668 



FARMERS' RE.G1STER. 



[No. U 



The rivers and creeks do in many places torm- 

 very fine large marshes, which arc a convenieut 

 support I'or their Hocks and herds. 



# * * » *. ■ • * 

 There is likewi-se found great variety of et^rths, 



for physick, cleansing, scouring, and making all j 

 sorts ol potter's ware, such as aniiniony, talk, yel- 

 low and red oker, hiller's earth, pipe clay, and 

 other fat and line clays, inarle, &,c. In a word, 

 there are all kinds of earth lit for use.' < 



# # * ^^ * v*^ 



Have you pleasure in a garden? All things 

 thrive in it, most surprisingly ; you can't walk by 

 a bed of tlowers, but besides the entertainment of 

 their beauty, your eyes will be saluted with the 

 charming colors of the humming bird, which rev- 

 els among the flowers and licks oti' the dew and 

 honey from their tender leaves, on which it only 

 feeds [he means on which alone it ti^eds]. It's size 

 is not half so large as an English wren, and its 

 color is a glorious shining mixture of scarlet, green 

 and gold. Colonel Byrd in his garden, which is 

 the finest in that country, has a summer-house, 

 set round with the Indian honeysuckle which all 

 the summer is continually full of sweet flowers, 

 in which these birds delight exceedingly. Upon 

 these flowers, I have seen ten or a dozen of these 

 beautiful creatures together, which sported about 

 me so familiarly, that olten with their little wings 

 they fann'd my face. 



Hunting. 



The Indians as I have already observed had in 

 their hunting, a way of concealing themselves, 

 and coming up to the deer, under the blind of a 

 stalking-head, in imitation of which, many people 

 have taught their horses to stalk it, that is, to walk 

 gently by the huntsman's side to cover him from 

 the sight of the deer. Others cut down trees lor 

 the deer to browse upon, and lie in wait behind 

 them. Others again set stakes at a certain dis- 

 tance within their tences, where the dfeer have 

 been used to leap over into a field of peas, which 

 they love extremely : these stakes they so place, 

 as to run into the body of the deer, when he 

 pitches, by which means they impale him. 

 * * * * * * * * 



They hunt their hares (which are very numer- 

 ous) a-foot, with mungrils, or sivilt dogs, which 

 either catch them quickly, or force them to hole in 

 a hollow tree, whither all their hares generally 

 tend, when they are closely pursued. As soon as 

 they are thus holed, and have crawl'd up into the 

 body of the tree, the business is to kmdie a fire, 

 and smother them with smoak, till the.y let go 

 their hold, and fall to the bottom stifled, from 

 whence they take them. If they have a mind to 

 spare their lives, upon turning them loose, they 

 will be as fit as ever, to hunt at another lime; lor 

 the mischief done them by sm,oak, immediately 

 wears ofl' again. * * * * 



They have another sort of hunting, which is 

 very diverting, and that they call verniine hunt- 

 ing. It is performed a lt)ot with small doss, in 

 the night, by the light of the moon or stars. Thus 

 in the summer-time they find ahundnnre of rac- 

 coons, opossums and foxes, in the coniflelds and 

 about iheir plantations, but at other limes, they 

 must go into the woods for them. The method is 

 to go out with three or four doc^s and as soon as 



they come to the place, they bid the dogs seek 

 out, and all the company lollow immediately. 

 Wherever a dog barks, you may depend upon 

 finding the game, and tins alarm, draws bolh men 

 and dogs that way. !f this sport be in liic woods, 

 ihe game by liiat time you come near il, is per- 

 haps mounted to the top of an high tree, and then 

 they detach a nimble (ellovv up alter it, who nmst 

 have a sculHe with the beast, beliare he can throw 

 it down to the dogs ; and then the sport increases 

 to see the vermtne encounter those liiile currs. In 

 liiis sort of hunting they also carry their great 

 dogs out with them. becaus8'Vvolves, bears, pan- 

 thers, wild-cais, and all other beasts of prey arc 

 abroad in the night. For wolves they make traps, 

 and set guns bated in the woods, so that when he 

 ofl'ers to seize the bate he pulls the trigger, and 

 the gun discharges upon him. What Elian and 

 Plmy write of the horses being benumb'd in their 

 legs, if they tread in the track of a wolf, does not 

 hold good here ; lor I myself and many others, 

 have rid full speed after wolves, in the woods, and 

 have seen live ones taken out of a trap, and drag'd 

 at a horse's tail, and yet those that Ibllovv'd on 

 horse-back have not perceived any of their horses 

 to talter in their pace. 



JVild horses. 



There is yet another kind of sport which the 

 young people take great delight in, and that is, the 

 hunting of wild horses ; which they pursue some- 

 times with dogs, and sometimes without. You 

 must know they have many horses foaled in the 

 woods of the uplands, that never were in hand, 

 and are as shy, as any savage creature. These 

 having no mark upon them, belong to him that 

 first takes them. However the captor commonly 

 purchases these horses very dear, by spoiling better 

 in the pursuit ; in which case he has little to make 

 himselfamends, besides the pleasure of the chace. 

 And very often this is all he has for it, lor the wild 

 horses are so swift, that 'tis difficult to catch them, 

 and when they are taken 'tis odds but their grease 

 is melted, or else being old, they are so sullen that 

 they cannot be tam'd. 



MARLING IN SUSSEX. PHILIPS MARL RAISING 

 MACHINE. 



To the Editor of tlie Farmers' Register. 



Shellboitoms, Sussex Oct. 15. 1839. 

 Though wholly unaccustomed to write for the 

 public, 1 cannot repress the strong desire I Iiave 

 to address you a lew lines for the purpose, and in 

 the hope at least, that my attempt may be of some 

 service to the great cause vou have long zealous- 

 ly and efficiently promoted. But enough of pre- 

 face. It is known to j'ou, that about two years ago, I 

 discovered on my litrm a large body of fine strong 

 marl, yielding by analysis of three or (bur pits, 35 

 per cent at top, 55 at 5 feet, and 68 to 72 at 10 feet 

 in the bed, two or three of the pits opened by me 

 having been worked to that depth without any 

 apparent diminution of quality; and one only being 

 so mixed with large lumps of sand at 8 or 9 feet 

 deep, that we abandoned ii. My first efl^orts were 

 with manual labor, to throw it on the surface; but 



