CULTIVATION OF COTTON,—NO. III. 
117 
elapsed, since its introduction into anything like a 
regular business, and its successful prosecution 
within that short period has been so great, that its 
permanent and rapid extension hereafter, may be 
looked for with absolute certainty. 
We have not the data at hand to show the 
amount of consumption of pork for this purpose 
the present season, but its comparative use for this 
object may be indicated by the fact, that of the 
250,000 hogs slaughtered in Cincinnati last winter, 
at least 80,000 have, with the exception of the 
hams and shoulders, been converted entirely into 
lard. At almost every other point where exten¬ 
sive pork-packing has been done, a similar use has 
been made of the animal, though perhaps not so 
large a proportion of it has been devoted to this 
purpose. After cutting out the hams and shoul¬ 
ders, the entire carcass is placed in a tub having 
two bottoms, the upper one perforated with nu¬ 
merous small holes, over which a cover is made 
perfectly tight. Into this, steam at a high tem¬ 
perature is admitted, and, in a short time, all the 
lard is extracted, and falls to the lower bottom. 
What remains is the muscular portion and bones. 
The skin is sometimes taken off before subjecting 
it to this process, from which all the adhering fat 
is easily scraped, and it is then tanned, and makes 
a valuable leather. The bones are converted into 
animal charcoal, valuable for various purposes in 
the arts, and is worth about three cents per pound. 
In addition to the immense consumption for the 
purposes of manufacturing into oil and stearin, 
lard is a profitable article of export to England, 
France, and various parts of the world. By the 
diminished rates of duties now charged on pork 
and lard in England, they have already become a 
large item of export from the United States into 
that country; while the renewed activity recently 
given by our late tariff to our own manufactures, 
will increase the consumption of pork and its prod¬ 
ucts to a large extent at home. 
What then is the interest of our farmers who 
are situated in the corn-producing region, remote 
from markets ? Certainly no one article of ordina¬ 
ry production promises so large and so certain a 
return as the raising of pork, provided they procure 
and use the best improved breeds. It is found that 
ordinary fatted pork, manufactured according to 
the above process, will yield 55 per cent, of lard 
from the whole carcass, after taking out the hams, 
while the best class of improved animals, the Chi¬ 
na and Berkshire, will yield 70 per cent.; an in¬ 
crease of 15 on 55; or nearly 28 per cent. This 
is a difference between a choice breed and an in¬ 
different one, that to an extensive pork-producer, 
will make a large sum yearly; and for the whole 
Union, will yield an immense amount in favor of 
the improved hog. It is estimated by the returns 
of the census for 1840, that there were over 
26,300,000 swine in the United States, and reck¬ 
oning the increase at 6 per cent, per annum, we 
shall have 24 per cent, added to the above as the 
present number of swine, or, over 32,600,000; If 
we reckon each animal to be worth $3 at one 
year old, we have the astonishing amount of nearly 
$100,0p0,000 value, annually produced in pork 
alone in the United States. The difference be¬ 
tween the improved and common breeds, above 
estimated at 28 per cent., will give us, then, as 
the annual gain, by substituting the former for the 
latter, nearly $28,000,000, a sum sufficient to liqui¬ 
date all the suspended state debts in the Union, 
within three years. This difference should not be 
abated in the relative value of the two breeds 
when used for any other purpose, as there is quite 
as much, if not more, increased value in the best 
when used for the table; and it will be vastly aug¬ 
mented, if we take into the account the larger con¬ 
sumption of food required to put the same amount 
of flesh on to the common hog, equal at least to 
28 per cent. more. It is easy to see what an in¬ 
credible saving may be annually made in a single 
item of our agricultural products. 
R. L. A. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
CULTIVATION OF COTTON.—No. 3. 
Log Hall, Miss., June 11, 1843. 
In my last, I gave my plan of sowing, I now 
give that of cultivating the plant; and as our tech¬ 
nical terms may not be understood at the north, I 
will commence by explaining them, and the imple¬ 
ments I use. 
Scraping cotton (it is termed shaving by tobac¬ 
co-growers) is merely taking off with a hoe the 
surface of the hill or bed, so as to leave a clean 
surface; unless this be done well, whether grass 
or weeds be in sight or not, there will be a quan¬ 
tity of them before the crop can be worked over 
again. 
A bull-tongue, or scooter plow (not a “ hill” or 
“ bill-tongue’’ as I am made to say by some prints) 
is about 4 inches wide, shaped somewhat like the 
shovel plow, and used on the same stock. I use a 
narrow shovel about 6 inches wide, also a shovel 
of the usual width; the first is used when the crop 
is young, likewise the bull-tongue. The harrow is 
a triangular frame of white oak, 3 by 4 stuff, with 
9 iron teeth, straight, 12 inches long, and made of 
3-4 inch square bars. 
The sweep is the same described by Dr. Cloud, 
though I prefer the semi-circular shape thus, be- 
(Fig. 27.) (Fig. 28.) 
c 
Cotton Sweeps. 
cause it is not so liable in striking a cotton-stalk or 
stick, to glance off and injure the cotton; it should 
be made with cutting edge level, and laid with 
steel, the back edge raised so that when the earth 
falls over, it falls to pieces; the plowman should 
carry a file, and be required to keep the sweep 
sharp. 
The cultivator you know, far better than I can 
describe. 
The double shovel is a plow with two moulds; 
I prefer the moulds of a parallelogram shape, and 
twisted so as to throw the earth all one way, see 
