470 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 8 



sisfs of what we consider the petit gulf kind, 

 with, perhaps, some remaining plants of the kind 

 introduced some years ago under the name oi 

 Mexican. Upon carei'ul examination of my own 

 crop, and those of many other genilemen who 

 plant the petit gulf seed, 1 find the botanical 

 characters to be as Jbllows. 



Upper leaves 5 lobed; lobes acute mucronate: 

 lower 3 lobed, lobes acute mucronate, glands, 

 stem, branches, petioles and peduncles hirsute. 

 Perianth 3 leaved, gash-toothed. 



Now it is manifest, that this description does not 

 apply to either of the species above described by 

 Mr. Groom. It does not apply to the g. hirsutum 

 (Mexican or petit gulf,) because, although it is 

 hirsute, yet the upper leaves are not undivided 

 cordate, but 5 lobed acuminate mucronate, whilst 

 the lower leaves are 3 lobed, and not 3-5 lobed 

 with 1 gland beneath. 



It is equally manifest, that the description of 

 what we plant as petit gulf, does not apply to 

 either of the other three species. Is the kind, 

 then, which we plant as petit gulf cotton, a fifth 

 species? Or is it a hybrid? Be this as it may, we 

 have found it so superior in point of productive- 

 ness, to the green seed, and it has so entirely su- 

 perseded the latter, that I have not been able to 

 find a single plant o. h " the green seed kind growing 

 in the neighborhood, with which to make a com- 

 parison as to its botanical characters. 



That the plant which we cultivate as the Mex- 

 ican, and that, which we cultivate as the petit gulf 

 is one and the same species, is manifest enough. 

 The only difference we can detect is in the bearing 

 and productiveness. Owing, perhaps, to its being 

 a variety, or perhaps to the seed being fresh from 

 the Mississippi, the petit gulf kind is earlier and 

 more productive, at .any rate lor two or three 

 years, than any kind we have ever yet planted. 



Upon the whole, what are we to make of the 

 description of the g. hirsutum, given by Mr. C. as 

 the Mexican or petit gulf, from the Encyclopae- 

 dia of Plants? We plant no cotton of this de- 

 scription, 1 think, in this state. Of course, the 

 question arises, have we been deceived in the seed 

 imported as the petit gulf seed — or have the bot- 

 anists been mistaken in their description of it? A 

 further examination of the subject is worthy of 

 the attention of botanists; and I would hope ere 

 long to see the several species of cotton settled 

 with as much precision as those of any other plant. 

 This, I am sure you will perceive, is not a mere 

 idle curiosity. The practical utility to the planter 

 of bein<i able to determine the species with cer- 

 tainty by a view of the growing plant, will strike 

 you at once, as very important in several respects. 

 And the botanist who may reduce the subject to 

 accuracy and certainty, will not only render a val- 

 uable contribution to the science of botany, but he 

 will confer an important favor upon cotton planters, 

 and deserve well of his country. 



JAS. DAVIS. 



A LARGE YIELD OF COBS'. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



White Plains, Norfolk ) 



County, Oct. 21st, 1835. $ 



I now send you, according to promise in my 

 last, (dated the 6th of July,) the result of the ex- 



periment crop — not that the crop is of an extraor- 

 dinary character, so as to deserve public record; 

 but as the promise had been given, silence would 

 have countenanced the impression, that it had re- 

 sulted in a total failure — which was not the case. 

 The quantity housed and measured was 115 bush- 

 els and five quarts per acre. There was a loss 

 of many bushels by the uninterrupted depredations 

 of my poultry, as it was planted not far from my 

 poultry yard, and a heavy wind in July had pros- 

 trated the whole crop, so as to make it entirely 

 convenient to their ravages — besides, the quantity 

 that was lost by rotting and ruining on the ground, 

 and the blight the corn received in so young a 

 stage, by having the roots broken at the time it 

 most needed them for maturity. Could I have 

 been on the farm during the fall, the crop might 

 have been saved from these domestic pilferers; 

 but my health prevented. I only returned in time 

 to witness its blight. The manure used was stable 

 and ashes. 



A. S. FOREMAN'. 



P 



obt 



P. S. The corn planted was the Twin corn, 

 ained from James M. Garnett, Esq. of Essex. 



Extract from the Worcester Sentinel. 



IMPORTANCE OF LIME TO THE LOWER EAS- 

 TERN SHORE COUNTIES. 



Beds of marl, which are effecting such won- 

 ders in particular and extensive sections of Mary- 

 land and Virginia — it seems, from the opinions of 

 practical geologists, are not to bless, with their 

 treasures, that portion of the peninsula immediately 

 bordering on the sea board; but provident nature 

 has not left it destitute of a cheap, and efficient 

 substitute. The shoals of" shells in our bay acces- 

 sible at low water, and in many places abundant, 

 and the supplies derived li'om living shell fish, 

 brought up tor domestic consumption, will afford 

 the material tor lime, during many successive 

 years. The time is not distant, perhaps, when 

 stone lime will be burnt upon this shore, where 

 wood is cheap and abundant, and labor low, from 

 the lime stone imported by return vessels from the 

 Delaware, as has been lately practised with suc- 

 cess, in the neighborhood of of Smyrna; and will 

 soon go into operation, at the head of Indian Ri- 

 ver, where shells cannot be procured, in sufficient 

 quantities,for agricultural purposes. Unexpected 

 beds of fossil shells may yet be discovered, along 

 the sea coast, by the persevering and scientific ex- 

 ertions of professor Ducatel: the accurate and 

 learned gentleman, employed in a geological sur- 

 vey of Maryland; a measure which reflects so 

 much honor upon the wisdom and public spirit of 

 your legislature; from which the happiest results 

 have already been realized, and more extensive 

 benefits may be justly anticipated. 



The assertion will be sustained, by all the in- 

 telligent citizens of the Eastern Shore of Mary- 

 land and Virginia, at all conversant with agricul- 

 ture, that a soil more susceptible of rapid and easy 

 improvement than ours — more grateful in its re- 

 turns to the hand of judicious labor, and more con- 

 venient and pleasant in its tillage, does not exist 

 upon the face of the globe. A system of culture 

 deplorably erroneous and exhausting, has been 

 pursued for ages, which would have reduced to a 



