THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
75 
mauer added to the lime. It is said that green | 
must not be put in, as lime willdestro}’ the color, I 
and the wash will crack and peel off. The above 1 
preparation is cheaper than paint and more dura- j 
ble than the adulterated white lead which is | 
manufactured in this country. Its brilliancy | 
will of course depend upon the purity of the in- i 
gredients used. A Subscriber. i 
For ihe Southern Cultivator. j 
Minerva, Geo., April 23d, 1S44. i 
Mr. Editor — In the last No. of the Southern j 
Cultivator, I see some very stringent remarks | 
byyouiself upon the great want of patronage j 
•to the work. Your animadversions are season- 1 
able and correct, and no doubt flow from a pure 
and honest desire to benefit the deplorable con- 
dition of the cultivators of the soil. 1 am one 
of this class of men : but, from an intimate and 
somewhat lengthy acquaintance with this class 
of my countrj’men, I am by no means startled 
at the meagre list of your subscribers. 
The history of our country furnishes ample 
testimony of the united and laudable efforts of 
mechanics, manufacturers, and gentlemen ol 
the learned professions, the object of which is to 
benefit muiualiy the whole body. The great 
benefits they have sought, and obtained, by unit- 
ing themselves into well organized bodies, are j 
too conspicuous for any comment. Many ad- | 
vantages have been derived from the united ef- ! 
forts of each member of the body of society. In i 
these associations, each member throws his lit- ! 
tie mite into the general fund of knowledge, j 
But who ever heard, (till late,) of a wellorgani- j 
zed society of planters in the South'? The sub- j 
ject with us is yet in embryo: deep-rooted pre- I 
Judiees, and long standing habits, to follow in i 
the old beaten track of our forefathers, will re- i 
quire time, patience, and much perseverance, j 
to overcome. As a public journalist, I fear you j 
will “become weary in well doing” too soon | 
for our good. But permit me to say, press on; i 
ihe prize is ahead. Many fields in Houston 
county, the place of my residence, for years past ] 
have been much eshausted ; and, although con- j 
liguous to large beds, and deposites of the rich- I 
est calcareous marl iu nature, (with a few ! 
single exceptions,) no planter has yet availed i 
himself of the advantage of applying this suh^ 
stance, and wonderful fertilizer of the soil, to 
his fields, while it lies literally at the door. 
These beds of marl, by some powerful con- 
vulsions of nature, are placed in detached por- 
fions or spots, from near the Ocmulgee river to 
ihe Flint, and jare in sugcient abundance to sup- 
ply the whole State of Georgia with an article 
of manure, whose value can, in reality, only be ' 
properly appreciated by those alone who make 
ihe proper application. 
These deposits of marl are discoverable im- 
mediately under the surface soil, and extend to 
gn unknown depth,. From some trials, made 
by the sinking of a lew wells on, and near my 
lands, to the depth of twent}' feet below ihe sur- 
face, there is but little appreciable difference in 
appearance of the marl. 
The transitive lime-rock, ofsuperior richness, 
always abounds in the neighborhood of these 
deposits. A few kilns of these rock have been 
put up and burned into the best quality of lime. 
either for building or the j.urposesof manuring. , 
I have never been able to test the strength of 
these marls chemically, from the want of appa- j 
ratus; neither do 1 know of its having been ; 
done by any chemist or geologist. But I am ^ 
satisfied it is a far superior article to the marl cf 
which Mr, Ruffin speaks in such high terms of 
respect, and which he found on the Santee and 
Cooper rivers, in South Carolina. I have been 
long acquainted with those specimens of marl, 
spoken of by Air. Rutfin, on the Santee, and I 
am confident the marl in Houston is far supe- 
rior; and, in addition to the superiority in 
strength, the application is much more easy: 
for the marl in Houston is found pulverized in 
nature, while much of the other is in the stateo' ; 
friable rock, which requires some labor to pound | 
it before it is ready to be applied to the field. 
You will now’ perceive that the same spirit of 
opposition to improvement in agriculture, which 
prevents planters from enhancing the value of j 
their fields from one to five hundred per centum, j 
while all the materials lie at the door, prevents j 
them from taking your very useful paper, de- | 
voted to agriculture. I 
I 
Yours, respectfully, 
D. Bradwell. I 
SELECTION OF SEED. j 
We are indebted to a much es'eemed corres- ! 
i 
pondent, for the following suggestions in refer- 1 
ence to the selection of seed, which reached us i 
just as we are going to press. We commend • 
his views to the reader’s attention, and beg leave i 
to assure the writer that, so far from his letters ' 
.ever bec-sming tedious," the only complaint I 
we have to make against him, togeihex with 1 
several other zealous friends of our work, is, j 
that we do not hear frem them half as often as I 
we desire, j 
“The perusal of Mr. Williams’ prize essay, ; 
on the cultivation of Indian corn, afforded me i 
much pleasure, and I hope some profit. He is \ 
wrong in one place : he throws away the best 1 
part ol the seed. He says, ‘ The grains must | 
then be taken from each end of the ear, and those 
of the middle used for seed.’ The heaviest and 
best matured grains of corn on an ear, (and of 
course the best seed,) are those immediately at | 
the large end, nearest Ihe stalk. The correct | 
plan, then, is to plant abest half the grains on | 
an ear of corn, beginning at the large end. The ; 
grains on the large end are sometimes disfigured j 
by the pre,ssure of the shuck w’hile growing, i 
which has probably led to the common practice j 
of rejecting ihai part for seed ; but the grains on | 
the large end axe the best seed, come up better | 
and bolder when planted, and grow off faster, j 
than from any other part of the ear. I have, j 
(some years ago,) tried grains from every pan j 
of the ear, by planting them and watching the ' 
result. And the seed, from the large end of an j 
ear of corn, will make roasting ears at least a ; 
week sooner than the grains from the small j 
end. ! 
The seed of the watermelon nearest the stem j 
will produce ripe melons sooner than the seed i 
taken from the blossom end. That! have tried, j 
I have also observed, that the lowest grains of | 
wheat, those nearest the stalk, on a head, are j 
the fullest and best matured. An improvement I 
might probably be made in seed wheat, by se- j 
lecting those grains and sowing them. Tne 
suggestion is made for tho.se who like to try 
such experiments. The same selection of seed 
might be tried on many other articles. No 
doubt other persons may have observed the 
same facts here stated; I mention them lor the 
benefit of young farmers, who may begin in 
time to watch the most minute operations ol na- 
ture; lor they oiten lead to mij oiiani piaciu-al 
and profitable results. For ‘ there are more 
things in earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in 
your philosophy.’” 
CO'l'TON PREMIL'MS. 
Our leaders will recollect that in a preyious 
number we made some extracts from a letter of 
Col. A. McDonald, of Barbour county, Alaba- 
ma; in which he referred to the importance of 
bestowing proper attention to the preparation of 
Cotton for market, and alluded to his own prac- 
tice and experience upon this sulject. As an 
eyidence of his success, and to show to our read- 
ers Low richly a little attention to this matter is 
rewarded, we take great pleasure in tran.sferring 
to our columns the annexed paragraph and let- 
ter, which we clip from the “ Eufaula (Ala.) 
Shield," and beg leave to commend it to the at- 
tention ofevery cotton planter. 
Cotton Premiums. — By the following letter, 
the reader will learn the disposition that has 
been made ol the Premiums, orleied by the 
Chamber of Commerce of Apalachicola, for the 
best Cottons sold in that market the past season 
— the farmer will also learn the great advantage 
of turning his attention to the^RcZi/y rather than 
the quantUy, when we inform him that Col. Mc- 
Donald received 10^ cents for the very cotton 
upon which the premium of a fine silver Tea 
Set, has been awarded ; 
Apalachicola, April 2Tth, 1844. 
Col. a. McDonald ; 
Dear Sir — We have the satistacticn of in- 
forming you that the Chamber of Commerce 
met on last evening, and awarded to your 20 
bales, the Tea Set, as a premium for the best 
lot of 20 bales sold in this market this season. 
Yours was pronounced decidedly superior to 
any lot offered for any of the premiums : it w’as 
classed fine, no other lot classed good fair. 
Owing to some difficulty in making up the 
amount necessary to purchase the premiums, 
they have not yet been purchased; but the 
amount is now raised, and the Committee will 
send on in a short time, and make die purchas- 
es. 
Captain Thornton’s 50 balestooka premium, 
and Mr. Tyson’s 10 bales. No lot offered for 
the 100 bale premium. 
Yours truly, 
McKay & Hartshorn, 
From tie American Farmer. 
A GOOD PLAN OF MAKING MANURE. 
A writer in ihe Southern Planter recommends 
the following plan of making manure, of which 
we highly approve ; 
“ Have a pit thirty or forty feel square and 2 
or 3 feet deep, with a good bank around it, — In 
this pit, let the materials, viz: oak leaves, pine 
tags, earth, &c., be put in suitable layers; on 
which throw all the slop water, soap-suds, yard 
sweepings, as ley, contents of chambers, and in 
short c’/ery thing that can be conveniently got 
together. It may be at any convenient distance 
from the kitchen, so that the slop- water, soap- 
suds, &c., may be conducted to it by a trough. 
Be sure that no water gets into it in any other 
way. It at any time, it should become offen- 
sive, start your teams immedia'ely and cover it 
over with sand or earth sufficient to prevent the 
escape of any effluvia.” 
We say we approve of this plan of making 
manure; but we think it might be improved by 
sowing plaster over each layer of thr* materials 
of which it is composed, and occasionally, say 
at intervals of two or three weeks, sowing it 
over the surface, by which means all unpleasant 
smells would be avoided, and the enriching 
gases saved to fatten the land. Any pit w hich 
may be made for the purpose, should be protect- 
ed from the weather. 
