THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
29 
« 
Piantatiou Economy. 
Mr. C-iM.vK:— I had a pretty good beef 
slaughtered on the last day of December. Per- ] 
haps 3 'ou and the readers of the Ccltiv^tor j 
will not thinlr it amiss lor me to give a stale- | 
ment of my manner of fattening, an l his value ; 
when taken from service, and what 1 consider- 
ed his value when slaughtered, worth oi teed, 
&c. I do not think hisweisht anything to brag 
of, but shall make the following statement to 
show what a man may gain by-a little attention 
and trifling expense: This beet was an old 
broken down ox, some 14 or 15 vears old, taken 
from the voke the first ol last March, and had 
common pasturage from then till harvest. His 
fare was then pretty good till the first of Sep- 
tember. About that time the army worm made 
a sweep of our grass. From that time till pull- j 
ing corn he was on the decline. J put him in a | 
pen of about a quarter ot an acre aboutthe 15;h l 
of October, expecting to fatten him on corn ! 
and cob meal, which be ate kindly at first, j 
There being some hogs in the same pen which 1 
were led on boiled lood, the ox soon began to i 
taste of the hogs’ food, and after a while reins- j 
ed the feed in his trough, preferring the boiled 
feed, such as turnips, collards, pumpkins and i 
artichokes, with a portion ol corn and cob ; 
meal intermixed. He had no other teed after j 
his choice was fully made, except occasionally j 
a rav,’ pumpkin chopaed up and raw sweet po- ; 
tatoes. 1 do not think he could have been sold 
tor mote than S'o when he wa.s taken from the 
yoke. I further think that it would be doing : 
injustice lo make a charge of more than S15 for 
his leedaad attendance. I now give the state ' 
ment of his v eight, value, (fee : j 
Nett beef, including suel fdt, 704 lbs. at 4j cents. S‘31 63 
Tallow. 73 pounds at 10 cents 7 80 
Hide, 86 " “ 5 4 30 
Head, haslet, tripe and feet I 50 
Tolal proceeds -Si.5 28 
Value when taken from work §5 
Feed, attendance, <S;c. . 15 20 03 
Clear gain 8'25 23 
As 1 have paper and time to spare, 1 will 
give you a lew lines on anoiher subject wdiich 
is drawn out by a rentark ol Mr. .McDonald, of 
Eufaul.a, in t!ft last Cultivator, viz: the advan- 
tages of a short crop. IVhat is meant by this 
is, that an industrious planter can save what he 
has ma'fle and find time to do many other things 
about his plantation that he would have to let 
go undone 11 lie bold a full crop to save. I am 
in hope.s that I shall be able to reap some ot 
the benefits of my labor spent since my last crop 
came in. I went to work, at the first spare mo- 
ment, on a large branch which runs through 
my plantation ; having cleared it on both sides 
lor at least three-fourths of a mile, shall have 
in cultivation the present year near 20 acres of 
good branch land; have done two-thirds of the 
ditching. There is one place of five or six 
acres in a body. The work I have done on 
that part I set down to be worth .1515 per acre, 
and now compleled, I price the land at S30 pe." 
acre. The work i have done on this part of the 
branch consists in clearing, ditching and haul- 
ing the dirt thi’own out, (which is mostly allu- 
vi.al soil,) to fill the washed places, sinks, &c. 
My ditch to convey the branch, is twelve 
feet wide, and I have some small ditches for 
draining, &?. The last dry summer has caus- 
ed many planters to commence clearing up and 
preparing their hr?: ch land for a crop ihe com- 
ingspring, which under proper management 
will always p.iy them well for their labor. I 
had about five acres ol branch land in corn last 
3 ’ear that made more corn per acre than any 
’a d I e'er had — in al', about 40 bar els. lam, 
dear sir, y u srespect’ly, Joh.v Farrar. 
P. S. I do beg ot iho^e gentlemen writing 
cornmunicaiions torthe Southern Cultivator, 
that they will give their State, county and post 
office. When I read a piece in the Cultivator, 
whether 1 am pleased with it or noq 1 wish to 
know where the writer lives. 
Sio.Df ircvillCj Putnam ( o., Jinuanj IG, 18i6. 
AgriciPtural Emulation -"- 1 lie Right Spirit. 
To the Hon. Charles Dougherty , Athens : 
Dear Sir: —I have the pleasure lo acknow- 
ledge the receipt of your letter, enclosing a 
Prospectus ot the Southern Cultivator. At 
the moment 1 received i'. I was in the post office 
urging some of my agricultural friends to sub- 
scribe for it. A company of ten have subscri- 
bed and forwarded their names by^ last mail 
from this county. I have been a s ubscriber for 
the work during the last two years, and it has 
been of great value to me in my agricultural 
pursuits. Notwithstanding I am a lawyer by 
profession, ail my earnings are invested in land 
and negroes. The question to be settled with 
me was, whether i should emigrate to the West 
or improve my plantation, and consider my' lo- 
cation permanent. I have determined lo re- 
main, and have every confidence in ten years 
from this time (should I live so long,) my land 
will be in a better condition forc.uliivaiion than 
ii now is. My ambition will not be satisfied 
until I shall have the best improved farm in the 
county. Two years ago I commenced hill-side 
ditching, and have now about two hundred and 
fllty acres ditched, and shall con inua the pro- 
cess until every foot of land [ cultivate shall be 
protected against the washing rains. Ditching, 
subsoil plowing and manuring, will not only re- 
novate worn out lands, but amply compensate 
us wiili increased production for the labor be- 
stowed. 
The pages of the Cultivator have furnished 
me with many valuab'e suggestions which I 
have successlullv put in practice. My i-ver- 
scer has lived with me six years, and is now 
engaged lor the seventh at S325 per annum, the 
highest wages paid in the county; but he is a 
good farmer, and is capable and willing to car- 
ry out inv views in the management tfi my bu- 
siness. Those of my neighbors who wtre dis- 
posed to laugh at me when 1 commenced ditch- 
ing, are now following my plan. I have haul- 
ed out of the swamp this Fail more than a hun- 
dred loads of manure. 
1 shall plant but little cotton the next year, for 
the sole reason that a lull cr.op will prevent me 
Irom making such improvements as I desire, f 
confidently expect the time will come when 1 
shall not plant a single hill ol corner cotton 
without manuring it Being a professional 
man, I knew it would not do to advance my 
theory oi farming as gleaned from agricultural 
papers to my neighbors, but so soon as mv own 
mind was safisfied, I commenced making prac- 
tical experiments, not only for my own benefit, 
but theirs also, an i 1 am happy to inform you 
there is agrowing interest felt in this neighbor- 
ho-id on the subject of improving lands, and 
which I have not Ihe least doubt uiil continue 
to increase. My faith is strong, that the old 
habits of our people in the culti vaiion of their 
land? will be abandoned, and a more enlighten- 
ed and judicious mode of culture will be adopt- 
ed, and he who contributes most lo accomplish 
so desirable an object will deserve the lasting 
gratitude of his counirymen. 1 find 1 have 
written a long letter, but it is on a. subject in 
which I feel a deep interest, ar.d will close by 
saving, 1 will use my best exertions to extend 
the circulation of the Cultivator, and sincere- 
ly hope Mr. Camak will continue bis editorial 
labors, if not for his own benefit, for the betiefit 
ol the country. 
Very respectfully, ymurs truly'. 
Greenville, Dec. 1S45. 
ImproTiiig Soil==.4ji Experiment. 
To the Puhlishers of the Sjuthern Cidtivntcr : 
Gentlp.men:— As a plain, harofisted farmer, 
I sit down to offer yourselves and our old friend 
at Athens, my best thanks for having enteriain- 
ed us so well and instructed us so ablv during 
the year 13-15. L'mg.may you ail live to carry 
on this noble work of reform. 
It is a matter of some concern and regret to 
me that 1 have nit received the February and 
November numbers of the Cultivator. Whai 
shall 1 dol 1 am anxious to bind and preserve 
them all, as 1 have done the first two volumes, 
as well as the entire series of the Albany Culti- 
vator. Can you send them to mel 
Enclosed you have a P. M.’s receipt which 
sho ws that 1 wish to cultivate a farther acquain- 
tance. I think I sent you seven new subscri- 
b'.rs for the present year, all whom I presume 
will continue. If they do not send their dollar, 
1 will stir them up; and in the mean time, if 
opportunity’offers, 1 willextendyour list a liiiJe. 
If 1 w'ere addressing the Eddor instead of the 
Publishers, I would offer a suggestion or two. 
But as this is not the case, I will acquaint 
you (as ft iends to Agricultural improvement) 
with the result of a little experiment, conducted 
by myself the present year. Having a small 
let c f very poor land convenient to my' house, I 
detei mined to make an efi rt to improve it a 
little. But, in arranging my plans, it was not 
convenient to manure this piece as I wished, so 
I manured it as I could. This lot is a very stiff 
clay, partially covered by a soil varying in aepth 
from Q to 4 inches. After repeated plowings 
with a good team and coulter, 1 hauled on to a 
measured acre one thousand bushels (Isay noth- 
ing of loads) ol chips, which had accumu-lated 
about my wood pile, and which were in various 
stages ol decomposition. These chips being 
evenly' spread over the surface, we turned them 
under to the depth cl 34 or 4 inches. VVe then 
laid off shallow furrows for planting corn, lour 
feet apart egch way, and planted the lot in corn 
and early table peas. This was all done alter 
we had fi.'ii.shed planting our cotton crop, and 
of course was late. I should also have stated 
that the acre had previously' been planted in 
peach tree.s, and had 134 trees of one year’s 
growth on it. The alter culture was intended 
merely to keep the sur:ace loose and to free it 
from wcolIs and grass and was performed with the 
sweep and hoe, keeping the surface as smooth 
as possible. This crop was so late that it did 
not li.ave as good seasons as the .balance of my 
crop, as it had no rain at all, w.hile earing, and 
was seriously injured by the rank growth of pea- 
vines. Well, now for the figures : cost of ma.- 
r.uri.ng, twenty two dolla.rs, including hoard, 
hire and wear and tear, &c. Product ot the acre 
in corn, 26 bushels. The peas in the green 
stale were led upon daily for about tv.'o months 
bv a family of twenty persons, and we housed 
12 bushels of clean dry peas lor winter use and 
planting. The young peach trees also marie a 
vigorous grow’th. 
For this extraordinary' crop (extraordinary 
only' when the land and seasons are taken into 
the account) I think that I am indebted — 1st, to 
the thorough breaking up ot ihe land,- 2 liy, to 
the physical and chemical action of ih.e chip.?, — 
3J!y, to the shallow and level culture. Others, 
I am aware, will say that it was not cultivated 
right; but I am sure that the common mode of 
cultivation would not have produced one fourth 
of the crop that I gathered, that is, on the same 
land with the same seasons. 
It may be thcHight, loo, that $'22 per acre, is a 
large sum to spend for the cron that I gathered. 
So it is. But let it be remembered that I expect 
to see and feel ths benefit of the application for 
several y'ears to come. Your well wisher, 
JoFL Hurt. 
Crawford, Rutsdl Co , Ala ,Dec 2, 1S45. 
Remedy FOR C' lic in Horses. — Take two 
quarts of cold wmierin a hand basin, add wiih 
your fire-shovel say a pint of hot wood ashes 
or embers, and siir. Cm tfl an inch and a half 
Irom a co i moti hand of tobacco and shred in 
the mixiure — siir ail up and let it stand fifieer. 
minu'esand settle. Pour off a common black 
boule fu 'l of the fluid and drench your horse — 
in half an hour he will be well. 
Buttf.r. — Piactice has proved ihai G'2“ is the 
he-t temperature for cream at the limeof cluirn- 
ng. It below this, pour in hot water; il above 
it, cold, until it is brought tojJie required foint. 
This point is ascertained of course by a ther- 
mometer. 
