1 9.9 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
ry quality as well as quantity-meat as well as size. 
The next step was its proper feeding, and to this last 
point he had paid much attention. One thing to which 
special notice should he paid, was the quantity of food 
given to animals. It was a maxim with some breeders 
to give them large quantities—to gorge them. This, 
however, was decidedly wrong. On the contrary, be 
careful not to furnish them with too much, or, in plain 
terms, more than the animal could thrive as well as 
fat upon. Again, it was necessary the animal should 
have a variety of food; for he had seen that, if breed¬ 
ers went on with feeding with one kind of food, the 
stomach got cloyed. As soon as he saw that taking 
place in his own beasts, he immediately changed the 
food. Whenever he walked through his yard, and 
found an animal not taking sustenance in proper quan¬ 
tities, he had him instantly removed from the rest, un¬ 
til his appetite was restored.” “ Another matter to 
which the attention of the breeder should be directed, 
was the quantity of water given to a beast. Every 
animal should be allowed to drink two or three times 
in a day, if it had not water always at command.” 
The brute, like the man, delights in variety. One 
kind of food soon cloys the appetite, arid excess de¬ 
ranges the digestive organs. We want drink, and salt, 
with every meal; and why not the brute?' Oh the sub¬ 
ject of manures, Mr. Shillito remarked. 
“The modern agriculturist, he thought, did not pay: 
sufficient attention to the manures made in the fold-yard. 
Sometimes he had been asked how his fatting animals 
paid him for the trouble of producing them. This, 
however, could not be answered by a mere reference 
to the sum he obtained for them by sale—but there was 
a variety of circumstances to be considered before he 
could answer it properly. For instance—the quantity 
of manure obtained from them was one—not wet straw, 
but good manure. There was another thing which re¬ 
quired attention—when the manure was carred from 
the fold-yards into the fields, it was suffered to lie in a 
large heap for a long time—so long, indeed, that before 
it was spread upon the land its qualities had perished. 
He was aware that it required a certain time for fer¬ 
mentation to take place, but it was frequently left till 
such fermentation had passed off. It was his practice, 
as soon as the heaps were raised on the field, to throw 
a quantity of mould upon it, and thus prevent evapora¬ 
tion taking place too rapidly. Proper attention ought 
also be paid to draining the fold-yard. The produce 
saved was now in ten out of twelve instances lost. It 
would be advisable when the yard had a fall, to esta¬ 
blish conveniences for catching it, and then convey it to 
the lands. In France and the Netherlands they were 
extremely careful in preserving this liquid manure, and 
the peasants might be seen conveying it out to the 
fields, and giving each plant a proper proportion.” 
BATH AND WEST OF ENGLAND AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
At the meeting held in December, Dr. Wilkinson 
communicated the result of a useful invention of Mr. 
Perkins, for the warming of houses, by which any de¬ 
gree of heat might be obtained, and a room once warm¬ 
ed might be kept at one equal temperature. The ex¬ 
pense on the whole would be less than the present mode 
of warming rooms. 
Dr. Wilkinson proposed a premium of £20 for the 
best essay on the theory of De Candolle and Maeaire, 
that the excrementitious matter of plants is poisonous 
to similar plants. 
Mr. G. W. Hall interposed doubts of the correctness 
of this theory. He had grown one plant on the same 
ground for twenty years following. On the subject of lime 
he would mention to the meeting one other purpose for 
which he had found it beneficial. It was to convey an 
increased degree of temperature to lands about to be 
cultivated, which it did, if used in a caustic state. His 
method was to break the lime as small as possible, and 
spread it on the ground, and then half plough it in, and 
he found that a greater luxuriance of vegetation was 
produced. 
HOLKHAM CATTLE SALE. 
The stock sold at this sale were highly commended, 
and the prices at which they sold are at once an evi¬ 
dence of the fineness of the breeds, and of good man¬ 
agement. Four three year old North Devon steers 
were sold at an average price for each of £36=$160; 
other oxen sold at £34; South Down wethers, two 
years old, at £4.8; yearlings at £3.6, and pigs at 
£5.6.8. 
DESICCATED MANURE. 
James Sheppard publishes, in the Mark Lane Ex¬ 
press, that he can make it fully appear, by experiments 
he has made the last fifteen months, that the loss con¬ 
sequent upon the waste of the fertilizing matters annu¬ 
ally conveyed by the common sewers of London into 
the Thames, amounts to nearly £500,000, or more than 
$2,000,000. By means of a disinfecting powder, the 
mass of putridity is deprived of its noxious effluvia in 
ten minutes; and in twenty-four hours a fine rich black 
mould compost is produced, fit for immediate use, or 
for shipping, either in sacks or bulk. The disinfecting 
powder, applied to liquids, absorbs the whole, and 
forms a black mould, and may at any time be removed 
without any annoyance to the public, or those employ¬ 
ed in its transportation or application to the land. A 
ton of this desiccated manure is stated to be equal, in 
fertilizing properties, to thirty-six tons of fold-yard ma¬ 
nure. It sells at Paris, where it has been longest in 
use, at 50s per ton, or eleven dollars. 
An establishment has been made at New-York, by 
Mr. Minos, for converting the filth of that city into fer* 
tilizing materials for our lands, by means similar to 
those suggested by Mr. Sheppard; and high considera¬ 
tions of cleanliness and health, as well as those which 
appertain to rural economy, and the productiveness of 
the soil, forcibly concur in inducing us to wish success 
to the undertaking. These facts certify to the farmer, 
that there is fertility and value in every decaying ani¬ 
mal and vegetable substance about the farm; and should 
admonish him to husband and apply them to the soil. 
To Correspondents. 
STEEPING SEED WHEAT. 
We have two communications from Mr. J. Hatha¬ 
way, persisting in his notion, that the germinating 
power of Italian wheatis destroyed by steeping it a few 
hours in brine; though Mr. H. admits, that his results 
might in some measure have been produced by the 
grain having been passed through a smut machine. 
On the other hand, Mr. Hathaway’s neighbor, B. P. 
Johnson writes us, that he soaked the seed for six acres, 
in a pickle as strong as he could make it, to which he 
added salt petre, for fourteen hours, and that he never 
has known wheat come finer and better. In another 
case his wheat was soaked twenty-four hours, in brine 
that would bear an egg—and afterwards remained in a 
barrel ten or twelve days, was then sown, and gave a 
product of 24 bushels to the acre. We have other no¬ 
tices to the same effect, which it is hardly necessary to 
detail, as we feel a perfect confidence, from the ten, 
nay hundreds of thousands of trials that have success¬ 
fully been made, that steeping seed grain in brine, and 
liming it, does not destroy its vegetating principle. 
Yet there is one other case we may quote, which, if 
there were doubts remaining, would seem to set the 
matter at rest. Mr. Medary, editor of the Ohio Farm¬ 
er, steeped the Italian wheat eighty-four hours, in a 
warm temperature, in a pickle so strongly saturated 
with salt as to coat the grain—and yet every seed grew. 
In another instance, the seed remained in the liquid, or 
brine, three weeks-, and of this, too, every seed appear¬ 
ed to grow. 
While on this subject of steeps, we will detail a fact 
communicated to us by Mr. £, V. French, of Braintree, 
Mass. He steeped seed corn in a solution of salt petre, 
and planted some of it upon dry, and some upon wet 
ground; not more than a tenth of the latter grew, 
while seed not soaked, planted upon wet ground, came 
well. The steeped seed planted upon dry ground, came 
up almost without a failure. We leave to naturalists the 
solution of the questions, why Mr. French’s soaked 
corn, planted in wet ground, and Mr. Hathaway’s brin¬ 
ed wheat, did not grow. They seem both to be excep¬ 
tions to a general law. 
“ A subscriber ” is informed, that T. A. Knight, the 
distinguished horticulturist, is dead, and of course can¬ 
not answer his questions. 
“ A Winchester Patron” is informed that we do not 
understand what he means by “tinning” his plum and 
cherry trees, to prevent the ravages of the curculio. 
This insect is furnished with wings, and does not, we 
believe, crawl up the body of the tree. We repeat it, 
hogs and poultry, if suffered to range among the trees, 
are the best security we know of, against the curculio 
which blasts and destroys our fruits. The insect which 
injures the foliage of the gooseberry, may be destroy¬ 
ed, or avoided, we think, by dusting the bushes with 
lime, or sulphur, or sprinkling them with a weak brine, 
occasionally. 
Horn-ail —To prevent this, Mr.W. Hardrick, of Bain- 
bridge, wishes us to say, he cuts off only half of the 
bush of the animal’s tail! Rather a dubious preven¬ 
tive, we think. 
Rohan Potato and Fruit Trees —J. D. Legare, of 
Grey Sulphur Springs, Va. wishes us to advise him, to 
whom he shall apply, at Paris, for Rohan potatoes, 
and fruit trees. All of these we can furnish to Mr. Le¬ 
gare, as we are growing them all for sale in our 
grounds; but if Mr. L. is particularly desirous of ob¬ 
taining them from France, we recommend that he ap¬ 
ply through Messrs. Vilmorin, Andrieux & Co. Seeds¬ 
men, Paris. As to the character of the Rohan potato, 
we have no hesitation in saying, that, according to the 
seed sown, it is far the most productive of any Variety 
we know. We cannot judge so well of its quality for 
the table, never having tasted of but one. We should 
class it second, though others class it first, among our 
good northern potatoes. 
Clover Seed —John Young, of S. Carolina, asks infor¬ 
mation as to the best method of separating clover seed 
from the chaff. This operation is performed, at the north, 
after the heads have been beaten from the stems with 
a flail, by ma chines, propelled by water, horse, and some¬ 
times by manual power. There are several kinds of 
machines used for this purpose. Burrall’s, (see Culti¬ 
vator, vol. II. p. 130.) with the attendance of one man, 
cleans from 16 to 32 quarts of seed in an hour. Price 
of machine $60. 
$3= We beg leave to observe to our brethren who con¬ 
duct agricultural journals, that the “Hints to young 
Farmers,” are original in the Cultivator—and that we 
design to quote or credit what we borrow from others. 
The conqueror is regarded with awe; the wiseman 
commands our esteem; but it is the benevolent man 
who wins our affections—he alone is beloved.— Fr. 
Gaming is the offspring of avarice and the father of 
despair.— Fr. Prov. 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
Climate, &c. of South Florida. 
NUMBER TWO. 
Key West , July 4, 1838. 
The soil of South Florida, especially at the cape, 
is generally considered the very essence of barren¬ 
ness. The process of reasoning is, that inasmuch 
as it will not profitably produce" those crops which 
our fathers were accustomed to raise, it is therefore 
good for nothing. It is true that in that vicinity 
there cannot probably be found more than five or 
six acres in any one body, of a similar character to 
the rich soils of the north. And these small spots 
are so few and far between, that if they were in¬ 
deed the only valuable lands in the country, the 
whole of it, as General Jessup fretfully says, had 
better be surrendered at once to the savages and 
wild animals that now roam there. But happily 
there are many people of intelligence who would be 
glad to purchase these worthless lands of the go¬ 
vernment, and become actual settlers on them for 
life ; leaving to those who are content to follow the 
footsteps of their predecessors, the privilege of 
thronging “westward ho!” to raise wheat upon 
the luxuriant lands of Michigan, or cotton in the 
speculator’s paradise of Texas. And these people 
esteem it a blessing that neither sugar nor cotton 
can be profitably cultivated in the country which 
they have chosen before all others for their perma¬ 
nent homes. 
The face of the the country is diversified by ridg¬ 
es of pine land, intervening dry savannas, occasion¬ 
al hammocks, and the wet prairies of the everglade ; 
each of which divisions I intend to describe as par¬ 
ticularly as possible. The substratum of the whole 
country is a solid bed of limestone of unknown 
depth, but so soft as to be easily broken and dug 
up by a pick axe, or hewn into form by any suita¬ 
ble instrument. It becomes much harder and white 
by exposure to the atmosphere. 
The pine ridges are the most elevated parts of the 
country ; but I suspect they are nowhere more than 
twenty feet high, the timber is a kind of pitch pine, 
with straight small trunks, and irregular branching 
tops. Their general heighth, were I to venture a 
guess, cannot be more than seventy or eighty feet; 
and the largest of them do not exceed two feet irs 
diameter. Their trunks are free from limbs, and 
the ground is entirely unobstructed by underwood, 
and clothed with grass; thus affording extensive 
natural pastures for grazing animals, and beautiful 
fields for horse-back riding, hunting and other 
amusements. The indigenous grass of the country 
is not the best that the soil is capable of producing. 
The Guinea grass has been growing there for many 
years, and thrives to great perfection. The soil is 
in some places deep enough to admit of ploughing; 
but in others it is so shallow and stony as to prevent 
even the use of the hoe. 
The savannas, lying between the pine ridges, are 
in some places clothed with a thick stout growth of 
rank grass ; and in others, with a more thin and 
stinted kind, indicating a poorer soil. But what 
the soil is, I cannot say, never having examined it. 
These savannas are generally dry, though they are 
subject to occasional inundations, for a lew days in 
the rainy season, by the fresh water from the ever¬ 
glades. As the glade rises, its surplus water runs 
over into the valleys, in which ibis dammed up by 
a pine ridge; in some places but a few rods in 
width, running along the shore of the bay. Behind 
and parallel with this ridge, for ten or twelve miles 
in extent, lies a savanna connected with these, 
which receives the overflowing waters. In all these 
valleys the water stands until it can find its way to 
the bay through underground channels, which are 
not sufficient to conduct it off as fast as it accumu¬ 
lates. 
These facts naturally suggest the important in¬ 
quiry whether the dyke which dams up the surplus 
waters might not be easily cut away—and if so, 
whether the current of water which the opening 
would create, would not of itself wear a number of 
channels deep enough to admit water at all times of 
the year, to pass from the glade to the bay. But 
admitting that artificial streams may not be furnish¬ 
ed so easily, it is reasonable to suppose that some 
such can be made with no great expense in digging 
away the obstructions which the water alone may 
not be able to remove. Thus water power would 
be created in various places along the shore of the 
bay—the very points at which it would be most use¬ 
ful. 
The wet -prairies of the everglade would also by 
this process, in a great measure, be reclaimed, thus 
rendering’ large bodies of valuable land susceptible 
of cultivation, which otherwise would remain use¬ 
less. These prairies, in some places extend further 
than the eye can reach, and are so uniformly level, 
that by lowering the waters of the glade not more 
