THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



309 



combined albumen, or caseine and water, as it 

 can be by washing and working the butter when 

 it is taken from the churn. 



The experience of our best butter makers 

 coincides with these results, proving that it 

 does not depend altogether upon the churning 

 and working, but also upon the state of the 

 milk and cream from which the butter is pro- 

 duced. 



PROPERTIES OF CHARCOAL. 



The following is from an interesting article, by 

 J. Stenhonse, F. R, S., in the Journal of the So- 

 ciety of Arts, London: 



" My attention was particularly drawn to the 

 importance of charcoal as a disinfecting agent, 

 by my friend, John TurnbuU, Esq., of Grlas- 

 gow, Scotland, the well-known extensive chemi- 

 cal manufacturer. Mr. TurnbuU, about nine 

 months ago, placed the bodies of two dogs in 

 a Vt^ooden box, on a layer of charcoal powder 

 a few inches in depth, and covered them over 

 with a quantity of the same material. Though 

 the box was quite open and kept in his labora- 

 tory, no effluvium was ever perceptible ; and on 

 examining the bodies of the animals, at the end 

 of six months, scarcely anything remained of 

 them except the bones. Mr. TurnbuU sent me 

 a portion of the charcoal powder which had 

 been most closely in contact with the bodies of 

 the dogs. I submitted it for examination to 

 one of my pupils, Mr. Turner, who found it 

 contained comparatively little ammonia, not a 

 trace of sulphurated hydrogen, but very appre- 

 ciable quantities of nitric sulphuric acids, with 

 acid phosphate of lime. 



" Mr. Turner subsequently, about 3 months 

 ago, buried two rats in about two inches of 

 charcoal powder, and a few days afterward the 

 body of a full grown cat was similarly treated. 

 Though the bodies of these animals are now in 

 a highly putrid state, not the slightest odor is 

 perceptible in the laboratory. 



"From this short statement of facts, the 

 utility of charcoal powder as a means of pre- 

 venting noxious effluvia from churchyards and 

 from dead bodies in other situations, such as 

 on board a ship, is sufficiently evident. Co- 

 vering a churchyard to the depth of from two 

 to three inches, with coarsely powdered char- 

 coal, would prevent i\ny putrid exhalations ever 

 finding their way into the atmosphere. Char- 

 coal powder, also, greatly favors the rapid de- 

 composition of the dead bodies with which it 

 is in contact, so that in the course of six or 

 eight months, little is left except tlie bones. 



"In all the modern systems of chemistry. 



such, for instance, as the last edition of Tur- 

 ner's ' Elements,' charcoal is described as pos- 

 sessing antiseptic properties, while the very 

 reverse is the fact. Common salt, nitre, cor- 

 rosive sublimate, arsenious acid, alcohol, cam- 

 phor, creosote, and most essential oils, are cer- 

 tainly antiseptic substances, and therefore re- 

 tard the decay of animal and vegetable matters. 

 Charcoal, on the contrary, as we have just seen, 

 greatly facilitates the oxidation, and conse- 

 quently the decomposition, of any organic sub- 

 stances with which it is in contact. It is, there- 

 fore, the very opposite of an antiseptic." 



Prom the Mark Lane Express. 



SEED WHEAT AND ITS PREPARATIONS. 



This is an important subject, and deserves 

 the most careful attention of every farmer. 

 The choice of wheat for seed, has long been 

 considered of great moment in promoting the 

 farmer's prosperity. A wrong selection of seed 

 will yield no rent; while a judicious choice 

 will yield both rent and profit. This is often 

 proved. Upon whatever variety the farmer's 

 choice may fall, he ought to select the best 

 sample of it that he can meet with. I would 

 as soon use an inferior ram to my flock, or an 

 inferior bull to my herd, as sow an inferior 

 grain, be it from whatever well known stock. 

 " Like is said to produce like." Be this as it 

 may ; with respect to grain, the probability is 

 much in favor of the good grain producing 

 good grain, and good crops of it too. The va- 

 rieties of wheat are now so very numerous, 

 that much difficulty arises in making a proper 

 choice. Varieties suited to every soil and cli- 

 mate, are now generally grown throughout the 

 kingdom; and the facilities of railway transit 

 are so great, that every farmer may with ordi- 

 nary care, suitably supply himself, provided he 

 is acquainted with the nature and habits of the 

 precise variety he wishes to obtain ; the soil 

 and climate he can readily ascertain, but not 

 so the grain — the same varieties being sold 

 under difierent names in their respective dis- 

 tricts. To obviate this, he ought to make pe- 

 riodical exchanges with farmers who are well 

 known to him, and occupying other soils and 

 other climates, (for climates difi"er according to 

 elevation and other circumstances,) of those 

 varieties he finds it to his interest most to cul- 

 tivate ; he can thus keep to his profitable va- 

 riety. As a general rule, the exchange should 

 be from a cold to a more genial climate — from 

 a chalky soil to a loamy soil — from a peaty soil 

 to all or any other soils — from clay to sand, 

 and vice versa. In the majority of cases, a 

 change is good on every soil, and under every 



