THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



185 



so that some doubt maybe left on the mind of 

 your marauder as to what it really is. Says 

 the Massachusetts Ploughman, crows are ex- 

 pected to know something, else it would be 

 cruel in legislatures to punish them. Crows 

 know B from broomstick, and a post from a 

 pair of legs. If you intend your sentry to 

 stand out openly he must have all the parts 

 and appearances of an natural gunner, or the 

 crows will see the fraud and laugh in your 

 face. But you need not be particular in the 

 shape of your image if you will let him be 

 partially concealed. Put some boughs over 

 him. Make a slight bush shelter for him to 

 hide in, and the outward appearances will be 

 such that the boldest warriors will shy at it 

 as an ambuscade. 



PRESERVING BACON. 



I observe it is recommended to dust 

 bacon with black pepper before putting 

 up to smoke. We rub the fleshy parts 

 of our hams with red pepper before salt- 

 ing — about a tea-spoonful to each ham, 

 and for the last twenty years have not 

 found it necessary to use any more care 

 to keep our hams from flies than we do 

 our bread. — Selected. 



From the Farmers' Cabinet. 



CULTIVATION OF CRANBERRIES. 



The attention of the public having 

 been called to the culture of this delicious 

 fruit, and Mr. Gardner, of Massachusetts, 

 having produced three hundred and twen- 

 ty busheb to the acre, on upland soil, I 

 proceed to give his mode of cultivation, 

 as follows : " I select a piece of cold, wet 

 land that will keep moist through the 

 y ear — remove the top soil to the depth of 

 two inches; this prevents all grass or 

 weeds from growing, and the plant will 

 require no cultivation after they are set 

 out. After the top was removed, I har- 

 rowed the ground smooth and marked it 

 out in drills, eighteen inches apart, and 

 set in the plants four inches apart. Some 

 I set out on sods fourteen inches square, 



placed in holes a little below the surface. 

 They all flourished far beyond my expec- 

 tation: the first year they put forth run- 

 ners three feet long, and every vine was 

 loaded with fruit. The plants can be set 

 out from September to December, and 

 from April to the last of June. 

 Yours, &c. 



B. G. Boswell. 



TEA. 



The following account of the method in 

 which tea is gathered and dried for market 

 will probably be interesting to some of our 

 readers. We believe there is more than one 

 subscriber to the Planter who raises a small 

 quantity of it, and it is certain that as much 

 as could be needed might be raised south of 

 the Potomac if the method of cultivating it 

 was generally known, and if there were not 

 so many crops which requite less labor and 

 care to be profitable to us. This account is 

 an extract from the letter of a Mrs. Culbert- 

 son, wife of one of the missionaries in China. 

 As the writer who publishes it remarks, it is 

 not only the most full and definite account we 

 have seen, but it corrects many mistakes that 

 have hitherto prevailed about it; such as that 

 tea is a narcotic when lately gathered so pow- 

 erful that the Chinese do not venture to touch 

 it for twelve months after it is taken from the 

 bush, that the newly gathered leaves are sub- 

 jected to steam, that they are dried on copper 

 vessels, &c. &c. 



On the side of the hill, we found wo- 

 men and children picking tea leaves from 

 the shrub, which is as high as ordinary 

 currant-bushes. [Perhaps I am mistaken 

 here; Mr. C. thinks they were not over 

 two feet high. J They are set a few feet 

 from each other, and the leaves in form 

 and size are very much like those of a 

 winter-green. A little farther on, we 

 passed through a village of a thousand 

 inhabitants, where we saw large quanti- 

 ties of tea drying on mats spread on the 

 ground. 



But I am forgetting to tell you what I 

 presume will be more interesting to you 



