SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
191 
LARGE COTTON PLANTERS. 
Some time since, a paragraph was published, giving 
some account of the cotton crop of the late Col. Bond of 
Georgia, which amounted last year to 2,100 bales, and 
was the largest sent to market by any planter in that 
State. A Vidalia correspondent of the Free Trader 
(Natchez) contrasts the planters of Mississippi and Louisi- 
ana with our Georgia planter, as follows: 
There are half a dozen planters in Concordia parish, 
Louisiana, as also many more in Mississippi, that make 
a far higher mark than this. Not to make a thing in- 
vidious, the names of A. V. Davis, Esq , of Concordia 
parish, who makes all his cotton there, chalks up several 
hundred bales above the Georgia planter ; so does L. R, 
Marshall, Esq., in the State of Louisiana, raising in that 
State alone more than three thousand five hundred bales ; 
so of John Routh, Esq., of Hard Times, full as much if 
not more; so did Frederick Stanton, Esq., but a few 
weeks deceased, raise twenty-eight hundred bales the 
present year — all in Concordia parish— and even more 
than this figure in 1855— all in Louisiana ; and there are 
numerous others that come up, or nearly so, to the Geor- 
gia highest notch. For instance, L. R. Marshall, resi- 
dence Natchez, a planter in three States, Louisiana, Mis- 
sissippi and Arkansas, is more than a four thousand bale 
producer ; so is Dr. Stephen Duncan more than a three 
thousand bale grower, in the State of Mississippi, besides 
being an opulent planter of Louisiana — more than four 
thousand bales in all. 
The great estates of the two princely planters of this 
region, the late Samuel Davis and Francis Surget, Esqrs., 
always produced from three to five thousand bales each 
until their deaths divided the estate among the heirs. — 
N. O. Picayune. 
How TO TEST THE QUALITY OF WooL. — A Very experi- 
enced raiser of wool, gives the following certain test of 
fine wool. The wavy folds of wool have been noticeed 
be every one. Take a lock of wool from the sheep’s bacK 
and place it upon an inch rule. If you can count from 
thirty to thirty-three of the spirals or folds in the space of 
an inch, it equals in quality the finest electoral or 
Saxony wool grown. 
Of course, when the number of spirals to the inch di- 
diminishes, the quality of the wool becomes relatively in- 
ferior. 
Many tests have been tried, but this is considered the 
simplest and best. 
Cotswold wool and some other inferior wools do not 
measure nine spirals to the inch. 
With this test, every farmer has in his possession a 
knowledge which will enable him to form a correct judg 
ment of the quality of all kinds of wool. There are some 
coarse wools, which experienced wool growers do not 
rank as wool, but as hair, on account of the hardness and 
straightness of the fibre. — Texas ‘‘State Gazetted^ 
Rain. — Every inch of rain falling in the course of a 
year, is equal to a weight of rather more than 100 tons of 
water per each imperial acre. The mean annual quantity 
of rain in Detroit is 28,300 inches ; equal to nearly 2900 
tons of water falling annually on each acre of land. At 
Dearbornville Arsenal, Mich., the mean annual rain is 
only 21,610, the smallest quantity, or the dryest place, 
given in the Army Meteorological Register, for the whole 
United States. The highest mean, or wettest place is 
West Point, N. Y., where 64,670 inches of rain is the an- 
nual mean quantity, equal to 6467 tons water on each 
acre — U. S. Jour. 
THE BEST MODE OF PREPARING FOOD FOR 
Cattle. 
The custom is very general to fee^grain in an unpre- 
pared state. The economy of this practice is more than 
doubtful. For a long time, the advantage of ground over 
unground has been conceded. Of late, numerous experi- 
ments have been made of cooking it for horses, hogs and 
cattle, and all with very encouraging results. 
Mr. Samuel Hale, of Millet Creek, Ohio, who feeds 
about one thousand bushels of corn annually, gives the 
result of his experience in a recent number of the Ohio 
Farmer. For several years his practice was to feed in 
the ear, but the results were very unsatisfactory. 
He procured a “Little Giant Stock Mill,” and com- 
menced grinding his corn in the ear, and found he never 
wintered his stock so cheap and so well before. The 
third winter of his experimenting he not only ground the 
cob, but cooked it in an “agricultural steamer.” This 
was fed in the form of mush to his horses, hogs, cows, 
and fattening cattle. To the latter he fed about seven lbs. a 
head per day, of corn and cob meal. 
“The result,” says he, “fully satisfied me that one-half 
the com fed in this way would put more flesh upon horn- 
ed- cattle, hogs, or horses, than double the quantity fed in 
the ear.” 
This is about the kind of testimony given by all who 
have tried cooking food for animals. Such being the case 
it is well worthy the consideration of farmers whether it 
will not pay to cook their food, and thereby make the 
product of one acre go as far as the product of two, fed in 
the ordinary way. 
Feeding and Watering Horses— Digestion. — We 
have always believed that absolute rest and quiet right 
most favorable to the digestion of food in animals; but 
the closing sentence of the following paragraph conflicts 
with that opinion. We require stronger evidence, still, 
to convince us that active exercise immediately after 
feeding, is conducive to healthy digestion and assimila- 
tion of food : 
“Some curious experiments have been made at the 
Veterinary school at Alfort (just outside Paris) by order 
of the Minister of War, to ascertain the endurance of 
horses, as in a beseiged town, for example. It appears 
a horse will liye on water alone five and twenty days ; 
seventeen days without eating or drinking; only five 
days if fed but unwatered; ten days if fed and insuffi- 
ciently watered. A horse kept without water for three 
days drank 104 pounds of water in three minutes. It 
was found, that a horse taken immidiately after ‘feed’ 
and kept in the active exercise of the 'squadron school,’ 
completely digested its ‘feed’ in three hours; in the same 
lime in the ‘conscript school,’ its food was two thirds di- 
gested ; and if kept perfectly quiet in the stable, its diges- 
tion was scarcely commenced in three hours.” 
Stock Destroyed. — There has been a much greater de- 
truction of stock by the high water this spring than is 
usually supposed. At the first rising of the water, though 
nearly every one anticipated an overflow, yet a great 
many left their stock in the bottoms with the design of 
trusting to chances, or of seeing to it after a while^ and thus 
the large destruction. We had supposed that the suffer- 
ing from last spring’s flood had taught our people a lesson 
of warning that never would be forgotu n, but thus it is 
with human nature, it never urges to effectual action un- 
til the danger is upon us with its goading sting. — Madi- 
son (^Ark.) Journal, Sid April. 
