166 
THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
From the Camden Journal. 
THE DUTV OF OVERSEERS. 
Mr. Editor: — I wish to give you my views 
on what I think the true spirit that should prompt 
• all Overseers to their duty, and how they may 
best improve. 
When an Overseer takes charge of a planta- 
tion, it is his duty to find, as soon as possible, 
the true situation ot every thing on it, then to 
have a conversation with his employer relative 
to all matters which may be connected with his 
interest; and in this he should be particular to 
find out the views, feelings and wishes of the 
employer fully. The overseer should take 
charge of all, and take the same interest in every 
thing committed to his care as though it was 
his own, and more so— for if it was his own, he 
Avould not feel such a degree of responsibility 
resting on him, as that of another man who had 
employed and put so much dependence in him. 
This is the first step to improvement — for un- 
less the overseer is actuated by these feelings, 
he will not improve, but must remain station- 
ary, Next commences a wholesome and well 
regulated system among the negroes — and in 
this, the overseer will find use for all the wis- 
dom, patience and perseverance mortal man 
can possess, for extremes either way, will prove 
injurious to all concerned— the overseer’s feel- 
ings should be calm, collected and firm, with a 
desire not to inflict punishment, but from a 
sense of duty, he should act the gentleman 
amongst the negroes and to his employer, and 
expect to be treated in like manner from them 
all, for without this, all his eflbrts will not ele- 
vate him, nor can he command that respect 
which should be paid any gentleman, no matter 
what his occupation may be— and now, if the 
overseer desires to become number one, he has 
no time to loose — he should enter head, heart 
and hands into his various duties — he should 
read every thing that would improve him in ag- 
riculture, and combine theory with practice — 
it will greatly improve him — he should experi- 
ment on the various products of the soil every 
year, and the more he learns the more he will 
sge the necessity for improvement. Nothing 
should pass without his notice and attention — 
he is not to look to this or that particular part 
of his duty- — but all, and every thing under his 
care, should have hi.? individual attention. The 
sick should be attended to faithfully, and in the 
discharge of that duty, he may improve by learn- 
ingsomething of the art of medicine, and be able 
to treat all common diseases, which all over- 
seers should do. It was once thought the cot- 
ton bag overseer was the man that might be 
called number one,- but that time has passed by, 
and now the planters are anxious to get over- 
seers who will attend to every little matter, and 
save expenses, and if the overseers wish to be 
number one, they must go with the times- — 
they should make every effort in their power to 
make all the supplies for man and beast, on the 
plantation, and by proper attention to the rais- 
ing of stock, the improvement of the soil, and 
to the making of every thing at home that can 
be made, they will soon find things so improved, 
that there will be an increase of not only that 
part of the crop that makes man and beast hap- 
py, but will greatly increase the cotton crop al- 
so. This I know from experience. Make the 
efibrt, my friends and brother overseers, and 
you will find what I have said to be true. Let 
us not be self-conceited when Providence smiles 
ou our labors, and we are blessed with a few' 
good crops, to think w'e know enough, and then 
become careless. No, there is no time to lose, 
if we intend to make ourselves good planters. 
In all we do, we should act from principle, and 
if the employer be a thousand miles from us, 
we should still be the same. And as changes 
often take place with overseers, one goes to 
another place, and one takes his place, and so 
on, that is the time if possible to be more par- 
ticular than at any other time. They should re- 
member that golden rule, do unto others as you 
would be done by." How often I have heard em- 
ployers complain of their overseers not taking 
any interest in any thing on the plantation, as 
soon as they found that they were going to leave, 
and I have often heard the overseers make the 
same complaints in taking charge of a planta- 
tion- — finding every thing in such a bad condi- 
tion, that it took them months to get things 
straight ? An overseer that acts in this way, 
never will be number one — but they should 
feel it to be their duty to leave every thing as 
they w'ould wish to find it. As soon as an over- 
seer finds he is going to leave, he should have 
every thing in good order, and make a faithful 
return of all to his employer. 
In conclusion, let me call on my brother over- 
seers to unite with me in greater efforts for im- 
provement ; we have been long enough in the 
dark ; it is our duty and privilege to come to 
the light and make ourselves not only good 
planters, but useful members of society, and a 
blessing to the country, and to leave means to 
our posterity, by which they may be able to fill 
more elevated stations than we are at present 
called to fill. An Overseer. 
From the Maine Farmer. 
GREAT WASTE OF MANURE. 
Not upon ouiTand, for although injudicious 
application may be considered a species of 
waste, 3 et there is not so much to be complained 
of in regard to the application as the 7M)?i-appli- 
cation of rnanure.s. The waste is in not saving, 
in not accumulating every thing ot the kind 
which will fertilize the soil from which we take 
our crops. We know from our owm personal 
experience and observing others, that twice as 
much — nay, three times as much manure may 
be saved — we will say saved — not manufactu- 
red, but saved, as there now is. How many 
sink spouts are there in the country, that are 
almost hourly pouring out their contents, to be 
floated away, no where in particular, and “ to 
waste their fragrance on the desert air?” How 
many stables are there in the country, where 
there is not even the shadow of a fixture to save 
the urine and liquid particles of manure which 
are continually made there? Nearly all the 
barns are without sheds for manure. All that 
the cattle make during the housing time is 
thrown out of the windows, where it is exposed 
to the weather. The arrangement seems to be 
the very best in the world to dissipate the valua- 
ble parts and leave the poorest. It is, first a lay- 
er of manure — then a layer of snow — then ma- 
nure — then a heavy rain — then a strong wind 
and sunshine— then manure, and so on. in the 
spring we shovel in what there is left us, and 
which is of such strong and stubborn material 
that the combined attacks of snows and rains, 
and freezing and thawing, and sunshine and 
winds, could not overcome, and this we apply 
to nourish our crops, and to supply the delicate 
and fine vessels of the rootlets with nourish- 
ment. Isn’t this admirable? A iitrle care and 
attention, and a small amount of labor, would 
enable the farmer to preserve and apply his ma- 
nure in a much more judicious and saving 
manner. We do not hesitate to say, that we 
have found by experience, that when stable ma- 
nure is housed until it is applied to the earth, it 
is one-third better — more efficacious, because 
more full of the necessary materials for feeding 
vegetation. Liquid manures are seldom, if ev- 
er, used among us. In Flanders it is a very 
common thing lor a farmer to pay ten dollars 
(forty shillings of their money) for the urine 
from a single cow during the year. And what 
is the result of such a saving? Why this: 
More human beings are comfortably supported 
on a square mile than in any other country on 
the globe, unless it may be China, where equal 
attention is paid to these sr.vings. There are 
various modes adopted lor saving these things. 
One is to have cisterns into which if may run. 
The cheapest mode is to have some kind of 
compost which will absorb it. We find in the 
last New England Farmer a communication 
from Dr. Jackson, giving a very cheap but ex- 
cellent mode of concentrating and preserving 
these fluids. His plan is the following : “Take 
twenty measures of dry peat and one of ground 
gypsum, and mix; them togethe.r. Place barrels 
half full of this mixture in places where urine 
may be collected, and it will be found that the 
salts and ammonia of many barrels of urine 
will be consolidated in this mixture without 
giving the slightest odor, or being in any way 
oflfensive, for the salts are taken up, and the 
carbonate of ammonia, formed by decomposing 
urea, is immediately absorbed. 
“This method of getting rid of a nuisance 
and of consolidating a valuable liquid manure, 
full of the most useful salts, ought to receive at- 
tention. A mixture of- peat or swamp, muck 
2 nd gypsum (plaster of Paris) will also serve to- 
absorb all the disagreeable gases of vaults, 
which will be converted into fertilizing com- 
pounds with the sulphuric acid of the gypsum 
and the organic vegetable acids of the peat.” 
Here, then, is a very simple but at the same 
time very eflicientmode of securing the valuable 
ingredients of the sink and other disagreeable 
but necessary places about our premises; one 
which every farmer can adopt. A small pit, 
made with a covering to keep out sun and rains, 
filled with the above materials, would be a little 
mine of wealth to every farmer, and we may 
say a mine of heahh too, for it would swallow 
up all the pestiferous and noxious gases which 
must invariably arise from the decomposition of 
such offal, 
SALTPETRE ON SEEDS AND PLASTER ON 
FLOWERS. 
Hart Mussy, Esq., of this village, tooka 
small portion of the corn with which he planted 
a field, and soaked it in a solution of salts of 
nitre, commonly called saltpetre, and planted 
five rows with the seed thus prepared. Now 
for the result: The five rows planted with corn 
prepared with saltpetre, yielded more than 
twenty-five rows planted without any prepara- 
tion. The five rows were untouched by the 
worms, while the remainder of the field suffer- 
ed severely by their depredations. We should 
judge that not one grain saturated with saltpetre 
was touched, while almost every hill in the ad- 
joining row suffered severely. No one who 
will examine the field can doubt the efficacy of 
the preparation. He will be astonished at the 
striking difference between the five rows and 
the remainder of the field. 
Mr. M. also stated the result of another ex- 
periment. He has a fine, thrifty, healthy apple 
tree, about twenty-five or thirty years old ; but 
it has never, in any one year, produced over 
about two bushels of apples. While in blos- 
som last spring, he ascended the tree and sprin- 
kled plaster freely on the blossoms, and the re- 
sult is that it will this year yield twenty bushels 
of apples . — Concordia Intelligencer. 
For three years we have published from time 
to time experiraents andstatemeats showing the 
value of the saltpetre soak for corn and other 
seeds, and yet probably not one-tenth of our rea- 
ders use this or any other soak. For several 
years we have soaked all our corn with the most 
gratifying results. None of it has ever been 
touched by the grub, against which we, there- 
fore, regard the saltpetre as a perfect protection, 
and it grows with a rapidity that shames the 
sluggishness of grass and weeds. We planted 
some corn this year, on the 6th of May, soaked 
as usual, and in just twenty-eight days it stood 
twenty-two inches high — ground rich but not 
manured this year. A pound of saltpetre in 
enough water to cover a bushel of corn is about 
the proportion . — houisvilU Journal. 
COWS. 
Cows should have warm water for a few days, 
after calving, otherwise they are very liable to 
colds, inflammation of the udder, &c. It is a 
good method as practised by many, to prepare 
the first drink by putting a shovelful of hot coals 
into a pailful of cold water, and after a few mi- 
nutes take off the swimming coals, and then 
give the water to the cow, which must have be- 
come sufficiently warmed, and it will have ac- 
quired an alkaline quality which is considered 
beneficial— Boston Cultivator^ 
