THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



131 



abundance for the purpose, than herdsgrass. 

 Our branch flats, creek bottoms, and lands sub- 

 ject to inundation, might be profitably employed 

 in its production. If it escapes the water, it 

 will furnish the stock with food, if inundated, it 

 will furnish them, with litter. My own most 

 valuable resource this year has been the yield 

 of an inundated meadow, mowed and regularly 

 cured and stacked in season — furnishing a quan- 

 tity of good seed, as well as an abundant sup- 

 ply of litter. I prefer the herdsgrass, however, 

 for food, and the quantity and quality of the 

 manure raised from the stock to which it is fed. 



Let me now, gentlemen, urge some considera- 

 tions in favor of the artificial grasses which 

 ought to come home to the feelings and the 

 taste, as well as to the pride of our Club. Is 

 there not something humiliating in having our 

 eyes, whenever we ride or walk into our fields, 

 greeted with the yawning gall, or the more hi- 

 deous gully? or meeting by the wayside, the 

 kine of Pharaoh, who, having devoured all the 

 miserable trash and weeds, which mar the beau- 

 ty of our fields, are themselves, just about to be 

 devoured by the buzzards? How do these 

 scenes contrast with the verdant grass spring- 

 ing up in all its vigor and luxuriance, and cloth- 

 ing our fields in its beautiful habiliments; with 

 the cattle of a thousand hills grazing bounti- 

 fully through the day, and returning home at 

 eve laden with deposites, richer than those of 

 the mammoth bank, and laying their grateful tri- 

 bute at the master's feet, and causing his table 

 to groan under the teeming abundance of milk, 

 butter, cheese and beef? 



This, gentlemen, is no ideal picture — it is in 

 reach of every man who will adopt the cultiva- 

 tion of the artificial grasses, and avail himself 

 of all the benefits which will result from their 

 judicious and economical use. 



Should doubts still remain after the interesting 

 discussion of this subject had at our last meet- 

 ing and what has come before us at this, they 

 can only be solved by judicious experiments of 

 our own, or observation of the experiments of 

 others. Permit me to state, however, in conclu- 

 sion, that there is one fact which ought to weigh 

 with no little force on the minds of our Club, 

 and that is, that we know no instance of a skil- 

 ful and enterprizing farmer or planter, who after 

 having gone fully into the cultivation of the ar- 

 tificial grasses, "has returned, like a sow that 

 is washed, to her wallowing in the mire." And 

 that we know no instance of a country in a high 

 state of agricultural improvement, where the 

 artificial grasses are not regarded as the main 

 stay and the one thing needful. 



With these views, gentlemen, I must close 

 this subject, not, however, without expressing 

 my regret that I have not had time to prepare 

 something more worthy of my enlightened au- 

 ditory and the interesting and important cause 



which has brought us together, and which it is 

 to be hoped each member intends, to the best of 

 his ability, to promote, whether in his own im- 

 mediate practice at home, or generally through- 

 out the bounds of the Club. 



ASPARAGUS. 

 We see some writer in the " Farmers' Cabi- 

 net" advising the cultivators of this vegetable 

 to let the stalk grow twelve or eighteen inches 

 above the surface of the bed, and then to cut off 

 six or eight inches of the top for the table. — 

 This is an old story, and goes the round every 

 spring. We will warrant, he who spoils one 

 dish in this way, will never try it again. The 

 very moment the shoot is exposed to air and 

 light it begins to lose the delicacy and flavor 

 for which the vegetable is remarkable. It is 

 true that the bud is the tenderest part of the 

 shoot, and that it retains its superiority even af- 

 ter it has begun to turn green from exposure, 

 but this is not in consequence, but in spite of 

 the exposure. A much greater improvement 

 we should esteem a plan, we have seen lately 

 recommended, of enclosing the shoot after it 

 comes through the ground in a tin case, or hol- 

 low reed, or even covering it over with a com- 

 mon flower pot. By this means, it is said, it 

 may be grown to an enormous size, without in- 

 jury to its flavor. 



From the Farmers' Gazette. 

 BUTTER. 



Manufacture and Preservation. — The 

 good or bad quality of butter, depends much on 

 the feed, age, and quality of cows. The best 

 and greatest abundance of milk, is produced 

 during four or five years of their middle age, 

 when they are considered in their prime for all 

 good purposes. The comparative quality of 

 the different cows in a herd, is best ascertained, 

 when they feed on grass only, as other kinds of 

 food more frequently change the quality. Close 

 observation is necessary, to ascertain the merits 

 of each cow in this respect. The feed which 

 greatly increases the quantity, generally depre- 

 ciates the quality in some measure. Brewery 

 grains particularly have this effect. Roots are 

 generally an exception, as they make rich milk 

 and greatly increase the quantity. Carrots, ruta 

 baga, and mangel wurtzel, are preferable in our 

 estimation to any other. Grass of a natural 

 growth, or that grown on unmanured land, is 

 preferable to that on rich and highly manured 

 soil. 



Cleanliness and pure salt are indispensable in 

 making good butter, as every body well knows. 



