SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
B7 
seen, that wedeem it useless to dwell upon them at length. 
Corn growing upon 'land broke ten or fourteen inches 
deep, derives a gieater benefit, in any season, by being 
better able to expand its roots to a j^uger extent of soil, 
and thus gather increased strength and sustenance, than 
it does from land not broken so deep, in which the roots 
are necessarily contracted and are obliged to occupy a 
snaall space, or force their way through a firm and un- 
broken soil. But in a dry season the advantage of deep 
plowing are incalculable. Then it is that the great advan 
ages of this principle are to be seen wherever put in prac- 
tice. Land deep and thoroughly broken never suffers much 
for the want of rain, even in our warm climate. By break- 
ing our land deep, the roots of the corn penetrate to a 
great depth, and by this means are enabled to draw a 
sufiicient supply of moisture, from the subsoil, indepen- 
dent of rain. Nor is this all ; for, should the season 
prove wet, the surface moisture sinks down to the bot- 
tom of the deeply plowed land, and is there stored away 
as in a reservoir, upon which the roots can draw for sus- 
tenance ad libatuvi. Deep plowing in first breaking up, 
heavy manuring, and clean, shallov) surface culture, during 
the growing season, comprises nearly, the whole secret 
of making heavy crops of corn. 
Seeds, Fruit Scions, &c.— It affords us pleasure to 
comply with the wishes of our subscribers who desire us 
to send Seeds, Fruit cuttings, &c., per mail; but in order 
to receive attention, hereafter, the letters containing such 
requests must also contain postage stamps or money to 
pre-pay the postage. If they do not, no notice can be 
taken of them. This, of course, does not apply to those 
friends with whom we exchange favors. We would be 
glad to supply all our readers with the choicest seeds, 
scions, &c., but our benevolence is restricted by our lack 
of time and means to do so. “A word to the wise is (or 
ought to be) sufiicient.” 
PROTECTING PLANTS FROM FROST AND SUN. 
At the request of our subscriber, “S. D.,” we give the 
following from PIolmes’ “Southern Farmer,” pp. 21, 22: 
Frames to protect plants at night from frosts, are made, 
of hoop poles. Put the end of each rod or pole into the 
ground on one side of the bed, and bend the other end of 
the pole to the other side of the bed, placing that end also 
into the ground ; put these rods or poles at about two feet 
apart, all along the bed ; then tie a few rods lengthwise 
to these arched rods ; so that when you have done, your 
bed will have an arch over it, formed of these rods. Every 
evening about sun-set cover this arch with old mats, car- 
pets, or a slight covering of any sort, which take off again 
at sunrise in the morning. 
T .0 shelter young plants from the hot sun, let a number 
of myrtle, or other bushes, (having the ends pointed,) be 
stuck into the ground, in rows between the plants; or 
you may make a slight scaffold, covered with pine tops, 
bushes, &c., at a sufficient height to allow a free circula- 
lation of air among the plants. 
Oiled paper frames.— l£.very market gardener should 
provide himself with a number of these frames for protect- 
ing early plants from frost at night, or cold cutting winds, 
snow, &c.. in early spring. 
To make oUed paper frames, take good pine, or wood of 
any kind inches square, the ends mortised into each 
other, so as to form a square of the size required, say 
from 13 ^ feet square, to 2 by 2, 2 by 3, &c., &:c.; but a 
numberofthe former is better tl^an a few of the latter sizes. 
Cut strips of white oak (or any other kind of wood that 
will bend easily,) 3-8ths of an inch square, let these be of 
such lengths, as when one end is inserted into the frame 
on one side, and the other end bent over and inserted into 
the opposite side, it will form a good arch. Let these 
arches be made about 4 inches apart, all along from one 
end of the frame to the other; tie a thin strip the length 
of the frame on the inside, to the top of the arch, to keep 
each bow in its place; let paper be pasted over the top, 
on the outside, and when dry give it two good coats of 
boiled linseed oil, to be put on both sides of the paper 
with a painter’s brush. These frames are sometimes 
made with a hoop, instead of the wooden pieces, and the 
arches tied at each end. 
CURING BACON IIAMS-A GOOD RECIPE. 
In answer to many inquiries on this subject, we give 
the following from one of our Texas subscribers : 
Editors Southern Cultivator — I send you a recipe 
for saving bacon hams from the skipper fly, wuthout can- 
vass; as this has, heretofore, been a great difficulty with 
rne in saving meat. I consider this plan superior to any 
other I ever tried. It came to me from an old Kentuckian, 
and as it will soon be time to put it in practice, I send it 
to you. I tried it last year with complete success : 
“When your meat is ready to hang, take it up and cover 
the flesh side of your hams (about an inch or more) with 
good dry ashes, packing them on tight with your hands; 
then lay them up carefully on small sticks (such as you 
generally hang meat) with the ashes up — lay them close 
so as not to touch. You can then smoke your meat as 
usual, and when w'ell dried it may be taken down and 
packed away in a cool place, or it may remain there all 
summer.” 
The Season. — The weather, since our last issue, has 
been wet, cold, frosty and unfavorable for plowing and 
other field operations. From present appearances, we are 
likely to have a short spring, when all out-door work will 
have to be done “with a rush.” Let our farmers, planters 
and gardeners be fully prepared for it. 
New Paper. — “ The Rural American'^ is the title of a 
very neat and well-filled quarto weekly Agricultural, 
Literary and Family Journal, published at Ftica, New 
York. T. B. Miner, Editor and Proprietor. Terms — $2 
per year, in advance. 
Georgia L.^nd Office.' — See the advertisement 
Messrs. Davison, Girardey, Whyte & Co., in present 
number. 
Hildreth’s Gang Plow. — We have given this plow- 
further trial, and can only repeat the opinion expressed in 
our last, viz : that on land free from grass, weeds, roots 
and stumps, and not too uneven, it will be found a valu- 
able and labor-saving implement. It is not, however, 
adapted to common plantation purposes, and will not, 
probably come into anything like general use in our cot- 
ton-growing region, where the saving of labor is not 
generally regarded as of much importance. On the old 
lands of the North, and upon the Western prairies, wa 
doubt not, it will be found all that its inventor claims forit 
