THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



241 



At 12 o'clock the adJress will be delivered by 

 the presideiii, imniediaiely alter which the pre- 

 miums will be disiribuied lo the succcsslul com- 

 petitors, and then the liiir will coiiuueuce. 



li is urgently recoiiimeuded that every member 

 A' the society will, ivithout Jail, be present, and 

 at as early an hour as may be, and that he ap- 

 pear with a badge or green ribbon on the lel'i lap- 

 |)el of the coal. 



The society will dine together at the place of 

 exhibition. Alter the lair premiums will be g:veii, 

 in money or its equivalent in plate, at the dis- 

 cretion of successlul competitois. 



Persons who intend lu compele lor the pre- 

 mium offered lor the best culiivaled garden, are 

 recjuesled to send ilieir names lo some member ol 

 this commitlee.as speedily as posssible. 



Slock arriving belore the day of exhib.tion, 

 will be provided lor in ihe tjesi manner by Cap- 

 tain Goddin, whose accunmiodalions on the sjjoi 

 are most ample. 



The liirmers of the stale generally, who may 

 favor the society with their presence at this, its 

 first exhibition and lair, will be most cordially 

 welcomed." 



Jesse H. Turner, 

 'J'h. S. Dick en, 

 Rich. G. Uaijen, 

 Wm. H. Kichardson, 

 Joseph Renme, 

 Wm. D. Wren, 



Executive Commiitee. 



THE EVERGLADES — HONOR TO WHOM HONOR. 



-' From the Fredericksburg Arena. 



The Everglades of Florida form one ol the mosi 

 striking features of the scenery ol the United 

 Stales. The word has been familiar to ihe earsni 

 the people, for three or lour years past, yel we 

 doubt whether one in ten has formed a definite 

 idea of what is meant by the term. 



The Everglades lie south of the 27ih degree 

 of latitude, and occupy the greater poriion of the 

 southern part of the Peninsula of East Florida. 

 They are se|)arated from the Atlantic, on ihe east, 

 and from the Gulf of Mexico, on ihe west, by 

 slips of land varying fiom 5 to 20 miles in breadth. 

 There are a number of outlets to the Atlaniic, 

 whilst, on the western side, there is but one com- 

 munication with the Gulf, called, recently, Harney 

 river. Let the reader imagine a prairie, from 

 twenty to thirty miles in breadth, and Irom eighty 

 loone hundred in length, covered with water li"om 

 two to four leet deep, with a rank grass springing 

 up three or lour li^et above the surliice of the 

 water, and the whole interspersed with islets, 

 varying in size from two to three acres to several 

 hundred, and these islets ijenerally covered with 

 a thick wood. There are sometimes winding 

 threads of water in which no vegetation appears, 

 but to penetrate this inundated prairie in boats, it 

 is necessary to force them through grass. 



The Indians took refuge in these islands. They 

 believed they were inaccessible to the white 

 man. But their fastnesses have been invaded 

 and their sense of fancied security dispelled. Col. 

 Harney, of the 2d Dragoons, has on two occa- 

 fiions traversed thia remarkable country, — on the 

 Vol. IX.— 16 



first, entering from the Atlantic side and crossing 

 to the Gulf of Mexico. He richly deserves all 

 the praise for gallantry and enterprise which has 

 been extended lo him, but it is a mistake to claim 

 lor him, as has been done generally, the honor 

 of being the first ofKcer who invaded the Ever- 

 glades. We would be the last to rob htm of the 

 least sprig of his hard-earned laurels, and he is 

 too gallant and generous a soldier to stand in need 

 olj or to wish lor, credit justly due lo another. 



The honor of having tirst surprised the Indiana 

 in their lastnesses belongs lo Col. Bankhead of 

 the Artillery. In March, 18.38, he led an expe- 

 diiion Irom Fort Lauderdale, consi^tmg'of soldiers 

 and a detachment of sailors under the' command 

 of Li. Powell, ol the Navy — the wliole amount- 

 ing to nearly three hundred men. They had a 

 number of boats, which carried iheir arms and 

 ammunition, and which were pushed throuo-h the 

 grass by the men, who waded in mud and water 

 up to their waists. Col. Bankhead surprised a 

 party, but before the island could be surrounded 

 the Indians wiilidiew under cover of the niffht 

 leaving, however, their boats, provisions, utensils, 

 &c. The labor which this parly underwent and 

 exposures to which they were sut'jecied, may be 

 in some degree, conceived Irom the amphibious 

 character ol the scene of operations. 



ON SAW-DUST AS AN ASSISTANT TO MANURE. 



By Mr. fVilliam Sim, Drummond, Inverness- 

 shire. 



Krom tlie Edinburgli Quarterly Journal of Agriculture. 

 Previous to the year 18.39, I used to allow a 

 great deal of saw-dust, from a mill that I occupied, 

 to go down the stream as worthless, but, in the 

 spring of that year, I look it into my head lo try 

 if it could not be made useful to manure. With 

 this view, I collected a large quantity and had it 

 burnt, but was quite disappointed at the result, 

 the quantity of ashes being very small, and by no 

 means adequate to the expense of consuming the 

 article. I then determined to try whether it could 

 not be turned to better account by decomposing 

 it through lermcntation ; and having made use 

 of It to litter swine in a fold, I had a good deal 

 that had been so employed carted out to a turnip- 

 field in the month of April, and mixed up on a 

 dunghill with an equal (pjamiiy of common farm- 

 yard dun<?. In this way it has fully answered 

 expectation. Fermenta'ion went on as well as 

 I could desire. The heat was very great, but, 

 having applied water, there was no mouldiness, 

 and the mass assumed a fat greasy appearance. 

 Jt was put into the drills in bulk equal to ordinary 

 dung, and the turnips are about the best I have ; 

 indeed, pu[)erior to any on the liirm, except when 

 an expefisive application of dung, bones, and 

 nitrate of soda was made. 



I have been so well pleased with the efTect of 

 the saw-dust in the fore- mentioned trial, that I 

 am now very careful not to lose any of it, and, 

 during the past summer, have had folds for cattle 

 as well as pigs littered with it, being convinced 

 that it will be profitable whenever thoroughly de- 

 composed. 



An immense quantity of this article has hithert» 



