166 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
BERMUDA GRASS-BETTER FROM DR. 
Philips. 
"Editor Southern Cultivator — Yours of the 9th, 
covering a note from Mr. Edrington, of Sabine Town, 
Texas, with a specimen of grass, I received to day, and 
cheerfully respond. 
Without the seed stalk, it is not safe to pronounce as to 
the specimen you sent me. The leaf, though dried, has 
every appearance of Bermuda, the root is rather short- 
jointed, yeti am disposed to think it Bermuda. I know 
nothing of varieties of it, that there may be, 1 would not 
deny, but I would as soon expect varieties of Blue or 
orchard grass, of Timothy or of Herd’s grass. That there 
may be a grass called Bermuda I know, and which our 
friend, Broomsedge, was convinced by our own botanist, 
IDr. Bachman. The present specimen puts me in mind 
of Broomsedge’s specimen. The seed stalk would settle 
it. And none more able to decide than Dr. John Bach- 
man, of Charleston, S. C. 
I know no Bermuda easy to kill ; on some lands it can 
easily be killed by plow and harrow in summer, and I 
3iave known it destroyed on thin red land by plowing 
and freezing 'n winter I advise all who plant, to put the 
pasture where never wanted for cultivation. It is the best 
grass, so far as we know, in the South, that a Wise Mas- 
ter has given to fallen man. On good land it will feed, 
acre for acre, from April to October, acre per acre, if 
planted in corn, blue grass or oats, anything ; and how 
long it will last none knoweth. Why make such a to do 
about eradicating iti Why not quarrel with corn because 
>when thinning out corn, lazy negroes and a careless mas- 
ter, it has to be thinned again 1 — negroes shave off the 
stalk and the plant continues to grow. Put out 10, or 50 
or 100 acres, and hedge it in with anything that will 
shade the earth at bottom, and I will guarantee that the 
Bermuda passes not under the hedge. I believe black- 
berries, or locusts, or anything that gives a low shade, 
will utterly destroy it in two or three years after the land 
is well shaded, and for this reason, I have in my yard 
two cedar trees planted when two feet high with Ber- 
muda, the Bermuda soon covered the land, cedars grew 
. on; now these are say 20 feet high, limbs cover, say 20 
feet, and earth clean under them. I will try 10 acres of 
. oats this fall on a thice set Bermuda patch ; this day I saw 
a part turned over for cotton, with turf fully 10 in, width, 
and 20 to 30 inches long, pretty tight pull for two mules. 
In August or September I will sow among the cotton two 
bushels of oats per acre, land rich, and had I the Red 
Ripper or Tory Pea I would sow down three pecks of it 
at the same time, picking the cotton will cover oats and 
(peas, oats will be vegetating in fall rains and peas in the 
spring — have done it, again and again — no plowing, the 
, earth being clear all summer. 
The first time lever had 400 lbs. picked by a hand was 
on land as fully set in Bermuda as land gets to be, and I 
made 2000 lbs. per acre. In July, land well set in crab 
grass is more difficult to work than in Bermuda. 
Yours truly, 
M. W. Philips. 
Mdwards, Miss., April 22, 1859. 
TO DESTROY SASSAFRAS. 
Editor Southern Cultivator — In the April number 
of the Cultivator I saw an inquiry, how to destroy Sassa- 
fras sprouts. I only give my information in the case by 
experience, viz : Sprout them up thoroughly at the full 
moon, in August. The second time you have few to con- 
tend with. If you should not finally destroy them ut the 
second operation, try the third. I have never known it to 
fail. James Betts. 
Prairie-Mouthy Miss., April, 1859. 
PBOWS AND PBOWING-TEST OF DRAFT, dec. 
Editor Southern Cultivator — The plow I believe is 
generally admitted to be the most important among agri- 
cultural implements. Though first fashioned by nature’s 
primitive growth, it was immediately elevated to a high 
position among farming utensils, and has, up to the pre- 
sent time, been an object of deep study and frequent im- 
provement, until we have in use a great variety of plows, 
differing from each other in form and shape as widely as 
they all do from the crooked stick used by the ancients. 
That the inventive genius of man will ever adapt to this 
implement some form rendering it perfect is a question 
not easily solved in this age of improvement, and espe- 
cially when we consider that different soils require plows 
of different forms ; but that from among the great variety of 
plows in general use there is some of one them capable of 
rendering the most general satisfaction to practical culti- 
vators, I deem ascertainable by scientific investigations. 
These considerations induced several leading planters 
of this vicinity to institute a test by comparison, conse- 
quently the 3 1st of March was selected as the day of 
trial. 
The plows engaged in the trial were Brinly’s Sod, No. 
2 ; Brinly’s Breaking-up, No. 2 ; Calhoun, No. 1 ; and 
Hall & Spere, No. 2. 
The plows were successively subjected to a test of a 
dynamometer (an instrument used for accurately ascertain- 
ing the amount of draft applied.) 
The following is the report of the committee appointed 
to superintend the trial which took place in the nurseries 
of Robinson & Felt, Crystal Springs, Miss. : 
Names of Plows. 
Draft by Dy- 
nomometer. 
Depth of 
Furrow. 
Width of 
Furrow. 
Section of 
Furrow. 
Remarks. 
Brinly’s Sod, No. 2 
336in 
in. 
9 in 
58Hfl 
Furrow clean well 
laid over and soil 
pulverized. 
Brinly’s Breaking- 
up, No. 2 
350“ 
9 “ 
10 “ 
90 “ 
Furrow nearly as 
well laid, clean, and 
free from clods. 
Calhoun, No. 1 
448 “ 
6 “ 
9 “ 
54 “ 
Furrow not well 
cleaned, and soil 
left in clods 
Hall & Spere, No. 
2 
623 “ 
7 “ 
71 
52E‘ 
* 
Furrow very peorly 
cleaned, not well 
laid up, and soil 
packed in clods. 
John Fatherbe, 
John M. Barnes, ) 
G. W. Gilmore, ^Committee. 
S. T. Moore, ] 
J. W. Felt, J 
The soil in which the above plows were tested con- 
sisted of a loam of about 4 1-2 inches, resting on a strata 
of stiff clay, probably never before penetrated by the 
plow. 
The land had not been broken up since last fall, was 
comparatively free from weeds or trash, and sufficiently 
moist to be in good plowing condition. In consequgnee 
of the incessant winter and spring rains, the soil was 
rather firm, though not stiff or adhesive, above the clay 
subsoil. 
The plows were in good order, having been sufficiently 
used to polish their mould-boards. The two Brinly 
plows were made of steel, Calhoun had a steel point, 
and Hall & Spere’s consisted of iron. 
By examining the above report it will be seen the 
Brinly Breaking-up plow performs almost double the 
work that the Hall & Spere does, and with nearly one- 
half the draft. 
