THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



11 



they were planted in rows four feet apart, and 

 cultivated as corn. About the middle of Octo- 

 ber, my fatting hogs were turned into the lot 

 and fed with corn, each rooting his own arti- 

 chokes, which served not only for food, but wa- 

 ter also. In May last about as many artichokes 

 sprung up as I could have wished, and in June 

 the weeds were pulled out by hand. The hogs 

 are now again at work for their living, and so 

 expected to be each fall until toward Christmas, 

 when the sheep are turned into the lot for the 

 winter. Thus, a lot of half an acre answers 

 the triple purpose of growing artichokes, hog 

 pen, and sheep cot ; and must shortly be as rich 

 as desirable. I design hereafter to give the lot 

 a thorough tillage with the coulter in the latter 

 part of April, and when the artichokes are twelve 

 to fifteen inches high to cut out the weeds with 

 the hoe, and thin to about eighteen or twenty 

 inches. The artichoke grows to about the same 

 height of corn, consequently, smothering every 

 thing beneath after they get a few feet high. — 

 The produce on the half acre is perhaps six 

 hundred bushels. 



I think I have heretofore informed you that I 

 had last year madeand spread seventy-twooxcart 

 loads of shamble manure on a meadow. I have 

 now the pleasure of informing you that the por- 

 tion of meadow on which this manure was 

 spread, yielded two heavy cuts of grass, and 

 would have been cut the third time, had not the 

 fall been unusually dry. The grass consisted 

 of a mixture of greensward, (Kentucky blue 

 grass,) and red clover, which seem to agree 

 well, in every way. The contents of the vault 

 of this year was cast out a few days past, and 

 amounts to about fifty loads ; and no sooner out 

 than filling again. I am now enlarging the 

 vault, so that it may contain about one hundred 

 ox cart loads of decomposed manure. My in- 

 gredients are bog earth, saw dust, mould, leaves 

 in a state of decay, ashes and flesh * The first 

 laj r er is earth or saw dust, second flesh, third 

 ashes, on which earth or saw dust is immediately 

 cast, and the course continued. Not only my 

 own, but some of my neighbors' dead animals 

 are vaulted by me, and thus the buzzards are 

 made to seek their meat in other quarters. The 

 larger animals are cut into pieces, and spread, 

 and such a quantity of earth or vegetable mat- 

 ter cast on as to secure them against exhalation. 

 I have now on hand eight or ten old sheep, 

 which I have directed to be shorn, then killed 

 and their carcasses deposited in the vault ; and 

 thus I intend to treat every animal which may 

 be unprofitable and unsaleable. A horse, which 

 from any cause has become whorthless, should 



* Last year I used some lime in my vault, but this 

 year I have used none. The price when delivered 

 at my residence is about thirty cents the bushel, which 

 is more than I can afford to give, otherwise, I would 

 use it in considerable quantity. 



not be palmed on the ignorant, but killed and 

 converted into manure, and the supernumerary 

 dogs could add much to the muck heap. 



I have noticed that in the last number of the 

 Cultivator, the Editors remark that they have 

 no faith in the plan of raising water by means 

 of digging a hole in the earth, placing a barrel 

 in the hole, and filling this with small stones. — 

 Now I do not know that a barrel may have the 

 power of extracting water, but I will tell you 

 what I do know, and that is, water is easily ex- 

 tracted whence it is wont to come, barrel or no 

 barrel. On the first day of March, 1841, 1 went 

 with some hands to the top of a considerable 

 mountain, and began to clear a tobacco planta- 

 tion. No water was to be found on or about 

 the premises, but 1 had faith, and faith produced 

 works, for by digging a hole eighteen or twenty 

 inches deep, where i had once noticed the earth 

 to be more rnoist than elsewherearound,! brought 

 forth an excellent and never-failing spring. This 

 spring is within the plantation, and about one 

 hundred yards of the top of the mountain. The 

 branch from this spring does not run more than 

 ten feet before it is totally absorbed by the po- 

 rous mounlain earth, and nothing is again seen 

 of it, at least between its exit and the foot of 

 the mountain; nevertheless, by digging I be- 

 lieve that I could tap it in a dozen or more 

 places. There are many handsome building 

 sites in mountainous regions, where water na- 

 turally is not to be had ; but by digging or bore- 

 ing in places where the earth is generally in a 

 moist state, I have no doubt but that a supply 

 can be obtained. For the purpose of boring, I 

 would use a bar of steel two or three inches 

 square, directing the bore horizontally in very 

 steep ground, and in others with a dip of twenty 

 to thirty degrees. 



Za. DrUMMOND. 



Dec. 4, 1842. 



NEW FASHIONED POTATOES. 



The Wheeling Daily Gazette speaks of a 

 new species of the potato plant that has just 

 been imported from South America. The fruit 

 grows on vines, like pumpkins, and will do to 

 make handsome arbors ; a single seed potato 

 being sufficient to cover a verandah. 1 'he beauty 

 of this above-ground vegetable, is, that you can 

 pick out the finest potatoes without damaging 

 the plants, and leave the "small potatoes" to 

 grow bigger. 



POLL EVIL. 

 This disease has generally been considered 

 incurable, but Mr. Samuel Terrill, of Caro- 

 line, an old gentleman of the highest respecta- 

 bility, called at our office a few days since, to 

 say, that he had found an unfailing remedy in 



