THE CULTIVATOR. 
129 
CULTURE OF COTTON. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —I perceive from your 
last number that Dr. Cloud’s plan of cultivating Cotton, 
or at least his statement of its results, is received gene¬ 
rally with small favor and less faith. While those of 
“ little faith” and perhaps of smaller works, are condemn¬ 
ing his plan and discrediting his statement, it is but fair 
that those who have adopted similar modes of cultivation, 
with similar results, should give him and the public the 
benefit of their testimony. 
In the months of January and February, in the year 
1841, I had a lot of 5 acres opened at intervals of 3^ feet, 
with fui’rows down to, and sometimes into the clay. In 
these furrows I deposited stable manure at a rate of not 
less than 400 bushels per acre, ami running immediately 
upon each side of these furrows with a turn plow, I bu¬ 
ried the manure. Thus my beds for cotton were partly 
made; the superincumbent soil prevented, at least in 
part, the escape of the volatile portion of my manure, 
which being ()ut deep, and the soil gradually accumula¬ 
ting over it in the process of cultivation, it was kept at all 
times properly moist, without which it does but little 
good. 
Cotton being a tap-rooted plant, I doubt not that it 
would be an improvement upon the above plan, to open 
with a coulter plow, the clay or subsoil in or rather un¬ 
der these furrows, before depositing the manure; to the 
end that the soluble portion of the manure might .subside 
gradually to a still greater depth. The lot which I ma¬ 
nured upon the above plan, was originally a thin soiled 
chestnut ridge; had been cleared between forty and fifcy 
years, and was of course completely exhausted. Indeed, 
200 lbs of seed cotton per acre, would have been consi¬ 
dered a good crop for such land, upon the usual plan of cul- 
tivaivon without manure. About the last of March, I j)ut 
two aililitional furrows with a turn plow, which comple¬ 
ted my beds. These beds I opened with a coulter, sowed 
the seed in the usual manner, and covered with a board. 
This lot, thus manured and planted, received no extra 
care in the after culture, but was treated in every respect 
like the balance of mj' crop. The result was 4,430 lbs. 
of seed cotton from the lot, or 886 lbs. per acre. But as 
I sowed this lot in wheat in the fall of that year, and be¬ 
fore the cotton had been all neatly gathered, I may 
fairly set down the yield of the lot at 4,500 lbs., or 900 
lbs. per acre. Here was an increase of between four and 
five fold the first year, and as I have planted upon land 
similarly treated, and gathered a second crop equal to 
the first, I consider myself as yet in the midst of an expe¬ 
riment, the final result of which can alone determine the 
full amount of benefit to be derived from a single appli¬ 
cation of manure. It will be at once observed that my 
plan differs in several points from Dr. Cloud’s. I drill at 
3^ feet, and chop out in the usual way, leaving the stalks 
as nearly as possible from 18 inches to 2 feet apart: while 
he cheeks at 3 by 5 feet. Thus he gives to each plant 
an area of 15 square feet, while I do not give an average 
of 7. He spreads anil plows in 300 bushels of manure 
per acre, broadcast, while I apply none in that way. His 
was a deep sandy soil, with clay at a depth of 2 or 3 
feet; mine a very shallow, stiff, red soil, with a very firm 
red clay, lying at various depths, from 0 to 6 inches be¬ 
low the surface, with an abundance of white flint or 
quartz rock upon it. The 300 bushels of manure which 
he applied broadcast, was doubtless of great advantage 
to his crop, and would in all probability have doubled 
mine. In other respects, I think his plan the best for 
his land; and mine, with a little more space to each plant, 
the best for mine. 
The incredulous will of course consider this experi¬ 
ment of mine as lending no countenance to Dr. Cloud’s 
statement; but when every circumstance is fairly consi¬ 
dered, I think it does. My experience, however, does 
not stop here. I cultivated the same year another small 
lot about 85 yards long and as many wide, or 7225 square 
yards, wfiich is 1 477-96S acres, or rather less than an 
acre and a half. This lot, in its primitive state, was of 
precisely similar quality with the 5 acre lor. About one- 
third of an acre of this,certainly not more, had been for se¬ 
veral years a stable lot; the balance of it, descending from 
this by a considerable declivity, I cultivated, believing it 
may have been benefited by washings from the stablelot 
portion. The surface soil had been nearly all washed 
away for years. The manure upon the stable lot portion 
had been carefully scraped up and removed,so that the ma - 
nure left was such only as had been absorbed by the soil. 
To the other portion no manure was applied. This lot 
was broken up deep and planted about the last of March, 
and the rows running horizontally around the declivity, 
were from 3 to 4 feet wide, accordingly as the land was 
considered poor or otherwise. From this lot I gathered 
1,707 lbs. of cotton in the seed. Of that I set down 
1,400 IbSk to the stable lot portion, leaving to the balance 
307 lbs., which I am sure is a liberal allowance. But 
little of the weed on this lot, except on the stable lot 
portion, attained a height of 18 inches,—much of it not 
even 6 inches. The stable lot portion had attained an 
average height of 6 feet by the last of July, and was so 
much interlocked that it was impossible to pass throu°-h 
it without doing great injury to the branches. By the 
middle of August, the weed on this portion ceased grow¬ 
ing, and the whole vegetative energy of the plant seemed 
directed to the development and maturing of bolls, of 
which there were vast numbers. This cotton suffered 
much from two causes. It was too much crowded, which 
caused a very great number of the earlier or bottom bolls 
to rot for want of sun and air. Towards the latter part 
August, a wet spell of weather of several weeks du¬ 
ration, set in, which producing a second growth of the 
weed, caused vast numbers of furns, blooms, and young 
bolls to fall offi which a moderate season would have ma¬ 
tured. Under all these disadvantages, there was still a 
yield at the rate of 4,200 lbs. per acre. 
I have only room to add that I highly approve of Dr. 
Cloud’s plan, and that my own experience and observa¬ 
tion forbid that I should discredit the general correctness 
of his statement, I have long been of opinion that it 
would be of great service to the cotton region of S. Ca¬ 
rolina and Georgia particularly', to divert at least one- 
third of all the labor employed in raising cotton to rais¬ 
ing manure. The result would be equal crops of cotton 
at least, upon a greatly reduced number of acres; the 
improvement and renovation of our worn lands; larger 
crops of corn and grain; more hogs, cattle, sheep, hor¬ 
ses and mules raised at home—our country, in short, a- 
dorned, beautified and enriched. 
Very respectfully, yours, 
S. Fouche. 
TaZiafero co., Geo,, June 23, 1843. 
AN IMPROVED BEE HIVE.—(Fig. 59.) 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —I propose, in the fol¬ 
lowing communication, to present to your readers the 
plan of an improved bee hive, which they can use gra¬ 
tis. I believe it to be but little, if at all, inferior to 
any that has ever been presented them. The various 
plans that have heretofore appeared in the Cultivator, 
are either non-swarmers, or they are encumbered with 
a patent. Experience has taught us that non-swarming 
hives are not as profitable as the swarming, and their 
use cannot be advisable, except for purposes other than 
profit. The patent hives appear to be nothing but im¬ 
provements upon the Charlieshope hive, said to have been 
invented by Mrs. Mary Griffith of New-Brunswick, N. 
J. The writer has used the above hive with admirable 
success. A description of it may be found in the North 
American Review, for June, 1828, or the Family En¬ 
cyclopedia, edited by' my respected townsman, C. A. 
Goodrich. The plan here presented is another improve¬ 
ment upon the same hive. (See illustration, fig. 59.) 
Directions for Making. —In making the hive, use 
nothing but clear stufi^ such as is free from knots and 
shakes. Cut the two side boards thirteen inches wide 
and twenty-four inches long; cut the backboard four¬ 
teen and three-fourth inches wide and twenty-four inch¬ 
es long; cut the front board fourteen and three-fourth 
inches wide and eighteen long. These four boards are 
to be planed smooth, and put together in a good, work¬ 
manlike manner, nailing the front and back boards to 
the side boards. Cut a board for the top, so large that, 
when nailed on, it will project over the four sides of 
the hive about one-half of an inch. Fit a board into 
the hive that will shove in above the front board, of 
sufficient length to project out front, when it is put in 
its place, say half an inch. This board divides the 
hive into two apartments; its under side should be left 
rough, for the convenience of the bees, as they can 
more easily attach their comb to a rough than a smooth 
surface. To form a communication between the two 
apartments, bore two holes, one inch in diameter, about 
three inches from each corner of the dividing board, 
making in all eight holes. Let a box, made of half 
inch stuff, be snugly fitted into the upper apartment, for 
a depository of surplus honey, having holes in the bot¬ 
tom corresponding with the holes in the dividing board. 
For the convenience of the apiarian, introduce a glass 
into the front end of this box. Fit a door to the upper 
apartment, and hang it at one end with a common door 
butt. In cutting the angles for the bottom of the hive, 
find the centre of the front, (also of the back,) five 
inches from the bottom; and from these points, draw 
lines to the corners of the bottom and outer edges. The 
small triangular pieces, below these lines, must be 
sawed out. For a bottom, cut two boards, two inches 
longer than the bottom of the hive, and fit them to¬ 
gether at such angles as will fit the bottom, and of such 
width as to project, when put in its place, three-eighths 
of an inch on each side. Secure the bottom from warp¬ 
ing, by nailing cleats to the under side. The bottom 
may be hung at the back with common butts, and sus¬ 
pended at the front with hooks made of wire; but it 
would be better to suspend it on hooks and cleats. It 
can then be easily 
removed. The il¬ 
lustration A. re¬ 
presents a cleat, 
and B. a hook.— 
B Every hive will 
need four of each, 
two on each side. 
The cleats (do I 
name them right?) 
should be three-eighihs of an inch thick, and from b. 
to g., two inches. The back end of these cleats, when 
screwed to the hive, must be elevated so as to form an 
inclined plane, so that when the bottom board is pushed 
back, it will close the hive. The hive is kept closed 
by means of a button on the front. By means of this 
button, the apiarian can give the bees any desired 
quantity of air, as the turning of the button will let the 
bottom slide back, and when it is entirely unbuttoned, if 
it be rightly hung, the space between the hive and bot¬ 
tom will be three-fourths of an inch. Across each side 
of the hive, nail a strip of wood, on which the hive is 
suspended when in the apiary. The above directions 
may be thought superfluous. They are not intended for 
a carpenter, but for the farmer, should he wish to make 
his own hives during the leisure of winter. To such, 
they may not be useless. 
The superiority of the above hive over the common 
box must be apparent to every one who is at all ac¬ 
quainted with the management and culture of bees, or 
who knows any thing concerning their nature and ha¬ 
bits. In extracting honey from the common box, it is 
always necessary to use the pruning knife, unless the 
apiarian plots the entire destruction of his bees, and ex¬ 
ecutes his foul purpose by the use of fire and brimstone. 
The pruning of bees in autumn is unadvisable and wine- 
cessary, if the above hive or the Charlieshope is used. 
Other advantages it derives from its suspended nature. 
This property it possesses in common with the Char¬ 
lieshope and Weeks’ and Hall’s patents. A suspended 
hive is removed from the depredations of the mouse. 
Besides, it is easier opening and shutting it for the pur¬ 
pose of ventilating, or preventing the depredation of 
robbers, after the destruction of the flowers by the 
frosts of autumn. Few hives will be found as conve¬ 
nient as this, when you wish to introduce in it a new 
colony. This is owing to the shape of its bottom. 
A very useful article to an apiarian is a pair of mit¬ 
tens, made so long as to draw over the coat sleeves, and 
cover the arms half way to the elbows. They should 
be bound round the top with India rubber, that they may 
hug the arm. A jiair of leather gloves, pieced up with 
the leggings of a pair of stockings, and bound as di¬ 
rected above, are better still. N. of Worthington, 
Berlin, Ct., Feb. 16, 1843. 
ON THE MANAGEMENT OF DAIRY COWS AND 
CHEESE DAIRIES. 
BY ALONZO L. FISH OF HERKIMER CO.,N. Y. 
(Continued from page 115.) 
Bulls—Management of Pasture and Meadow Lands—Proper Time 
for Cutting Hay—Culture of Mangel Wurzel—Vse of Plaster 
—Indian Corn sown Broadcast for Fodder—Feeding Dairy 
Slops to Cows instead af Swine—Best method of Feeding Swine 
—Barn for Dairy Cows, 
Bulls of a small size are the best for dairy cows, for 
gestation of such a size will produce a lighter draft upon 
the system of the dam, than those of a larger breed. 
The dairyman should not plow much with an object 
to obtain a great profit, farther than may be necessary to 
keep his land well stocked with grass; for if the cream 
of the soil is used to produce grain, we shall be sure to 
not raise it upon the milk, for there are but few soils 
among us so full of cream as to raise it abundantly upon 
grain and milk too. 
It is a practice too common among farmers when about 
to turn over a sward, to graze it as close as possible be¬ 
fore plowing, as a matter of economy. This is like 
loaning money at 14 per cent, and taking the interest in 
advance to evade the civil law. But nature’s laws can¬ 
not be thus evaded. Nature has set the farmer a noble 
example, by annually depositing her foliages upon the 
earth, by which the rising generation of vegetables are 
nourished and sustained by the elementary principles of 
their decayed predecessors. She is ever ready to assist 
in the execution of her organic laws. It therefore be¬ 
hoves !he farmer in view of her example, whenever a 
piece of ground is to be tilled for its improvement, to 
mix as much vegetable matter with the soil as possible, 
to make it a better vehicle for the food of vegetables. 
Ihe dairyman who has practiced feeding his meadow in 
the fall, and thus stripping the soil and roots of their na¬ 
tural clothing, will frequently find it incumbent upon him 
to till them to increase their productiveness. It now be¬ 
comes necessary for him to refund the principal to the 
soil, which he has annually taken, in addition to a rea¬ 
sonable interest. He who would draw an annual inter¬ 
est from the soil as his profit, should not draw )ar"-ely 
upon the principal from which said interest accrues'’ 
_ Meadows “ run out,” (as the saying is,) by over gra- 
zing, and by the soil becoming so packed as to exclude 
the requisite atmospheric air to produce germination at 
a depth where it would not perish from the effect of 
frost, drouth, cold winds, &c.; hence the reason that 
June grass, strawberry vines,&c., are most abundant, be¬ 
cause they are hardier than other grasses, and can be 
sustained by a shallower root and weaker soil. 
As many acres of siich land should be tilled annually 
