240 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
her, and crossed the Hatchee river, which in high water 
is navigable for steamboats, and like nearly all the 
streams in this country, having a wide overflowable 
bottom. We are now fairly entered upon the cotton 
region, that being the all engrossing crop of this part of 
Tennessee, and of which! expect hereafter to have much 
to see and say as I proceed south. 
This, 9th of Feb., four miles south of Lagrange, upon 
a very warm sunny day, I crossed the Mississippi line. 
The grass to-day looks green and spring like, and plum 
trees are leaving, and peach buds are just ready to burst 
into blossom. Much land shows that there has been a 
good deal of a kind of work done that people really seem 
to be in sober earnest when they call it et plowing.” 
The weather is more like May than February. Birds 
and frogs making meloby—grass growing—flowers bloom¬ 
ing—gardens making, etc. 
From here to Holly Springs, the county seat of Mar¬ 
shall co., and a flourishing fine town, the land grows hilly 
and sandy, and bottom lands more swampy. The upland 
timber mostly black oak, interspersed with white oak 
and hickory, and much of it uncultivated. Some fine 
farms—horses good—cattle poor and sheep poorer. In 
the course of the day after passing Holly Springs, I met 
with the first stone that I have seen since leaving the 
mountains of Missouri. It is a kind of redish sand and 
iron stone, and has the appearance of being of volcanic 
origin. Passed Oxford, the county seat of Lafayette co., 
and crossed the Tallahatchie river, (I like these Indian 
names,) which is also another high water steamboat 
stream, with wide bottom uncultivated beech land, upon 
which grass instead of trees ought to be growing. Saw 
mills through all this region being scarce, and lumber 
from $1.50 to $2.50 per hundred, nearly all the houses 
are built of logs. Near the south line of Lafayette, 
crossed the “ Yokenatuffa,” (a very pretty name when 
you get used to it,) across a beech bottom, with a liberal 
sprinkle of the beautiful holly. 
On the 12th day of Feb., in Yallabusha county, I saw 
peach and plum trees in full bloom, and garden peas and 
potatoes up, and oats sowing. And here in one field I 
saw 20 one horse, or one mule plows, skinning the sur¬ 
face of this light, loose, fine, sandy soil, and sending it 
on a voyage of discovery to the gulf of Mexico. And 
as in this country I am going to initiate my readers into 
the arcana of a cotton plantation, I will here part com¬ 
pany with them, under the assurance that tne country we 
are yet to ramble over will afford an abundance of inci¬ 
dents far more interesting than that which which we 
have hitherto visited; and I humbly hope that I may be 
able so to collect and arrange those incidents that you 
will be pleased to continue to give a monthly welcome 
.o the familiar face of your old friend, 
Solon Robinson. 
WATER FOR STOCK—CEMENT PIPES. 
sons. Where such cisterns are not practicable, they 
might be placed within the building and made secure 
against frost at a small expense. 
But after all, where the farmer has a stream or spring 
within a hundred rods, he had better bring it to his yard 
than rely upon well or cistern. He will then have 
healthy, living water, better than that from any cistern 
or well tainted with fillrations from the yard above. 
Where the supply lies above the yard level there is no 
difficulty; and when it is below, either wind or water 
will raise it by means of forcing pumps, at an expense 
of less than $20. in either case. When wind is used, a 
reservoir will be necessary to hold a supply during a 
“ calm.” Your readers can get a good idea of either 
method by consulting the Cultivator, vol. 7, pages 47 
and 174. 
Heretofore the pipes or conductors have been very 
expensive, and when some farmers have almost made up 
their minds to take the matter in hand, and free them¬ 
selves from their inconveniences, visions of logs and 
lead rise up before their eyes, and they are deterred by 
the expense attendant upon either of these modes, from 
doing anything. At least, so it was with us. We had a 
running stream within a short distance; but your plan of 
a cheap, home made, cement pipe was not known in this 
region till brought to notice by the Cultivator. But then 
there was that (to us) foreign substance—water-lime—to 
be obtained from the city, at an expense of about 37i 
cents per bushel, including transportation and the trouble 
of procuring it. 
Notwithstanding, the plan appeared so simple and cheap, 
and as the whole labor could be performed by ourselves, 
so I determined to try the experiment with our own lime. 
I was led to this by a statement that water-lime owed its 
hardening property to magnesia, of which our lime-stone 
contained about the same—forty per cent—as the Ulster 
county lime. This has also been ascribed to silica and 
oxide of iron. I have since purchased and read John¬ 
ston's Chemistiy, and the same thing is said there of 
magnesia, page 367; and yet in a note, page 365, three 
different water limes are mentioned as having no magne¬ 
sia at all, but a large per cent of alumina. 
In order to test the question in my case, I took four 
parcels of lime, duly numbered and marked, placed them 
under water, and in a few weeks found the parcel mixed 
with an equal quantity of sand, had hardened so as to 
satisfy me of its fitness for my purpose. The other par¬ 
cels of mortar had, some more and others less proportion 
of sand. I accordingly used it, half and half of each, 
sifted, to get out unslacked lumps of lime, pebbles, &c., 
and laid it down immediately. The lime was just burnt, 
aud no doubt would have hardened sooner if ground, as 
I have since ascertained they would have been willing to 
do at the plaster-mill. I would advise this whenever 
farmers undertake to use their own lime for cement, al¬ 
though slacking with water may answer, as it did with 
me- 
Mb. Tucker —Few articles interested us more, in 
your last volume, than the editorial of the March num¬ 
ber, upon the importance of water for stock, and the 
most efficacious and economical means of procuring it. 
It is surprising to see how many farmers leave their 
stock to suffer, and how many inconveniences they sub¬ 
mit to, year after year, in this essential matter. It is worth 
any farmer’s while to incur the expense of a pretty deep 
w r ell, or several cisterns, rather than drag along, year af¬ 
ter year, as many do, with stinted rations, because it is 
so far to bring it. Cisterns are preferable, and generally 
furnish an adequate supply, if buildings for shelter bear 
any proportion to the stock kept. 
But when thus obtained, the labor of raising it is con¬ 
siderable, and is a serious objection with many. In some 
cases a daily pumping by the hour would be required. 
This might generally be avoided by constructing the cis¬ 
tern in a knoll or bank, above the level of some part of 
the yard, to which it could be conducted in pipes, and 
let off at will, by a turn of the finger, through a stop¬ 
cock or fasset. In the first instance this would be less 
expensive than a pump, save the daily labor of working 
be less liable to get out of repair, or freeze up, and 
in every way to be depended on in all weathers and sea 
Upon examining the pipe this spring, after having a 
full run of water through it all winter, I found the inside 
as hard as stone, and not washed or worn in the least, as 
I feared it would be in its new state. I am satisfied this 
kind of pipe is just the thing for farmers—cheap and du¬ 
rable—conducting the water without taint or defilement 
jfrom rotten wood or metallic poison, and needing no re- 
1 pairs when properly taken care of. An inch, or an inch 
and a half bore is large enough for any ordinary farm¬ 
house or yard. I used a rod about an inch and a quarter 
in size, and five feet long. I thought the short rod you 
prescribe much too tedious; and I also prefer a ball to 
the tapered stick you mention, to draw after the rod, in 
order to smooth and equalize the tube. The long rod 
should be tapered at the end, a hole bored an inch there¬ 
from, through which to fasten the ball with a strong 
rope-cord five feet long. Two boards, five feet long and 
six inches broad, with fastenings, constitute the whole 
apparatus. 
In constructing the work it is best to have it in about 
four divisions, and the same number of apparatus; begin 
at the lower end, lay a section on each of the divisions, 
and then the first will be hard enough to draw the rod; 
thus the work can proceed without delay for it to harden. 
