THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
37 
8. The cast iron plow is to be preferred to 
all others, and for one reason alone. It is the 
most economical plow that can be obtained. I 
have in use, and am pleased with Hay’s cast 
iron Rounder. When made bright, it works 
well and is altogether a superb plow. I want 
no better plow in stubble than it is, though it 
is not as good a plow as the Rounder, made 
by Rounder, of New Castle, altogether of 
wrought iron. I have one of his make: it is 
the best plow 1 ever saw in a stubble field. — 
Sloop’s improved Peacock plow does excel- 
lent work in either sod or stubble. Cromwell’s 
plow works well in both. The Carey is an 
inferior plow, and its use should be abandon- 
ed. 
9. As to the time of planting, as a general 
principle, early planting is best. Most com- 
monly, from the 1st to the 15th of April, is the 
most suitable period ; but in this, it is to be con- 
sidered that enough ol warmth must be in the 
earth to cause the grain to germinate, on the one 
hand, and on the other, that if possible, the crop 
must be so lar advanced as not to be injured by 
the drought of summer. In planting, I use a 
machine, and I cannot operate with it unless the 
ground is deeply plowed and thoroughly pul- 
verized. It opens the furrow, drops and covers 
the seed, and rolls the ground by the same ope- 
ration. With one horse, a man can, with this 
machine, plant eight acres in a day. It drops 
from lour to seven grains in a place, and these 
places may be made at any distance apart, from 
two to four feet. In strong land, I plant lour 
feet one way, and two and one half the other, 
leaving three stalks in a place. In weaker soils, 
I plant, ol course, wider each way, and leave 
lewer stalks to a hill. The distance ol the hills 
apart, and the number of stalks in a hill, should 
be regulated by the capacity of the soil. Lands, 
however, which will not grow two stalks in a 
hill four leet by' three, ought to be put down to 
grass as unfit for corn. I never replant. Corn, 
planted by this machine, is not apt to be wash- 
ed up by a heavy rain : it starts at its first 
growth from a surface level with the field sur- 
face, and at the first plowing can be approach- 
ed nearer than when planted in the usual way. 
It can, however, be cultivated in one direction 
only. When this rnachine is not used in plant- 
ing, the field must be checkered at the proper 
distances, and this should be regulated hy the 
capacity of the soil. In laying off the rows the 
first way, let it be done with a two horse plow, 
and the furrow be made very deep ; let it be 
crossed with a light single horse plow, that 
will make a furrow only half as deep. This 
will give a good bed of light earth at the inter- 
section of the rows. The person w'ho drops 
must be the most careful laborer in the field, and 
he must drop in the line of the rows which were 
laid off the first way. The seed may be cover- 
ed with hoe, harrow or plow. The Bull- 
longue or the single horse Dudley plow, will 
either of them do this work better and more 
rapidly than it can be done with the hoe. 
10. In cultivation, I use these implements — 
the harrow, hand rake, hoe, plow and cultiva- 
tor. They are all essential. When planted 
with the machine, as it can be cultivated in one 
direction only, the whole operation has to be 
done skilfully and at the proper season. If 
done right, the labor is comparatively small, 
and to accomplish this, it must be taken in time, 
managed with care, particularly in the com- 
mencement of the work. A deep furrow is to 
be run first between each row. This I do at the 
time I plant ; and these furrows form a guide for 
the machiiie, and thus straight rows are obtain- 
ed, which otherwise could not be by the ma- 
chine. When the plants show themselves an 
inch or two above the surface, the two horse 
harrow is to be passed over each row, and this 
to be followed by a careful hand with a light- 
rake, made with four iron teeth on one side and 
a small scraper on the other. He must uncover 
and raise up the prostrate plants, draw the clods 
from the hills, and throw, when it is necessary, 
a little loose earth among the plants. The next 
operation, w'hich is to be done wdtli the single 
horse plow and the hoe, is the most important 
of the whole series. I use the shovel plow. 
The plowman must exercise great caution ; 
he must approach as near the plant as possible ; 
he must keep constantly moving, but slowly 
and carefully', and must stop when his plow 
covers a hill and uncover it. He must plow 
deep. He must be followed hy the hoe. The 
hoeman must thin the corn to the proper number 
of stalks, remove all obstacles, cut away weeds, 
cover all grass, and throw, when required, loose 
earth around the plants. If the labor is done 
w'ell tJ this point and in good time, the after 
cultivation is easy. The grand object to be ob- 
tained, is to get a good stand, a loose bed of 
earth for the corn roots to occupy, and to have 
the hills free from weeds and grass. This be- 
ing done, the cultivator is next introduced, by 
which the ground is levelled and weeds destroy- 
ed. Then if the roots of the corn have not ex- 
tended too far, which will not be probable, the 
shovel plow is to be used, and as much earth 
is to be thrown with it upon the corn, as will 
coverall intermediate spaces. After this, the 
whole work is to be done with the cultivator, 
and two or three successive workings with it 
will be sufficient. I use the cultivator in after 
cultivation because it breaks no roots, and 
leaves the surface level, or as near so as is ne- 
cessary. The roots of corn must not be broken, 
nor should any labor be done to the crop after 
the stalks begin to joint. I have seen fields of 
corn injured by firing, but I am, from close ob- 
servation, satisfied that this never happens, un- 
less the roots of the corn are injured in one or 
two ways, either by being broken up with the 
plow, and thus exposed to the scorching heat 
of the sun, or by being bound tiglit in a hard 
baked soil from the want of work at the proper 
time. This series may, however, be interrupt- 
ed by what frequently happens, a season of rainy 
weather. If so, a sound discretion is to be ex- 
ercised, but nothing is to be done, wdien the soil 
sticks to the hoe or plough in the mud— it is 
better to wait and make war upon the weeds af- 
terwaids, when the soil is light and friable. In 
this entire process, some things are of the ut- 
most importance, and these I repeat, that they 
may be noted. The plants must get a good 
stand : from the start they must be kept free 
from weeds; the roots must have a loo'-e bed of 
earth to occupy, and no form of cultivation is 
to be followed which interrupts the roots in 
their growth by breaking them, and by exposing 
them broken to the heat of the sun, 
(To be continued.) 
From the New England Farmer. 
THE ADVANTAGE OF SCIENCE TO AGRICUL- 
TURE. 
Mr. Breck; — I recollect seeing in a recent 
number of your well-conducted journal, an arti- 
cle commenting on an extract from one qf the 
agricultural papers, in which the writer treated 
in a spirit ol ridicule the idea of any advantage 
accruing to agriculture through the agency of 
“ammonia, alkali,” &c. 
It is strange, passing strange, to me, that men 
of apparent intelligence should be disposed rath- 
er to tickle the prejudice and bigotry ol the illit- 
erate, than to commend and encourage the en- 
lightened efforts of those whose researches have 
resulted in devolving such important improve- 
ments — or truths which are the elements of im- 
provements — as those which have been brought 
to bear so successfully upon agriculture within 
the space of the last quarter of a century. I say 
it is strange that such should be the fact, yet ti 
is not uncommon. There are those among us 
— writers for the public press, too — who, as soon 
as a principle or deduction of science is recom- 
mended to the farmer for test, to see if it may 
not be of benefit to him in some particular case, 
are ready to prejudice him against it by the cry 
of “ moonshine” or “humbug.” 
I frankly confess I have no charity for such 
persons. If they are sincere in their detraction, 
, it is their ignoranfie which prqrnpts it— gnd ar- 
rogant ignorance deserves no charity : — if 'hey 
are nob sincere, and think different from what 
they say, then they are hypocrites, and of the 
worst kind, too, for they serve as false lights 
that may lead others astray. If, however, in 
most cases, these persons had ability honesty 
in the proportion that they have arrogance and 
bigotry, they might commend what they now de- 
nounce ; — but, happily for the cause of agricul- 
tural improvement, the influence of such indi- 
viduals can constitute no very serious impedi- 
ment to its progress — for, what is truth, will 
itself so, and must ultimately triumph. 
I have been led to these remarks, Mr. Editor, 
by a fact recorded in your last paper, which 
seems to me forcibly to illustrate the advantage 
which may yet be derived from the application 
of science to agriculture. I allude to the state- 
ment in the article headed “Skilful Agriculture 
and Horticulture,” that Mr. Pell, of Ulster coun- 
ty, N. Y., had, by the application of charcoal 
to his land, raised upwards oi seventy-eight bush-, 
els of wheat to the acre — a crop, I believe, unpre-? 
cedented in this country. It is stated upon good 
authority, that the wheat-growers of France 
have succeeded in doubling the product of w'heat 
in that kingdom within the last ten years, chiefly 
through the agency of charcoal. 
Now', who discovered the value of this impor- 
tant agent in effecting such results '] Was it 
the conception of any of that class just alluded 
to, who distrust science because its application 
to agriculture is new, or who ridicule it out of 
pure ignorance and bigotry, or to cater for the 
gratification ofdeep-rooted prejudice and sapient 
self-conceit? Was it the discovery of any of 
the family of Know-enoughs — the frothy declaim- 
ers against “ book-farming,” who are satisfied 
w'ith knowing as much as their fathers knew, 
and glory in knowing no more 7 No — no. Ag- 
riculture is indebted to Science for this important 
discovery. It w'as the suggestion of French 
chemists that led the wheat-grow'ers of France 
to adopt the use of charcoal on their fields — and 
the acquaintance with this fact and the theory, 
no doubt, that led Mr. Pell, also, to use it for 
the same purpose, and w'ith such signal success. 
To whom are we indebted for the great ad- 
vantage which has accrued to our farmers from 
the knowledge of a remedy for sour soils, and of 
the valuable properties of lime as an amend- 
ment to various grounds? Do we owe these 
discoveries to any of those boastful “ practical 
men,” who sneer at science and the learning of 
books? No : — this, too. is to be charged to the 
credit of science. 
Such facts as these — these alone, indeed — are 
sufficient to confound with shame the shallow 
detractors of science as an aid to the farmer — and 
until they can originate discoveries by their 
boasted “ practical experience,” as important as 
these, they will better act the part of wisdom in 
holding their speech, than in betraying their 
stupidity in senseless slurs at that w'hich is above 
their comprehension or too exal ed to. suit their 
grovelling inclinations. 
Very truly, yours, D. 
Experiments in raising PoTATOE3.---Par? 
mers who are fond of experiments, can try the 
follow'ing, in the matter of raising potatoes, 
without much trouble or expense : Mr. Elisha 
Williams, of Argyle, Penobscot county, Maine, 
took a small quantity of potatoes last spring, 
and divided each potatoe into four equal parts, 
planting the butt ends, the seed end, and the two 
centre pieces separate, and the produce was, 
from the butt ends, 40 lbs. ; from the seed ends, 
60 lbs. ; and from the centre pieces both together 
160 lbs. — showing the superiority of the centre 
pieces by 58 pounds, in the quantity planted. 
Oneida Whig. 
To Select a Good Husband. — Let the 
man of your choice be one who is punctual in 
his promises, and is industrious, sober and fru- 
gal. He should not smoke cigars, read “fash- 
ionable” books, or visit balls and theatres. Let 
hint be dignified and have common sense, and 
all is well. 
Tenn, Agriadturiiit, 
