THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



the plants to pasture on, for every one surface 

 of culture. It protects them alike from the 

 ills of extreme drought, and excessive wet. 

 It unfolds new mineral resources to the roots 

 of the plants, wh.ile the ease with which their 

 descent is made, encourages a vigorous growth, 

 and thus defends them from the u-prooting in- 

 fluences of the freezings and thawings of 

 w inter." 



It is always best, in our opinion, to harrow 

 the land ploughed from day to. day, as it- is 

 then easiest reduced to a fine tilth. 



In selection of seed, the heaviest and plump- 

 est is of course the best; aad many people 

 find out which is. the heaviest by casting, or 

 throwing the grain some distance on the floor, 

 and. only using that which falls farthest. This 

 is certainly a summary method, but it is pro- 

 bably attended with no further advantage than 

 the separation of the wheat from, the lighter 

 seed of qhess or weeds. In some way the 

 wheat should be carefully cleansed from eve- 

 ry other seed, and if this method does not 

 cleanse it, the seive should be resorted, to. 

 Washing in strong brine will cleanse it of 

 most things; as the lighter substances will 

 lloat on the surface ; and may be then picked 

 off If the wheat is smutty, it should be again 

 washed in another brino, with a little quick 

 lime mixed with it; or in the brines mention- 

 ed in the following recipe, which we get from 

 the American Farmer. The smut may always 

 be prevented by a little care at the time of 

 sowing : 



1st. Prepare a ley of wood ashes. 

 2d. A brine of salt and water. 

 3d. A ley of lime. 



Each strong enough to bear an egg or pota- 

 to. Graduate these steeps to the quantity of 

 wheal you may wish to soak. Having pre- 

 pared them, take as. much wheat as you wish 

 to sow from day to> d,ay, wash it well in pure 

 water from the pump, until it no longer disco- 

 lors the water. Then, put it into the steep, stir 

 it well and skim off the light grains that float 

 '^e top. These light grains may be given 

 v ogs. Let the seed remain the over 

 <i sieep. Next morning when you 

 "ow, drain off the waier and dry 

 "ked lime, unslacked ashes, or 



plaster. As soon as this is done, begin to sow, 

 taking care not to.dry more seed anyone day 

 than you can sow that day. No harm is done 

 to the seed while in soak,, for many days,, but 

 its germinating powers, if left for only a few 

 days, after being taken out and dried, would 

 be destroyed. Seed wheat, when thus pre- 

 pared, is not only secured against smut, but 

 receives in the process, an impetus which 

 urges.forth vegetation several days in advance 

 of that, which may be sown without being 

 soaked, and grows and roots much quicker. 



BURNING WELLS OF KANAWHA. 



We take the following curious and interest- 

 ing account of the burning wells of Kanawha 

 from the columns of " r l he Farmer and Me- 

 chanic :" 



The Salt Wells of Kanawha, some of 

 which are sunk lo the depth of 2,000 feet 

 in the earth, discharge an immense quan- 

 tity of carburetted hydrogen gas with the 

 salt water. The force of the ascending 

 volume is very great and rises to the height 

 of 100 feet above the surface of the earth. 

 A lighted torch applied to the ascending 

 column instantly ignites the gas — it burns 

 with great brilliancy. The water which 

 rises from the deepest well is intensely 

 cold, as is also the gas. The workmen 

 become chilled in a few minutes when 

 employed about the well. The laborers 

 in warm weather fill earthen jugs with 

 rain water, and then immerse the jug in 

 the vats in which the water from the wells 

 is- collected, and thus refrigerate the river 

 water, making it as cold as iced water. 



The force of the ascending column of 

 water and gas in a well recently sunk to 

 the depth of 3.00 feet was so great when 

 first struck by the auger, that the auger 

 and' wooden poles attached, were all 

 blown out of the shaft and thrown info 

 the river, 200 feet distant, to the great ter- 

 ror and confusion of the workmen. My 

 friend, Thomas Spencer, Esq., former Su- 

 perintendent of ihe New York State Sa- 

 lines, of Onondaga, has recently visited 

 the Kanawha Salines, on his return from 

 Fossil Salt Mines, in the Southwestern 

 Mountains of Virginia, and has given me 



