THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



89 



be realized greater profits than under his 

 old plan. 



Now, sir, the time is fast rolling around 

 when the slaves, or a greater portion of 

 them, will have been carried to the South, 

 and when we shall be obliged, under our 

 present management, to go with them, 

 would it not be better to change our sys- 

 tem, whilst we have the labor to put it 

 into operation and hold on to our old 

 State, than to persist in our present land 

 killing until we shall be too late, and be 

 forced to sacrifice our patriotism to dire 

 necessity, and leave the places of our na- 

 tivity, almost as dear to a true patriot as 

 life itself. 



Has it not become an important matter 

 of State policy to make some radical 

 change in our agriculture? In viewing 

 the plan proposed above, if we include 

 the root crop, I can see no difference be- 

 tween this and the system pursued in all 

 the best cultivated parts of the world — 

 why then should it be wrong in us to 

 adopt it generally ? 



R. 



March 25, 1847. 



MODE OF PURIFYING WATER. 



It is not so generally known as it 

 ought to be, that pounded alum possesses 

 the property of purifying water. A table- 

 spoonful of pulverized alum, sprinkled 

 into a hogshead of water, (the water 

 stirred round at the time,) will, after the 

 lapse of a few hours, by precipitating to 

 the bottom the impure particles, so purify 

 it that it will be found to possess nearly 

 all the freshness and clearness of the finest 

 spring water. A pailful, containing four 

 gallons, may be purified by a single tea- 

 spoonful. 



From the Albany Cultivator. 



DEAD ANIMALS. 



At all seasons of the year dead animals 

 are to be seen hung upon fences and 

 trees ; and especially is this the case in 

 the spring. On every farm where sheep 



are kept, dead lambs are suspended in 

 the beautiful, blooming and fruit-bearing 

 orchards — how shocking? — to annoy the 

 sight and smell, and waste the farmer's 

 means. Dogs and cats, too, are frequently 

 hoisted in view in the same annoying and 

 disgusting manner. If horses, cattle, sheep 

 or hogs die, they are drawn out of sight, 

 but not out of smell, and are still sources 

 of disgust. Why is all this? If the 

 farmer be so unfortunate or so negligent 

 as to lose an animal, should he be so 

 wasteful as to permit the carcass to decay 

 uselessly in the open air, to the great an- 

 noyance of his family and every passer- 

 by ? Does he not know that animal 

 matter is the best and richest of manure? 

 Animal matter contains every element 

 that is necessary to grow every plant, 

 known. In it are phosphate and carbo- 

 nate of lime^ ammonia, carbon : in short, 

 in the best form, all the essentials of ve- 

 getable growth. Its nutritive power is 

 great, and if added to the compost heap, 

 hastens fermentation, and adds greatly to 

 the richness. 



Whenever a fowl, cat, dog, sheep, pig, 

 horse or cow dies, let the carcass be cut 

 up, and the bones broken, and the whole 

 added to the manure heap. The carcass 

 of a single horse will turn loads of useless 

 muck or peat into manure, richer than 

 any ordinary barn yard dung. Why, 

 then, suffer it to decay uselessly and an- 

 noyingly ? It is true it is not lost, for the 

 gases that taint the air are appropriated 

 by plants ; but the farmer who owned the 

 animal, gets but a small portion of what 

 should be all his own,, why then will he 

 waste the dead energies of the horse, 

 when he has lost the living ones ? 



If our readers will heed what we say 

 they will not suffer dead animals to annoy 

 the eye, and disgust the nose hereafter. 

 Bury them in the manure heap; add 

 some lime to quicken the decay, and char- 

 coal dust or plaster to absorb the gases, 

 and much will be gained to the good ap- 

 pearance of the farm, the quality of the 

 manure, and the quantity of the crops 

 grown, and much to the purse of the 

 farmer. If your neighbor be so improvi- 

 dent as to waste a dead animal, beg it of 



