FARMERS' REGISTER— PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. 



217 



with it, except at my own table, where, through- 

 out the cool Avealher, it is a standing dish, and is 

 most cordially embraced by all who breakfast with 

 me, notwithstanding it is raised by so few. The im- 

 pression of many is, that our climate does not suit it. 

 This may be, to a certain extent — we may not raise 

 so heavy crops as in some other situations, but it 

 bears a good comparison with most otiier crops 

 raised by us. For ten years I have raised it, ob- 

 taining the seed from my friend and neighlior, JMr. 



J R , who, for many years before, had 



raised it, and still continues to do so. The product 

 depends much upon the season, a cool damp one 



suiting best. One year Mr. R obtained from 



three bushels, 96; but this isiuicommon. I think 

 I may say that I average, upoii common land, 8 or 

 10 bushels to tlie acre. I have made 20. I shall now, 

 in a day or so, commit mine to the earth. I have 

 hitherto sown upon wheat stubble: sometimes I 

 have scattered the seed on the stubble, and ploughed 

 in, giving either a slight harrowing or running over 

 the surface with hoes, taking down the inequalities. 

 This year I purpose fallowing up a clover lot, on 

 which I shall sow the seed and neatly harrow them 

 in. Buckwheat should be sown just time enough 

 to mature before frost. Being a tender plant, it 

 should, if possible, be cut before frost ; but it ripens 

 gradually, and is in bloom even at the time we are 

 compelled to cut it: hence we may infer, that in a 

 climate rather cooler, without early frost, the pro- 

 duct would be immense. It should be cut when 

 damp from dew, suffered to lie on the ground a day 

 or so, then raked in small parcels in the morning, 

 when damp. When sufTiciently dry, in the heat 

 of the day it should be carefully placed in carts, 

 hauled to the barn, and if convenient, (but not ne- 

 cessarily,) threshed immediately. From half a 

 bushel to three pecks of seed to the acre, is the 

 usual quantity. I doubt not, that when taken from 

 the earth, it is an exhausting crop; but if re- 

 turned by a fallow, (which I have in one instance 

 done,) I am convinced it aids the land verj^ much. 

 It is particularh^ adapted for land which has been 

 over marled : such was the result in my experi- 

 ment, it being upon land which had been so com- 

 pletely destroyed by over marling, that no other 

 crop would grow; and when turned in, the land 

 next year produced better corn than could have 

 been expected. This year % intend sowing the 

 seed in my corn field, preceding the last harrowing 

 of the corn, on such land as is not intended for 

 wheat, as the buckwheat would come up, to the 

 annoj'ance of the wheat crop, if on land intended 

 for that grain. I am induced to think it will grow 

 tolerably with the corn, and benefit the land, which 

 in the spring may be put in oats. 



The buckwheat flour is apt to have grit. To 



avoid this, Mr. R suggested the idea of rolling 



it in a cask, through which a handle Avas placed. 

 This idea struck me as good, and forthwith I pro- 

 ceeded to the experiment, and it succeeded, with 

 some little improvement. I now divest it entirely 

 of all grit. At first I htped to get clear of the 

 grit by placing it, immediately after cutting, on a 

 plank floor. This did not answer, as, from farther 

 observation, I discovered the grit adhered to the 

 capsule of the grain, which from winds was thrown 

 there, and retained by the mucilaginous exudation 

 on it — this being rubbed off by friction, and then 

 passed through the fan, entirely divested it of any 

 foreign substance. It is ground like other wheat. 



Vol. I.— 28 



Some experiments made by me this spring, in 

 sowing gypsum on clover, have resulted in the full 

 conviction, that marled land, which will produce 

 clover of the weakest and most feeble growth, may- 

 be made to produce, by the addition of gypsum, 

 clover fit for the scythe. If this be the case, to 

 what state may we not advance our lands ? And 

 that it is the case, I have ocular demonstration. 

 There is now under my eye a lot sown this spring 

 in clover, a line of which through the centre was 

 plastered — it is as evident as the back bone of a 

 rozanante, compared with his lank sides. The 

 same benefit did not result upon clover sown the 

 spring before, and plastered the time that sown Ihis 

 spring was. How to account for the difference, I 

 know not. However, there was an evident advan- 

 tage from the plaster on the clover a year old. 



JSiickingham C. H. July 26, 1833. 

 * * * I have just seen a tomato, 



[taken from Mr. G. H. Matthews' garden at this 

 place,] weighing 22 ounces. He informs me that 

 he can gather to-day 50 that will weigh 50 pounds. 

 The tomato, above spoken of, was perfectly ripe 

 and sound. If you can beat ihis, we give it up. 

 I A\ ill procure you some of the seed, if you de- 

 sire it. 



The wheat harvest is about one half short in this 

 neighborhood : corn crops fine. 



Marengo, jJlalama, July 30, 1833. 

 Your publication may meet with more encour- 

 agement about Tuscaloosa, owing to the soil, and 

 its situation, in that country. The whole of the 

 county of Tuscaloosa, and about half of Green 

 county, adjoining, is a rich, light, soft loam, from 

 three to nine inches deep, mixed with a large pro- 

 portion of fine sand, and the whole has a remark- 

 ably broken ov rolling surface, which causes this 

 fine light soil to wash off most rapidly. You may 

 now see large fields, which have been so recently 

 cleared that the dead trees are still standing, from 

 the one half of which the soil is already gone ; so 

 that unless the owners fall upon some plan to pre- 

 vent its washing, and in some measure stop the 

 constant cultivation, this must become, in a few 

 years, one of the poorest sections of country in the 

 Union. JNIany of the gentlemen owning this land 

 are now aware of those evils, and are trying to 

 adopt measures that may arrest them. Our cane 

 land is quite different, being much more level, and 

 the soil much deeper, and constituted almost en- 

 tirely of different ingredients. # * « 

 We are just now raising, by subscription, funds, 

 to run a rail-road from "Wood ville, a small town, 

 which is nearly at the extremity of the rich cane 

 land, in one direction, to Demopolis, on the War- 

 rior, where all our produce goes on board the steam 

 boats for Mobile. If rail-ways are absolutely ne- 

 cessary for any country, it is this; for during the 

 wet season, wliich is commonly from the first of 

 January to tlie first of April, the roads through this 

 rich soil are of tough tenacious mud, from one to 

 three feet deep. Turnpike roads cannot be used, 

 as gravel could not be obtained to construct them. 



GUINEA GRASS. 



Petersburg, yJugust 20, 1833. 

 * * * From the description given, in 

 the first volume of the American Farmer, of the 



