SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
137 
description ijiven by Xenophon, represented the soldiers 
who ate the honey in small quantities, as having the ap- 
pearance of being intoxicated, and those who freely used 
it as lying on the ground, as if after a defeat ; and it was 
playfully remarked that if such an effect should be pro- 
duced among soldiery of ih& present day by the use of 
honey, there would exist in my mind stron^: suspicion 
that there was mixed with it an undue portion of “old 
peach ” 
Such are the remarks and corrections which Mr. La- 
Taste’s communication has elicited Hoping that our 
Eninds are satiated with the subject, I remain 
Respectfully, P. DeL. B. 
March, 1859. 
GRASS-CUL.TU11E AT THE SOUTH. 
The writer has paid much attention to the subject of 
Grass- culture at the South, and his observations lead to 
the conclusion that it presents an inviting field for agricul- 
tural enterprise and profit. Calling recently at the resi- 
dence of Y. L. G. Harris, Esq., of Athens, we were 
shown by him an acre or more of experimental grass-plots 
in which the Texas Musquite, Kansas Grass, Terrell 
Grass, Kentucky Blue Grass, and Orchard Grass, present- 
ed the greatest luxuriance. If there is any choice among 
these, as there appeared to be, we should give the in- 
digenous Kansas Grass the preference, as yielding the 
largest amount of rich herbage per square rod ; and the 
second place in that regard, to the Texas Grass. Judging 
from appearances alone, (and much observation renders 
an opinion of this kind worth something) the Terrel Grass 
will grow on poorer land than either of the other grasses, 
and at the same time yield less nutritive matter per 100 
pounds. Dr. Terrell and others have proved it to be a 
very valuable plant for thin light soils ; such as will grow 
rye much better than wheat. Of course, it will do far- 
better on rich than on poor land. Mr. Harris cuts all 
these grasses and feeds them green to his horses and cow 
in stables; and as they are perennial and durable, a little 
land properly top-dressed occasionally with manure will 
keep a good deal of stock in fine condition. Col. Billups 
of Athens, Dr. Reese, and one or two other gentlemen of 
our acquaintance in Clark county, are experimenting in 
a small way in cultivating new varieties or species of 
grasses. Mr. Oscar Bailey, recently from Virginia, 
where his father is one of the most successful hay and 
stock growers in the State, has ten acres sown in winter 
grasses, that promise very satisfactory results. We trust 
every farmer will try to produce a few thousand pounds, 
if no more, of green forage for early feeding to all work- 
ing animals, whether mules, horses, or oxen, and to his 
cows giving milk and their calves. As small meadows 
will last a life time, with fair usage, and may be easily 
extended from seed grown thereon, we know not how to 
render our readers a better service than to commend this 
subject to ihtir favorable regards. We have no seed to 
Bell ; although last November we purchased seed for some 
who desired it, while at the North, It would give us 
great pleasure to see a marked improvement in the live 
stock of the South; and to this end, the cultivation of 
grasses, and the cheap production of far more manure, 
are every way desirable. Farmers, live stock, and live 
farmers will all gain much and lose nothing, by diversi- 
fying our agricultural industry. 
“All flesh is grass,” and to grow the latter profitably 
is the best possible evidence of an excellent cultivator of 
the soil. Every planter should know, and profit by the 
fact, that grass is Nature’s grand renovator to maifttaia 
forever the fruitfulness of the earth. Without it, none of 
the higher orders of the mammalia, including man, could 
long subsist on this planet. Hence, the careful study of 
the indigenous grasses of a continent or large island, in 
their economical relations, deserves the fostering care of 
every civilized community. Southern planters and farmc 
ers have hitherto paid too little attention to this depart- 
ment of agriculture, and tried more to destroy all natural 
grasses than to turn them to a valuaole account. Mora 
money might be made by transforming grass into woolj 
than common mould into cotton. The one operation aug- 
ments vegetable matter in the soil ; the other consumes 
and destroys it. Cotton culture alone, instead of improv- 
ing land, converts^^it into deserted, and nearly worthless 
old fields. Wool growing will redeem these, and ultimate- 
ly render them more productive than they were before a 
plow first disturbed the virgin soil. Try grass-culture a 
little, and you will soon desire broad, rich pastures, and 
green and beautiful meadows. 
Both Lucerne and Sainfoin will last thirty years with- 
out re-seeding, in the same ground. Tull says; “The 
reason why St. Foin will make, in poor ground, forty 
times greater increase than the natural turf, is the prodigi- 
ous length of its perpendicular tap root.” Deep-rooted 
forage plants are, of all things, most needed at the South 
to draw potash, bone-earth, and other elements of our 
great staples, from the deep subsoil to the surface of the 
ground. Millions of these suction pipes will draw up, 
day and night, from the bosom of our mother earth, those 
invaluable substances so indispensable to form cotton 
seed, and the seeds of corn and wheat. Even the long 
tap-root of the cotton plant will draw rich manure from 
the deep subsoil, if one will break the subsoil as it ought 
to be broken up and loosened. The raw material for mak- 
ing the seeds of all our crops, which form, when rotted, 
rich manure, is what grass-culture will give us in the 
cheapest possible manner. It will give us horses, mules, 
cows, fat cattle and working oxen of the best quality. 
Our hogs, sheep and goats will then be worth having. 
Things to Remember. — If you do not keep your pa- 
per, cut this out and put it where you can find it: 
A surveyor’s chain is 4 poles or 76 feet, divided into 
100 links or 792 inches. 
A square chain is 16 square poles; and 10 square 
chains are an acre. 
Four roods are an acre, each containing 1,240 square 
yards, or 34,787 feet, or 24 yards 28 inches on each side. 
A pole is 5 1-2 yards each way. 
An acre is 4,840 square yards, or 69 yards 1 foot 8 1-2 
inches each way ; and three acres are 120 yards and a 
half each way. 
A square mile, 1,760 yards each way, is 640 acres ; half 
a mile, or 880 yards each way, is 160 acres; a quarter of 
a mile or 440 yards each way, is a park or farm of 40 
acres; and a furlong, or 220 yards each way, is 10 acres. 
