74 
THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
©riginal (Hommitnirationg. 
From an Old •Corresponaeut-”Proposition. 
Mb. Camak Having a few leisure moments 
on account of wet weather, &c., I undertake to 
write a few lines for the Southekn Cultivator. 
In the first place, I respecttully say to the pub- 
lishers that 1 was sorry to see in the March num- 
ber a statement from them, well calculated to 
produce a blush of shame on the face ot South- 
ern planters, especially those within the bounds 
of our own State, when it is well known that 
the planters of Georgia are more than able to 
sustain an agricultural paper, both by extending 
its circulation until a sufficient number of sub- 
scribers are obtained to pay the publishers all ex- 
penses and leave them a reasonable profit, and 
tty contributions in furnishing interesting mat- 
ter, &c, to fill its pages. I request the planters 
of Georgia to look to the Northern States, and 
see what rapid strides are being made in the way 
of improvement in their lands, their crops, their 
stock of all kinds, mechanic arts, &c. Perhaps 
nine-tenths of the progress of improvements are 
produced by the circulation of agricultural pa- 
pers. Some of the States have two or three 
agricultural papers in circulation, all well sus- 
tained. And shall we, the planters of Georgia, 
suffer our Southern Cultivatob, to droop and 
die for want of succor fully in our power to afford, 
after some fouryears’ strugglefor strength, which 
I once hoped and believed it would, ere this, 
have attained, at least to have put the thing out 
of dispute as to being permanently established? 
I do by no means v/ish any person’s labor 
without their being paid a reasonable amount. 
At the same time, I am as much opposed to pay- 
ing more than a fair amount for anything as any 
man to be found. If there is a man to be found 
that will calmly say that one dollar a year is 
more than enough for an agricultural paper, he 
is not worthy of one at any price. 
About the time of the commencement of the 
2d volume of the Cultivator, I made every ef- 
fort within my power to obtain subscribers, and 
succeeded in getting about thirty. Most of them 
I had to persuade into it, and advance their 
pay in almost every instance. In some cases it 
was not refunded in 12 or 15 months. This I 
did not feel willing to stand up to, and have not 
put my persuasive powers in force since, because 
i soon found out that men going into, or taking 
hold of new things rather against their will, did 
not have any good effect, so far as agriculture 
is concerned. But if the Cultivator could 
bring corn in the’ crib, pork in the meat-house, 
fat h'orses and cattle in the stalls, without indi- 
vidual or personal effort being connected with it, 
there would then be a mighty rush, all hands 
coming forward to its support. The cry would 
be, never let the Cultivator go dowm. Long 
live the Southern Cultivator ! For myself, I am 
so fond of agricultural papers 1 have taken the 
Albany Cultivator and the Tennessee Agricul- 
turist, and am now taking the Southern Cultiva- 
tor, the Southern Planter and the American r^gii- 
culturist, and consider my money as well laid 
out in that way, so far as the amount goes, as any 
other, except for thesupp-rt of the gospel. 
I do most sincerely advise my friends and bro- 
ther planters to come up to the support of the 
Southern Cultivator, and not suffer it to go 
down for want of subscribers. I do fur:her ad- 
vise my friends, the publishers, to stick up to 
their undertaking, but do not wish them to do 
so at their continual loss. We hope for better 
things. If they were to discontinue the paper , it 
would not be 12 months before there would be 
another of the same kind started ; and I should 
be very sorry for them, the publishers of the Cul- 
tivator, to be four years sowdng and some other 
one to step in and reap the harvest. 
I have a proposidon to make, that is, if the 
publishers can afford to stand up to it; if they 
can they will let us know. It is this : I wish to 
be one of a thousand — if that number is too great 
let it be five hundred, or even one hundred — who 
will take the Southern Cultivator, 1st, 2d, 3d and 
4lh volumes, bound in a cheap and common 
manner, at SI a volume. If no one will join me, 
though I hops many will, {why not two or three 
thousand.) if it can be afforded, I will be one. 
I am, dear sir, very respectfully, 
John Fahrar. 
Stanfordville, April 4, 1846. 
To the Editor. 
Mr. Camak — I regret very much to see, in the 
number of the Cultivator for the present 
month, that, after the expiration of the present 
year, the publication of the Cultivator, for want 
of adequate support, will be discontinued. I 
have taken the paper from its beginning, and al- 
though it has not been so valuable as 1 hoped in 
its original pieces, yet I consider it a treasure to 
the farmers of the State ; and it would certainly 
augur very badly for the state of Agriculture in 
Georgia; for however lightly our population may 
think of it as a means of agricultural improve- 
ment, that does not alter the fact, that we reject 
one of the most powerful agents of improvement 
when we withhold our support from the Cultiva- 
tor. There has been so much written and said 
recently in support of the usefulness Of agricul- 
tural periodicals, that it is not necessary here to 
discuss their merit. I presume no one doubts 
the fact. It is the intention of this communica- 
tion to urge those who see and feel the great im- 
portance of agricultural papers, to rally to the 
support of the Cultivator, and persuade their 
neighbors to subscribe for it. I have been remiss 
myself, and should have done much better. 
Since I saw the notice above referred to, I have 
determined to set to work, and the only two I 
have spoken to on the subject, consent to send 
for the Cultivator. I know the apathy of a great 
many, but it is reasonable to hope that this want 
of spirit will be overcome by faithful and well 
directed effort on the part of those who are awake 
to the importance of the thing. 
Innovations are hard to take in most things, 
and particularly so, we find, in agriculture; and 
yet it cannot be doubted they are absolutely ne- 
cessary to meet the present crisis in the condition 
of most plantations in Georgia. It is a fact, as 
far as my observations extend, thatlands gene- 
rally are fast assuming the galled and gullied ap- 
pearance, which already desolates so much of 
Georgia’s fair surface, without there being forest 
left to supply its place. Then this is truly a 
crisis, 'i'here must be something done to remedy 
this threatening evil ; and whatever that some- 
thing be, if there is spirit enough to do it, there 
will, with it, be the disposition to consider an 
agricultural paper indispensable. Improvement 
and agricultural periodicals must go hand in 
hand, and our proper course, with regard to our 
warm and active support of them, cannot be 
mistaken. We are “sure we are right,’’ now 
let us “go ahead.” The spirit of the times is 
evidently progressive in improvement, and if we 
farmers retrograde, as ws must evidently from 
the tendency of our course, it may be justly said, 
we are the world’s drudges, and our v/ork its 
drudgery. But this shall not be our destiny. We 
can and will avert it, should be the language of 
every one ; and when we do set our shoulders to 
the wheel in earnest, the car will move onward 
rapidly. Then there will be no complaint, when 
there is but one agricultural paper published in 
the State, that it must stop for want of adequate 
support. 
Every plan should be devised to cultivate a 
taste for agricultural reading— and I have thought 
that neighborhood Agricultural Jileetings might 
be resorted to where two or three persons in a 
neighborhood would be active in getting up such 
meetings. In these meetings agricultural dis- 
cussions might be introduced in any way in the 
meeting, and might be varied occasionally to 
some other subject. I know that in many sec- 
tions polemic societies are common, and I have 
often been surprised that agricultural questions 
have been left out entirely, and that, too, when 
almost all the club were farmers. In sections 
where polemic societies arc common, or might 
become so from these considerations, the above 
plan in'ght increase the spirit of agricultural 
reading, and the circulation of the Cultivator. 
Now, Mr. Editor, I have always been desirous 
of contributing to the columns of the Cultivator, 
but being a little man anyway, undone of little 
pretensions, I have hitherto been deterred. But 
being threatened with the loss of my paper, I 
concluded to scribble a few words of admonition 
to its patrons, to stand up to its support. I know 
not v/hether what I have written will be accept- 
able ; if not, throw it aside, as it is the first I have 
ever attempted to write for the public eye. 
Greene Co. , ilfarc/k 25, 1846. A. B. C. 
Whitewash, — Use this article freely. 
Sea Island Cotton— Gins— Barley. 
Mb. Camak: — In travelling to the upper part 
of this State last summer, I met, on the table of 
a friend, the “ Southern Cultivator.” I was 
so much pleased with the neatness cf the sheet 
and the interesting matter contained therein, 
that I determined to grace my table also, and 
place it by the side of that excellent paper the 
“ Albany Cultivator,” I have received your 
three numbers since January last, and hope to 
derive much benefit from a journal so spiritedly 
conducted and so well adapted to the wants of 
the South. I have banded a number to several 
friends. Some have already become subscribers, 
and I have strong hopes of obtaining more in a 
short time. 
Your correspondent has all his life been devo- 
ted to the practice of an arduous profession, 
leaving but little time for other things, and al- 
though long in the possession of a planting in- 
terest, is but a novice in this most important of 
all worldly pursuits. And now, when the young, 
the vigorous and active, are wishing to occupy 
the places of those who would imitate the ex- 
ample of the virtuous Roman and retire from the 
turmoil of life to the quiet scenes of the farm, 
he finds himselfout of his element, and you must 
not be surprised if he should occasionally be- 
com.e troublesome on the score of seeking in- 
formation. 
The cultivation of long staple cotton is the 
engrossing subject on the seaboard, and the fa- 
cilities for manuring from the mud and marshes 
of the salt-water creeks are abundant. I will 
just state an experiment I made a short time 
since. A compost was prepared according to 
the directions of Dr. Dana, given in his “Muck 
Manual.” Three cords of creek mud or muck, 
two bushels of lime, and one of salt, after being 
several times, at short intervals, mixed, was 
spread on the listings of one acre of cotton 
ground. Other portions of the field were ma- 
nured with stable manure and compost made in 
the pens; but a decided preference was given 
by several competent judges to the acre which 
obtainedDana’s compost. I am trying this com- 
post on a larger scale this season, but would 
not undertake to recommend it for its cheapness 
unless to those who are favorably located for 
obtaining these valuable material*. 
I now come to the main object of this commu- 
nication. The great desideratum with the long 
staple planter is a good and cheap roller gin to 
prepare the cotton for market. The common 
treadle gin is but the relicof old times, and the in- 
fancy of mechanical skill. Pottle & Farris’s gins 
have not answered in this neighborhood, where 
the finer qualities of Sea Island are mostly culti- 
vated. The opinion prevails that fine cotton is li- 
able to wind around the rollers in the double clamp 
gins, causing delay and very often combustion ; 
but as fine cotton, like everything else, has had 
its day, it is not improbable, could these gins be 
put up by competent mechanics, they may still an 
sw'er the wants of the planter. The barrel gin does 
not appear to me to supply this great desidera- 
tum, requiring ^00 many persons to /eed, but is 
certainly the best of the gin tribe I have seen 
used. In this section of our State we have had 
quite a gin disease for the last two or three years. 
Some here burnt their cotton and net a few their 
fingers. I have been recsntly informed that in 
Bryan county, in your State, an improved roller 
gin is in successful operation, and you would con- 
fer a favor on the long staple planter if you could 
obtai n information on the subject, particularly how 
these gins are propelled, the number of hands re- 
quired to feed them, the quantity of clean cotton 
turned out per hour or day, the cost of putting 
one up, &c., and whether they have ever been 
tested with the finer qualities of Sea Island. 
Would you, Mr. .Editor, inform me of the pro- 
per time to plant barley, and your opinion as to 
how it would answer on the seaboard for pas- 
ture, 'or to be fed in a green state to domestic an- 
A Subscriber. 
Beaufort, S. C., March 2'o, 1846. 
Co'5V“Peas=“Sea Island Cotton — Inquiries. 
Mr. Camak — As there is a diversity of opinion 
existing among the planters on the seaboard, 
respecting the best time for planting cow peas, 
and also as much with regard to the best time 
when the growing crop of Sea Island Cotton 
should cease to be worked (two items of infer- 
