1839] 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



617 



(he advantages of a board t»f agriculture shall be 

 developed, the legislature will continue to man- 

 ifest its patriotic solicitude by additional aids to 

 this great and permanent interest; and in con- 

 clusion they suggest, ihat the condition of the cul- 

 tivation of the earth may be assumed as a fair 

 barometer of that of the state. When prosecuted 

 successfully, peace and plenty prevail — when un- 

 successfully, disastrous etliecls smite every portion 

 of the social body. Nor should it escape the re- 

 presentatives of a li'ee people, that it is tlie intelli- 

 gent cultivator to u'hom liberty, in any crisis ofdif- 

 ficulty, refers as her safest champion. AH which is 

 respecllully submitted. 



ROTTEN LIMESTOK^E SOILS OP ALABAMA. 



To the Editor of the Fanners' Register. 



In my short communication found in the Au- 

 gust number of the Register, (page 499,) I must 

 explain what you have corrected. It was written 

 in a moment of haste, and not sufficiently explicit. 

 VVhen I said that ''to talk of any earth being 

 amongst the rotten limestone would be absurd," 

 the idea I intended to communicate was, that the 

 pile of rotten limestone was so far raised above the 

 surrounding earth, that none could have been put 

 amongst it. It was a mass ofrotten limestone en- 

 tirely. Throughout this state, and equally through- 

 out Georgia, where this matter abounds, /ew indi- 

 viduals can be persuaded to place any contidence 

 in its valuable ed'ects on vegetation, believing that 

 it possesses no nutritive qualities. The lacts pre- 

 sented appeared to me so evident a contradiction 

 of this opinion, and such a positive proof that cal- 

 careous matter in some forms niust in some way 

 or other furnish a pabulum or food ibr plants that 

 I viewed the liu'ls as worth notice. The vegeta- 

 tion of plants is not more rapid or luxuriant in the 

 bottom lands of the Alabama or Tombirrhee than 

 on the shell banks beforementioned, and I cannot 

 think that the small proportion of alluvial sod 

 could satisfactorily account ibr it, hut that credit 

 must be given to the calcareous matter for lurnish- 

 ing nutrition in some way or other. I would also 

 remark that the vegetation in the heap oi' rotten 

 limestone continues to grow with singular luxu- 

 riance, although we have had in this section of the 

 state for some time back a most destructive drought. 

 Cotton is cutting short rapidly, on every kind of 

 land except the rotten limestone or cane brake 

 lands. Agricola. 



Southern jilabama. 



WATERING CATTLE IN WINTER. 



From The Farmer's Caliinet. 

 Perhaps it would excite the surprise of ninny of 

 our readers, should we assert that cattle generally 

 suffer more fiom thirst in winter, than during the 

 heat of summer. Yet there is strong reason to be- 

 lieve that this is to a great extent the case. Cat- 

 tle whose winter food consists entirely of hay, slravv, 

 and other dry materials, need a plentiful and fre- 

 quent supply of pure ircsh water. This mutiv 

 Vol. VII-T3 



do not obtain, as nearly all running streams are 

 covered with ice, and cattle are obliged to wander 

 a considerable distance from the yard to the wa- 

 tering place, through deep snows or over a slip- 

 pery path, exposed to the annoyance of dogs, or to 

 be gored by other cattle, and rather than endure 

 this, they often suffer much from a want of water. 

 It has been ascertained that a bullock, who has 

 wafer at command, will drink it eight times a day. 

 It should ahvays therefore be of easy access to cat- 

 tle at all times ; and not on a distant part of the 

 farm, or in the open road, so that in order that 

 your cattle may help themselves to it, you are 

 obliged to leave your gate open, or barn-yard bara 

 down, and thus your yard is thronged with va- 

 grant colts and other ill-bred animals, who take 

 possession of whatever fodder they can lay their 

 mouths upon, and pay no regard to the rights of 

 meum and tuum. Dr. Anderson says that he 

 knew a man who became very rich by being greaf in 

 little matters, that is, attending carefully to things 

 which other men consider of too little consequence 

 to claim their notice; and this man always made it 

 a point to see that his cattle, particidarly his milch 

 cows, should have a constant supply of pure water. 



For the Farmers' Register. 



ESSAY ON VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY. 



By Georgf. D. Armstrong, Prof, of Nat. Philosophy, 

 and Chemistry, in Washington College, Va. 



[Continued from page 469, No. 8.] 



Chap. XXI. 



DISTRIBITTION OF PLANTS. EFFECT OF DIF- 

 FERENCES IN CLIMATE. EFFECT OF DIF- 

 FERENCES IN SOIL. BOTANIC NOMENCLA' 

 TUBE FOR SOILS. 



In examining the vegetable covering which is 

 every where spread over the surfiice of our earth, 

 we cannot but notice the li^cf, that the plants of 

 which it is composed differ much in diffi^rent coun- 

 tries. This difference appears to result principal- 

 ly (if we leave out of account the influence of 

 man) from two causes ; viz., differences in climate 

 and differences in soil. 



Temperature has obviously a great influence on 

 vegetation. It is a well known fi:ict, that the plants 

 of tropical countries, such as the tropical palms, 

 cannot be made to flourish even in temperate re- 

 gions, much less in those which border on the po- 

 lar circles ; and on the other hand, those which 

 are indigenous to temperate climates, such as 

 wheat and rye, will not flourish within the tropics. 

 In considering the temperature of a country in re- 

 lation to vegetation, we should attend not only to 

 its mean temperature, bur to the exiremes of heat 

 and cold to which it is subject, and also to the lia- 

 bilily to sudden changes, more especially in the 

 spring and fall; in the spring, because plants are 

 then putting fbrih their leaves, and those organs 

 are then |K;culiarly tender ; in the autumn, be- 

 cause then plants arc rijieniny their seed and are 

 VL-ry easily injured. 



