108 
SOUTHEKN CULTIYATOR. 
that the water which falls on a given surface, even in the 
heaviest rains, rarely, if ever, exceeds an inch and a half 
or two inches in depth, and that this is scarcely half the 
depth of the furrow which receives it: they might possib- 
ly be somewhat shaken in their opinion, but still there 
would remain on their minds doubts which must be re- 
moved by stronger evidence. Nothing less than experi- 
ment would convince them. P’ortunately this experiment 
has been made by at least one intelligent, practical planter 
whose habits of close observation and philosophical deduc- 
tion, entitle his conclusions to the highest respect, and 
he has recorded them in favor of its perfect success Those 
who are not satisfied with his evidence and require their 
own senses, can made the experiment for themselves at 
but little expense; and all he asks of them, is to do so 
fairly, and he guarantees that they will be fully convinced 
of the correctness of his theory. Let them but make' the 
it and they will no longer doubt. It may be, for a time, they 
will find oceasional breaks \n their land ; but this, instead 
disproving, will confirm the correctness of the theory : for 
they will invariably find, by the application of their level, 
that wherever there is a break in their land there it is not 
on a perfect level. They will only have to correct the er- 
rors in the original leveling, and their land will be secured 
against such breaks in thefuture; and while it is exceed- 
ingly difficult and tedious to put a piece of land on a per- 
fect level at first, by this plan it may be easily accomplish- 
ed in a few years. It will not be necessary, of course, to 
level anew with every change of crop; with but little care 
and trouble, after a piece of land has been once put on a 
perfect level, original “guide rows,” may be perpetually 
preserved. 
Supposing, then, the above positions satisfactoi’ily estab- 
lished, it becomes a question of considerable interest, what 
effect the absorption of so much water will have upon 
our lands'? It may be urged by some that after a heavy 
rain, it would be a much longer time before such lands could 
be plowed without injury. But this position will be found 
upon reflection to be erroneous. The facility with which 
a piece of land absorbs water, depends upon the depth 
and porosity of its soil, and that piece of land which ab- 
sorbs it to the greatest depth in the shortest time, certain- 
ly requires the shortest time to become sufficiently dry on 
its surface to plow. This fact has come under the obser- 
vation of every practical planter in the cultivation of bot- 
tom lands, with light, porous soils, which are so level that 
not a drop of water that falls on them escapes. Now, the 
very object in putting land on a “dead level,” is to pre- 
serve and improve its soil; it is thus, not only made more 
light and porous, but is greatly increased in depth — so 
that it partakes of the character of our bottom lands, and 
may be plowed with almost equal facility after a rain. Of 
course, this would not be the case with a piece of old, 
worn-out land until it had been reclaimed and its soil im- 
proved. But another, and probably the most important 
point embraced in the above question, is its effect upon the 
gi'owth of crops. This will depend in a great measure 
upon the season. If the season is a very wet one, such as 
those in which uplands are more productive than bottom 
lands, the absorption of so much water may possibly be 
a disadvantage. The growth of some crops may thus be 
rendered so luxuriant as in some measure to prevent fruc- 
tification and retard maturity, as in the case of cotton on 
rich bottom lands in such seasons. But, on the other 
hand, if the season is a very dry one, it will unquestion- 
ably prove beneficial. A piece of land which absorbs a 
greater quantity of water, will certainly retain moisture 
longer than another of the same character of soil, which 
absorbs a less quantity, and be better capable of with- 
standing a drouth. It then only remains to be determined, 
in order to settle this point, whether our crops suffer more 
from wet or from dry seasons. If from the latter, as I think 
it is undoubtedly the case in this latitude, this system of 
leveling will certainly be an advantage to our crops in 
this particular, as well as being the best mode of preserv- 
ing and permanently-improving our land. 
But there is another effect of this system of leveling, 
which I have never seen noticed, and which presents it- 
self to my mind as one of no little importance. As far as 
my own observation extends (and upon inquiry from 
much older persons I am sustained in it) every water- 
course in the country, from the smallest dry branch to 
rivers of considerabie size, is much more subject to over- 
flow now than it was ten or fifteen yeare ago. While it 
then required the heaviest rains, and that after a protracted 
spell of wet weather, to raise them out of their banks, the 
same effect is now produced by much lighter rains in a 
few days. The cause of this difference is apparent to 
every one who will for a moment, reflect upon the subject. 
At that time there was but a small quantity of land opened 
and the leaves and under-growth with which the whole 
face of the country was covered, preventing the water 
which fell from flowing off, it was in a great measure ab- 
sorbed by its light, porous soil. Now, the whole country, 
comparatively, being opened, the water which falls, meet- 
ing with but little or no obstruction, readily finds its way 
to the water courses, and, by sudden and large additions 
to their usual currents, forces them out of their banks. 
This, besides being a source of frequent annoyance in 
flooding mills and other manufactories, renders some of the 
best lands in the country subject to overflow and conse- 
quently utterly useless. Anything by which such annoy- 
ances can be obviated and these lands be reclaimed and 
brought into cultivation, should certainly be regarded by 
the planting community with interest. Those who con- 
cur with the views above expressed, will perceive at once 
that the system of leveling, practiced by Col. Cannon, 
and the addoption of which he so warmly urges upon his 
fellow-planters, if universally adopted would greatly con- 
tribute to the accomplishment of this end, if indeed it did 
not wholly effect it. 
As this communication is already much longer than I 
intended to make, I leave these suggestions (for they are 
but little more) with the hope that some one, more familiar 
with the subject and better able to do it justice, will dis- 
cuss it in a manner worthy of its importance. 
Southron. 
Fayette County, Tenn., 1856. 
Remarks. — “Southron” will accept our thanks for his 
very suggestive article. We trust he will follow up the 
subject and give our readers plain, practical directions for 
leveling, after Col. Cannon’s method. — Eds. So. Cult. 
COTTON CULTURE. 
The publication of the following letters from Col. H. W. 
Vick, an experienced and distinguished planter, should be 
preceded by a, brief note of explanation. They were writ- 
ten last fall for publicatian, but by some mishap they got 
out of our hands, and we have not had copies of them 
furnished us until recently. The second letter refers to 
one published in the Whig in the early part of September 
of last year, upon the same subject of the first one pub- 
lished to-day, and will serve to explain both. This is, 
however, the season when the culture of cotton is most 
talked of and thought of, and probably the best time for 
their publication.— Vicksburg Whig. 
Haywood, Madison Co., Miss., ) 
September 1st. 1855, ) 
Mr. Editor — The cotton plant, in its perfect state, is 
orbicular in form, centrally divided by the surface of the 
