THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
37 
Iher uf samiiier. Indeed,! have found such re- 
peated coverinst equivalent to marl, and less 
trouble ot’ putting it on . Where pine straw is 
not to be had, wheat straw (or other litter) an 
equivalent, and perhaps better for wheat, on the 
principle latelv discovered, that the straw orlit- 
terof any kind of plant makes the best manure 
for the same. Hence, corn stalks are the best lit- 
ter for corn, if managed as before stated. 
I e.arne.slly request my brother farmers, read- 
ing this, to effectually try the aforesaid plan of 
covering and shading small grain. Some, in 
this region and elsewhere, at my recommenda- 
tion, have adopted it wit.h the happiest eft'ects 
as to improvement of both crops and lands. 
I should like to go more into detail as to the 
subject in hand, but my intended limits now ex- 
ceeded, I must desist at present. 
In haste, v'ours, &c., with all due respect, 
Sidney Weller. 
B rinideyv Me, H. difax Co., N. C., July 2d, ’45. 
From the New Genesee Farmer. 
Purcliasing Butter. 
“ Is your butter good 7” said I to the farmer. 
“Good! my wile has made bmter these twen- 
ty years, and I should think she ought to know 
how to make good butter by this time!” 
He was evidently offended. 
“ Well, let use.xamine it.” The cover was 
taken ofl the tub, the clean white cloth (which 
had been w^el in brine,) rolled up, and the yel- 
low treasure revealed. It certainly did look 
good. 
“ It tastes sweet, but how very salt it is.” 
“ We always make our butter salt, to have it 
keep at this season.” 
“Let us see if the buttermilk is as well work- 
ed out as the salt is in.” 
Some of the rolls were pressed down with the 
ladle. 
“ Now ray friend, if your wife Aas made butter 
these twenty years, she does not know how to 
make good ; for no butter can be good until the 
buttermilk is worked out. If that is done, you 
need not salt it so ba 1 to have it keep well in 
any place. A very little care and labor would 
have made this excellent butter; lacking that 
little, it is onlv a secand qualnv, as you shall 
acknowledge when I show you a sample of 
good butter.” 
We went in, and I took up a roll from a 
crock of first-rate butter. It was smooth, clear 
and handsome; the hand of woman had not 
been on it from the time it had left the churn 
until now; all the wmrk had been done with the 
ladle. 
“If yougeta drop of buttermilk from that 
butter, you shall have the whole free.” 
“Now, taste this, and your own, and say ho- 
nestly, it you would not give a higher price for 
this than for your own. Look at it — see how 
clear and transparent these minute globules are 
and how intimately they are blended with the 
mass. Until these all disappear the butter will 
keep sweet, and no butter will keep long when 
they are ever so slightly colored by the milk.” 
The farmer simply remarked that there was 
a difference in all butter, and left to find a less 
critical and more ready customer. 
It is strange that when everybody loves good 
butter, and are willing to pay tor it, our farm- 
er’s wives and daughters do not take pains to 
make a better article. It is the women’s fault 
that we have poor butter generally, and we 
sha 1 hold them responsible. 
It is perfectly easy to made good butter. The 
only requisite is care. Good butter will always 
command a g''od price in the dullest market, 
while poor butter is a drug at any price. 
When any of my lady readers make butter 
jt'St let them imagine that f am to have 
a nice bit of bread and butter with them, and 
that I shall detect the least particle of milk, and 
that I am not fond of too much salt. 
The Best Book. — The best book fora farmer 
is the Bible; and the next best works, aie those 
devoted to Agriculture. 
ilX0ntl)i2 C a leu bar. 
Altered from the Amirican Agriculturist 's Alminuc for 
13H, and arranjed to suit the Southern States. 
C.ILEN35AIS FOB 0I.4BCI-5. 
[Tlie following brief hints lo the fanner, planter and 
gardener, will be found to apply not only to the moiitli 
under which they are arranged, but, owing to diversity 
of seasons, climate and soils, they may frequently an- 
swer for other monihs. This precaution the consider- 
ate agriculturist will not fail to notice and apply in all 
cases where his judgment and experience may dictate.] 
Maple Sugar should now be made by all who 
have trees suitable for it. The business may 
cotnmence at the first running of the sap, whe- 
ther in February or March, and continue as 
long as the nights freeze. 
It is estimated that the State of Vermont, 
with a population of less than :d00,000, made 
over 6,000,000 lbs. of maple sugar, in 1812, be- 
sides the syrup. This is a large item in the 
productive industry of a single State. If pro- 
perly tapped, the trees are not inju.ed. This 
may be done with a H inch auger, slanting the 
hole downwards to the depth of inches, so as 
to form a cup; or a square hole maybe made 
with a chisel and mallet. Another hole should 
be bored withaspikegimbleqslantingupwards, 
so as to draw od the sap from the cup formed 
above, and into this hole a tube of elderorother 
kind must be closely fitted. From one to three 
holes may be made according to the size of the 
tree; though no trees ought to be tapped of less 
than twelve or eighteen inches diameter. Ma- 
ny practice boring their holes with a | inch au- 
ger, slanting upwards, and fitiingan elder lube, 
from which the pith has been removed, of tlie 
full size of the hole. All the vessels used for 
the sap should be perfectly clean. As soon as 
drawn from the trees, strain the sap and boil in 
sheel-iron boilers, containing about five pails 
each, reducing twenty of sap to one of syrup. 
Then add the white of twD egg.s to three gallons 
of syrup, and stir till it boils. After thescum is 
collected, strain through flannel, and again boil 
it till it will rope an inch, then pour into pans 
till it grains. After this place it in wooden 
drains filled wiih gimblet holes and tapering to 
the bottom. To make into cakes it must be 
boiled till it will stir dry in a spoon. Care must 
be taken to prevent scorching during any part 
of the process. 
Prepare ground now for Hemp, tobacco, sweet 
potatoes, and castor beans. If any hemp re- 
main unbroke, it should be dressed with all pos- 
sible despatch. 
Catile must be closely looked alter, and not 
allowed to wander in the roads or fields, drag- 
ging themselves through the mud and poaching 
on meado ws, without any benefit to themselves. 
Still keep them sheltered and dry, and if they 
get well through this month they will be safe 
enough on pasture thereafter. Look well to the 
animals v'ith young, especially such as are near 
their time, and give them a little extra feed, 
good hay, roots or meal. This helps them 
along over their troubles very much, and ena- 
bles the young to get on their feet at once. Im- 
mediately on dropping the youn?, let the bagof 
the dam be well drawn, which, if not done by 
the offspring, should be done by the hand. 
Light food, and in small quantities, should he 
given for three or four days, when the animal 
may be gradually put on its full rations. 
Grass Seeds may now be sown, not in the 
stinted way too often practiced, but liberally. 
Many htl ls produce but half a crop for the sole 
want of plants enough to draw up the nourish- 
ment they could otherwise furnish, and weeds 
come in to supply the place of what ought to 
have been occupied by grass. Many practice 
so wing on the snow, which settles away and 
leaves the seed to occupy the ground which has 
been well prepared by the operation of the frost. 
For permanent meadows, several kinds of grass 
should be sown on the same field. Save your 
own clover, herds grass, &c. Yon can then af- 
ford to seed more plentifully. Get out all the 
manure to the fields that can be done, and spread 
it broadcast. Nothing is lost by this method; 
it warms the earth and decomposes rapidly, and 
is particularly beneficial to meadow lands. 
Kitchen Garden. — Continue the directions gi - 
ven in January and February. Transplant in- 
to new hot beds the cucumbers and melons that 
were sown last month. Cauliflower plants 
raised from seed sown last month, as soon as 
they are three or four inches high, should be 
pricketl into a new hot bed Cabbage plants 
should be gradually inured to the open air, and 
as soon as the weather is sulflciently favorable 
they can be planted in the open ground forhead- 
ing. Seeds of cabbage, cauliflower, radishes, 
&c., can be sown in a warm border on the south 
side of a stone wall or close fence, as soon as 
the frost is entirely out of the ground, and mild 
weather has fairly set in. At the same time, 
sow a full crop of peas, kidney beans, spinach, 
parsnips, carrots, beets, onions, turnips, parsley, 
potatoes lor early use, lettuce, &c. Transplant 
into the open ground the lettuce from the hot 
beds. Sow in hot beds seeds of the red pepper, 
tomato and egg plant, to be planted in the open 
ground early in May. 
The asparagus bed should now be forked 
and dressed, and new plantations can be made. 
In making plantations of this, as also of all 
other vegetables, the beds should be plentifully 
manured: and it should be constantly borne in 
rniiid, that superior vegetables cannot be obtain- 
ed unless the soil is highly fertilized by abun- 
dant and repeated applications of manure. 
Fruit Garden and Orchard. — When the wea- 
ther is open, fruit trees may be planted any time 
in the month. Gooseberries, currants and rasp- 
berries, can still be pruned when it has not been 
before done. The former should be well ma- 
nured and cultivated. If not done previously, 
strawberry beds should now be uncovered, hoed 
and cleaned. New beds can also be planted 
out, although they will not bear as well as those 
planted the fall previous. It should be borne 
in mind that the fruit as well as the vegetable 
garden, will afford much superior produce when 
it is well cultivated and highly manured. The 
cultivator will be amply remunerated for any 
extra trouble or expense. 
Flower Garden and Pleasure Grounds, — As 
soon as the bulbs begin to break the ground, 
take off the litter carefully, and also uncover 
the shrubs and flower borders. Sow in hotbeds 
a general assortment of annuals for early bloom- 
ing. Dig up and put in order the flower bor- 
ders that they may appear neat, and be ready to 
receive annual and other plants from the hot 
bed. In the latter part ot the month, transplant 
biennials and perennials. Dig around the trees 
and shrubberies. They will grow better with 
cultivation. Plant deciduous ornamental trees 
and shrubs. Let the trees have plenty ot room; 
it is a great error in planting to allow the trees 
so little space, that when they become large 
they must necessarily be spindling. Plant box 
edging and hedges, hoe and clean the flower 
garden throughout. Roll the lawn and put the 
gravel walks ia order, trim the edges of the 
turf, and give it a top-dressing of lime or ashes 
when it is necessary. 
Plantodion. — In the early part of this month, 
if the season has not required it before, select 
your ground for your tobacco crop. It should 
be a rich sandy loam, capable of retaining mois- 
ture, and the more level the better. Plow or 
dig up the surface at least twice before plant- 
ing, and level well each time. As soon as the 
young plants acquire a leat the size of a dollar, 
take the advantage of the first wet or cloudy 
day, and commence setting them out in rows 
about three feet apart from north to south, and 
tv o and a half feet apart from east to west. In 
taking the plants up from the nursery, the 
ground should be first loosened with a flat piece 
of wood or iron, about au inch broad : then care- 
fully holding the leaves closed in the hand, 
draw them up and place them in a basket to re- 
ceive them for planting. The evening is the 
best time for selling out plants, but it can also 
be done in the mornfbg. Those set out in the 
morning, unless it be cloudy or rainy, should 
be covered daring the day with palmetto leaves 
