92 
THE SOUTHERN CUi^TIVATOR. 
than cotton; compel him to raise less ot that 
overdone crop; enable him to gather it much 
sooner and send it to market in better order, as 
he would assuredly gather much more to the 
acre; and it would, with the addition of a com- 
plete series of horizontal ditches^ entirely stop his 
land from washing. 
It is always remarked here, that no matter 
how poor the ground may be that is taken pos- 
session ol by Bermuda, It rapidly improves, be- 
coming dark-colored and mellow, and showing 
in the bettered appearance ol the corn, the im- 
provement that the soil receives Irom a cover- 
ing of this grass. 
I have never recommended the introduction 
ol this grass, without adding a caution as to the 
trouble it is certain to occasion under improper 
management. At the same time there is one 
queiy 1 should like answered — is it not better to 
cover with this grass the naked, exhausted, 
washed hills that have been thrown out as inca- 
pable ol being longer cultivated in corn and cot- 
ton with advantage, and which exist to the ex- 
tent of many thousands of acres in all the cot- 
ton growing States, even if it never could be era- 
dicated, than to leave them as they now are, ut- 
terly worthless and valueless] Few of the 
lands in this State or in Georgia, are so worn, 
but that a covering ol Bermuda grass could be 
had upon them, capable of supporting five head 
of sheep to the acre, and every year’s grazing 
would improve them. Had I such a larm as 
many 1 could name, I would infinitely rather 
cover it with Bitter Coco, than leave them as they 
now are. 
Even now there are many larmers in Ken- 
tucky, Ohio and Indiana, who dread the intro- 
duction of Blue grass on their farms, so trou- 
blesome is it under careless or improper man- 
agement. I do not consider Bermuda grass 
much more so. 
In the rotation recommended above, I have a 
special eye to the smothering of this grass. — 
With the oats sowed amongst the cotton, 1 should 
sow, and do sow, about a gallon ot red clover 
seed per acre, which afiords a fine bite after the 
oats are cut, and until the Bermuda covers the 
ground. True, red clover lasts but one year 
here —in the North it lasts two — ripening its seed 
and dying. But, il not grazed too close, there 
is enough o! seed dropped to cover the ground 
pretty well a second year. And whether or no, 
it far more than pays, in early and rich pastu- 
rage, the trouble and expense incurred. 
There are not near enough of winter oats 
grown in the South. They make a famous 
winter pasture, and are much better feed for hor- 
ses and mules than corn, costing, at the same 
time, much less labor to make, and leaving the 
ground unoccupied by the middle of May, lor a 
lull crop of that most valuable ot all our crops, 
c w peas. 
Volumes might be written upon the advanta- 
ges to the cotton planter of changing his present 
miserable practice of occupying two-thirds in- 
stead of two-sevenths of his land in cotton, and 
of giving the attention they deserve to oats, 
cow peas, sweet potatoes, Bermuda grass, clo- 
ver, c>irn, hogs and sheep, home manufactures, 
&c , &c. Years of toil on the part of our agri- 
cultural editors, and other friends of improve- 
ment, will be required before much can be ef- 
fected. 1 fear that improvement and change for 
the better, have received a sad chock from the 
recent urifortunate rise in cotton. It will be the 
means of materially increasing the already ex- 
cessive over production. 
Let me congratulate you on the improvement 
you have already effected in the Southern Cul- 
tivator; and urge upon the farmers of Georgia 
to come out and give us a proper insight into the 
state ol things in that State. Yours, truly, 
Thomas Affleck. 
Ingleside, near Washington, Miss., April, 1845. 
For the Southern Cultivator. 
Wool. 
Mr. Editor: — I beg to offer the following 
statement of the yield ol wool from a small 
flock of Leicester sheep which I have just had 
sheared; and, at the same time, will remark 
that they have not been once fed during the past 
winter, having been on a rye lot of 10 acres the 
whole time. 
If any of your reader’s flocks can beat the 
yield, I would be glad to hear from them. 
I have a few young Bucks lor sale. 
Augusta, May 25. B. H. Warren. 
Mr. Warren:— A ccording to your directions, 
I had sheared last week your twenty Leicester 
sheep. Their yield was 112 lbs. of wool. 
The young buck’s fleece was 10 lbs. ; the old 
one lbs. It may be proper to remark, that 
three out ot the twenty sheep were late lambs, 
and not lull grown — so that some allowance 
should be made for them. Very respectfully, 
John W. Morriss. 
Bedford Farm, May 1, 1845. 
For the Southern Cultivator. 
Tanning on the Plantation. 
Mr. Camak: — I see in your last Cultivator 
directions for plantation tanning, by Mr. Af- 
fleck ot Mississippi. Having tanned my hides 
for a number of years, and believing it to my 
interest, I suppose it will be profitable to others 
who have many raw hides. 
I have succeeded well, and think my leather 
firmer and n>ore valuab e for negro shoes, and 
the coarse harness on my farm, than tan-yard 
leather; and as my plan is a much cheaper one 
than Mr. Affleck’s, and as economy is my hobby- 
horse, I just thought I would ride him out this 
morning to keep him healthy. ‘ 
I tan from 10 to 15 hides a year, of various 
sizes. I have two vats 5 by 7 feet, 4 feet deep, 
sunk in the ground near a falling branch, so 
constructed at the bottom that I can draw a plug 
and wash and empty them, I begin in March ; 
soak my hides ten days in running water. Two 
or three times I take them oat and give them a 
good rubbing or washing. They are then ready 
for the lime, as we call it. I then put them in 
one of my vats, and divide equally among them 
from 3i to .5 bushels of good ashes and 2 or 3 
quarts of lime, and cover the whole in water. — 
The lye had better be strong, and if you err, err 
on that side. Every lew days 1 take them up, 
or rather stir them up, and mix them again, so 
that all parts shall be equally acted on by the 
lye and the atmosphere, in the top and the bot- 
tom ol the vat. If your ley is right, in 10 or 12 
days your hides will be thickened to two or 
three times their first thickness— feel more like 
a sheet of jelly than any thing else, and the 
hair will slip easily. Then slip off the hair, and 
with a drawing knife or a currying knife, scrape 
off the loose flesh and cellular matter on the 
other side, and as much of the lye as you can, 
without bruising the hide : and then put them 
back into fresh and clean water. Every other 
day take them up and give them a good rub- 
bing or scouring, for 10 days. They are then 
ready fiir the bark ; and by that time you can 
slip the bark off your oak trees and have it rea- 
dy for the hides. I never grind my bark. I 
take it from the tree, and with a drawing knife, 
takeoff the rough on the outside, and just beat 
it enough to cause it to lie flat in the vat. In 
my other vat I do all my tanning, and commence 
with a layer of bark, then of leather, and so 
on; and so lay it in the vat that every part of 
each side of the leather shall lie against bark ; 
and when I am done, I immerse this entirely in 
water. 
The first year you had better boil an ooze in 
kettles or pots, and use that instead of water, 
and afterwards always preserve your old ooze 
to use next year instead of water. I let this lie 
until the 1st ol August, and put in a second 
bark precisely as the first, and let it lie until 
sometime in October or November, when my 
leather is fully tanned, if these directions have 
been followed. When the leather is well tan- 
ned, it presents a yellow, spongy appearance, 
through and through ; otherwise, you will see a 
white or hard streak in the centre. When I 
take it up 1 scour the ooze well out of all. — 
That 1 intend for sole leather, 1 straighten and 
dry; that for upper leather, I wash well, then 
grease well with the cheapest oil 1 have, and af- 
ter drying 8 or ten days, 1 moisten it, curry off 
the spungy, soft part from the flesh side ;. and 
when moist, beat it or break it over some rough 
surface until it is comparatively soft, and the 
grain side is all puckered up, or wrinkled into 
small wrinkles. Then, when my leather is 
thoroughly dried and shrunk, it is fit for use. 
Respectfully, J, S. Whitten.- 
Mount Zion, May, 1845, 
For the Southern Cultivator. 
Berkshire Hogs* 
Mr. Editor: — When a boy, it was a part of 
my business to feed the sows and pigs. From- 
habit, or a partialityfor “ old Ned,” or a swi-- 
nish disposition, I became fond of hogs. This 
early attachment has not left me. I love to feed 
them, and to rub them, and to read about them 
too; in such books, lor instance, as the “Amer- 
ican Swine Breeder.” I give my .pigs big 
names, such as “Sam Jones,” “ Ben Sherrod,” 
and “Prince Albert.” They seem to know 
their names, and I think are just as worthy of 
them as some bipeds are to be dubbed General. 
“ Victoria''^ is a favorite name with me. Y"ou 
know she is said to be often “ in a delicate and 
nteresting situation,” and I like to have her 
gord example imitated. It is the best way to 
increase the stocks. 
While reading the Southern Cultivator 
for April, I came to a piece headed “ Berkshire 
Hogs,” and signed by “One of the Buckets.” 
Formerly there was a man in this county some- 
times called '-Ned Bucket ;” ’tis said he went 
to Texas and did some tall walking after he 
got there. This “ One" may be some of the 
same family: but — I don’t know — people are 
mistaken sometimes. 
“ One of the Buckets,” it seems, like your 
humble servant, is fond of hogs, and especially 
Berkshires. He, like many others, has suc- 
ceeded finely with them. I am glad that he has. 
He seems to think that I have net succeeded 
because I did not feed them. Now, I suppose 
Bucket guesses we don’t make much corn down 
this way, and that ’tis root hog or die." Well, I 
wish he may never be deceived worse than when 
he thought so. 
I recollect reading a long time ago, in some 
old book, about a man who tried to learn his 
mare to live without eating. He curried, and 
brushed, and rubbed, and did all that sort o’thing 
The poor mare remonstrated, and told him, food 
would do better without currying, than currying 
without food. Her remonstrances were disre- 
garded, and just as her education was complet- 
ed, she unfortunately died. Some years since, 
I walked three long summer days, the 4th, 5th 
and 6th of July, in the woods bordering the 
Okefenokee Swamp, without meat or bread, or 
even a “ substitute,” good or bad. 
From what I have read, and from my own 
experience, 1 have come to the conclusion that 
quadrupeds, and bipids too, feel a little more 
cheerful, and do a little better, when they have 
good appetites, and a plenty ol something good 
to eat. I have not tried to raise hogs on the 
wind. 
“ Bucket” tells some very pretty things about 
the Berkshires, and I do not doubt a single 
word he says. He has succeeded finely ; '‘but 
mind,he feeds them." Ah! there is the secret. 
He does not try to raise hogs w'ithout “corn," 
or a “good substitute." That word “feed” is a 
comprehensive term ; I don't understand it, and 
would be glad if “ Bucket” would explain. 
I will just give a short history ol “my way,” 
and “ Bucket” will be the better able to point 
out my errors, and others may guard against 
them also. Heretofore I had led my hogs in 
the woods, with com, turned them on grain 
fields in summer, cn peas and potatoes in the 
fall, and finished off on a floored pen. I had 
the scrub stock of the country, with a dash ol 
the Cobbett. I raised plenty ol pork and to 
spare. Butl had heard and read about the Berk- 
