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THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 13 
GAMA AND BERMUDA GRASS. 
With great trouble, and at some expense, I 
procured fife acres of Gama grass, which I found 
neither horses nor cattle would eat, and I con- 
sider it as utterly worthless. The Bermuda 
grass is the best for pasture in the world. It is 
the doub grass of Central India, and amon ? oth- 
er things was brought to Georgia by Governor 
Ellis. You will find it figured and described in 
vol. V. of Sir William Jones’s works, London, 
octavo edition. It was carried to the Bahamas, 
from Savannah, by Col. Tatnall, and I suppose 
found its way to Cuba witl\ the cattle traders 
of that island. The Hindoos worship this grass 
as the best food for the sacred bull, and as being 
sent down from India by Brama for his use. 
I speak very positively of the Bermuda grass, 
being the doub grass of India, and I do so be- 
cause Mr. William H. Crawford, when secre- 
tary of the treasury, procured from India this 
grass, and the acorns of the teack tree, and sent 
me. I was struck (although a dry specimen) 
with the identity, andhavingSir William Jones’s 
work, in which this grass was figured, and my 
yard and lawn filled with it in flower, I compar- 
ed them, and found they perfectly accorded in 
all points. But it requites a microscope to dis- 
cover the beauties, w hichhe (Sir W illiam Jones) 
so rapturously describes, in its flowers. I do 
not know whether I stated that the Marquis of 
Hastings introduced this grass into England, but 
it failed, as Loudon stales, from choosing an 
improper situation for it. It would grow well 
in your lands, that are warm, moist, and not 
flooded; the roots penetrate too deep to be de- 
stroyed in a good and warm soil. Its grazing 
powers exceed credibility in proper situations; 
nor is there any grass equal in quality for hor- 
ses, cattle, or sheep. Tiios. Spalding. 
Sapelo Island, Geo., Sept. 21, 1844. 
In addition to the above from Mr. Spalding, 
we have had a communication for some time 
on hand from Mr. Affleck of Mississippi, who 
also forwarded us specimens of the Bermuda 
grass. We also recollect seeing it growing on 
his lawn and in other parts of the South. He 
says : 
I find by actual experiment, weighingthe Ber- 
muda grass newly cut, and the same when drjq 
that it loses exactly 50 per cent., or 100 lbs. of 
grass make 50 lbs. of perfectly dry hay. It is 
the hardest grass to cut, however, ihat I have 
ever seen tried, and the easiest cured. I house 
all at night, which has been cut at noon. It 
wmuld not, in my opinion, bear the cold of your 
winters — the first frost kills it to the ground. 
The Muskete, or as Kendall calls it, Mesqait 
grass, 1 piesume would suit your climate bet- 
ter. It is yet a mooted question w'hether the 
Bermuda ripens its seed in this latitude. I will 
examine it carefully this season, and if I find 
malured seed, will send you some. I know' not 
where Mesquit grass can be obtained. I send you 
three samples of Bermuda — ^one of long grass, 
of upright growth from the meadow, just com- 
ing in blossom— the other from an upland pas- 
ture— and the third, a stalk that 1 pulled off the 
surfaceot the ground, toshow you how it spread, 
and how' admirably it is adapted for embank- 
ments. On a piece of good meadow land, this 
grass stands in a solid mat — so close are the 
stalks, and so thickly interwoven are the leaves, 
that when cut with the scythe it very frequently 
stands erect. I feel very confident that it is the 
oiiosi- highly nut ril ions grass hnoivn to ?vs. From 
the specimens 1 send you, you will readily un- 
derstand how such enormous crops of hay are 
cut from meadows of thissort — observe the great 
solidity and weight of the stem. In curing, it 
loses less weight than any grass I ever saw — and ' 
affords three cuttings, yielding an aggregate of 
from five to eight tons ofhay, from a moderately 
good meadow, 
I have said enough, however, to convince any 
planter who wishes to form pa.stnres tor his al- 
most starved slock, or to do away with the ne- 
cessity of pulling fodder, work so de'-tructive to 
the health of his negroes, that he ought at least 
to make the experiment. And a proof that I 
am willing to aid in spreading this treasure over 
the naked hills of the south, 1 will willingly for- 
ward to any planter, who is a subscriber to two ag- 
ricuUural journals, one of which is published in 
the state in which he resides, on his applying to 
me post-paid, a barrel of roots of this grass, 
which would, in one season, cover a large ex- 
tent of ground. To the river planter it is abso- 
lutely invaluable — there is not a levee on the 
banks of the Mississippi could resist, for one 
houi, the pressure and attrition of the fearful 
flood now rolling along, but for their being 
bound together by this grass. 
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 
Mr. John P. Norton, now travelling in Eu- 
rope, gives in the Albany Cultivator the follow 
iiig very interesting and encouraging account 
of experiments in agricultural education. 
Speaking of the show of the Highland Society, 
held at Glasgow, and meetings incidental to the 
occasion, he says; — 
“First, I would notice an Education meeting. 
Arrangements had been made by which live 
t oys, irom theLanne Agricultural School near 
Belfast, in Ireland, were present, with their 
teacher. Dr. Fitzpatrick, from Lanne, Mr. Skil- 
ling, from Dublin, Sir Robert Bateson, from 
Templemoyle, and other gentlemen interested 
in the cause of Agricultural instruction, were 
also present. The boys were from 14 to IG 
years old, and had been in the agricultural 
class two years. Prof. Johnston stated that by 
this meeting it was hoped that light might be 
thrown upon two points. 1. Is it possible to 
give boys instruction in agriculture, practical 
and scientific, that will be of use to them in af- 
ter life. 2. Gan this be done without interfering 
with other studies. These questions were both 
most distinctly answered in the affirmative by 
numerous gentlemen present, connected with 
agricultural schools in England and Ireland. 
The boys before mentioned were finally placed 
upon the platform, and with a view to answer- 
ing the second inquiry were questioned in geo- 
graphy, grammar and arithmetic, by Mr. Gib- 
son, irj.spector ot schools. The examination 
was a somewhat severe one, especially upon 
grammar and geography, yet notwithstanding 
the embarrassments and novelty of their situa- 
tion, they appeared admirably. I think that 
some one of them answered every question. 
They were then examined upon various points 
in chemistry connected with agriculture, by 
Prof. Johnston, and lastly, upon practical farm- 
ing, by various other gentlemen. Their an- 
swers showed not only that they had learned 
by rriemory, but that they had also reflected. 
Frequent and irrepressible bursts of applause 
interrupted the examination, and the most 
sceptical were convinced. These boys devote 
one hour of each day to scientific and practical 
agriculture, and once in the week they are 
questioned upon ihe studies of the preceding 
five days. An enthusiasm was aroused by this 
exhibition which will hardly expend itself in 
mere words. A resolution was passed “that 
t was the opinion of the meeiing that agricul- 
tural instruction should be introduced into the 
schools of Scotland.” A large committee ot in- 
fluential and distinguished gentlemen was ap- 
pointed to deliberately consider the subject. I 
may here mention that Mr. Skilling, superin- 
tendant and teacher in the Normal farm school, 
near Dublin, gave most ample testimony in fa- 
vor of Prof. Ji'hnston’s works. Tliey are intro- 
duced into all the Irish schools, and their im- 
portance impressed upon every teacher. The 
Catechism was written expressly for schools, 
and has been found of signal benefit.” 
Unproductive Land. — How many are there 
who own Irom 300 to 500, and more, acres of 
land, ot which one-third, or at least one-sixth 
pan lies totally unproductive in useless brush- 
wood, in uncleared swamps, or in land render- 
ed worse than profitless, for want of proper 
draining? the owner not seeming to remember 
that for every such acre not yielding something 
in grass, in pasturage, in tillage, or in grow'ing 
timber, he should charge himself, as with so 
much lost or thrown into the fire or the sea. 
There is no mistake more common than that of 
supposing that the more land a man has, the 
greater must be his profits — forgetting that the 
profits arise not from the land itself, any more 
than from an idle mill or ship, but from the 
skill and manner of using it; and so indispen- 
sable is capital in the business ot farming, that 
in general it may be laid down as an axiom, 
that money employed in agriculture, will yield 
an interest in an inverse ratio to the area to 
which it is applied. Thus if ^100 be expended, 
and yield 10 per cent, on ten acres, the proba- 
bility is that it would yield much more if appli- 
ed to half that area.- Skinner's Address. 
From the Boston Cultivator. 
AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATIONS. 
The number ot agricultural associations is 
increasing throughout the country, and their ex- 
hibitions are annually becoming more and more 
interesting, not only to farmers, but to other 
classes also, and they give evidence that the 
spirit of improvement is abroad, pervading ev- 
ery nation where farmers are intelligent and in- 
dustrious. Every branch ot husbandry, house- 
hold economy, and mechanic arts, is under the 
benign influence of the genius of improvement. 
Farmers’ festivals are exciting in all classes 
a deeper interest in agriculture and horticulture, 
and more respect for those engaged in these 
branches ofindnstry, which tend to diffuse a salu- 
tary influence over the whole community. Far- 
mers w'ill find it greatly to their advantage, both 
in an individual and collective capacity, to as- 
sociate together, and act in unison lor the ac- 
complishment of important purposes, which 
cannot be effected without combination and con- 
cert of action. 
There should not only be State and County 
Agricultural Societies, but Farmers' Clubs 
should be formed in every town in the country. 
In every kind of improvement, whether it be 
the introduction of new breeds of stock, improv- 
ed implements, new varieties ot grain, vegeia- 
tables and Iruit, new modes of culture and new 
crops, or the establishment ol libraries and other 
means of improvement, a great deal iDore can 
be done, and the expense will be less; and the 
enterprises will be more pleasant and interesting, 
more lively, spirited, and successlul, and the ef- 
fect be far more powerful on the public, by as- 
sociated action among those in a town or neigh- 
borhood, who have a sameness of principles and 
purposes, even if iheir number be small, not 
exceeding half a dozen, provided they be zeal- 
ous, discriminating, and persevering. 
Then, farmers, form associations in every 
section of the country, and devi.se means to im- 
prove your condition in every department in 
which you are engaged, and you will learn 
that by intellectual labor you will save much 
labor of the hands, and you will be expanding 
your minds, and opening new sources of rational 
pleasure, and as you improve in your profession, 
you will respect it more, and command the re- 
spect ol others ; you will elevate yourselves in 
society to that important rank to which your 
calling justly entitles you. 
In connection with this subject, numerous 
others are presented, and some important move-, 
ments are necessary for the accomplishment of 
desirable objects: — and this must be done by 
associated and general concert. Among the 
subjects that claim attention, are Agricultural 
Education — a Little Legislation for Farmers, 
(as they form three-fourths of the population,) 
not all for other classes — Encouragement to 
Great Enterprizes in Agriculture, (which indi- 
viduals cannot accomplish.) ns well as splendid 
schemes for otiier branches of industry — a Share 
in the Councils of the Nation, and Important 
Oflices, by honest, sensible, and enlightened 
Fanners and Mechanics, as well as a place in 
the Front Rank of Battle in the hour of danger, 
