THE CULTIVATOR. 
79 
minute suffices to open and shut both. Six superficial feet of l£ inch 
ash plank, will suffice for the bars, catch, brackets and springs for a 
pair of doors, and the work can be done by any ordinary laborer. Mr. 
Burrall claims no patent for the invention. 
Currant Jelly .—In reply to our correspondent Delia , who dates at 
Brookeville, Ya. we give the following directions for making this jelly. 
Place the currants in a stone pot, without water, put the pot into a 
kettle of water, and simmer or boil * 1 the water till the currants settle 
into a mass. This is merely to express the juice readily, which being 
done, strain it through a woollen cloth, and put itinto a clean kettle, 
and add one pound of sugar to every pint of juice. Let it heat mode¬ 
rately, till the scum has risen and is taken off; and when somewhat 
cooled, turn into tumblers, cover them with white paper, punctured 
with a pin, and set the glasses under cover where the sun may shine 
upon them. Jelly thus made will not ferment. 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
DIFFUSION OF AGRICULTURAL KNOWLEDGE. 
My Dear Sir —I wrote you a short letter from Pennsylvania, on the 
subject of the sugar beet; in passing through Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, 
Missouri, Illinois and Michigan, I have stated to many intelligent and 
wealthy individuals, the value of the sugar beet, and I am glad to in¬ 
form you, that a general feeling prevails, that a new and important pro¬ 
duct is about to be introduced, which will be a source of vast benefit 
to our country. All that is now wanting, is information; when that is 
diffused, capital and enterprise are ready in abundance, to undertake 
the manufacture. I find that the good and enterprising everywhere, are 
deeply impressed with the importance of the universal diffusion of in¬ 
formation that will tend to improve husbandry, education and tempe¬ 
rance. Your excellent paper, the Cultivator, is becoming a mine of 
wealth to farmers—could each one be induced to subscribe for it, I will 
venture the opinion, that he would derive advantages over the cost, a 
hundred fold. 
I have frequently forwarded a copy of our temperance papers to each 
post-master in the Union, with the hope of interesting them in the 
cause, and inducing them to act as agents. The consequence has been, 
they have, as a class, been among our most valuable friends, for pro¬ 
curing subscribers and transmitting money. 
It is of such vast importance that the famers in all parts of our coun¬ 
try, especially in the new parts of it, should have your paper, that I 
wish you would forward one of your first numbers to every post-mas¬ 
ter in the United States, with a short address, calling attention to it, 
and soliciting each to act as agent. The low price of the Cultivator, its 
valuable contents, and the profits (if any,) derived from its subscribers 
being entirely devoted to advance the general interests of agriculture, 
will commend it to universal patronage, when known and appreciated. 
For the expense of this distribution, you may call on me. 
I am, dear sir, respectfully yours. 
■Chicago, June 23. 1836. E. C. DELAY AN. 
VIRGINIA HUSBANDRY. 
Dear Sir—I enclose you five dollars, and request you to send the 
Cultivator from its commencement, to William Price, &c. It is pleas¬ 
ing to observe, that the Cultivator is so popular in this section, and I 
trust that it will be the means of doing much good among us. There 
must doubtless be much difference in the objects and the details of agri¬ 
culture in the region for which the work was originally designed and 
ours; but the general principles of agriculture are the same every 
where. In this part of Virginia, we have much the advantage cf you 
in climate, but our soil, on an average, originally thin, has been wo- 
fully abused, by the necessity which distance from market and bad 
avenues to it, have imposed on us, of making tobacco almost our only 
market crop. This weed is not a great exhauster of land, but requir¬ 
ing all the manure and most of the labor on a farm, that part of it oc¬ 
cupied by other crops, which are great exhausters, must of necessity 
become poor. Distance from market, also, deprives us of the benefit 
of lime as a manure. This article generally sells at from S3 to $3.50 
per tierce. There is probably no part of the United States farther re¬ 
moved from the facilities of procuring lime, and probably none in which 
lime is more needed by the soil. This defect may, possibly, at seme 
future day, be remedied, by rail-roads and the improved navigation of 
our streams. For some time to come, however, if we improve at all, 
we must endeavor to do it without the aid of lime. Under past agri¬ 
cultural management, our lands have been constantly deteriorating, 
and unless the course is changed, must soon arrive at that hopeful con¬ 
dition when they can get no worse. Under such circumtances, I see 
no hope for improvement, except from extra exertions to procure pu¬ 
trescent manures. These might be produced in greatly increased quan¬ 
tities, by cultivating root-crops on a greatly increased scale, and by 
other means of sustaining many more cattle than we generally keep; 
particularly by cultivating artificial grasses largely, which, while they 
would afford food for the stock, would protect the land from the sun 
and from washing, and would meliorate the soil, on the principle of 
convertible husbandry. That deficiency of lime which so peculiarly 
adapts our lands to the growth of tobacco, is accompanied by a great 
drawback in the culture of artficial grasses, from its excessive tendency 
to the spontaneous production of weeds. The most promising fields of 
young clover, are speedily overrun by sedge grass, stick-weed, sorrel, 
and a thousand etceteras. We need some half weed., half grass, which, 
on poor land, could contend with such things. Perhaps yarrow might 
be the thing. 
We generally keep no more stock than we can squeeze through the 
winter on the offal of the grain crops. Any accidental surplus of cattle 
must either be killed in the autumn as grass-beef, or die towards spring 
to afford leather from their skins. Few think of cultivating a crop es¬ 
pecially for cow-food, and rare indeed is the man who makes express 
provision for feeding sheep. Were a few acres of our tobacco lands 
cultivated in roots, and the nakedness of all our idle lands hidden by 
artificial grasses, a great change would soon be perceived in the num- 
her and quality of our cattle, and in the fertility of our soil. It is 
moreover believed, that the increased quantity of manure resulting 
from such management, would operate as a poison on many of the 
weeds which are now such pests. 
That our soils are well adapted to the culture of ruta baga, I have 
demonstrated, to my own satisfaction, by a successful trial, on a mo¬ 
derate scale, fora number of years. I intend to try it more largely 
this year, if the excessive wet weather will abate long enough for me 
to get the seed in the ground. I cultivated mangel wurtzel last year, 
on about the fourth of an acre, and succeeded to the astonishment of 
all who saw the crop. And here I should retouch the picture drawn 
above, of Virginia agriculture, by stating, that during the spring there 
was anxious inquiry for the seed of mangel wurtzel generally through 
the country, and that the demand could by no means be supplied. In¬ 
deed—many thanks to my friend Mr. Ruffin and yourself—there are 
strong symptoms of improvement in our husbandry, evinced by the 
greatly increased quantities of clover and other grass seed, brought 
from the north and sold by our merchants. Some of them, however, 
contain mischievous impurities, such as blue thistle, St. John’s wort, 
ripple grass, &c. which thrive prodigiously in our soils. 
My enthusiasm in the cause of agriculture, must be my apology for 
being tedious. My intention, when I commenced writing, was simply 
to mention the matter of business with which I began, and to ask a favor 
—it is this :—I know that an editor ought not to be expected to become 
the private correspondent of every obtrusive subscriber he may chance 
to have. But will you, in one line, recommend a person who would 
willingly become such ? I wish to know more than I do about vetches, 
chicory, alsike clover, and many other matters. I received a few seed 
from a friend the last spring, under the name of Egyptian clover, much 
mixed with chicory and other things, which I never saw before. The 
clover put forth white blossoms soon after coming up. has, perhaps, 
as many blooms as leaves, and after the bloom falls, the seeds are re¬ 
tained in a reddish coloured bur, somewhat resembling in shape the 
bur of the teasel. This may, possibly, be the alsike clover. It was, 
unfortunately, sown in very springy ground, and has been nearly 
drowned by wet weather. It is inclined to grow erect, and to branch 
but moderately, and that entirely above ground. I may wish for a 
friend in your region, who would be willing to answer inquires about 
