THE S OUT HE 



UN PLANTER. 



195 



conveniently had, were interposed between the 

 layers of hay. Although in his experiment he 

 had lost a small portion of the bottom of his 

 heap, in consequence of his having packed it 

 too close by trampling-, the balance was cured 

 in a very superior manner, and he was satisfied, 

 that when properly conducted, it was the very 

 best and cheapest mode of curing clover hay. 



The better to settle the various questions that 

 arose both with respect to the corn and hay, 

 particular members were selected by the Club, 

 and requested to institute a set of experiments 

 the next season, and report the result as soon as 

 practicable. From the character of the indivi- 

 duals selected, we hope hereafter to obtain infor- 

 mation that will go far to set at rest the contra- 

 dictory opinions on these subjects, which now 

 divide the agricultural world. 



EFFECTS OF SOAP-SUDS ON CABBAGES. 



I believe it will be a thankless piece of ser- 

 vice for one gardener to teach another how to 

 grow cabbages and cauliflowers, yet as these 

 crops of vegetables have failed this season in 

 various parts of the country, the following no- 

 tice may perhaps, be of use to our cottage read- 

 ers. Wherever soap-suds have been used plen- 

 tifully, cabbages and cauliflowers have grown 

 luxuriantly. I have made several inquiries of 

 others who have used them, and in no one in- 

 stance have I heard of a failure where soap-suds 

 have been applied. I intend to try them over 

 brocoli, to see if they will prevent them from 

 clubbing. Others may do so likewise, and make 

 known the results. Whether the alkali in the 

 water has prevented the enemy from destroying 

 the roots, or given the roots more vigor to resist 

 the attack, I do not know ; but one thing is cer- 

 tain — where such matter has been applied, it 

 has produced the most beneficial results. I 

 think cottagers may take a lesson from this, 

 and save that which would nourish their lan- 

 guishing crop, for it is a pity to see a pool of 

 filthy water polluting the neighborhood with its 

 stench ; while, within a few }^ards of it, the ve- 

 getables of a garden are dying of starvation. 



Gardener's Chronicle. 



COTTON AND FLAX. 

 The following is extracted from a letter from 

 a friend in Lunenburg. We shall be obliged to 

 any of our readers who will furnish the infor- 

 mation required : 



" I have been an attentive reader of your va- 

 luable paper from its earliest infancy to the pre- 



sent moment, but I have never seen the first hint 

 about the cultivation of cotton or flax, two (I 

 think) very important crops, at least, I think 

 every farmer ought to make enough to clothe 



his negroes ; it can be spun and wove at such 

 times as the women could not be otherwise pro- 

 fitably employed. Will you get some of your 

 numerous correspondents to give us some prac- 

 tical information concerning cotton and flax? 

 and oblige, &c. 



R. H. Allen. 



TO PREVENT THE RAVAGES OF FOW LS. 



On a visit lately to a friend, whose wife is an 

 excellent manager, our attention was attracted 

 to a device by which the lady managed to se- 

 cure her flowers, to which she is devoted, from 

 the ravages of her fowls, to which her husband 

 and children are devoted. Around the yard en- 

 closure, from post to post, about twelve inches 

 above the tops of the palings, a small wire was 

 extended. Barn-yard fowls are not very aspir- 

 ing birds, and seldom attempt a flight higher 

 than necessary to accomplish their object. The 

 imperceptible wire, therefore, operates as a com- 

 plete rebutter to their attempts to skim the paling 

 tops, and the unexpected check forever quiets 

 the aspiring hopes of their vaulting ambition. 



This plan, which might be extended to the 

 garden as well as the yard, is the next best we 

 know to that of a poultry-yard, in which the 

 fowls are constantly confined. 



SWEET POTATOES FOR HOGS. 



It is generally admitted, that our sweet pota- 

 toes constitute an excellent article of food for 

 hogs, and it is well known too, that few plants 

 yield a greater amount of nutritious matter to 

 the acre. Heretofore, however, planters have 

 generally neglected to nvail themselves of the 

 advantages of this crop for their stock. It is 

 true, if the potatoes are to be dug and thrown 

 to the hogs, the planter loses much valuable la- 

 bor from his crop, at a very important season. 

 But this is not necessary ; by making the pota- 

 to patch long and narrow, (say a half or a fourth 

 acre wide,) and a few hours labor once a week 

 in running a cross fence, a stock of hogs may 

 be kept fat from the first of August until the 

 pea fields are open, w r ith very little expense. — 

 For example, let him run a low fence across, so 

 as to cut ofT a small portion of the patch and 

 turn his bogs on this. While they are consum- 

 ing the vines and roots on this portion, the pota- 

 toes in the other part are still growing undis- 

 turbed. When this portion has been eaten out 

 entirely, let the planter have his cross fence 



