270 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



it, will answer the purpose ; let him wear these 

 light weights until he is perfectly trained. This 

 process will make a smooth and easy pacer of 

 any horse. 



These sort of expedients are all very well for 

 an animal that is so deficient in natural form as 

 to be unmanageable in any other way : but they 

 are better calculated to impart a shuffling kind 

 of gait, than the clear, bold stroke, which a 

 good rider will induce by means of bit and rein. 



UNCOMMON EAR OF CORN. 



Speaking of large corn, reminds us to say 

 that a gentleman in Harrisonburg has raised 

 this season the thickest ear of that grain we 

 have yet heard of. The ear contained thirtij-two 

 rows of grains ! — and the cob was as thick as 

 the usual sized ears of corn. The usual number 

 of rows, we believe, is from eight to eighteen, 

 and as high as twenty-two ; but we have never 

 before heard of thirty-two rows on one cob. 



Rock. Register. 



For the Southern Planter. 



SASSAFRAS AND WIREGRASS. 



JMr. Editor, — I wish to make a few inquiries 

 through the Planter in regard to sassafras and 

 wiregrass. I wish to know if there is any par- 

 ticular time of the year to cut it down to destroy 

 it, or is there any way in which it can be effec- 

 tually destroyed without grazing the land with 

 cattle. I also wish to know if a thick set of 

 clover will run out wire grass. If you or any 

 of your subscribers can give me any information 

 on the subject, I will be heartily obliged to you 

 or them. For ten years previous to my pur- 

 chasing the small farm on which I now live, it 

 had been completely murdered by hard tillage, 

 grazing and rooting. The land is of the lightest 

 kind, and was worked in no particular system 

 of rotation. About seventy head of hogs and 

 forty head of cattle were allowed to run on it 

 winter and summer, and then there was no sas- 

 safras and very little of the wiregress. In about 

 two years after I got possession I took away the 

 last cross fence, which was but four years ago, 

 and since that time, both of the above named 

 evils have made rapid progress ; so much so, 

 that it caused me to take this method to try and 

 find out some remedy, if there is any. My rea- 

 son for taking away the cross fences were many. 

 I thought the land would improve faster ; timber 

 was valuable, being on the river ; and lastly, 

 being of very limited means, I was not able to 

 hire a force sufficient to keep up so much fence, 

 there being none on the farm worth anything. 

 I am sure if the former owner had stayed here 



until now, with his hogs and cows, that all hands 

 would have starved ; for I do assure you I have 

 barely escaped, but have the pleasure now to 

 find my land improving very rapidly without 

 any other source of improvement, save mere 

 grazing ; for I do not manure one acre per year. 

 I am a very bad farmer: I, however, still have 

 hopes, as I am, at the same time, a young hand 

 at the bellows. 



I fear I have intruded on your patience al- 

 ready, so I will subscribe myself 



A Late Subscriber. 



November 17, 1846. 



CALICO CORN. 



A. W. Townsend, in the Farmers' Cabinet, 

 strongly recommends the above species of corn, 

 especially for culinary purposes. Its most va- 

 luable property for this use, and that in which 

 it differs most from other varieties, is in contain- 

 ing a larger proportion of starch and less of oil. 

 Mr. T. says: "The bread of the corn, when 

 mixed and prepared for baking in the same man- 

 ner as wheat flour, will become light sooner 

 than wheat ; and for pies, does not stick together 

 as well as wheat flour. In taste a difference 

 can be discovered. But let a person who has 

 no knowledge of the article make use of the 

 bread, pudding, or pies, which occurred at my 

 own table, and let him be asked of what the 

 article was made, and he would pronounce it 

 wheat — so near does it approach it. I had se- 

 venty-two or seventy-three pounds when taken 

 to the mill; and had thirty pounds of superfine 

 and twenty of common flour, and twenty-one 

 pounds of bran." 



With us the calico corn was a total failure ; 

 it was planted in the same garden with gourd- 

 seed corn that grew to fifteen feet in height ; 

 but it was dwarfish, mean, and unproductive. 

 We could make nothing of it, either for man or 

 beast. 



VEGETABLE BUTTER. 



Butter has hitherto been supposed to be ani- 

 mal matter, and as such, has been rejected by 

 some of the Grahamites ; but recent investiga- 

 tions have proved that butter may be produced 

 from hay or grass, without depending upon the 

 cow for its preparation, and it is stated that an 

 expert chemest can produce fifteen pounds of 

 butter from a hundred weight of hay, being 

 nearly twice as much as can be produced from 

 the milk of a cow during the consumption of an 

 equal quantity of hay as food. We may, there- 

 fore, expect to see butter factories established in 

 competition with the ordinary dairies. — True 

 American. 



