290 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



active friend to make the collection for you — in 

 the spirit which you have manilested, I will en- 

 eure your success. It is only io begin and the 

 thing is accomplished. Mr. Curiis v?ill, as he 

 has prontiised, give any informaion, as to the 

 mode of proceeding, which may be desired ; 

 and when the specimens are ready, send the pack- 

 age to him, and he wid affix the scientific name 

 to each species, so as to render it uuiheniic. 

 They will ihen serve as standards, lor comparison, 

 whenever unknown or doubtlul plants may be ex- 

 hibited ; or ih case the character of any specimen 

 may be disputed. 



I fear you will think I have taken a strange 

 unwurrantabie liberty, in thus addressing you: 

 But I beg you to understand, thai I iiave done 

 60 because I (elt a conviction I v/as communing 

 wiih a kindred spirit, on a favorite topic ; and on 

 this ground I hope my apology will be accepted. 

 I am very respectfully, dear sir, your obedient 

 eervani, Wm. Daklikgtox. 



P. S. My Flora of Chester county, contains 

 descriptions of all our cultivated useful plants, 

 with brief notices of ifte properties and uses of the 

 others, aa Ihr as known, and their popular najnes 

 &c. The work may possih!y interest you some- 

 what, though mainly iecAmcaZ in character. I will 

 have a ropy left for you at mv bookseller's, Kimber 

 and Sharpless, No. 50 North 4th street^ hiladcl- 

 phia. Will you do me ihe (iivor to ac^pt it, and 

 get some friend lo call (or it, who may be coming 

 to Philadelphia 1 It will be there, awaiting your 

 order; and 1 hope you will send lor ii the first 

 opportunity. W. D. 



[So far from deeming the addressing to us the 

 foregoing letter "a strange and unwarrantable 

 liberty," we were much gratified at receiving it, 

 both in regard to its particular object, and also 

 as placing its writer among the direct contributors 

 to the Farmers' Register. We had in the ear- 

 liest number of the work, as several times since, 

 selected his valuable agricultural articles from 

 other publications ; and we trust this commence- 

 ment of direct contribution from his pen will be 

 followed jmas many others aa his inclination 

 may sugg^, and his leisure permit. The offered 

 present of the ' Flora Cestrica' will be thank- 

 fully accepted, and its use and lights permitted 

 to aid some friend and correspondent, who pos- 

 sesses something of the knowledge of botany, 

 of which it is our misfortune (and great defect as 

 an agricultural editor) to be altogether desti- 

 tute.— Ed. F. K. 



CRtrSHEO CORN MEAL— FEEDING HORSES — 

 PRESERVING BACON. 



For the Farmers' Royister. 



Since my former article, in relation to crushed 



rorn meal, was communicated to the Retjift'ter 



I have been iiillKmed, by the highly intellicrent 



iron- master, therein alluded to, that he kept'^hie 



mule teams, of six each, fat last summer, though 

 hard at work evtry day, on a daily allowance ol' 

 one bushel of crushed corn meal, and the same 

 quantiiy of bran, mixed thoroughly together and 

 led wiih cut straw — with a moderate quantity of 

 clover hay in the rack. With corn at 37^ cenis, 

 and t>ran at 10 cents a bushel, this mode of leed- 

 in« would reduce tlie cost of a six-mule team 

 to less than thirty cents a day, or five cents a mule, 

 exclusive of hay and the straw mixed with the 

 meal. A single calculation will show every faim- 

 er how much he could gain every year, by 

 adopting this economical mode of leeding hia 

 workhorses; doubiless enough in a hie-time to 

 buy a respectable farn) ibr his sons. 



J was also informed by this gentleman, who 

 is one of the best larmers and manageis I ever 

 knew, that he laitened twenty bullocks last fall 

 en crushed corn meal, at much less cost than he 

 could have (atiened them in any other way. 

 He is decidedly ol' opinion that he saves more 

 money by crushing and grinding his corn, than 

 by any oiher economical process practised on his 

 extensive estates ; and I know no one in whose 

 sound practical judgment 1 have' greater con- 

 fidence. 



As my sheet is not full, I would add a word on 

 another subject. A respectable neighbor inliirms 

 me that he has preserved his bacon lor twenty 

 years, without the loss of a single piece, by 

 white-washing each joint, on the fleshy side and 

 at the end of the hock early in the spring, before 

 the fly deposites its eggs. He gives ihe pieces a 

 thick coal of ordinary white-wash, with the com- 

 mon brush, then hangs them up in his smoke- 

 house, where they remain until taken down for 

 use. The white-wash does not impair the flavor 

 of the meat, or injure it in any way, in the 

 slightest degree. Ploughboy.- 



Rockbridge, Va., March 17, 1841. 



WEEDS OF AGRICULTURE. 



From Ln\v's Elements of Practical Agriculture. 



The weeds of agriculture are those which grow 

 amongst the cultivated plants, and which it is the 

 province of the farmer to destro}'. The prevail- 

 ing plants of ihis class vary in every countrj', and 

 in different parts of the same country. 



Weeds may be divided into two genera! class- 

 es ; those which propagate themselves solely 

 by their seeds, and which, having once flowered, 

 perish ; and those which have perennial roots, 

 and flower and bear seeds for successive years. 

 The first are annual or biennial plants, accord- 

 ing as they require one or two years |^ complete 

 the period of their vegetation. The second are 

 perennial plants, and grow again from the roots 

 as well as propagate themselves from their 

 seeds. 



In thecaise of annual or biennial weeds, if the 

 stem is destroyed at the time of flowering, or just 

 before it, the individual is destroyed, and its 

 further means to propagate, the species are taken 

 away ; but in the case of perennial weeds, the 

 destruction of the stem doe* not infer the destruc- 

 tion of the plant, because the plant has the power 

 of propagation from the roots. From this distinc- 

 tion, it would seem more easy to destroy annual 



