80 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



2. To ascertain the effect of covering up the 

 vines in cultivating the sweet potato, he had the 

 vines covered in two rows, and designated by a 

 stake. The two rows adjoining, planted with 

 similar seed and cultivated (as the crop,) with 

 the earth drawn up, leaving the vines uncovered, 

 yielded three pecks more, of larger potatoes. 



Reported by request of the Society. 



W. Gwathmey, Secretary. 



The very interesting address of the President, 

 Dr. Corbin Braxton, which, by the unanimous 

 vote of the Society was requested for publica- 

 tion, (and promised) has not yet been furnished. 



THE LOCUST TREE. 



There are probably but few trees more beau- 

 tiful and ornamental than the locust. It is also 

 valuable for timber, being of a close, solid tex- 

 ture, and as durable for most purposes, as oak 

 or walnut. The trees often attain a large size, 

 and at the proper season of inflorescence, the 

 yellow locust, is festooned with clusters of white 

 flowers, which give it a most beautiful appear- 

 ance. We have several of these trees growing, 

 and in many sections of our State they are be- 

 ginning to become quite common, and are pro- 

 pagated both for ornament and use. The great 

 difficulty, however, experienced in causing the 

 seed to vegetate, operates as a discouragement 

 with many ; it requiring to be prepared before 

 planting in order to sofien the hard and shelly 

 pericarp or hornlike envelope in which nature 

 has deposited the germ. This is performed in 

 the following way. Having first separated your 

 seed from the pods place them in an iron por- 

 ringer, and pour over them a quart of water, 

 previously heated to the boiling point. Set the 

 porringer aside, and suffer the water to cool gra- 

 dually. After twenty-four hours decant the 

 water from the seed, and select such as have 

 opened for immediate planting. If any yet re- 

 main hard, let them undergo a similar submer- 

 sion, and at the end of the next twenty-four 

 hours, select again such as have opened, and 

 continue this process until all that are capable 

 of vegetating have opened, and been planted 

 out. Another plan and perhaps a somewhat 

 more economical one, so far as time is concerned, 

 is to subject the seed to the action of nitric acid, 

 mixed in the proportion of half an ounce to two 

 quarts of water. The seed should be steeped 

 in this mixture for twenty-four hours before 

 planting, and the water kept tepid or slightly 

 warm by means of a stove or oven. In this 

 case it is not necessary to repeat the process as 

 the good seed will at once evince signs of vita- 

 lity and germination, while that which continues 

 to be unaffected at the expiration of the twenty- 

 four hours is probably foul or imperfect and 

 should be thrown away. Seed, thus prepared, 



if planted in a rich, warm soil, in April, will 

 take a vigorous start, and the plants be fit for 

 transplanting in the course of the second or third 

 year after. The trees should never be suffered 

 to stand nearer than fifteen feet apart in any 

 soil, and should they be consigned to one thin 

 and light, the distance should be twenty. As 

 they increase, care should be taken to clear out 

 all dead wood from the tops, and to keep down 

 the shoots, where the soil is rich, which will 

 sometimes issue from the roots. 



Maine Cultivator. 



So valuable has the locust become, not only 

 for posts, but for its uses in ship building, that 

 its growth would probably afford the very best 

 use to which many of the light lands on our 

 water courses could be applied. Facility of 

 water transportation is an indispensable requi- 

 site to the profitable produce of any kind of 

 limber. The locust is said to be a great im- 

 prover of the soil, inasmuch as it returns more 

 than it draws from it, its deciduous offal being 

 particularly enriching. No man ever saw a 

 locust tree without a peculiarly luxuriant growth 

 of grass underneath it. 



The crop would be a slow but sure one. 



For the Southern Planter. 

 BURNING COAL. 



Messrs. Editors, — As it seems that the far- 

 mers are about to commence burning coal for 

 agricultural purposes, and as they are generally 

 ignorant of the process, I will add my mite to 

 what I conceive to be a good cause, by giving 

 some directions. 



Seasoned wood is best, because it burns more 

 thoroughly in less time, consequently requiring 

 less attention and producing more coal. Regu- 

 lar colliers cut their wood into cord length, but 

 the farmer may save time by cutting his six 

 feet. On level ground kilns are generally made 

 circular; on hill sides ihey may be made an 

 oblong square, the length being up and down 

 hill. A kiln of sixteen feet diameter is a good 

 size; and now for its construction. Drive down 

 a peg for the centre, around which draw a circle 

 at the distance of eight feet; on which circle 

 drive pegs, or what is better, cut a narrow trench 

 with a grubbing hoe. Cut blocks of wood three 

 feet long, with which build a pen on the centre 

 nine feet high ; around which set up your wood, 

 with the large end downward, and about two 

 feet from the pen. As the wood is packed, fill 

 underneath with short pieces ; and as the pack- 

 ing advances fill throughout with other short 

 pieces, for the purpose of giving a slope for 

 covering. 



