iSo. 12. 



Thatching. 



183 



In substances of the ordinary temperature, 

 either of the plant or depredator, and which 

 do not injure vegetables, but destroy these 

 pests, we have lime in a caustic state (un- 

 slacked lime,) ley of wood ashes, (potash,) 

 tobacco in the leaf or powder, (snuff,) or com- 

 bined with water or other substance, and a 

 variety of other articles of a similar char- 

 acter. 



For the above, and many other reasons, I 

 draw the following conclusions. 



let. Land for Indian corn should be ploughed 

 in the autumn or winter preceding the plant- 

 ing. 



2nd. A crop of Indian corn, barley, oats, 

 wheat, or other plants with a fibrous root 

 should not be cultivated two seasons in suc- 

 cession upon the same land without an inter- 

 vening crop of a different character. I shall 

 probably in another communication make 

 some farther remarks upon this subject. 



Chester County, Pa. 3inh Dec, 1837. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Thatcbing. 



In what part of Pennsylvania, or elsewhere 

 in the United States, is thatching most prac- 

 tised and best understood ? What material is 

 most in use and most valuable for that pur- 

 pose! For how many years does ordinary 

 thatching continue to cast rain? I would ask 

 for a comparison between that covering and 

 8hingle.s, various kinds, sny the cheapest, at 

 first cost, in point of durability and economy, 

 but am aware that that depends on the com- 

 parative absence or abundance of the two 

 material.'', but would be glad to see such an 

 estimate as the case would admit of. 



Are not cottages in Europe, in which wood 

 fires are used, frequently thatched! The idea 

 with us is that it would be dangerous to at- 

 tempt to associate a wood fire and a thatched 

 roof — but I have heard that the. town of New 

 Harmony is a thatched town ! Again, can 

 the process of thatching be so described as 

 to be understood by a printed description — or 

 by a diagram"! What is the charge per 

 square yard or otherwise, for thatching, the 

 material being on the spot"? The answer to 

 this will enable one to contrast the e.xpense 

 of nailing on shingles with that of thatching, 

 the materials being on the spot. 



What is the nature of the frame-work ne- 

 cessary for thatching 1 , 



Frame-Work. — Could a man be had in 

 Pennsylvania to come into Maryland to thatch 

 Bome tobacco and out hou.^^es, and what would 

 he charge per square yard for instance? 



Tobacco — as connected with the preceding 

 inquiries. — Some years since the planters of 

 Maryland generally fired their tobacco to 



make it bright, and to cure more in a given 

 space. The practice has been nearly aban- 

 doned, for three reasons: Fired tobacco has 

 ceased to command an advanced price — the 

 smoky flavor injured the sale — next scarcity 

 of wood to fire with — and thirdly, the danger 

 of loss of houses and tobacco by firing. Still 

 brightness of color is a desideratum. To 

 consult profit and economy, says an esteemed 

 correspondent, "Houses should be built to 

 cure quick and without injury, and for this 

 reason they should be built long and narrow 

 and high. If you build 24 feet wide, the old 

 way, with sheds all round ten feet wide, you 

 have such a volume of green tobacco, or such 

 a thick mass for the air to penetrate, that ten 

 to one but ea':;h year you lose from $oO to 

 $100 by " house-burned tobacco," unle-^syou 

 have an uncommonly dry fall, as this has 

 been. I have lost in the last ten years more 

 tobacco, by having it "house-burnt,''^ than 

 would build double my number of tobacco 

 houses. My plan is to house, or hang all 

 round the edges of the sheds, and when cured, 

 stow away in the roofs. Were I to build 

 now, I would build not more than 18, or at 

 most 20, feet wide, and 18 or 20 feet high. 

 I need not tell you, that there is evapornted 

 14 pounds of water from every 15 pounds of 

 green tobacco. Therefore, a common tobac- 

 co house 40 by 24 cures 3,000 pounds of 

 stripped tobacco, and, say, '3,000 pounds of 

 stalks; making 6,000 pounds when cur^d ; 

 which must make something not far from 

 eighty thousand pounds of water to be car- 

 ried off by evaporation from a common sized 

 ' barn. It is self-evident that to get such an 

 evaporation off speedily, the house should 

 1 liave every chance to let it escape without 

 j having recourse to any expedient for that 

 ! purpose that will let in rain, water, or exter- 

 ' nal moisture. " House-burnC' tobacco is 

 caused by the humid evaporation of the plant 

 'settling on its leaves. Where it can't e.scape 

 Ta-st enough from the house, the evaporation 

 • settles on its leaves; they become wet, turn 

 I black, rot, and crumble into dust. 

 j The question is whether thatching would 

 not make the roof so tight as not to allow 

 jthis evaporating moisture to escape as rapidly 

 •as it would do from a house covered with 

 shingles 1 



I have understood that Mr. Ticker, on 

 West River, one of the neatest and most ju- 

 dicious and successful cultivators of land 

 in Maryland, cures a part of his tobacco 

 iin hou.ses thatched by himself, probably with 

 {rye straw. Eut there is on the estate of Doc 

 I tor James Tongue a grass of most luxuriant 

 'growth, reachirifj to more than six feet in 

 height, with slender, pliant, and tough stem, 

 which appears to be most admirably adapted 

 to the purpose of tliatching. It grows on 



