THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 279 



be seen for six or eight years after. Need I tell 

 any rational man that the first year's rest is 

 worth more in enriching the soil, when the 

 brush and timber are lying on it, than any two 

 or three years after it has been in cultivation ? 

 Let me invite them to look at our wood-lands, 

 with the growth so dense that you can scarcely 

 ride through it, the face of the earth covered 

 two or three inches deep with leaves, and ask 

 them to determine whether, if all be cut and 

 burnt off the same winter, as is usually done, 

 their land is not greatly impoverished % Need 

 I argue with my brother farmers so plain a case ? 

 I think not ; for if they will reflect one moment 

 on the two plan$, I believe they will try mine, 

 and I venture to say if once tried they will pur- 

 sue it in future. 



My next clearing I expect to let lay two 

 years, with all cut and killed on it but the rail 

 timber, and the second winter I will cut and 

 split the rails, leaving all on the ground one 

 year, and I expect by doing so my land will be 

 worth more than double the same lands cleared 

 in the usual way. 



And now, Messrs. Editors, in looking over 

 your paper, I am surprised to find so few con- 

 tributing towards supporting it with their prac- 

 tical modes of farming. We want Georgia farm- 

 ing — surely no place needs improving more than 

 middle Georgia — and I do hope that there is in- 

 telligence and patriotism enough in middle Geor- 

 gia to make your paper appear what every good 

 citizen should wish it to be. 



Robert Caldwell. 



For the Southern Planter. 



GALLS AND GULLIES. 



•Mr. Editor, — From the wretched sj^stem of 

 cultivation in many parts of Virginia^ the farms 

 present an uncomely aspect from innumerable 

 galls and gullies. Experience has taught me 

 that these may be stopped without any very 

 great labor. Every one in the field intended 

 for corn, ought to be stopped. It is the more 

 necessary, because observation will soon teach 

 one that when the hill sides are deeply ploughed 

 and kept well cultivated, that but little super- 

 fluous water passes down the gullies ; and hence 

 there is less danger of their washing out after 

 having been filled up. The best time for the 

 operation is as soon as the land thaws after a se- 

 vere freeze ; or during some wet time when it 

 would not be proper to work in the fields. I 

 commence by running a two-horse plough up 

 one side and down the other, so as to throw the 

 dirt into the gully. The horse next the gully 

 should be coupled to the other by a long cord, 

 and that to the trace of the other below the at- 

 tachment of the backband. This precaution 

 will be found necessary, so that if he fall in he 



may not pull his fellow after him. The gully 

 is a convenient deposit for any thing lhat may 

 lie in the way, such as logs, stumps, rocks, 

 brush, &c, but they are by no means essential 

 for the success of the operation. 



It is generally necessary to have some hands 

 with hoes, mattocs, &c. as there are many places 

 that the plough cannot reach in consequence of 

 the zigzag form of the gully, until some digging 

 be done. Also many gullies have forks, or 

 prongs, so that the ploughing cannot be done 

 until a crossing place be made near the main 

 gully. I am in favor of continuing the opera- 

 tion only until the place becomes such that a 

 single-horse plough can cross with ease, and 

 then leave the balance to the gradual washings 

 of after years. When I have arrived at this 

 stage I cover the whole place well with manure 

 and sow- small grain, (or peas,) and turn in the 

 manure and small grain together, and then sow 

 a mixture of different kinds of grass seeds with 

 plaster of Paris, and cover the whole with straw. 

 In a few days the grain will put up through 

 the straw and hold it so closely to the earth that 

 the most washing rain will not remove it. I 

 prefer a mixture of red clover, herdsgrass and 

 greensward seeds. 



In the subsequent cultivation of the field the 

 gullies should remain untouched by the plough 

 or hoe ; and in a little time the grass will form 

 such a sward as to catch a sufficiency of dirt, 

 during the washing of rains, to render the ori- 

 ginal gully nearly level. 



Those who have not tried this plan may be 

 incredulous ; but such as doubt, may examine 

 my farm and see for themselves, that gullies 

 thus treated, have seldom been injured by wash- 

 ing rains. It is often the case that less time 

 will be required to stop a gully than would be 

 lost in turning the plough during the cultivation 

 of the crop. 



Every farmer ought to get clear of his gul- 

 lies in four or five years, according to the num- 

 ber of shifts he may have on his farm. 



I can say but little of the efficacy of hill side 

 ditches to prevent gullies from washing out, but 

 do not doubt their usefulness. I should have 

 tried them if my professional engagements would 

 have permitted me. 



If the foregoing should not benefit any one, 

 it may serve to elicit information from some per- 

 son more competent to instruct. 



R. D. Palmer. 



October 28, 1843. 



WOUNDS ON HORSES. 



Take one-quarter of a pound of saltpetre, half 

 a pint of spirits of turpentine — put them toge- 

 ther in a bottle, and shake up before using. — 

 Apply to the wound with a feather three times 

 a day. — Central New York Farmer, 



