276 
SOUTHERN CALENDAR FOR SEPTEMBER. 
When the ground is in good condition to receive the 
seed, it may be sown and harrowed in v/ith a heavy 
drag, burying the seed about three inches. The exper¬ 
iment has been tried for a series of years in Scotland of 
plowing it in to a depth of six inches; but we lack ev¬ 
idences of its utility in this country. The seed should 
he perfectly clean , free from light chaffy grains. To 
insure this, either raise it yourself, such as you know 
to be good, or pay a little extra and get it from an ap¬ 
proved source, by which you will secure another advan¬ 
tage more than equivalent to the additional cost, the 
benefits of a change of soil, which is an advantage in 
all seeds. The next operation is preparing the seed. 
This is usually done by washing it in a strong brine, 
in which the light and imperfect grains, and the smut 
will float, and may be poured off. If very smutty, it 
should be washed three times thoroughly. After the 
brine has been mostly drained out, quick-lime must be 
sifted upon it, and stirred, so that every grain shall 
have a good coating. This process assists the future 
crops in two ways, by effectually destroying smut, and 
by giving an early and healthy growth to the plant. 
This is the system adopted by the best wheat growers 
in the central part of New York, the great granary of 
.the north. Young’s Annals gives the result of several 
experiments in sowing wheat, which proved that while 
one bed of unprepared wheat gave three hundred and 
seventy-seven heads of smutty wheat, those soaked in 
ley twenty-four hours, and lime-water the same time, 
each, gave not one head of smut. 
This month seed corn should be selected. It can 
only be well done in the field. It ought to be taken 
from those stalks which have the greatest number of 
large, round, well-filled ears. In this way the Baden 
and the Dutton corn have attained all their well-earned 
celebrity. Corn now should be cut up by the roots and 
stacked. Never top your corn. It may dry up after 
topping, but there is an end to nourishment, as all the 
sap that goes to make the grain, first ascends into the 
leaf above the ear, where it is elaborated and perfected, 
and then descends to the ear for the perfection of the 
kernel. When thus secured in shocks, it is entirely 
beyond the effect of frost, and the stalk makes much 
better fodder for the cattle. Where land is kept in 
good condition by cultivating an early kind of corn, 
and cutting it up in this way and moving it to the sides 
of the field, or even compactly into the centre, rye or 
winter wheat may be got in upon the same land; yet 
when this system is practised, the soil must be well 
manured, for corn, or the successive grain crops, will 
be found to be too exhausting. 
Fatting animals should now be pushed with all imag¬ 
inable speed. Much more flesh can be put upon them 
from the 15th of August till the last of November, than 
in the same time during the cold weather, and on a 
much less quantity of feed. Indeed, so important is 
the difference, that it would be judicious for every man 
to reserve grain enough from his last year’s stock to 
feed his swine, cattle, and sheep till his new crops are 
in readiness. If you have the right kind of swine, 
Berkshire, China, or any of the best improved breeds, 
they may be got in excellent condition on a clover pas¬ 
ture, the droppings from the orchard, and the slops 
from the dairy, so as to be easily fitted for the butcher. 
The exportation of pork to Europe, and its large con¬ 
sumption for lard oil, recently commenced in this 
country, will make it a most important object for the 
farmer hereafter, to seleet and propagate only the best 
breeds. Finish cutting and securing your crops of hemp 
and tobacco, if not previously done. 
Kitchen Garden. —Seleet a dry, warm, protected 
plaee, and plant the lettuces sown last month for spring 
use. If the weather prove dry, let them be well wa¬ 
tered. Early in this month, the Spanish kinds of rad¬ 
ish can be sown, and on the approach of frost, taken 
up and preserved for winter use in the same way as 
turneps or beets. Hoe and thin out the crop of turneps 
during this month. About the middle of the month, 
sow cabbage seed to remain in the seed-bed all winter, 
and be ready for transplanting in the spring. Sow 
cauliflower and broccoli, also, to furnish plants for the 
spring. Gather each kind of seed as it ripens, and dry 
it well before putting it up. 
Fruit Garden and Orchard. —Budding and inoc¬ 
ulating peaches can be continued, and also the other 
fruits as long as the bark will peel. Trees and shrubs 
may be propagated by cuttings and layers. When it is 
necessary, trim pines, firs, walnut-trees, and maples, as 
the sap will not so much exude as in the spring. Plant 
beds of strawberries. 
Flower Garden and Pleasure Grounds. —The 
directions for last month will also apply to this. Pre¬ 
pare beds for planting tulips, hyacinths, anemones, ra¬ 
nunculuses, and other flower roots and shrubs that are 
to be planted next month. 
S6UTHERN CALENDAR FOR SEPTEMBER. 
In this month, as well as the two succeeding, much 
time will be occupied in picking cotton, ginning, pres¬ 
sing, and hauling. Pick the cotton clean; admit no 
trash; look for the quality rather than the quantity. 
Do not attempt to gin too much in a day^ let the mules 
take a steady, slow gait, for rapid motion will cut and 
break the fibre. In pressing, put in about 450 pounds 
in a bale ; run the screw well home, and cover every 
particle of cotton ; sew the sides and ends of the cov¬ 
ering neatly, while in the press, if possible; put on 
not less than seven ropes—eight is more common. 
In this month or the next, sow Egyptian oats, rye, 
and wheat. Sow two to three bushels of oats, and one 
and a half to two bushels of wheat or rye to the acre. 
Sow grass seeds both in this month and October. 
Do not pick cotton when wet, for, beside the trouble 
of drying, the dirt and leaf become attached and stain 
it; and it frequently happens that quantities of cotton 
are kept wet by cloudy, rainy weather in September, in 
which the seeds sprout and injure materially the prod¬ 
uct. A few of those wet days can be employed in 
housing corn, gathering peas, preparing pastures, fen¬ 
cing, and other repairs. 
In Florida and the southern part of the Union, three 
cuttings of tobacco can be taken from the original 
plant; the last cutting, however, will be of rather a 
weak quality. As soon as one crop is cut another im¬ 
mediately springs up. In selecting the sprouts, only 
one to each stalk should be allowed to grow, and this 
from those the most deeply rooted; all other sprouts 
should be destroyed. If, however, a plant is allowed 
once to be checked in its growth, it can never recover. 
In promoting the drying of the leaf, fire should never 
be resorted to, because it would impart a flavor inju¬ 
rious to the tobacco itself. In order to procure vigor¬ 
ous tobacco plants, the seed ought to be procured 
from the original stalk, and not from the second or 
third growth. It is best to allow a few plants to go to 
seed for the express purpose. 
As we may expect showers in this month, sow spin¬ 
ach, lettuce, water and garden-cresses, cherville, en¬ 
dive, parsley, late cauliflowers, cabbages, radishes, and 
turneps. Inoculate with the bud, or set out monthly 
roses. Large carrots may be set out for seed this 
month if not previously done. Save pumpkins for win¬ 
ter use. 
