THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 147 
being equal, the poorer he becomes; because, 
instead of nourishin? and supplying the waste 
in the system, the elements of the food escape 
in a larger ratio from the assimilating organs. 
The lood of animals consists essentially ol car- 
bon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. The first 
escapes through the lungs, the second and third 
escapes in vapor, perspiration and urine, and the 
last (nitrogen) also escapes by the kidneys. 
Hence, a cow, when driven twelve miles a day, 
never gives as much milk as she does when 
consuming the same amount of lood and re- 
maining quiet in a pasture or stall. It is an ea- 
sy matter to enlarge or diminish the size of the 
blood-vessels that convey the elements of milk 
to the lacteal gland ot the cow, or the ve.ssel.s 
that convey the elements of wool to the capilla- 
ry organs of the sheep. It is not difficult to in- 
crease both the size and strength of the muscles 
of a colt, or of a young bullock. Like the en- 
largement of the muscles in the arm ol a black- 
smith, judicious exercise must come to the aid 
of judicious keep. D. Lee, 
Albany, April 30, 1844. 
From ihe Southern Agriculturist. 
EXPERIMENTS WITH MARL. 
We are very happy in hearing, that many^ 
planters in various parts ol the middle and lower 
districts of our State, are seriously marling their 
highland crops, in the cultivation of corn, cot- 
ton and peas. The number of acres marled by 
each, is no accurate test of the zeal, laith and 
industry ol the planter — his relative ability to 
plant more or less — the facility of procuring his 
mail, and of carting it to his fields — with a va- 
riety of minor considerations; all have great 
weight in our estimate of his enterprise. 
In the last April report, published by the Agri- 
cultural Society ol Black Oak, in St. John’s Pa- 
rish — a section of the State abounding more 
with marl than almost any other— they state that 
upwards of 1,200 acres are under cultivation, 
having been marled in the preceding year. Ol 
these, they state the number of acres marled on 
twenty-five of the plantations, amounting to 
1,113 acres. This report is entitled to the ut- 
most confidence, it being from a Committee of 
Inspection, in which are some of the most prac- 
tical, liberal and enlightened planters in the 
State. They evidently discriminate, not giving 
the names, but declining to publish the experi. 
ments of some, who, from want of information 
or other cause, are not conducting these experi- 
ments properlv. They have excluded 100 acres 
of marled land, probably on this account, and 
others may have escaped their notice altogether. 
They appear, also, to have excluded all who 
applied the marl this year to the present crop, 
because it could not have had a sufficient time 
to become incorporated properly with the soil. 
We have heard of some persons, and in that 
neighborhood, also, who say that they are marl- 
ing their fields, and only apply from ten to twen- 
ty bushels per acre. This may proceed from 
want of information on the subject of marling: 
it probably will, by its total failure, misleadand 
discourage them, and such of their acquaintan- 
ces as are equally ignorant of its inadequacy. 
We suggest that the Agricultural Societies 
should warn all wfithin their influence, of the 
certainty that such experiments will fail, and is- 
sue handbills showing the proportions of mail 
to different descriptions ofland, and to the quan- 
tity of vegetable matter and of animal manure, 
that it may have to act upon — reducing them to 
the best state for nourishing the crops. 
One gentleman, well informed in other re- 
spects, said that he was about to procure a boat- 
load of marl for his field this last spring ; on 
being asked how he intended to use if, he said, 
that he would try it fairly, and put at least a 
double handful of marl to each corn hill. If he 
did this, he probably lost his crop, and would 
blame the marl for it, instead of blaming his own 
inexperience. 
Every planter in the middle and low country, 
should put into his overseer’s hands a piraphlet, 
teaching the advantages of marl, and the best 
mode and proportions in using it; insisting that 
the addition of vegetable matter is indispensable I 
to the beneficial use of marl and other stimulat- 
ing manures. A. i 
1 
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF S. CAROLINA. | 
REPORT OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE, 
The Standing Committee of this Society, on 
the expenses incurred on Produce of the State, 
w'ould beg leave to submit statements relative 
to the sums expended on domestic imports : 
They do not wish to touch on any speculative 
doctrine of political economy, involving the ne- 
cessity of mutual exchanges for reciprocal ad- 
vantage, but propose to show in what articles 
our money .s expended, and whether any balance 
remains. The Committee leave it to the good 
sense of the Society, and the community in gen- 
eral, to determine, how far many of these ex- 
penditures are inevitable, or whether they may 
be moderated for the good of the Slate. In the 
extended trade between the North and the South, 
it is very difficult to ascertain the accurate 
amount of what we buy, and the statement now 
submitted does not pretend to effect more than 
approximate to the truth. It may, however, 
give some clue to the labyrinth of domestic 
trade, and invite those well informed on particu- 
lar items, to add such correction as may finally 
lead to something like a correct statistic. The 
object of the Committee is simply to exhibit a 
debtor and credit statement of our receipts and 
expenditures, as a suggestion of the propriety 
of producing for ourselves, m.uch of what we 
now purchase, so as to retain at home so much 
of the proceeds of our labor as will enlarge the 
resources and comfort of eveiy family in the 
State. 
To strike a balance, the value of exports must 
be stated. 
I 
Export of 60,590,390 lbs. Colton, @6,000.000 
" 80,000,000 lbs. Rice, 2,000,000 
“ Lumber and other commodities,, .. . eOJ.OOO 
Total Exports, @8,-500,000 
IMPORTS OF 1343, 
SuFar, 5.917 hlids. 5.1 cts. @38-3,922 
Coffee, 33.294 bags, or @13 501.722 
Molasses, 4.359 hhds 24 cts. 135.000 
Flour, 52,000 bbis. @5 260,000 
Corn, 300.000 bushels, 50 cts. 150,1,00 
Oats, 100.000 30 cts 30,000 
Peas, 40,' 00 “ 62 cts. 24,000 
Hay, 24,826 bundles, 87 cts. 74,478 
Bacon, 5,000 hhds. 6 cts. 300,000 
Lard, 20 000 kegs, 6^ or @3 60,000 
Butter, 18,750 kegs, @12 each, 225,000 
Salt, 91.122 sacks, @1 30 118.453 
Cheese. -30,000 
Plows and Garden Implements, 20,000 
Northern Hardware, 250.000 
Machinery 200,000 
Horses, Mules, Cattle. Hogs 1,775,000 
Building Materials. Lime, Granite, 
Carpentry, &c., 150,000 
Equipages, 150,000 
Furni ture, .50.000 
Shoes, 1,081,700 
Hals to 5 of 256,000 whiles at @4, 340,000 
Dry Goods, 2,000.000 
Foreign Imports, 1,5SS,852 
Total, @9,803,932 
Travelling expenses must be com- 
puted as one of the regular drains 
to the State, 2u00 persons at @300,. . ,600,000 
Total Imports, @10,493,932 
The discount against this sum, for 
re exportation, may be thus esti- 
mated. 
Sugar, 3.83,922 } 
Coffee, 501,722 > 1,020,644, deduct f, @255,161 
Molasses, 135,030 ) 
Hardware, 250,000 deduct y, 62,500 
Lard, 60.0UQ “ i, 15,000 
Foreign Imports. 1 .-553,852 “ 526.^4 
DryG'oods, 2,000,000 “ yOOOiUOO 
Deduct from §10,493,932 this am’t, 1,853,945 @8,639,957 
This exhibit of imports has been compiled 
from the account current files of the Mercury 
and Courier for 1843, corrected as far as prac- 
ticable by merchants most likely to possess ac- 
curate information. The importation of corn 
last year, was comparatively small, owing to the 
failure of the North Carolina crop ; but in years 
past, has considerabl}" exceeded the amount spe- 
cified, though at present on the decrease. The 
greater portion of our Sugar, Coffee and Molas- 
ses, particularly the first two, is received coast- 
wise, notwithstanding freight and distance. 
Much of this import is distributed throughout 
the State. The aggregate of all these items, 
shows a considerable balance against the State, 
moderated by the probaffie discounts for re- 
exports to Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, 
and Alabama. 
Although the cost of the Sugar, Coffee and 
Molasses, is merged in the foreign imports, yet 
so large a portion comes coastwise, and does not 
appear on our Custom-House books, that a de- 
duction must be calculated as well from those 
items, as from the foreign imports. From the 
foreign imports, a third may be deducted for re- 
exportation, and from the dry goods at least 
one half. The amount of dry goods from the 
North is probably more than two millions, but 
it is impracticable to arriveat an estimate. The 
importation of dry goods to Columbia, George- 
town, and Hamburg, enterconsiderably into our 
calculations. Independent of our catalogue of 
expenses, a considerable amount is spent lor 
beef, pork, fish, baskets, pails, mats, and a thou- 
sand other aiticies. The fact that we have no 
surplus, is confirmed by the stationary amount 
of coin in the countr3\ If our exports exceeded 
our imports, the surplus would be paid for in 
specie, but the stalemer.ts of the Banks show', 
that in an average of years, the amountof coin, 
imported and exported, balances — inconrestibly 
proving that we are nut in a prosperous condi- 
tion. Again — if what may be said of a com- 
munity ol individuals, may reflect some idea of 
the condition of a State or nation, and we refer 
for an example to the planting interest in par- 
ticular — it w’ill be established that the planters 
are generally incumbered with debt and com- 
plaining, yet tributary everywdiere for many of 
the necessaries of life. As wm are essentially 
an agricultural people, it is lair to conclude, a 
sympathetic influence pervades olhersectionsof 
society, and that our habits and pursuits require 
reform. 
All which is respectfully submitted. 
R. W. ROPER, Ch airman. 
From the Farmer’s Cabinet. 
IRRIGATION. 
It is said that ‘’Van Helmont planted a wil- 
low, which wi'ighed 5 lbs., in a pot containing 
200 lbs. of earth. This he watered for the 
space of 5 years, and at the end of that lime the 
tree was found to weigh 169): lbs., wdiile the 
earth in which it had stood, being dried as at 
first, was found to have lost only two ounces. 
Here, then, was an increase of 164 lbs. weight, 
and yet the food of the plant had been water on- 
ly.” 
If, then, watering is attended with such great 
results in the case of a tree, is it not reasonable 
that, in the case of herbage, it is still more im- 
portant I It is not by any means, at this day, 
contended that the only food of plants is watei" ; 
but w'ater generally holds in solution minerals, 
which are food for plants; and it carries those 
dissolved minerals to the roots ol plants, exact- 
ly where they are_ wanted. Land may have all 
the necessary minerals and manure, indispensa- 
ble to plants, and yet in a dry season the grass 
won’t grow; low important, then, is irrigation, 
if only to dissolve those minerals. 
Mr. Liebig, I think it is, who says that in 
Germany, lands which havetormerly been near- 
ly barren, have been made, by irrigation, very 
productive. The mode adopted in this countiy 
for watering meadows, is considered by many 
as too expensive: they have consequently plow- 
ed up their meadows and do not water at all. 
What the mode of watering is in Germany, I do 
not know, but I would respectfullv suggest the 
use of a wheel mentioned by Dr. Arnott, in his 
Elements of Physic.s, by means of which, 
“streams are caused by their own action, to lift 
a part of their water into elevated reservoirs.” 
For the purpose of watering meadows, where 
streams lie high, a small portable wheel of this 
kind, ofaboutthree feet in diameter, would save 
the labor of making a g.mat many small chan- 
nels. But where the water is situated low, and 
