188 
THE SOUTHERN CUI.TIVATOR. 
Northern shoes and leather, taking the proceeds 
of cotton to pay lor them. And that 1 may no 
good on a larger scale, let me speak a Inile 
more particularly to the wealthy farmer. You 
employ an overseer to attend to your business, 
and he perhaps cares nothing lor your hides. 
Now when you employ an overseer, let this be 
part ’of his business. Perhaps- that one item 
may cover one-lourth or one-half his wages. 1 
am acriuainted with men who arc called neat 
farmers, and they make money too, and seem 
to have everything conducted in systematic 
style, yet they hardly ever realize anything from 
their hides. 
If the farmer has no better rule for preserving 
his hides, let him take mine : In the first place, 
always send your hides to the yard, while green, 
then you run no risk, and green hides generally 
make the best leather. You will realize more 
from the green hides than when ilry— .5 cents per 
pound for green hides is aboulequivaleni, to 12J 
cents for dry; but the tanners pay only 10 cents 
for the dry-mat is, dou.de the green price. But 
if not convenient to .‘^end to the yard when the 
hide is first taken off, sprinkle a little salt on 
the flesh side and fold it up, this side in, for two 
or three hours, for the salt to strike in, then hang 
it up smooth— ihd.i is, free from wrinkles— in 
some barn or out-house, keeping it out of the 
sun and rain all the time. When cured, sun 
them occas'onally and beat the worms out, if 
there be any. You may then have no lear of 
your hides. 
You must recollect another thing also: il 
you have timber to cut down, do it in the spring 
and sell the bark to the tanners, and your sap 
timber will then last nearly as long as the heart. 
Your sap timber is generally ruined by bark be- 
ing left on it, and also by cutting down at im- 
proper .sea.son3 of the year. 
Mr. Editor, I could have written more, but 
this communication is already two or three 
times as long as 1 expected, so you will excuse 
my prolixity. Very respectfully, 
J. II. Anoeuson. 
Salem, Ga., Oct. 20, 1845. 
Deep Plowing. 
Mii.Camak: — In June last, I went from this 
place to Augusta, and on my way saw the plant- 
ers, who were then threshing out their wheal, 
put up the straw in so careless a manner, that I 
saw they set little value on it. I spoke to Mr. 
Jones in Augusta about it. He requested me 
to write an article lor publication on the value 
of wheat as compared with fodder. I 
did so, and thought but little more of the subject. 
1 lately was in Habersham county at the house 
of a gentleman, who I found patronized your in- 
valuable agricultural paper. I had not seen a 
number of it until then. I asked him if he had 
observed an article in that paper on the value 
of wheat straw. He told me. he had, and spoke 
in terrasol commendation on thediscovery. 
On my return, near Pendleton, in looking 
over the Pendleton Messenger of the 18th June, 
I read a communication extracted from your 
paper, by Williams Riilherlord, jr., of Cow- 
pens, Walton county, Ga., dated 2lst March, 
oti the subject ol deep plowing. 1 will give 
you an experiment made by me from necessity. 
The result was something similar. 
1 had a field of thirteen acres, naturally very 
poor, (so much so, that the first natural produc- 
tion was a poor growth of sheep sorrel, a cer- 
tain indication of sterility,) which 1 intended to 
f iut in wheat. The summer was something 
ike the last, excessively dry. When the lime 
arrived that this field should be broken up, it 
was so hard a plow with two horses could not 
be got into the ground. Four horses were tiied 
without success. A coulter was tried with two 
horses but the draft was too great, and four 
horses enabled the plowman to break this field. 
The weather continued dry, and when it was 
time to sow the wheat, a piece of corn was ga- 
thered and that sown (no rain meanwhile;) the 
plows were then removed to the field plowed with 
the coulter, and it was discovered it plowed 
well. 'I’he wheat was sown ; no manure was 
afiplied. The wheat wlicn harvested was a ve- 
ry tolerable crop, (for such poor land, very 
good,) and there were many places liom 10 to 
20 yards square covered wiih luxuriant clover. 
No seed could have been on the land, arul how 
it came to grow can only be solved by future 
e.xperimenis. 
'I'he idea that s'riick me (which 1 would like 
to see investigated by some more scien tific ex- 
perimentalist,) is, that the plow having reached 
deep into the clay bottom, (the top soil was de- 
composed granite, or coarse gravel,) the clay 
attracted nitre from the atmosphere, and thus 
caused the growth (d clover, which it is believ- 
ed will only grow on lands cultivated lor some 
lime and manured. New lands will not pro 
duce clover if very rich. 
Another suggestion I will make, with the 
hope it may be subjected to scientific and che- 
mical research, which this experiment suggest- 
ed to me : 
By deep plowing at the season when the sun’s 
power is diminished from summer lieat, the 
earth then becomes warmer than the atmos- 
phere, and as there is attraction in heat, may 
we not suppose the nitrous particles floating in 
the atmosphere will be attracted by the greater 
warmth of the earth, and so poweifully aid in 
fertilizing the soil. From the accidental experi- 
ment ol myself and Mr. llutherlord, I hope j 
others will be disposed to examine the result ol 
similar experiments. 
With much respect, R. 
P. S. If I have time I will send some re- 
marks on irrigation, the result of my agricul- 
tural expeiimenls. All the upper part of South 
Carolina and Georgia is adiniiably adapted to 
improvement by irrigation, and hay may be 
made an article of exportto an immenscamounl. 
When one acre will produce one and a half 
tons ol hay at a cutting, at least, which can 
he cut and cured by one hand in two days, and 
at least two cutting's can be taken in one sum- 
mer, then corn will not be injured by pulling off 
the natural feeder, the blade, given by an All- 
w'ise Being to give it maturity. 
Greenville, S. C., Oct. 22, l845. 
Rot ill Sheep. 
Mr. Camatc Sir — Having promised some 
remarks upon the final cure ol that disastrous 
distemper commonly called the Rot, among our 
sheep ol the South, 1 now proceed to com- 
ply with my promose. Mr. Livingston, in the 
Farmer’s Cabinet, made some remarks upon 
the excretory duct o) the feet of sheep, that is 
worthy of the attention ol every wool-grower 
throughout the United States. But it is our du- 
ty to improve upon everv suggestion made by 
onr friynds; therefore, I shall o/Hr a lew re- 
marks upon the excretory duct. 
Twelve years past my father had a fine flock 
of young sheep, and as the sheep grew older 
they began to linger, and in fact, some did po- 
sitively dwindle away and die, and at the same 
time, I suppose, they had as good pastures to 
feed in as any farmer of Newton county. IVe 
knew very well that it was the rot, commonly 
so called by the Little River farmers, but the 
cause that produced that coughing disease was 
a inatier of great astonishment with us, as the 
sheep had fine pastures to run in, and were regu- 
larly salted. So we commenced examining, 
and we found out that the excretory duct was 
the grand cause. Well, we being determined 
to get rid ol our sheep, or that they should be re- 
lieved of this destructive disease or distemper, 
lor they were not worth anything ol conse- 
quence, and an experiment on them w'ould not 
be attended with much loss if we should lose 
the whole flock. Therefore, instead of bathing 
the feel in warm water, or of brushing the fis- 
sure ol the hoof, or ol probing the orifice, or ol 
pressing out the fluid, or of extracting the fluid 
alone, we resorted to the needle and knife, and 
extracted the whole aflfair. This is done by tak- 
ing a common sized sewing needle and a strong 
thread; press open the fissure of the hoof, 
and take up tlie point or inouih ol the duct with 
your needle, draw your thread through and take 
a sharp sinall-bla.ied knife and split the skin 
each side of the thread, commencing preci.sely 
at the thread on the top of the duct, lengthwajs 
the split cd the hoof. So soon as you have cut 
through the natural skin ol the hoot you will 
perceive, to your a.stonishrnerit, that the duct is, 
like the eye of the sheep, separate entirely from 
either .‘■kin or hoof, and only confined in the 
bottom of the fissure by a small thread or lube. 
And when you have cut this thread the pocket 
of poison will leave its den of secret disasteror 
destruction to the sheep. 
This was done to iny father’s flock about 
eleven or twelve years past, and il any ol 
the sheep have had the rotor cough since, 1 
never heard of it. Bol, to the contrary^ they 
commenced thriving, arul instead of holding up 
their heads that they might breathe, they were 
able to pul them down to feed upon the grasses 
and herbs ol thfe fields; and instead ol standing 
or of lying and coughing their lives away, they 
were enabled to rest at ea.se in any position, 
and chew their cuds, and thrive upon the very 
food that once would poison and kill. 
My brother has operated upon a large flock 
for Mr. M, Gresham, of Stewart, the riresent 
year. We would like to hear the result on the 
pine woods sheep of Mr. Gresham. I will only 
remark that tho.se sheep that feed behind in the 
flock are the worst off, and wherefore?— be- 
cause the poison that the grass gathers from 
the ducts ol those sheep that feed before, is 
eaten by the latter. For it is my opinion that 
the way it is caught i:;, by eating the grass that 
hascaucht the poison from the duct of the leer. 
I could write this cominunicaii''n as much 
longer il time and circumstances would justify. 
It my brother farmers wish to know the philo- 
sophy in full of this communication, I will give 
it in a future number of your highly esteemed 
paper; for 1 believe that the reading ol your pa- 
per lor two years, that only cost me two dollars, 
has been already worth more to me thnn one 
hundred dollars, and I do say that I think any 
man is acting in the dark who attempts to carry 
on a farm without book farming. 
Thos. L, Middlebrooks. 
Newlon Co., Ga. 
Florida Coffee. 
•' For nt.u(;lit so vile that on lire earth doth live, 
I5nl to the earth some special good doth give.” 
Shokspeare. 
Mr. Camak: — Some seven or eight years 
past, I was in Georgia on business, and found 
an old friend ol mine engaged in raising w-hat 
he called Florida Coffee. He had procured 
some seed, and had sowed it in a lot, for distri- 
bution amongst his Irieuds. I happered to 
know more of this coffee, at the time, than he 
did, and advised him to destroy every plant and 
seed if lie could. Whether he followed my ad- 
vice or not I am unable to say. 
Now, sir, I have been for ten years-endeavor- 
ing to find out .some use for it, and not finding 
any, to destroy it — both in vain. It still flour- 
ishes in my best soil. If il would be contented 
to grow in old worn outfields, 1 could with some 
patience spare it ground. But it selects, uner- 
ringly, the best spots of soil whereon to fix and 
to grow, and will grow nowhere else. The 
seed will lie in the earth all winter and come 
up, from May to October, in successive crops 
as you kill it. If you cut it down with a scythe 
it will put up twice as thick from the stem, by 
lateral branches. If you pull up every stem, 
and before it seeds — it avails nothing — next 
year it will appear again. Nothing will eat it. 
The birds spurn its numerous seeds, which 
fall to the earth and remain as uninjured as if 
they were kept in a house. As I have seen no 
mention of ilin the Cultivator, I hope it has 
found no foothold in Georgia. Il it has, I hope 
some of your correspondents or subscribers 
will be so kind as to communicate whatever of 
good or evil their alchemy may have discover- 
ed of this rattle-weed, alias stink-weed, alias 
Florida Coffee, and oblige An Alibamun. 
