THE CULTIVATOR. 
279 
Mcsquit grass seed can be obtained. I send you three 
samples of Bermuda—one of long grass, of upright 
growth from the meadow, just coming in blossom—the 
other from an upland pasture—and the third, a stallc that 
f pulled off the surface of the ground, to show you how 
it spread, and how admirably it is adapted for embank¬ 
ments. On a piece of good meadow land, this grass 
stands inasolid mat—so close are the stalks, and so thickly 
interwoven are the leaves, that when cut with the scythe 
it very frequently stands erect. I feel very confident 
that it is the most highly nutritious grass known to us. 
From the specimens I send you, yon will readily under¬ 
stand how such enormous crops of hay are cut from 
meadows of this grass—observe the great solidity and 
weight of the stem. In curing, it loses less weight 
than any grass I ever saw—and affords three cuttings, 
yielding an aggregate of from five to eight tons of hay, 
from a moderately good meadow. 
I have said enough, however, to convince any planter 
who wishes to form pastures for his almost starved stock, 
or to do away with the necessity of pulling fodder, work 
so destructive to the health of his negroes, that he ought 
at least to make the experiment. And as a proof that I 
am willing to aid in spreading this treasure over the na¬ 
ked hills of the south, I will willingly forward to any 
planter, who is a subscriber to two agricultural journals, 
one of ichich is 'published in the statein which he resides, on 
his applying to me post paid, a barrel of roots of this 
grass, which would, in one season, cover a large extent 
of ground. To the river planter it is absolutely invalu¬ 
able—there is not a levee on the banks of the Mississippi 
could resist, for one hour, the pressure and attrition of 
the fearful flood now rolling along, but for their being 
bound together by this grass. 
That flood, by the way, has done, and is still doing im¬ 
mense damage. (I now write on 26th July.) It is, by 
a number of inches, the highest on record. The fall is 
even yet so trifling, that it is disputed. The levees have 
broken in many places, and in others are completely 
overflowed. . The back country is one sheet of water, in 
most places; and in almost all, the crops are gone, both 
cotton and corn. This, coupled with the tremendous de¬ 
struction to the corn crops of Missouri, Illinois, Ken¬ 
tucky, Arkansas, &c. must, we fear, make corn very 
high. The loss of cotton is generally averaged at 300,- 
000 bales—or about one-sixth of the past year’s crop. 
Our summer or first show came off on the 13th inst.— 
and a splendid, and a well attended show we had. I have 
not room for particulars. Thomas Affleck. 
Washington, Miss. July, 1844. 
TO PREVENT HORSES JUMPING FENCES. 
Some years ago, I bought a good horse, which among 
other fine qualities was recommended as a great jumper, 
vaulting with ease <f over a fence six feet high.” I in¬ 
tended to take care of that part of the business myself, 
but for a time I found I was overmatched. I tied his 
head to his fore-foot, but that made no difference—over 
he went. I put a wooden clog on his fore-foot as large 
as a man’s leg, but he carried that over the high fence 
with him. I “ hoppled ” him, fastening his fore and hind 
foot within two feet of each other; but was very much 
surprised to find him, all chained as before, on the other 
side of the fence; and it was not till several repetitions 
of the experiment, that I saw how he did it—which was 
by drawing his two chained feet closely to his body, and 
throwing himself over with the other two. And when 
ne chanced to be free from all restraint, it was very often 
nardto tell where he might be found, as he would soon pass 
naif a dozen high fences to reach some favorite field. 
To try to catch him, was very much like the boy’s trying 
to catch the hawk,—he said he “ did not expect to get 
nim, but thought he might at least worry him.” 
But I have found a simple and efficient remedy. Pass 
a small and strong cord round his body just behind the 
shoulders, and tie the halter to this cord between the 
fore-legs, so as to leave a distance of about two feet from 
the cord to his head. If then he undertakes to jump, he 
is compelled to throw his head forward, which draws 
aard on the small cord, causing it to cut into his back, 
and he instantly desists. The cord should not be more 
than a quarter of an inch in diameter. A Farmer. 
SOUR SOILS. 
I wish to avoid controversy, but it is perhaps justice 
to myself and respect due A. J. P. to answer some of his 
inquiries, especially as he appears to have quite misun- 
stood my object. If he will read the remarks I made, 
through, he will find I do not hold “ old notions,” and 
that the facts I stated were for the purpose of keeping 
“ the question in a state of suspense,” without taking 
ground on either side. Hasty decision has led to a great 
deal of dispute among physiologists and chemists. 
A. J. P. will observe that I did not say that oxalic acid 
existed in soil, neither is the proof perfectly clear that it 
does not, for analysis is loo imperfect an operation for any 
one to decide positively on the subject. He is perhaps 
aware that Ur. Dana, generally regarded as a “ scientific” 
man, holds to the “old notion” of sour soils, and their neu¬ 
tralization by lime; and I would request leave to refer to 
a paper of his in vol. 10, page 123 of the Cultiuator ; not 
agreeing however with him in all his opinions. 
I am asked the meaning of the term sour soil. Per¬ 
haps I can best answer the question by referring to the 
j 7th chapter of Ruffin’s Essay on Calcareous Manures, 
[without occupying any more space here than just to say 
[that he gives repeated instances where the application of 
carbonate of lime completely prevented the growth of 
sorrel; and also very striking and decided instances 
where burying in the soil leaves of pine which had a 
strong acid taste, produced a marked and abundant gro wth 
of sorrel. That lime does not always destroy sorrel can ■ 
not be denied; but the reason of the difference in its ef¬ 
fects, appears yet unknown. The term sour in England, 
appears to have long been applied to soils, in common 
language, very much as sour face is to a man, indicating 
an unfriendly quality. 
I was somewhat surprised to observe that A. J. P. de¬ 
nied the existence of any free acid in soils. Berzelius, 
Johnston, Dana, and others assert it. “ Who shall de¬ 
cide when Doctors disagree?” 
He admits the difficulty of determining the constitu¬ 
ents of the soil where they are in minute quantity. 
Now I have seen manures applied at the rate of one 
bushel per acre, produce very extraordinary results, 
nearly doubling the crop—and one tenth of a bushel 
would probably have made a very sensible increase.. 
But one tenth of a bushel, diffused through an acre of 
soil eight inches deep, would constitute less than a hun¬ 
dred thousandth part of the whole, which would require 
a very skilful analyst to examine. Hence we may infer 
that substances existing in the soil in such small quanti- 
! ties that chemists cannot detect them, may yet yield im¬ 
portant results in the growth of plants; and the latter 
may give decisive indications of the character of soils 
when analysis fails. 
I am sorry I cannot furnish a specimen of the soil spo¬ 
ken of, for examination, as those particular portions in 
contact with the corroded pipe could not now with cer¬ 
tainty be found. 
It may be objected that I arrive at no conclusion, and 
leave all in doubt. This is what I wish to do. Nothing 
should indeed be beyond our inquiry; but in such a mys¬ 
terious process as the growth of plants, where light and 
air, dew and rain, heat and electricity, and many consti¬ 
tuents in the soil, are operating on them and on various 
parts of them at once, and new chemical affinities con¬ 
stantly taking place, and all at the same time impercep¬ 
tibly slow, and by vessels and machinery so minute as to 
be in a great measure beyond the most powerful micro¬ 
scope,—it is not strange that many things remain undis¬ 
covered, and great caution should be used in laying 
down principles. If Newton, after a long life of deep , 
research with mathematical demonstration, should com- | 
pare himself to a boy playing with pebbles on the sea¬ 
shore, while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscov¬ 
ered before him, how much more should we hesitate in 
boasting our achievements in a science so much less ca¬ 
pable of precision and certainty, as that which examines 
the ever-varying influences and results of vegetable 
growth. I. J. Thomas, 
