340 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
more and more increased by means even of the vegetable 
kingdom ; then v/e need no longer speak of the necessity 
of humus in vegetable life, so jar as it is considered to fur- 
nish the plant with carbon* 
( To he Concluded?) 
CULTURE OF COTTOiS^-SELECTION OF SEED. 
Editors Southern Cultivator— I have been, for the 
last eight years, a regular subscriber and reader of the 
Southern Cultivator, and have all the volumes since that 
date either bound or on file for binding. And here let me 
record upon its pages my testimony that I have derived 
important advantages from it by way of agricultural .edu- 
cation ; and, in brief, that both I and my soil have been 
tultivated by it. When I began to plant Cotton I was en- 
tirely Ignorant of everything appertaining to it. Endeav- 
oring to learn by inquiring of others, I soon found such a 
mass of incongruous and incompatible opinions that I felt 
compelled to rely mostly upon observation for what I had 
to learn. -That course I adopted and still continue, finding 
frequent aid and encouragement in the pages of the Culti- 
vator. I have been planting twelve ^i-ears, and as yet 
have communicated but little of my experience. Soon 
after I began to learn, ‘m^v fingers began to itch for the pen’ 
to tell, through the Press, what appeared to me of impor- 
tance. But secoiid thought suggested: “ Wait a little, 
perhaps it is not new, or perhaps it is the exception — not 
the rule. Think more; try again. I’m o’er young to 
teach yet.” So the editor, the printer and the public*have 
been spdred. * ' * ' 
S@me conclusions, my p\servation and roasonihg have' 
brought me to, that I think cannot be too often or too ur- 
geutly presented the minds of Cotton planters. 
Second to n©tliin| else, in my opinion, is the necessity 
,©f purifying and keeping distinct each variety of seed 
planted, I am satisfied that to obtain a full crop fora 
suCcesBion of years, it is not only necessary to adopt the 
best varieties, but to exclude all worthless vaideties, so that 
every plant may contribute its full share and' quality of 
staple. This is the-only means of bringing each variety to i 
a practical test as to the quantify and quality ofstaple, and ! 
dheir adaptation to difterent ^nds of land and different 
parallels of latitude.. 
It is^ perhaps, also possible to avoid, in a great pie.asure, 
someprms of disease, dt is not yet^a-Tcertained how the 
disease, of late years so destructive, called' the Rot, is pro- 
paga'ied. Perhaps a tendency to that disease is hereditary, 
Ifke coj^eumption, lurking in the sap out of which the 
tissues are organized, till the plant arrives at a c#rtain 
degree of rnatunity when it is rapidly developed by a few 
da,ys of favoring weather. If so, it may be exhausted or 
arteae^ kept at bay by selection. I have ascertained that 
the type of stalk, of maximum productiven^s, may be im- 
proved by seleotiofi. ' '' 
For ten years, I have not planted a single crop except 
from carefully selected se‘ed. ^ I have done this, looking 
for remuneration solely to the increased yield which I 
expect, and in which I have not been disapointed. I have 
tried almost all th,e “fancy,” or, “crack” seed that have in 
*The utility of humus is, therefore, limited to two quite 
essential points : (1.) That it loosens the earth by means of 
its lightness and friability, so that the roots of plants may 
the better spread therein ; and (2) that it is, as it were, a 
store-house, from which the plant is gradually supplied with 
carbonic acid, together with the nourishing salt-solutions. 
various ways obtained an ephemeral fame; but have con- 
fined the principal part of my crop to two varieties, to 
which, since 1850, I have added a third, which I esteem 
very highly as an early opener, late grower and great 
bearer. I have given it the characterisic name of “Crowd- 
er,” for it bears crowding on the land ; it crowds the 
squares and bolls on the stalk; it crowds the planter to 
early and rapid picking, and, finally, crowds out a crop. 
The Prolific Pomegranate is rny other favorite variety. 
This cotton I have planted and kept very pure for several 
years, under the name of “Olive,” which name Iliad givun 
it for my own convenience before it was known by the 
name of Pomegranate, and which I prefer only because it 
is short and easy to speak My other variety is INIasto- 
don, of which I plant a small portion of my crop every 
year for late picking, and do not pick a lock of it till I 
have picked every boll of the other kinds. I then, gener- 
ally in January, gather it without pains, getting good 
weights; pass it through a very common gm, and sell it 
in New Orleans for from twent 3 r-five to fifty per cent, more 
than any other cotton. These threb varieties of cotton I 
have in unusual purity ; and as the result of my pains, 
my stalks are now loaded and bowing down with bolls,, 
notwithstanding I have been visited with most unprece- 
dented drouth the whole season, and plant on Prarie land 
twenty-five years under hard cultivation, without manure.. 
It would be hard to imagine a more intractable soil than 
mine, or one more dependent upon seasons ; yet my aver- 
age crop, for a series of years, has been a standard bale 
(400 lbs.) to the acre, and ten bales to the hand, made 
picked and ginned without help. I do not boast of this 
result, as I am confident it might be surpassed with my 
seed, on other lands in my immediate neighborhood. But 
taking the land and otluCT circumstances into view, it 
pqinjts clearly to the Tidyantages to be derived from long 
puiiifiad ge.ed. I am. frequently asked^v/hy I do not sell 
my seed I and I generally reply : that therfe has been so 
much humbuggery in Cotton seed that I do not like to 
t^ke the trouijie to bring my seed into notice. In short, 
that Cotton see(^. will not sell now at speculative priees^ 
and to sell them at merely remunerative prices, costs more 
than they come to. 
I have been told thaf there are many large planters 
^'ho; if they kne.w the value of ray seed, would be glad to 
furnish themselves at reasonable prices every year, or at 
, least, e\'iery two or three years, as they could not give so 
much care and attention to selection as I have done. I am 
.unwilling to enter the list of cotton seed speculators with 
a long array pf certificates and recommendations; but 
will simply say that I shall keep the three above named 
varieties pure for my own use ; and if any one v/ishes to- 
begin seleoting with seed already long selected and very 
pure, he can have them at a price that will make them 
cheap to him. I wanted to say something more upon the 
type of the cotton plan t, but, having already tresspassed 
upon your space too far, must defer my remarks for the 
present, but will give them, if you request, at some future 
day. A. W. Washburn. 
Yazoo City, Miss., 1855. 
[Let us, by all means, hear from you on the “type of 
the cotton plant.” — E ds.] 
To Kjiep Milk Sweet. — A. Boyd, a correspondent, in- 
forms us that he has practised a peculiar method with 
much success, preserving milk sweet in the pans. It 
simply consists in placing a piece of new hammered iron, 
or three twelve penny nails in each tin pan, then pouring 
the warm milk on them. He believes that electricity has 
something to do with producing the result. He had triad 
many experiments before he hit upon this, which he found 
to preserve the milk sweet for a longer time than other 
plans tried by him . — Scientific American^ 
