54 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
about by the ring immediately after the operation, every 
part of the nose being still tender and sensitive, the poor 
animal is tormented. So alarmed do some bulls become by 
this operation, that they hang back from the rein-rope in the 
ring with such force as to tear the ring through the nose ; 
but this is an abuse of the use of the rope, which should 
be slackened, and the animal relieved from pain, as often 
and until he learns to yield to the slightest motion of the 
rope. On first trying to lead the bull by the ring, the 
person who has charge of him should not endeavor to pull 
the animal along after him^ but allow him to walk on while 
he remains at his side, or goes behind him, with the rope 
in his hand. While so following, to relieve the animal as 
much as practicable of the weight of the rope upon the 
nose, the drover should throw the middle of the rope over 
the bull's back, and retain a hold of its end. Should the 
bull offer to step backwards, a slight tap on the shank 
with a stick will prevent him ; and should he attempt to 
run forward, a mere check by the rope will cause him to 
slacken his pace. On no account should the drover at- 
tempt to struggle with the bull on the first occasion ; on 
the contrary, he should soothe and pacify him, and en- 
deavor to inspire him with confidence in himself and the 
rope, and to show him that he will recive no hurt if he will 
but walk quietly along. A bull soon learns what is in- 
tended for him when he is properly dealt with ; but if tor- 
mented merely that the drover may show his power over 
him, it may be a long time, if ever, before he will learn to 
behave quietly when led. — People's Journal. 
FARM BOOK-KEEPING. 
In almost every other business, regular accounts are 
deemed necessary to the proper conducting of its affairs. 
The manufacturer might get along in the same guess- 
work way as farmers usually do, but at what rate he was 
making profits or losses he could not satisfy himself A 
similar satisfaction in the.farmer’s business is one of the 
reasons why he should keep regular accounts with his 
crops and field, as much as the merchant and manufactur- 
er do in their departments of business. Without accurate 
accounts no farmer can tell, save by a guess-work, which 
may be very wide of the reality, what crops, what fields, 
or what system of management are paying the best or 
yielding the most net profits. One of our British contem- 
poraries has lately been directing the attention of its read- 
ers to the importance of farm book-keeping. It asks the 
question, Why are agriculturists an exception to others in 
^e details of book-keeping I and in reply observes that 
there is no more essential branch of a farmer’s education 
than that of being taught book-keeping, and that not only 
as to the every-day mercantile transactions of buying and 
selling, but also as to the noting the amount of produce of 
different fields, or the results of different systems of man- 
agement, manuring, &c. It is essential more especially, 
to obtaining all the knowledge possible from any experi- 
ment, that every expenditure made on account of the crop, 
together with interest of land, should be noted down on 
one side, while on the other is put down every particle of 
produce of any value which the field or crop produced, 
By strict attention to details, the writer of the article re- 
ferred to says, “his experience as a cultivator would prove 
the most formidable foe to prejudices which militate 
against his interest, — prejudices and errors in practice 
being almost invariably fortified from rough guesses, the 
necessary result of the absence of regular details ; and this 
at least is one reason for the backwardness of agricul- 
ture.” 
In order to render farm accounts clear and accurate, i 
one of the first things to be done is to make a plan or map 
of the farm, with the size of the fields marked upon it, &c. 
A field or crop may then have a folio to itself and all labor, 
manure, seed, &c., debited to it on one side, and all tliat 
it produces credited to it on the other. In addition to the 
pecuniary advantage which would result from knowing 
what kinds of crops or modes of management prove to be 
the most profitable, there would be a satisfaction in be- 
ing able to keep accurate accounts and in knovnng in- 
instead of guessing as to profits, which would be enough 
to compensate any farmer for his trouble. — Country 
Gentleman. 
SEPTEMBER (1854) GALE ON THE SEABOARD. 
Messrs. Editors — When I wrote you in August last, 
our staple crops of rice and cotton were everywhere fine and 
promising, in fact never was there a promise of more 
abundant harvest held cut to both the rice and cotton 
planter of the seaboard. 
We had an unusually hot summer, and the rains were 
so few that there was very little danger of either a freshet 
on the rice, or of casting in the cotton. The cutting of 
the rice, and the picking of cotton commenced the latter 
part of August, under the most glorious auspices ; every 
one expecting that his barns would crack and groan un- 
der the accumulating produce ! But alas ! like Jon.4H'’s 
gourd, our inflated hopes were soon withering on the 
ground! On the 8th of September, a most terrific hurri- 
cane ravaged our whole line of sea coast, from Charleston 
to Savannah especially, and extending into the interior 
beyond the head of tide-water. Great damage was neces’ 
sarily inflicted on rice, cotton, corn, peas and slips, by 
the combined agency of wind and water (fresh and salt.) 
On exposed situations, the cotton stalks were stripped al- 
most bare of fruit and foliage, besides what was killed by 
the actual invasion of the salt water. A great deal of rice 
that was cut and ricked in the fields was inundated and 
floated off, whilst standing rice was in a great many places 
thi'own down head foremost into the water. Corn fields 
were completely tangled up, from the stalks being pitch- 
ed and thrown in every direction across one another, with 
many of the ears lying down upon the wet earth. Slips 
were, in many instances, innundated and killed by the 
salt tides ; also, many pea crops, and what peas were not 
killed by salt water, were blasted by the ferocious wind! 
A great deal of Long Cotton that will be sent to market 
this winter, will be but half ripe loool and the damaged 
rice on Savannah River is producing moi teZzfy among man 
and animals. Only yesterday I understood that the verit- 
able Asiatic Cholera has broken out on certain river 
plantations, from the free use of the damaged grain ! For- 
tunately, there was but little loss of life or limb on that 
dreadful day, and miraculously, but few ships lost. It 
really seemed, as if the fearful wind-god had but one 
mission to attend to, and but one object to execute; viz, 
the destruction of our crops. For this storm could not 
have happened at a more critical time, and strange to re- 
late, it was the semi-centennial aniversary of the great 
seaboard hurricane of September 8th, 1804 — exactly 50 
years to the very hour ! ! 
We put oui loss down in both cotton and rice to 
A(zZ/ as an average, as some did not lose quite one-half, 
whilst others lost more. In spite, though, of all this de- 
struction, neither Long Cotton nor Rice are yet bringing a 
remunerative price to the suffering planter. We all thought 
just the contrary, and that prices would rule very high, 
but it seems not. It is really too bad. The whole thing 
is reduced to this — tli^t the Cotton Planter of the South 
will either have to go to the cities and seize the cotton 
buyer by X\\ei throat, or that he will have io -fld^wiless cotton 
'Awdi more provisions. It has thus been quitA a disastrous 
year with us, especially when taken in conjunction with 
yellow fever. However, 
“Hope tefips immortal from the Jirouad 
And heavenward springs with fiery hound.” 
Therefore, animated by this divine impulse, we are 
