338 
THE CUT WORM. 
indolence or loose management prevail, there 
will be much complaining, however boundless 
the fertility of the soil. P. 
Milford , N. 1L , Sept. 20th, 1850. 
THE OUT WORM. 
I have learned through the press and other 
sources that the “ cut worm” has done irrepara¬ 
ble injury to the cotton plant this spring, and is 
still at work on some plantations in the parish. 
Until this season, I have uniformly been an ex¬ 
treme sutferer whenever they appeared in the 
country—never escaped before—but fortunate¬ 
ly for me, they have been “ few and far be¬ 
tween”—so far, doing my plants no harm. I 
think the cotton is now too large for them. It 
has been my study for some years to destroy or 
escape these worms—finally, for the first time, 
last year, I adopted the plan of burning off cot¬ 
ton and cornstalks, grass, and in fact every¬ 
thing combustible upon the field, in order to 
furnish as much ashes as possible to the land, 
generally knowing they are not fond of ashes 
nor of lime. This may have been some bene¬ 
fit, but I rely mostly upon late plowing—leav¬ 
ing the cotton land for the last, and break¬ 
ing it up deep with two horses, just upon plant¬ 
ing, say the 1st of April, thereby destroying 
millions of these worms, while they are gener¬ 
ating. By more early breaking up, they can 
remain under the cotton ridge and have suffi¬ 
cient time to breed an army before the young 
plant can possibly grow out of their reach. 
As a proof of this position, the few discovered 
in my field were of very small size. My cotton 
crop was planted between the 5th and 15th of 
April, considerably later than I usnally plant. 
I do not, presume, however, that the late plant¬ 
ing could have had much to do with it, because 
the cut worm is said to be worse upon the re¬ 
plant of May than the older stalks. I leave 
practical men to draw their own conclusions, 
still I must cling to mine, that it was the late 
ridging up of the land which saved me from 
the cut worm this year. 
If the publication of these hints, hastily 
thrown together, will have a tendency to relieve 
the cotton planter, in 1851, from the ravages 
of this vile enemy of our great staple, I shall 
be gratified. D. J. Fluker. 
East Feliciana, 3 d July, 1850. 
Protection of Oyster Beds. —It is quite time 
the legislators of our Atlantic states extend 
their cares over our oyster beds. Some gen¬ 
eral and politic regulations should be adopted, 
that shall secure to the rightful owner, whoever 
may be so designated by the law, a claim to 
his oyster beds as unquestionable, as is now ex¬ 
tended to herds and flocks. There is a lawless¬ 
ness, a prodigality, a recklessness in the man¬ 
agement of this species of property, that leads 
to an infinity of waste. The adoption of an in¬ 
telligent, judicious law, regulating this kind 
of property beyond any equivocation or mistake, 
would multiply this delicious viand immeasur¬ 
ably, and spread it in profusion on every man’s 
board, while it added millions to our products 
annually. 
WATER OXEN. 
We notice the arrival from Constanstinople, 
per bark New World, via Liverpool, of two pair 
of Asiatic buffalo calves, or as they are gener¬ 
ally called in the books, “ water oxen.” 
These animals have been imported by Dr. 
Davis, for Mr. Williams Middleton, whom we 
understand, some time since adapted, (by wire 
fencing,) a large extent of land for the rearing 
of cattle, and in which he has about one thou¬ 
sand head, sustained entirely by the natural re¬ 
sources of the land, not only giving him a large 
revenue, but adding greatly to the supply of 
veal, butter and beef markets in our city. 
A pair of these water oxen, brought out by 
Dr. Davis over a year since, are really objects 
of curiosity, (and of course of corresponding 
promise,) from their remarkable fatness, and 
this from feeding on the marsh grass of the 
Doctor’s farm. Mr. Middleton has, in his inclo¬ 
sure. a great deal of this marsh land, now val¬ 
ueless, which, we believe, he is now about to 
turn to good account with these animals. 
The water oxen disregard mud or bogs, and 
are hence well adapted, as working oxen, in 
such lands A great part of the day, they spend 
in Ashley River and an artificial pond on the 
Doctor’s farm, with only the nose out of water. 
They grow to an enormous size, the cows, 
tolerable milkers, and very fair as beef cattle. 
We are thus particular in this notice, hoping 
that the planters on our extensive marshes and 
rivers, where the freshets are so destructive to 
cattle, will examine into the capacities of these 
animals, and avail themselves of this facility of 
importation.— Charleston Mercury. 
STORM GLASS. 
This instrument consists of a glass tube, seal¬ 
ed at one end, and furnished with a brass cap at 
the other end, through which the air is admitted 
by a very small aperture. The tube is nearly 
filled with the following solution, which may be 
obtained of any apothecary or chemist:— 
Camphor, 2£ drachms; nitrate of potash, 38 
grains; muriate of ammonia, 38 grains; water, 
9 drachms; rectified spirit, 11 drachms. Dis¬ 
solve with heat. At the ordinary temperature 
of the atmosphere, plumose crystals are formed. 
On the approach of stormy weather, these 
crystals are often observed to occupy only the 
bottom of the tube, where they appear to be 
compressed into a compact mass; while, on the 
other hand, during the fine weather, they as¬ 
sume their plumose character, and extend a con¬ 
siderable way up the glass. These results de¬ 
pend upon the condition of the air, but they are 
not considered to afford any indication that can 
be relied upon of the approaching state of the 
weather. When exposed to a very low temper- 
ture, the compound camphor-liniment bottle af¬ 
fords the same appearance and indication as 
these storm glasses.— Pharmaceutical Journal. 
Fall Plowing.—I f you have leisure before 
the ground freezes, do not forget that one day 
of plowing stiff lands is worth two next spring— 
breaking prairie land always excepted^ 
