HOW MUCH LIME WILL AN ACRE OF LAND BEAR WITHOUT INJURY ? 
207 
for market after it is grown, is so remarkable, 
and so little known, that I will give the particu¬ 
lars. 
In gathering it from the field, great care is tak¬ 
en to keep it clean and free from trash and 
stained locks. Upon the drying scaffold it is 
sorted over before packing away in the cotton 
house. When ginning, in fair weather, it is 
again spread upon the scaffold, and assorted. 
Some run it through a machine called a 
“ trasher,” that whips it up and takes out sand 
and loose dirt. It then goes to the gins, which- 
are the same kind first invented; none of the 
many new inventions have been found efficient, 
and the Whitney gin totally unfit for Sea-Island 
cotton. These simple machines are feet high, 
2 feet long, and 1 wide, with an iron fly wheel 
like that of a “ box cornsheller,” upon each 
side, working a pair of wooden rollers, made of 
hard oak, about ten inches long and nearly 
an inch in diameter, held together by screws. 
In one instance, I saw a simple spring bearer 
under the lower roller and an iron one on top, 
to prevent the cotton from winding. These 
rollers wear out, and have to be replaced by 
new ones every day. I would recommend gutta¬ 
percha, as worthy a trial, as a substitute for 
wood, as something tough and hard is required. 
The rollers are moved by the foot, like a small 
turning lathe, the operator standing at one end 
of the gin, feeding the cotton very slowly through 
the rollers, leaving the smooth black seeds be¬ 
hind. A “ task” is from 20 to 30 lbs. a-day, ac¬ 
cording to quality. Twenty or thirty of these 
little machines stand in one room ; and strange 
to say, none of those who have attempted to 
propel them by other power have succeeded. 
One very intelligent gentleman told me that he 
had spent $5,000 in trying experiments in ma¬ 
chinery to gin this kind of cotton. 
From the gins, the cotton is taken to the mote 
table, where a woman looks it over very care¬ 
fully and picks out every little mote or -stained 
lock, as fast as two men gin. From the mote 
table it goes through the hands of a general su¬ 
perintendent, or overlooker, and then to the 
packer. This operation is done by sewing the 
end of a bag over a hoop, and suspending it 
through a hole in the floor, and in this, the pack¬ 
er stands with a wooden or iron pestle, packing 
one bale of about 350 lbs. a-day, as fast as it is 
ginned; as exposure to the air injures the qual¬ 
ity, and it is not so salable in square bales 
packed in presses, as it is in hand-packed bags. 
The whole operation of preparing this valua¬ 
ble staple for market requires the nicest work 
and careful watching of the operatives, as a lit¬ 
tle carelessness injures the value to the con¬ 
sumer. It is worth from 30 to 50 cents a pound 
—more than common wool. 
The cultivation of these plantations is exceed¬ 
ing neat—too much so, probably, for the great¬ 
est profit, as has been proved, I think, by Mr. 
Townsend, in the use of plows instead of hoes. 
Mr. T. has also proved that sugar cane will 
grow well, and has put up a small mill, and 
made some sugar. The cane matures fifteen 
joints and granulates well. 
HOW MUCH LIME WILL AW ACRE OF LAND BEAR 
WITHOUT INJURY ? 
This is a question often asked and as often 
answered in various ways. Some persons con¬ 
tend that no more than fifty bushels of slacked 
lime should ever be used at once, while others 
are of the opinion that it is better to put on 100 
bushels at first than to make two or three jobs 
of it; and that there is no danger of an over¬ 
dose ; while, on the other hand, it is alledged that 
too much will kill the land. Now, how much is 
“ too much ?’ This depends much upon the na¬ 
ture of the soil. 
The largest amount within my knowledge, 
was applied by James P. Corbin, Esq., of Caro¬ 
line county, Virginia, upon cold, clayey land, 
known in that region as “ pewtery land,” be¬ 
cause, when wet, it seems to run together some¬ 
what like melted pewter, with a glistening sur¬ 
face. Upon two acres, he put 1,600 bushels, 
and plowed deep, drained well, and planted 
in corn, and made a good crop. It was then 
sowed in wheat, and when I saw it in April, it 
looked far better than any upon adjoining land, 
and about two thirds as good as that upon 
which guano was applied—one costing $64 and 
the other $5 an acre. I cannot advise others 
to follow suit, though the experiment, so far, has 
proved that some land cannot be “ killed with 
lime.” __ S. 
EASY METHOD OF DRAWING- WATER FROM A 
DEEP WELL. 
One of the best pieces of mechanism that I 
have seen for this purpose, was applied to a 
well 80 feet deep, by W. P. Carmichael, at his 
mother’s, Mrs. C’s. residence on the Sand Hills, 
near Augusta, Georgia. It is upon the same 
plan as the simple hoisting apparatus of a store ; 
or that described at p. 177 of the current vol¬ 
ume ; that is, an endless rope, to which two 
buckets are attached, passing over a wheel, about 
six feet in diameter, which turns the barrel up¬ 
on which the rope is wound. A hinged lid, on 
top of the well curb, directly over each bucket, 
is thrown back as the bucket comes up, and 
as soon as clear, falls, and the bucket is eased 
back and stands upon it till wanted again. 
A boy a dozen years old can draw water with 
this apparatus without fatigue. A pipe leads 
from a tub by the side of the well to the stable, 
about 150 yards off, thus affording a convenient 
watering place for the stock. R. 
Wireworms Destroyed by Soda Ash. —The 
Highland Agricultural Journal asserts, that soda 
ash will kill the wire worm. There is little 
doubt of this, if applied in its caustic state 
directly upon the worm ; but when he is cov¬ 
ered with a stout jacket, consisting of several 
inches of earth, we opine, a blister might be 
applied to the overcoat of a patient with equal 
hope of success. However, like the post-mortem 
ingenuity of the old man who bequeathed the 
pot of gold to that lucky finder who should 
most industriously dig over the vineyard where 
it was alledged to have been buried, the appli¬ 
cation would undoubtedly result in largely 
augmented crops. 
