THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
71 
pursued, the labor of every hand engaged in its 
production will be more than twice the value ot 
the same amount of labor employed in a cotton 
field, > et it may be found, on inquirv in the 
country where the Manilla Hemp has been pro- 
duced for so many years that a much better plan 
has been produced by long experience. Deem- 
ing this a subject highly worthy of inquiry, 1 
would respecttully suggest to your Excellency 
the expediency (should you think favorably oi 
the proposition) of requesting of the Govern- 
ment of the United States, through some of our 
foreign Consuls, to obtain all the practicable in- 
formation in regard to the cultivation and prepa- 
ration of this valuable article of commerce. 
The experiments I have made have been as 
simple and expeditious as they have been satis- 
factory in theirresults. The leaves of the plants 
have been plucked from the bud, around which 
they cluster, tied up in convenient bundles, 
boiled, and pounded, until the green bark and 
soft vegetable matter is disengaged from the 
strong fibres, when they are put in water, and 
washed out with great ease. 
But the apparatus 1 have suggested, and in 
which 1 have great confidence, (sufficient to pre- 
pare from two to three tons per day,) is a heavy 
wooden wheel, to traverse a circular platform, 
firmly constructed and covered with strong 
plank. The wheel to turn on a shaft, carved in 
the form of a screw. One end of the shaft con- 
fined and turning on a pivot in the centre of the 
platform, which will cause the wheel in its rev- 
olutions to traverse every part of the platform. 
The action of the boiling water for twenty-five 
minutes will prepare the leaves for the wheel. — 
The bundles, which will then have shrunk con- 
siderably, should be re-tied, to prevent the tang- 
ling of the Hemp, placed carefully on the plat- 
form, until it is covered, and the wheel put in 
motion by the animals hitched to the outer end 
ot the shaft, and moving in a circle on ti e outer 
edge of the plattorm. When the wheel shall 
have reached one side of the platform, by its rev- 
olution on the screw, the animals moving it are 
to be turned and driven in the opposite direction 
around the circle, which will cause the wheel to 
traverse back again to the opposite side. While 
the wheel is in motion, water should be frequent- 
ly thrown on the plants, which being permitted 
to escape by vents from the platform, carries with 
it all the surplus matter, (in a state of solution,) 
disengaged from the strong fibres by the friction 
and pressure of the wheel, until the Hemp is 
washed perfectly clean. It should then be taken 
from the platform and hung out to dry, which 
completes the process of preparation, and the 
article is ready to be packed up for market. — 
This process will succeed until a better is devi- 
sed. 
Every good plant will produce one pound of 
clean Hemp. Some have exceeded that quan- 
tity. The best specimens from the uncultivated 
plant are from three to four feet long, and the fi- 
bres coarse or finer, in proportion to the age of 
the leaf, as you will perceive by comparing the 
smaller parcel I send yon, (composed of the bud 
leaves only,) with the larger. From five to six 
thousand plants may be produced from one 
acre, which will yield as many pounds of good 
Hemp. The specimens 1 have shown are esti- 
mated, by our most intelligent merchants, as su- 
perior to the Manilla, and are considered worth 
from eight to ten cents per pound in ihe New- 
York market. At these prices, there is no cul- 
tivation in the United States so valuable. 
I have made experiments on the plant known 
by the name of the -‘Spanish Bayonet,” which 
abounds on our Southern sea-board, and find the 
fibre equally good in every otherrespect, though 
not so large as that of the “Bear Grass.” I 
learn from men who have been accustomed to 
cut up the latter plant annually in the cultiva- 
tion ot their fields, that it is almost indestructi- 
ble. Should this be the case, it woulct require 
to pe planted but once, after which it will con- 
tinue through a succession of years to yield its 
valuable tribute without cultivation. Such re- 
sults, though very imperfectly realized, will ren- 
der the Florida Hempa moslimportant produc- 
tion. It will add to the prosperity of the weal- 
thy, give profitable employment to the laboring 
classes, both in Agriculture and manufactories, 
but to the poor it will be an inestimable bles- 
sing. It will invite emigration, ensure adense 
white population, and make the South the rich- 
est and most powerful portion of the country. 
Cotton and Sugar can never be produced in 
great abundance except by slave labor, and the 
employment ol a capital far beyond the reach of 
the poor. Their culture has therefore a tenden- 
cy to increase the number ofslaves, and exclude 
a white population. But should the Hemp be- 
come a valuable staple, as I confidently antici- 
pate it will, from the simpHcity and care of its 
culture, and abundant production, it will give 
the richest and most generous reward to the la- 
borer. There are none so poor as to be unable 
to avail themselves of its advantages to some 
extent. The bounty of Providence has placed 
it within their reach. The production of a few 
acres will yield a sufficient support for a small 
family at greatly reduced prices; and where 
they may not be able to procure the necessary 
apparatus for boiling the Hemp, the same result 
maybe produced by steeping it in cold w'ater 
fordhe space ot twenty days, after which they 
can prepare more of it for market with their 
fingers alone in one day, than they can pick of 
cotton in two. Let the culture be once intro- 
duced, and it will never be abandoned while 
good Hemp is worth two cents per pound. 
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your 
ob’t servant, R. K. C,a.ll. 
From the Southern Reformer. 
CiSAB=GKASS MAY“-»PEA VlUVE, Ac. 
Col. W.M. Smith — Whilst endeavoring to 
benefit myself by reading, for the second time, 
“Economy of Farming,” translated from the 
German ot Prol.Burgen, by the Rev. E. Good- 
rich of New York, I am inclined to think that 
possibly I might aid some one, by giving a few 
hints. There are many this present year who, 
I learn, must be short of corn, and they may not 
think at the present time, that they can save 
many dollars by losing a little labor from the 
cotton field, which labor bestowed on cotton, 
could not buy the corn that could be saved. — 
Perhaps a hint may bring this to their mind and 
thus a saving be effected. Qur author quotes 
Thaer, who says: A moderate sized common 
working horse, needs on an average through the 
whole year 9| pounds, equal to 7| quarts good 
oats. Together with thi.i, he requires 9 1-6 
pounds ol Hay, in order to keep him in usual 
strength for continuous labor.” Horses require 
from eight to seventeen quarts of oats, with from 
seven to ten pounds of hay, owing to size and 
work required of horses. “Many hold that oats 
is the only grain fit for horses,” and with enough 
of it and good hay, he is required to do full work. 
How will the experience of these Germans, w’ho 
never work by guess, tally with our mode of 
feeding in this country 1 When w'e feed oats we 
give a peck, or about nine and a half pounds 
(oats weighing 38 ibs.) with two bundles of fod- 
der, or about four to five pounds: when we feed 
corn, we give a peck per day, or twelve pounds, 
with over three bundles ol fodder. “As the hay 
is increased, the grain may be diminished, and 
vice versa.” Thus by having an abundance of 
ha}^, may we keep our horses on less grain, and 
no doubt to their advantage, but the animals 
must have longer time to eat. We know that 
horses will fatten on crab-grass, why should 
they not hold their own on the hay well cured 
from crab-grass, if allowed time to masticate? 
That they will, is known to many who have 
saved crab-grass hay. This brings me now to 
the point: advising farmers to at once put all 
hands to saving crab-grass hay. The rains since 
July have given fine growth to this grass, and 
if saved early, there is no doubt but what it will 
be but little inferior to Timothy, it any. Where 
it grows in cornfields, a grass-knife cannot be 
readily used, but a hand can save a handsome 
lot by pulling it with the hands; where the grass 
scythe can be used, it is more expeditious. I 
allow it to lay about a day, then throw up into 
heaps, let it remain thus for two nights and a 
day, then open out to sun; hay cures better this 
w'ay, the moderate heating in heaps, makes it 
sweeter and it cures sooner. 1 do not allow it 
to be spread out to receive the dew at all; it is 
thus more trouble, but much belter. After hav- 
ing enough hay, I would advise sowing oats, the 
Egyptian oat ; they will save corn during the 
winter and until March; wffien ripe, say about 
first of'June, they will, with one third ot feed of 
corn, l£eep plow horses in full condition. Let 
any one count up how much hay his hands can 
save and how many oats can be sown, count up 
the entire cost — then count up even the value 
of the cotton, (though this would not be fair, for 
there would be but a slight loss ol it) and set 
against this the purchase and hauling of corn — 
then judge ye! But even thiswould not tell the 
whole story, for bought corn never fattens the 
farmer’s horse, nor holds out to measure; the 
consequence, short work. I make no doubt that 
even at thisdate, many planters can obviate the 
necessity of purchasing corn, if they will only 
appropriate labor to the amount of five to ten 
cents per bushel for the corn they will need, thus 
save their cash and the time ot hauling. We 
are now saving hay, although we have housed 
more provender this year than ever before, not 
for the w’ant of corn, for we havm it to spare, but 
that we wish to feed our cattle better than here- 
tofore. 
It is usual in Mississippi to cut oats, tie in 
bundles, and feed it from a rack or out of a hol- 
low log — waste! If planters will have the oats 
cut with not over one-fourth to one-half the 
straw attached, then cut up with a straw-cutter, 
sprinkle a litile salt and water and meal over 
the cut stuffs, they will see increase of condition 
and a saviug of food enough to pay a heavy in- 
terest on straw culture. These savings are of 
BO little import when the income from a short 
crop and low prices is so small. I might allude 
to the pea-vine as an excellent food for mules 
and horses ; they are difficult to save unless the 
planter be fixed; then, not much. It an abun- 
dance of four foot boards and rails, I would ad- 
vise making a pen, say one foot high, lay rails 
on this to prevent the vine falling through, then 
build up a pen two feet, fill w'ith pea-vine, lay 
on another floor of rails, and so on till some ten 
or filteen high, then cover with boards, and let 
them project well on all sides. Vines will save 
thus, even with one day’s sun, and better not 
sunned too much as they shed their leaves. A 
little salt sprinkled over them not only facili- 
tates the saving, but adds to their value. I 
would advise something be done to save the ex- 
pense and time of hauling corn ; it is so much 
loss, and much of it to the stale. Hoping that 
I may be in time, I am, respectfully, yours, 
M. W. Phillips. 
Log Hall, Hinds Co., Miss., Oct. 22, 1845. 
Filberts. — They do not require a very rich 
soil, but grow well injthat part which is rocky and 
gravelly. The ground is kept clean around the 
trees, which are placed about twelve feet apart. 
They are very carefully pruned, and one stem 
only is left to branch out a few inches above the 
ground ; the branches are trained and pruned ia 
the shape of a punch bowl, and are not allowed 
to run above four or five feet high; thus they 
will bear abundantly, and very profitably.y- 
When the filberts are gathered, they are laid 
to dry in the sun, or under a shed exposed to the 
air. If they are well dried, they will keep good 
for several years . — [Penny Cyclopedia. 
The above refers to England; but would not 
this tree succeed in the United States and prove 
profitable to the cultivators of it? It seems to 
me that some trials on the culture of it in this 
country ought to be made, as also on the Eng- 
lish walnut, so termed, which has proved profi- 
table in some instances at least. W. Jennisok. 
[Nashville AgricuUurtst. 
Get to work eaily in the morning, that you 
may rest during the heat of the day. 
