No. 4. 



Indigo Culture. — Philadelphia Ag'l Exhibition. 



125 



From the S. W. Farmer. 

 Importance of Indigo Culture. 



Messrs. Editors, — Among 1 the numerous 

 valuable articles in your excellent paper up- 

 on various kinds of husbandry, T have seen 

 no notice of any attention to the culture of 

 indigo. I have been quite lately informed 

 by a mercantile gentleman, that the price of 

 good indigo by the large quantity, is now 

 from $1 25 to $1 50 per pound. Believing 

 that at much lower prices than these, the 

 products of an acre of indigo would be far 

 more profitable than one of cotton, I am in 

 duced to give you the following hints. As 

 I write from memory, and have not for some 

 years seen the work to which I refer, I am 

 compelled to be very general in my state- 

 ments. 



In Edwards' History of the West Indies, 

 there is a pretty full account of the culture 

 and manufacture of indigo, including esti- 

 mates of the labour, expense of fixtures, 

 amount of products and price, by which a 

 tolerably correct estimate can be formed of 

 the profits of the culture; together with 

 these, he gives with some fulness an ac- 

 count of an improved process for extracting 

 the colouring matter from the green plant. 

 The old method of fermenting the weed in 

 water, is attended with many difficulties. 

 The odour exhaled, as the plant contains a 

 large amount of hydrogen, is exceedingly 

 offensive and deleterious to health; but all 

 these are avoided by substituting boiling for 

 fermentation, and more and better indigo is 

 obtained. A principal reason assigned for 

 discontinuing the culture of this plant in 

 South Carolina, was the fatality endured 

 among servants. If, as I fully believe, this 

 evil can be entirely avoided, why may we 

 not add this to the other profitable kinds of 

 husbandry in Mississippi? It is admirably 

 adapted to all our light and dry soils, and 

 flourishes even on the poorest pine ridges. 

 It requires less expense of labour and ma- 

 chinery than cotton, and if any reliance may 

 be placed in the statements of the historian 

 above named, it will be found to be much 

 more profitable. Ever yours, 



A. B. L. 



Who is rich? — He is to be considered 

 rich who is out of debt, and supports his 

 family comfortably and creditably by his oc- 

 cupation. He is actually rich who owes no- 

 thing and is w T orth $20,000; he is very rich, 

 who, free from debt, is worth .$100,000; and 

 he is dangerously rich, who is worth a mil- 

 lion, and is not a prudent man. The pos- 

 session of no money is inconvenient, and 

 too much is burdensome. Contentment is 

 riches. Be satisfied — be contented. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Philadelphia Agricultural Exhibition. 



I have had the good fortune to enjoy the 

 meeting of this long established festival, and 

 am grateful for the opportunity afforded me, 

 of mingling in converse with my brethren 

 of the soil. It has been a season of true 

 enjoyment; one that throws all others of 

 mere amusement into the shade. I attended 

 it from a distance of many miles, purely on 

 the score of attachment to my profession, 

 and spent three days in the examination of 

 every part of the exhibition, closing with 

 that, the most exciting of all, the trial of 

 ploughs and ploughmen. And I did this, 

 with the intention of sketching a bird's-eye 

 view of the panorama, for publication in the 

 Cabinet, a work which I have read with 

 pleasure and profit from its commencement ; 

 subject of course to your approval. You 

 will find me speaking my sentiments plain- 

 ly, but with no wish to interfere with the 

 established rules of the Society, claiming, 

 however, the right of private judgment and 

 the privilege of declaring it fearlessly. 



The arrangements were admirable, and 

 reflected credit on the committee. The ac- 

 commodations for stock were very exten- 

 sive, and it is to be lamented that a single 

 stall should have been unoccupied. The 

 attendance was not equal to expectation, 

 and I regretted the absence — from what 

 cause they ought to declare — of several of 

 our most spirited improvers, with their fine 

 stock, whose presence could ill be spared. 

 The display of agricultural implements was 

 very large and highly interesting; and it 

 must be told, they seemed to draw much of 

 the company from the examination of the 

 live stock, many of which had often before 

 been on the ground, and had enjoyed a 

 lavish expenditure of premiums from the 

 small fund which it is in the power of the 

 Society to bestow; while it is but fair to ad- 

 mit that the premium for the best bull, has 

 at length changed hands — a perfectly fair 

 award ; for in my judgment, there never 

 was a question as to the merits of the two 

 animals; Colostra's defective rump, and 

 indeed his hind quarters generally, con- 

 trasting so forcibly with those of the Prince 

 of Wales, as, one would think, might be 

 palpable to every practised eye. But this 

 decision shows, most conclusively, the un- 

 certain and unsatisfactory nature of these 

 awards, and will forever deter me from 

 placing the character of my animals for 

 public judgment, in the hands of any man 

 or set of men, whatever. I should have no 

 objection to exhibit my stock, but to com- 

 mit them to the mercy of men, whom I may 

 possibly know to be deficient in judgment and 



