THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
45 
FAUMjENG WITHOUT UUM. 
Whoever commenced the Temperance Re- 
formation, was, in truth, a benetactor to the hu- 
man race. From the highways and byways, 
from the borders of the abyss .pt degradation, if 
not from the depth ot the abyss itself, thousands 
will rise up to call that man ble.ssed, who has 
saved them from themselves. Great as are the 
talents of O’Connell, there is an unpretending 
priest, who is at the present moment doing more 
to elevate, disenthrall, and regenerate Ireland, 
than a thousand O’Connells, without his aid, 
could have done. Wherever Father Matthew 
goes, the distilleries become useless, the pig gets 
an extra quantity of corn, the wife a new dress, 
and the laborer sheds his rags lor a new coat, 
saved from earnings that formerly went to bru- 
talize and impoverish himself and family. — 
Scarcely less .striking has been the result of ab- 
staining fji'om the corampn use ol ardent spirits 
in the United States, and in no department of 
industry has this influence been more benefi- 
cially felt than in that of agriculture. Of this 
no one doubts, we believe, who has made the e.x- 
periment oi farming xcithoxd rum, or in other 
words, banished ardent spirits from his farming 
operations. 
We are well aware that there were thousands, 
in fact nearly every farmer in the country, who 
when the idea of farming without the use of ar- 
dent spirits was first proposed, deemed it wild 
and visionary, if not impossible. So intimate 
had the associations of work and rum become 
in the minds of most men, that to separate them 
::r-to undertake to break in upon long establish- 
ed usage — to get in a harvest, or erect a build- 
in^', without such drinks, required no little exer- 
cise of reason and independence of feeling. — 
Many who were convinced the practice was 
useless, hesitated about abolishing it, least the 
withholding spirits should be charged to a penu • 
rious disposition. Good sense, however-, and a 
feeiin<=" of right prevailed; rum was banished 
■froin fhe harvest field and the raising, in aumer- 
ous instances, and it was found that none of the 
injurious effects anticipated by many, followed. 
There was no w-ant of laborers; the coarse 
grains still commanded good prices; and four or 
ftve distilleries in every town ceased to produce 
and distribute misery and death. 
In those neighborhoods, and on those farms 
from which intoxieating drinks have been ban- 
ished, those revolting scenes unfortunately once 
toG cbra'mon, are now no longer seen. We re- 
rhember when it was the eusloin. to find each 
laborer in the harvest field with his pint of spir- 
its daily, that there was frequently more waste 
from the effects of the drink than their labor cost. 
We have seen in the harvest field by the middle 
of the afternoon, the reaper so blue that he was 
as likely to cut his owm fingers as the grain, and 
compelled to re-sort to a corner of the fence and 
a nap, to restore a capacity to w'ork. We have 
seen half a dozen cradlers racing it through a 
wheatfield like madmen, yelping and yelling 
like savages, thi owing the grain behind them 
without care or thought, and causing a waste 
greater than as many swine would have done, 
even if they had been of the most approved al- 
ligator breed. We have seen a dozen men reel- 
ing home from a raising to sleep aw-ay the li- 
quor that had stolen away their reason, or, as 
was most likely, to abuse their wives and chil- 
dren. Now, w-here temperance principles pre- 
vail, such scenes are never witnessed: and their 
influence can be traced in the mitigation of 
these evils, even w-here they are not yet fully 
triumphant. 
The proper source of ability to labor is 
found in food; this aloiie nourishes and confers 
strength. Ardent spirits givm no nourishment; 
they only stimulate; atid experience proves, that 
all expenditure of power, not based on the true 
source of supply, can only be lemporarv', and 
must produce results the more injurious to the 
individual. The correct course, then, is to sub- 
stitute the nutritious for the stimulant, healthful 
for the injurious, habits that too frequently end 
in ruin for ihpse thai are certainly safe and hoB- 
r able. 
If there is a single reader ol the Cultivator, 
who has never made a trial of farming without 
rum, we ask him as a friend to make it thor- 
oughly the present season, and then to judge for 
himself. The experiment is not now an'untri- 
ed and hazardous one; it encounters no opposing 
public opinion, nor subjects the farmer to the 
charge of eccentricity or niggardliness; and it 
is not one wfoich might once have been consid- 
ered as tanipering wu'th the health ot the work- 
ingman. The man wfoo labors must have food 
in abundance, and of the best kind; he must 
have drink too, but this should not be ardent 
spirit . — Albany Cultivator. 
CULTIVATION OF COJ^N. 
The Nashville Agriculturist gives the follow'- 
ing directions lor the cultivation of Indian com^ 
The editor says; 
'“It is scarcely probable that we or others have 
learned all, or half, that is important in the cul- 
tivation of this crop, and therefore we can only 
promise imperfect directions; but such, if care- 
fully adhered to, will be useful to most farmers.” 
1. Preparation of Land . — The richer the soil 
the better for com; and if it be not rich, stable 
manure is the best remedy: indeed, any kind of 
decayed vegetable or animal matter will show as 
much in this crop as any other. The land should 
be broken as deep as possible — if from ten to 
twenty inches, so much the better. Stubble, 
grass, weeds and all kinds of litter should be 
turned under. If this can be done sufficiently 
early to let the frosts have their influence in pul- 
verizing the clay and compact portions ol the 
earth, it will be better. A good plan is to break 
the land, by throwing into beds from four to six 
feet a.sunder, in proportion to its strength. On 
this plan the beds for the roots are more cei-tain 
to be light and open; and the best proof that this 
is a good system is, those w-ho commence rarely 
abandon if. 
2. Time of Planting . — So far as our experi- 
ence goes, the earlier corn can be made to grow, 
the more certain is the crop. Generally there is 
a drought early in the summer wfoich cuts the 
crop .short; and the only sure remedy is to plant 
early. March planting, nine times out ol ten, 
is the surest plan for the latitude of Tennessee, 
though occasionally good crops are raised, plant- 
ed in April and even May. 
3. Alanncr of Planting , — If the land has been 
thrown into ridges, a bull tongue, or a sho\-el 
plough in the centre of the ridge, drill the corn 
and cover it with a light harrow. If the land is 
broken with a level surface, it is a good plan to 
run a turning plough as deep as possible, and in 
this furrow run a coulter or other small plough, 
to make a soft bed for the young roots. These 
row's might be from four to five feet apart, in 
proportion to the strength of the soil. Cross 
these fiurows at the same distance, bitt run the 
plough as shallow as possible. Drop the com 
at the crosses, and cover with a hoe, light plough 
or harrow, to the depth of from one to three 
inches. 
4. After CiiUurc . — So soon as the young plants 
show themselves, run a cultivator near them to 
stir the soil and destroy the small w'eeds. If the 
land is now' stirred every week, w'ith a harrow, 
cultivator light plough, to keep down weeds and 
render the land open for the free access of the 
atmosphere, the crop w'ill certaiply be good. — 
Every one should be sure to thin out early. — 
Whether the land should ever after planting re- 
ceive a deep ploughing, depends solely upon 
circumstances. If the land das run together 
from heavy rains, it should be ploughed— not 
otherwise. 
Making Manure. — Asa Barton, in the Maine 
Farmer, says that he converted straw, corn 
stalks and potatoe tops into good manure in 14 
days, in the spring of 1841, only by heaping 
them together, and mixing unslacked lime with 
them. He used six casks of lime, and had fifty 
loads jof good manure. The loads were such as 
fanners carry, a large half cord to the load. 
MILKING cows. 
The owners of cows should pay particular 
attention to milking. Children must not be 
trusted with this business, and there are many 
grown people who never milk well though they 
have been brought up to the bu.siness. 
If you wtuld obtain all the milk from the 
COW', you must treat her with the utmost gentle- 
ness; she mu.st not stand trembling under your 
blows nor under your threats. She may at 
times need a little cha.stisgment, but at .such 
times you need not expiCct all her milk. 
Soon alter the bag has been brushed by your 
hand and the ends of the teats liaye been moist- 
ened a little W'ith milk, it flows in rapidly, and 
all the veins or ducts near the teats are complete- 
ly’ filled. Then it must be drawn out immedi- 
ately or you W'ill not get the whole. You must 
not sit and talk — you must not defoy one mo- 
ment if you woiild have all the cow is tl.cn rea- 
dy to yield. 
The ii'dtlcr should be moved in ever)' direction 
at the close of milking, and the hands may beat 
it a little in imitation of the beating which the 
calf gives it when he is sucking. An expert 
milker will make the cow give one quarter more 
in butter, than a majority of grown milkers wii;. 
One season, at Framingham, w'e kept four 
cows in the home lot; there was but little dit- 
lerence in the quantity of milk giv'en by each. 
We had a very steady hired man ol forty years 
of age; he had carried on a farm in New' Hamp- 
shire and ahvays been used to milking; but he 
was .so slow thecowshad no patience with him. 
We milked two of the cows and he the other 
two, and we were but little more than half as 
long as he in milking, though we got the large?: 
mess by about one , quart. Op our reinonstrai- 
ing that he did not draw out all the milk, he said 
his cows would not yield so mu,ch as t^ose milk- 
ed by us. We then made an exchange: he milk- 
ed our two and we milked his. In three weeks 
time the case tvas reversed; our mess exceeding 
his by nearly one qnait. He never I'ailed to 
strip his cows to the last drop; but his intolerable 
moderation prevented, his obtaining what an act- 
ive milker would have done. 
Young learners may practice on cows that are 
to be soon dried off. They should be taught at 
first how to take hold of the teats and' they will 
remember it; but how common it rs to let each 
child choose his own mode of milking! Learn- 
ers should know that the hand should be kept 
very near the extremity of the teat, if they 
would milk with ease. The left arm should al- 
ways press gently against the leg of the cow; for 
if she is inclined to kick, .she cannot with any 
force; she cannot strile aji object that lear..s 
against lier; but if she rai.ses up her foof, as she 
often will when her teats are sore, the milker 
will be ready to ward olf and keep it from the 
pail much better than when 'he sits far off' from 
the coAV, 
If heifers tye made tanie,and gentle by fre- 
quent handling when they are young, they arc 
not apt to kick the milker; their udders should 
be rub, bed gently' before calving; it is quite as 
grateful to them as carding. But if they are suf- 
fered to run wild till after they have calved, they 
cannot be expected to be gentle when you fir't 
attempt to milk them. They often acquire 
bad habits and are not broken ol them through 
life — Afass. Ploughman. 
Preservatiq-n qf Hkaltii.^ — An ancient 
piiilosopher opjzfi. said, “If you find it necessary 
to have recourse to medicines, there are three 
which you can make use of with safety, viz: a 
tranquil mind, moderate exercise, and temperate 
diet.” 
The celebrated French phy.rician, Dumoulin, 
on his death-bed, when surrounded by the mo‘ . 
distinguished physicians of Paris, who regret- 
ted the loss which the profession would sustain 
in his death, said : “My friends, I leave behind 
me three phy.sicians much greater than myself.” 
Being pre.s.sed to name them, each of the doctor 5 
supposing himself to be one of the three, he nr- 
swered, “water, exercise, and diet.” 
