SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
239 
be sceptical, indeed,” who does not believe that Clovers 
and the artificial Grasses can be successfully grown in a 
Southern climate. This is the great pivot upon which 
our Agricultural fate turns. Settle this question in our 
favor, and the future becomes bright. It gives us a foot- 
hold upon which we can firmly stand, and challenge the 
world to a competition in the race of human prosperity. 
Without a serious rival in the great markets of the 
world, in the three leading staples of Cotton, Tobacco and 
Rice, with $2,000,000,000 of extra labor ; with a country 
extending from the fortieth parallel of latitude nearly to 
the northern tropic, and embracing thirty degrees of longi- 
tude, with every variety of soil and climate, variegated 
with lofty mountains, fertile and wide spread valleys and 
rolling prairies, drained by navigable rivers unequalled in 
North America or Europe, with convenient and capacious 
harbors, with a sea at our door which must be the path- 
way of the world’s commercial travel, with unlimited water 
power and inexhaustible supplies of Coal, Iron, Copper, 
I.,ead, Lime and other valuable minerals, as also of tim- 
ber; and with a population religious, intelligent, enter- 
prising, energetic, and ambitious of the highest civilization 
— with all those unrivalled gifts and privileges, yet lacks 
the South one thing, w'hich is necessary to their full 
fruition. This is an improving Agriculture ; a system of 
husbandry w’hich shall properly unite pasturage with 
tillage, which will secure a liberal supply fine stock, and 
a gradual amelioration of her arable lands. Without this, 
as an Agricultural people, declension, and not progress, 
must be our destiny. Give u^but this, however, and in 
the future of our glorious country, the South may achieve 
all that fancy can depict, or fable invent. 
PLOWING IN TIME OF DROITTH, ITS EFFECTS, ^C. 
Editors Southern Cultivator — I see in the Cultivator 
for June a communication from “J.,” of Alabama, on the 
subject of stirring the earth in time of a drouth, in which 
he condemns the practice, and believes it be injurious to 
the growjng crop, particularly to corn. In your remarks 
on this subject you disagree with him ‘(and I am of the 
opinion justly,) and invite the experience of all your 
practical and observing readers on this subject. I feel in- 
clined to cast in my mite, and should you think it worth 
anything, let your readers have;it. I shall undertake to 
give facts as they have occdrred in my experience, witliout 
giving the why and wherefore, leaving that part for a 
writer of higher attainments than myself. 
In the first place, I will say that “J:’* is the first person 
I have ever known to condemn the practice of stirring the 
earth in time of drouth, particularly while the crop is 
young. He speaks of “his corn being 4 or 5 inches high.” 
I will say to “J.” that instead of letting his plows lie idle 
at that stage of his crop, if he had had a first- rate set of 
coulters and put them to work in his c6rn, running them 
deep and close to the corn, r.otwithsWding the operation 
might have caused his corn to wilt and ^eem to be checked 
in its growth for a few days, it would have soon i::ecover- 
ed the check and have been much benefiited in less than 
ten days from the time ofsuch plowing. 1 am fully of the 
opinion that deep plowing will raise more moisture to the 
roots of growing plants than will escape by stirrino- the 
surface. I have always found it to be an injury to a 
growing crop of corn to let it remain too long (say more 
than 20 days; before it received its regular course of plow- 
ing. By letting it alone much longer than the proper 
time, the roots become tough and by plowing them often 
many of them will pull or break off at their source ; which 
gives the stalk a marked check in its growth, especially 
if the land be dry. It is always best, if the fend be 
dry or if it has been over the proper time for plowing the 
corn, to go over the crop or a field, plowing one row and 
leaving one, then return to the begining and plow the row 
first loft; this enables the roots, in the first instance, to re- 
cover somewhat from being broke or disturbed before the 
roots on the opposite side have to undergo the same oper- 
ation. I have always found in plowing land shortly 
after a good “season,” that it would hold moisture much 
longer than the land that was plowed just before a rain, 
which would dry off, leaving a crust on the surface; and I 
much prefer to have my potatoe ridges thrown up after 
the rain has fallen, than to have it done before. The slips 
will live and grow olT better ; the same with cabbage and 
collard plants, &c., &c. 
I will give a case which I consider to be to the point, 
and I am done. Some years ago, one of my neighbors 
and myself rented a large field in company ; we divided the 
field as near as we could, as to quantity and quality ; both 
of us planted about the same time ; a drouth set in about 
the first of May ; the land became very dry, so much so 
that my neighbor concluded it was labor thrown away to 
plow. I continued my operations, giving my corn its 
portion. In due lime we had a good season, the last of 
June; my corn was then a good deal ahead of him, when 
the rain came, I had nothing to do, as soon as the land 
got in stirring order, but to brush over the crop with my 
harrows and lay by. He (my neighbor) had his to plow, , 
and then wait some 10 or 15 days to run over with his har- 
rows and lay by. The result w\ts, I made about one- 
third more corn than he did. 
Pardon me, Messrs. Editors, but let me say to you that 
I was glad to see your remarks, or the decision you had 
made on the subject of Rescue Grass. I was glad on ac- 
count of my believing that there was too much humbuggery 
in the mess, and could say about as much for the Oregon 
Pea. The pea I have tried to some extent. 
Yours very respectfully, 
John Farrar. 
Atlanta, Ga., Junie, 1855. 
Remarks. — Our friend rnisfakes us. We have made no 
“decision” on the merits of the Re.'fcue. It remains for 
those who have tested it properly to do that. Thus far, 
the testimony is about equal on each side of the question. 
See Col. Summer’s “ Plea for a tlumhugf in another 
column. — Eds. 
BLIND STAGGERS IN HORSES— A CITEE. 
Editors Southern Cultivator— I notice in the June 
number of the CuUwator. your request, relative to a reme- 
dy for the.“Blind Staggers in Hqrses.” 
‘While I am aware it is expected of all correspondents 
of an agricultural paper to state /ac/5 and T'CsuUs known 
only to experience and personal observation, stilh if you 
think this communication will Ju'^tify a departure from the 
rule, you are at liberty to publish it. My information Ls 
derived from-u tmder in horses .and his, companion, whom 
I recently met -on thS public road. 
One proposed selling me a very fine buggy horse, 
which led to my relation of the recent loss of several 
valuable horses with the ‘‘Blind Staggers.” One of the 
gentlemen remarked, that, had he been present, he could 
have readily curett them. I replied, that I had used many 
and various remedies, as recommended, with a fiiilure in 
every instance. He seeming to hesftate ; I mentioned to 
him, if he would write out a remedy and publisli it in the 
Southern Culfivatnr, I thought he would be entitled 
to a premium; whefeupon, he approached a horse 
and began to feel on the side of the head, about^equi-dis- 
tant between the eye and nostril, removing a large leader, 
in part, and then said to me, to feel a small hole I 
did so. He then remarked, that the stoppage or obstruc- 
tion of the two holes on the side of the head, as pointed 
out, caused the “Blind Staggers;” that he had never failed 
