THE SOUTHERX CULTIVATOR. 
133 
WHEAT DOES 'J'URN TO CHESS. | To the Bailor of the Americwi Farmer— 
To the B.l.tar of the Pra.rie Fanner— \ 1 ;?hould lite you to gi re vour reasons why 
I saw in your tail'd number, a communica- , you pred'er ihatgras.ses should be mowed as soon 
tion sarmg ttiat wheat does not turn to chess. — ' as toey are in jivLccr. Our experience suggests 
I must disagree with the writer of the. article. , hiat cutting should be delayed until it is so near 
Some rive years since 1 saw by the side of the ripo as not to scatter. Our grass is the ‘ herds,” 
fence a bunch of wheat and cliess arrowing to- or as it is called with you, the “red top.” 
geihsr. I had the curiosity to pull it up, and . Yours, very respectfully. H. A. L. 
after washing the roots clean I examined the ’ Piitsboro\~N. C., Jiily b,lS\2. 
root, and tound only one main root, from which 
shot up five stalks, two bearing wheat heads 
upon tiiem and the otherlhree chess. This was 
exhibite-.l to hundreds, who all gave in that 
wheat and ch ;ss spring trom the same root, or 
at least that wheat turned to chess. Where I 
foun.i this it had the appearance of having been 
bitten ofiT by something, at which place there 
seemed to "be a large quantit}'- of chess, while 
the other part ol the wheat was clear from it. 
From this I am led to believe that where wheat 
has got so far advanced as to form the stalk and 
the stalk is then destro 3 'ed, it will grow up chess. 
P. Sweat. 
Peoria, I'l.. 3Iarck 17, 1812. 
Whs.at -i.vD Chess. — As the question wheth- 
er wheat becomes chess is a matter ot v'igorous 
debate, pro and eon, we give the result ot an ex- 
periment made by Xewton Crawford, Esq., of 
Winnebago county, several years ago, and de- 
tailed to us by him. Ide had a piece of ground, 
on which no wheat haa been grown, which he 
could ftood at pleasure. He made three beds, 
which he sowed with perfectly clean wheat, se- 
l.^cting the seed by hand, one by one. One bed 
he let entirely alone alter sowing; another he 
flooded with water, letting it off when he lound 
it likely to draw out the wheat, and continued 
to do so all the spring and early part oi summer. 
The third bed he fed down with some pet sheep, 
and continued to do so frequentljq taking care 
to let them trample it down as much as possi- 
ble. The result was, that the two beds whose 
growth he retarded by water and feeding, pro- 
duced but little wheat, and some of it but half 
ripe: but the production of the three beds, as lar 
as there was any production at all, was wheat, 
and wheat onl}’ — not a spire of che.ss appearing 
in the whole. 
This experiment is only ot a negative char- 
acter, "'tis true: still, as those who believe wheat 
turns to chess allege that flooding and breaking 
the stalks are the principal agencies by which 
the change is effected, there is a pertinency in 
the experiment as far as it goes. — Pru^irie Farm. 
Charcoal as a Fertilizer. — We have been 
astonished at the enormous increase of the 
wheat crop in France within the last eight or 
ten years, and have devoted some attention to 
the investigation ot the subject. It appears that 
charcoal — an article that can be obtained here 
for a tithe of its cost in France — has been ex- 
tensively used, and with marked effect, in ferti- 
lizing the wheat lands of that kingdom. A cor- 
respondent of the New Farmers’ Journal, an 
English print, states that during a sojourn in 
cue of the central departments of France, he 
learned that some of the most productive farms 
were originally very sterile; but that for a num- 
ber of years their proprietors had given them a 
light dressing of charcoal, which had resulted 
in a large yield of wheat of an excellent quali- 
ty. Since his return to England he has tried the 
experiment upon his own lands, with the same 
happy effect. The charcoal should be -well pul- 
verized and sown like lime, after a rain or in a 
still damp day. Even in England, the writer 
says, “the expense is a mere trifle, in compari- 
.son with the permanent improvement effected, 
which on grass is truly wonderful.” He states 
one other very important result from its liberal 
use. “I am quite satisfied that by using char- 
coal in the way described, mist in wheat will be 
entirely ■prevented-, for I have found in two ad- 
joining fields, one of which was coaled, and the 
other manured with farm yard dung, the latter 
was greatly injured by rust, while that growing 
in the other was perfectly free from it. 
Buffalo Com. Advertiser. 
Reply by the Editor of the Farmer . — In reply 
to the inquiry' of our correspondent, we have to 
state that our reason • are two-fold— that cat- 
tle relish the grass better, and secondly, that the 
soil continues longer in heart, inasmuch as 
prior to the formation of the seed a larger por- 
tion of the nutriment of the plant is derived 
from the atmosphere, whereas, after the ;om- 
mencemeni of the development of the seed, the 
major portion of the sustenance is abstracted 
from the soil, thus depriving it of its lertilitj’ 
without contributing to quantity in the weight 
cf the hay. It is lair, howev'er, to state that 
grass cut after the seed is ripe, or partiall}' so, is 
more nutritious than that which is cut when 
just in flower. 
SPURREY FOR SANDY SOH-S. 
This is a plant which is cultivated to a great 
extent in Denmark and Flanders, on the poorest 
sands. It is considered there as the most profit- 
able crop that can be grown on very thin soil. 
Von V'oght sa^xs; “It is better than red or white 
cloven the cows give more and better milk when 
fed on it, and it improves the land in an extraor- 
dinary degree. If the land is to lie several years 
in pasture, white clover must be so >vn with it. 
When sown in the middle of April, it is ripe for 
pasture by the end of May. If eaten off in 
June, the land is turned flat and another crop is 
sown, which affords fine pasture in Aunust and i 
September. This operation is equivalent to a ' 
dressing of ten loads of manure per acre. The ' 
blessing of spurrey, the clover oj sandy lands, is 
incredible when rightly employed.” ' ^ 
It is used as hay as well as for pasture, and is • 
i eaten greedily b}- sheep. The reeds are rich j 
^ and highly nutritious for all kinds of stock, and | 
i afford, when expressed, a valuable oil. We | 
, think our poorest sandy soils, such as are to be t 
lound on our Atlantic coast, which are not rich I 
enough for clover, would be admirably adapted i 
to this crop, and its introduction might be the i 
means of affording a profitable rotation with j 
r}'e, and eventualU' produce, 'with judicious j 
management, an entire renovation of extensive 
tracts, of what is now almost entirely waste I 
, land. Schwartz, who is esteemed high authori- ' 
, ty in Germany, says, “without spurre}', the j 
Campine (Kempenlane, a district in Dutch i 
Brabant,) the best cvJJ.ivated soil in the icorld, j 
would still have been a desert. It requires no i 
manure for itself, and even when mown, by the i 
residue it leaves, it gives back more than it : 
takes from the soil; and except for seed, it re- 
quires no preparation, and it will grow where I 
no other crop, except lye, will live.” Will some j 
of our enterprising and intelligent farmers, hav- | 
ing land adapted to this crop, give the experi- | 
ment a thorough trial] .R. L. .A.. 
American Agrindturist 
Effects of Soapsuds on Cabbages. — I be- 
lieve it will be a thankless piece of service for 
one gardener to teach another how to grow cab- 
bages and cauliflowers, yet as these crops of 
vegetables have failed this season in various 
parts of the country, the following notice may 
perhaps be of use to our cottage readers. — 
Wherever soapsuds have been used plentifully, 
cabbages and cauliflowers have grown luxuri- 
antly. I have made several inquiries of others 
who have used them, and in no one instance 
have I heard of a failure where soapsuds have 
been applied. I intend to try them over brocoli, 
to see if they will prevent them from clubbing. 
Others may do so likewise and make known the i 
results. Whether the alkali in the water has : 
prevented the enemy from destroying the roots, ! 
and given the roots more vigor to resist the at- ' 
■ tack, I do not know; but one thing is certain — 
where such matter has been applied, it has pro- 
duced the mosi beneficial results. I think cot- 
■ tagers mav take a lesson from this, and save 
that which would nourish their languishing 
crop, for it is a pity’ to see a pool of filthy water 
polluting the neighborhood with its stench, -ivhile 
within a few y'ards of it, the vegetables of a gar- 
den are dyfing of starvation. — Gardner’s Chron, 
I THE FARM. 
The farm is the home and the abiding place 
of the husbandman and his family. It is there 
■ all their social and domestic comforts and hap- 
I piness are sought and enjoyed. It is there they’ 
unite their sympaties, their properly and indivi- 
: dual efforts, in common stock. By the proper 
application of their mental and physical pow- 
ers, they’ can convert the farm into an earthly 
paradise. They’ can impart to it a neatness, 
, fertility' and rural beauty, which will endear it 
1 to them, above every other spot on the face of 
the earth, that they’ may emphatically call it 
“Home, sweet Home.” 
The farm which furnishes full scope for aU 
the mental and physical energies of the owner 
for a long time, will in some measure become 
the Hue index of his moral, intellectual and 
phy’sical character: the living epistle of his lite 
and labors, and in no department of the estab- 
, lishment do these traits oi character appear so 
' conspicuous and beautiful, as in that necessary’ 
^ appendage, the well cultivated garden. 
Horticulture is the perfection and refinement 
of agriculture in miniature. It was the first 
I employment which the Creator assigned to man, 
I while in a state of innocence. With a delight- 
ful climate, a rich and fertile soil, Eden no 
doubt abounded in fruits, vegetables and flow- 
ers, “inexhaustible in variety', beautiful in form, 
splendid in color,” delicious to the taste, charm- 
ing to the sight, and grateful to the smell — exci- 
ting the most pleasureable emotions in all the 
senses. For “there out of the ground the Lord 
God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to 
the sight, and good for food.” All these deli- 
cate and exquisite pieces of workmanship were 
planted by God to adorn and beautify’ the gar- 
den assigned to -A.dam and Eve for a home, du- 
ring their long sojourn on the earth; and were 
expressly’ calculated to produce in their minds 
the most exalted and sublime conceptions of the 
wisdom and goodness of their Creator. The 
structure, habits, character and usefulness of 
the vegetable world, the manner and means by 
which this wonderful combination of beauty 
and elegance are produced, afforded them a de- 
lightful subject for contemplation and study. — 
The simple process of fluid circulation, which 
by’ the influence of heat, light and moisture, 
gives all the variety’ of form, and size, and tint, 
and splendid dyes, that beautify and adorn the 
vegetable world. 
“Snch beauty and beneficence combined, 
Shade unperceived, so softening into shade, 
And all so forming an harmonious whole. 
That as they still succeed, they ravish stiff” 
The very name Eden signifies pleasure, and 
no doubt God selected it as the most delightful 
plat for a garden, for a home! on the face of the 
earth; so that Adam first opened his eyes upon 
a most exquisite assemi lage of beauty', in the 
variety of vegetables, fruits and flowers, in 
which he found himself enveloped. It was his 
home! A scene too fascinating, too tempting 
for frail humanity’ to withstand! It was to the 
garden, the sweet and sacred retirement of a 
rich and fertile garden, that the Savior of the 
world frequently resorted with his disciples, for 
solemn and devout meditations, and religious 
conversation and exercises. It was the only 
place in the immediate vicinity’ of Jerusalem, 
of which we know, that we find him familiarly 
frequenting as his home. It was there he went 
to contemplate the solemn hour of his sacrifice 
and suffering. It was there we find him giving 
utterance to his agonizing prayer in view of his 
approaching crucifixion. It xvas a spot which 
he had probably contributed to improve and 
