58 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
niHy be marie every eijiht or ten rods. These need not be 
large, and everybody knows they will turn olF the water 
in an effectual manner, and thus preserve the road 
Simply turnpiking a road on a hill does not seem to 
amount to much, as natural soil will wash away about as 
soon as it is thrown up. 
There is a radical detect in our system of road making, 
and It wants improving about as much as anything in the 
whole range of rural economy 
A road made after the above plan will not cost much 
beyond $*2. 75 or S3. UO per rod ; and every district, there 
lore can build many rods annually. 
This plan is growing more in public favor, year by 
year — at least with us ; and as time rolls on, I believe 
people will begin to appreciate the value of stone founda- 
tions in our roads, and will build as less number of rods, 
and make those few rods well, so that time and use will 
not prove their ruin. T , 
[ Genesee Farmer. 
FARMERS’ CliUBS. 
Another S''.ason with its results and its varied experi- 
ences is now before the cultivators of the Farm and Garden 
and many a fact of practical value has been learned by 
them during that periad. Different individuals, however, 
seem to turn over different leaves in the great library of 
Nature, each reading a special lesson of her operations ; 
hence, by the communication and comparison of their 
experiences, much valuable knowledge may be added to 
the general as well as individual stock of information. To 
communicate and compare facts and ideas is the greatob- 
ject of Farmers’ Clubs, the formation of which we have 
from time to time attempted to encourage, we fear, how- 
ever, but with partial success. 
The present is just the time to organize these social 
meeting , and there need be nothing complex about the 
matter. Let the people of any rural neighborhood inter- 
ested in the cultivation of the soil, meet at any convenieiit 
place, and choose a chairman and secretary from their 
number — and they are supplied with officers fora start 
Next, let them select a subject for discussion, and all so 
disposed give briefly their experience — or any facts perti- 
nent to the question before them — the Club is at work 
They wid soon learn what simple rules are necessary to 
the furtherance ofihe objects in view, and can agree upon 
them as they are needed. Suiijects should be selected for 
the next evening, and it may be well to request one or 
more brief essays from persons competent to their prepar- 
ation No difficulty will be found in the selection of 
themes both interesting and profitable, in the culture of 
different crops, the rearing and management of animals, 
the production and disposal of fruit, &c , for there are 
numberless questions brought before every farmer in 
which he is interested pecuniarily and should be mentally, 
and which may be made profitable subjects of discussion. 
Here individual experience will be made common proper- 
ty, each imparting to the other whatever he has learned 
not generally known, or which may tend to confirm or 
refute received opinions. 
The sphere of the Club may sometimes be profitably 
extended by connecting a circulating library therewith, 
each member paying an initntion fee to be applied to the 
purchase of agricultural books and periodicals of the 
higher class, for the use of the Club ; and in this way, at 
a small expense to each, a large amount of reading could 
be secured to the whole. The many valuable papers now 
published in different sections could thus be brought be- 
fore a large circle of readers, and exert a still more power- 
ful influence for progress in farming. Many important 
books Would thus be brought within the reach of those 
who could not otherwise enjoy the privilege — arousing to 
new researches, and deepening the thirst for scientific 
knowledge. 
An important end of the Farmers’s Club is the cultiva- 
tion of the social faculties by this union of those interest- 
ed in agriculture for their mutual advancement. There 
is no class or profession which makes less use of the prin- 
ciples of association than the farming population, and 
none to which it can be of greater benefit. The know- 
ledge of the best methods of cultfvation and management 
upon the farm, is derived mainly from experience, and 
new facts are continually coming before the observant 
agriculturist in every branch of his business. These 
facts are often of as great value to his neighbor as himself 
and the neighbor, on the other hand, may have something 
as important to return. This interchange of facts and 
opinions is what gives the agricultural journal its value 
— in a narrower range, and bringing them home more 
closely and effectively, perhaps, the Club tends to the 
same ends. It tends also to unite and encourage the farm- 
ing interest— a mental profit arising from such interchange 
of information and courtesy — Country Gentleman. 
MANURES FOR GRASSES. 
Nearly all the experiments which have been made 
with artificial manures for grasses, indicate that, like 
wheat, barley, oats, etc., the grasses proper — such as 
timothy, rye-grass, etc. — require a large amount of am- 
monia. In the park at Rothamstead, which has been in 
grass for a great number of years, and the crop frequently 
made into hay and removed from the land, manures con- 
taining much ammonia were very beneficial on the grasses, 
while those furnishing potash, soda, and other inorganic 
substances, had the effect of causing clover and other le- 
guminous plants to spring up and flourish. This effect 
was very marked, and the result fully sustains the de- 
ductions made from direct experiments on clover, wheat, 
barley, etc. We are warranted in concluding that clover 
and other leguminous plants require a larger amount of 
alkalies in the soil, than wheat and the grasses generally, 
while the latter require manures rich in ammonia. 
Some experiments recently made in Scotland, by Thos. 
Ferguson, also favor this opinion. Land recently seeded 
with rye-grass and clover, was top-dressed with various 
fertilizers. Those furnishing a free supply of ammonia 
or nitric acid, increased the rye-grass to such an extent 
“that the clover plant was choked, and came up very thin 
in the aftermath.” One hundred and twelve lbs. of sul- 
phate of ammonia, costing S4.50, gave an increase of 1,524 
lbs of hay per acre; 224 lbs. of Peruvian guano, costing 
S6, an in reaseof 1,260 lbs ; 112 lbs nitrate of soda, cost- 
ing S5, an increase of 1,540 lbs.; 280 lbs. of superphos- 
phate of lime, costing $5, an increase of 292 lbs,; while 
sulphate and muriate ol potash gave an increase of only 
30 lbs. — Genesee Farmer. 
The Sugar Cane at the West. — A traveling cor- 
respondent of the Portland Advertiser says : 
Throughout the State of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, the 
Chinese Sugar Cane has been most extensively cultivated 
during the past season, and with such happy results as 
promise to make “Sorghum” one of the staple products of 
this region of the country. The Syrup is really very fine, 
possessing a flavor which many consider superior to the 
best refined molasses from New Orleans. I find it figur- 
ing on the “bills of fare” at the best hotels in this city, as 
well as in St Louis and Chicago, and from the way it is 
called for by the guests, should judge that it has become a 
favorite luxury in the West. There is some difficulty as 
yet in finding a process for converting the molasses into 
well granulated and crystalized .sugar, hut it is said some 
recent experiments in Northern Illinois have been attended 
with very favorable results. 
