150 
THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
land is to be used for stock it will lake and 
maintain entire possession to the exclu.sion of 
any competitor which we have in middle Aia 
bam a. 
Clover OMd Herd's G/vts^ ~ I have now a bean 
tiful lot of these grasses in conjtmAion on high 
land, the whole about knee high, and the clover 
in flower. iVJr. Kirby, one ol my neighbors, 
cut the wood from a piece ol low^, pif e clay, 
crawfish land last winter, and when the bruslc 
&c., lying on the ground, had become sufii- 
cienly dry, he set fire to it and burnt it all 
off, thus giving it a top dressing of ashes. He 
then sowed Herd’s Grass on the top of the 
ground, without plow, harrow or anything of 
the kind. He now has a most rich and beauti- 
ful crop of this grass growing. If desired, your 
readers may obtain lurther particulars ol this 
crop. 
Leersia Ortzoides, (rice grass.)— This plant 
so much resembles r/ce that only a practised eye 
can distinguish them. The negroes on the rice 
plantations in Carolina call it “f/re rice's cou- 
sin.” It will grow wherever rice will — in' the 
water or in any damp situation. It is found 
wild in all the Southern country; grows tall, 
seeds in a panacle not unlike ahead of oats, 
and will yield two crops a year of hoy. 
Roots perennial. B. TJ. 
Tusualoosa, Ala., May 13, 18-15. 
Foolisli Planters. 
From the Augusta Constitutionalist. 
Permit me, Mr. Editor, through the medium 
of ycurcolumns, to notice what I considera very 
silly and most pernicious proceedingon the part 
of our planting friends, to which my attention 
has again been drawn, from noticing the usual 
annua! articles : 
*• The first new cotton in market from the 
plantation of Mr. , county, sold 
for — cents ! ! i " 
- ft is not my intention of enlightening the 
world as to the modus oyer andi” at times re- 
sorted to, of achieving this most astonishing 
feat ; whether thebolis were well sunned to cause 
them to open, whether' old cotton was slight- 
ly mixed to make up quantity, what amount 
of labor was bestowed upon the laudable and 
useful undertaking, how long it remained pack- 
ed before being opened to prevent its rotting, 
nor the extent of gratification enjoyed by tht- 
enterprising planter. These are but trifling 
and local matters. 
f wish ‘o dcfi! with the practical effect ot this 
foHv. li certainly cannot escape the notice of 
any mail of intelligence, that, the cotton trade 
has a host of people engaged in it, whose every 
thought and aim is to depress prices. The 
banker,' holding the available and |?.ctive wealth 
of the country — for he gets the better bill the 
lower the price is— and the manufacturing in- 
terests, for the cheaper the cotton the greater 
the profit— and the acent 'pnrehasing, tor the 
lower the price the more the orders cavi be exe- 
cuted— and a host of dependants are alive to 
everything reldting lothis trade, sparing no cost 
or labor in procuring every possible informa- 
tion, as to ihft amount planted, state of the sea- 
sons, &e. &.C. 
One of the reliable modes of calculation by 
them, is from the time the first blossom is ob- 
served, to the first killing frost — again, fiom the 
first new cotton being in market, to the first 
killing frost — this is relied upon for length of 
season — if an average period the crop is con- 
sidered an average one — if an unusual period, a 
large one. 
Now, instead of permitting nature to take its 
course, gathering with care the harvest when 
it is ripe, we (fora vain boast) must anticipam 
this event, and arm our enemies with an irre 
sislible argument to rob us of our labor. 
The fact of the early receipt, is at once her- 
alded in Augusta, or the market it is brought to. 
A full price must be given the inclustriou.s own- 
er of the one or two bales hauled to market, 
perhaps 75 miles, over a sandy road, by a hard- 
worked and poor team, with the tlierraometer 
at 95 to 100 degrees in the shade; some mer- 
chant must have the fir.st new cotton in New 
Yoi k, lor he may ’ hen see his name and his 
iriend’s in the newspapers of that city! Off ii 
£loes, and to cn ti 1 it nn'Jsii-; way to f.ivcrp.ool, 
a rnonih earlier than the represented slate of ihe 
so wing crop led parlies to anticipate. Caicii- 
lalions finm this fact are at once made, the Ln'k 
of late spring and dry season — is put down “ a 
usual humbug,” and the market of Liverpool, 
governing all oiher markets, becomes at once 
languid and depre.'.sed.' 
1 hat this has been, and is likely to be the 
case, 1 will ofily state what took place a lew 
years ago: A planter in South Carolina sent 
in July, two bales of collon lo the Augusta 
market; they were at once sold, sent per rail 
road to Charleston, and by. steam packet to 
New York, there they were puichased by the 
agent of a merchant spinner, shipped per 
“Great Western,” and oh the I6lh day of Au- 
gust landed in Liverpool. 
The anticipated efieci of this shrewd agent 
was at once realized. The cotton market, 
(there in a good state,) paused, reeled and tum- 
bled — in three weeks prices Went down G cents 
a pound; and continued at ihat depression tor 
four months, cau.sing a !o-.s to American hold- 
ers ol coiton estimated atone and a half mil- 
lions of dollars, and perhaps as much rntTe to 
planters upon their new crop. But what avail- 
ed all this— the planter had his name in the pa- 
pers — glory enough for one day. 
Let us hope, Mr. Editor, for more intelli- 
gence in luinre; but if peisistcd in. I mu.^t call 
upon the trade'of Augusta unanimously to vote 
a leather medal for next year. 
A planter’s friend. 
Gettiiig Poor on ricli s and, and R'ch on 
poor Land. 
A close observer of men and thirgs told us 
the following litile hi.siory, w-hich we hope will 
plow very deeply into the atientioc of all who 
plow very shallow in their soils: 
Tw’o brothers settled together in coun- 
ty. One of them on a cold, ugly, clay soil, co- 
vered^ with black-jack oak, not one ol which 
w’as large enough to make a half dozen rails. 
This man would never drive any but large, 
pow’erful, Conostoga horses, some seventeen 
hands high. He always put three horses'io a 
large plcnv, and plurged ii in some ten inches 
deep. This deep plowing he invariably prac- 
ticed and cultivated thoroughly alterwards. He 
raised his seventy bushels ol corn to the acre. 
This man had a brother about six miles off, 
settled on a rich While river bottom-land farm 
— and while a black jack clay soil yielded se- 
venty bushels to the acre, this fine botium land 
would not average fifty. One brother was stea 
dily growing rich on poor land, and the other 
steadily growing poor on rich land. 
One day the bottorn-larrd brother cam.e down 
to see the black-jack oak laimer, and they began 
to talk about their crops and-darms as farmers 
are very apt to do. 
“ How is it,” said the first, “that you manage 
on this poor soil to beat me in crops?”. 
The reply was, “ / work rny land” 
That was it, exactly. Some men have such 
rich land .that they won’t work it, and-ihev never 
g^t a step beyond where they began. They re- 
ly on the sofZ, and not on labor or skill, or care. 
Sortie men expect their sms to work, and some 
men expect to work their land — and that is just 
the difference between a good and a bad farmer. 
When we hart written thus tar, and lead it to 
our informant, he said, three years ago I travel- 
led again through that section, and the only 
good larm 1 saw was this very one of which 
you have just written. All the others were de- 
solate, fences down, cabins abandoned, the set- 
tlers discouraged and moving off. I thought 1 
saw the same old stable door, hanging by one 
hinge, that used lo disgust me ten years before ; 
and I saw no change except for the worse in the 
whole county, with the single exception of this 
one farm. — Ind. Farmer and Gardener, 
Efadiiig and Topping Corn. 
No one performs these operations for the 
bejicfir (d ihe ear, but to obtain fodder; and it 
is then justified on tl e ground that the corn is 
m.i harmed by it. The sap drawn Irom the root 
doss not flow strait op into the ear and kernel, 
bin into the leaves or blades. The carbonic acid 
ol the crude sap is de com po.sed, oxygen is given 
ofi' and carbon remains in liie foim of starch, 
sugar, gum, &c. &c , a.ccording lo the nature of 
Ihe plaoL Vv'hen sap has by exposure to light 
undergone tnis change, it is said to be clo.borated. 
It is only now-rthai ihe sap, passing from the 
upper si la of the leaf to a set of vessels in the 
under side, is reconveyed to ihe stem, begins to 
desce.nd, and is distrib ited to various parts of 
the plant, affording nourishment to all. But 
when the fruit of every plant is maturing it 
draws to itself a large part ot the prepared sap, 
which, w hen it has entered the kerney is still 
farther elabo,ate-d and made lo produce the pe- 
culiar qualities cf the fruii, whether corn or 
w heat, apple or pear. It is plain, fre.m this e.x- 
planatiori, that a plant stripped ot its leaves is 
like a chemist robbed of' his laboratory, or like 
a man w’ithout lungs. 
If corn is needed for fodder, let it be cut close 
to the ground, when the corn has glazed. The 
grain will go on ripening and be asheav}'- and 
as good as if left to stand, and the slalk will af- 
ford excellent food for cattle. Sheep are fond of 
corn thus cuied, anil will winter very well upon 
it. In husking out the corn, the husk should be 
left on the stalk for tedder . — Indiana Farmer. 
I et Farmers C'ommuuicaie — ImprovemeDt. 
M.r. Editor : -Farmers should be communi- 
cative of their agricultural knowledge. They 
should be as willing to give information to a 
broiher, as they are particularly anxious to re- 
ceive the like at the hands of others. They 
should inquire, search, experiment, and en- 
deavor to advance the general agricultural in- 
terest by every possible means and measure. 
What should be thought ol a farmer, who, hav- 
ing the necessary right kind ot knowledge to 
double his own harvest — which very properly 
and prudently he does — yei, will not impart one 
iota of the secret lo his neighbor, that he may do 
the same 1 Such there may be, but assuredly he 
is unworthy that appellation “ broiher farmer.” 
The real genuine larmer is wholly given lo 
the wtjrk. N.ext to his duties due high Heaven, 
it is his all ab.-orbinsr topic. He loves to hear 
ab't-ul fanrifng ; he loves 10 /a?/babout farming; 
the s udy of terming is to his taste.. He thinks, 
read.s, composes, reflects and stores his mind 
with treasures ^if knowledge applicable to the 
profession. All- other knowledge is acquired 
only to .subserve the intsresis < f this. In this 
wav, the farmer must and will nse. It is as ne- 
ce.ssarv to Ihe prosperity, ihe onward and up- 
ward march of the farmer, that he study and ap- 
ply the stores of kpowiedge, to the work ol his 
hands as in any profession or business whatever. 
Let him patienilv and perseveringly do it then, 
and look up and live. 
Farmers shc'uld take courage under a view of 
the immense change in hiS favoi there has been 
wrought within the last thirty years. Thirty 
years ago! Where then was the flood of agri- 
cultural reading now .sent forth to enlighten the 
land and make glad the hearts of tlie hearty 
yeomanry 1 And what was the slate ol agri- 
cultural science? Did the farmer then sup- 
pose science had any thing to do with the prac- 
tice of husbandry! What too wa.s_lhen the 
state of agricultural implements? Vv'hatfora 
plow did he turn the stubborn .glebe with? and 
what for a cultivator and hoe did he essay to till 
the hall broken field w’iih? Indeed, farmers can 
tell, for they known 
Farmers, under a sense of what has been done 
and is now being done for them, should look up, 
respect themselves, and adore that Providence 
that has so kindly undertaken lo advance their 
general weal. Respectfully, 
Butter's Vale, Dec. 1845. B. F. Wilbur. 
