£98 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
the depth of several inches. A good seed-bed is not to be 
dispensed with by any who intend to deserve a fair crop ; 
and what constitutes a good bed for wheat few cultivators 
need to be informed. In strong land, it should be mellow- 
ed by the implements of tillage at least eight inches ; and 
twelve would be still better. 
Next in importance to thorough cultivation is manuring. 
By the liberal use of manure, English farmers have raised 
the average yield of wheat, in the last thirty years, from 15 
to nearly 30 bushels per acre. In the making of manure, 
a system of plant-rotation, including renovating crops, has 
many advantages. It develops all the latent elements of 
fertility by Subjecting the soil to the recuperative powers ; 
1st, of all natural agencies ; 2d, of the best culture, and 3d, 
of such plants as draw largely on the atmosphere or sub- 
soil, or both, for their nourishment. 
Whatever manure one may have, either domestic or im- 
ported, should be thoroughly incorporated with the tilled 
earth before sededing. In this way, every root and rootlet 
of growing Wheat finds its appropriate food within its 
reach, and the young plants tiller and spread till the 
ground is fully covered, and bears its maximum of grain. 
Speaking of the best cultivated forty acres in Great Britain, 
tke last number of the London Agricultural Gazette says 
that besides \iteTgnng forty-eight cows, that part of the farm 
cultivated in wheat yields “eighty-five bushels per Scotch 
acre.” In the same leading article the editor makes the 
following pregnant suggestions : — “Fertility is, in fact, no 
mere function or quality of soil ; it is capable oi quantitive 
estima^H, and is directly due to the quantity of fertiliz- 
ing mmier present.” 
Every lover of the soil should sow and plant with a 
clear appreciation of the things^ and their whereabouts, 
which are fo form his expected crop. If the land needs 
manure, cease not to study and labor to obtain a due quan- 
tity of this raw material for making grain. Two hundred 
pounds of Peruvian guano is a fair allowance per acre in 
this country; although three and four hundred are not 
tmfrequently used in England, 
It is important to cover seed wheat at a uniform depth, 
which cannot be done with a common harrow so well as 
with a wheat-drill, or the plow- In the Genesee country 
they use wheeled cultivators and gang-plows for putting 
in seed. For twenty years, the use of small plows for 
putting in wheat, in place of harrows, has been steadily 
on the increase. The ground is well harrowed before the 
seed is sown. Some sow on the furrows, after plowing; 
and by drawing the harrow across the furrows, the seed 
is mainlj thrown ani^ covered between them, and comes 
up in rows like drilled wheat. To enable the roots of 
young plants to take a firmer hold of earth, and prevent 
their drying in dry weather, it is wise to roll the ground 
immediately after seeding. It is apt to be too light and 
open, if not compressed by the roller. 
Many valuable experiments have been tried to ascer- 
tain the right quantity of seed to put upon an acre. Planted 
in drills and hand-hoed like corn, six to eight pints of 
wheat to the acre have given the best returns, A gallon 
•fgood seed, properly distributed will make plants enough 
for an acre; but as there is some difficulty in this, from 
4 to gallons are the safer quantity to put on an acre. 
Mr. Mechi, of England, uses a bushel, or eight gallons; 
another cultivator claims that his crop will exceed all 
others when harvested, with only six pints of seed per 
acre. Hitherto, English farmers have been famous for the 
vast amount of ^ed sown upon a given area; some ap- 
plying five and^ffx bushels of oats and barley, and three 
or four of wheat per acre. During the reaction, it is na- 
tural that many should go into the opposite extreme. 
To prevent smut, all seed should be steeped thj;ee or 
four hours, and not longer, in a brine made of common 
salt, or in copperSs water, or a solution of blue-stone, 
(sulphate of copper). By keeping seed too long in these 
powerful salts, we have seen the germs of wheat killed, 
to the serioffb injury of the crop. 
We think quite as good results are attained by washing 
seed in a solution of common salt as in blue vitriol, or 
green vitriol. Either will destroy the living principle in 
all parasitic plants that infest the seeds of cereals. - ^ 
In selecting seed, the writer may remark ttefot jdie haS 
grown over i^^ty varieties of wheat, and reg^dS i^'e “inl^ 
proved white flint” as the best, all things considered. 
That advertised in this and fomer numbers of the Cultivator 
by Mr. P, H. Greene, of La Grange, Ga., appears, from 
a sampH' sent to us, to be an acclimated variety of the 
white flint, and doubtless deserves the commendations 
which it has received at several agricultural fairs. It is 
well to change one’s seed occasionally; i. e., procure 
wheat grown on a different, and if possible, a better soil. 
All things having life are endowed with certain coi^ti- 
tutional powers, which are subject to deterioration, and* 
may be weak or strong, healthy or unhealthy, according 
to the circumstances with which they are surrounded. 
Where one has both the best of wheat-land and the best 
of seed, he can gain nothing by chang ing, either. Few, 
however, are so well off; and all shou^Try^Jo improve 
their system of tillage and husbandry. A pea ci'dp*plowed 
in, will generally aid in giving a better crop of wheat. 
Wood ashes spread over the ground in any quantity from 
25 to 100 bushels per acre are valuable to strengthen the 
soil. L. • 
SEA ISLAND COTTON-ITS CULTUEE AND MANAGE- 
MENT. 
Editors Southern Cultivator— I give you such in- 
formation in reply to the request of your correspondent 
Mr. P. W. Brown, of Texas, as I can ; but if, as is very 
probable, you get better from any other source, you need 
not publish mine. As I suppose that Mr. Brown’s Sea 
Island Cotton is not of the extra fine quality, the McCar- 
thy’s Gin is decidedly the very best and most economical 
one for his purposes. This Gin is used by many, if not 
most, of the producers of the very finest Long Cotton, but 
it is generally believed to injure the quality of such cotton; 
yet that it is the best Gin for the preparation of the com- 
mon and middling qualities of Long Cottons, seems now 
to be acknowledged as a fixed fact. It is made only in 
Charleston, and sold by Wm. M. Lawton & Co., Agents 
for the patentee. The price is $125 per Gin, in Charles- 
ton. It will gin from 150 to GOO pounds per day, accord- 
ing to the speed and regularity with which it is driven 
and fed ; but when ginning more than 200 pounds per 
day is supposed to injure the staple. Each gin is light 
work for one small horse or mule. The same power or 
machinery that will drive a Saw Gin will drive this Gin. 
As I do not suppose that Mr. Brown would be willing 
or able to take as much pains with his cotton as we do 
