226 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
pulverized as fine as possible. A deep, rather light and 
fertile sandy loam is best for this crop, and such soil 
ought to be plowed at least ten or filteen inches, and 
thoroughly harrowed. Sow in drills from two to three feet 
apart, plants standing in the drill from six to twelve inches. 
Stable manure, (ten or fifteen loads to the acre,) woods- 
mould, ashes, and bone dust, equal parts, (six or eight 
loads to the acre) or three hundred pounds of guano, scat 
tercd broadcast and plowed in, will give you a good crop 
Should you wish to manure in the drill, open a wide and 
deep furrow with a long shovel plow, scatter your ma- 
nure thickly along this drill, throw a flat, broad bed on 
the manure with a turning plow, and after raking the sur- 
face smooth and even, drill in the seed as above directed. 
From one to one and a half pounds of seed, mixed with 
sand, carefully sown, will be sufficient for an acre. fA 
friend recommends the sowing of the seed late in the after- 
noon, leaving the drill open and the seed exposed to the 
action of the dew until daybreak, next morning, when 
they must be covered, and the ground rolled or pressed 
down firmly on them. This plan seems well worthy of 
a trial in dry weather ] If you have plenty of leached 
ashes, you may top-dress the ground with ten or fifteen 
bushels per acre, after sowing. It will be well, also, to 
dust the plants wffien they first con>e up, with a mixture 
of ashes, soot, plaster and salt, (a bushel to the acre,) to 
prevent the attacks of the fly. Continue this until they 
get into the rough leaf, when they may be considered out 
of danger. When the plants are well up, clear out all 
grass and weeds carefully with the hoe, and thin them to 
a stand of from six to twelve inches apart, according to 
the size of the variety. After thinning, work them out 
from time to time, until the tops shade the ground, when 
)mu may lay them by. 
Sweet Potatoes. — Keep the earth fresh and loose around 
the plants, and the rows entirely free from weeds, until 
the vines take complete possession of the patch. Lose 
no time now in cutting and setting out vines for the pro- 
duction of next year’s seed. 
Hay and Fodder. — Cut and carefully save drilled corn 
f odder (as directed in July number, page 295): also, 
make all the hay you possibly can from Crab (or Crop) 
Grass, Crowfoot, Pea Vines, tops of Ground Peas, Ber- 
muda Grass, Chinese Sugar Cane blades. Millet, etc. 
Ditchings Hauling Muck, Woodland Pastures, Straw- 
berry Beds, etc. — The dry weather of this month will be 
f ound favorable to the ditching and draining of low,. wet 
lands, clearing up of swamps, cutting underbrush, digging 
and embanking fish-ponds, preparing Strawberry patches, 
clearing the undergrowth of forests for woods pastures, 
hauling of muck to the compost heap, destruction, by 
compost fermenting or burning, of noxious weeds, etc. 
The Kitchen Garden. — All plants of the Cauliflower, 
Brocoli, or Cabbage family, may be set out the latter part 
of this month, for fall and winter use. This month may 
be considered the second spring, in the South. All|work 
done in the spring should now be repeated, and will, in 
most cases, furnish us with excellent vegetables until 
frost. Continue to transplant Celery. Full crops of the 
different kinds of Turnips should be sown during the 
month, as directed above. Sow seeds of Beets, Salsify, 
Carrot, etc., for winter use— shading the ground, by a 
slight, “brush arbor,” from the sun. Radishes, Spinach, 
Lettuce, &c , may be sown, and Snap Beans and English 
Peas may be planted, and the drills, as soon as filled up, 
covered with pretty heavy mulching, at least two inches 
thick ; saw-dust or well rotted leaves are very good for 
it ; the young plants will easily come up through the 
mulching. Plant, also. Melons and Cucumbers for man- 
goes and pickles. Keep down all weeds — use the hoe, 
and water freely. Plant a second or full crop of Irish Po- 
tatoes and Peas, mulching both heavily with leaves. The 
Purple Egg Plant, Tomatoes, and Lima Bean, may be 
planted fora late crop, and will come yet, with favorable 
“seasons.” Keep your Strawbery beds clean, open and 
mellow, now, if you desire to increase your plants, and 
encourage the growth of runners by an occasional water- 
ing. If you do not want runners, cut them off and turn 
them under, to give back their substance to the bearing 
plants Give these occasionally a light top-dressing of 
leached ashes just before a shower, or water them with 
a very weak solution of potash. Gather all your ripe gar- 
den seeds. It is a mistaken notion that we cannot save 
our own garden Seeds ; we can and ought to do it. 
The Orchard and Nursery.— Gather up all fallen and 
defective fruit, and feed to the hogs. Saves stones of the 
Peach to produce new varieties and for seedling stocks. 
Let the Peaches from which you obtain seeds for planting 
be fully ripe, if you are endeavoring to re-produce them 
or originate new varieties. Bury the Peach stones at 
once, or plant, them immediately, in drills, where you 
want them to grow. This is the best way. They will 
come to up next April. Try a few hundred or thousands 
yearly, and you will, from time to time, be rewarded with 
valuable Southern seedlings, especially suited to our own 
soil and climate. Budding of all stone fruits may still be 
continued by those who liave the proper stocks. Insert 
the bud on the north side of the stock, early in the morn- 
ing or just before night fall, ceasing operations in the heat 
of the day. Now is, also, the time to make cuttings of 
Evergreens. 
The Flower Garden. — Collect seeds of all Annuals, 
and preserve them carefully. Bud Oranges and Lemons. 
Propagate Aloes and the Cacti, (or Cactus) by slips. 
Sow bulbous-rooted flower seeds to obtain new varieties. 
Stake your Dahlias and thin out your flowers^ if too pro- 
fuse. Clip Box edgings in moist weather. Cut and roll 
Grass plots and lawns. Clean up walks, put on fresh 
gravel, and roll smoothly. Water your potted Annuals 
and other plants daily, in hot weather. Sow Tulip and 
other bulb seeds. Gather all valuable seeds as soon as 
ripe, and save for future use. Use water frequently, as 
heretofore directed. 
OUGHT OUR LEGISLATURES TO AID AGRI- 
cultare ? 
Certainly, if Agriculture needs aid from the Legisla- 
ture. Why ? Because the great bulk of the people of 
the South are engaged in agricultural pursuits, and 
they have the best right to say what they will do with 
their own. Let us look into this matter closely. For 
the sake of distinctness, in this argument, our remarks 
will be confined chiefly to one State — Georgia. The po- 
sitions taken will, however, be of general interest and ap- 
plication to the Plantation States. 
According to the Census of 1850 there were in Georgia 
123,243 white males over 15 years of age. Of that num- 
ber, 20,000 were engaged in commerce, trade, manufac- 
tures, mechanic arts and mining ; 11,505 in labor not ag- 
ricultural; in the army 18; in sea and river navigation 
282 ; in law, medicine and divinity, 2,815 ; other pur- 
suits requiring education, 3,942; civil service, 416; do- 
mestic servants, 15; other occupations, 173; in agricul- 
ture, 82,362. More than two-thirds of the whole white 
population engaged in agriculture, and the whole of the 
black population, with the exceptional cases of black 
mechanics and servants. 
Was there ever a people more purely agricultural ? 
Our whole military list 18 strong, and our civil list o 
