15o 
editor’s table. 
EHftor’s 3Cnt)le. 
Benefit of Agricultural Societies. —In a speech before 
the Spartanburg Agricultural Society of Georgia, re¬ 
ported in the Southern Cultivator, Mr. Leitner asserts, 
that thousands of acres of land which were, ten years 
ago, thrown away and given up, to be disfigured by 
gullies, as worn out and valueless, are now in a high 
state of cultivation, and yielding to their owners far hea¬ 
vier crops than they were capable of when first cleared. 
And the very lands which six years ago would not have 
commanded, upon an average, five dollars per acre, 
could not now be purchased for ten dollars per acre; 
all of which, as every one acquainted with that dis¬ 
trict will say, is mainly attributable to the influence of 
the Monticello Planters’ Society. With confidence, 
therefore, I recommend the formation of an Agricul¬ 
tural Society in our district; for just assure as like 
causes produce like effects, just so sure will such a so¬ 
ciety benefit our district. 
Mr. Schenck’s Cow. —Mr. Knevels is informed, that 
we have seen animals, with thirty-one thirty-two sec¬ 
onds Durham blood in them, hornless. We should be 
pleased to have him inform us where cows of the “ or¬ 
dinary polled breed,” with forms as good as Mr. 
Schenck’s cow, can be seen, for we would like to pur¬ 
chase a few, and will pay a handsome price for them. 
Put that cow in good condition, and to our eye, she 
would be anything but a “raw-boned animal.” In 
our humble opinion people generally do not sufficiently 
accustom themselves to judge of animals from their 
anatomy. Show them a lean beast, and it is raw-boned 
aud coarse —a fat one, and it is fine, with smooth bones! 
lienee the very erroneous decisions upon stock so fre¬ 
quently made at our agricultural shows. 
Improved Cultivation of Sugar Cane. —The Planters’ 
Banner says, that Mr. Packwood plants his cane in 
rows eight feet apart, instead of four or six, the usual 
distance. The next and most important part of his 
system, is, that of windrowing his cane-tops and leaves 
between his rows, and covering them with earth. The 
object in placing the cane-tops in furrows to decom¬ 
pose, is, of course, to supply nutriment for the succeed¬ 
ing crop. 
Old Horses. —The Spirit of the Times says, that there 
is a very spirited and handsome roadster in this city 
that is 43 years old; that Mr. Win. Wincoop of Cats- 
kill, has three horses with which he does the work up¬ 
on his farm, whose respective ages are 36, 38, and 40, 
making in the aggregate 114 years ; and that our best 
trotters have performed their greatest achievements af¬ 
ter attaining the age of 14. 
To destroy Bugs m Vines. —Dust the vines with flour 
of sulphur when the dew is on, and if it gets washed 
off by the rain, and the bugs again commence their 
ravages, they must be redusted. 
To raise Cabbage-Heads from Stumps. —-If cabbage- 
stumps of any variety are set out in the spring, in good 
order, one, two, three, or even four good sound heads 
will grow on them; and this they will do, year after 
year, until they die by accident. They are managed 
in the following manner: The upper, narrow-leaved 
sprouts, which would bear seed, are carefully rubbed 
off, and likewise all the lower round-leafed ones, which 
latter will form heads, leaving only so many of these as 
the strength of the soil and the stump are capable of 
bringing to perfection. At our cattle-show, Mr. John 
Drew presented several such stumps, with one to four 
heads of low Dutch-cabbage on each, which have 
borne for three years. He sets them out in earth in the 
cellar, in autumn; cuts off the heads when required for 
use, and places the stumps pretty thick in the garden in 
spring. The labor is trifling, the cut worm gives no trou¬ 
ble, and the crop sure and abundant.— Farmers’ Jour. 
I armers, make your own Candles. —Take two pounds 
of alum, for every ten pounds of tallow, dissolve it in 
water before the tallow is put in, and then melt the 
tallow in the alum-water with frequent stirring, and it 
will clarify and harden the tallow so as to make a most 
beautiful article for either winter or summer use, al¬ 
most as good as sperm.— Cleveland Herald. 
To prevent Hogs and Cattle being injured in fresh Pea - 
fields.. —The destruction of hogs and cattle, by turning 
them into fresh pea-fields, is not very uncommon. The 
remedy, however, is very simple. Stock, immediately 
before being turned upon a pea-field, should be watered, 
and at first only be permitted*to remain in the field a 
few hours, when they should be removed to a lot, and 
have free access to water. After observing this pre¬ 
caution twice or three times, they may be permitted to 
remain in the pea-field constantly, without danger, if 
they have free access to water.— Southern Cultivator. 
The Cotton-Plant—Its nature. —If the object were to 
consult the dimensions of the roots in spacing cotton to 
a stand, which probably has been the case heretofore, 
we would so arrange it that the roots would occupy all 
the ground; but every one knows that this defeats the 
object of growing cotton. Then we must resort to 
some other criterion by which to be governed in the ad¬ 
justment of the stand and to the length of the limbs. 
I look with perfect confidence for the best criterion, 
and that it must be so spaced that the limbs will not in¬ 
terfere with the growth of each other. This affords 
free ventilation by air and light, which prevents that 
accumulation of damp mould ahvavs met with in crowd¬ 
ed cotton. It prevents rot of every sort, and the too 
great division of the means of support furnished by the 
earth and atmosphere. Now, if my views are correct, 
they serve to explain the fact why cotton attains great¬ 
er size in damp situations of humid atmospheres, with¬ 
out proportional advantages of soil, than it does in dry 
ones. 
I have come to the conclusion that the cotton-plant 
is more akin in its characteristics to the tree than to 
any other of the vegetable kingdom; and my observa¬ 
tions upon both (the cotton-plant and trees) induces 
me to believe, that the crop of cotton is more abundant 
always when there is space sufficient to allow of great 
expansion in the limbs, as the tree is more capacious, 
more expanded, and a more abundant bearer, where 
there is room sufficient. In confirmation of this po¬ 
sition, go into an orchard of peach or apples, and you 
invariably find the best fruit and greatest abundance 
upon those trees which stand apart, with ample room 
to spread their branches out; and those trees which 
are crowded are found to have their little crop dam¬ 
aged by blast, mildew, and worms ; and the balance of 
small size, even of fruit that would be large in favor¬ 
able situations—it is equally so of cotton. I have 
known the most abundant crops of cotton made on 
stands that were not at the start deemed more than half 
sufficient. Then I would take the expansion of the limbs 
toward each other between the rows as the rule for dis¬ 
tance in the drill, because in crowded cotton there are 
but two sides of the stalks that branch, those toward the 
rows, making the stalk when grown, in the shape of a 
fan; and it is attended with less labor in the cultiva¬ 
tion, to allow room enough for the cotton to assume the 
shape of the cone—and to say the least for it, it pro¬ 
duces as much fruit or crop. Then improve upon the 
ordinary method of spacing cotton, by adjusting the 
distance to the length of "the limbs your ground will 
bear.— South Western Farmer. 
