THE CULTIVATOR. 
83 
each hand was expected to do half an acre, but if the 
dig'ging had been deep, twenty compasses alone were 
required, thus striking off ten compasses from the half 
acre. In trenching, each man was expected to do three- 
quarters of an acre, except the guage men, who, from 
the accuracy required of them, did only half an acre; 
or, in other words, they were each required to trench a 
number of rows equal to one hundred and twenty rows, 
of one hundred and fifty feet in length. Two acres was 
the task for a prime sower, and three-quarters of an acre 
for those who covered the rice. 
Mr. Myrick put his trunks down to low water mark, 
and as nearly opposite the centre of the field as possible. 
One trunk, twenty-eight feet long, three feet and a half 
wide, and eighteen or twenty inches deep in the clear to 
every field of twenty acres, he deemed sufficient. 
LETTER FROM MISSISSIPPI. 
Editors of the Cultivator —During last year, 
some kind frined, I know not who, (but if this ever 
reaches his eye, I beg him to accept my heart-felt grati¬ 
tude,) sent me the seven first numbers of the 9th vol. of 
your most valuable paper. I need not assure you that as 
a planter, I read it with the greatest pleasure and profit; 
indeed, so much was I pleased, that I determined to be¬ 
come a subscriber this year. 
Although the ‘‘ Cultivator ” is published in a state 
where perhaps a cotton plant never grew, yet do we of 
the south, where cotton is the great, I may say the only 
staple, derive the greatest benefit from its perusal. I 
would, indeed, its circulation were extended over the 
whole south; it is just the thing we want—a newspaper 
that advocates economy in every department, the pro¬ 
ducing every thing at home, and which, by the way, 
tells so many ways how these can be done. With us, 
heretofore, it has been too much the case that every 
thing has been sacrificed to increase the production of 
cotton. When this article yielded from $50 to $80 per 
bale of 400 lbs., the ambition of all was, who could 
produce the greatest number of bales—quality never (or 
scarcely ever) entered our heads; and to be candid, 
Messrs. Editors, it was then worth while striving, if the 
like effect could have continued. But now, alas! what 
a change has come over us! The crisis has come; the 
storm which was so long gathering has burst upon our 
devoted heads, and we are left, I had almost said, the 
spared monuments of former folly and recklessness. But 
to drop the metaphor, and deal only in the real: such 
has been the anxiety and determination, heretofore, to 
produce cotton, that I know I liazai-d nothing in saying, 
it has been made the sole desideratum; all else has been 
made to bend and yield to the accomplishment of this 
one end. All the rainutia of farming has been passed over 
informally, or totally neglected; the improvement of 
our farms, the proper attention to onr stock of every 
kind, (in order to have any,) has not only been consi¬ 
dered of secondary importance, but almost as a matter 
beneath the notice of a cotton planter. Hence, since 
sad reverses have come, we have not only every thing 
to do, but nearly every thing most important to learn. 
The delusive fancy of many, that cotton would always 
or for many years maintain itself at 12^ or 15 cents per 
pound, I doubt not has been both directly and indirectly 
one of the chief, if not the very greatest cause of our 
present unparalleled distress and embarrassment. What 
more than this could hav'e stimulated speculation until it 
amounted to a mania, introducing luxurj’, extravagance, 
and all the vices that follow in their train, causing us, in 
total disregard of sound policy, to produce evei-y thing 
for market, nothing for home consumption? Can any 
people be considered independent, who cannot or do not 
live within themselves, at least as to all the substantials 
of life? If we sell all we raise, and buy from our 
neighbors the necessaries of life, are we an independent 
people? But the question is an absurdity. Such, how¬ 
ever, Messrs. Editors, has been our coui-se in this coun¬ 
try. Possessing as we do, all the elements of w'ealth 
and independence, we have beeome the poorest, (in this 
respect,) I had almost said, the most dependent state of 
the Union. But I have been depicting the past, and 
with pleasure I now turn from the gloomy picture: there 
is a bright spot on which I most gladly dwell. Missis¬ 
sippi may, and I hope will, ere many years roll by, be¬ 
come one of the first in this glorious constellation of 
states. Her soil for fertility cannot be surpassed; she 
possesses, also, every variety of elimate requisite for the 
growth of all the grains, grasses and vegetables that are 
produced in any of the states. Hogs, sheep, horses and 
cattle, can be reared as well here as elsewhere. She 
has eclipsed all the states in the article of cotton- she 
may compete with almost any in the production of all 
the necessaries, and many of the luxuries of life, both for 
domestic use and for exportation. It is plainly perceiv¬ 
able, also, that she is awaking from the long, the fatal 
delusion in which she has been so long bound; the en¬ 
ergies of her inhabitants, which are certainly of the 
most recuperative character, are thoroughly aroused. 
We now scarcely ever hear of a planter buying corn- 
(formerly but few made more than one-third of their 
supply.) Many now raise all their meat, and manufac¬ 
ture their own negro cloths, both cotton and woollen, 
and raise also their horses and mules, and every article 
of domestic consumption. There are also other promi¬ 
nent signs of improvement and reform springing up 
amongst us, not the least important of which may be 
mentioned—the more general circulation of agricultural 
papers, and the organization of agricultural societies. 
These two sources alone, if properly sustained, are cal¬ 
Cohtmbia Pig. — (Fig. 41.) 
YOUNG DENTON. 
culated to produce almost miraculous effects towards our 
regeneration and permanent standing as an agricultural 
people, for which alone I believe we were intended. 
Let our inhabitants act upon the true policy, the sure 
foundation, (and cotton cannot fall many more cents per 
lb. before all will do it,) and they must, they will rise 
superior to every difficulty. As I before observed, God 
has blessed us with every necessary element of prospe¬ 
rity, wealth and independence. Let but the means we 
have be developed; let it be our ambition to merit and 
obtain the proud appellation of a great agricultural (not 
cotton growing) state; let us first supply ourselves with 
all the necessaries of life, besides which we can furnish 
England with cotton, and then, but not till then, can we 
truly call ourselves entirely independent. This point I 
think we are approximating; it will, however, take 
time and much perseverance to root out the evil of past 
days, yet I have no doubt the proper course will be 
pursued, and the end ultimately accomplished. 
Wilkinson County, Miss., April 1, 1843. 
COLUMBIA PIGS_(See Fig. 41.) 
Messrs. Editors —^Enclosed I send you a rough cut 
(though an excellent likeness) of Betty, one of my Co¬ 
lumbia pigs; also a short description of this breed of 
swine, together with the weight and measurement of 
some of them. 
Betty (entered as a shoat) and Victor, (both of which 
took the first premiums at the late Fair of the American 
Institute,) were taken from the sow at seven weeks old, 
and fed with the wash of the dairy anil a little meal, at 
first five times a day, and afterwards three times. Their 
feed was gradually increased until they were six months 
old, when the quantity of meal was about three quarts a 
day for the two. Victor, when six months and eighteen 
days old, weighed 353 pounds. 
Four of the poorest of the same litter were killed in 
Nevv-Lebanon, Columbia co., N. Y., in December last, 
three at eight months and twenty-six days old weighing 
262, 282, and 315 pounds; one at nine months and six 
days old weighing 324 lbs. They have small bones and 
heads, great length of body, are heavy in the hams and 
shoulders, quick growei-s, easy keepers, and made to 
weigh 400 to 500 pounds, at twelve to eighteen months 
old, with ease. 
Pocahontas, their dam, in store order, is supposed to 
weigh upwards of 500 pounds. 
Age. 
Length.* 
ft. iu. 
Girth. Height. 
ft. in. ft. in. 
Pocahontas. 
, at 3J years,... 
5 4i 
2 8 
Victor, 
“ 7 months,.., 
4 4 
2 6 
Betty, 
<t 7 ti 
...5 9 
4 23 
2 2 
In forming the Columbia breed, I cannot give you the 
names of those I used; for if they had any, (Berkshires 
excepted,) they were unknown to me. I merely select¬ 
ed animals that excelled in those points in which I 
thought my stock deficient. 
They are much longer in body and smaller in the 
head, than the Berkshires I am acquainted with, (which 
I think an excellent breed,) with other points equaBy 
good, a much heavier hog, and very easy keepers. 
CULTURE OF RUTA BAGAS. 
Last season, on my ruta bagas, I tried unfermented 
bai-n-yard manure, bone dust and poudrette, in the pro¬ 
portion of a bushel of the two latter to one ox-cart load 
of the former. Ground the previous year in potatoes. 
The yard manure was spread and plowed under as soon 
as taken out in the spring, and left in that state until the 
20th June, when the ground was again plowed and tho¬ 
roughly harrowed, the drills marked out, and bone dust, 
in the quantity before mentioned, sowed in the drills, 
except where the yard manure had been spread. In one 
of the drills, a like quantity of poudrette was sowed in¬ 
stead of the bone dust. The seed was them sowed, and 
it came up tolerably well. In a few weeks, there was a 
great difference in the appearance of the piece, the tops 
where the bone and poudrette were put almost covering 
the ground, while the balance of the piece was almost 
naked. On gathering the crop, that where the bone and 
poudrette were put, yielded at the rate of 700 bushels 
per acre, while the others were hardly worth gathering, 
Tibbixs* * 
Yonkers, Westchester Co., N. Y., Feb. 23, 1843. 
* From end of nose to root of tail. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker— 
As many breeders of the improved 
Durham Short Horn cattle in the U. 
States believe Col. Powell was the 
importer or once the owner of Young 
Denton, (963,) and were led into that 
error by the 2d vol. of the Herd 
Book, you will confer a favor on 
many friends of the late Stephen 
W iLLijVMS, Esq. of Northboro, Mass., 
that feel an interest that he, the first 
importer into the United States of this 
valuable race of cattle, should have 
the credit he was justly entitled to. 
Mr. Williams not only imported 
Young Denton in 1817, but in 1822, 
he iirported Arabella, by North Star; 
and it was through him and his bro¬ 
ther, Charles Williams, Esq. of London, tliat Col. Pow¬ 
ell obtained his Stately, Mr. Joseph I.ee his Harriet, 
and Israel Munson, Esq. his Tube Rose, all from the 
herd of Mr. Wetherel. 
Young Denton, (963,) bred by Mr. Wetlierel, was im¬ 
ported by Stephen Williams, Esq. of Northboro, Mass. 
He arrived in Boston in November, 1817, then sixteen 
months old. He was kept on the farm of Mr. Williams 
at Northboro, except a part of one or two seasons he 
stood at the farm of Gov. Lincoln in Worcester, until he 
was taken to Maine In 1827 or ’28, where he died, April 
16th, 1830. 
By some unaccountable blunder. Young Denton (963) 
is entered in the 2d vol. of the Herd Book, p. 60, as be¬ 
ing sold by Mr. Wetherel to Col. Powell of Powellton, 
near Philadelphia. Col. Powell never had any interest 
in him other than having purchased of Mr. Williams 
many of his get, i. e. Prize, Fairy, Julia, Lucinda, &c., 
one-lialf and three-fourths blood animals. 
Mr. Williams, in a letter to me, said: “I can show 
by his (Mr. Powell’s) letters and my journal, that Den¬ 
ton* was on my farm a year or eighteen months before 
he knew there was such an animal in the country; and 
when he did see him, he exclaimed in his extra way in 
his praise.” Henry Watson. 
East Windsor, April, 1843. 
TAN AS A FERTILIZER. 
Messrs. Editors of the Cultivator —I avail my¬ 
self of the opportunity you afford me by the inquiry of 
Mr. J. W. Saunders of Buckingham, Va., to give you 
some information respecting the real value of tan as a 
manure, and to point out the mode of using it most ad¬ 
vantageously. It is indeed a subject hitherto not satis¬ 
factorily resolved, whether the residue of the bark of 
oak, after having been employed for the purpose of 
tanning, can be of any utility to agriculture. I have in¬ 
vestigated the matter thoroughly, and made several 
comparative experiments, and the following ij the sub¬ 
stance of precise results I have obtained during several 
years of trial. 
Tan, as such, is almost inefficacious, and even sfltri- 
mental to certain soils; but blended with vegetable sub¬ 
stances, especially when these are green, and then sub¬ 
jected to violent and long fermentation, after the man¬ 
ner of my method, it may be successfully applied to 
eveiy soil, not as constituting manure by itself, but as a 
retainer of the properties of my lye, and as hindering 
the escape of the carbon which is in the soil; for by the 
operation of tanning, the bark has lost the greater por¬ 
tion of the salt and alkalies which every woody fibre con¬ 
tains. Tan, however, has still some stimulus, which, in 
contact with lime, serves to excite the humus and make 
it soluble. 
If, then, your Virginian inquirer would like to follow 
my method in the reduction of his tan into manure, he 
must mix it up in a heap of vegetables; without mix¬ 
ture, it is impossible to effect fermentation sufficiently 
powerful to cause the decomposition of the tan, inas¬ 
much as the latter, by the operation previously under¬ 
gone, has been deprived of its fermenting faculties, and 
has become an inert substance. If he chooses to make 
use of his tan in its natural state, and without any other 
preparation, meadow land is the best recipient for it; 
there its utility is most certain, for it increases the vege¬ 
table bed, warms the new plant, checks the emission of 
the carbonic acid developed in the soil by manure or by 
vegetable or animal matter; there it is the most speedily 
decomposed, by reason of the greater abundance of hu¬ 
midity. However, it is well to mix a little plaster of 
Paris with it. 
I profit by the occasion to acquaint a number of cor¬ 
respondents who have directed to me inquiries concern¬ 
ing the reduction of several kinds of peat, muck or 
swamp mud, that this matter is carefully treated in a work 
I shall soon publish, under the title of “ Sommer's 
Large Methoil of Making Manui e.” If I have postponed 
answering some of them, it is because their inquiries 
were of such a nature as would have occasioned me too 
much writing; and then I did not like to treat partially 
a subject, a connected view of which forms a prominent 
part of my large method. 
Subscribers to my abridged method, now in circula¬ 
tion, are informed that I will direct to their address, 
without any additional charge, a copy of my large me¬ 
thod, as soon as it appears. Geo. Bommer. 
Mw-York, 17 Rector-st., April 13, 1843. 
* Mr. Williams always called the bull Denton, without the 
addition of Young. 
