THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
53 
and deservedly so, is rarely ever seen in our 
markets; inlact, all the hybrid varieties, raised 
from the cos and cabbage lettuces, being inter- 
mixed, will not generally be such as would give 
satisfaction in this country, and more especially 
it the variety partakes most at the cos parem. j 
Observe therefore to procure chxaice seed of re- 
spcni'^ible seedsmen. 
Compost for the Flan's . — A light, rich,- fria- 
ble soil, and oi l hot-bed manure, — or manuie 
that is as near as can be of the same nature, — 
well blended together, will ensure success ; for 
framing, the compost should be an equal quan- 
titv of manuie and earth ; this is the secret of j 
obtaining fine lettuce; tor wherever fine lettuce 
is lound, extra culture produced it. For open 
air culture, the ground, however rich it may be 
in appearance, if not by the recent application 
of manure, ought to have a bountiful dressing, 
which should be dug in about three inches be- 
low the surface ; but belore this the ground 
should have been in fine condition, either by 
deep plowing or digging- the reason why the 
manure should not be buried deeper than pro- 
posed is, that 'he roots may take hold of it at 
once, and that the plants may make a rapid and 
luxuriant growth. 
Sowmg the Seed . — To have a regular suc- 
succession throughout the year, several sowings 
will be necessary. The first, or spring crop, 
should be planted from the 15th ol February to 
the 1st of -Vlarch; the second, or summer crop, 
during April; and successive sowings in June 
and August. For the last, or winter crop, the 
loth to the 30th of September is the proper pe- 
riod. The seeds generally appear the lourth or 
fifth day, and the firsr transplanting should take 
place ten or twelve days subsequent to their ap- 
pearance. 
Cultivalion of ike Spring Crop . — Early in 
February prepare a small hot-bed, unless one is 
made up lor cucumbers, and the seed ol the ten- 
nisbali, or royal cape, may be p'anied in flower- 
pots or boxes, it must be borne in mind that 
only a moderate heat is required forstarting the 
plants from seed. Six inches from the glass is 
a proper distance for the young plants; give all 
the light possible through the day, and air every 
day that the weather will admit of it; the frame 
must be well secu.^ed from frost, which would 
destroy the plants, and it should be covered eve- 
ry night as long as the cold freezing weather 
lasts. The plants will require to be twice trans- 
planted— first, from the seed-pots or boxes, about 
three inches apart, each way, in order to be- 
come strong, health}'- plants, for their final re- 
moval to the beds where they are to remain. 
This may appear to those persons not already 
acquainted with the process, to be superfluous; 
however, it is the only way to succeed. The 
final transplanting out into frames should take 
place as soon as the plants are readv, — il the 
lennisball and royal cape, or Silesia, about nine 
inches apart, each way, will be found to be a 
pr per distance. Regular attendance to the 
watering, giving air every favorable oppo.'-tuni- 
ly, and coveiing over the frames every night in 
seasfin, is ail that is necessary to ensure fine 
early lettuce. 
CuliLVcUion in the open air. — Early in April 
seeds of the lennisball should be again sown, ' 
and the plants will be ready by the middle ol 
May to transplant. It will be necessary at this 
season to allow about filteen inches between the 
rows, in order to admit the Dutch hoe, or scuf- 
fle, to advantage, which should be trequenily 
used. The imperial should succeed the crop 
of tennisball and Silesia, and the first of May 
the plants will be in readiness. Continue to 
plant as before advised, every month or six 
weeks, from early spring to autumn, and select 
a CO 1 situation for the late summer crops. 
CalLivation of the Winter Crop . — This is the 
sowing requiring the most attention, and which 
is to supply the table from January to March. 
Select a warm situation in the open ground, and 
manure the bed well, and dig it deep; make the 
surlace level and smooth with a fine rake, and 
it is then ready for the seed. The hardy ham- 
mersmith is the variety to sow now; draw the 
drills three inches apart, and cover the seeds 
lightly. In a few days they will be up and 
grow rapidly — and in October they should be 
transplanted” into beds, where they are to be pro- 
tected from frost. These should be common 
hot-bed- l>au>es;-. and as soi.-n as the nig-Uls be- 
came cool, the sashes should be put on,, removing 
them early every fair day. On ihe approach ul 
severe cold, secure il>e plants Irom the eflec's 
ol frost in season, lor freezing and thawing 
wou-ld nearly destroy the whole. Very little 
water will be needed, unless there should be a 
continuance of fine weather, till Christmas, 
when they will require moderate waterings. 
Give all the light and air possible, and keep the 
plants clean and free from damp, by picking off 
all decayed leaves as soon as perceived. 
In December the plants will be very strong 
and stocky, and ready lor removal to hot-beds, 
or pits in the green-house, where, with the or- 
dinary treatment, they will soon iorm fine large 
heads. From lime to lime, as a succession is 
wanted, the plants can be transplanted from 
Jrames to heal, until the season arrives for the 
spring crop. 
Necessity of Rotation. 
In one of the lectures of Prof. Johns'.on we find 
the above named doctrine made so plain that any 
body can understand it. We commend it to all 
who suppose that because their lands do not 
give out in two or three years, they never will. 
“ The following table shows the quantity of 
inorganic matter in 100 lbs. of hay; — 
In rye grass hay. Red clover. ’While do. Lucerne. 
Potash,. 8.8 19.9 31.0 13.4 
Soda, 3.9 .... 5.3 .... 5.8 .... 6.2 
Lime, ...7.3 27.8 23.5 48.3 
Alumina, 0.3 .... 0,2 .... 1.9 .... 0.3 
Oxide of Iron, 0.0 .... 0.0 .... 0.6 .... 0.3 
Oxide of Manganese, 0.0 .... 0.0 .... 0,0 .... 0.0 
Silica 27.7 3.6 14.7 3.3 
Sulphuric Acid 3.5 .... 4.5 .... 3.5 .... 4.0 
Phosphoric Acid. ...0.3 .... 6.6 .... 5.0 ., , .13. 1 
Uai bouic Acid. . ... . 0,1 .... 3.6 .... 2,1 .... 3.2 
The soil must contain all of the above, other- 
wise it cannot build uplhe plant which contains 
them; and just in proportion to the supply of 
the necessary ingredients, in their proper pro- 
poriions, will be the luxuriance or siuntedness 
of the crop. Every plant that grows requires, 
in accordance with the nature and composition 
of soil, the proportion of the ingredients in its 
ashes, if no alternation of crops is made, nature 
will become exhausted in some of her resources, 
and the plant, for want of nourishment, must 
die. We have facts to prove that nature will 
not for ever grow the same plant on the same 
soil. The Black Forest consisted first of oak, 
then of pine, and now it is again covered with 
broad-leaved trees; and as with trees, so with 
crops — and as on a large, so on a small scale. 
Different modes of husbandry have been adopt- 
ed, Instead of oats being grown fifteen or twen- 
ty years on the same soil, the rotation of three 
white crops and six years’ grass was adopted; 
this also has become antiquated, and now the 
preferable alternation of white and green crops 
is adopted. Alternating crops, and adding such 
manures as have been carried ofl by preceding 
crops, is the only profitable mode of cultivation, 
while nature will also assist by the going on ol 
certain circumstances, such as the decomposi- 
tion of minerals, &c. A soil containing just 
sufficient lime for a luxuriant crop of rye-grass, 
would be fardeficient for either cloveror lucerne. 
The soil must contain in abundance what your 
crop specialty requires, and consequently the 
necessity of selecting the manure to suit the crop 
wanted; and skilful farmers will put this prin- 
ciple into practice, and also select crops suita- 
ble for the purpose to which they are to be ap- 
plied; thus, if you wish to feed for milk you 
must select a plant containing an abundant sup- 
ply of phosphoric acid; and this plant will not 
grow on land which has been exhausted of this 
acid, though it contain all ether necessary in 
gredients in abundance. The ground becomes 
exhausted in many ways. By cropping too long 
with either one kind or different kinds of grain, 
and carrying off both grain and straw, it becomes 
exhausted very .speedily. It becomes exhausted 
of some ol its soluble mailer by the action of 
rains, just in proportio.n to the wetness of the 
soil. By the application of proper manures, 
the waste may be replaced. Feeding will re- 
place a portion ol the waste of solid matter; 
but a great portion of the soluble is lo-st, both 
by being, to a small extent, irrecoverable, and 
because ol the direct waste by carelessness or 
ignorance. These soluble or saline substances 
aie principally contained in the urine of cattle, 
and j ust in proportion as it is lost, so is the direct 
waste. The urine of one single cow is valued 
in Flanders at £2 per annum. What, then, 
must be the loss on the whole of the cows in 
Great Britain'? Guano, is not a more valuable 
manure than the urine c> cattle; and yet farmers 
carry off this f’om ihefr yards by large ditches, 
as if It were only, what it has been too long 
considered, a naiscDce, while they will give .£10 
a ton for an article ot no greater value. By 
building suitable tanks, the whole ol the farm- 
yard saline matter might be preserved, and 900 
lbs. of good solid matter, equal to the best Pe- 
ruvian guano, would be the annual produce of 
one cow. Tanks ought to be made capable of 
containing all the urine voided in four months; 
they should be divided in the middle, and one 
end when filled, should be allowed to ferment. 
This fermentation would be completed in about 
six weeks, when it should be carried to the land 
and applied as we now apply guano and water. 
In the process of fermentation, ihe ammonia is 
apt to escape; but by mixing the urine with 
three times its bulk of water, this will be pre- 
vented to a very considerable extent, as shown 
in the following table : 
Saline Mailer and Ammonia in Ihe Urine voided by a 
Cow in iwelve monlhs. 
Recent urine contains — lbs. lbs. 
solid matter, 900 Yields of aramonia, 226 
Kept 6 weeks — mixed with 
water, .....850 “ " 200 
Kept 6 weeks, unmixed,, . .650 " “ 30 
We have frequently been astonished at the 
results ol certain saline substances when scat- 
tered over unhealthy plants, by the first shower 
washed into the soil, and immediately consumed 
by the plant as its proper and necessary food; 
and just in proportion to the ease with which it 
gets the substances upon which it is supported, 
and of which it is composed, v/ill it vegetate. 
Suppose any of the substances of which a plant 
is composed to be already in the ground in suffi- 
cient proportion, then any addition cannot do 
good. Suppose soda to be in sufficient quantity 
for hay, any addition would be unprofitable for 
a rye-grass crop, while it would be of immense 
benefit to double the quantity for clover or lu- 
cerne. And again, some soils contain it in suf- 
ficient quantity for every variety ol crop, conse- 
quently any addition would be unprofitable.— 
Hence the reason of so many conflicting opin- 
ions respecting the utility of manures, A. B. 
has a field deficien l in the due proportion of gyp- 
sum; and, by applying it to his crop, he finds 
the most beneficial effects. C. D. hears of these 
results, and applies il to his fields, which have 
already an abundant quantity of it. but require 
something else; and the consequence is, it does 
no good, and he pronounces it worthless as a 
manure; and his next neighbor, E. F., who 
would have been benefilted by its application, 
has been dissuaded from applying it. Milk 
contains so much bony earth chat in seventy-five 
years a cow pastured on an acre of land ■will 
carry off a ton ol bone ; hence some lands used 
for dairy purposes in Cheshire had, in the course 
of years, deteriorated to such a degree that they 
weie not worih more than from 5s. to 10s. per 
acre, just because the cows pastured on them 
had carried away all the bone out of the soil. 
Bone dust was at length applied as a top dres- 
sing, and the results were so astonishing that 
the land increased 700 per cent, in value, and 
the rector’s tithes were increased five fold. Any 
or all other manures, had they wanted bone, 
would have proved ineffectual. The bones 
added just what had gradually been taken oft in 
the lapse of years, in consequepce of the pecu- 
liar husbandry of the district. 
