98 
SOUTHEEN CULTIVATOE. 
We have remarked that experiment itself is not infalli- 
ble; indeed, it is often the source of fatal error. A single 
-swallow does not make a summer, nor does a single ex- 
periment settle a principle. To be reliable, experiments 
must be carefully and repeatedly made. Two neighbor- 
ing planters may determine to test the value of guano, for 
instance, as a fertilizer for cotton. A succeeds and B fails. 
Neither can safely conclude that he has settled the matter, 
but they should carefully compare the modes of applica- 
tton and cultivation, the varieties of soil and season, in 
order, if possible, to determine the causes which produced 
the difference in their results. The next year the experi- 
ment should be repeated, with an eye specially to the op- 
eration of those causes which had seemingly controlled 
the previous experiment. And thus, by repeated tests 
and close observation, a valuable truth may be eliciied. 
And so, two neighbors may differ about the utility of sub- 
soiling, One subsoils and succeeds, another subsoils and 
fails. There is a reason why the same operation should 
produce such contradictory results, and that reason should 
be ascertained. It may be concluded that the cause lies 
in the difference of the soils; and to test this, two fields of 
similar soils may be selected next year, but the results may 
still be different. It may be accounted for, then, upon the 
supposition that the modes of cultivation are different. 
Another experiment may be made with special reference 
to this supposed cause, and still the experiments may pro- 
duce different results. It will not do still to conclude 
against subsoiling, because it has succeeded on one place 
as often as it has failed on another. Finally, after re- 
peated experiments, it may be ascertained that the differ- 
ence consists in the fact that one field needed under- 
draining, while the other did not : and thus, at last, the 
very important conclusion may be reached, that subsoil- 
ing pays well where the land is dry, but that it is useless 
if the subsoil is wet. We mention these cases by way of 
illustration ; and so we might cite experiments in every 
department of agricultural and rural economy ; but these 
suffice to enforce the idea that experiments must be cau- 
tiously conducted to make them reliable. 
With but little labor and expense, it is in the power of 
every planter to contribute to the stock of agricultural 
knowledge, by a systematic course of experiment. Think 
what an improvement in agriculture, if our journals de- 
voted to that interest were filled with the reports of such 
experiments. Each would thus contribute to his neigh- 
bor, and in turn receive the benefit of the labors of others. 
The injudicious expenditure of time, money, and labor, 
which some have made upon experiments in agriculture, 
have, in some instances, brought ricicule upon the at- 
tempts at agricultural improvement ; but such failures are 
neither arguments against improved agriculture, nor 
against experiments for that purpose. They resulted 
rather from the want of judgment in the experimenter, 
than from any inherent difficulty in the object to be at- 
tained. We recommend no extravagant expenditure ; 
none is necessary. In the ordinary management of the 
farm>, it is practicable to note carefully the different opera- 
tions, and the results which they produce, and a detailed 
report of such experiments as these will secure the advan- 
tages of which we speak . — Soil of the South. 
CAKE OF CHINA AND GLASS. 
The most important thing to do is to ‘'season” either 
glass or China to sudden change of temperature, so that it 
will remain sound after exposure to sudden heat and cold. 
Now, this is best done by placing the articles in cold 
water, which must gradually be brought to the boiling 
point, and then allowed to cool very slowly, taking a 
whole day or more to do it. The commoner the materials 
the more care in this respect is required. The very best 
glass and China is always well seasoned, “annealed,” as 
the manufacturers say, before it is sold. If the wares are 
properly seasoned in this way, they maybe “washed up” 
in boiling water without fear of fracture, except to frosty 
weather, when, even with best annealed wares, care must 
be taken not to place them suddenly in too hot water. All 
China that has any gilding upon it must, on no account, 
be rubbed with a cloth of any kind, but merely rinsed, 
first in hot, and afterwards in cold water, and then left 
to drain till dry. If the gilding is very dull, and requires 
polishing, it may now and then be rubbed with a soft 
wash-leather and a little dry whiting; but, remember, 
this operation must not be repeated more than once a year, 
otherwise the gold wiil most certainly be rubbed off and 
the China spoilt. When the plates, etc., are put away in 
the China closet, a piece of paper should be placed be- 
tween each to prevent scratches. Whenever they “clat- 
ter,” the glaze or painting is sustaining some injury, as 
the bottom of all ware has its particles of sand adhering 
to it, picked up from the oven where it was glazed. The 
China closet should be in a dry situation, as a damp closet 
will soon tarnish the gilding of the best crockery. 
In' a common dinner service it is a great evil to make 
the plates “too hot,” as it invariably cracks the glaze on 
the surface, if not the plate itself. We all know the result 
—it comes apart ; “nobody broke it,” “it was cracked 
before,” or “cracked a long time ago.” The fact is, when 
the glaze is injured, every time the “things” are washed 
the water goes to the interior, swells the porous clay, and 
makes the whole fabric rotten. In this condition they 
will absorb grease; and being made too hot again, the 
grease makes the dishes brown and discolored. If an old, 
ill-used dish be made very hot indeed, a teaspoonful of 
fat will be seen to exude from the minute fissures upon its 
surface. The latter remarks apply more particularly to 
common wares. 
In a general way, warm water and a soft cloth is all 
that is required to keep glass in a good condition ; but 
water bottles and the decanters, in order to keep them 
bright, must be rinsed out with a little muriatic acid, 
which is the only substance which will remove the fur 
which collects in them; and this acid is far better than 
ashes, sand or shot ; for the ashes and sand scratched the 
glass, and if any shot is left in by accident, the lead is 
poisonous. 
Richly cutglaas mustbe cleaned and poli.shed with a brush 
like plate, and occasionally rubbed with chalk ; by this 
means the lustre and brilliancy are preserved . — London 
paper. 
AGKICULTUKE IN OTJK SCHOOLS. 
At the late Commencement of the Citadel Academy, 
in Charleston, F. F. Waelsy, Esq., of Darlington, S. C,, 
made the foil jv/ing remarks : 
In this connection, I would notice as of vital importance 
to our State, the establishment of a “Department of Agri- 
cultural Chemistry” in our Colleges and Scientific Schools. 
Holding in subjection a race which, when properly 
managed, supplies the best field-hands in the world, and 
blessed with a climate suited to the production of all the 
necessaries and|many of the luxuries of life, there is noth- 
ing needed to bring agriculture to perfection save the ap- 
plication of science thereto. The great secrets in agricul- 
ture are^ first, to manage land in such a manner as not to 
exhaust it. The second, and most important, consists in 
a wise application of fertilizers, and this is the point upon 
which we need the light of science. All plants do not feed 
on the same substances, and consequently, while a parti- 
cular soil may contain very valuable fertilizing properties, 
it may still need those particular ingredients necessary for 
the production of the crop planted, or it may contain 
them, but in combination with something else as a base. 
