REVIEW OF FEBRUARY NUMBER OF THE AGRICULTURIST. 
127 
and attach these to the plow beam and it will 
run easier and steadier and make a better drain 
in my opinion, than the subsoil plow. 
Native Grasses. — How can you expect indi- 
viduals to do a duty that the state society should 
do ? Let the society offer a premium worthy of 
the name of one for this very information, and 
it will do more good than a premium for the 
fattest boar or biggest bull ever raised. 
Who is Reviewer?— It would have better suited 
my pleasure and convenience to remain incog., 
while writing these papers ; for so long as 1 wore 
the mask, I could have spoken with more ease 
and freedom, and I think with more profit to the 
readers of the Agriculturist than I now can; I 
very much regret that the editors should think 
it advisable so far to yield to public curiosity, 
as to make me and my happy home in the " Val- 
ley" so widely known. However, as it is now 
done, it cannot be helped ; and I shall endeavor 
to make the best of the matter, by continuing, if 
possible, as free and jovial as ever. But if I do 
not pay the editors in their own coin one of 
these days for this exposure, it will be because 
I cannot. The first leisure day I get, I intend 
to invade their editorial sanctum, capsize the tri- 
pod, ransack the warehouse and store, dive into 
the machine shop, and turn everything on 
the premises inside out, to the astonishment and 
gaze of the public. Then we shall see what we 
shall see. In the mean while, speed the plow — 
give me a clear field — and float high the flag of 
an old sailor's rights. 
Guano — How should it be applied 1 — Very much 
after the Dutchman's directions for using lime. 
" In der virst blace you shall pe zhure you boot 
der lime on der landt." Well, what next 1 " Pe 
zhure you shall boot a leedle more lime in der 
landt. It vill to him goot every dime." 
Sea-Marsh Mud. — This is one of the most 
easily-obtained and most neglected manures. It 
is very valuable. 
Products of the Mulberry. — It is very strange 
that among all the silk speculations in this 
country, that the use of mulberry bark has nev- 
er been brought into notice. Besides making 
cloth, it might be used for many other purposes. 
Small cordage made from it would be very 
strong. Mulberry leaves and sprouts make ex- 
cellent forage, also. We have yet much to learn 
about the products of this earth. 
American Provisions in England. — The article 
under this head contains some home truths, that 
the reader had better refer back to and take a 
careful note of. He may profit by it. 
Value of Corn Cobs. — Look at this article again, 
and then if the spirit of waste is on you strong, 
go on throwing your cobs into the street, or any 
where else. Don't even use them for manure, 
much more for feeding stock. Your father did 
not consider them good for anything, and I guess 
he know'd. " I ain't agoin' to do nothin' daddy 
didn't do afore me." 
A Fat Durham Ox. — This portrait occupies too 
much valuable room ; though it might have been 
interesting to readers if the size and weight had 
been given. As it is, not one in ten will appre- 
ciate it as anything but the picture of an ox. 
New- York and Erie Railroad. — This is a capi- 
tal article, and will be read with a great deal of 
interest in places where the readers will hear 
of this road for the first time. 
Products of Illinois. — A very fair picture, but 
do you grow rich upon this rich soil ? How is 
it with fever and ague, flies and mosquitoes, and 
some other little things I formerly encountered 
travelling over the prairies, when looking after 
my wild lands that I was so unlucky as to pur- 
chase during the excitement of '36 ? So much 
for listening to the advice of some very good, 
apparently disinterested friends ! But you don't 
bite me again, my good fellows. 
Drilling Grain — Thick and Thin Sowing. — 
There are some facts set forth in this article 
that ought to be well investigated. I have al- 
ways been an advocate of thick seeding. I am 
much in favor of drilling wheat, and one objec- 
tion I have had to drills is, that they do not 
use seed enough. " Nugator" should have given 
us the quality of his soil, to enable us to form a 
better opinion of his practice. Why not " inform 
us who he really is," and who is that " honora- 
ble gentleman in these parts," that has tried ex- 
periments ? If there is any light in Accomack, 
pray let it shine. 
Wheat Bran, as a Fertiliser. — What next? 
Who says " that a hadful to the hill of corn will 
double the crop?" Let us have names, places, 
dates, and full particulars from the bran experi- 
menters themselves. 
Clover-Sowing Machine. — Another article worth 
ten years' subscription. So is wire fences. 
Profitable Farming. — There are thousands of 
places in the United States, where just such re- 
sults might be produced by just such a course 
as here detailed. I think this gentleman must 
have read something besides law books, to en- 
able him to " take the kinks" out of such land. 
Georgia Farming. — A course that might be 
profitably followed by half the farmers and 
planters in the Union. Too much land is the 
great error of the whole farming interest. 
Improvement in Sugar Making, by the use of 
bi-sulphate of lime, as discovered by Melsens, 
if the accounts are true, is one of the most im- 
portant discoveries of this age of wonders. Be- 
cause sugar is no longer a luxury, but a neces- 
sary of life, and healthful food ; and any process 
which tends to cheapen it, will prove a public 
blessing. 
Reviewer. 
AMOUNT OF FOOD RAISED ON AN ACRE. 
The amount of human food that can be pro- 
duced upon an acre is worthy of great consider- 
ation. One hundred bushels of Indian corn per 
acre is not an uncommon crop. One peck per 
week will not only sustain life, but give a man 
strength to labor, if the stomach is properly 
toned, to that amount of food. This, then, would 
feed one man 400 weeks, or almost eight years ! 
Four hundred bushels of northern potatoes, 
can also be raised upon an acre. This would 
give a bushel a week for the same length of 
time ; and the actual weight of an acre of sweet 
potatoes is 21,344 pounds, which is not consider- 
