582 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 10 



situations, which, upon trial, may prove equal to 

 our most paiiguine wishes. Witness, the Gama- 

 grass, which is a native in almost every part ol 

 the Plate, and which gives a more flattering pro- 

 mise than any other that has ever been tried ; yet 

 this grass had never commanded the slightest at- 

 tention unlil very recently. There may he other 

 kinds, still superior to this, which we are treading 

 under foot every day without notice; and which, 

 if brought in cultiva'ion, miaht cause our land to 

 teem Vv'iih animal life, and difiisse an aggregate of 

 prosperity, wealth and human enjoyment, of 

 which, at present, we hardly have a conception. 

 But if there are nonesuch here, let us not despair: 

 let every o.ne exert hin>self to introduce seeds 

 from elsewhere. The innumerable species oi 

 grass and forag;e plants growing upon our luxuri- 

 ant prairies of the south and west, are all,^ as yet, 

 untried. And South America, lor aught we know, 

 may be producing grasses, that, if introduced 

 here, might clothe our fields spontaneously with 

 an inexhausfihle aljundance of the richest pas- 

 turage and forage. But to accomplish this desira- 

 ble object, requires the united exertions (»f every 

 citizen. There must be a widely diirused anxiety 

 /or et1(3cting the object, and a pcrvadinrr spirit of 

 emulation every where, belbre we ought to look 

 ibr success in the pursuit. A single individual, it 

 is true, might pcrcliance hit at once upon the very 

 grass best adapted to our climate and soil, but it 

 would be more an accident than any thing else ; 

 but if thousands were engaged in similar experi- 

 ments at the same time, they could hardly long 

 fail of success. In hopes therefore, of giving 

 fsome stinuilus to the laudable underiakinfj, I have 

 been induced to offer you this brief communica- 

 tion ; and although I have not n)uch else than an 

 account of failures to present to you. j'et I con- 

 ceive even these are~ not without their utility. 

 They may serve to prevent others from repeat inn 

 the same experiments, and thereby save them 

 from disappointments and loss of time, whilst they 

 may at once direct their attention, and make their 

 attem|)ts, in some other untried direction. Let no 

 one be deterred ii'om the undertaking, from a fear 

 of the expense, or a loss of labor that it may re- 

 quire. One peck of seed is sufTiciently ample for 

 the experiment, and the labor bestowed in sowing 

 a peck of seed is, comparatively, nothing. Ex- 

 periments upon the small scale are every way to 

 be recommended : the37 cost but little, and are quite 

 sufRinent fijr showinir the result of the inquiry in 

 hand. A careful observer may perceive, almost 

 at a glance, after his plant gets into growth, 

 whether it is congenially located, or not. If its 

 adaptations are complete, it will at once throw 

 out unequivocal evidence oj' the fl^ct. It will, for 

 the most part, exhibit vigorous habits, and \v\l\ 

 not di'oop or fade for sliixht and trifling causes. 

 On the contrary, a plant unconiTenially located, 

 will early exiiibit a delicate appearance, and will 

 languish and droop fi'om causes slightly adverse to 

 it : and a peck of seed, with due attention, is quite 

 as sufficient for ascerlainintr the adaptation of the 

 plant to its soil, as many bushels would be. 



I have made two trials to cultivate the red clo- 

 ver. One of them was made in 181G, on rich river 

 land in Richland district. It was sowed in Feb- 

 ruary, without oats, and, at the same time, was 

 applied one bushel of cyppnnn to the acre. It 

 came up well, and flourished until the oats were 



cut off; but there came a drought in July and 

 August, in which it nearly all perished. I again 

 tried it in 1832, with orchard grass, on fresh and 

 soiTiewhat clayey and fertile highland, in Fairfield 

 district; and, although I applied manure some- 

 what liberally, and a bushel of gyjsum to the 

 acre, it did not flourish so as to make it an object 

 to cultivate it, either for forage or as a green ma- 

 nure. Clover, 1 think, requires carbonate of lime, 

 as well as gypsum, in the soil. In February 1SS2, 

 I sowed down lour acres of orchard grass seed 

 (^Daciylis Glnmeraia) on high fresh land. This 

 soil was somewhat clayey, and natural!}^ fertile, 

 with a good deal of small hornblende and feldspar 

 stones in it. I had left the lofty oaks standing 

 upon it, about one hundred or a hundred and fifty 

 feet apart ; two bushels of my fine clean seed 

 were put upon an acre with some red clover seed 

 and oafs — it came up very finely, apd flourished 

 until June, when we had a drought with great 

 heat ; the grass began to turn yellow in patches 

 on the poor spots, when gypsum was applied at 

 the rate of one bushel to the acre, this caused an 

 immediate change in the prass — it became iireen 

 and went on growing finely : in August it made 

 an effort to seed, but they became blasted and 

 fitded. During seeding time, the grass fiided and 

 declinerl, but_ii1 September it began to spring 

 again, and grew unlil January, when it stopped 

 growing, but continued green underneath all win- 

 ter. Early in March, 1833, it began to srow 

 again, and flourished in an encouraging manner; 

 in the \vinter, it received a pretty liberal supply of 

 cotton-seed manure, and in June, it got a bushel 

 of gypsum to the acre : it would b.ave afibrdcd 

 rich pasturage during this spring, but being anx- 

 ious to make seed, it was reserved lor that pur- 

 pose. In July and August, it mtule auain another 

 effort to seed, but the heads all blasted, the grass 

 again partially died down; but in September it 

 sprung up and held on the same course as of the 

 year before. 



Early in March 1834, it was ready for pastur- 

 ing and fifteen mules were pastured on it every 

 night, and every Sunday, until the latter part of 

 July; it bore tlie pasturing admirably well, and 

 was of the most substantial benefit to the mules, 

 who would recruit on it in a short time. The 

 mules, were again pastured on it in the autumn. 

 Early in March, 1835, it was again ready Ibr the 

 mules; it had received another coat of cotton-seed 

 manure in the winter, and grew vigorously ; it 

 was of equal service to animals Ibis year, as it 

 was during the last; but in August and Sejitx^m- 

 ber, it manifested a disposition to die out and 'o 

 become thin on the ground. In the spring of 

 1836 (this year,) it bad so died out as to furnish 

 no valuable pasturage, so that I consider it has 

 run its course, and is a fiulure. For it must be 

 kept m mind, that a grass which requires cultiva- 

 tion with a plough or hoe, or a grass that requires 

 very frequent sowing, which will not make seed, 

 and where seed is costly, as this seed is, cannot be 

 cvdlivated (o profit with ms. It is worth remark- 

 ing, that this grass", in very rich spots, grew most 

 luxuriantlj-, to the length of eight and ten feet; 

 and that it grew every wliit as well under the 

 shade of the oaks, up to close around the foot of 

 the trunks, as any where else. 



In February, 1834, I sowed, broad-cast, a lot of 

 high land, inclined to be sand}', with the tall mea- 



