148 
THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
extend this paper to an unusual length ; suffice 
it to say that Dairy Maid has long since paid 
lor herself, and that those who laughed at me 
lor giving $540 for one cow, may turn this 
statement over in theirminds, and think whether, 
since 1838, any investment of theirs, to the same 
amount, in any other branch of husbandry, has 
paid so well. But they may exclaim that ‘you 
cannot do the like again.’ Yes I can; lor if the 
price ol fine cattle be reduced through their be- 
coming plentier, (thanks to those who made 
them plentier,) the principal invested may not 
be so large, in the purchase ot one animal to 
begin with, but there cannot be a doubt, il she 
be superior or superlative, the produce ol such 
an animal will realize as good a per centage as 
did that ol Dairy Maid. But there is a satis- 
faction beyond that ol the pocket, and that is, 
that Dairy Maid’s breed will be of infinite ser 
vice to the country. Her calves and grand 
calves are pretty well scattered already — and I 
make no doubt, but wherever found they will 
demonstrate the high character of the parent 
stock. 
My sales for the last two years, exclusive of 
Dairy Maid’s calves, amount to over §2000. 
The stock now on hand is about 40 head, prin- 
cipally Durhams, among which are Dairy 
Maid, Cleopatra, Walnut, Victoria, Ellen 
Kirby, Miss Model, Victorina, Judy, Bessy 
Bell, &c. &c. The butter sold for the last two 
years exceeds ^50. This is a respectable item, 
when the calves that were reared, and the supply 
for my family, are taken into view. From ear- 
ly fall to spring, the butter averaged 70 pounds 
per week — the quality highly appreciated abroad 
as well as at home. In butter, cream and milk, 
there is BO stint at Mount Airy ; so of fruits, 
vegetables, hams, &c. If I be a large producer, 
I may be also classed as a large consumer, and 
did I not produce, the market would suffer ac- 
cordingly. 
In the hog line, I have been quite successful, 
at least in bringing the animal by judicious cross- 
ing, to great perfection. I latted off my old 
Lincoln and Berkshire boars, and my Hamp- 
shire and Chester county sows, last month ; 
they weighed from 400 to 450 lbs., sold for $86 
24. Have sold the last two years ot pigs, de- 
signed for breeding, $150; bacon, lard, &c., 
over $120, besides having on hand 14 fine young 
barrows, last fall’s pigs, now ready for slaughter, 
which will weigh from 250 to 300 lbs. each, 
value $150. The stock on hand consists of one 
fine boar of Lincoln, Hampshire and Berkshire 
breed; one brood sow of Berkshire breed, 12 
shoats and seven pigs. The sow and pigs are 
the same that took the premium at the last Agri- 
cultural Exhibition. 
Building and work independent of the farm, 
induced to the keeping of a heavy stock of work- 
ing horses, consisting of five, employed occa- 
sionally hauling stone, sand, &c. They are 
the same horses originally purchased, at 
at and since the commencement of ray farming 
operations; having neitherscW, last nor exchanged 
one. The two carriage horses average 20 
years old each ; ray favorite of these is quite 
25. So much tor management in this depart- 
ment. The implements — wagons, carts, plows, 
harrows, &c. &c.— are in keeping with the 
farm, and are well kept as you may observe. 
I keep no farmer on the place in the charac- 
ter of manager, having never, as yet, been able 
to find a man qualified to conduct the operations 
of the yard and field, in a manner as they should 
be. My practice is to hire one man for general 
work, at $20 to $25 per month ; also, two hands 
for out-door work alone, who are capable to 
work at any job of farming. They have em- 
ployment from early spring to the first of De- 
cember, at 75 cents per day — these three find 
themselves. Then there are two men engaged 
constantly, feeding and taking care of cattle, 
feed manure, &c., who receive from $10 to $12 
per month, and found. By this arrangement, 1 
have always a pretty strong force on emergen- 
cies, and to avail myself of seasonable opera- 
tions. My work is generally well done and 
timely ffijn#. 
I have thus given you a general insight into 
the condition of my farm, and the system fay 
which it has been brought to its present state 
ol perfection. If substantial fences, clean fields, 
well worked land, good crops, good barns, and 
splendid cattle, be essential to constitute a good 
farm, I trust you will find none of these fea- 
tures wanting on mine. 
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
James Gowen. 
Mount Airy, De . 24, 1844. 
From the American Agriculturist. 
Salt as a Fertilizer, &c. , 
The value of salt for agricultural purposes 
has long been known both in Europe and in this 
country, and why it has not been more general- 
ly used is beyond my comprehension. More 
than one hundred and fifty years ago. Sir Hugh 
Platt, an eminent writer of the day, speaks very 
decidedly of the benefits which might be deriv- 
ed from the practice of sprinkling salt upon 
land, and calls it “ the sweeelest and cheapest, and 
the mosiphilosophical material of all others.” He 
relates the case of a man who, in passing over 
a creek on the sea shore, suffered his sack of seed 
corn to fall into the water, and there it lay until 
it was low tide, when, being unable to purchase 
more seed, he sowed that which had lain in salt 
water; and when harvest time arrived, he reap- 
ed a crop far superior to any in the neighbor- 
hood. The writer adds, however, that it was 
supposed the corn (grain) would not fructify in 
that manner, unless it actually fell into the sea 
hy chance } and therefore, neither this man nor 
any of his neighbors, ever verituredto make any 
further use of salt water! 
That salt is an excsllent manure, experience, 
the most satisfactory of all evidences, clearly 
proves. 
It is stated in an English publication, that “ a 
farmer in the county of Sussex, some years 
since, had a field, one part of which was very 
wet and rushy, and that the grass produced upon 
it was of so sour and unpleasant a kind, that the 
cattle would not graze upon it. He tried seve- 
ral methods to improve it, but all to no purpose ; 
at last hearing ot the benefits of salt as a ma- 
nure, he determined to try that; lor which pur- 
pose he procured a quantity of rock salt, which, 
in a random way, without any regard to the pre- 
cise quantity, he threw upon the rushy ground, 
fencing it off from the other part of the field, the 
effect of which was a total disappearance ol 
every kind of vegetation. In a short time, how- 
ever, it produced the largest quantity of mush- 
rooms ?ver seen upon an equal space of land 
in the country. These, in the spring following, 
were succeeded by the most plentiful and luxu- 
riant crops of erass, far exceeding the other 
part of the field in richness of verdure and 
quickness of growth. Though this salt was 
laid on twenty years ago, this part is still supe- 
rior to the rest ot the field.’' 
From the information which I have been able 
to collect, I am inclined to believe that salt, 
when sparingly applied, is valuable as a tertili- 
zer, and useful in killing the grub and wire 
worm, which often injure, and sometimes even 
destroy whole crops; and it has been found by 
experiment the past season, that the scab, or dis- 
ease which has proved so disastrous to the po- 
tato crop in all sections ot the country, has not 
been found on land that had a proper dressing 
of salt. . 
Judge Hamilton, of Scoharie, informed the 
writer that he had found great advantage from 
using salt on his potato ground last spring. 
After plowing, he caused four bushels of salt 
to be sown on the furrow, upon one acre of the 
field, and harrowed in. Potatoes were then 
planted. Part of the field was not salted. Al- 
though the season was remarkably dry, the salt- 
ed acre was observed to maintain a green, vi- 
gorous appearance, while the other part looked 
sickly and stunted. On lifting them in the fall, 
those potatoes where salt was applied, were of 
good size, smooth skin, sound, and of good 
quality, and yielded a fair crop, while of those 
on the unsalted part of the field, although the 
soil was fully equal to that ot the salted portion 
the yield was considerably less, potatoes small, 
and much eaten by worms. His neighbor had 
a field of potatoes on the opposite side of the 
road, soil similar to his own, who planted them 
in the usual way; the consequence was, his 
crop was small in size, inferior in quality, and 
most of them rotted soon after digging — they 
were diseased. 
Dr. Bogart, who has charge of the Sailor’s 
Snug Harbor, on Staten Island, informed me 
that he applied lour bushels of salt to one acre 
of his potato ground, last spring, and thinks he 
derived great benefit from it. Though the crop 
was not a large one, the potatoes on the salted 
portion were of much better size, skin smooth, 
and free from disease. The vines were more 
vigorous, remained green, while those on land 
of the same quality adjoining, which was not 
salted, shrivelled and died prematurely; the po- 
tatoes small and soggy, and less in quantity. 
C.W. Johnson, a distinguished agricultural 
writer, strongly recommends salt as a manure, 
at the rate of from ten to twenty bushels to the 
acre, to be sown two or thiee weeks before the 
seed is put into the ground. He says the bene- 
fits are as follows: “1st, w’hen used in small 
portions it promotes putrefaction, 2d, by de- 
stroying grubs and weeds. 3d, as a constituent 
of direct food. 4th, as a stimulant to the ab- 
sorbent vessels. 5th, by preventing injury from 
sudden transitions of temperature. 6th, by 
keeping the soil moist.” 
It would seem from all the facts 1 have been 
able to collect, that salt corrupts vegetable sub- 
stances when mixed in small quantities, but 
preserves them when it predominates in a mass; 
that in dry seasons its effects are more appa- 
rent, and whether it attracts moisture from the 
atmosphere, or whether it acts as a condiment or 
stimulant, is of little consequence, so long as 
its effects are certain. 
On account of the small quantity of salt, in 
weight, requi’^ed for manuring lands, it is no 
inconsiderable recommendation, because, on 
that account, it may with ease be conveyed to 
the most rough, steep and mountainous parts, 
to which the more bulky and heavy manures 
most in use could not be carried, but with infi- 
nite labor, and at an expense far exceeding all 
the advantages to be effected from it. 
Salt alone is considered by some rather too 
severe and harsh in its nature ; but mixed with 
ashes, say six ot salt and ten of dry ashes, well 
beat up together, which is sufficient for an acre, 
and spread upon the fuirow, and harrowed in, 
it will prove areal enricher. C. N. Bement. 
From the Greenville Mountaineer, 
Improvement of Southern Soils. 
Col. Towns:— In passing through the Dis- 
trict I see many good pieces of low ground about 
being buried by the red mud, washed by the 
rains from the gullies on the adjoining hillsides. 
Could not much be conveniently done to pre- 
vent this 1 I guard ditches which run at differ- 
ent points across the face of such hills, so as to 
conduct off the water more slowly, and throw 
brush into the gullies so as to slop the down- 
ward progress of the clay and sand; and a gen- 
eral coating of brush and trash on the gullied 
surface above, so as to promote the growth of 
some SOI tot vegetation, as well as to impede 
the downward force of the current of water, I 
say, would not the employment of these various 
means pay well for the labor and time thus laid 
out7 
Again : when any portion of a field becomes 
worn and inclined to wash, would it not be a 
much better policy to plow il deep and manure 
if wicZf, than to leave it uncultivated, as is now 
most generally done? By the one course the 
spot would be restored to fertility, and by the 
other, that much land would not only remain 
valueless, but be constantly, every rain, doing 
injury to the land that lay below it. This much 
1 intended to say in my last, but want of room 
compelled its omission. 
