282 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



For the Southern Planter. 



MIXED CROPS. 



It is very important to all of us whose 

 means are small to make the best use of the 

 land we cultivate. I do not mean to say get 

 all we can out of it at every hazard and at 

 the expense of its natural fertility; because I 

 always wish to see some improvement added 

 each time a piece of ground is cultivated. — 

 Our truck patches which, if they furnish us 

 nothing to sell, serve to fill up our tables and 

 give zest to our meats, ought to receive more 

 care than is generally bestowed. We might 

 often raise upon one acre what now requires 

 three, and with diminished labor. The plan 

 which I have endeavored to pursue is that of 

 mixed crops, particularly as to tomatoes, po- 

 tatoes, watermelons and corn, which grow so 

 well together. We all know how well-tasted 

 and how safe is the mixture of tender, green 

 corn and stewed tomatoes when dressed upon 

 the table; so, also, in their growth, they agree 

 well. Professor Mapes says that the tomato 

 when grown among corn is far superior to 

 those grown in the ordinary way. I know 

 this to be a fact, and the best flavored toma- 

 toes I ever tasted grew among corn in low- 

 grounds from hap hazard seed cast there amidst 

 pumpkins and gourds. I have planted the 

 Irish potato between five and a half feet corn 

 rows; but do not think the practice pays. I 

 prefer planting the potatoes regularly and af- 

 terwards corn here and there, in the patch. 

 That the corn does absolutely prevent rot in 

 the potato, I cannot say from observation. — 

 The theory is that corn has a superior attrac- 

 tion for the nitrogenous matters of the soil, 

 and therefore prevents them, when become 

 soluble from being absorbed in loo great a de- 

 gree by less energetic plants, to which they 

 are hurtful. 



The plan I pursued this year was water- 

 melons, muskmelons, tomatoes, com and a 

 few gourd vines all upon the same ground. 

 Watermelons were the main crop. Adjacent 

 to this patch, potatoes were planted. Now 

 all these crops are in good condition, and I 

 cannot help thinking that, differing as they do 

 in their component elements, each has drawn 

 from the soil that particular species of nour- 

 ishment best suited to its structure. It appears 

 strange that all should be belter than if each 

 were separately planted; still it seems to be 

 true. 



It is another advantage of this mixture of 

 truck patch crops that we are enabled to save 

 so much labor; and what, I would ask, can 

 be a better preparation for wheat than the cul- 

 tivation given, throughout the summer, to 

 ground thus managed 1 



Turnips, which, after all that has been said 

 in their praise, are in this climate, a vastly 

 overrated crop, may be grown upon the space 

 occupied by the earlier dug potatoes and the 

 early watermelons. The ground will be just 



in that condition in which it can best accom- 

 modate their long tap-roots. I should feel 

 more secure of a crop when sowing them in 

 such a situation than on land freshly flushed. 



These suggestions from experience and ob- 

 servation are not applicable to farmers of en- 

 larged estates but to such as would make 

 themselves comfortable and prosperous upon 

 a Small Farm, 



ELECTRO-MAGNETISM AND MOTIVE 

 POWER. 



Most of our readers will recollect the ac- 

 counts published in the newspapers of the 

 country several years since, of the discovery 

 of the means of converting electro-magnetism 

 into a motive power. The name of Dr. Chas. 

 G. Page, of the Patent Office, more than that 

 of any other person, has been connected with 

 its practical application. Dr. P. by experi- 

 ments in miniature, so to speak, became con- 

 vinced that electro-magnetism might be so 

 applied as to supersede the use of steam 

 power in most situations. He accordingly 

 applied to Congress for the means of conduct- 

 ing his investigations upon a larger scale. — 

 An appropriation of twenty thousand dollars 

 was obtained and has been expended in a va- 

 riety of experimental investigations under Dr. 

 Page's direction. The results are now in the 

 course of exhibition to the public at the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, where Dr. P. has been lec- 

 turing and displaying his magnetic enguse in 

 full operation. The National Intelligencer 

 thus notices the lectures: 



"Professor Page, in the lectures which he 

 is now delivering before the Smithsonian In- 

 stitution, states that there is no longer any 

 doubt of the application of this power as a 

 substitute for steam. He exhibited the most 

 imposing experiments ever witnessed in this 

 branch of science. An immense bar of iron, 

 weighing one hundred and sixty pounds, was 

 made to spring up by magnetic action, and to 

 move rapidly up and down, dancing like a 

 feather in the air, without any visible support. 

 The force operating upon this bar he stated to 

 average three hundred pounds through ten inches 

 of its motion. He said he could raise this 

 bar one hundred and ninety feet as readily 

 through ten inches, and he expected no diffi- 

 culty in doing the same with a bar weighing 

 one ton, or a hundred tons. He could make 

 a pile driver, or a forge-hammer, with great 

 simplicity, and could make an engine with a 

 stroke of six, twelve, twenty, or any number 

 of feet. 



