114 
THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
1843, in larojer’s language, I ridged up lifty 
acres of lime, or prairie land, part of which had 
been in cultivation lor fifteen years, the other 
part nine years. On the Ifitii of March, I plant- 
ed the corn five leet one way and three feet the 
other; at the same time I put into the hills one 
handtul of well-rotted cotton seed as manure. 
In consequence of the raw condition of the land, 
1 got a bad stand. Two stalks w'ere left in the 
hill. After the corn was fairly up, I plowed 
and hoed it over. I plow'ed the corn over (with 
what is common in Georgia, Turner plows,) four 
times, and each time the plow sunk very deep. 
But unfortunately lor the crop, and myself too, 
the first or breaking up plowing was done at a 
very dry time, and consequently it turned over 
in large clods, which never became pulverized 
the whole summer. This last is a very remark- 
able circumstance, but no less remarkable than 
true. The third time it was plowed, it was up 
to the shoulders ol a common-sized man : pre- 
vious to this plowing, the corn wms rather like- 
ly. But in two days after the third time the 
plow ran through it, close and deep, (for I 
thought there was nothingbetter than deep plow- 
ing,) it fired. [The last two words may appear 
very awkward to an editor — but, my word for it, 
the readers of the Cultivator will understand, by 
them, the exact meaning I wish to convey.] Du- 
ring this plowing, the weather was hot and dry, 
and continued so till the corn fired up to the tas- 
sel — and had there been any blades above the 
tassel, I have no doubt but they would have 
shared in the same fatal blast. It will be re- 
membered that it was the third plowing which 
produced this bad effect. This state of things 
brought me to a perfect stand still. Thinks I, 
to myself, what shall I do — my corn is fired all 
over? Is there no remedy 7 Ultimately 1 adopt- 
ed a vulgar and foolish conclusion, viz: “a 
piece of the same dog will cure his poison,” and 
1 gave it another, which made the' fourth deep 
plowing ! In all conscience, I soon found this 
was sufficient. I gathered about ten bushels of 
'wuhbins per acre — was not very particular about 
the measurement, for I have no fears that any of 
my brother farmers will be the least disposed to 
discredit my report, as they are all, to a man of 
them, convinced that this thing oinicely measur- 
ing nubbins, is by DO means a profitable or plea- 
sant job. 
This is an accurate and faithful description of 
the whole process; one, too, which experience 
teaches me will be certain to make a light crop of 
corn. I had planted the same land in corn lor a 
number of years previous; and, with a loose sys- 
tem of cultivation, common all over our coun- 
try, 1 made, in the general, about 20 bushels per 
acre. I attribute the failure of the crop to the 
following caufses : 
1st. From what I have seen, four times is too 
often to plow corn. 
2d. One, instead of two stalks, should have 
been left in the hill. 
3d. The subsoil of the land is a stiff clay in 
part, and a calcareous marl on another portion 
of the field, which requires the breaking up to be 
done during the winter, for reasons sufficiently 
obvious to any planter. 
4th. From the want of this early breaking 
and pulverizing, the perpendicular or straight 
roots were prevented extending down and seek- 
ing their due quantity of nourishment, and the 
horizontal or side roots were all torn, and so la- 
cerated by the close deep plowing, the two last 
times, that they were utterly incapable of per- 
forming their function — that is, of assimilating 
and carrying nourishment to the stalks. All of 
us know, when the doctor salivates us, what an 
awful situation our mouths are placed in — and 
precisely so it is when the toots (mouths) of a 
plant are torn and lacerated by bad cultivation. 
It is impossible to lake nourishment. 
* D. B. 
A lead mine has been discovered on the 
Ilinois shore of the Ohio river about 30 miles 
above the mouth of the Cumberland river. The 
ore is said to contain a larger quantity of silver 
lhan any lead ore yet mined in this country. 
For the Southein Cultiyator. 
HUMBUGS. 
The word humbug is of such frequent use, 
and so unreservedly bestowed upon every new 
enterprise oflate, that a definition becomes un- 
necessary, Any thing new, whether it be a 
principle in politics, service in religion, or in 
the form of a new variety of seed, is apt to be 
seized upon with interest, and looked upon ei- 
ther as promising liberty in its purest form, pie- 
ty without self-denial, or an abundant crop 
M'ithout labor. Thus, under a sort of romantic 
excitement, we recommend without caution, 
and promise without limit, until expectation is 
raised so high that it is impossible it should be 
realized when brought to the test of practical 
life. Those, therefore, who had been indulging 
in golden dreams, under the mortification of dis- 
appointment, denounce as a humbug what they 
once enthusiastically recommended. 
This is one reason why things, which are 
really useful, have been denounced as humbugs. 
Persons making the first experiments, speak too 
freely of qualities they merely know Irom hear- 
say, and promise too much not to disappoint : so 
that, in our anxiety to become well supplied, as 
soon as possible, with whatever promises so 
great a reward, we save every seed from our first 
crop — every pig from our first Berkshire, or eve- 
ry calf from our fine cow, without any releience 
to the maturity of the first, or strength of con- 
stitution, or symmetry of form in the two last. 
The consequence is, that the imperfect seed pro- 
duce imperfect plants, which impart their 
weakness to others, and the seed rapidly degene- 
rate : so that, about the third year, when we 
have a sufficiency for a full crop, we find it so 
much deteriorated that we pronounce it a hum- 
bug, throw it aside, and not unfrequently with 
the rash promise that we will, in future, have 
nothing to do with any “new-fangled notion;” 
which promise, however, is broken upon the 
first temptation. 
The same might be said of stock, with equal 
or greater propriety. The anxiety to get in 
stock as soon as possible, leads us to breed from 
every animal, however defective in form, until 
the whole perfection of the improvement is lost 
by impatience and avarice. This position may 
be illustrated by the Berkshires, which have be- 
come common, and are frequently pointed out 
as one of the humbugs of the day. 
But, as I set out wdth more direct reference to 
seeds, and especially wheat, I will not pursue 
this part of the subject. The time has arrived 
when farmers should be selecting their seed for 
the next crops: and as this is, ere long, to be a 
more important branch of Southern agriculture, 
it is time that we were paying more attention to 
the subject, especially in middle and upper 
Georgia. 1 have no doubt that if more care 
were taken in the selection of seed, together 
with greater care in preparation for the crop, and 
the seed sowed early, our wheat crop, which has 
hitherto been looked upon as the most uncertain, 
and promising the least return, would not only 
be as certain as any other crop, but probably 
the most profitable. 
Mr. Ellsworth, in his able and interesting re- 
port for 1843, under the head of “ Selection ol 
Proper Seed,” recommends that, in saving seed 
wheat, a large seive be used, which will allow 
five out of six bushels to pass through, and the 
remaining bushel only to be saved. Thus, the 
finest and most perfect grains are used, from 
which we may as reasonably expect a crop of 
a like kind, as we would look for a fine pig from 
a sow of fine parts. If this course were pursued 
with new varieties of seed, we would not so of- 
ten see the best kinds thrown aside as humbugs, 
but might expect a more rapid improvement in 
our agriculture. Walton. 
P. S. — I noticed in a number of the Cultivat- 
or, either of December or January last, a request 
that you would publish a simple mode of analys- 
ing soils; and, in your last, I see a short mode 
described. If you will hunt among your old 
files of the Georgia Journal, you will find a ve- 
rysimplemode atgreater length, published about 
April 21st, 1840. 
We have no file of the Journal, and should 
feel obliged to our correspondent for a copy of 
the analysis referred to.— Ed. S. Cult. 
For the Southern Cultivator. 
Mr. Editor— With much delight I see, in 
the last No. of the Southern Cultivator, that the 
subject of overseers is now undergoing a care- 
ful investigation. I have been long since of 
the opinion, that no subject, connected with the 
planting interest in the Southern States, needs a 
more careful review and radical change, lhan 
the loose and careless system ol overseeing eve- 
rywhere so prevalent. And what is still more 
strange to me, planters, otherwise w'ell inform- 
ed, operating, too, with a large capital, are an- 
nually employing men for overseers, who have 
no more scientific skill in the business of suc- 
cessful husbandry, than they have in directing a 
ship right in a whirlwind. Nay, more; perhaps 
one halt of these submit the whole process en- 
tirely and exclusively to the care and manage- 
ment of these tyros ! This is the great reason 
why the sound of indebtedness is heard to grate 
so heavily upon the ears of so many planters. 
Some are engaged in the discharge of the ardu- 
ous duties of a profession, while others, perhaps, 
are promenading the pleasant walks or batteries 
of Saratoga, Limestone Springs, etc. 
Why, Mr. Editor, these gentlemen have cer- 
tainly, like “Old Rip Van Winkle,” slumbered 
long enough. Upon what reasonable founda- 
tion can they build a hope of seeing, upon their 
return to the plantation, green pastures, and 
fields laden with the riches of the earth! I am 
but a novice in the art myself; but I can prove 
my position correct when 1 state that it is a pro- 
blem of no easy solution, to adapt the different 
manures in our reach to the many and various 
soils in the Southern States, with the best mode 
of preparing the land, time of planting, tools 
best adapted to the whole process of culture, &c. 5 
and again, the most economical mode of feeding 
and raising the farm stock. I hope the ball on 
this subject is started, and the wise heads of our 
citizens will handle it with “ naked hands,” ex- 
pose error, and set us right upon such a momen- 
tous subject. D. B. 
The Bull and Locomotive. — The daring cha- 
racter of an infuriated bull is w^ell known and 
attested in many singular encounters. A bull 
near Gray’s Ferry on the Schuylkill, was fre- 
quently annoyed by the noise and fiery appear- 
ance of the locomotive and train, which daily 
passed his grazing ground. At length he de- 
termined to take the matter in hand. So wait- 
ing the appearance of the locomotive, which 
came hissing along the road at full speed, the 
bull gathered himself up lor the rencounter, made 
a fearful dash, full tilt, with his horns at the en- 
gine. The concussion threw the whole train off 
the track on Sunday, June 7, delaying the arri- 
val several hours beyond the time. The poor 
bull, of course met with Yds quietus very sudden- 
ly — having been cruelly mangled and killed at 
the very onset. 
|:^A remarkable fact is stated of the chick- 
ens hatched by the machine in New York, that 
they are several ounces heavier than the egg was 
at first. Is this the case with all chickens 7 
