FARMERS' REGISTER— ON PUTTING DOWN TRUNKS. 



237 



ratively, but a small portion, Avhiih is well adapt- 

 ed to the culture of rice. The ri2:ht pitcli of tide 

 does not extend more than three miles, commenc- 

 ing at " Ilnpeton," and terminating; with " Champ- 

 ney's Island, " above the former the crops would 

 be extremely uncertain from the liability to inju- 

 ry from freshets, and below " Champneif s Island," 

 the salt-water would occasionally prove an unwel- 

 come visiter. But even the whole of the space be- 

 tween these two points is not occupied, and there 

 is much fine land yet to be broug;lit under culture. 

 The river here is very v.ide and divided into se- 

 veral large branches. Most of the islands are still 

 in a state of nature, thickly wooded, and appa- 

 rently of great fertility ; but they are all more or 

 less liable to be overflowed by freshets, for although 

 the river has numerous large branches and seve- 

 ral outlets, yet owing to its great length, and the 

 tributary streams which flow into it ; freshets are 

 not uncommon, and are sometimes very destructive. 

 A peculiarity we noticed here, and which is 

 common in this state, is to regulate all the opera- 

 tions of the rice crop by the spring tides. All of 

 their work is done in reference to these, whether 

 it be planting or hoeing, for it is only at these pe- 

 riods that thej' can flow their fields; consequently, 

 if they are not prepared, they must wait for the 

 next. They, therefore, endeavor to have certain 

 portions of their work completed by that time — 

 certain fields planted, certain fields hoed, &c. There 

 is not, (owing to this cause) all the precision which 

 is to be found on the Carolina plantations, nor can 

 science be as effectually brought to aid the planter, 

 for whilst with the Carolina jdanter, each opera- 

 tion is governed by the particular state of the crop, 

 and water is put on or run off as may be required, 

 the crop hoed, and kept dry, or flowed as may be 

 thought most conducive to its health, the Georgia 

 planter is obliged to wait certain periodical flow- 

 ings of the tides, which must operate against him 

 in some degree, although he can regulate his work 

 to meet them in most cases, as these intervals are 

 short. The average product of rice per acre on 

 this river is greater than in Carolina, owing to the 

 causes stated by Col. Green. We heard of seve- 

 ral instances of four barrels being mads to the acre. 



HGMARKS OX PUTTIKG DOWX TRUXKS IX RI- 

 VER BAXKS. 



From the Southern A^r.cultur'st. 



In continuation of my observations on the best 

 mode of reclaiming marsh or rush land, &c. I pro- 

 pose to make a few remarks on river trunks, and 

 shall go somewhat into detail, as it is a suliject of 

 the utmost importance, and one, which I think, is 

 not sufficiently attended to. Of the building of 

 these trunks, I shall say nothing; each of us have 

 a preference as to the mode in which the uprights, 

 ears, and braces should be placed, anrl this prefer- 

 ence I would not disturb : all I contend for as vi- 

 tally important, is, that the door should fit as close 

 as two pieces of wood can be brought together, 

 and that the trunk should have sufficient length, 

 say 30 feet, to keep the water both in its ingress 

 and egress far from the bottom or foundation of the 

 bank. In fixing upon tlie site of the trunk, it is 

 usual to find the lowest spot in the field selected, 

 under the entire conviction, that where the natural 

 outlet of the water is, there must necessarily he 

 the best spot for giving it vent. In theory, this is 

 right, but if our experience is of any value (and 



it has been dearly purchased,) in practice, it is 

 wrong. If you have a creek in the field, (which 

 most commonly happens) it will be the natural 

 outlet, yet it will not be the proper p'ace to put 

 the trunk; no man of observation will commit 

 this mistake more than once. The objections to 

 these low spots as beds of trunks arc numerous ; 

 they are soft, sloughy and uneven ; they want 

 firmness and consistency, are very liable to cave 

 in, wdiile the work of preparation is going on, 

 seldom reiain the trunk in the po?ition you place 

 it, and forever remain weak points in "the bank, 

 more liable to accidents and casualties than other 

 portions of it. A firm, dry spot is to be prefened. 

 even if it is a lilte higher than the rest of the field^ 

 for the spade can remedy this objection, and all 

 the evils noticed above be avoided. 



Having decided upon the spot, a semi-circular 

 bank or half moon, as we term it, is to be made 

 around it either on the inside or outside, (I prefer 

 the latter for many reasons) large enough to resist 

 the tide, and at a sufficient distance from the liank 

 to enable you to work. Some planters do not es- 

 teem this precaution e^enlial, and for this very 

 reason I am more anxious to impress the necessity 

 of using it upon those w ho are commencing their 

 career as river planters. It is not unusual to hear 

 gentlemen talk of cutting the bank and slipping 

 in the trunk in a tide, of the facility with which it 

 is done, and of the uselessnes, and even inconve- 

 nience of a half moon. All this is easily said, and 

 is, / believe, S077iel hues done, but I have never seen 

 it well done. Indeed, when we call to mind the 

 size and width of the bank, the dej)th we liave to 

 cut, the prol ability of its caving; tiie necessity of 

 levelling the bed with great care, the sinking of 

 the studs and erecting the breast-work, the un- 

 wieldy, heavy trunk which is io he floated to its 

 place and buried, and that all this is to be done 

 during the gradual flill of the tide, and must be 

 finished before it rises again, it w^ould seem worse 

 than folly to attempt it. In addition to all this, I 

 will add, that if a large log or root is found in the 

 bed, and nothing is more common, then it is im- 

 possible to finish your work in the tide; the bank 

 has to be closed up, your work is all to be gone 

 over again, and a half moon must at last be re- 

 sorted to. I have seen so much troulde, the 

 result of " slipping in" river trunks, that no- 

 thing v/ould induce me to do it; the chances are 

 always against a successful termination of your 

 labors, and it is a matter of too much importance, 

 to be done hastily or indifferently. If your bank 

 is a large one (and the base always should be large) 

 your trunk should not he less than thirty feet long, 

 and the width about three feet in the clear; the 

 uprights, ears and cross pieces should, if possible, 

 be made of cedar out of the swamp, as this wood 

 seldom rots from exposure to air and water; the 

 studs, four in number, should be eighteen feet long, 

 and square, eight inches, if squared at all; though 

 I leave them round, with the bark on. The caps, 

 two in number, should be twenty long, and square, 

 ten inches ; these last (caps and s^tuds) should be 

 procured of pond cypress, if it is to be had. The 

 piles, forty-two in number are of pine, (or in fact 

 any kind of wood you can obtain most easily) 

 seven feet long and about the size of a man's leg. 

 These arrangements being made and these mate- 

 rials all collected, we are ready to put down the 

 trunk. 



