SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
Interior TiE - p kwr ^ izsT.—Agriadtural Dimsion of tfie 
Patent Office.— Mexican Messrs. Thompson & 
Oudeslays, of SaItimoi*e, Kave advised the Patent Office 
that they have lately imported a large supply of Mexican 
guano, which contains from 35 to 60 pei** cent, of phos- 
phate of lime. It is already an established fact, resulting 
from many experiments in Maryland, that in most soils a 
mixture of 250 to 300 pounds .of this fertilizer with 100 
pounds of Peruvian guano per acre will act as well for the 
present and better on future crops than Peruvian alone, 
the cost being the same. The utility of mixing Peruvian 
with Mexican guano is obvious from the fact that the 
Mexican abounds in several fertilizing constituents which 
are deficient in the Peruvian, so' that a mixture will pos- 
sess the valuable properties of both. 
DEEP PLOWING-— STTRPACE CTJLTOPvS— POST OAK 
LAND. 
Editors Southern Cultivator— In the March number 
of your valuable journal you extract from the Louis- 
ville Journal, relative to the nursery of Messrs. Elwanger 
& Barry, in which Mr. E. says to the Journal’s corres- 
pondent, “He had no need of artificial watering; on the 
appearance of dry weather he employed additional hands 
to keep the surface of the soil constantly mcllmo by the use 
of the cultivator.” You proceed to remark ; “ This, ifa,p- 
pliedin time a,nd repeated^ is the great aUd sure remedy for 
drouth, iru, ihe nursery or corn field.” 
In this couptry, drouth is what we most fear,, conse- 
quently a sure remedy would be of incalculable advantage ; 
but I have always beenr of th^ opinion that the CultiT^ator 
xiniversally recothinended deep plovnng as the only remedy 
for drouth, not surface scroiching . This is to me a matter 
of deep interest, and I would hke to see something from 
you on the subject, in the next dr some succeeding num- 
ber. 
In regard to the management of Post Oak Glade Land, 
James Thomas gives your subscriber, of Clinton Texas, 
some e'xcellent advice •, but I think my plan a better one. 
These glades must first be properly ditched. Then, as 
Mr. Thomas says, bed up with a Dagon plow 5 inches 
deep, (or 8 inches, if he can,)- and subsoil each furrow to 
the depth of 10 inches more until the bed is completed, and 
see if the result does not pay for the trodble. Then fol- 
low Mr. T.’s plan of cultivating. Will Mr. 'T. try tlie sub- 
soiling and let me hear, of the result through the CnMva^ 
lor. Respectfully yours, L. P. S. 
CoUinshurg, La , April, 1855. 
Remarks. — Our correspondent is mistalceg in attribut- 
ing to ourselves the language of the Journal’s correspon- 
dent, which we have placed in italics ; though we, in no 
particular respect, differ from that writer in the views ex- 
pressed. The Cultivator and its editors always have 
♦‘recommended deep plowing” as the surest if not the “only 
remedy for drouth and there is nothipg in the extract 
alluded to, to prove that Messrs. Elwanger & Barij-j,^ 
BOt believe and practice deep plowing or su‘bsoilin"»l' Itis 
of the after-culture that Mr. Byram is speaking-^h'^ul- 
lure of thesurfdce, merely, when crops are growings and-we 
believe \vith him that this, if properly and frequently prac- 
liced, tends, in a great measure,- to avert the e^l effects of 
drouth. Where practicable, however, the most perfect 
system is this ; — Plow your land as deeply, manure as 
Mghly, and pulverize as finely as possible, hef 0 re planting 
your crop, and when your trees begin to grow vigor- 
ously give them one good working with a cultivator or 
iorse-hoe, and then cover the entire surface with a 
SIS' 
thick mulching of pine straw or any other trash that wili 
keep the sun^s rays from the surface, and prevent v/eeds 
growing ; thus away with the necessity of any 
further working during the season. . Wo know this to be 
impracticable on a large scale, in field culture; but, for aL 
horticultural anlateurs, gardeners, or nurserymen it is iur 
valuable.— JEds. . ’ ' ► . 
THE LOCUST-CSOPS HENRY COUNTY, GA., &C; 
Editors Southern Cultivator — Insdme of your num- 
bers you requested some one to g?ve you a history of the 
appeardnqe of the Locust. I will takp the liberty to do so, 
and as, perhaps, some of your read^-s will be curious to 
know where and how they originate, I will give you a 
short history : 
I was plowing in the field on Saturday last, and my at- 
tention was attracted by seeing them crawling and flutter- 
ing over the ground ; this excited my curiosity, which/ 
caused a close examination. I found that they made their 
way through the earth, then would crawl up somp bush, 
stump or tree, sticking their claws in the same and shed- 
ding or hatching the shell or egg, opening on the back. 
After shedding they are very feeble,' (not having the use oV 
their wings,) and can only crawl, and* in the course of 
some half day they become invigorated and commence 
flying, (the shell remains hanging where they hatch.) 
They are near the size of a large horse fly, of a dark 
brown glossy appearance ; on the front part of each wing-^ 
is a very correct model of the letter “W.” I, to-day, 
counted, on one small peach tree, some hunched and? 
twenty or thirty shells hanging on the leaves and hodrf, 
besides quantities lying on the gropnd, and I thiqk you 
might count some five or six hundred holes in the earth 
within the compass of two x-ods square, where they have 
made their w'ay througfi. They appear to be coming out 
promiscuously over the ea):th, though principally * about 
stumps or trees. I am not able to acetount ho,w, why, dr- 
from what source they spring, only that they come out oT 
the ground. We anticipate serious damage to our ci^ps- 
fro|;n them, though have not yet made any discoveries as tt>- 
what they will prey upon for sustenance. 
As regards the crops, there is a very gloomy appear- 
ance, it not having rained for several week; the earth is 
parched, corn and cjotton' dying, and not more than half a 
stand of either; wheat ancl oats are withering, and if it 
does’ not rain in the. course of one or two weeks, neither 
of them will be worth cutting. The ^'ass-hoppers are ap- 
^edring in vreat. numbers, and are eating up thp young 
corn. ” • . 
Provisions in the country are nearly out ; many are en- 
tirely but. (We think it best to keep our cribs locked,* 
for fear some that are out should be broken of their rest 
at night.) It is “hard times,” and we fear worse are coi3>- 
ing, though we look forward with hope to the morrow. 
I am, sirs, truly yourg, 
L. W. P. 
Henry county, Ga., May, 1855. 
CURE FOE RHEUMATISM-BLISTER WEED. • 
lllbtfoRS Southern Cultivator — In the February 
number of the Cultivator I see a notice (under the signa- 
ture of A. T. P.,) of a cure for Rheumatism. I will state 
that the vine grows in great abundance in this neighbor- 
hood, and is known by the name of Blister Weed. * 
I have known it to be used in some cases with success. 
Any person wishing to make a trial of it, by addressing a 
few lines to me at Wekadkee P. 0., Randolph co., Ala., 
can have some sent to them by mail. 
Yours truly, .T. EicHELiEROEXi 
