THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



79 



to gladden the heart of man and beast, and both 

 alike would breathe in vain the pure oxygen of 

 heaven. It is the sole muscle forming principle 

 in all nature. It is inseparably connected with 

 the »« vita itself of all animal creation, and is 

 indeed the essential essence of the very " blood 

 of man which is the life of him." And hence, to 

 decry the use of guano because of its ammonia, 

 as many have done, is but a wild and ridiculous 

 excess of folly. 



Louisa co., Va. P. B. Pendleton, M. D. 

 Sept. 28, 1855. 



THE NEW ENEMY TO WHEAT. 

 Millwood, Clark Co., Jan. 21st, 1856. 

 7b the Editor of the Southern Planter. 



Die ah Sir : In my Planter of J anuary, re- 

 paired to-night, I noticed a letter from Mr. E. 

 P. Goodwin, of Louisa C. H., to the "Exaui- 

 kier," in which he complains bitterly of "the 

 new enemy to wheat." He says the fields at- 

 tacked can't possibly make "half a crop." I 

 would say to him, cheer up ; he'll find, if I am 

 n«t very much mistaken, that by Spring thiw 

 destroyer will have disappeared entirely, car- 

 rying with him all his destroying propensities ; 

 in other words, that his wheat will grow off fine- 

 ly, not a whit injured by this bug. In the 

 Ml of 1852, I sowed a twenty fire acre field in 

 Mediterranean Wheat. Early in the month of 

 September, it came up and grew off finely, and 

 from appearances I thought would make a hea- 

 rj crop. I fell in with a neighbor of mine 

 some time in December, who insisted upon my 

 going to look at one of his fields, (sowed when 

 mine was) which he said was being destroyed 

 by a bug very much resembling the rose bug. 

 % found myriads of these bugs all over the 

 wheat, as well as numbers of "plant-lice." 

 There was als* a bug which my friend N. B. 

 ealled an "Armadillo," a little striped fellow, 

 which seemed to be bent on the destruction of 

 the others. Well, sir, I went home in fear and 

 trembling to look after my pet field. It was 

 more than well stocked ; and in the course of 

 a short time looked as if boiling water had been 

 poured upon it. I gave it up, and would have 

 gone father than Mr. Goodwin, and told you 

 thai it could'nt make the fourth of a crop. As 

 the weather became colder, the lice went deeper, 

 until the stalk about the root was literally cov- 

 ered. When I found them there, I "gave it up 

 Mr. Brown." I never looked at the wheat 

 again until late in the Spring — it was then 

 growing finely, and turned out at threshing 30 

 bushels per acre. Pretty good for Mediterra- 

 nean wheat ! No description could be better of 

 my bug than Mr. Gr's. N. B. made a fine crop 

 spite of the bug. I would mention that his 

 fioid was an old sod, and that I thought at the 

 time that the bugs came from ten acres of sod, 



which I had in wheat adjoining the twenty 

 five acres. Can there be any thing in this ? 

 My ten acres made three hundred and fifty 

 bushels Mediterranean Wheat. If you think 

 this will prove a consolation to Louisa and 

 Buckingham, you can publish it. 



Very respectfully, 



Beverley Randolph. 



THE USE OF SALIVA. 



We gather the following from the recent lec- 

 tures of Dr. H Bence Jones, of London : 



"The action of the saliva upon the starch 

 we take as food, is similar to that of a ferment, 

 and causes it to undergo a change into sugar. 

 If voutake a portion of pure starch and hold 

 it in the mouth for only two minutes, you oan 

 obtain distinct and decided traces of sugar. 

 We have here a solution of starch not treated 

 with saliva, and if we employ our test for sugar, 

 which you well know (sulphate of copper and 

 liquor potassae,) we have no reduction of the 

 oxide of copper; but in this other mixture of 

 starch and water, which has been held in the 

 mouth for two minutes only, you may see dis- 

 tinctly a beautiful red line of reduced coppety 

 the evidence of the presence of sugar. If tke 

 starch is left in the mouth for three minute*, a 

 still more manifest' action is apparent; and if 

 it remains there five minutes, there is a dis- 

 tinct mass of reduced copper, which is propor- 

 tioned to the quantity of sugar formed out of 

 the starch." 



There are many sources of the sugar found 

 in the body. It is found for the most part in 

 vegetable food already formed, and it arise* 

 from the action of saliva on starch. It is pre- 

 sent in considerable quantity in milk, and min- 

 ute traces of it are contained in muscle; but, 

 still further, it is always produced by the ac- 

 tion of the liver. We hare a large quantity 

 of fat going into the liver by the portal vein, 

 and a large quantity of sugar coming out by 

 the hepatic vein. This sugar is always found 

 in the liver, not only when vegetable food but 

 even when animal food is taken. 



SPRTNG TOOTH HORSE RAKE— PRICE &10. 



Every man who wishes to seed five acres of clo- 

 ver on wheat land should get a gleaner or spring 

 tooth horse rake for gleaning wheat fields. If passed 

 over the land either before or after the seeding it 

 will freshen it and form the very best seed bed 

 for the clover seed. Our friend, Charles Marx, Esq., 

 of the Falls Plantation, has tried one, and it works 

 to a charm. Get it and hold us responsible for the 

 advice, and give us tke credit if you succeed. Tbey 

 are for sale by H.M. Smith of Richmond, and per- 

 haps in other places. He warrants the machine; 

 i. e. if it does not give satisfaction he will take it 

 hack. That is honest. 



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