274 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



reducing it, sometimes, to one-half the speci- 

 mens, and sometimes a still greater reduction 

 is necessary. Besides the injury to the fruit 

 from too large a crop, the tree is also injured 

 by exhaustion, which will stint its growth, 

 render it unhealthy, and cause light crops in 

 future, particularly in the next season. 



Experience in this business is necessary, for 

 but very few persons can be taught, by pre- 

 cepts, the great importance of thinning fruit; 

 so they will go on allowing too much to re- 

 main on the trees, till they gradually learn, 

 from practice, the good effects of thinning. — 

 New England Farmer. 



CUT-WORMS. 



Some correspondent of some paper kills 

 cut-worms thus: 



I was quite successful last spring in forcing 

 tomatoes, cabbages, &c. In May 1 com- 

 menced transplanting them in my garden. — 

 Beautiful plants they were, too; and as I grew 

 them myself I felt quite proud of them. A 

 day or two after this, upon going into my gar- 

 den, I found the varmint that had destroyed 

 them; smashed their heads and re-planted. — 

 But off they went again. 1 could kill the cut- 

 worms, but that did not replace my plants. 

 A new idea struck me. I pulled a few hand- 

 fuls of clover, and laying a small quantity at 

 the base of each plant put thereon a chip. 

 By this simple contrivance I trapped the whole 

 brood of rascals, and saved my plants. 



The philosophy of this is: the cut-worm 

 prefers the green clover, which will keep so 

 for about a week, under the chip, and every 

 day or two you can hand the worms which 

 collect there over to the tender mercy of the 

 old hen and chickens. The trouble of doing 

 this is much less than re-planting. 



H. M. B. 



COMMON SCHOOLS IN DIFFERENT 

 STATES. 



New York appropriates annually to Com- 

 mon Schools $800,000. In addition to this she 

 supports a large Normal School, a Slate Su- 

 perintendent, a Teacher's Institute, and a Com- 

 mon School Library for every district in the 

 State. On the first of July, 1848, she had in 

 her district libraries 1,338,848 volumes. The 

 total school fund is $5,378,141, yielding annu- 

 ally $322,688. The whole sum of public funds 

 subject to apportionment among the school 

 districts in 1848, was $858,594, $535,906 of 

 which had to be raised by taxation; a sum 

 two and a half times as large as our entire 

 appropriation; and all this while the pub- 

 lic debt of the State is very little short of 

 tvienty-four millions. The balance of the in- 

 come of the United States Deposite Fund is 



appropriated to the support of Colleges, the 

 Normal School, Indian Schools, Teacher's In- 

 stitutes, &c. 



The Legislature of Connecticut at its last 

 session appropriated $10,000 for the establish- 

 ment of a Slate Normal School, "for the train- 

 ing of teachers in the art of instructing and 

 governing the Common Schools of the State." 

 The Principal of the Normal School is ex 

 officio Superintendent of Common Schools and 

 is bound to hold a convention in every county 

 in the State once a year for the instruction of 

 teachers. The number attending the Normal 

 School is limited to 220, to be selected, one 

 from each school society. Tuition free. 



Maine appropriates annually $2,600 to the 

 support of Teacher's Institutes. New Hamp- 

 shire for the same purpose $1,500; she pays 

 likewise for "Officer's School of Instruction" 

 $3,795; and raises by tax for the support of 

 schools $159,430. 



Pennsylvania with a population of about 

 2,250,000 appropriates to schools about $701,- 

 73 1; more than $500,000 of which is raised 

 by taxation. 



The Legislature of Mississippi has recently 

 appropriated $200,000 to the support of free 

 schools for the year; and may every year ap- 

 propriate a sum not greater than the State tax, 

 which for 1847 was $379,735. 



Louisiana at an extra session of the Legis- 

 lature in December, 1849, appropriated for 

 public schools $550,000, and $10,000 to support 

 public schools for free colored children. The Su- 

 perintendent of Common Schools, Rev. Alex. 

 Dimitry, receives a salary of $3,000. The 

 white population of the State is about 500,000; 

 colored 200,000. This is, therefore, a very 

 munificent appropriation; and in the ratio of 

 population, is about eight times as great as 

 that of Ohio. 



The Constitution of Iowa provides for a 

 Superintendent of Education, who shall hold 

 his office three years. The Constitution of 

 Kentucky also provides for a Superintendent 

 of Common Schools. Also, the Constitution 

 of California provides for a Superintendent of 

 public instruction, and fixes his salary at 

 $3,500. Wherever new States are forming 

 Constitutions, or old States re-modelling theirs, 

 we find provision for the great improvements 

 in instruction demanded by the age. — Prairie 

 Farmer. 



He is a public benefactor, who, by the pru- 

 dent and skilful outlay of his money in bet- 

 tering its condition, shall make a single field 

 yield permanently a double crop; and he who 

 does this over a square mile, virtually adds a 

 square mile to the national territory— nay, he 

 does more; he doubles, to this extent, the ter- 

 ritorial resources of the country, without giv- 

 ing the State any larger actual area to defend. 

 All hail, then, to the improvers of the soil! 

 Health and long life be their fortune— may 



