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FARMS AND FARMERS.
Short Talks With the Men Who
Guide the Plow.
OF GENERAL INTEREST TO FARMERS.
Will It Pay?
Farming has its bright, poetic side. The
«nbowerod cottage, with vines and flowers
and shade, the ruddy-faced children, the
blooming maiden, the sturdy youth, tho
patriarchal father and motherly mother; these
naturally spring up before the mental eye at
mention of the farm. Green fields, waving
corn, lowing herds, frisking lambs, racing colts,
crowing cocks and cackling geese, complete
the picture. “Far from tho world’s ignoble
Strife”—removed from many of the tempta
tions that beset tho denizens of cities and
towns — the farmer lives in close communion
with nature. The sunshine, the clouds, the
rain, the storm, cold and heat, touch him on
every side and become part of his daily life.
How to put himself in unison with nature;
how to co-operate with her; how to avoid op
position to her laws, these are his constant aim
and study. They bring no personal animosi
ties, no initiative antagonisms. To watch the
tiny seedling spring from the buried seed; to
See it expand and grow into tho lofty
corn with its yellow tassels, flowing silks and
hanging ears, or. the branching cotton with its
snowy locks, suggestive of death and life, of
the grave and the resurrection, this is the
pleasing, ennobling occupation of each recur
ring year of his life. In these ho secs his own
life pictured: birth, growth, maturity, death.
No, not death; for in tiio now perfected grain
a new life is hidden away, seeming death only
—areal immortality. Is it wonderful that
noble natures, with the ripening and mellow
ing of age, turn instinctively to rural life, and
seek, or long for, its quiet and freedom from
the bickerings and strifes of men and its fore
thadowings of heavenly rest?
But farming has also a hard, business side —
a matter of dollars and cents, in tho strictest
sense. In every venture, outside of the adorn
ment of his homo, or the comfort of his family,
the first question that a prudent farmer should
ask himself is :“ Will it pay, is there any profit
In it?” Why should he labor “for that which
Is naught,” any more than a merchant or man
ufacturer or anybody else? “In tho sweat of
thy face shalt thou eat bread” is
tho divine announcement; ho should
sweat, but he should have bread as the reward
thereof. After taking due allowance for possi
ble contingencies, after careful, sober calcu
lation, a farmer should have reasonable
grounds for believing that an undertaking will
pay before he begins it. Like a judge on the
bench, he should canvass everything for or
against it. Neither blind hopes nor gloomy
fears should sway his judgment—these should
be ruled out of court, and he should look at the
naked facts in the light of the past experience.
Past experience—that is tho touch stone, that
Is the safest counsellor. You need not fear to
follow it. The only point to be guarded is,
that yon do not draw false influences from it,
and then substitute these in the place of the
experience itseif. Take the naked facts; they
arc right hard to get at sometimes; they be
come mixed up with opinions, and false deduc
tions, but strip them of these as much as you
can and then be guided by past experience,
Whether it is pleasant or not. Be honest,
whether it reflects on your past management
or not.
Let us propound some questions which are
pertinent to tho present season: Have you
good land to justify your running
as many plows next year as yon
did this? If you had left out a part
of the poorest land you planted this year and
put the manure and labor upon your best land,
would you not have made as much, or possibly
more, and saved the keeping of one mule and
One hand ? AVould it not be very pleasant to
have the money paid that hand back in your
pocket now, and the feed consumed by that
tnule bacjc in your bom ? Would it not have
been better to have sowed down that land, or
to have left it to rest and gather fertility to be
utilized at some future day? Does it pay you
to cultivate poor land? That is the most ser
ious, the most important question that con
fronts tl.e southern farmer today. Think of
It. Look at it, as applied to your own farm.
Count up the cost of cultivation, and then set
over against it the actual yields obtained. No
dodging. No shoving over the matter. Per
haps one wet year you ma.de a fair eron on the
poor land. Will you let that balance tho fail
ures of four others, when the seasons were not
favorable? Far bettor to concentrate on the
best land on your farm, though, by so doing,
you make it a one-horse farm, than to run
eight plows on poor land and simply make
enough to pay the expense of cultivation, or
possibly not do even that.
Does it pay to keep the same land year after
year in cotton, without rotation? iP os it pay
to run rows up and down hill and let tho soil
Wash away, without terraces or ditches to save
It ? Does'it pay to raise cotton to buy corn and
meat? Does it pay to Imy mules and horses
When they can be raised at home? Doesit
Say to use commercial fertilizers on thin land,
estituto of humus? Docs it pay to cultivate
laud that is half prepared? Decs it pay to
use poor implements of any kind? Which
pays best, a big venture on credit ora small
One on a cash basis? These are a few only of
the many questions which a farmer may ask
himself, lie ought to ask and weigh them
well aus wer them carefully, and then plan
his arrangements for another year, it is not
wise to go forward as a matter of course,
blindly taking tho chances as they come. Look
before you leap. W. L. J.
J. F. A., Atlanta, Ga.: I have about forty tons of
cow dung not mixed with anything. I wish to
know what to mix with it, and in what propor
tions to Increase q’u.nity and improve quality. I
llintl useit principally on vegetables.
Cow dung has two marked characteristics
as compared with excrement of other animals:
Ist, its texture is close, and when in mass is
cheesy. 2nd; as a consequence of above, and
from its deficiency in nitrogen, it putrefies
slowly, and disintegrates poorly. To over
come these objectionable features should be
the first object in manipulating it. This is
mast readily and advantageously done by
mixing it with some highly nitrogenous,easily
fermenting substance, which, like leaven, may
leaven the whole mass. Cotton seed meal is
quite suitable, and as it can be easily obtained,
»nd will supply the lacking nitrogen in the
dung, you can use nothing better. To make a
first-class article for vegetables, tho meal and
dung should bo mixed in rates of one of meal
to two "of dung by weight—but three of dung
to one of meal would make a very excellent
fertilizer. Chop the dung as fine as can be
handily dene. -Mix it with the’meal very
carefully, put .in pens, moisten
every part, and tread down Compactly
to keep tho fermentation within
proper bound. Wat h cb’.,cly and if it gets
Lot, quench by making numerous holes in tho
mass and pouring in water without stint. Do
this as often as it may need it. After the fer
mentation subsides and the mass cools down,
cut down and work over and put back in p< n
to undergo a second fermentation. This is
not apt to bo so violent, but must bo watched
also, and if necessary quenched with water.
After a few weeks the mass will bo ready for
use. It is well when the iicap is fir.t put up
to cover it a few inch. deep with rich earth.
Cow manure is tolerably rich in phosphates
and potash, and as cotton seed meal also con
tains some of botli U may not be necessary to
■cd either of these to the above mixture. Es
pecially will this be the case if the land has
been dressed pretty liberally with phosphates
in preceding ycer... i < tash is, if anything,
more import ’.:;. in growing vegetables than
phosphates
Q., Han klnzrllle, oa.. W bat U the best plant for
THE WEEKLY CONSTITUTION, ATLANTA, GA., TUESDAY. DECEMBER 27,1587.
winter and spring pastures In this section of conn- |
lry ‘, . wlnt(;rs mild and our soil ra her light i
and sandy, u e need something for stock in winter
and early spring.
lhere are two plants that will meet your de
mands; Burr clover and Schrader's rescue
grass, (Brown’s unialoides). They arc both
annuals, and have to be seeded down in au
tumn—but with proper management will seed
themselves indefinitely. The burr clover is a
native of southern Europe, but found its way
to South America, and thence to California,
and thence eastward, so that it is frequently
called Calitornia clover. It grows rapidly in
early spring, blooms, matures seed and dies by
May. If grazed or mowed up to middle of
April, and then left to itself, it will mature
seed enough to reset itself tho next autumn.
Tiio ground should be rich. No valuable
plant will make rapid growth in cool weather
on poor land.
Schrader’s rescue grass seems to be
a native of America, has been extensively
cultivated in Australia and is sometimes
called “Australian Oats”—the seed being
quitelarge. This is a very popular grass in
Texas and Louisiana, and sparingly cultivated
elsewhere in the southern states. It is better
adapted to the lower portion of the cotton belt
than tho middle or northern portions, though
we have seen it growing finely in the vicinity
of Atlanta on very rick land. If you will sow
this grass on rich land we think it will meet
your wants very admirably. In your locality
the summer grasses afford good grazing by the
middle of April, and if the Schrader is left un
disturbed after that date, it will mature seed.
When young this grass is very sweet and ten
der; as it gets old it loses these qualities, and
is not then relished by stock. As the seed are
large as much as two bushels should be sown
on an acre. In your mild climate, both bailey
and rye might be advantageously used for the
purpose you indicate. We are now cutting
green barley every*day for stock as far north
as Athens. Rich ground and early sowing is
the secret. It is very hard on stock to keep
them entirely on dry food from October to May;
there is no necessity for it. There are not
more than three months in midwinter when
stock need be ent off from a fair supply of
green food.
AV. T. N. Rutledge, Ga.: What is the matter
with, and what will cure hogs, that dance up and
down on their hind logs, and after a fewmiun'ei
tie or fall dov. n. There are several in this neigh
borhood affected thus.
It is probably some affection of the spinal
cord in the region of the loin or hip. The
nerves which regulate the muscular action in
the hind legs come out from the spine at tho
point mentioned, and any disease or trouble in
the spine at that point causes irregular muscu
lar action. Stringhalt in a horse is an illustra
tion. Trouble in the spine may originate in
the spinal cord itself, or may begin in organs
near to it and be transferred to it. Disease of
the kidney, for instance, may thus affect tho
spine. lu any caso counter-irritation along
the back in the region of tho loins is indi
cated. Rub well with a strong turpentine
ointment. As kidney troubles often come
from worms, it would bo well also to give a
teaspoonful of turpentine to each animal every
other day for a week or two.
Subscriber, A'erona, Hiss.: I have eight or ten
acres of bottom land that I wish to sow “in clover.
It will make fifteen or twenty bushels com per acre.
Was n peas this year, broadcast, and mowed for
hay. Ho you suppose I could get a catch without
fertilizing'? If not, what kind would you suggest,
and how much per acre? My idea Is to sow early in
February or March, and after the clover is up give
it a dressing of cotton-seed meal to enable the
young clover to get over the first drought, when it
will be deeply-rooted. The land is little inclined to
be saudy. but same kind of land here brings fine
clover when rich.
It would bo safer to apply some manure be
fore sowing the clover. .When clover first
comes up. it is quite delicate and very de
pendent upon tho immediate surface soil for
its food. The small seed contain very little
nourishment for the seeding; it must forage at
once upon outside sources. Now a sandy soil
does not hold plant food very well. The lat
ter tends to sink down in it. Hence ths sur
face is urually poorer even than the lower soil.
Making the surface soil rich is the first step,
therefore, toward starting a crop of clover.
After its long roots have had time to descend
and tap the subsoil it is more independent of
tho surface soil. If sown with grass it can
then give up the surface soil to the shallow
rooted grass, and draw its supplies from the
subsoil almost exclusively. Your proposed
dressing of cotton seed meal will be too late
to assist the young plants in ther first strug
gle for existence. Let tho food be in the soil
before hand, and ready for the first root that
that comes out. The young plant will thus
start out strong and vigorous, will send its
roots out promptly, and reach the subsoil and
become well established before the heat of
summer. A dressing of cotton seed meal,
harrowed in some weeks before, instead of
after, the sowing of the clover would be pro
per. It will need a little time to rot and yield
up its food contents. It will do this better
covered up in the soil than if exposed on the
surface. If you can set some ashes apply them
to the land before sowig tho clover. There is
no better manure for clover than ashes.
Twenty to fifty bushels to an acre may be ap
plied. If you cannot get ashes apply one
hundred pounds of kainit per acre with the
meal. As stated before, apply all some weeks
in advance of sowing the clover, and harrow
in well. After the clover shows its third leaf,
top dress with plaster, one hundred pounds
per acre. This sometimes produces wonder
fully good effects: sometimes it disappoints.
You may be able to learn from some of your
neighbors whether it prouuces good results on
same kind of land.
S. J. 8 , Silver City, Ga.: 1. I have an open woods
lot and wish to sow in grasses for pasture. It has a
rich, black, sandy soil, with red elay subsoil. I aim
to sow in orchard grass and would like to mix some
o'.her gnu or clover withit. What do you think
would be host, and in what proportion should the
seed be mixed?
2. How should the land be prepared, and when
sowed'? Should oats be sown with grasses?
3. Will it pay to raise chufas for hogs?
Ist. In sowing grasses for hay, it is impor
tant to put together those that mature or ripen
at the same time. All are then ready to
cut, when one is. But for grazing purposes,
varieties that mature in succession are prefera
ble. AVhen tiie most forward is about exhaust
ed, another is at its prime, and thus continuous
grazing is secured. Another principle comes
in. A plant of one variety interferes with its
fellow of the same kind more than with one
of a different variety. Two different grasses
occupying tho same area will pro
duce more herbage, than one variety with un
divided occupancy. A mixture of grasses is,
therefore, always desirable, and in case of i
grazing lots a mixture of such will mature in J
succession. Orchard grass is early, but blue
grass Is earlier. If it could be raised readily
Irotn tho seed wc should advise the sowing of
some Texas blue grass. But as it is difficult of
propagation except through “sets,”
wc suggest Kentucky blue grass instead.
It is earliest of all. Next, orchard and tall
meadow oat, and last red top or herds grass.
Sow one bushel each of blue and herds grass
and two bushels each of orchard and oat grass
per acre. This would bo regarded heavy
seeding by many, but it is not too heavy. It is
true economy to seed heavily. Red clover Is
the only clover suitable for sowing with above
grasses; but it had better be left out. At first
clover overshadows the grasses and smothers
them; in a couple of years tho clover will die
out and leave the land to the grasses, but they
will be spotted, having been killed out in
spots by the clover. It the clover was sown
alone, and at the end of the second year the
land was pl. w d and prepared for gra s, it
would be in most excellent condition for grass.
No better preparation for this crop can be had
than a good clover sod.
2d. As tho grass will occupy the land
for many years, and the plow can
never disturb it whilst the grass is
in possession, preparation shouldjbe very thor
ough. As a good Stand of grass is largely de
pendent upon a rich surface soil, it is not ad
visable to turn the land deeply, but it should
bo deeply broken. A subsoil should fol
low tho turner, or else a twe-horso scooter
should be used. After breaking the roller and
harrow should follow each other alternately
until the soil is brought into finest tilth. It is
well to do this some weeks in advance of sow
ing tho seed, so that rain may settle the soil a
little. AVhen ready to sow, if tho soil has
been compacted by rain, run a barrow over be
fore sowing the seed, and cover seed by follow
ing with roller. Grass seed will bear only the
lightest covering. September is the best
month for sowing gruss, if the weather is not
dry. The first of March tho next best time.
It is better not to sow oats or any other grain
with the grass.
3d. In tho lower section of tho state, where
the soil is light and the clutfa grows finely, it
is favorably regarded as a hog crop. AA r o are
doubtful of its being a paying crop in the clay
soil regions.
■—- •
AMONG THE FARMERS.
From the Cumming, Ga., Clarion.
H. G. Whittaker,of Vickery's Creek dis! ri t killed
two hogs ou the Sth Instant that netted 700 pounds;
aged 17 mouths and 22 days.
From the Lithonia, Ga., Era.
Mr. Jacob Braswell, one of our most prosperous
farmers, killed an IS-montlis-o'.d pig recently that
balanced the scales at 410 peunds net, and from
which he Saved 84 pounds of lard.
From the Jackson, Go., Herald.
A number of the most successful farmers of this
county have quit using guano in any quantity.
They otter a good argument in words and in crops
against commercial fertilizers. Every fanner could
easily test the question c n his own farm, and it is
his duty to s >.
From the Spr n;Place, Ga., Times.
Rev. M. M. I'ates has gathered 1,950 pounds of
seed cotton ofi of one acre of soil, and without
guano this season.
From the Gainesville, Ga , Eagle.
A Mr. I.eadford, who liasbeeq farming this year
on tlie Merritt place, five miles south of this city,
mad.? witii one horse el ven bales of cotton, weigh
ing 495 pounds each, besides a tine crop of supplies.
From the Lexington, Ga., Echo.
Mr. William Eberhart tested several kinds
of cotton tliis year, endeavoring to get the best.
Here is his tost: 214 pounds Stone made 64 pounds
lint; 218 pounds Black Seed mode 71 pounds; 200
pounds Royal Arch made 65 pounds; 211 pounds
Jilllard made 76 noun Is; 2 8 pounds 1“ .‘lerkln made
85Ja pounds. Area planted two-elevenths of an acre.
From the Hartwell, G i., Sun.
Four years ago a relative of Mr. S. V. Brown
sent him from Texas six cotton seed. Mr. Brown
planted them. Four came up and two died, leaving
only two stalks, which were given his entire atten
tion. This year as a result from the increase of two
seed from four years’ planting. Mr. Brown gathered
1,797 pounds of seed cotton, from which lie realized
something over 70 ) pounds of lint of line staple.
BIRDS AM) BEAST.
Condors Attacking and Devouring a Wild
Ox on the Plains.
From the Hartford Times.
Darwin, while watching long tlie lefty flight
of the Limm jrgeier’s American cousin, the condor,
In its great circling sweep at enormous altitudes
above the Chilian plains, wondered at the bird’s
power of thus sailing hour after hour in those great
sweeping circles without any apparent motion of
the cU’spread wings. He arrived at the probably
correct solution of the puzzle—a puzzle which has
Bothered a good many other observers in watching
tht spiral flight of the eagle and the ted-tuiled haw k
The extended wings gave not a single flap, but
seemed to form the fulcrum on which the movc
mentsof the rest of the great bird—his neck, body
and tail—acted. “If the bird ws' el to descend,
the wings were for u moment collapsed; and when
again expanded, with an altered inclination, the
momentum gained by the rapid descent seemed to
urge the bird upwards with the even and steady
movements of a paper kite.”
There Is something attractive in such a spectacle.
The condor is known to soar far above the loftiest
peaks of tlie Andos, which Hft ti e r snowy tops to
elevations four miles above the sea; indeed it is
known to rise six miles in vertical height—far above
all ordinary clouds—and there, in that rarified re
gion, in which human life could not exist, bis eagle
eye surveys the world below in search of his prey,
and finds in those silent spaces of the sky his native
air. That a company of three or four condors can.
and actually have, more than once, run down and
killed one of the wild cattle of the pampas, first
blinding the animal by destroying its sight, before
kilting him and dining oil’ his carcass, is a fact
which is said to have been witnessed by those who
ave related the story.
Why the Horne Shed Annually are Seldom
Found by Hunters.
From the Knowledge Box.
At the last meeting of tho Biological socielj®
Dr. C. A. White read a paper “On the Rapid Disap
pearance of the She 1 Antlers of the Cervid-u” that
called out considerable discussion. “Every hun
ter," and naturalist,” said Dr. White, “is well
aware that although the cervicce shed their horns
annually, the number of shed horns, even in the
most imperfect condition of preservation, which
are ever discovered, bear no comparison with the
number that must annually be dropped upon the
ground in the regions where those animals live.
It Is also well known that the horns of these ani
mals killed before the time of she filing may be ex
posed to the weather fir years without matt ral
change. In some portions .of the western part of
of our national domain deer and eIK are, or have
been, so numerous that if their shed horns were not
destroyed by some special agency, we ought, in view
of their hard, bony character, to expect to find them
in immense numbers and in a fairly good condi
tion. In a late conversation at La e io, Tex., with
Captain J. IT. Smith. Nineteenth Infantry, United
States’army, upon this subject, he Informed me that
he had discovered the agent of destruction of shed
horns, which his presence in the game country of
the western territories at the time of shedding ena
bled him to do to his own entire satisfaction. This
agent, he says, is the larvae of a small insect, which
attacks the born as soon as it falls, and destroys it
by burrowing into its substance He says that he
has often observed this, and lu Bolt lined numer
ous specimens at such times which were perfectly
“riddled” by the larva-, until the horns were ready
to fall to pieces almost by their own weight.
“Although I have spent much time in regions
where the cervidm were abundant, I have never
been there afthe time of the shedding of their
l orn® I cannot, therefore, either affirm or deny
the observation of Ci p ain Smith, but I can join in
the expressions of surprise which I have often heard,
that so few shed horns should be discovered, even
where deer and elk are very abundant. The shed
horns seem to be equally rare at the high and low
elevations, and at high and low latitudes; that is,
within a wide range of climate and temperature. If
Captain Smith is correct in his observations for tl.e
region where be made them there must be more
than one species of insect concerned in the destruc
tion of the horns of tho cervldu*, because it is not to
be expected that any one species could have the full
range of climate and wide geological distribution
which that family of mammals has.”
A Fearful Fight Between Two Bull Reptiles
Near Pomona.
From the Pan Francisco Examiner.
“Talking about centipedes, tarantulas and
all the poisonous bugs and reptiles that infest
tho southern deserts,” said Henry-<’armello of
Pomona at the Grand yesterday, “I never did
Seo so many things of this sort as I did late one
evening just cast of Pomona, in L<»s Angelos
county, last August. It b ata anything I ever
read about. M.ym If and three or four others
had been fishing. Wu were passing over the
handy plain? where small vineyards here and
there dotted tho surface. Suddenly, as wo
drove along, ono of the buys uttered an excla
mation of surprise and let bis gun go at some
thing. Then he leaped out, and crack went his
gun again, na though straight into the ground.
Again he shot, and, to our exclamation of sur
prise—for we could not divine what he was
shooting at—said:
“ ‘Why, there! Don’t you see! Tarantulas!’
“And, sure enough, there they were, thick
and fast upon the ground, crawling hither and
> thither, as though an army of them were loose,
and devesting the country. Now, this w»ui>dg
to you like a fish story, but it is true. That
section was just swarming with these poison
ous reptiles. Every ono of us began firing
We shot and shot, and must have killed scores
of them. Then, by deftly using some sticks we
had, we got about sixty of them into a bucket.
Fight? You just ought to have seen them.
At first they wouldn’t fight. We put two or
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1888 will show a larger and more attractive corps of able writer?:
Scientific FfH’ITl TnntrA Bedding, .!. 8. Newman, Daniel Leo, F. A. Gulley, B. W. Hilgard, J. W. Glonn. W. 11. Yeomans, J. E.
ociernmc r arm I opics. py n (t M w Philips, J. 11. Wilson, 11. N S/arnes, J. Al Stahl. Bryan Tyson. J. W. A. Wright, FranciS Wyntt.
Prartina! Farininn li?" n • Aloultree, Jcfl. welborn, J. M. Gninos, S. G. Robertson, D. D. T.Moore. W. L. Scruggs, Charles T.
rrauiioal r arming. -Thomas, J. B. Stephens. C. Mcnolas, Eden Taylor. M. U. Zellner, J. 11. Alexander, E. E. McGehee, Herbert Post, John
) r. Jones, J. D. Twiggs. J. B. Stokes.
Live Stock sict5 ic t feter & J T : M * stuhl » AV * r * Miller, J. W. Street, S. W. Warfield, W. B. Schrader, G. A. Hoerlo, G. Camcrcr, Robert E.
vivvrA. Park, George E. Brown.
Poultry Department.} p r ‘est u?° er * Hale, Howell Cobb, Mrs. R. A. Alexander. J. L. Robertson, D. M. Owen, Sid Conger, George A.
Horticultural Department. Mims, J. Fitz, A.M. Howell, Mrs. J. S. R. Thomson, Win. P. Neeld, Wm. 11. Lyon,
Bee Culture.} J Brown, J. B. Mitchell, J. M. Jenkins.
Household Tcnics M u da Hetnur, Mrs. E. R. Tenncnt, Bessie M. Lackey, Margin Willie, Comfort Marshall. Lnov V. S. KingJ
luiiuviiiuu i J Mattie M illiamson, Amelia Thropp, Bettie Hearthstone, Emma C. Stout, “The Doctor’s Wife,” Mrs. Mel. R Colquitt/
gar In this large corps of writers will bo found the names of Professors of Agricultural Colleges and Directors of Experiment Stations; scientific
farmers and noted stock breeders; old and experienced practical farmers; well-posted bee culturists and fruit growers; gifted women whose pons can
indite poetry and fiction as well ns treat of household topics; in fact the list runs from tho astute mid learned teacher of agricultunil science, to tho
plain and practical farmer in the field. Every topic pertaining to farm life and household economy is discussed by these writers from their own obser
vations or experiences, and always with profit and interest to 'The Cultivator renders.
InnilirV Dftnarfmfint Steady growth of this well-established department has surprised nnd pleased tho publishers of The Cultivator, as
4 . n . / . „ lt sbowshow necessary such information as it dispenses is to the great mass of farmers. The some gifted and ready pen
that writes Thoughts for the Month, promptly and instructively responds each month to tho inquiries which .‘ome from subscribers in all parts of thd
country, and cover every phase and feature of farming, stock breeding, poultry raising, fruit growing, bee culture, etc. 'lbis departuient alone, liko
1 noughts for tho Month/ is worth more than five years’ subscription in tho twelve months to any progressive farmer.
ThoUClhtS for tho Month al ? v,, y q important feature in The Cultivator lopes none of its interest by repetition, ns each year bring ncwl
x 1 ,y. A , , viiiii. seeds, improved methods of cultivation and labor-saving implements. This requires new suggestions, mere’
helpful hints and practical observations. In the hands of n thoroughly cultivated writer a practical farmer from his youth up, and an eminentofiicial
authority on all agricultural subjects, this valuable department has grown in interest and usefulness, and any farmer can now safely take it as his iruido
for farming operations during the month of which it treats. SPFC’IAI. OFFER FOR C'LVIIS. b
Samp/esoiffree. THE CULTIVATOR PUBLISHING CO., Drawer 8, Atlanta, Ga.
three together and tried to agg them on. No
go. They seemed slow about beginning to use
the poison on each other. Then we put in some
more and began stirring them up with a stick.
You ought to have scon them launch into each
other. The more wo put in the more they
fought, until when we had put in tho three
score 1 have told you about, and had the buck
et half full, wo had just a wreathing mass of
poison. Sting and light 1 My land, how they
did do it, though. They kept it up for quite a
long time, until wc got tired lookingand watch
ing them. Tlu? little ones died the soonest, and
sunk to the bottom amidst a mass of blood,
while the old and big ones stayed on top.
“At length two old bull tarantulas held the
field. All else had sunk down. These were
two veritable Napoleons. Fight? You ought
to have seen tho blood fly now. Such awful
and vindictive thrusts, and such merciless bel
ligerents I shall never see again if I live a
thousand years. Tho battle lasted about five
minutes more, and then they went down to
gether. Which was the stronger, more endu
ring or gamier it would bo hard to to say.
When they got through wo just had a bucket
ful of dead spiders. That was all.”
Two Men Iloost High, Out of Respect for a
Lion.
From the San Bernardino Courier.
C. H. Wilkins and Edward Somers lived I t
the Wlsite Camp, San Antonio canon. Re
turning to their houses about the time of the
midnight that was the dividing line between
tho 19th and 20th of tho present month, they
Were very disagreeably surprised to see, by the
light of their lanterns, a mountain lion in the
act of going under tho building. Having no
arms with them, and knowing that tho floor
of their domicile was a flimsy affair, and
could easily ho torn to pieces by tho danger
ous animal, they considered a tree near by
their only refuge, and upon such considera
tion, they climbed the tree with tho dexterity
which frequently accompanies danger. Com
fortably ensconced among tho boughs, they
spent tlie night, waiting for tho daylight. It
came, but it placed the occupants of tho tree
in even a more dangerous predicament than
before. The lion still possessed the premises,
and to descend would place those who might
injudiciously attempt a descent in danger of
being eaten bodily. At about noon Colonel
Hopkins, Dave Wixom, Mrs. Van Clive and
Miss Eva Goodrich appeared on tho scene in a
carriage. When informed by tho dwellers
among tho branches of the state of affairs, Mr.
Wixom killed tho lion with a ball from a rifle,
and announced that tho gentlemen might de
scend in safety. Ed. Huch is now tanning the
hide of the animal, which will bo presented to
a gentleman well known in this city.
Sense of Smell In Ilogs.
Mr. George J. Romanes has communicated
to tne Linnean society the results of a series of ex
periments, made by him, to test tho strength and
acuteness of the sense of smell in dogs. The paper
is rej Tinted in Nature, and will lie found of interest
and value, He cites the case of a terrier, who could
not Ire thrown off bls master's track upon the pat e
mentof Regent’s park, although this track was
crossed and recrossecl by hundreds of fresher ones,
and by thousands that were not so fresh. To make
a test with a setter, the master had his men in In
dian file, and the gamekeeper brought up the rear
of the line. Each man placed his feet in the foot
prints of his predecessor.
The master's scent was most overlaid, that of tVo
g: m keeper was freshest. When they bad gone
200 yards the master turned to the right, followed
by five of the men, the other six turned to the left,
keeping their usual order. The setter followed the
common track with such <»;erness as to over
shoot tho point of divergence, but quickly regain
ing this point chose at once the track to the right.
The master and a stranger to the d< g exchanged
bools, and then went different ways. The setter fol
lowed its master's boots, and found the stranger.
When the master and stranger walked the park
with bare feet, the setter followed its master's trail,
but not with the eagerness with which lit followed
tho trull of his boots.
When he walked in new shooting boots the set
ter would not follow.
The master glue<l a single thickness of brown pa-
I«r to the soles and sides of his old Bhioting-boots.
The setter did not take the trail, until It came to a
point where the paper, having worn away, the sole
of one heel touched tie ground. Thou the dog rec
ognized the trail at once.
Walking In new cotton socks left no trull that the
setter could follow; in woolen seeks that h-id been
worn a day, the troll was followed, but not eagerly.
The master walked lift}- yards in hia shootlng
-1.0 4-, then kicked them off and carried them with
him, while he walked In stockings 300 yards, then
he took ol! hls stoci.l r;s, and walked another 300
yards barefoot. When the settler was put upon the
track at the outset, it followed with usual eagerness,
and kept up the putsull through the whole distance.
Accompanied by a stranger to the dog, the master
rode out along a carriage way, several hundred
yards from the house, then he alighted and walked
in his shooting boots 50 yards beside the carriage.
Ho then entered the carriage and bbt friend got out
and walked 500 yards along the way. Tho setter
ran the whole 250 yanls at lull speed, without mak
ing any pausa at tho point where tho scent
changed.
The muster walked in his ordinary shooting boots,
having first soaked them in oil of anise seed. Al
though the odor of the anise seed was so strong as to
be i ercelved by a fri< nd an hour after the trail was
rn".de, the dog followed the truck of Its master, thus
disguised, with usual S|ac<l, after having examined
tho first three or four steps carefully.
Other experiments tested the power of scent
through the ar. The master walked down a tram
pled field, by a zigzag course, for a quarter of a mile
then turned one side, got over a alone wall, and
walked ba' k toward the house. The stone wall was
bmast high and atrout HXI yards to the windward or
bls'-onrse down the fi‘ ld. The <fi>g taking the t ai
at the top of the field, followed rapidly its master 1
winding course.
The moment It gained tha “wind's eye” of the
place when: he was Mending, with only hie eyes
above the to? of the wall, the d?»g threw up lu head,
turned from the track it was following and went
straight to Its Owner. And yet there were at the
time several overheated laborerere near It In the
field.
Backache is almost Immediately'reieved by
wearing one of Carter’s Smart Weed and Bel
jadonna Backache Plasters. Try one and be
,ree from pain. Price 2S cents.
A BIT OF HISTORY.
Jackson’s Flank Movement at
Chancellorsville.
WHO ORIGINATED THE STRATEGY.
Editors Constitution :-I was very much
inti rested in the account of the “Last official Inter
view hot we n ami Jackson,’’which you published
this morning, written by Captain Carlton McCarthy
in the Richn o id Critic.
It very conclusively shows that the great flank
movement which resulted In the defeat of 11< oker
originated with Lee, and not (aa han been popularly
supposed) with Jackson.
In General A. L. Long’s Life of Leo, he published
a letter from the gallant and accomplished engineer
< fib er, Colonel T. M. K. Talcott, (who by the way is
soon to become a citizen of Atlanta) in which he
gives the following deeply Interesting account of
that historic interview. Colonel Talcott says:
“My recollections of tiio night before tire battle of
Chaneellorsvil’.e nre as followed:
“About simsei G neral Jackson sent word to Gen
eral Lee (by mejthat his a Ivauoe was checked, and
the enemy were in force at Chancollorsville. This
brought General Lee to the front, and General Jack
son met him at the southeast angle of the Chan
cellorsville and Cathrene Forge road.
“Gene:al Lee asked General Jackson if ho had
ascertained the positic n and stiength of the enemy
on our left, to which Gene al Jackson replied by
stating the result of an attack made by Stewart s
cavalry near Cathrene Forge about dusk. The posi
tion of the enemy Immediately In front was then
discussed, and Captain Boswell and myself were
sent to make a moonlight reconnoisince. the result
of which was reported about (10 p. in., and was not
favorable to an atack in front.
“At this time Generals Lee and Jackson were to
gether, and Lee, who bad a map before him.
asked Jackson, ‘how can weg<t at these people?’
To Whi< h Jackson replied,in en'cct/you know’ best.’
show me what to d » and L will do it.’ General
Lee looked thoughtfully nt the map; then indicated
on it and explained the movement ho desired Gen
eral Jackson to make; and closed by saying: ’Gen
eral Stuirt will cover your movement with his cav
alry.’ General Jackson listened attentively, and
his face lighted up with a smile while <General Lee
was speaking. Then rising and touching his cap,
he said: ‘Mv troops will move at four o’clock.’ “
Colonel Charles Marshall, who was at the time
Lee’s military secretary, gives a graphic and lute
esting account of either the same intei view or of
another the same evening, os that given above by
Colonel Talcott, and I quote Colonel Marshall’s ac
count as given in General Fitzhugh Lee’s superb
address on Chancellorsville before the Army of
Northern Virginia asaociation.
••Ah! what an earnest talk. lajo and Jackson bud
on the night olMuy l-t. Ai sunset they took their
seats on a log, on tiio right or north >IOO of the
plank road, and a little distance in the woods.
Colonel Marshall, thejwell known nid-de camp of
General Lee, was the only other person present,
having bei n ordered to come to the spot for the
Otose of writing a letter to Mr. Davis, dictated by
eral Leo. Marshall sat on (the end|of a fallen
treeMvithin three feet of the two generals, ana
heairl every word that passed between them, and
this is what he tells me Lee and Jackson talked
about on that eventful night. Jackson spoke to
General Lee about what ho had seen and heard
dining the advance, ami commented upon the
promptness with which the enemy bud appeared to
abandon his movement towards Fredericksburg
when opposed, ami the case with which l.p
had been driven buck Ito Chancellorsville, and
concluded by expressing tne opinion very decidedly
and re [>ettting it more than once, that the enemy
would recross tbo Rappahannock before morning.
He said in .‘ubstancc: ‘By tomorrow morning there
will not be any of them this side of the river.’ Gen
eral Lee expressed the hope that General Jackson’s
exncctaiions might b > realize <l, but said,‘that he
d a not look for such a result; that he did not
b d eve the enemy would abandon his attempts so
easily, and expressed the conviction that the main
body of <i< neral Hooker's army was in his front,
and that the real move was to bo made from this di
rection. and not from Fredericks on rg. On this
point tncre was a great difference of opinion among
our higher officers, and General Lee whs the only
one who seemed to have the absolute conviction
that the real nittyj of the federal army was the one
he was meeting then.
In this belief bo never waverod from the first.
After telling General Jackson that the hoped his
opinion might be proved to be correct General Lee
aaded: “But, general, wc must get ready to attack
the enemy, if we should find him h< re tomorrow,
and yon must make all arrangements to move
around his right flank.”
d Dr. Bled oe, who was then editor of the Southern
Ceview, hi d written to General Lee asking him the
hired question, whether the flank mosementat
Rhancellorsville originated with Jackson or with
imsulf, and in reply General Lee wrote the folio ty
ing letter, which settles the question beyond all
controversy:
“Lexi.kotoN. Vb., October 28, 1867.- Dr. A. T.
Bledsoe, office Southern Review: Bal
timore, Md.—My Dear Sir: In reply to
your inquiry, I meat acknowledge that I have not
read the article on Chancellorsville in the last
number of the Southern Review, nor have 1 read
any of the books published on either side since
tl.e termination of hostilities. A have, as
yet, felt no desire to revive my recollections of
those events, ami have been satisfied with the
knowledge posse sed of what transpired. I have,
however, learned from others that the various nu
thors of the life of Jackson, award t/> him the cr< dit
of the success gained by the anny of northern
Virginia, where he was present nnd ckacribe the
movements of bis corps or ( ommand as imlcn-nd
ent of the general plan of operations, and under
taken at hh own suggestion, and upon his own
responsibility.
'u have the greatest reluctance to do anything
that might be considered detracting from his well
d" erv< I fame, for 1 believe no one was more con
vince! of Ids worth or appreciated him more highly
than myself; yet your knowledge of military afiairs,
if you have none of the events themselves, will
tench you that tills could not have been so. J.v< ry
moveim nt of an army must he well considered and
properly ordend, ami everyone who knew General
Jackson must know that he. was t gool a soldier
to violate tliis fundainentn! nrineiple. In the oper
ations around Chance Horsvilie J overtook General
Jackson, who had i/ cn placed in cornu audof the
advance, aa the skirmishers of the appioachlng
arnifcs met, advum < d with the trom s to the federal
lino of defences, and was on the fl-ld until their
whole army n crossed the R ippahaiio< k.
“T. e v is no question as tojwho was responsible
foa the operations of the confederal s, or to whom
any failure would have been charged.
“What 1 have said Ls for your own information.
“Witii my Let wi-bes lor the success of the Sou th
em Review, ami for your own welfare, in but > of
which J take a lively interest, “1 nin, with great
resjH'Ct. your friend and servant, R. I . Lee.’ I
It is due to the memory and lame of Ixe thut the
fact* given above should be brought out—that his
true character as a soldier should be clcariy por
trayed—and that tlie world should know that so
far from being “s’.ow and cautious” (us General
Grant said he was/, ho whs not one whit behind
even “fltonewall” Jackson in the boldness of his
conceptions, and the rapidity of
his execution, that President Jes
ferson Davis was not wrong in his estimate when
he said: "Izi would attempt anything that man
might dare.”
And yet lu this w* would dishonor the memory of
Leo If we should disparage in any way his great
lieutenant—“ Stonewall” Jackson—whom he cnlhil
his ‘right arm,” and to whom he wrote wiiviy
he was str can down nt < Uinncellorsvilio: “Could fa
have dictated events I should have ch< s. n for th®
g')od of the country to nave been disabled in your
stead.” I had thoprivilege once of hearing Gen*,
end Leo, Ih his office In Lexington, pronounce a
glowing eulogy on Jackson, in winch he «al<l
with far more than his ftccv;gtomo<|
warmth of feeling: “110 never failed inc. Why, if u
had had Stonewall Jackson at Gettysburg I should)
have won that battle, and if I had won a decidedl
victory there wo would have established the Indc-i
pendonce of the confederacy.”
It was on the other hand beautiful to sec hows
Jackson re< iproeated Lee's high opinion, lie soidJ
“General Lee is a phenomenon. He is the only mniv
whom 1 would be willing to follow blindfoido i.’*j
And it was glorious to see the cheerful alacrity, tins
Spendiiul skdl and the terrtiic energy with whiqly
he executed the orders, or even the slightest wish oi
his chief. Lee and Jackson were indectf
lar nobile fratrum. “Lovely in their lives, in thefn
death, they were not divided,’’ but sleeping side* by)
side in “Lexington in the valley of Virginia.’' thru
live together in the hearts of a grateful people, thefts
fame is forever linked together, and their pura
spirits ' a>k together in the sunlight oi that brighlerJ
better land, where “war’s rude alarms” are never
heard. J. Wm. Jo>e,.
Atlanta, December 10,1«*7.
SOUJBWEBT GEORGIA GRASS
Uns More Money In it Than the Snnw Area
of Colton.
From the Camilla, Ga., Clarion. J
The editor of the Clarion knows something
about stock and something about southwesl
Georgia and other parts of the world. lie has
baldly assorted again and again that stock!
raising can bo made as profitable hero as any*
where. A beginning has been made. Colo*
nel Kain Balter, of Dougherty county, in
about the only one within our knowledge who
Etho necessary attention to the business.'
week he sola eight horses ranging fron]
one year to four years old; all of which, ex*
cept one, were foaled on his Mud creek farfri«|
They brought him $4,500. A sucking colt waM.
sold for SSOO. !
The purchasers were from Virginia, one oi
them Mr. Scales, the son of Governor Scales]
of North Carolina. They know all about
stock raising. They met with Mr. Salter nil
the Piedmont fair, and have been reading the
Albany pamphlet. They were astonished t<j
find a country so well adapted to stock raising
as Dougherty county. They had visited KciU
tucky and liked the condition of Mr. Halter’ll
stock, raised mostly on native grasses, bettei
than any found in the blue gruss regions. O
course these high prices were for thoroughbred
stock. But what Sain Salter has done, othci
people tan do. The Clarion is indebted to th([
Albany News and Advertiser for these inter J
ysting facts, ami calls special attention to the
incident as told by our esteemed neighbor:
“One most striking occurrem o. which deeply im«
prcßHt <1 the minds of these gentlemen, was prefer*'
cm e shown Georgia cured nav by the stock. Tha
question of hay being under discussion, Mr. SaUej
walked to his barns, and throwing open the doors
exhibited large quantities of bright, sweet hay.
disci a slon of the relative qualities of the western
and Georgia hay ensured, when give an ooylaß
demons! ration of the decided prefe* mce oi horscif
for the Georgia hay, M.. Falter had *, pile of Gecr4
f’ia ai d western hay thrown near together in the
ot and turned his horses in. All of them, aftel
nibbling around, settled on the Georgia hay, leav«
lug tiie western almost untouched. 'Die furthefl
fact no sowing of seed was iicc< ssiirv to raise haw
upon our ground, but that nature had seeded (■
with native graces of the finest quality, was a revo«
hition that was almost startling in its effect.
days ,e st to which to/
I I'fn IXT I K< - t your name ia
VJIIIV X Cllour Ghrlsmast bujfl
J Sulmtllmj at oncOfS
or renew, or get a new subscriber. In tciv
days some one will get 8■’•00 In gold as a present. 11l
may be YOH. Don t delay a day. Every name u[X
to January Ist will go in the box.
LETTERSFROMTIIE PEOPLE
The Flying Dutchman.
Foitohh Constitution: Please give the'
original story of the "Flying Dutchman.” T. T. j
This name Is given to u spectral ship which is slips
posed to cruise in storms oil the Capo of Good
a sight of her being considered the worst of all post
slide omens. Bhe is distinguished from earthly ves*>
sols by bearing a press of sail when all others ara
unable, from stress of weather, to show an inch ol
canvas. According to on< account, a Dutch cupp
tain bound home trom the West Indies met witst 1
long-continued head winds and heavy weather
the < ape and refused to put back, ns he was advised,’
swearing a very profane oath, that he would beat
around that case if he had to do so until the day oi
■ Judgment. He was taken at bls word, and doomeil
to b at against head winds all his days.
are believed Ui have become thin and sere, hlsshlp’g
sides white with age, and himself and crew redmed
almost to shadows, lie cannot heave-to ora lower »
tout, but sometimes balls vessels through his truing
pct and requests them to lake letters home for him
The Black Holo of Calcutta.
Editors Constiti tion: What was tha
"Black Hole” of Calcutta? 8. D. 8.
Ti e mime given to a small and close dungeon in
• Fort William. Calcutta, the wene of one of the mo t
tragic events in the history of British India. I'poH
the capture of the city by Bur«Jah Dowub, on Jui.a
20, 177), the Brii a garrison, con-lstlng of lb) men,
being made prlsmem, were locked up at night in
this io nn, only 18 feet square, and poorly ventilat
ed, it having been built only for the purpose of
holding two or three piisonera at a time. In tho
morning, of the 116 imprisoned, only 23 were found
alive. In the Annual it< gsb r for 1758, Is a narra.
tlvooftho sufleiingsof those Imprisoned, written
by Mr. Holwell, one of the number. Ihe "'Hails
Hole” Is now used as a warehouse.
Hobson's Choice.
Editors Constitution: I’lease give tho
origin of the expression, "Hobson’s Choice/’
Thomas Hobson was born in 17M; he was fogf
sixty yean a carrier between London and Canto,
bridge. England, conveying to and from the unft
verslty letters and packages, also passengers. Jt»
addition to hlsexpress business he hud a livery)
stable and let horses to the university students. Hol
made ft a rule that all the horses should have. ac>
cording to ttielr ability, a proper division of work:
and rest. They were taken out In regular order, aa,
they stood, beginning with the one nearest that
door. No choice was allowed, and If any man rw
foxed hi hike the animal assigned him he might g&
without any. That or none. Heuoe th.ipbraOSf
"Hobson's choice.”
7