THE SOUTHE 



R N PLANTER. 



67 



I told them they would make no com, and in- 

 sisted that the rows should be wider. One gen- 

 tleman told me to lay off a few rows in the old 

 Virginia style, and I, being accustomed to the 

 plough handles, laid hold, and run off a few 

 furrows through the centre of the field, four and 

 a half feet apart. In the succeeding August, 

 I visited the same field, and, to my utter asto- 

 nishment, the rows I had lain off were destitute 

 of grain, and the fodder burnt entirely up, whilst 

 the narrow rows were excellent and the fodder 

 green to the ground. So, I concluded that the 

 proper width of rows depends upon the nature 

 of the soil. I noticed that the lands in Western 

 Virginia dried much sooner after heavy rains 

 than they did east of the Blue Ridge; this is 

 the case in all limestone countries, where the 

 coin must be planted thicker, for the purpose of 

 shading the ground, and retaining the moisture 

 in summer. 



I congratulate neighbor Drummond on his 

 conversion to early planting. I have tried the 

 experiment myself, and find that corn planted 

 early will not grow as tall, but will yield more 

 grain, and that of better quality, for it will 

 weigh more to the bushel than the late planting. 



A writer on " Forest Trees," in your August 

 number, 1842, observes that old field pine is "of 

 little value." Now 1 consider a grove of such 

 pines exceedingly valuable for garden posts, or 

 posts of any kind ; if properly prepared, they 

 will last as long as locust or any other timber. 

 My mode of treatment is as follows i I take a 

 drawing knife and draw off the bark as the tree 

 stands, as high up as I want to use it: in this 

 situation the tree, which will not die, remains a 

 twelvemonth, when, in consequence of the sun's 

 having drawn the rosin lo the surface, it will 

 have become a solid bulk of lightwood and will 

 be ready for use. 



Your obedient servant, 



J. H. Fuq.ua. 



Amherst, January, 1843. 



ECONOMICAL PAINTING. 



The following cheap but durable method of 

 painting, has recently appeared in a foreign 

 journal, and as it appears rational in its princi- 

 ples, we have no doubt of its being useful to 

 many in the country, especially in these econo- 

 mizing times : 



Take skimmed milk, one quart — fresh slacked 

 lime, six ounces — oil of linseed, four ounces — 

 Spanish white, say whiting, five pounds. Put 

 the lime into a vessel of stone ware, and pour 

 upon it a sufficient quantity of milk to make a 

 smooth mixture; then add the oil by degrees, 

 stirring the mixture with a small wooden spa-- 

 tula ; then add the remainder of the milk, and 

 finally the Spanish white. Skimmed milk, in 

 summer is often curdled, but this is of no conse- 

 Vol. III.— 8 



quence> as its fluidity is soon restored by its con- 

 tact with the lime. It is, however, absolutely 

 necessary that it should not be sour, for in that 

 case it would form with the lime a kind of cal- 

 careous acetate susceptible of attracting mois- 

 ture. The lime is slacked by plunging it into 

 water, drawing it out, and suffering it to fall to 

 pieces in the air. For painting with the ochres, 

 the commonest lamp oil may be used. The oil 

 when mixed with the milk and lime, disappears, 

 being entirely dissolved by the lime, and forms, 

 with it, a calcareous soap. The Spanish white 

 must be crumbled, and gently spread on the sur- 

 face of the liquid, by which it is gradually im- 

 bibed, and at last sinks. It must then be stirred 

 with a stick. This paint is colored like distem- 

 per, with charcoal, levigated with water, yellow 

 ochre, &c. and applied to the woik in the usual 

 method by brushes. — Mechanic. 



TIMBER. 



To the Editors of tiie Southern Planter! 



Gentlemen, — Will you be good enough to ask 

 through your valuable journal, whether timber 

 lasts better, cut in winter than summer? If so, 

 I should like to hear the rationale. I know the 

 old theory that the sap is out of the tree in win- 

 ter and has gone down to the root. Upon this 

 I am very skeptical — seeing that the roots are 

 full of sap in summer, and therefore they cannot 

 well hold during winter their own and that of 

 all the branches likewise. So let us hear what 

 is the most lasting timber for posts ? Does ches- 

 nut under ground decay sooner than oak % 

 In haste, yours truly, 



Whit'l P. Tunstall. 



We believe the most approved doctrine of 

 modern times is, that the sap of trees becomes 

 spissated, or thick, during the winter months, 

 and ceases to flow, the vital energies of the tree 

 being dormant, as it were, until called into ac- 

 tion by the genial heat of summer. Under this 

 view, many contend that the timber should be 

 cut in the summer, rather than the winter, be- 

 cause the sap, which is considered so injurious 

 to the lasting properties of the wood, can be 

 more readily expelled in a fluid state. Others 

 contend, that the pores of the wood are more 

 open in summer than in winter, and a great 

 many talk a deal of nonsense upon the subject. 

 We knew a very old experienced timber getter 

 who asserted, that there was but one day in the 

 year upon which timber should be cut, and that 

 was the 28th day of August. To determine 

 the matter by experience, requires a greater de- 

 gree of exactness and a more extended obser- 



