120 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
new varieties, through their seminal organs, or seed vessels, 
if they are of the same genera, or varieties of the same spe¬ 
cies; and the progeny, as in animals, will be like the pa¬ 
rents, good or bad, better or worse than the female, accord¬ 
ing to the quality of the male, which impregnates or fecun¬ 
dates the female sexual organ. 
3. Many of our field and garden seeds are greatly deterio¬ 
rated in this way. Hence, among gardeners, no two kinds 
of cabbage, or of turnip, &c. are allowed to seed near each 
other, lest they should change the variety desired to be pre¬ 
served pure ; hence florists destroy single and imperfect 
flowers, lest they should fecundate and spoil the seed for 
double flowers; and hence, too, our field seeds deteriorate, 
under careless husbandry, until they become in a manner 
worthless. 
4. The potato will mix, like other plants, through the 
blossom and ball, but not through the tuber; that is, the seed 
of the ball will produce new varieties, but the tubers will 
not. 
5. We think perennials and annuals will not mix, though 
of the same genera. 
6. Different species and varieties of the cucumber, melon 
and squash will mix with some of their own genera, but not 
with another genera, and not with all of their own; as, for 
instance, we doubt if the seed of the muskmelon is affected 
by the contiguous growth of the cucumber; or the seed of 
the watermelon by the contiguous growth of the squash, 
though the two first belong to the cucumis, and the two lat¬ 
ter to the cucurbita family. Again—the egg plant, tomato 
and potato belong to the genera solamum, yet we do not think 
the blossoms of the one affects the seeds of the other.— Con¬ 
ductor. 
Poudrette Manure. 
Mr. J. Buel —Dear Sir— I purchased last spring, a 
few bushels of this article, which I applied to corn and 
potatoes; making experiments of different quantities to 
the hill, in order to test its strength more fully. The 
experiments have resulted favorably—one hand full or 
a gill, being sufficient in the hill to cause either corn or 
potatoes to vegetate sooner, and outgrow what was 
planted at the same time on other manure. It has also 
been tried in this county on wheat, and I am informed 
that it answers an excellent purpose. I believe it to be 
more fertilizing, and at the same time cheaper, than any 
other manure used in the vicinity of New-York. It may 
be put up in barrels, and sent to any part of the coun¬ 
try. 
“ The New-York Urate and Poudrette Company ,” by 
whom it is prepared, is located on the Hackensack ri¬ 
ver, New-Jersey, having an office in New-York city, 
where orders are received. 
JOHN G. BERGEN. 
Brooklyn, Kings co. July 18, 1839. 
Underdraining with Pine Gutters. 
Southampton, Va. July 8, 1839. 
Judge Buel —Sir— I get good information from some 
of your correspondents; and what little I know about 
underdraining, your correspondents shall be welcome 
to, if you think it worth publishing. 
About six or seven years ago, I put down an under¬ 
drain in the following way:—In the first place, I cut a 
ditch the width of the spade, deep enough to make the 
land dry, and was careful to make it well. I then 
sawed blocks off of logs, about eight inches long, and 
rived them three or four inches wide and one inch thick, 
and lay these pieces across the ditch, about five or six 
feet apart, and «ettled them level with the bottom of the 
ditch. I then went to our piney old fields, where we 
have a plenty of pine poles, and cut those down about 
eight inches through, and dug them out ; n gutters; the 
poles may be from 12 to 18 feet long. After I got a 
sufficient number of these gutters dug out, I hauled 
them to the ditch, and commenced at the upper end of 
the ditch, and laid the first down, the big end of the pole 
at the upper end of the ditch, and the second pole was 
to lap on the little end of the first, and so on, until I 
finished. After all the poles were down, I hauled pine 
straw or pine brush, and filled the ditch about half full, 
and then returned the dirt, and the ditch was done fore¬ 
ver. Since I put down the first drain, I have put down 
about 900 yards, and if I live, I intend to put down in 
the same way, all the ditching I shall make the balance 
of my life time. The durability depends upon how long 
the gutters will last; but as the air cannot get to them, I 
believe they will last 50, or perhaps 100 years. Yours, 
& c . JESSE LANKFORD. 
N. B. The big end of one pole is to lap six or eight 
inches over the small end of the other. 
Bloody Murrain. 
Judge Buel— Sir—Under this head I find in your 
last (July) Cultivator, a piece written by A H.F.Payne, 
(who appears to be a resident of the state of Missouri,) 
on his experience of the bloody murrain in cattle. As 
he appears to be unacquainted with the disease and its 
preventive, I am induced, from a long experience, to 
endeavor to throw some light upon that subject, for the 
benefit of those living in countries subject to that fatal 
disease, which I believe all new countries are subject to, 
while their cattle run at large through the summer sea¬ 
son. 
1. I hold that one ounce of prevention is worth a pound 
of cure. 
2. I have found that wood ashes given in equal parts 
with salt, at the usual times of giving my cattle salt, for 
the last twenty years, has been a certain preventive.— 
This is my remedy—try it, Mr. Payne. 
3. The bloody murrain is occasioned by an extended 
and overflowing gall, affecting the liver, causing the 
leeches or blood-suckers therein, and the flow of blood 
outward or inward, and death follows. Many other 
prescriptions might be given for reducing the gall, but I 
know of nothing so handy and cheap as to mix ashes 
with salt. Cattle themselves apply the remedy when 
they can come at lye made of wood ashes. 
4. As the disease prevails more in new countries than 
old, and vastly more with cattle that run in the woods 
than with those in enclosed pastures, I infer that the 
woods herbage induces these extended galls to a ruin¬ 
ous extent. As the gall is some time in accumulating, 
it will be some time in diminishing; by this course, 
therefore, no person should trust a few messes in a sea¬ 
son, or a cure when the liver is rotten. The working 
ox, the milch cow, the young and the old, the fat and 
the lean, I have had and seen die with the murrain, but 
all had extended galls that I ever examined; and perhaps 
no country has been more afflicted with this disease 
than the Western Reserve, in the state of Ohio, of which 
I have been a resident for thirty-five years, and am a 
practical farmer, and have not lost a creature with the 
murrain for the last eighteen or twenty years. Although 
I have now no occasion to let my cattle run in the woods, 
I still continue to use ashes with salt, fearing the result 
of neglect, having formerly lost many cattle. 
I am sorry to hear that Mr. Payne is paying $5 per 
bushel for Baden corn, and that all a cheat. I think in 
his climate, the good yellow flint and perhaps red cob 
would do just as well; but he probably thought that 
when men had been detected in selling wooden pork 
hams, neatly canvassed, wooden nutmegs, and mullein 
for tobacco seed, &c. that the rogues had done cheat¬ 
ing. Most respectfully yours, 
JONATHAN WARNER. 
Ashtabula co. Ohio, July 15, 1839. 
Hon. J. Buel —Dear Sir—Judge Warner, the writer 
of the above article, is a practical farmer, residing in 
this place, and a man who has had many years expe¬ 
rience in horticulture, and I hope you will give his ar¬ 
ticle a place in your valuable paper. Very respectful¬ 
ly, S. MTNTYRE, P. M. 
Force of Prejudice—Utility of Premiums. 
“ Men are fond of certain tenets, upon no other evidence but 
respect and custom; and think they must maintain them, 
or all is gone. Though they have never examined the 
ground they stand on, nor have ever made them out to 
themselves, or can make them out to others.”— Locke. 
This remark is applicable not to the understanding 
alone, but to the continual practice of men in their 
every day pursuits. No occupation is exempt from it, 
and upon none does this blind servility of the mind ex¬ 
ercise a wider or more pernicious influence than upon 
agriculture. 
Farmers generally are proverbial for prejudice, and 
an obstinate adherence to old fashioned and long tried 
methods of doing every thing; and nothing but the ex¬ 
ample of others, making the results of their innovations 
palpably and undeniably beneficial, will ever effect a 
change. This disinclination to change, or to adopt 
“newfangled notions,” as they are frequently termed, 
arises from several causes; foremost of which may be 
considered the situation of farmers, retired, and beyond 
the influence of public spirit, and that enterprise and 
energy of character which impels others to improve¬ 
ment. Secondly, the want of means or capital to risk 
any deviation from a long tried course, without the cer¬ 
tainty of remuneration. And, lastly, ignorance, the fos¬ 
ter mother of prejudice and conceit, handed down from 
one generation to another, nursing itself in its own 
blind self-sufficiency, and effectually excluding the light 
which science, reason and philanthropy are struggling 
to disseminate for the benefit of others. 
It is, however, cause of gratification, that the atten¬ 
tion of farmers has at length, in some measure, been 
aroused, and that they are beginning to shake off the 
apathy that has so long enchained them. For the last 
three years, in many parts of our land, there has been 
a steadily increasing, and permanent improvement in 
the art, which, considering the small amount of light 
diffused, and the strength of prejudice opposed to it, 
has scarcely a parallel in the annals of agriculture. It 
is true, in parts of the old world, the products of the 
soil have been increased to a most wonderful degree; 
yet the improvement has been more gradual and limited 
in its extent; confined to certain districts or counties, 
where intelligence, united with ample means for expe¬ 
riment, guided the large proprietors in their endeavors 
to improve their unproductive estates. In this country 
there has been no stimulus of that kind to arouse the 
energies or to excite the ambition of the humble culti¬ 
vators of the soil; content to live from hand to mouth, 
earning a mere subsistence, our farmers have groped 
along in the same beaten track, for the last fifty years. 
But light at last is beginning to dawn upon their be¬ 
nighted faculties. The press—that powerful instru¬ 
ment of good or ill—is insinuating itself into every 
hamlet and cottage. Rail-roads and steam-boats have 
raised, as by an enchanter’s wand, fertile valleys and 
pretty villages from the deep seclusion of remote dis¬ 
tance, to the admiring eyes of men of taste and science 
from the city. Intelligence and capital are at work in 
the country, developing its capabilities, and adding in¬ 
terest and beauty to its natui'al charms. Science has in¬ 
vaded the territories of ignorance and simplicity, and 
lo! the change. 
Yet the struggle has but commenced; although in 
many favored parts, the genius of improvement has 
alighted in her course, still there is a vast extent of 
territory where the obstinacy of habit, and blind ado¬ 
ration of ancient customs, are still to be combatted and 
overcome. How this is most readily to be effected, is 
yet a matter of question; in the great work of reforma- 
tion and improvement, our agricultural papers are cer¬ 
tainly, so far, entitled to the largest share of merit; *ut 
their influence has been mostly confined to the upper 
class of farmers—-men of intelligence and property, who 
expect to realize a certain percentage for their invest¬ 
ments ; which, failing to obtain in the ordinary methods 
of cultivation, they seize with avidity upon any thing 
which promises better; and partial success prompts to 
further experiment. With these, prudence and a just 
economy are all that is necessary. Once excite the 
energies of an intelligent mind—let it be interested in 
the occupation before it, and its course must be onward. 
The field of agriculture is the field of science, and the 
further we advance in it, the brighter and more inte¬ 
resting are the charms unfolded to our view. 
It is the poorer, and by far the larger class of farmers, 
for whom the sympathies of the more enlightened should 
be enlisted. Their improvement offers a wide field to 
the philanthropist and patriot also; for as they excel 
in numbers, so also must their efforts affect the general 
prosperity of our common country. But their numbers 
exclude the possibility of individual exertions in their 
behalf. By furnishing them with cheap publications, 
or giving them access to works of science which they 
can comprehend, we may certainly benefit a few, but 
the great mass must be operated upon in a different 
manner; with them, the value of any instruction can¬ 
not be appreciated, unless its connection with material 
improvement be distinctly shown. They must be spo¬ 
ken to in the language of dollars and cents, and this can 
only be afforded by legislative bounty, in the shape of 
premiums, for excelling in the different branches of their 
business. Tell a man who has been accustomed to get 
his stock through the winter, by feeding them the re¬ 
fuse and unmarketable forage from his hay or grain 
crops, that it would be better to devote time and labor 
to the cultivation of roots for the same purpose, and he 
cannot comprehend you; nor will he, so long as he does 
not clearly see the advantage; but urge him to the at¬ 
tempt by offering a sufficient inducement, in the shape 
of a premium for any particular crop, and when it is 
once grown, it must be either fed or sold. In either 
case it acts beneficially; for it must be obvious to the 
dullest mind, that what will remunerate the purchaser, 
certainly must the producer, if consumed in the like 
manner. 
The same argument holds good with stock, and all 
the various products of the farm. Offer sufficient in¬ 
ducement to raise none but the best, and the poor will 
speedily disappear. And why should it not be so ?— 
Can our legislators, who have frowned down every ef¬ 
fort to extract but a pittance for this noble purpose, offer 
one plausible reason for withholding it? Can they be 
so wilfully blind as to refuse to see its benefits, or so 
wanting in patriotism as to deny but a small amount 
fora public good, when they unhesitatingly lavish thou¬ 
sands for the enrichment of the few, who openly specu¬ 
late upon the property of that public? If so, then upon 
them should be cast the reproach which now attaches 
itself to the low state of agriculture in our country.— 
And let those who now feel the reproach, manifest their 
indignation in the proper place, and when the proper 
time arrives. 
Our farmers are justly termed the bone and sinew of 
our country. It is high time for them to show the 
strength of the material they are made of. Let their 
voices speak from the ballot box—let them discard all 
party distinctions, and look only to the integrity and 
honesty of their candidate, and let him be one who has 
shown, by his exertions in their behalf, that he has his 
country’s good at heart. L. 
New-York, July, 1839. 
Experiments with Poudrette. 
Narrows, L. I. July 23, 1839. 
Mr. Buel —Having procured a few bushels of pou¬ 
drette from the New-York Urate and Poudrette com¬ 
pany, wlio are extensively engaged in its manufacture, 
for the purpose of making experiments to test its effica¬ 
cy, I will give the results as far as present appeal an- 
ces indicate, for insertion in your valuable journal, if 
you deem them worthy of a notice. 
A compost was made by mixing the article in ques¬ 
tion with city-stable and hog manure, in such propor¬ 
tions as to make the cost of a bushel of the mixture 
double that of the same volume of the stable and hog 
manure. This compost was used for cucumbers, me¬ 
lons and corn: putting the usual quantity in the hills in 
some rows, and in ethers less: in the growth of the 
vines of the two first and yield of the cucumbers, I find 
nothing to warrant a belief of sufficient advantage to 
compensate for the extra expense; but the corn, when 
it came up, was of a darker green, grew more rapidly, 
and still holds the ascendency over the adjoining rows, 
which were manured in the usual manner. Two rows 
of corn adjoining the others were also manured with 
half a pint, and two rows with a pint in a hill of the 
poudrette alone, covering it with soil previous to drop¬ 
ping the seed; for I find by experience that corn does 
not prosper when planted in contact with hot ferment¬ 
ing manure: in the growth of these rows there is but 
little difference; those containing the largest quantity 
excelling; but they all flourish more than any others in 
the field', and are also superior to those in which the 
compost was used. A pint of poudrette mixed with the 
soil in each hill, was applied to two rows of cucumbers; 
these appear to grow and yield about as well as the ad¬ 
joining rows, in which the ordinary manure was used. 
