REVIEW OP THE MARCH NO. OP THE AGRICULTURIST. 
24b 
floating earthy matter in its waters, must be carried 
out and deposited at its many mouths, while the 
heavier portions will be continually depositing at 
the bottom, which will compel a corresponding 
annual increase in the height of the levee, and will 
for ever render a system of drainage necessary, to 
take off the leakage from such a vast body of water, 
flowing in a pent-up channel twenty or thirty feet 
above the level of the land in cultivation, within a 
stone’s throw of the deck of a steamer, the very 
keel of which will be above the top of the growing 
crops upon either shore. Truly may it be said, as 
in the commencement of the article under notice, 
“ Louisiana is, in many respects, the most peculiar 
country on the globe.” Before it can ever sustain 
a dense population, it has got to be put under just 
such a rigorous system of management as are the 
dykes and canals of Holland; for the Mississippi 
flood is a giant that can only be managed by a 
gigantic and despotic power. Not a year now 
passes without the closing up of some of the old 
outlets hundreds of miles above the mouth, by 
'which the strength of the main channel current is 
increased. Time will show that this system is 
wrong—that instead of stopping up outlets, new 
ones should be made. 
Chapter on Grasses .—The reading of this article 
has suggested a new idea to my mind; and that is, 
if party politics and public opinion ever do permit 
a school of a purely agricultural character to flourish 
in this country, that there should be a map, or 
rather maps, showing the belts of country in which 
the different products of the earth, which are culti¬ 
vated for man’s sustenance, do mostly flourish. For 
instance—commencing with the orange in Florida., 
together with the lemon, fig, grape, peach, pome¬ 
granate, melon, sugar-cane, &c. &c., intermingling 
with corn and cotton, which latter would run out 
near the lower part of the Ohio river, while the 
orange w r ould have been left 500 miles behind; but 
wheat would continue to increase till we approach 
our northern limit, when barley and oats would 
take its place. The diversity of climate is so great 
even in one State, that of Michigan, for instance, 
that in the south part the finest crops of wheat in 
the world can be grown, while in the north part 
not a kernel can be matured. 
“ Wheat yields a greater proportion of flour than 
any other grain, and is also much more nutritive.” 
Granted—but does it produce the greatest amount 
per acre of nutriment for man ? The average yield, 
in the United States, of all the acres sown for the 
last ten years, will not exceed ten bushels the acre ; 
and even in its highest state of cultivation, it will 
fall far below the highest degree of cultivation of 
Indian corn in the amount of human sustenance. 
Pray, Mr. Editor, how many European laborers 
would the largest crop of an acre of Indian corn 
ever grown feed one year with the common rations, 
say of a German peasant. 
“ The methods of cooking corn-meal are of* all 
grades of goodness, from the 4 hoe-cake,’ made of 
meal and water only, and baked by the negro upon 
his hoe,” &c. Why, my dear 44 E. S.” you say 
this, as though 44 Aunt Betty’s hoe-cake” was at 
the very lowest grade of the scale of goodness, 
when, in very truth, it is.the best way that corn-meal 
ever was, or ever can be, cooked. The hoe-cake 
that I ate the last time I had the pleasure of breakfast¬ 
ing with you, never can be exceeded in all the 44 too 
numerous to mention modes of cooking corn-meal.” 
Plant Flowers. —Yes, ladies, plant flowers ! If 
you wish me to love you—if you wish to be loved 
by any man whose love is worth reciprocating— 
love flowers; for he must be a very impassionless 
being who would not love a lovely female who 
loved flowers. I mean to make another journey, 
one of these days, across the great western prairie, 
out of pure love of flowers. I love them in their 
native wildness, covering the whole face of God’s 
creation. The Indian’s 44 happy hunting ground,” is 
always pictured as full of flowers. 
Female Clothing. —I could write a sermon upon 
this text. I object to one line of yours — 44 For 
the dress of children, warmth should chiefly be 
studied.” Oh, no ! not chiefly. Infants are often 
clothed too v r arm. I have seen mothers, when 
going out, wrap them up with as many blankets, 
and as much care, as you would a lump of ice on a 
melting day. For growing children, looseness of 
dress should be the chief object, and suitableness 
of clothing at all seasons; and, of all things, don’t 
keep so much in the shade. There is a perfect 
mania, in this generation, for living in dark rooms; 
and yet, light and sunshine are just as necessary 
for the healthy growth of children as for plants. 
The very remarkable difference between the looks 
of city and country children, and between American 
and English females, is owing to this cause. [Not 
altogether ; the cool, moist summer climate of Eng¬ 
land is more favorable to a fine complexion than 
the dry, hot one of America.] Give your children 
not only the light of knowledge, but the light of 
ever-glorious sunshine. 
Famine in Ireland —This country is obeying the 
promptings of pure benevolence in sending food to 
the starving millions of 44 Fader land.” But how 
much better it would be to send and bring the 
starving to this land of plenty ! How r much v r ould 
it cost to bring a million of these poor souls from 
their desolate homes, and transport them to the 
Grand Prairie of Illinois, where there is plenty of 
unoccupied fertile soil, as rich as a garden, with 
good water, stone-coal for fuel, clay for building 
the walls of cabins, and wild grass for thatch, and 
where, being furnished with a spade and seed, one 
man would support a family as soon as the seed 
could grow; and the difference in the cost of pro¬ 
visions for a family a year, would be so much less 
in Illinois than in Ireland, that it would be almost 
enough to remove them to that land of plenty. 
Who will take the lead of a 44 great benevolent 
Irish Emigration Society ?” You need not buy the 
land. If Congress will not give what is now worth¬ 
less, take it. Let them become squatters. In a few 
years they will be able to buy the land from the 
product of their own labor. It is worth thinking 
about. Reviewer. 
Cure eor the Foot-rot in Sheep.—T ake honey 
4 oz.; nitrate of copper 1 oz.; strong acetic acid 2 
drachms; rub down the nitrate of copper thoroughly 
in a wedgewood or porcelain mortar, and gradually 
mix it with honey; then add the acetic acid so as 
to form a mixture of uniform consistency, and ap¬ 
ply it to the feet of the sheep. 
