THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
183 
Cullivator, the papers .nt Mil'edgeviJle, and ihe 
Sandersville Tele.scope. 
In aii which you wil! perceive that we are 
still persevering, and mean to continue in the 
great cause of improving our minds, our crops, 
and our stock, a.id producing whatever we can, 
that we may, as far as possible, become the ex- 
porters of the necessaries o' life, and not the 
importers as we now are. 
Tuttle H. Acdas, Sec’y. 
Eden', Effingham gounta', ) 
October 17, bS-iS. J 
Messrs. Jjncs — Much has been said upon the 
subject of plowing in green crops fur manure> 
and as 1 place much more confidence in actual 
experiments in the field tl.an in theory, I have 
made some for my own satisfaction, and as they 
may be useful to others, I give them to you to 
be disposed of as yon please. 
My experiments were made on level, sandy, 
pine land, Y'hich, when fresh, did not produce 
more than twelve bushels of corn per acre, and 
when last planted did not produce more than 
six or seven, and had not been planted for three 
t'ears, but had been used as a calf pasture, and 
had become partially set with broom sedge. — 
Most of this field 1 planted about the first of 
July last year, in peas, which, owing to the po- 
verty of the laad and a dry season, di i not grow 
well, but were suffered to maturs and were eat- 
en off by hogs. From this I staked off one acre 
for my experiment, which I will call No, 1. — 
Adjoining this acre I staked ofi another, which 
was not planted in peas, and was not plowed up 
tmtil after it was planted this spring, say No. 2. 
Adjoining this I staked off another acre and 
sowed it in cow peas, broadcast, about the i5th 
of July. They came up and grew well, for 
such land, and about the last of September, 
when the peas were in full bearing, and .some of 
the leaves began to fade, I had them plowed in — 
this is No. 3. A.djoining this I had another 
acre plowed up at the time I planted No. 3, 
turning in the weeds, grass and broom-sedge — 
this we will call No. 4; and adjoining this again, 
I had another acre plowed in November, alter 
the frost had killed the weeds, &c. — this is No. 5. 
All this field was planted this spring ia corn, 
and cultivated exactly alike. I have just gath- 
ered it and -here is the result: 
No, 1. Planted in peas and eaten 
off by hogs, gave 11 j bushels. 
No. 2. Remained unbroken until 
planted “ 
No. 3. Planted in peas and plowed 
in lOj » 
No. 4. Plowed about the 15th July. 8^^ “ 
No. 5. Plowed in November. . . 9 “ 
From which it will be seen that the aens plant- 
ed in peas and eaten off by hogs, gave the 
greatest yield, and the acre not plowed until af- 
ter it was planted this spring, the smallest. — 
This last I do not believe would have been the 
case if the land had not been rested more thaiji 
one or two years; for I believe that when our 
land gets set with bjoom-sedge it ceases to im- 
prove, and the dry broom-sedge plowed in, in 
the spring, decays so late as to be of no service 
to the crop. The piece plowed in July is the 
next lowest. This, I think will be of great ser. 
vice to me, as I have been in the habit as soon 
as I finish plowing my crop, to commence 
breaking up my land for the next crop, believing 
t,hat turning in the weeds &c., in a green statei 
would improve the land, but [ am now convinc- 
ed that turning up and e,xposing the land to the 
sun, at this hot season of the year, does it more 
injury than the weeds turned in does it good; and 
besides it is harder on my mules and plow 
hands than any other plowing they have to do. 
The system ot planting peas for stock, I am 
glad to find, is best for the laud, as it not only 
improves the land, but gives us a crop ol peas 
for our labor. 
I may, at a future day, give you my method 
of planting peas, as it may be of service to 
young planters. 
Very respectfully, yours, 
C. Powers. 
The fattest oxen at the New York State Ag- 
ricultural Fair were exhibited by Jeremiah 
Brown, of Orleans county. There were three 
of them, weighing severally 3200, 3800 and 4000 
pounds. 
We regret to learn by the following from the 
Columbia (S'. C.) Plaider^ of the 25th ultimo, 
that the proprietors of that paper have been eom- 
peled to discontinue its publication: 
It is with regret that we announce that this Pa- 
per hasso far failed to obtain the patronage which 
we were encouraged to expectwhen commencing 
it, that we cannot afford to continue it, on its pre- 
sent footing. We therefore suspend its publica- 
tion until the meeting of the State Agricultural 
Societ)^, when an effort will be made to raise it to | 
a better condition. Should that eftbrt succeed, it I 
will be immediately resumed — otherwise, the | 
money that has been paid for subscription beyond | 
the present lime will be returned, | 
The National Intelligencer has the following j 
description of a simple invention by Dr. Mc- 
Williams, of ikateity, for gathering fruih 
The “Fruit Gatherer” is an instrument de- 
signed and well adapted fur plucking fruit Irom 
the tree where it cannot be reached by the hand. 
The fruit is gathered from all the branches with- 
out the slightest injury to either the tree or fruit, 
and in the most delicate manner. It plucks oft 
all sizes of fruit, from a cherry to the largest ap- 
ple. It IS easy of construction or repair, and 
the expense trifling. A lady or gentleman in 
their garden or orchard, standing on the ground, 
may select such fruit as is wished and obtain it \ 
without disturbing that adjacent. This instru- 
ment aceompiisbes perfectly what has frequently 
been attempted both in Euroj'e and this countrj’^ 
in vain. 
Fall and Winter Plowing — As occasion 
may offer through the fall and winter, plow up 
your stiff clayey grounds, which may be destin- 
ed for spring crops, Eih be sure never to plow 
when the land is wet, as when turaed up in a 
state of mortar, it will so remain during the en- 
suing season, and probably will receive no ben- 
efit from the breaking down influence of freez- 
ing and thawing. If you desire to derive the 
melioration contemplated, your ground must be 
in a good condition when plowed. Besides the 
improvement of texture in the soil derived by 
fait and winter plowing, much time, which is 
always precious in the spring, may be thereby 
gained at that season of business, but even this 
latter advantage will be lost to the farmer, or 
planter, unless he see that his ground is in a pro- 
per condition when plowed, — Amer, Farmer, 
In Mr. Webster’s Rochester speech occuLS 
the following beautiful thought, as beautifully 
expressed ; 
“Gentlemen, every body knows that the foun- 
dation of all that is important in human life, 
lies this great business — the cultivation of the 
earth. If it were for his sins that man v,'as cem- 
demned to till the land, it was the most inercifui 
judgment that Almighty benignity could have 
inflicted upon him!” 
Fiom the Southern Planter. 
IMPROVING OLD LANDS. 
Mr. Fjdilor — At the request of a friend, I 
wrote to Dr. R. D. Palmer, desiring him to com- 
municate any knowledge which he had derived 
from experience as to the best moae ol imuiov- 
ing our old lands. 1 send you for publicaiion 
what he says on the subject, as he gave me per- 
mission to do so if I thought any one mi.vhi be 
benefited by it. It is evident tha; we shall have 
to re-sort to this or .some other mode for restoring 
our worn-out lands. From my own expei ience 
and observation, I feel no hesitation in saving, 
that I believe the Doctor’s plan to be the most 
practical and economical I have seen susrges'ed. 
J. Morton. 
Spring Grove, Campbell, Aug. 11, 1843. 
In 1827, I settled on a farm of 560 acres, in 
the lower end of Campbell county, in the most 
exhausted condition of any, perhaps, in the State 
of Virginia. It had been under the very worst 
system of management from the time of its set- 
tlement in 1755. The soil being red, its aspect 
generally was more that of a gully-side than 
any thing else. Hundreds of gullies were e ver}'- 
where to be seen, some from forty to fifty feet 
wide, and as deep as a common house-top. The 
previous occupant had annually expended from 
one to two hundred dollars for corn. An intel- 
ligent lady remarked to me that “the land wms 
so thin that we would have to double it.” 
From this appalling picture the question will 
naturally arise, “why did you purchase?” The 
answer is, that “I thought it a suitable stand for 
the practice of medicine, and that from seme 
eighty or ninety acres of creek bottoms I should 
be able to draw a support until the exhausted 
land could be reclaimed.” 
At first I divided the farm into four equal 
shifts, and cultivated in corn, followed by wheat, 
where the land was thought to be good enough 
to produce it, and where not, ia oats or rj^e. In 
consequence af the great poverty of the soil, 
rye was generally preferred, as oats would not 
grow high enough to be cut. My aim, from the 
first, was to clover and plaster all of the land in 
small grain; but, from the paucity of my means, 
much could act be done in that way for several 
years. Experience soon taught me that one- 
fourth of my land would not produce enough to 
support my family of ten or twelve in number; 
and that the better way would be to resort to 
a ring-fence, and cultivate the fiat land and such 
places as required cleaning up, while I was ma- 
nuring the thinner parts of the farm. My aim 
has ever been to raise as much manure as I pos- 
sibly could, without neglecting other necessaiy' 
things; and always to haul out in the spring. 
The principal resources have been from corn- 
stalks, leaves, straw, &c. When put in the sta- 
bles and farm-pens they afford comfortable beds 
to the horses, cattle, &c., while, at the same 
time, they absorb and retain the liquid manure, 
which otherwise would be lost. 
The present condition of my farm will tell 
whether my efforts have been in vain. 
I should not neglect to say, that as soon as all 
of my galled land got in a condition to bring 
grass, I again divided ray farm into five, instead 
of four shifts; and that now we fallow one, so 
as to have, annually, one in corn and two in 
small grain. 
1 made no tobacco until my fields ever}" where, 
through the assistance of manure, clover, plan- 
ter, &c., had taken on a rich mantle of green. 
The first object of the farmer, in reclaiming 
