39 
THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
oul viLd me sp at.e, is lull ul luS'il.^, maiCaiiri^ 
the presence uf lime in its various mo'de.'> of ex- 
istence, itnd is said to be rich in po'ash. it is 
to be regretted tliat Mr. AlaZ ;, ck dib not accu- 
rately observe the quantity applied to Ins land; 
and it is rather toe early in the season tor us to 
be furnished with 'he lesults of his eXjieriment. 
At that late period of the summer, however, a 
practical eye can judge wttb tolerable accuracy 
what the result will be. It required but a 
glance to convince us, that the cotton manured 
with gieen sand was worth ihrdc-fold the best 
portion ol' his crop not so manured; We can 
give no better idea of iis appearance than by 
eomp iring it to a pyramid of luxuriant vegeta- 
tion, ri'ing so abruptly Irom out uf the rest of 
the cotton, as to be at a glance obvious to the 
most carele.ss spectator; and the quantity and 
maturity of the li utc corresponded with the lux- 
uriance ul the plant. 
Less striking in appearance on that same day 
was a field at Somerton, manured with twenty 
loads ol cow-pen compusi, and twenty bushels 
of ashes per acre. Buteven this small quanti- 
ty of ashes caused such a ditrerence in the 
growth and maturity of the cotton as to be easi- 
ly di'-tinguished from that which had none. A 
part of the result ol the experiment at Somer- 
toD IS known, and corroborates ouropiniun that 
ashes should be mingled with the compost. At 
the second picking ul' cotton, before the middle 
of September, four hundred pounds per acre of 
cotton in the seed were harvested from that por- 
tion which had ashes, li is but just, hotvever, 
to observe, that in mis case the ashes formed no 
portion of the compost; they were spread upon 
the list; the compost placed under. 
One of the Committee has recently seen a 
crop of cotton in St. Andrew’s Parish, w'tiich 
he thinks would be estimated at too Iowa rate at a 
thousand pounds of seed cotton per acre. This 
result was effected by using the fine particles of 
compost at the bottom of the manure heap. In 
this case the active particles ol the compost 
heap were concentrated at the bottom; for they 
always have a tendency to descend, being car- 
ried down, partly in a state ol solution, partly 
by the mechanical action of rains. The result 
of these three instances are with us conclusive, 
that the oxtinn of inanwes is directly in pro- 
portion to the amount and quality nf their inor- 
i;o^>iic constituents, o.nd that, to the collection of 
these, the planter should mainly direct his atten- 
tion. 
Ottering the accompanying Resoltiilons, as 
necessary to carry into operation the principles 
of this Report, w'e shall no longer trespass upon 
the patience of the S. »ciely. 
In behalf ol the Coinmiitee. 
Fred. A. Porcher. 
RE^sOLUTIONS OF THE COM.MITTEE 0 \ M V- 
NURB.S. 
1. That it b-^ reccm iiended to the Society to 
appropriate adequa'e I'urids to the accom lish- 
mentoi a ihoiongh analysis of all the products 
of our soils, ol our soil^ themselves, and of our 
manures. 
2 That we earnestly recommend to our sis- 
ter Societies throughout the State, to contribute 
to a similar analysis of iheir soils and produc- 
tions. 
3. Thapthe Representatives to the L 'gisla- 
tnre from these parishes, be respectfully request- 
ed to urge upon their respective h mses the ne- 
ce.'sity and expediency ol perfecting ihe Agri 
culiuial Survey ol the State, so happily begun. 
Note. — A few observations are yet necessa- 
ry to perlecT the report, which has grown under 
our hands, to an unexpected length. It will be 
observed, that we have taken no notice what- 
evt r of the amount ol inorganic matter existing 
in the litter with which our compo l is mane. 
As this is an equal quantity in both sorts of 
compost, it cannot, as a general rule, material- 
ly affect the relative value of either. With re- 
spect to what has been said in the earlier part 
of the rep'irr r' spi-cti' g' the 'heories of the r'h^>- 
mists, we cheerfully acknowledge our utihiness 
to sii m ju.gmeiil up>m their mei its. 'vVedo 
know, iiovvever, when they give us saiisfaeiury 
replies to our queries, and we are iiaintully con- 
.s 'ious v'.iieri tliey fail to answer us; ami the 
w^.rst Ol it luo is, that they undertake to speak a 
language intelligible to every iarmer. Now in 
our humble judgment, when a farmer consults 
a book pur ly scientific, lor information rela 
live 10 his prole.-.^ion, he e.x peels to find the lan- 
guage uf science, and is generally prepared to 
meet it. Now, uhai can be more unsatisfac- 
tory than the following. We inquired into the 
composition of ctiw dung. Dr. Dana says, “ 1 
give you tbe result ol my analysis of cow liung 
in such terms as ihe farmer may comprehend ; 
water 83 60; hay 14; biliarv matiei (rule resin, 
fat and green lesin of hay) 1.275; geine com- 
bined viih potash, (vegetable extract,) 0.95 ; 
albumen, 0. 175 ” It the farmer may compie- 
hend thi'^, may he not equally comprehend th'=‘ 
results ol a desiru' ti ve analysis 1 Is it not like- 
ly that the farmer would better appreciate the 
value ol sMica, alumina, lime, magnesia, &c., 
than of this mysterious geine which is thus 
forced upon his attention 1 Particularly when 
he is told that all these are constituent portions 
of the crop he cttl ivaies. Let the chemist use 
the language of his profes.?ion, and give the re- 
sult of his labors, and the farmer will thank 
him. 
From the Louisville Journal. 
Close Plaiitiug of Corn— An lixperiment. 
Gentlemen: — I beg leave to offer to your con- 
sideration the reMilt of an experiment made 
during the present year, to ascertain the advan- 
tages of planting corn more closely than has 
generally been practised; and the nu nber of 
stalks which should be lelt in each hill at the 
different distances at which it is planted. The 
experiment was made on ground which had 
been cleared in 1810. In its natural state it was 
as rich as the best Kentucky lands, and its fer- 
tility had been pieseived by a due proportion of 
grass crops, but it had had no manure. In the 
spring of the year 1841 the field was sowed with 
red clover, among growing wheat. In 1842 and 
1843 the clovtr was pa.stured, and late in the 
fall the ground was well turned over, by a well 
constructed plow?. Early in April of the present 
year, the grou d w'as aaain plowed, harrowed, 
and laid off and planted on the 12th of that 
month. On one side of the field, intended for 
hemp, 1 causeu lour acres to be laid off) in an 
obluns square, as follows: First, the long 
u’ay exactly three and a half feet; and then at 
right angles, four leet ; one acre three and a 
hall feet; one acre three feet; and one acre two 
and a hall leet. In due time 1 thinned the tnree 
first acres to three stalks in a hill, and the fourth 
to two stalks in a hill. Supposing the hills 
each to have tiie number intended, ihe number 
ol stalks on each acre wouU have been c.s fol- 
lows : 
1 acre 3^ by 4 feet.. 9.335 stalks 
2 acres 3.J by 3^ leet 10,068 “ 
3aciesc| by 3 feel 12,fl7 “ 
4 acres 3| by 1^ leet 9,956 “ 
The season up to the 2d ol July wms tolera- 
bly favorable, though there w'as loo much rain 
fora first-rate crop of corn. For two weeks 
succeeding no rain lell. During this period the 
atmosphei was dry and w indy. As the coin 
was generally getting into silk when this 
druug t commenced, and as this is the pe- 
riod when com requires much rain to make it 
ear well, it suffereil very much. Ahhough light 
rains again lell Irom ihe middle of July to the 
last of that month tney came too late to be ma- 
terially beneficial lu early planted corn. The 
consequence was that scarcely a stalk jiroduced 
more than cne ear, and even that one of dimi- 
nished size. 1 am fully persuaded that the dry 
w'eather, in the first half of July, diminished the 
crop at least fiity per cent. The crop was also 
some w hard i minished by great numbers of crows 
on-*ning and nicking off thegiainsatthe small 
end of the ear, when la the milk state. The 
coin was gatbered, and eacti acre separately 
'.leasiired, about the first of INuvember, when 
perfectly diy, and the quantity produced was as 
follows : The first acre 68 bushels, second acre 
69 bushels, -third acre 69 bushels, and fourth 
acre 77i bushels. The ground throughout lays 
equally well, and was ol the same qualilv, but 
the first acre was rather the most injured by the 
crows, 
it will be seen that the acre, planted three and 
a half by lour feet, produced nearly as well (per- 
haps quite, making a due allowance for the in- 
jury received) as the two next acres. That the 
acre having 12,447 stalks produced only the 
same number ol bushels as that having 10,668. 
And that the acre having two stalks m the hill, 
and 9,956 in the whole, produced eight and a 
half bushels more than either of the others. 
From this experiment it wmuld seem that, in 
grounti of the best quality, where three stalks are 
intended to be lelt in a hill, the distance each 
w'ay should not be less than three and a hall 
leet: and that, where it is intended to plant 
more closely, not more than two stalks should 
be left in a hill. The acre planted three and a 
half by two and a half feet produced decidedly 
the best, but it was loo close one w'ay to be 
plow'ed conveniently. Thus plantedthere were 
eight and three-quarters square feet to each liill. 
If planted three leet each way thqre would be 
nine square feet to eac^^ hill. This, I am ol 
opinion, would be the belter way to plant, where 
it is intended to leave two stalks in a hill, as the 
distance each way would be more convenient 
for plowing, and the number of stalks per acre 
would be but slightly diminished. 
As our corn crops are affected by so many 
contingencies, a single experiment is not very 
Cl nclusive in favor of any particular theory, I 
intend, if I am spared, lo repeat my experiment 
next year on the same ground, except that I will 
lay off the ground the lung way, three feet, and 
in the other direction lour, three and a half, and 
three feet, thinning the tw'o first to three stalks, 
and tlie third to two stalks in a hill. 
On the day alter planting the above experi- 
mental crop, I planted some twelve or fifteen 
acres of corn on ground which had been cleared 
and cultivated some twenty or twenty-five years 
belore 1 came into possession of the plantation 
on which I now reside — 1812. This land had 
been considerably reduced by a long succession 
of corn crops, but as it lay well I lound no ilifli- 
culty in renovating it by grassing and manuring. 
For the three or four years preceding the pre- 
sent it was cultivated in hemp. Early in April 
it was plowed and harrowed, which lelt it in a 
finely pulverised state. It was laid off by a 
small plow exactly three and a hall feet each 
way, planted on the l3ih of April, and in due 
lime thinned oul to three stalks in tlie hill. It 
was cultivated by plowing both ways with the 
common shovel plow and once hoed, so as to 
leave the hills perfectly clean. '1 his corn was 
affected by the drought in July in the same 
manner as related in relation to the four acres 
described above. 
I caused one acre to be pulled and measured 
when perlectly dry, through the central part of 
the field, where it had not been injured by the 
crows or squirrels, and the yield was seventy- 
seven bushels. In both cases 1 planted the 
same kind ul corn, a medium between the white 
flint and gourd seed. This corn is not so pro- 
ductive as the larger kinds, but better 1< r bread. 
I have mentioned the product ol the last men- 
tioned acre, not becau;-e of its extraordinary 
character — for it falls greatly short of the great 
crops of Bryant and Young, ol Jessamine coun- 
ty - but to show that land cleared nearly sixty 
years, and which had been reduced by twenty or 
twenty-five successive crops ot corn, can be ea- 
sily renovated so as to produce seventy-seven 
bushels per acre, in quite an unfavorable sea- 
son. 1 will only add, that although I did not 
measure the balance ol the field, 1 am satisfied, 
Irom the number of wagon loads, that the whole 
would average fuliv seventy-seven bushels per 
acre. Yours, truly, 
Prospect Hdl, Dec. 7, 1844. A. Beatty. 
