48 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



most kinds of lever sores; will destroy 

 proud flesh, and cause the sore to heal. 



It is good for hoof rot in sheep, and may 

 be applied to any sore with safely. The 

 sore should be kept clean, and washed 

 twice a day with the mixture, until com- 

 pletely healed. For the eye it may be di- 

 luted in cold water one half, but should in 

 all cases be used as strong as the patient 

 can bear. For hoof rot in sheep, add as 

 much gunpowder as vitriol, pare away all 

 the affected part of the hoof, wash freely 

 every few days, turn the sheep into fresh 

 pasture^ and you have a cure. 



For the Southern Planter. 

 EXPERIMENTS IN AGRICULTURE. 



Mr. Editor, — As there is such a diversity of 

 opinion with farmers in regard to the system 

 of farming, manuring, &c. it seems necessary 

 that every thing should be tested by experi- 

 ment, in order to a correct understanding of 

 the subject. In 1850 I fallowed a piece of 

 land for wheat. In the month of October I 

 seeded it in wheat with one hundred pounds 

 of Peruvian guano. The yield of wheat was 

 twenty to one. After the wheat was taken 

 from the field it was gleaned by the hogs; the 

 field was to go in corn the next year. In the 

 month of October I concluded to turn in the 

 stubble and weeds; and did so on nearly one- 

 half of the field. I had a strip of cow pens 

 across the field. The first three pens were 

 cow penned, and ploughed in at the time the 

 other land was; the second was not ploughed 

 until thespring; the third and last was ploughed 

 at the time of the first, and penned on after- 

 wards. Now for the result, as near as it can 

 be given by the eye. The stubble land that 

 was ploughed produced much better corn than 

 the adjoining land with a heavy manuring; 

 and while nearly every hill stood of the former, 

 the latter was destroyed by the worm, and a 

 large portion planted three times over. The 

 first and second cow pens were about equal, 

 while the third was very inferior. Although 

 it produced a very heavy cover of crab grass. 



My views on the above are these: First, I 

 believe that the weeds and stubble turned in 

 at that season have time to decay before cold 

 weather, and is food for the corn plant in its 

 early growth. Secondly, there is no harbor 

 for insects; and thirdly, the decayed vegetable 

 matter is where it ought to be, a little below 

 the roots; and here I would remark that, from 

 observation and experience, I am fully satisfied 

 that manure for grain should be ploughed in, 

 and for grass, top-dressed. I mean manure 

 that is available for the young plants; it would 

 be unavailing to turn in coarse wheat straw, 

 com tops or stalks, because the infant plant 



could not get hold of it. It would prove an 

 obstruction to the feeble joots, turning them 

 out of their course when in search of food. 

 All such rough material, if used in that state, 

 should be applied to the surface. It was pre- 

 dicted by some that in case I made better com 

 by the operation I have imperfectly described, 

 that it would injure the land. It will be re- 

 membered that this was fallowed two years 

 in succession, one for wheat and one for corn, 

 both crops very good ones. It is now in wheat, 

 having the same treatment as the balance of 

 the field, and I think the wheat is rather better. 

 Had the prediction, above referred to, been 

 true, yet I should not have lost by the opera- 

 tion, for the crop would fully have reimbursed 

 for all injury. I hold the opinion that any 

 good crop extracted from land without manure, 

 leaves the land more destitute than it was 

 before. 



C. C. Snow. 



Northumberland,, Jan. 12, 1853. 



For the Southern Planter. 

 LOSS OF BACON IN CURING. 



IMPORTANT APPLICATION OF THE SYPHON 

 PRINCIPLE. 



Mr. Editor, — 1 promised you some time ago 

 a memoranda I made of the loss sustained in 

 curing pork into bacon. On hunting up the 

 paper I find it was in 1832 that I took six 

 hogs which weighed 1,080 lbs. and after cutting 

 them out I weighed the different parts sepa- 

 rately. They weighed as follows: 

 The heads weighed - 105 lbs. 



The feet weighed ... 37 " 

 The backbones weighed - - 84 " 

 The fat weighed ... 83 u 

 The ribs and small pieces weighed 22 " 



331 " 



The hams, shoulders and middlings, 749 " 

 The 20th May, after smoking, weighed 621 " 



Loss in curing .... 128 " 



The memorandum does not say at what 

 time they were killed or hung up, though it is 

 not important; but I remember it was very 

 good pork. 



While I have my pen in hand I will give 

 you some account of my syphon, as some one 

 may wish to convey water in that way, and 

 be as much at a loss as I was. I inquired of 

 many persons and could find no one that had 

 ever seen or heard of water being conveyed 

 any distance in that way. I determined to try 

 it, and have succeeded, contrary to the expec- 

 tations of all my neighbors. I have the water 

 coming to my house from a spring 440 yards 

 distant. It comes over a hill 22 feet higher 

 than the spring and about 50 feet higher than 

 the house, in a leaden pipe three-quarters ol 



