THE CAPON. 
191 
eessity for drains; yet by their position, prevent 
the leaching of the soil or a too rapid descent of the 
waters, which carries with it the fertilizing ingre¬ 
dients of the land, and in the case of sandy and 
gravelly subsoils is found to be a cause of much 
waste, ever requiring renewed supplies of manure. 
The depth of this soil varies; but even where it 
is thin it may readily be increased by tearing up the 
rock with the plow. This may be done boldly, 
without fear of the ill consequences, which, in 
some cases, attends bringing the subsoil rapidly to 
the surface. The rock, or subsoil, is composed of 
the same inorganic substances as the soil itself, and 
is free, except in some locations of limited extent, 
from all noxious ingredients to vegetation ; and on 
being exposed to the sun, air, and frost, it rapidly 
decomposes, and in the course of a single season 
becomes, for the most part, finely divided into mi¬ 
nute particles, forming loam. Indeed, so true is 
■this, that cases are not unfrequent, where the rock 
brought to the surface from a considerable depth, as 
in digging wells, after decomposition, has been ap¬ 
plied, with decided advantage, as a top dressing. 
This is especially manifest in soils overlaying this 
.formation, but of different characteristics. In Dum- 
fries-shire, Scotland, it is quarried and carried out 
for this purpose expressly. 
The land of this formation generally lies either 
in gently rolling fields, or somewhat elevated table 
■lands, and from this cause and the natural drainage 
before alluded to, freeing them entirely from stag¬ 
nant water, they are always distinguished for their 
salubrity. They are well adapted to the cultivation 
of the crops generally grown in this climate ; po- 
4atoes, r 3 r e, oats, and corn, doing well, and where 
the soil verges to clay, wheat also. But their prin¬ 
cipal excellence is in grass, on account of which, 
•they may be styled grass-lands emphatically. 
Where the land is in tolerable condition, white 
•clover and blue grass spring up luxuriantly, the 
latter forming, in a few years, a dense heavy sod. 
Bed clover does admirably, mowing a good swath, 
through the second year after sowing, when not 
crowded out by other grasses. Good meadows of 
Timothy giving from one and a half, to two tons 
per acre, are the usual results from the land in good 
cultivation, and in some cases three tons are ob¬ 
tained, mowing for a number of years successively, 
or forming permanent pasturage of the sweetest 
•quality. 
Manures of all kinds tell effectively on this soil. 
It may be said in the language common among 
•farmers it “ hearkens quickly to them,” and, owing 
perhaps, in no small degree, to the peculiar nature 
of the subsoil before alluded to, their effects are 
very lasting. But it is by the use of lime, that the 
-most beneficial, and at the same time, the most eco¬ 
nomical results are produced. Here, it is rarely, if 
ever, known to fail in causing, on its first applica¬ 
tion, the most marked improvement, which every 
. successive dressing seems to renew. Fields, which 
fium sterility have remained uncultivated, or have 
yielded but scanty crops of buckwheat, by a single 
dressing of lime, have given at once, good returns, 
especially of grass; and under good management 
with no other help than lime and the manure of the 
.farm, in a few years, have really become produc¬ 
tive. Rufus. 
We shall be very happy to receive further com¬ 
munications from our correspondent “ Rufus” on the 
same subject, for he treats it in so plain and prac¬ 
tical a manner, that the most ordinary mind can 
easily comprehend it. The great objection to sci¬ 
entific articles in a journal like this, conducted al¬ 
most solely for the benefit of the practical farmer, 
is, that they abound in terms which the unscientific 
do not comprehend, and for that reason they are of 
little or no benefi.t to them. We wish those who 
write for the popular mind would always remember 
this, for in that case they would do great good by 
their essays—now they are as a sealed book to the 
great mass of our readers. We ought to be ad¬ 
dressed in the same plain, familiar manner, that one 
would adopt in speaking to a child, as we are but 
children of a larger growth. 
THE CAPON. 
Minda, a colored female, was a native of South 
Carolina, and some thirty-five or forty years ago 
came to this state with the family of my father-in- 
law, Major John Nesmith, to whom she belonged. 
She died some four years since on the plantation of 
one of Major N.’s heirs, having lived many years 
within fifteen miles of this place. She made, in 
the course of her life, many capons for Major N., 
his children, and, since his decease, for his widow, 
who is yet living and resides at this place. Minda 
operated with eminent success, seldom or never 
losing a fowl operated upon. She used no instru¬ 
ment save the sharpest pocket-knife she could con¬ 
veniently borrow. Having made the incision, she 
removed the testicles with her fingers. After com¬ 
pleting the operation, it was her custom, before re¬ 
leasing her patient, to push one of the testicles 
down his throat. This she considered very essen¬ 
tial to the success of the operation; though I 
presume she made few converts to this supersti¬ 
tion. 
Some of Minda’s capons were employed every 
season to nurse and rear young chickens. They 
took chicks of very diverse ages and sizes, all at 
the same time, carefully feeding and vigorously 
defending by day, and affectionately covering by 
night all that sought their benevolence. They 
soon learned to cluck and call the young brood 
like a hen, leading them about in quest of food, 
and otherwise faithfully discharging the offices of 
the most devoted mother. One of these capons ex¬ 
cited much astonishment and admiration among the 
numerous persons accustomed to visit the place. 
He reared one season a brood of forty-three chick¬ 
ens. It was highly amusing at the close of day to see 
them, when as large as partridges, striving for a 
place under the wings of their protector, who in 
vain “ spread himself” to the utmost, extending 
wings and tail to cover his protegees. Many of 
them were compelled to be content with sitting 
around him in a circle. 
The advantages of employing capons to nurse are 
as follows:—First, they are equally industrious and 
at the same time more vigorous than the hen; 
second, they can protect, feed, and rear a larger 
brood than the hen; third, they are less pugnacious 
and destructive to other broods than the hen ; and, 
fourth, while they have the care of the young, the 
hen- has leisure to regain her flesh and give her 
