THE SOUTHERN PLANTER; 



Agriculture is the nursing mother of the Arts. 



JCenophon. 



Tillage and Pasturage are the two breasts of the 

 State. — Sully. 



C. T. BOTTS, Editor. 



Vol. IV. RICHMOND, APRIL, 1844. No. 4. 



For the Southern Planter. 



COMMENTS ON THE FEBRUARY NUMBER. 



I had announced my determination to com- 

 ment no further on the contents of the Southern 

 Planter, hoping that some other person mere 

 competent to the task would undertake to bear 

 the burthen. But being disappointed in this 

 hope, and believing that such comments, if ju- 

 diciously applied, are valuable, I again, upon 

 the earnest solicitations of the Editor and many 

 others, take up my pen to the work. My object 

 being charitable, I must ask charity at the hands 

 of others. 



Bommer's Manure. — As I know nothing about 

 it, I say nothing about it — only this, I admire 

 the frank manner in which the Editor of the 

 Southern Planter treats the subject. 



Mr. Botts 1 Com Crop. — It is well enough to 

 make experiments, each for himself, as to the 

 number of stalks to be put on an acre, but I 

 could have told Mr. B. that his crop was too 

 thick. Indeed, he will find that 17,640 stalks 

 are yet too many ; particularly of the kind which 

 he proposes planting. On well prepared lots, I 

 have planted, or rather, permitted to stand, 9,680 

 plants, which is just double as thick as tobacco 

 plants at the usual distance. I, too, at two dif- 

 ferent times, have made about 100 bushels of 

 shelled corn to the acre, and think that we can 

 make 150 bushels — yea, more. Mr. Botts' me- 

 thod of preparing his seed corn is very well, but 

 I greatly prefer soaking in strong tobacco amber, 

 and rolling in plaster. The tobacco is not only 

 a stimulant, but no beast, bird, or insect, will 

 touch corn so treated. Make the amber very 

 strong, and the grain soaked therein will be so 

 thickly coated with gum, that a large portion 

 of plaster will adhere. Mr. Botts' method of 

 placing the rows at the distance of three feet, 

 has the advantage of smothering grass and 

 weeds, consequently requiring but little labor in 

 its culture ; but I incline to think that this ad- 

 vantage is not equivalent to the risk of loss by 

 disease. The disease I allude to, is the black 

 rot, by which I have suffered when planting 

 large corn on rows at the distance of four feet. 

 Corn, like animals, is most liable to disease when 

 in infancy, when blooming and silking, and 

 when in old age. Hence my practice on all 

 manner of land to give my rows at least five 

 feet distance, that the corn may, at the critical 

 Vol. IV.— 10 



time of maturing, have better opportunity of 

 obtaining a plentiful supply of sun and air. I 

 agree with Mr. B. as to the superior value of 

 the large gourdseed corn ; particularly, if that 

 gourdseed is of a flinty kind. I have cultivated 

 nearly every kind of corn, and have abandoned 

 all for the large cob, long grain, big ear, flinty 

 gourdseed. A weasel cannot yield a valuable 

 hide for the tanner; neither can a small cob 

 yield a valuable grist for the miller. It is true, 

 that much can be said in favor of a low stalk * 

 but by careful selections of the seed, the gourd- 

 seed can be brought down to the required height. 



Cure for Tetter. — I have cured tetters on my- 

 self by the application of soft soap alone. 



Barn Yards. — t would particularly call the 

 attention of the public to this manner of con- 

 structing a farm yard and reservoir. Make the 

 reservoir large, and cast therein all the dead 

 animals and filth which can be conveniently 

 found. About the first of May, cover the reser- 

 voir with earth eight or ten inches deep, and let 

 it not be disturbed till October; then shovel out, 

 mix, cart out, and spread on the meadow. Or 

 if no meadow, cast it a little off the way, and 

 use it in spring for garden or elsewhere. Now 

 the reservoir is ready for filling again through 

 winter and spring ; and the contents being co- 

 vered arid untouched through the warm season, 

 are preserved from evaporation, and perfectly 

 decomposed and purified. 



For Bums. — I thought that every body knew 

 that cotton has the power of extracting fire from 

 a burn, but the addition of ink is fudge, for ink 

 is made of different materials. 



Whilst on the subject of cures, I am reminded 

 of a recipe for curing a cancer, which I lately 

 saw in a newspaper, and which, at the risk of 

 being called a quack, I will add, in closing. — 

 Mix the yolk of an eg** with as much salt as 

 it will absorb, and apply as a plaster. It has 

 been tried in my neighborhood, aild found ef- 

 fectual. 



Investigator. 



QUANTITY OF LIME PER ACRE. 



We have repeatedly taken occasion to ad- 

 vance the opinion, that a much less quantity 

 than 100 bushels of lime, per acre, would an>. 

 siver for all present purposes— and we have as 

 often stated that an application of 25 bushels, 



