MOSSES ON MEADOWS, ETC. 
149 
VIRGINIAN SUMACH-RED-CEDAR POSTS. 
A writer, at p. 285, of your seventh volume, 
remarks that, Salem county, New Jersey, annu¬ 
ally exports, on an average, 50 tons of sumach, at 
$35 per ton. As a large quantity of wild sumach 
could be gathered in this county, where it grows 
in profusion, I have thought that I would like to 
make the experiment of gathering and shipping a 
quantity to New York ; but f am at a loss to know 
how to prepare it for market. Will you, therefore, 
be kind enough to inform the public through your 
columns of the best method of cutting, drying, and 
packing the above-named article, and the price it 
would probably bring in the New-York market ? 
{a) 
There is another article, also, about which I 
would elicit information ; that is, whether 
cedar, suitable for posts a large quantity of which 
grows on the islands off the coast, would bear 
transportation to New York and pay expenses. (6) 
E. R. 
Drummondtown , Va., February 20 th, 1849. 
(a) This question cannot be better answered and 
more to the point, than by the following extract 
from a little work, entitled the “ Theory and Prac¬ 
tice of Agriculture,” recently published by Mr. 
Partridge, of the firm of William Partridge and 
Son, dealers in dye stuffs, dye woods, &c., No. 27 
Cliff street, New York :—“ The annual shoots, or 
peduncles, with their leaves, [of the common su¬ 
mach of North America, such as is generally used 
by our country dyers, and, to a limited extent, by 
our morocco dressers,] are gathered, dried, and 
generally are used without grinding. I have never 
known nor heard of any regular manufacture of 
the article since I have been in the country ; and I 
shall now offer some observations which I hope 
may draw the attention of our southern planters 
to the advantage of cultivating it for our home 
market. 
“ It is well known that the most astringent veg¬ 
etables, or those containing the largest portion of 
gallic acid, are brought from warm climates; and 
the following facts will prove, that the quality of 
sumach also depends on the warmth of the climate 
in which it grows. The sumach grown in Europe 
is the Rhus coriaria. That which is grown in the 
north of Europe, and imported from Trieste, is in¬ 
ferior to our northern sumach, excepting a small 
portion grown in the Tyrol, and even this is not 
superior to the best American grown in New 
Jersey; whereas that grown in Sicily, Syria, Spain, 
Portugal, and Palestine, where it is cultivated with 
great care ; is found by experience to be vastly su¬ 
perior to that from Trieste, and will sell for nearly 
three times as much. A similar difference is ob¬ 
servable in the sumach grown in our own country. 
That from the southern side of New Jersey is su¬ 
perior to that obtained from the state of New York, 
and that from Virginia is superior to the New Jer¬ 
sey ; and I have no doubt that the same plant 
raised in our southern states, dried with proper 
care and fine ground, would be quite equal to the 
best imported. 
“ Sumach should be cut or gathered in clear 
weather, and should be so spread on a floor as to 
■dry rapidly; for if only a small part should fer¬ 
ment, the whole mass will be seriously injured in 
its marketable value. It should be fine ground 
when dry, and packed in bags containing one hun¬ 
dred and sixty pounds, net weight, wffiich makes 
fourteen bags to the ton. No rain nor dew should 
be permitted to fall on it after cutting; for even 
the damp from the hold of a ship will greatly in¬ 
jure its quality.” A good article usually sells in 
New York at the tanners, for $35 to $40 per ton. 
(5) Red-cedar posts, six or eight inches in diame¬ 
ter and ten feet in length, usually sell in New 
York, by the quantity, at 18 or 20 cents each. 
Round cedar timber, ten or more inches in diameter 
and from ten to twenty feet long, is worth from 
37£ to 50 cents per foot. 
MOSSES ON MEADOWS. 
Mosses on meadows, like vermin on cattle, are 
a consequence rather than a cause of evil. They in¬ 
dicate a deficiency of stamina, health, or condition 
in the field or animal, rather than induce it them¬ 
selves. But where either exist, they show some¬ 
thing radically deficient, which must first be 
remedied before any useful results can follow. A 
farmer might as well leave his money with sharp¬ 
ers, er his manure heap under a spout, as his mea¬ 
dows in moss, or his cattle covered with vermin. 
All are spendthrifts together; and if left to them¬ 
selves, will, like Pharaoh’s lean kine, soon con¬ 
sume his evidences of previous plenty and show 
no equivalents in return. But how are we to get 
rid of mosses in meadows ? Let us first see how 
they get there. The surest way to get rich, is first 
to know how you became poor. 
Mosses are generally the result of a feeble 
growth of the grasses on a moist surface. The 
moisture of the land is not of itself objectionable, 
but decidedly the reverse : but when the profitable 
occupants of the soil fail or become thin and mea¬ 
gre, the profitless are ever ready to come in and 
supply their places. This is the case with the 
mosses; and it is not till the cultivated plants have 
declined, that these have gathered strength. To 
remove the latter, the former should be put in the 
very best condition. Scarifying, harrowing, close¬ 
ly feeding, and treading them thoroughly by the 
sharp hoofs of sheep and cattle, are all useful in 
extirpating the mosses from meadows. Sowing 
strong quick lime over them, when recently mown, 
or after short cropping by animals, is attended with 
decided advantage. Ashes will sometimes produce 
a similar effect. Guano, when mixed with mold 
and sown broadcast, is exceedingly useful; and 
so, too, are compost manures of all kinds. These 
help -to destroy the mosses by invigorating the 
grasses. Properly draining, and especially thorough 
under draining the lands, is one of the most effi¬ 
cient modes of removing mosses and worthless 
aquatic plants. By carrying off all surplus, and f 
particularly stagnant waters, the atmosphere and I 
heat penetrate the soil and induce a vigorous, f 
healthy growth of the cultivated plants, and there- J 
by withdraw so much of the space and food which I 
otherwise would be monopolized by the intruders. , | 
When these and some other, of the most obvi¬ 
ous means of renovating meadows fail, there is no 
alternative, but to break up the sod and subject the 
field to another course of cultivation. It is not 
