3« 
SOTTTHERN CtrETIVATOR. 
French employ ih^rnirno'LeUes to perpetuate the metnoi y o' 
the dead, and few years ago, the celebrated field of 
Waterloo v/as covered with the Forget me-noi. The Mag- 
nolio is the pride of the South, where it only exists, except 
in hol-houses The variety known as ttie Grandifloia, 
attains to a very large size, and bears a splen id flower ol 
a rich creamy white, and the odor is truly delightful to the 
senses. 7'he Spireas are in their peifei-tion duiing early 
spring, and are beautiful on account of the extreme deli- 
cacy of their formation. ‘‘In eastern lands they talk in 
flowers,” and what language can be more beautiful 1 and 
what would we be without the softening influences of 
flowers'? Oh! they have bet;n my solace; and now deck 
the narrow houses of six members of my family, and as 
long as my life is spared these sweet emblems of affection 
s’rall be nurtured by my hand and watered with a tear 
The Cemetery at Augusta, now so attractive and so beau- 
tiful, was once a wild waste, with not a fluwer or shrub 
within its walks; but now the hand of vandalism is 
checked, and taste and order everywhere prevail 
In the culture of plants and flowers we should allow na- 
ture to hold Us sway, except in cases which require some 
control by the hand of man, who should be governed 
generally by its laws; yet I have seen in the Rooms of 
the Horticultural Society of Boston, a Grape vine, which 
did not exceed 14 inches in height, and which bore a 
bunch of grapes the length of the height of the vine. 
The Cotton blossom is beautiful; but does it merit all 
of our attention 1 and should we be so much charmed 
with it as to abandon all others for its sake, simply be- 
cause our fathers did so before us This is the age of 
progress and improvement. Where is there a more beau- 
tiful country for the culture of the Grape, small grain and 
the raising of Slock of allkindsi 
Clover will grow here, and with the Bermuda Grass, 
too. A root of the Clover has been traced in this State 
for 30 inches. 1 know lands in ihe State of New York, 
which have been planted in wheat and clover for 50 years, 
and which cannot be purchased at any price, and which 
will be valuable as long as time lasts t>ur system is ex- 
hausting Tio ruinous. Hillside ditching is all important 
to our interest as weil as a change in our mode of progress 
in the old paths ol those who have gone hence. 
Systematic writers on agriculture, and most others, 
when tieating of the various plants usually cultivated on 
a farm, always describe their charai-ieristic in botanical 
phraseology ; and though this way of describirtg them 
seems a proper one, when dilferent genera of plants have' 
to be distinguished from each other; yet when mere 
varieties of the same species, and especially when these 
varieties are numerous have to be treated of, a more natur 
al method of describing them seems desirable, so that they 
snay be easily distinguished by other people than botan- 
its. fhus. Professor Low, when treating of wheat, 
enumerates eleven sub divisions which are cultivated, all 
which, doubtless, form distinct characteristics; but the 
disiinctions between them art not likely to be apprehend 
ed, far less applied by the majority of farmers; and much 
less likely are they to discriminate, with botanical accur- 
acy, between the very numerous kinds that arc cultivated 
in diflferent parts of the world. Lawson's Agricultural 
Manual describes eighty-three varieties of wheat. Col 
Le Conteur mentions having in possession one handred 
and fitly kinds of wheat; and the Highland Agricultural 
Society of E.1inburg, as early as the year 1H3G, found I4l 
varieties. To distinguish between ull these with botani- 
eal exactne.ss would puzzle any farmer. The ancients 
ased to preserve grain many years to serve for food, when 
years of fimine overtook them. When Joseph was in 
Egypt, wheat was preserved 7 years in the stores; but 
that might not be a difficult matter in a climate so dry as 
The Romans prt served wheal in iheir granaries for 50 
years, and Millet 100 years, underground. This plan is 
pursued in Russia to this day The wl.eat crop of the 
United States is about 100,000,000 bushels ThatefOhio 
•20,000,000; New York and Pennsylvania 16,000,000 
ousbels each. Col Le Conteur divides all the varieties of 
wheat into two classes, namely : bearded and beardless, 
io so far he imitates the modern botanists, who divide the 
cultivated vanities of wheat into two divisions, signify- 
ing the above characteristics; but, unfortunately for the 
stability of this division, the distinction is mutable, for 
some bearded wheats loose their beards on cultivation, 
and some beardless ones are apt to become bearded, whem 
cultivated on poor soils and exposed situations. Qf Barley 
Mr. Lawson desciibes 20 varieties, while the Museum of 
the Highland and Agricultural Society has 30 kinds. The 
Barley crop of the Um»ed States, 'n accordance with the 
last census, was 4,162,000 bushels. 
Oils are cultivated on a large extent of country in Scot* 
land, and it is believed that no country produces greater 
crops of them or of finer quality. There are 51 varieties of 
them known. 
Rye was known in Egypt 3300 years ago ; but one kind 
was known in that country, though 7 varieties are to be 
seen in the Rooms of the Highland and Agricultural So- 
ciety of Edinburg. 
Red rust has been known for 2562 ye^rs, or 704 years 
previous to the oirth of our Saviour, and no remedy has 
ever been discovered for this scourge to the planter. The 
ancient Romans even resorted to the destruction of aU the 
female red dogs, during the appearance of the Dog Star, but 
without success. 
TOBACCO— EARLilEST AND BEST MODE OF 
Raising Plants. 
To raise tobacco plants early and successfully, is a great 
secret. People often fail to get early pants, because they 
do not take sufficient pains to pul in the tobacco seed; 
nor do they make their beds in the right location, and 
put them in a suitable condition for the rapid growth of 
the plant. A tobacco seed seems to be slow to start, un- 
le'-s you resort to the most ingenious means to force 
swell and sprout. 
The earliest, and perhaps the best mode of raising t<5- 
bacco plants, is as follows : 
Piepare abed, 40 feet long and 10 feet wide, in a warm 
place where the sun will help enliven the soil ; pulverize 
the ground thoroughly and deeply, and in the mbaniime 
work in fine manure, free from foul seeds, so that weeds 
will not come up among the plants; rake down the sur- 
face of the bed smoothly and nicely ; and after you have 
thus perfected a kind of hat-bed — not at all expensive to 
make — and when you are satisfied that the ground ii 
warm, or in a satisfactory state to receive the seed, sow 
it on the bed at the rate of three ounces for a plat of 
ground of the above size. But, before sowing the seed) 
prepare it in the following manner: Put three or four 
ounces into a tightly made woolen bag; moisten it witk 
warmish water, and then hang it up behind the stove in 
a warm location. It will soon begin to show signs of 
sprouting, (it should be watched;) and having found out 
that it is about to germinate, by its swollen condition and 
other indications, sow it on yo«r bed in connection with 
two or three quarts of dry sand or Indian meal The sur- 
face of the bed should be pressed down with a heavy 
plank before sowing the seed, and never rake tn iobacc* 
seed; but, after you have distributed it evenly over yoar 
plat of ground, either roll il io with a hundred pound roll- 
er made for the purpose, or tread it in with your feet 
Some press it in with a plank. About the 15th or 20th of 
April is the time you should sow your seed, if the ground 
IS passably warm Some sow earlier and some sow 
later. [Fifst of March, in the South.] 
