THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



245 



is not verified. Dr. Blsetterman, former Professor 

 in the University of Virginia, says: " The chief be- 

 neficial purpose served by lime is its chemical ac- 

 tion upon the organic matter of the soil — an action 

 which proceeds slowly and imperceptibly, but which 

 causes the organic matter itself ultimately to dis- 

 appear, and after it has thus disappeared, fresh 

 additions of lime produce no farther effect." But 

 he qualifies and explains himself thus : " The bene- 

 ficial effects of lime are particularly apparent, even 

 on the first crop, after its application to such land 

 as, from the great accumulation of acids of organic 

 origin in it, had been rendered incapable of bearing 

 a crop of any useful plant — such land cannot, with 

 propriety, be called sterile, for it will bring spon- 

 taneously a tolerable crop of sheep sorrel, a better 

 still of broomsedge, cinque-foil and hen's nest grass, 

 nay, even a very luxuriant crop of pines." Another 

 writer says, "A raw potato is not only a very nau- 

 seous but a very unwholesome food. It contains 

 properties almost poisonous to man. But cook it — 

 the heat changes these properties and it becomes a 

 delicious and nourishing dish. In this way mineral 

 manures, such as lime, plaster, ashes and salt chiefly 

 work." From such sentiments and statements as 

 the foregoing, it would not be very unreasonable 

 to expect an application of mineral substances alone 

 to our poorest lands to be unattended by any very 

 immediate and decisive effects — at least with us, 

 who are prone to think that one of the grand sources 

 of poverty in our lands, is the want of organic re- 

 mains in them, which we are continually endeavor- 

 ing to supply by means of the various putrescent 

 manures. Unless, then, we adopt the seeming pa- 

 radox of Dr. Bhetterman, that our poor lands are 

 not, properly speaking, sterile, and do yet contain 

 much organic nutriment for plants, though in a 

 state of inertness, until, by some process or other, 

 it is made effective by mineral manures, is it not 

 fair to presume, from the experiment detailed above, 

 that these latter substances may act as direct fer- 

 tilizing agents to land as well as those of an or- 

 ganic nature 1 



Respectfully submitted, 



George Fitzgerald. 



Nottoway, Jan. 19, 1854. 



TOMATO CATSUP. 



The following recipe for this pleasant and valua- 

 ble condiment has been handed us by a gentleman 

 who has tried it and says it will do. As he knows 

 what is good as well as most people, we give it 

 without hesitation to the cooking public: 



"One gallon skinned tomatoes, four table-spoon- 

 fuls of black pepper, four table-spoonfuls of salt, 

 three table-spoonfuls of mustard, one table-spoon- 

 ful of allspice, eight pods of red pepper. Contents 

 ground fine, simmered slowly in vinegar in a bell- 

 metal kettle three or four hours and strained through 

 a wire sieve and bottled close. So much vinegar 

 is to be used as to leave half a gallon of liquor 

 when the process is over." 



To Clean Brass. — Hub it over with a bit of flan- 

 nel dipped in sweet oil ; then rub it hard with finely 

 powdered rotten stone, then rub it with a soft linen 

 cloth, and polish with a bit of wash-leather. 



CATTLE DISTEMPER. 



Editor of Southern Planter, — In perusing the es- 

 say of W. S. Morton, of Cumberland, on the "Dis- 

 eases of Cattle," in the last number of the Planter, 

 I was reminded of some circumstances of this dis- 

 ease that occurred here some few years ago that 

 seemed strongly to confirm some of the conclusions 

 arrived at in that essay. Some years ago a con- 

 nexion of mine, from Ohio, took a drove of horses 

 to Baltimore, and sold them there. He then pro- 

 cured a drove of mules and conveyed them to the 

 southern part of this State, in Southampton or the 

 adjacent counties, and there disposed of them. 

 And being willing to trade wherever he went, and 

 knowing that the graziers of this county were not 

 fully supplied with cattle the fall before (this beiug 

 early in the spring,) he bought a drove of the small 

 cattle of that region and brought them into Lou- 

 doun and sold them. It being before pasture was 

 plenty, he brought them to my barn-yard and fed 

 them with hay until they were sold. During the 

 summer almost every individual who bought cattle 

 out of this drove had the disease introduced among 

 his own stock, though not one of the southern cattle 

 died with it. So that it seems that infected cattle 

 grazing on grass will communicate the disease to 

 healthy cattle that graze on the same grass. I only 

 bought one, a heifer that had a calf while here, 

 and my milch cows passed daily through the barn- 

 yard where these cattle were, but they did not feed 

 with them, and none of my cattle were attacked 

 with the disease. Some of my neighbors lost about 

 half a dozen cattle more valuable than any they 

 purchased out of this drove. These southern cat- 

 tle fattened kindly, but did not increase much in 

 size ; and were another drove to come here from 

 that region, I question very much whether our 

 farmers would, from their present experience, suffer 

 them to enter their enclosures at all, much less to 

 purchase any ; they would have nothing to do with 

 them. The disease has not appeared since that 

 season. 



Yardley Taylor. 

 Loudoun County, Va., 7th mo. 21st, 1854. 

 P. S. — The weather lately here has been very hot 

 and dry ; our corn is suffering very much and pas- 

 tures drying up. Our wheat crop is large — the 

 earlier ripened grain is good, but the late is some- 

 what injured with the rust. Y. T. 



For the Southern Planter. 



SHADE TO DESTROY WIRE GRASS. 



Mr. Editor, — I was reminded by your July num- 

 ber of my intention to inform you of the fact, that 

 shade will destroy wire grass and prevent its exten- 

 sion. In 1840 my family spent the winter in Geor- 

 gia, and found the wire grass used as a yard grass, 

 and prevented from extending merely by laying- 

 logs around the circumference of the yard. It has 

 existed for forty years in a field adjoining one of 

 my own, and has not extended into my field, sepa- 

 rated only by a common rail fence and a slight 

 hedge-row. The field in which it is has not been 

 cultivated for many years, and wherever it has 

 grown up in bushes and shrubs the wire grass Iras 

 almost entirely disappeared. It has existed for the 

 last ten years in another field of the same neighbor 

 on one side of a common crooked rail fenee, wfelt* 

 out any hedge-row, and has not penetrated at all 



