THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR, 
135 
trol. Amendineut, rather than change, is all 
that human skill and ability are likely to effect ; 
and I shall detail in this matter such examples 
as have come under my observation. 
The application ol sand to clay, like the ap- 
plication of sand to lime in the making of plas- 
terer’s mortar, has, in general, especially if the 
clay is wet when the sand is so applied, a ten- 
dency to give it hardness, rather tnan to render 
it friable and open. Where the land is in a 
state of dryness, and newly plowed, the appli- 
cation ol a limited quantity of sand might serve 
to render it more open. That this would be the 
whole effect to be expected from it, and this to a 
degree uncertain, and that it would effect no 
chemical alteration in the soil, seems generally 
agreed. That a portion of silica is essential in 
the formation of all the cereal plants is establish- 
ed ; but in all clays there is presumed to be a 
sufficiency for this purpose. In peat lanus it 
may be otherwise. A distinguished practical 
and scientific farmer, the late Mr. Rham, states 
that he has never known an instance in which 
the application of sand to clayey soils has been 
found to succeed in rendering them more po- 
rous. The expense ol laying on the large 
quantity of sand that would be required must 
probably swallow up any profit that could be 
derived from it. Mr. Pusey, however, showed 
me an example in which a clay land field in 
grass had been decidedly benefitted by a top 
dressing of sand from a neighboring hill. Whe- 
ther the sand, in this case, had any peculiar 
chemical properties, from which the benefit of 
the application was derived, did not appear. 
It is not so, on the other hand, with the appli- 
cation of Ciay to light soils; and this has been 
practised in England so extensively, and with 
so rnucn success, that I shall detain my reader 
with some prominent examples. Of the appli- 
cation of clay in the impiovement of peat lands, 
i shall speak presently ; 1 no w reier only to its 
application to sandy and light lands, witha view 
of giving them compactness. The object of 
applying clay, indeed, may be twofold; the first 
to produce a closeness of soil, and the second, 
that of obviating their too great dryness, the 
property of clay being to absorb and retain 
moisture both from the atmosphere and that 
which falls in rain. 
One of the most extensive applications of it 
which I have witnessed, was on the farm of the 
Duke of Bedford, at Woburn, a place distin- 
guished, under the care of its present noble pos- 
sessor, as under that of his eminent predecessor, 
for a most intelligent, scientific, extensive, and 
successful husbandry ; in all its various arrange- 
ments, and the completeness and extent of its 
operations, surpassed perhaps by no one in the 
kingdom, or hardly, indeed, rivalled. 
The intelligent manager of the place, Mr. 
Burness, states that he finds “ the application of 
clay to his light soil of great advantage. It 
makes the straw much stronger, with a better 
ear, and standing much better up in wet seasons. 
When the land is highly manured, without be- 
ing clayed, the crops are liable to fall down, be- 
come lodged and spoiled.” He adds, likewise, 
that he finds claying of great advantage to the 
turnip crop. 
The practice is to put the clay on the clover 
leys as early as the crop is off, and get it bro- 
ken in pieces as much as possible before the 
land is plowed for wheat. It is also laid on 
land that is under fallow for turnips early in 
the winter, that is,, on land which has been plow- 
ed preparatory to its being cultivated in turnips 
the ensuing season. This is done that it may 
have the chance of the winter and spring frosts 
to become well pulverized before it is plowed 
down ; and this he prefers to spreading it upon 
clover leys. 
He goes on then to speak of some experi- 
ments. “ We clayed last summer four acres, 
and left two acres not clayed on an old sward 
and light soil. The clay was put on in July, 
and lay all the summer; was plowed up in No- 
vember, and pressed,” (an operation which I 
shall describe presently, “and the wheat dib- 
bled into the grooves. In February, we top- 
dressed the six acres with good tarmyard dung ; 
and, as late as the beginning of May, I thought 
there would not be half a crop, although plenty 
of ends; but toward the middle of the month 
the clayed part began to look ol a much darker 
appearance than the two acres which were not 
clayed; and, at the present time,” (when he 
gave this account,) he thought, “there wasone- 
third part more on the clayed than on that which 
had not been clayed, although managed in eve- 
ry other way the same.” 
He goes on to say that, in January, 1841, he 
clayed some land which was going to be a tur- 
nip-fallow the following summer; and in the 
month of April, when he began to harrow and 
plow the land, the clay broke down and slaked 
like lime, and worked in with the soil. There 
was not much apparent difference in the turnip 
crop that summer, as the other part of the field 
was sown at a diferent time, and he was not 
able to tell the difference; but the ensuing year, 
he says, “the barley looks much stronger and 
stiffer in the straw, and stands much more up- 
right, than in the land which was not clayed, 
where the greater part of the crop is down on 
the ground, and exposed to be rotted by the 
rain.” 
The quantity applied to the acre is generally 
about fifty loads; I suppose single horse cart 
loads are meant. If more is lo be applied, it is 
advised to make the application at succes- 
sive times, as, in his opinion, more given at 
once would do harm. Nearly all the light soil 
on the farm of the Duke of Bedford, near Wo- 
burn Ahbey, has been clayed, and a great deal 
ol it twice; and, in every instance, its benefi- 
cial effects have been established. I myself 
can bear witness to the neatness and excellence 
ol the cultivation, though I had not the plea- 
sure ol being there when the crops were stand- 
ing upon the ground. The clay may be dug 
from the pit at any time most convenient lor the 
farmer, and, if turned over once or twice, will 
mix much better with the soil, though, of course, 
the expense of the operation must, in such case, 
be increased. Mr. Burness says, his plan is to 
disand cart it on to the field at once. 
Mr. Pusey is of opinion that this substance, 
denominated clay, contains a great deal of 
lime, and is, in fact, a stiff marl. 
Anothereininent Bradfordshire farmer, whom 
I have the pleasure of knowing, speaks of the 
application of ciay or marl, customary in his 
neighborhood, as varying from 50 to 150 cubic 
yards per acre. He deems the smallerquaniiiy 
preferable at one operation, as it mixes more 
steadily with the soil, and though it may not last 
so long, comes sooner into operation. He has 
applied it to clover leys in summer, and to tur- 
nip fallows at different times. He advises to 
have it dug in winter, and to cast it upon the 
turnip land In the spring, when it has had 
time to dry, and has become lighter of carriage. 
We have the testimony of another skillful 
farmer, a tenant of the Duke of Bedford, who 
has pursued the practice ol claying land to a 
great extent. Not satisfied with the quality or 
quantity ot his produce, he has clayed 420 acres, 
in every instance with go id effect. Upon the 
gravel and sand land he has put forty loads per 
acre, containing forty bushels per load. On 
the moorland, covered with rushes, he has put 
seventy loads. The time ot applying it is di- 
rectly after harvest, or in winter, if there has 
been a frost. At the former time, it is done 
with less labor to the horses and less injury to 
the land. The clay gets dry,, and as soon as 
rain comes, it may be harrowed about, when, 
acccrding to his opinion, it will begin to act 
beneficially to the land by correcting the acidi- 
ty, of which most lands have too much, thereby 
making food tor plants of what was inert in the 
soil, and giving the land that solidity which it 
required. In one case, he speaks of witnessing 
the decided advantages Irom it, after a lapse ol 
fourteen years from its application. 
The First Bale of New Cottou. 
The Charleston City Gazette of April 12th, 
1788, contains the following notice of the first 
bale ol Colton produced in the United States, 
“A correspondent has favored us with the fol- 
lowing information, which he tells us maybe 
relied on: A gentleman in Christ Church Par- 
ish planted one acre of land with Cotton seed, 
which has produced a bag of cotton wool weigh- 
ing 267 lbs. nett; this he has sold at 15 pence 
per pound, so. that he got lor the whole 161. 13s. 
9d. ; it was on examination of an exceeding 
good quality; the planter declares, that had he 
attended it properly, it would have produced 
more. He further says, that one of his hands 
could with ease take care of seven or eight acres, 
until the Cotton is ready to take in, at which 
time he must have the assistance of small ne- 
groes to pick and carry it into safety. As the 
mode of cleaning it in this country formerly, is 
what the planters dislike, we have the pleasure 
to add, that there are persons in this Stale who 
can make the necessary machines for picking 
i', as v.’ell as tor carding and spinning it. This 
commodity bids fair to become a principal sta- 
ple article of export from this State, for if one 
negro can manage seven acres of Cotton, and 
it sells at the above price only, his labor 
will bring his owner in 1161. 16s. 3d. per 
annum, supposing also that each acre of land 
produces only 276 lbs. of Cotton. It is well 
known that the Cotton manufactories in Great 
Britain will take any quantity that the State 
can raise, as they are deemed by good judges to 
be now only in their inlancy. 
Southern Liadies. 
In the number for June of Mr. Skiijneb’s va- 
uable work, the Farmers' Library, we find the 
following tribute paid by the editor to Southern 
f.adies. Everyman who has been brought up 
in the Southern States, will be able to appreciate 
the justness of Mr. Skinner’s description. 
“ The more (he says) any man of discernment 
sees of the world, and reflects on the relatione 
subsisting between the offices performed by the 
various memberathat constitute one family, the 
more deeply will he be impressed with the digni- 
ly and importance of the duties which social ar- 
rangements assign to the mistress of every well 
regulated family, and the high honor and esteem 
to which she is entitled when those duties are 
well performed. 
“ Let but her part bo neglected, or carelessly, 
or ill-performed, and chaos soon takes the place 
ot order, neatness and economy take their de- 
parture, and domestic misery and ruin arv too 
sure to enter, close on the heels of pride and in- 
dolence. There is nothing more beautiful, no- 
thing to which a sensible man more readily pays 
the homage of his admiration and respect, on 
his entrance in the domestic circle of the old 
Southern States, than the cheerfulness and ala- 
crity with which he still sees the ladies there, 
both mother and daughters, of the most opulent 
and best bred families, play out in full measure 
their appropriate parts in the management of 
domestic affairs, and when occasion "demands, 
«ven of the out door concerns. To b a familiar 
with all the duties of housewifery, seems to form, 
in fact, as we have lately witnessed with high 
gratification, a part of the education of young 
ladies of the amplest fortune, the most refined 
manners, and the highest intellectual cultiva- 
tion. And where, it may well be asked, can 
beauty and intelligence be seen to more advan- 
tage than in the exercise of duties which do and 
ought to constitute a great portion of the em* 
olovment, sometimes of daughters on whom tha 
loss of a mother may devolve the care of a 
household, and especially of every married wo- 
man who would see her husband prosperous; 
respected and happy? 
“ All who are at all familiar with the history of 
rural life in the old plantation States, must know 
of instances of remarkable women, who, with an 
energy of character almost beyond their sex, 
have grappled with adversity brought on by the 
indolence, extravagance or misfortunes of their 
husbands; and while clearing their estates of the 
most frightful embarrassments, have contrived 
to educate their families, and finally to leavo 
them in the enjoyment of their wonted respeota 
bility and independence. Forever honored be 
the memories of such noble women." 
