352 
TRIP TO FORT ADAMS-—SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY.'—ENGLISH GRASSES. 
the grain in its passage through the casing; at the 
bottom is a hopper and regulating gate; the heat¬ 
ing agent is steam, and the condensed steam is re¬ 
turned to the boiler. It will be observed that in the 
stationary dryer no motive power is necessary, as is 
the case in all other machines for drying that have 
come under our notice. By these processes, grain, 
flour, meal, and other substances, have their mois¬ 
ture expelled without change of color, quality, or 
flavor; and when this is done the articles may be 
kept an indefinite time if the usual means are adopt¬ 
ed to keep humidity from them. Of the importance 
and necessity of the application of such inventions, 
we need not inform our readers. A certain mode 
of preservation of our bread-stuffs will generally 
insure us a certain market in some quarter of the 
world. 
TRIP TO FORT ADAMS—SOUTHERN HOS¬ 
PITALITY. 
Having just returned from a pleasant trip to Fort 
Adams, Mississippi, a brief sketch of some of the 
incidents by the way may not be uninteresting. 
The venerable bachelor, Major Trask, lives be¬ 
tween Woodvilie and Fort Adams in a splendid 
mansion, and gave me a real Massachusetts wel¬ 
come. I was pleased with his Yankee barn, the 
largest I have seen in the State. A wide passage 
runs through the middle with ranges of stalls for 
Dorses on each side. The manure is dropped 
through a trap-door, under the floor, where the 
sheep take shelter in winter. Oats and other fodder 
fill the lofts, instead of remaining stacked in the fields. 
Major T. has very fine, improved breeds of cat¬ 
tle, and raises his own mules. His long avenue, or 
road, is lined each side with the pride of China, and 
locust-trees, a mile and a half long, which I found 
very pleasant, in screening me from the scorching 
rays of the sun. At his mill he has machinery for 
shelling and grinding corn, and for crushing cobs ; 
also machines for sawing out boards, shingles, &c., 
all driven by horse-povv T er, or rather that of mules. 
He has a superior breed of hogs, the Irish grazier’s. 
The garden and shrubbery, on which he has display¬ 
ed much taste, were in fine order. The Major is from 
the good old Bay State, and one of the most enter- 
urising farmers in the South. 
About six miles further, towards the Mississippi, 
is M. E. Sanders’s walnut hill plantation, a beautiful 
and well managed place. Here also are fine cat- 
tie, hogs, goats, &c. Mule raising has also been 
practised by him, with success. The neatly-ar¬ 
ranged white-washed quarter is laid out in a hol¬ 
low square, encircled with the pride of China, and 
looks very comfortable. His gin arrangements de¬ 
serve more notice than I can give them. His cane- 
scaffolds for sunning and drying cotton are excellent. 
A high pale-fence surrounds the whole, all neatly 
whitewashed. Of his plantation there are 1.000 
acres, 900 of which are under cultivation or cleared. 
About a mile from the public road, in a romantic 
spot, you will find the residence of Capt. S., on his 
moorland place. Here you would be sure to be 
cheered with a cup of the best coffee, and meet with 
a genuine North Carolina greeting. I must not for¬ 
get the fine figs and sweet apples on which 1 re¬ 
galed. The Captain has a patch of sugar-cane, 
and no doubt can make sugar with success. 
On my way home, I called at the hospitable man¬ 
sion of my friend, Henry Dunn, Esq , who seemed 
to be gratified in showing me his plan of making 
and saving manure. He pens his cattle at night in 
a large enclosure, nearly level, on one side of 
which he makes saucer-like excavations, where 
he collects the droppings of the stock every few 
weeks, especially after a rain, having first drawn 
the same into small heaps, and then into large piles 
of a conical form, in which they remain till spring. 
This fall he intends to cover the enclosure with 
leaves, which will add much to the quantity and 
quality of the manure. In his crib-lot, he has a 
similarly prepared place for depositing horse ma¬ 
nure, around the border of which his little negroes 
pour water to kill all fly-blows, thousands of which 
I saw drowned in their efforts to crawl away ; and 
thus a great annoyance from stables is remedied. 
This is the first thing of the kind I have seen in the 
South. The old gentleman, over 70 years of age, 
attends to his own business, and is gratified in giv¬ 
ing his friends a genuine South Carolina welcome. 
Here you will find excellent figs, pears, apples, 
plums, and peaches. He Fas a splendid Durham 
cow and bull, a fine young stud, and excellent mules. 
At my friend Capell’s, I saw an excellent bull, a 
descendant of the Hon. H. Clay’s stock, brought 
there by a clever Shaker. He has also fine grafted 
fruits—the peach, apple, and pear, from Cincinnati. 
He has tried, and so have I, and is well pleased 
with your subsoil plows. On the road, I saw a 
splendid Durham bull, the property, I learned, of 
my friend Gunsby, whose new and beautiful house 
loomed up in the distance, from the road. 
A. W. Poole. 
Woodland, La., July 28th, 1847. 
ENGLISH ^GRASSES. 
Sweet-scented Vernal Grass ( Anthoxanthum 
odoratum). —This grass is capable of forming a part 
of the herbage of pastures on almost every kind of 
soil, though it arrives to perfection only on those 
which are deep and moist. Its chief merit consists 
in its early growth, though, in this respect, it is in¬ 
ferior to several other kinds of grass that are later 
in flowering. It thrives best when grown with 
several different species, and therefore constitutes a 
permanent grass for pasture. It is said to give to 
newly-mown hay that delightful odor peculiar to its 
blossoms, which diffuse their fragrance throughout 
the English pastures in the months of April and May. 
Golden Oat-Grass (Avena flavescens). — This 
grass is said never to thrive when cultivated simply 
by itself. It requires to be mixed with other kinds, 
in order to secure its continuance in the soil, and to 
produce in perfection. It thrives particularly well 
when sown with sweet-scented vernal grass, the 
crested dog’s-tail, and grasses generally suited for 
lawns. It prefers a calcareous soil that is rather dry, 
although it grows freely in meadows of almost any 
kind. 
Crested Dog’s-tail Grass ( Cynosurus crista - 
tus ).—This grass, in England, is considered an ex¬ 
cellent sheep-grass. It will thrive on a sandy 
loam on a retentive clayey subsoil, but will do bet¬ 
ter on a rich loam, highly manured. It is particu¬ 
larly adapted for mixing with other grasses in seed¬ 
ing down a pasture or lawn. 
