164 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
and a pipe taken into an upper or adjoining room for 
bathing or washing, or conveyed to an outer building for 
steaming food for s’tock. A pipe may also be taken to 
the green house or any other room to keep that warm; 
and all the different apparatus to be charged by turning 
a cock. The above drawing only shows one pipe and 
tube, but as many may be applied as are wanted. I have 
one that has four different apparatus attached. 
Albany, Sept. 8, 1842. Mellen Battel. 
The following certificate is from the Alms House com¬ 
mittee of this city, consisting of Messrs. G. Y. S. Bleeck- 
er, J. Groesbeck, and Y. Ten Eyck:— 
“We, the Alms House committee, have now in use, 
two of the above mentioned Steamers for cooking and 
washing, and have no hesitation in recommending them 
to the public, to be superior to anything we have had in 
use—being more durable, and less expensive to keep in 
order, or fuel.” 
SOUTH AMERICAN EVERGREEN GRASS. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —Enclosed I send you a 
specimen of grass, which I have been anxious you should 
receive for the last 18 months. You will, however, ne¬ 
cessarily receive it greatly impaired in many of its most 
valuable features, from the mode of conveyance, which 
I exceedingly regret, since you will be unable to form 
an adequate idea of the luxuriance which it possesses, 
while I pluck it from the stalk. It is a native of South 
America; evergreen in its character, and capable of 
withstanding, uninjured, the frosts of our winters—spread¬ 
ing forth, as the spring advances, its luxuriant velvet 
branches, under the opening genial rays of our southern 
sun; and multiplying its stalks frequently from 50 to 150 
and even 200, in a bunch. It grows upon a rich, loose 
soil, from 24 to 30 inches in height, and maybe mowed, 
in our climate, twice during the spring and summer, giv¬ 
ing from two to three tons per acre, of the very best hay 
I have ever seen, and afterwards furnishes a green pasture 
during the entire ivintcr. You will not fail to observe, I 
think, when you touch the specimen, its velvet softness, 
a distinguishing feature, in the green state,—rendering it 
at once highly acceptable, as an article of food, to eve¬ 
ry individual of our domestic animals, from the horse 
down to the fowl. Indeed, I am sure, as I have witness¬ 
ed frequently the present season, that the horse, cow, and 
Berkshire, will leave the finest oats, to graze upon this 
grass. Horses and cows are equally fond of it, when fed 
to them as hay, as I know from trial; and I presume 
sheep will like it equally well as hay, since they will 
graze it on the pasture to the very soil. I might say 
much more in its praise, and I think deservedly so too, 
but I will for the present, however, only remark that I 
am of the opinion, from my short experience with this 
grass, that it is destined to prove to the southern planter 
—when we shall have repudiated the present kill and 
cripple, and in every way injurious system of agriculture 
that is now practiced among us, what your clovers, herds 
and blue grass, and timothy, are to the north, eastern, 
and western farmers. 
I am sorry that I am unable to give you its true bota¬ 
nic name, and as such, will simply give you the name 
which I received with the seed, viz: South American 
Evergreen pasture Grass. Its value, I hope will prove 
not less extensive than its name. I would remark, fur¬ 
ther, in reference to an article in the May No. of the 
Cultivator, over the signature of your excellent corres¬ 
pondent, “ Commentator,” that I think it quite likely 
this may be the same grass as that “ recommended to the 
South Carolina State Society, by Col. Wade Hampton, 
which he calls Musquito Grass,” the seed of which, he 
says, was sent him by a Mr. Carter, of Alabama. If this 
be Col. Carter, of Montgomery co., he does not live 
above 30 or 40 miles from Mr. Stone, on Talapoosa ri¬ 
ver, who gave me the seed in the winter of 1840; who 
informed me at the time, that his seed were from Meta- 
moras, on the confines of Texas, and there, from South 
America, hence its name. Should it prove the same, or 
whether it does, or does not, I will promise “ Commen¬ 
tator,” if he still wish it, that as early after the 1st of June 
next, as practicable, I will send a bushel or two of the 
seed to Mr. Ellsworth, of Washington city, for distribu¬ 
tion, as I am exceedingly desirous to see this grass ex¬ 
tensively and fairly tested. In our southern climate, the 
seed may be sown at any season, and do well; the pro¬ 
per time however, I think, as does Mr. Stone, is from the 
1st of Aug. to the 1st of Oct. 
Respectfully yours, 
N. B. Cloud, M. D. 
Planter’s Retreat, Ala. Sept. 1, 1842. 
N. B. Unless I be greatly deceived in some experi¬ 
ments in which I am engaged, in the culture of the Cot¬ 
ton Plant, I think I shall astonish some of your subscri¬ 
bers in the cotton region, toward the winding up of the 
present crop, in regard to an entirely new and improved 
mode of culture; by which I propose curtailing the ex¬ 
pense of producing this great national staple, to one-third 
its present enormity! I hope to be able to communicate 
to you for publication in your very excellent paper, by 
the 1st of January next, the result of my operations and 
experiments; in which I will furnish you with the com¬ 
plete modus operandi, from the first furrow made on the 
land, to housing the cotton. This is my Henry Clay cot¬ 
ton! improved from the common seed of the country by 
an improved culture. No humbug to sell seed, either! If 
successful, the nation shall have the benefit of it, with¬ 
out money and without price. And that it will prove 
successful, is already most triumphantly apparent. 
MANURING GRASS LANDS. 
Editors of the Cultivator —I have made some 
experiments on manuring grass lands, this season, to 
which, (notwithstanding the source of error to which 
they were exposed, and to which I shall hereafter allude,) 
I attach some value. I therefore forward them for pub¬ 
lication in the Cultivator. 
3d mo. 24th, staked off five square rods of ground con¬ 
tiguous to each other; their direction north and south. 
Soil, clay; an old meadow which has beeen mowed for 
upwards of 40 years; the grass is blue grass, timothy, red 
top, and red and white clover; its surface is nearly level, 
but inclines to the north enough to make the water run 
that way. No. 1 was left without manure. No. 2 had 
one bushel of strong ashes. No. 3 one bushel of air 
slacked lime. No. 4 two bushels of clear dry cow dung. 
No. 5 two bushels of clear horse manure, free from straw 
and chaff. In a few days. No. 2 was distinguishable at 
a considerable distance by its vivid greenness. 
8th mo. 30th, mowed the grass on the above squares. 
On the 31st, weighed them as follows:—No. 1, 28^ lbs.; 
No. 2, 39i lbs.; No. 3, 25 lbs.; No. 4, 284 lbs.; No. 5, 
25| lbs. 
They were all in a greener state when weighed, than 
I wished, but an approaching shower prevented me from 
delaying any longer. An obvious source of fallacy in all 
such experiments is the unequal drying of the respective 
squares; to this I attribute the weight of No. 1. Before 
they were cut, Nos. 1 and 3 appeared about equal, as far 
as the eye could judge. When I weighed them, No. 1 
was evidently greener than the rest, and more unequally 
spread. If therefore we substitute 25 lbs. for 28^ lbs. in 
No. 1, I believe the numbers will pretty correctly ex¬ 
press the relative value of these manures on clay soil mea¬ 
dows. Just 180 squares are contained in an acre. 
Stockport, 9tli mo. 1th, 1842. N. N. D. 
THAT BALK. 
Chatting with a friend the other day, while we were 
looking over his farm, and at the time examining apiece 
of corn, I asked the reason why a fewrows near the cen¬ 
ter of the field were so much superior to the others'/ 
“ Oh, that is an old balk,” was his reply. 
“ Can you tell me,” I said, “ why that strip of land is so 
much richer than the other part of the field, as the luxu¬ 
riance of the corn proves it to be?” 
“ In the first place an old fence has stood there for 
years, while the fields on each side were under cultiva¬ 
tion to some extent,” was the reply. 
“ But you do not suppose that the old fence contributed 
much to the fertility of the soil where it stood?” 
“No; but when the fields were cropped; the corners 
of the fences grew up to grass, which was undisturbed 
and rotted; or when in pasture, as much of the time it 
was, the sheep would lie along by the fence to get out 
of the sun, and drop much of their manure there; all 
these causes combined have given the fertility you see.” 
“ The result of the matter then is,” I said, “ the rich¬ 
ness has been given by the addition of manure in the 
shape of decayed vegetable matter, and animal manure; 
for it is not reasonable to suppose that rest alone, has 
added much to its productiveness.” 
“ You are probably about right,” said my friend. 
“Well then, if so, would it not be best to make the 
whole farm into baulks?” 
“Yes, certainly; but how could it be done?” 
“ By simply applying to every part of the farm, as 
much decomposed vegetable and animal matter as is 
found in that. In short, manure the whole as effectually 
as that strip has been, and all will be as productive and 
rich. Nature herself has pointed out the way to reno¬ 
vate our soils; it is for us to closely follow her footsteps, 
and profit by her teachings.” 
An Onondaga Farmer. 
THE BEECH TREE. 
Messrs. Editors —My attention has lately been called 
to the question whether the Beech tree, Fagus sylvatica, 
is ever struck with lightning; and after an extended in¬ 
quiry and examination, I am brought to the conclusion, 
that for some reason as yet unexplained and unaccounted 
for, this tree has always escaped the effects of atmosphe¬ 
ric electricity. This fact has been noticed for more than 
a hundred years, both in Europe and this country, and 
yet it is not so generally known as it should be; at least, 
very little improvement seems to have been made of it. 
In an address delivered by Dr. S. L. Mitchell, in 1826, be¬ 
fore the New-York Horticultural Society, there is a letter 
from Dr. Beeton, of Tennessee, in which the writer says: 
“ Neither tradition, nor more authentic history, give any 
account of injury having been sustained by a beech tree, 
from the effects of electricity. So notorious is that fact, 
that in Tennessee, it is considered almost an impossibili¬ 
ty to be struck by lightning, if protection be sought un¬ 
der the branches of a beech tree.” “ Other trees may 
be surrounded by these and shivered to splinters, while 
the beech remains entire and unhurt.” Dr. Mitchell 
adds, “ improvement might and ought to be made of this 
fact, by planting and rearing beeches near and around 
the dwelling houses and barns of our farmers, for the im¬ 
munity of cattle as well as human beings from the vio¬ 
lence of lightning. Let a beech grove, as easy to rear as 
a plantation of butternuts, accompany every inhabited 
spot, and let solitary beech trees arise here and there over 
every farm and plantation.” How often do we read of 
some flock of sheep, some two or three horses or cattle, 
or men, being killed by lighting, who had taken shelter 
under some oak, maple, or hickory tree! And yet few 
farmers suffer a beech tree to stand, notwithstanding it is 
as shady and ornamental as the maple. “ Woodman, spare 
that tree.” HAP 
Buffalo, Aug. 1842. 
NEW ARTICLES OF CULTURE. 
Messrs. Editors —In your No. for August, p. 123, 
you appear to confound saffron, (Crocus officinalis,) with 
safflower, (Carthamus tinctorius.*) To a cultivator this 
mistake might produce some disappointment, and of 
course arrest his enterprise. Saffron gives only a yellow 
color, and is now rarely used in the arts, it being too 
costly, the price varying from six to ten dollars per lb. 
The principal application to the arts was for the purpose 
of flaming red morocco colors, but a cheaper substitute 
is now very generally applied. It is used more in medi¬ 
cine, cookery and confectionary. The only portions ga¬ 
thered from this plant are the yellow stigmas and part 
of the style. Safflower gives a beautiful pink, and is ex¬ 
tensively used in cotton and silk dyeing, as well as for 
calico printing. A pigment is also made from it, which 
is a favorite application by those ladies who wish to o-ive 
the tint of the damask rose to their cheeks. Genuine 
pink saucers are made from safflower. The price is ex¬ 
ceedingly variable, depending much on the fashion of 
the day. I have given fifty cents per pound for it, and 
have bought it as low as nine cents; it is now worth twen¬ 
ty-five, but would fall immediately were an} r quantity 
imported. It will probably range much lower in future 
than in times past; as by the aid of chemistry, artists are 
now enabled to fix cochineal colors on cotton, answering 
for nearly all the colors for which safflower has been 
used. I am well convinced that it can never become a 
profitable crop for our agriculturists, until female labor 
can be obtained at six cents per day and find themselves. 
If any of our farmers are desirous of introducing new 
articles of culture, there are several far more likely to 
make profitable returns than saffron or safflower. Mad¬ 
der is very extensively used, upwards of five thousand 
tons having been consumed in this country in one year. 
It is mostly imported from Holland and France. In Ken¬ 
tucky, families raise it in their gardens after the follow¬ 
ing manner:—They first dig their ground to a good depth, 
making the mold very light and mellow; they then plant 
small madder roots in rows, and when they have thrown 
up stalks of about a foot in length, they bend them down, 
and throw over them a layer of mold; these will throw 
up fresh stalks, which undergo the same process. This 
covering up is continued until the third year, when the 
bed is opened with a pitch fork, and all the roots large 
enough for use, are washed and dried under a shed. The 
smaller roots are planted in fresh beds. The beds must 
be kept clean from weeds. The stalks when laid down 
become roots. I frequently bought these roots in the 
market at Cynthiana, and they proved of excellent quali¬ 
ty. As madder is a three years crop, it will be necessa¬ 
ry that those who go into the cultivation, should plant a 
field every year, as few of our farmers would be willing 
to wait three years for returns. 
Sumach is another article of extensive import, many 
thousands of tons being annually imported from Sicily 
and Trieste. This is a perennial plant from which two 
crops is said to be taken in one year. It is mowed down 
like stubble. Many of our farmers may ridicule the idea 
of raising sumach, when it grows wild around them, but 
the imported is altogether a different species from the 
American, and sells at more than double the price. 
Ours is the Rhus glabrum, the imported is the Rhus co- 
riaria. I have seen plants of the latter growing in this 
country, but they are very rare. 
The Rhus cotinus is a species of sumach, the wood of 
which is extensively used in Europe for golden yellows. 
It is grown in this country as an ornamental shrub. The 
leaves when crushed, have a fine acid scent, and it bears 
a large drab colored flossy flower, but no berries. As it 
thrives well in this climate, I think it could be raised to 
advantage. Wm. Partridge. 
New-York, Aug. 1842. 
DOMESTIC FOWLS. 
Messrs. Editors —Can some of your readers inform 
me where I can obtain a few full blood Poland, or top 
knot fowls. I have not been able to find any in this vi¬ 
cinity that are better than some I have on hand, and 
these, in my opinion, are far from being pure blooded. 
I have heretofore paid considerable attention to the 
raising of turkeys, and some of the varieties of domestic 
fowls, and my success has led me to suppose that I can 
impart some information upon these matters. But few 
persons seem to possess the art of raising turkeys; and 
many think it impossible to succeed at all, unless the old 
ones run at large. I have made some experiments which 
wdiich satisfy me that such a “notion” is wrong. I ex¬ 
pect now to be in a situation another season, to make ex¬ 
periments on a large scale, and will give the results, if 
worth any thing. I now think that one hundred turkies 
can be raised at much less expense than the same value 
can be obtained from any other animals on a farm. 
Hartford, Ct. J. K. L. 
* We were aware of the distinction made by our correspond¬ 
ent, but as the inquiry seemed to refer to the first or most com¬ 
mon saffron, we did not consider it necessary to enlarge on the 
difference. We however thank Mr. P. for his paper, as calling 
the attention of farmers and others, to the cultivation of other 
coloring matters still more important than saffron. 
