THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



55 



was of lighter tex'ure ihan the rest. The crop on 

 tlie whole lot was diminished in 1839, but on the 

 strong clay it recovered last year, and 1 cut a p^ood 

 crop. I sow in March or September, as suits con- 

 venience, and have never Tailed since I sowed 

 seed. None can be depended upon, except the 

 plant be perfectly ripe, and I apprehend the fail- 

 ure of vegetation and the tufting of the plants, are 

 mainly owing to iniperlect seed, or sparse sowing. 

 Two and a iialf bushels to the acre is not too 

 much ; I preler three. Those who sell have strong 

 lemptaiion to gather immature seed; when the 

 jilant is ripe, the hay is of no value, and the after- 

 math much impaired. Orchard grass lor hay, 

 ought to be cut and secured when it gels into full 

 bloom. !f the weather be fine, it may be cut in 

 the morning, and by the method directed in the 

 1st volume of the Farmers' Register, page 162, 

 (which I pursue,) put into cocks in the evening, 

 when it will be safe, and may be drawn in at 

 pleasure. The only loss it will sustain, is by ab- 

 eorpiion at the bottom, if the cock is suffered lo 

 remain out a long tinie. I have never grazed my 

 orchard grass in the spring, but freely after my 

 hay is drawn in till hard frost, removing the hoofs 

 when the ground is saturated by rain ; and I have 

 fiill evidence then of its great value, in rich milk 

 and fine yellow sweet butler. I heard a gentle- 

 man say, in whom I have full reliance, that from 

 the first and second crop weiiihed in the field, after 

 it was cured, he got six tons to the acre. I esteem 

 two tons and a half a good first crop, and do not 

 cut a second if my first be sufficient lor my con- 

 Buinption. 



The inquiry about orchard grass having come 

 from Kentucky, I have made this addition to my 

 communication, as a small return for Mr. Steven- 

 son's valuable and instructive paper, on the blue 

 grass of Kentucky. Wm. Carmichael. 



fVye, Queen jlnii's county, E. S. 

 Md., Jan. 6th, 1S41. 



INQUIRIES AND REMARKS ON SALT, AS A MA- 

 NURE, AND ESPECIALLY FOR COTTON. 



" Have you seen a late English work, ' John- 

 son on Fertilizers,' in which he discusses some 

 recent experiments in that country on salt as a 

 manure? particularly in combination with com- 

 post, farm-yard manure or lime. They are so 

 important that 1 am anxious to see them transcrib- 

 ed into your useful periodical. He is spoken of 

 in the ' Library of Useful Knowledge,' as high au- 

 thority, and if he is to be credited^ salt would be 

 a cheap manure at two dollars a bushel. Besides, 

 he recommends it so highly for destroying weeds, 

 if put on a season in advance of the crop, and for 

 destroying worms and other insects infesting a 

 crop, tliat I am desirous to see it in print, that"ex- 

 periraents may begin extensively through this 

 ■ country. I should not be surprised, from Jiis trials, 

 that a top-dressing of a bushel an acre, sown over 

 cotton in June, should destroy the worm which 

 has so dreadfully consumed our crops in the south. 

 At that season of the crop, the worm is burrowed 

 about six or seven inches deep in holes made in 

 the ground ; and he informs us that worms in that 

 situation are certainly destroyed by sa-lt in small 

 quantities thrown over the earth." 



The foregoing extract is from the letter of a dis- 

 tinguished southern |)lanter, whose name we are 

 always pleased lo present with his communica- 

 tions, whenever not forbidden by his order, as in 

 the present case. 



The essay of Johnson on salt as a manure 

 would have been published long ago, but for our 

 want of confidence in his opinions. Upon the de- 

 sire expressed above, we shall take an early op- 

 portunity to publish either Johnson's own article, 

 or his and other opinions on that subject, as given 

 in the ' Farmers' Series' of the ' Library of Use- 

 ful Knowledge.' The use of salt as manure has 

 been frequently urged, upon the ground of great 

 benefits produced by it in particular cases. It has as 

 often excited the hopes and enlisted the active 

 zeal of some theoretical writers, and again iiillen 

 into neglect, because of failures in practice. As 

 a general prrctice, salting land for its fertilization, 

 at any rate of quantity, has not been found advan- 

 tageous or profitable. But, even if not a general 

 feriilizer, or a fertilizer of soil al all, still it may be 

 highly beneficial as a destroyer of predatory in- 

 sects, (if taking care not to give so strong a dose 

 as to injure the crop on the land — ) and still more 

 probably as a spccijic manure, or food essential 

 for certain crops. This last opinion we have long 

 entertained, and have before expressed it in this 

 journal, as well as have published every known 

 lact on this very important point. JVlany plants 

 cannot grow except on a salt soil. There is no 

 doubt that salt is a specific manure for asparagus, 

 and there is a good reason to believe that it is also 

 a specific manure for the very important crop, 

 cotton. On the latter head, see articles at page 

 677, vol. iv, and pages A5 and 46, vol. v. The 

 two first we copied from the ' Southern Agri- 

 culturist.' The last, our own (editorial remarks) 

 being short, will here be copied : 



" It seems lo us that salt must act as a specific 

 manure for cotton, and is essential lo produce the 

 fineness of fibre that constitutes the value of the sea- 

 island cotton. As different as are the quality and 

 appearance of this cotton from the green-seed, or 

 short-staple upland cotton, they are but varieties 

 of the same kind, the most valued of which, 

 rapidly runs into the other, by mere change of 

 soil. The one kind is raised, in perfectionTonly 

 on the low sandy islands on the sea coast of (Geor- 

 gia and South Carolina, and the adjacent shores 

 of the main land. U the seeds (which are naked 

 and black,) are planted in the interior, though but 

 little remote from the sea, the product is what is 

 called the «' long-staple Santee," a green-seed 

 cotton, but of longer fibre than the ordinary upland 

 cotton, into which, however, continued planting 

 from the same, finally brings the crop. 



It has been supposed that the very sandy nature 

 of the soil of the sea-islands was <he cause of the 

 peculiar value of the cotton they bear. But if so, 

 some spots, at least, might be found equally sandy, 

 in the interior of the country, and the same kind 



