1837] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



655 



reduce lliis excessively calcareous soil to what _you 

 call a rich " neutral soil V' Your analyses iiivor this 

 opinion. Among tJie best soils for cotton, described 

 in those numbers, tew of them have any carbonate 

 ol'lime ; and none orthem a large portion. I have 

 no doubt, however, that iu those having no carioyi- 

 atc of lime, there is lime in some otiier form, but 

 perhaps, to use your idea, "neutralized." Nos. 4, 

 5, 6, 8, 29, and 31, have no carbonate ol" lime, 

 and 1 have no doubt, with the exception of No. 

 22, are the best cotton lands described. No. 3, 

 is doubtless good, but has too much carbonate ol 

 lime. The same may be said of No. 17. No. 19, 

 good, but has lime in excess ; the same remark of 

 No. 24. No. 27, though s/ite or wooded prairie, 

 approaches, I should sujjpose, to the character ol' 

 Avarwhoo land, belore described, and would not 

 always be proof against rust. No. 28, I imagine, 

 is of the same character. 



I may here remark, that land which is light and 

 loose, comparatively, though not enough so to 

 rust cotton, produces very large stalks, but never 

 bolls as well, as closer and stiffer soils. Hence 

 post oak lands, which are always slifT, from a re- 

 dundancy of clay, is proverbial for not very large, 

 but very heavy Jaolled cotton ; and besides its ex- 

 emption from rust, is less liable to other casual- 

 ties, and is considered more "certain lor a crop." 

 This fact explains mv qualification of praise as to 

 No. 3, No. 17, No. 19, and No. 24, though prob- 

 ably none of these lands have enough lime in 

 them to make tliem sufficiently loose and porous 

 to rust cotton. 1 am convinced, however, that by 

 having more lime than they ought to have, they 

 are not so close and adhesive as to produce as well 

 as Nos. 4, 5, 6, 8, 29, and 31. 



I am so well acquainted with the soils described, 

 that, from the description given, I can form a very 

 good idea of w^hat they are. In fact, I am ac- 

 quainted with some of the lands from which the 

 specimens have been taken. 



Upon the effect of manure in preventing rust, 

 experiments have as yet been so partial, that opin- 

 ion is very much divided. In the first two years 

 of cultivating open prairie, belore the grass roots 

 and other vegetable matter are rotted and destroy- 

 ed, rust scarcely shows itself. The same land, 

 when it becomes older, and before its fertility is 

 impaired, judging by the corn crops, will rust bad- 

 ly. Many have thought from this, that by sow- 

 ing small grain, and leaving long stubble, the rust 

 would be prevented ; but so far as I know, this 

 has, strange as it may appear, increased the dis- 

 ease. Others have manured lightly with cotton 

 seed, and some have bedded their corn and cotton 

 stalks in the ridge upon which they planted cotton. 

 The success that has followed- these two courses, 

 is differently estimated by different individuals ; 

 and many think, thoughl differ withthem, that the 

 labor is thrown away. The effect is, however, 

 not decisive. I have understood that stable ma- 

 nure has, with one gentleman, completely cored 

 the worst forms of the disease. 



From these facts I should infer that if manure 

 is to do any good, it must be in quantities large 

 enough to lessen or neutralize the lime, and I 

 think the best form in which it can be applied, 

 will be in clover, sown and then turned under. 

 The experiments with clover have been iew ; but 

 in one instance, I have been informed, it was 

 sown on prairie land in Lowndes county, that it 



grew very large, and that it continued a good crop 

 through three seasons. Our climate has been 

 considered too warm lor this plant; but this ex- 

 periment shows that soil has much more inHuence 

 than climate, and, I think, promises a cure tor the 

 rust. At any rate, the experiment is worth re- 

 peating.* 



I fear I have tried your patience, by this long 

 and undigested scraAvl, in support of a theory as 

 as to the cause and prevention of rust in cotton. 

 The man, however, who succeeds in finding a re- 

 medy for this disease, will confer on the prairie 

 region of the south-west, a public benefit, equal- 

 ed only by that conlerred on the people of east- 

 ern Virginia, by your Essay and experiments on 

 the use of calcareous manures. I have written 

 much more than I intended when I sat down, and 

 must ask your indulgence for the hasty and very 

 imperfect maimer in which I have presented those 

 crude reflections, which have sprung up in my 

 mind, since reading the "Essay on the formation 

 of Prairies," which you were so kind as to send 

 me. You are at liberty to publish any portion, ifyou 

 think any of my facts or opinions are worthy of 

 notice. If not, I shall feel no mortification, that 

 reflections which have travelled only with my 

 pen, should be withheld. In any event, I shall, 

 when I reach home, bestow some attention on the 

 subject, and give you the result of better digested 

 opinions. 



If you can send me one other of your Essays 

 on Calcareous JNJanures, and as many of the sheets 

 containmg the theory of the formation of prairies 

 as you can spare, I will be greatly obliged to you, 

 and will remit you their price, by being inlbrmeil 

 of the same. I wish to put them in the hands of 

 a few intelligent friends in Alabama, and in so 

 doing, I hope to confer a benefit on the agriculture 

 of that fine state. I may perhaps send you some 

 further specimens of Lowndes county soil, for 

 analysis, as there are some varieties, wliich if 

 analyzed would throw additional light on the sub- 

 ject of this letter. 



MEANS OF GUARDING AGAINST THE RAVA- 

 GES OP BLACK WEEVIL. 



To tlie Editor of tlie Farmeis' Register. 



J'erson Co. ]V. C. Feb. 1st, 1837. 



Mr. Editor: — Having perused your Register 

 li'om the commencement of your fourth volume 



* Tfiis report of the success of clover on calcareous 

 lands in Alabama, is highly gratifying, and accords 

 well with the views we have elsewhere expressed. 

 But a few years ago, it was a universal belief that even 

 the climate of lower Virginia was quite too hot for 

 clover culture to succeed. Now, it is established that 

 marl or lime will make our worst soils fit for clover, 

 and generally, also for the further improvement of g^yp- 

 sum ; and that where the soil is thus fitted for clover, 

 the climate ceases to be found unfriendly. We doubt 

 not that the cultivators of the prairie lands of the south 

 and west, may gain (or save) the value of many mil- 

 lions of dollars, by the yet untried use of clover, and 

 by otherwise treating properly their calcareous soils, 

 as required by their peculiar properties. — Ed. 



