the lodgment of a few blades of fodder. 



The reason that hill-side ditches are in disrepute 

 with many is because the grade is not a proper 

 one, or not well preserved. In one part of the 

 ditch, the grade being too great, the water passes 

 too rapidly ; in anoiher, not being great enough, 

 it passes too sluggishly : consequently there must 

 be an accumulation at the point where the water 

 moves slowest, and the volume continues to in- 

 crease until the ditch is overflowed, lor which the 

 system is condenmed, when the true cause is in 

 the operator. I liave seen many fields injured 

 from improper d'iching, but it has not proved to 

 me that the system is a bad one. If Mr. Old 

 will give us a statement of his method of ope- 

 ration, and cogent reasoning why the sysiem of 

 graded hill-side ditches is a bad one, and point out 

 one that is better, and sustain it by inconiroverti- 

 ble proofs, lor myself I will most cheerlully aban- 

 don the one and embrace the other. 



Of one thing I am certain, that my land washes 

 less than my neighbors' who have not resorted 

 to the means that I have to prevent it ; and I be- 



lieve that many of them are finding it out, from 

 the taci that they have commenced the sysiem of 

 i^r.^ifd ditches. 



Since writing the above, I have had on my farm 

 a very hard and washins rain, when the land was 

 not guarded against it. Soon afier the rain a field 

 was exdnnned that came into my possession last 

 winter, and in the spring the necessary number of 

 ditches had been n)ade in it, and no attention 

 given them since. By the way, it is a very 

 broken field, and n)any guliies had been Ibrmed, 

 across winch the ditches passed as a matter of 

 course. The crop is corn, and cultivated horizon- 

 tally. I found the field well preserved. Even in 

 the gullies across which the ditches passed, the 

 loose dirt which liill from the ploughs in crossing 

 ihem had not been washed out. 1 confidently ex- 

 pect, by filling these gullies with pine bushes, 

 which I shall do ihis tall previous to sowing 

 wheat, to have these guilies entirely filled, and 

 corn growing on ihem. 



My object in noticing the conversation of Mr. 

 Old is to elicit inlornidlion on the subject of pre- 

 serving hilly land Irom washing from the heavy 

 falls of rain, iiequent in this country during the 

 crop season, and as the '^dn'.leman condemns the 

 sysiem that Thave practised wiih success, as 1 be- 

 lieve, I fell called on to vindicate it, und at the 

 same time ask him lor a better and more efiectuai 

 one. R. S. Hardwick. 



Jocassie, Hancock county, Ga. 

 June 28th, 1842. 



CEREAL PLANTS. 



Mr. Editor : — A short lime back, I sent you 

 an article on wheat and Indian corn, taken Irom 

 the chapter upon the grain crops of France, in 

 Le Bon .Jardinier.; I now send you the rest ol' 

 that chapter. 



t f 



LES TLANTES CEREALES. 



jflpistc, Canary grass, Phalaris canariensis. — 

 An annual plant resembling the millet in its 

 culture and use. Its hay is a good food lor horses 

 and horned cattle. It should be sown thin, broad- 

 cast, in April or May, on a good light and rich 

 koil. 



Avoine, Oats, jlvcna saliva. — This grain pre- 

 senis a great number of varieties, the respective 

 merits ol which it is difiicult to determine, their 

 success and quality depend very much on the 

 soil and climate. [ will here point out the chief 

 varieties, observing at the same time that it is 

 only by experiments made upon his own land, 

 that one can best judge which to preler. 



Avoine patate, Potato oat, Avena saliva tur- 

 gida. — Grain while, short, heavy, having a fine 

 husk and being very farinaceous. This variety, for 

 many years very much sought alter in England, 

 preserves here with difficulty those qualities which 

 cause it to be so much esteemed in that country. 

 It is very subject to the black head, yet in many 

 experiments, it has shown itself superior to our 

 common oat. 



Avoine de Georgia, Jlvcna sativa georgiana. — 

 Grain of a yellowish white, very large and heavy, 

 having a hard husk ; head very large ; leaves of 



