SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
87 
To remedy this, Mr. Bartlett has adopted another plan, 
in which his manure is sheltered and the fermentation al- 
most entirely prevented. Reuses the lower story of a 
barn, 24 by 30 feet in size, as a manure room, and em- 
ploys dry muck, saw-dust, &c., as an absorbent, and 
bedding for his stock. His horse and stock stables, and 
hog-pens surround this barn, so that it is convenient to 
place the manure from each of these therein. He does 
this daily, levels it down every week, allowing his hogs 
to go upon the manure, and remarks: “They root and 
tramp it so solid that it heats but litile, and there is no fire- 
fanging, as was the case in my former dung-shed : neither 
does the manure freeze, so that, if desirable, it can readily 
be sledded out in winter.” 
Tn the “box-feeding system,” now practiced to a con- 
siderable extend in England, the same principles are kept 
in view, namely: shelter the manure, and such consolida- 
tion as will prevent its rapid decomposition. The boxes 
are simply small rooms, well-roofed, where the animals 
is turned loose and supplied with plenty of litter, sufficient 
to absorb the more liquid parts, and the dung remjiins 
under the stock until desired for use in the spring. It is 
trodden down hard, and undergoes but very little change 
or loss from decomposition. Analysis as well as applica- 
tion to crops, shows such dung to possess a raanurial value 
more than double that of unsheltered manure. 
To apply these principles to the case before us, we 
would have ample sheds around the barn, for the protec- 
tion of all stock kept in the yard, (the whole or a part of 
the time) and to these we should convey the manure from 
the stables, and the refuse straw, &c., to keep them com- 
fortably littered, and a desirable resort for the' out-door 
stock. Some trials of this plan, have proved it a most 
economic and successful one, and horse dung, thus treated 
was worth three times that thrown out upon the dung- 
heap, having lost not nothing from fire-fanging, which 
usually burns to an almost worthless mass, much of this 
most valuable manure. We shall refer to this subject 
again in the course of our series upon “Barn-yard Ma- 
nure .” — Rural Neto Yorker. 
PUSITYIITG AND SOFTENING HABD OE LIME 
WATER. 
Dr. Campbell read a paper on this subject, describing 
4he process of Dr. Clark, now in use in many places in 
England. This process for softening water may be ap- 
plied with advantage to water from the chalk strata, water 
from the new red stone, and v/aters which contain carbo- 
nate of lime in solution from any strata. It is briefly des- 
•ci’ibed as follows, namely : by adding a quantity of quick- 
dime to the water, it takes carbonic acid holding carbonate 
'Of lime, throwing down at the same time the quantity of 
carbonate of lime held in solution by the carbonic acid, 
and thus renders the water soft. The works and opera- 
tions for carrying out the process were fully described. 
One peculiar feature in the water after it has been soften- 
ed, and which was not anticipated by Dr. Clark when 
he first took out his patent, is, that it does not show the 
slightest sign of vegetation though exposed to the sun and 
dight for upwards of a month, whilst the water before soft- 
ening can not be kept above a few days without produc- 
ing Confervae ; and if this be not immediately removed, 
decay commences quickly, and small insects are soon ob- 
served, which feed upon the decaying vegetable matter, 
and the water soon assumes a bad taste. This is continu- 
ally the case when the water is kept in large reservoirs, 
and its removal occasions considerable trouble and ex- 
pense. The author had endeavored to explain the reason 
of this marked difference between the unsoftened and the 
softened water ; and he was nearly satisfied that the vege- 
tating principle in the water v.'as more espec.ialb,^ due to 
tthe carbonic acid holding the carbonate of^ime in solution 
than to the volatile matier, or, as it is sometimes called, 
organic matter. The process is applicable to many towns 
already supplied with waters from the New Red Sand- 
stone, and if properly applied will be found to pay the 
expense of its working, and confer a great boon upon the 
populations, the enlightenment of whose corporations may 
induce them to adopt it . — Scientific American. 
PEOPEE SELECTION OF SEED. 
Editors Southern Cultivator— With considerable 
diffidence, I essay to i-ecur to, or bring to the minds of the 
readers of the Southern Cultivator, the subject of choosing 
one’s planting seed, by selecting them from the field. The 
grounds of my few remarks will be confined to an experi- 
ment of my own, this year. I selected a few Cotton Seed 
from my patch, taking the largest bolls from the fullest 
stalks. The result was most satisfactory this year, being 
one acre planted by itself. I picked off the acre about 
nineteen hundred pounds of cotton, of a considerable de- 
gree superior to that of the adjoining land, both in quality 
and quantity. I found comparatively few small knotty 
bolls on the whole acre ; it came out of the burs much 
more easily, &c. I am selecting again this year out of the 
same acre, and if the improvement is in the same propor- 
tion, I shall be on the list of aspirants for the premium for 
the best bale of cotton at our next Annual Fair. I think 
there is great necessity for a plan of this sort immediately, 
in our country, as our cotton seed has deteriorated to 
such an alarming extent that not only are our stands un- 
certain, but after the cotton appears above the ground, it 
is so weakly and small that there is no counting on it for 
some time. I think, if we would plant less and improve 
our staple, it would be better policy. Does not a law of 
nature say that “like produces like” — and hence, are not 
large potatoes the proper kind to raise from I 
Yours devotedly. B. F. R. 
Monroe Co., Miss., Oct., 1855. 
The Sheep-Shearing Machine. — Most of our readers 
have probably heard something in regard to this machine, 
though it is very likely that the account of it has been 
received with some incredulity. That the shearing of 
sheep can be successfully done by machinery, is an achieve- 
ment which affords another evidence that this is an inven- 
tive age. 
We saw this machine in operation at the late show of 
the New York State Agricultural Society. It was used 
to cut the wool from a dried skin having been first mois- 
tened so that it could be pressed over a block in such a 
way as to present a smooth surface. The apparatus is a 
box, about the size and something of the shape of a com- 
mon brick. It is fastened to the arm of the shearer, who 
works the cutting part by moving a lever with his hand 
so as to produce a rapid oscillating motion of knives. The 
knives are shielded by guards, similar in principle to 
those which are used for mowing machines, and although 
they can be made to cut very close, it is impossible for 
them to cut the skin. The machine seemed to work more 
reipidly than shears ordinarily do, and the wool was cut 
very evenly — the staple never being cut more than once. 
The inventor stated that he had sheared a sheep in 12 
minutes, but he did not tell the weight of the fleece, and 
we are without any means of comparing this mode with 
the ordinary way of shearing, as to dispatch. 
The name of the inventor is P. Lancaster, of Burr-Oak, 
St. Joseph’s county, Michigan. The machine is made by 
Alexander Allen, of Rochester, N. Y. The price is S'lO. 
— Boston Cultivator. 
