198 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



run away with and have a narrow escape with 

 his life, as was my experience not very long 

 ago, in order fully to estimate this invention. 



It is patented, as you will notice, for Scotland, 

 England and Ireland, and I intended to have 

 had it patented in this country, for the benefit of 

 the inventor, but abandoned the idea on learning 

 that the cost of doing so to a foreigner or his 

 assignee would be as high as five hundred 

 dollars. 



I have had the rein made at Polkenhorn & 

 Campbell's, on Pennsylvania Avenue, and use 

 it constantly both with single and double har- 

 ness. I have not tested its power on a horse 

 running off, but from my experiments in " hold- 

 ing up" a hard-mouthed, hard-pulling, high- 

 spirited Northern horse, when excited and trot- 

 ting at a speed of a mile in about three and a 

 half minutes, I feel satisfied that all said of the 

 Safety Rein by the inventor is true, and I am 

 moreover assured of it from what I have been 

 told by a Scottish clergyman who lately passed 

 a few days at my house, who says that " Mil- 

 ler's Safety Rein" is celebrated in Scotland, 

 and that he has seen accounts in the newspapers 

 of that country of cases where its use- has been, 

 m all probability; instrumental in saving human 

 life. 



I have found it much more convenient to have 

 the rein attached to the driving reins instead of 

 the splash board, by passing it loosely through 

 two loops stitched to the driving reins about a 

 foot forward of that part of the latter usually 

 held in the hand when driving ; arranged in this 

 way, I find it not at all inconvenient to carry 

 ?the safety rein, and not one person in ten of 

 casual observers would notice its presence. 

 Very respectfully, 



Your obedient servant, 



Thomas Blagden. 



directions for use of safety retn. 



In putting on the rein for a gig, keep the 

 buckle to the left hand, or near side ; that will 

 place the loop, which is on the middle of the 

 rein, below the hook or head of the bridle, which 

 prevents it from being thrown out by the motion 

 of the horse's head. For a pair of horses, keep 

 the two short chapes outmost, and the loops on 

 the middle downwards. For saddle, keep the 

 buckle to the left hand. 



When the rein is used either for running, 

 rearing, kicking or going backwards, it should 

 be applied suddenly with a strong arm, keeping 

 up the pressure until the horse is still ; it should 

 then be relieved suddenly, at the same time mo- 

 tioning the horse to go on. If he is only a run- 

 away he will obey it at once, such horses being 

 generally of a willing good temper. But should 

 he possess the other vices, or any of them, it 

 frequently proceeds from a stubborn, sulky tem- 



perament ;. with such horses the above process 

 may require to be repeated, until he is subdued, 

 and obey the motion, which will be effected, 

 even in .the worse cases, after a few times. 



To derive the full benefit of this rein, it is re- 

 commended after the horse has been a few times 

 firmly gripped with it, to use it occasionally, and 

 it should frequently be used instead of the bit- 

 rein to stop him on ordinary occasion ; this will 

 remind the horse of his subjection, and will ac- 

 custom the rider or driver to the ready and ac- 

 curate use of it in case of an emergency. 



By attending to the foregoing directions, the 

 most troublesome horse will, to a certainty, be- 

 come quiet and manageable. 



POUDRETTE— ITS EFFECT UPON TOBAC- 

 CO PLANTS. 



We are much obliged to Mr. Ruffin for the 

 following communication. There is no one thing 

 that oftener shortens the tobacco crop than the 

 failure to obtain a good stand of plants. It will 

 be recollected that a similar statement of the 

 effect of poudrette on the plant bed was obtained 

 from Dr. M'Caw, of Powhatan, and published 

 in the Planter, last year. The manufactured 

 article undoubtedly costs too much for common 

 purposes, but it is almost impossible to say how 

 much the Planter could afford to give for the 

 small quantity that would be required for his 

 plant bed, if indeed it secures him a supply of 

 vigorous and healthy plants. At any rate, a 

 proper appreciation of its value will lead him to 

 the scrupulous saving of the home production. 



Mr. Editor, — Last spring, you requested all 

 who had tried, or were then trying, the virtues 

 of poudrette, of the manufacture of D. K. Mi- 

 nor, of New York, to give you the results of 

 their respective experiments. Mine was upon 

 a limited scale, but I give you its result, as it 

 may tend to exonerate Mr. Minor from the cen- 

 sure which has been visited on him, and may 

 promote more extended and beneficial trials. As 

 you ask testimony, it is proper that I subscribe 

 my name. 



Last fall, I ordered, and received from New 

 York seven barrels of Minor's poudrette, which 

 I meant to use upon my plant beds. In all the 

 month of January, I burned sixteen hundred 

 yards of plant land, of the quality usually found 

 in the forest of the southwest mountiains — gra- 

 velly, dark, abounding in virgin mould, free from 

 clay, and tolerably moist. It was burned too 

 hard, and rather late. The weather was dry at 

 the time of sowing the seed, and they were not 

 well got in, in consequence. Immediately upon 

 I sowing, I divided each bed as equally as I could, 



