352 
THE CULTIVATOR 
Nov. 
of pumpkins and then a layer of corn-fodder, they will 
be effectually protected from the frosts of winter, and if 
perfectly sound when gathered, will even keep into 
spring, if the stock is not consumed by that time. 
Laboring Communities. 
Hon. Harvey Baldwin, in his address before the 
Onondaga County Agricultural Society, made some 
good remarks in reference to the effects of industry, as 
compared with indolence, on the character and pros¬ 
perity of communities. He came to the conclusion 
that as “a general principle, that community which is 
required to toil the most constant!}^, to economise the 
most closely and live most frugally, will be found to be 
physically, morally and intellectually in the best condi¬ 
tion.” He made some comparisons in illustration of 
the principle: “ Look for example to the azure sky— 
the bland atmosphere-—the temperate climate—the fer¬ 
tile soil of Italy, and there behold her people—as a na¬ 
tion—ignorant, trifling, licentious, depraved and beg¬ 
garly poor, numbering more of the lazaroni, than per¬ 
haps any other nation on earth. Look to the Ocean 
Isles, and especially those that border our own Southern 
coast; warmed by a tropical sun and fanned by a per¬ 
petual summer’s breeze, their fat and fertile soils yield 
almost without tillage or toil in the greatest luxuriance 
and profusion, everything necessary to the support and 
comfort of man; and yet as a whole, how miserable, 
degraded, licentious, ignorant and debased.” On the 
other hand he refers to New England and the Northern 
States, “ where from necessity the people are all obliged 
to live in the constant practice of all these virtues, and 
where on earth will you find a better people than they— 
it is their climate—their frugal habits, their constant 
and persevering industry that contributes largely to 
make them so.” 
The Florida Ever-GIades. 
We have received from Hon. Mr. Wescott, member 
of the United States Senate from Florida, a copy of 
Congressional Document 242, containing a copy of the 
Bill reported by that gentlemen at the late session of 
Congress, “to authorize the draining of the Ever Glades 
in the State of Florida, by said State, and to grant the 
same to said State for that purpose.” The Document 
contains a great amount of interesting information re¬ 
lating to this subject. It seems that the tract which 
it is proposed to reclaim, comprises, by estimation 
about one million of acres—the cost of reclamation is 
estimated at half a million of dollars—and it is thought 
that the tract would be capable of supporting a popu¬ 
lation of 250,000. At the present time .hese Ever¬ 
Glades are nearly worthless. The tract is mostly cov¬ 
ered with water-grasses, growing from six to ten feet 
high, and the soil is more or less covered with water all 
the year. The basis is said to be lime-stone, upon 
which a deep vegetable deposite has accumulated from 
the decay of the plants produced for ages. The gen¬ 
eral surface of the soil being 12 or 15 feet above the 
level of the sea, it is proposed to drain it by cutting 
canals through various portions,—they emptying into 
tide creeks or rivers, which it is said extend up into the 
Ever-Glades. When this body of land is made suitable 
for cultivation, it is proposed to introduce the various 
tropical plants, valuable in commerce. The tract is 
situated to the southward of 27 Q 30 ; , where thgre is 
no frost, and where many productions may be obtained 
that will not grow in other parts of the United States. 
The following schedule is given of the articles which 
it is proposed to introduce: 
Compty, yam, casava, ginger, pulka. Sisal hemp, 
indigo, tobacco, cortex cascariila, eanilla alba, sarsa¬ 
parilla, sugar cane, pepper, bush and vine pepper, pi¬ 
mento, tea plant, orange, guava, Otaheite plum, shad¬ 
dock, lime, hog plum, forbidden fruit, lemon. Jamaica 
apple, grape fruit, citron, sugar apple, banana, pineap¬ 
ple, cocoanut, plantain, sapadilla, sour sop, Avocato 
pear, mango, mame, olive, mame sapota, boxwood* 
lignumvitee, mahogany, titi, and ship timber. 
If the scheme proposed by Mr. Wescott and his 
associates, can be carried out—and there is certainly 
much evidence of its feasibility—it seems to us that the 
results could not fail to be vastly beneficial to the 
country. 
Pork Making. 
By the way of improvement in agriculture in all its 
various branches, such as tilling the soil, and improving 
stock of all kinds, Shelburne, in Franklin county, 
(Mass.,) I think is not excelled by any town in the 
state. In raising pork and pigs, they are a little the 
tallest yet. One hog raised and fattened last winter, 
by Mr. O.O. Bordwell, (a subscriber of yours,) slaugh¬ 
tered when just eighteen months old, weighed when 
dressed 735 lbs., neat weight. A litter of pigs, five 
in number, raised by Charles Smith, farrowed the 10th 
day of August, 1848, weighed, when just 5| weeks old, 
No. 1, 30 lbs.—No. 2, 29| lbs.—No. 3, 29! lbs.—No. 
4 ; 28 a lbs.—No. 5, 27£ lbs.; making the whole, 144 
lbs. For symmetry of form, and fineness of bone, they 
are not excelled by any thing of their kind. The sow 
was just one year old, fed only with milk and slop 
from the kitchen, up to time of weaning her pigs; she 
is of fine form; weight judged to be 400 lbs, live 
weight. Charles Smith. Shelburne, Mass., Sept. 
25, 1848. 
Principles of Plowing. —The editor of the Cana¬ 
dian Cultivator , who attended the State Fair at Buffa¬ 
lo, spoke in contemptuous terms of the “yankee plows” 
as compared with those made after the Scotch pattern. 
The Maine Farmer, in an article suggested by the re¬ 
marks in the first-mentioned journal, gives the following 
sensible observations on the principles of plowing :— 
“Setting aside the mooted question, which is best, a 
furrow laid over complelely flat, or set up on its edge— 
we shall limit the principles of turning, sward land for 
instance, to two. The first principle is this : The 
furrow slice, from the point of the plow to the heel of 
the mould-board, is, in form, the thread of a screw ; or, 
perhaps it would better illustrate it, to compare it to 
the web of a screw auger, with a long twist. Take 
an elastic saw plate, fasten one end to the table, and 
turn it so that at the other end the under side is upper¬ 
most, and you represent the furrow in all its positions, 
from the first lifting from its bed—its progress or tran¬ 
sition over—and its position when over. The mould- 
board, or whole plow should be of the shape that will 
cut a slice of ground, of given width and depth, and 
place it in that position, with the least friction or resist¬ 
ance, and of course with the least expenditure of force. 
As the plow is in progressive motion during the turning 
of this slice of earth, it will be found that there is a 
proper medium of length suitable, to accomplish this. 
If it be too short and too curved, it will break the slice, 
and push it over unsteadily, like the crowding of a blunt 
wedge through the soil. If it be of just the right 
length, it will lift the slice easily, and gradually,-—turn 
it gently and completely, and leave it perfectly reversed 
in position. If too long, it renders the implement cum¬ 
brous and prolongs the friction to a useless degree. 
“ The other principle is • To have the beam of such 
a length and in such a position as to enable the power, 
or draft, to be applied equally, nearest the point of 
greatest resistance, and to have the handles of such 
length and slope as to enable the plowman to guide, 
turn and handle it, while in operation, with the least 
expense of force and time.” 
