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AUGUSTA WASHINGTONIAN.
§1 JFwHH® sWafcf U smt
Vol. II No. 12.]
Che gSasMiifltoniim
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[From the Columbia Planter.]
Darlington, July 5, 1843.
r My Dear Sir :—I promised you to de
scribe for the Planter, my mode for keep
ing the sweet potatoe. But from the great
reluctance I have in w riting for the public,
I have delayed until now, fulfilling my
promise.
There is no provision crop that we can
plant, that yields so abundant a supply,
as the sweet potatoe. The great difficul
ty in keeping them, is one great reason
of their being so few planted.
For negroes, I think them a wholesome
food*—though they should not be confined
for any length of time, to them. Hogs
and cows fatten well on them, and
if washed and sprinkled with salt, mules
will do well fed with them.
For two vears past, I have succeeded
in keeping my potatoes all the winter,
f not losing by rot, 1 think, not more than
live per cent., if so much. Believing
that they should he kept as near an equa
ble temperature as possible, I had a house
built on a plan of my ow n, that would
attain the desired end, as well as any I
could devise. The house is nothing more
than a pole-house—on three sides, it is
i double walled, that is, a pen within a pen |
j —the walls have a space between them,
of about 18 inches, w hich is filled with
earth, well packed down \yith a beater or
pestle—the inner pen is two poles lower
than the outer one, and is covered with
strong puncheons, which arc supported
in the centre by a strong pole—the wall
of earth is continued from the sides,
over the puncheons, which effectually
excludes the air on those three sides and
the top. The fourth side of the house
(which faces the South) is a single wall,;
and has the door cut through it—this
w’all is made as tight as possible, by fill
ing between the poles with clay, and
nailing boards over it. The whole cov.
ered with a roof of rough boards.
Some of my neighbors dig pits for their
potatoes. On the contrary, I have the
floor of my house raised by a layer of clay,
dor 8 inches thick—before housing my
potatoes, there is a thick layer of dry
straw put over the floor.
When potatoes are first housed, they
will sweat, and I found my house was so 1
tight that the dampness could not escape : .
by removing the clay from between two ,
of the poles on the single wall, this diffi
culty was obviated.
With sincere desire for the success j
of the Planter. I remain dear sir,
Yours sincerely,
A Small Farmer. ;
From the South Western Farmer.
Improving Lands.
In connexion with the subject of deep
ploughing, may be well brought to the at
tention of our readers, that of improving
their poor lands, or even the good, which
we hold to be entirely within the power
of every farmer to do, to some extent.
We are firmly persuaded that a piece
of level land can be managed, so as to pro
duce an average crop, without any materi
; al decline, for forty years, ay! or fifty eith
: or H and at an expense not worthy of no
tice.
Having this object in view, we would
.advise, instead of feeding cotton seed to
stock, that they be spread on the land, and
ploughed in with all the decayed and de
caying leaves, stalks, trash, &c. If the
5 -cd, stalks, itc., be ploughed in, as we
AUGUSTA, GA. SATURDAY, AUGUST 26. 1843.
1 reccommended, we believe the land will
be fully sustained because every thing that
grew thereon is restored, except some 3
or 400 lbs. to the acre taken off, as the
cotton of commerce, and the few seed for,
. planting.
There are those who insist on feeding: 1
the seed to stock, strangely asserting, that
the manure is as good as the seed. How
this can be. we know not, even if the stock
were kept up all the time, unless cattle
were highly fed on other things, and litter
be kept to preserve the manure from wash
ing off, which may be done somewhere,
but not within our little experience.—
Here is a tact, one so called by some per
sons that their experience proves, the
| same substance will feed a cow, and yet
jbe as good, after passing through her, for
! manure—we just do’nt credit this experi
jonce.
We ask no extra labor, because the
same work of hauling the seed and feeding
the stock, will haul it on the land, and it
were better to feed land, so as to enable
it to feed stock that could return the favor.
W e wish it to he understood we are not
talking at random, or from book reading
in our sanctum, hut from the experience of
others as well as our own ; wc have oc
casionally used the seed for manuring for
ten years, sometimes sown broadcast, at a
greater rate per acre than was produced,
and never yet without a marked advant
l age. This year we have used them on
same twelve acres; at about 150 bushels
per acre. One instance well worthy)
of note, here, a Mr. , formerly of)
Minds, tried to bring up a piece of poor
land, by drilling in at the rate of about 40
bushels per acre, and throwing up beds on
, this, having beaten down all stalks; the
result, for several years, while.our inform
, ant was in that vicinity, was a progressive
improvement, and would no doubt have
, ended in a complete restoration to its for
mer fertility.
There are other means within our con
trol, to greatly aid in this matter, planting
the cow pea early in the crop, and on lay
ing by, sow the pea broad-cast between
| rows, thus ensuring a crop, of peas from
. early planting, a foil crop of vines, with
) the shade and decay of leaf to the land.
Plant largely of sweet potatoes, at least
half an acre to the hand, so as to be able
to feed cattle and hogs with them in win
ter; save more crab grass hay, sow down
millet, corn, &c., &c., for dry provender.
Sow rye in corn fields too, if desirable, oi 1
! turnips; and thus enable you to do without
the cotton seed.
Now is the time to do all these things.
Cotton is too low to count on it alone.
Prepare now, so when cotton once more
gets to bring a fair price, you will be ready.
Hard times cannot, no ! they cannot al
ways last; they have been on Adam’s
race and will again.
Cultivate Small Farms.
The Wilmington (N. C.) Chronicle has
I the following very sensible remarks on
this subject, which we commend to the at
tention of our planters.
There has lately been considerable emi
gration from New York to Virginia, most
ly of agriculturists, who find their account
in selling their own well ordered fields for
a high price and buying Virginia lands i
which have become cheap solely from bad
husbandly. Many of the farmers of Dutch
ess county, New York, have sold their ;
farms in N. York for one hundred dollars i
per acre, and purchased farms in Virginia j
for three or four dollars per acre, which |
they expect to make in a short time as <
valuable as the lands they sold. |
‘One mode,’ says the Baltimore Ameri- i
can, ‘by which the Northern farmers im- ;
prove the worn-out lands In Virginia is to <
make small farms. The system of large (
plantations in the Southern States has re- ;
suited in deteriorating whole tracts and dis-
tricts of country. Bad tillage is an almost
inevitable consequence of such a system.
The farmer or planter who endeavors to
i make up for the loss of fertility in his lands
by increasing the number ofhis acres, on
; ly extends the evil which he would escape
from, adds to the amount ofhis labor with
• out securing a corresponding return of pro
fit.’
There are truths here laid down which
Southern farmers do not give proper heed
to. When will they learn to cultivate less
land and cultivate it well? The system
now generally pursued is about as wise as
would be that of a schoolmaster who should
attempt to teach one hundred boys himself,
or the scholar who should undertake to
learn every thing. We believe our farm
ers l)egin to see the evil. The sooner they i
set about correcting it the better for them
selves and the country.
MUSiOEILILAIKIEOIiiIg,
The Frst Prayer in Congress.
The subjoined extract of a characteris
tic letter from John Adams, describing a
Iseene in the first Congress in Philadelphia
in September, 1774, shows very clearly
on what Power the men of old rested
their cause. Mr. A. thus writes to a
friend at the time.
“ When the Congress met, Mr. C’ush
|ing made a motion that it should be
opened with prayer. It was opposed by
■Mr. Jay, of New York, and Mr. Rutledge,
of South Carolina, because we were so
divided by religious sentiments—some
Episcopalians, some Quakers, some Pres
byterians, some Anabaptists, and some
CongregationaliSts, that we could not
join in the same act of worship. Mr.
Samuel Adams arose, and said ‘that he
was no bigot, and could hear a prayer
from any gentleman of piety and virtue
ivho was at the same time a friend to his
country. He was a stranger in Philadel
phia, but hud heard that Mr. Duche, (Du
; shay they pronounced it,) deserved that
‘ character, and therefore he moved that
Mr. Duche, an Episcopal clergyman,
• might be desired to read prayers to the
Congress to-morrow morning. The mo
, tion was seconded, and passed in the
affirmative. Mr. Randolph, (air Presi
i dent, waited on Mr. Duche, and received
s for an answer that if his health would per
mit he certainly would. Accordingly, next
‘jmorning he appeared with his clerk and
■ his pontificals, and read several prayers in
i the established form, and then road the
collect for the seventh day of September,
which was the thirty-fifth psalm. You
must remember, this was the next morn
ing after wo laid heard the rumor of the
horrible cannonade of Boston. It seemed
as if heaven had ordained that psalm lobe
read on that morning.
“ After this, Mr. Duche, unexpectedly
to every body, struck out into an extem
porary prayer which filled the bosom of
every man present. I must confess I
never heard a better prayer, or one so well
pronounced. Episcopalian i«s he is, Dr.
Cooper himself never prayed with such
fervor, such ardor, such correctness and
pathos, and in language so elegant and
sublime, for America, for Congress, for
the province of the Massachusetts Bay,
especially the town of Boston. It has
1 had an excellent effect upon every body
here. I must beg you to read the psalm.
If there is any faith in the sortes Virgili
anae, or sortes Homeric®, or especially
the sortes Biblicae, it would be thought
providential.”
Here was a scene worthy of the paint
er’s art. It was in Carpenter’s Hall in
Philadelphia, a building which (we learn
by a recent article) still survives in its
original condition, though now sacrilegi
ously converted, we believe, into an auc
tion mart for the sale of chairs and tables,
that the fourty-four individuals met to
whom this service was read.
Washington was kneeling tin re, and
Henry, and Randolph, and Rutledge, and
Jay, and by their side there stood, between
in reverence, the Puritan patriots of New
England, who at that moment had leason
to believe that an armed soldiery was
wasting their humble households. I u was
believed that Boston had been bomb; rded
and destroyed. They prayed fervently
for America, for the Congress, for the
province of Massachusetts Bay, and es
pecially for the town of Boston, and who
can realize the emotions with which they
turned imploringly to heaven for Divine
interposition and aid ? “It was enough,”
says Mr. Adams, “to melt a heart
ofstone. I sawthe tearsgush intotheeyes
of’the old, grave, pacific Quakers of Phil
adelphia.”—Newark Daily Adr.
The following story is told of a Yankee
captain and his mate :
“ Whenever there was a plum pudding
made by the captain’s orders all the plums
were put into one end of it, and that end
placed’next to the captain, who, alter help
ing himself, passed it to the mate, who ne
ver found any plums in his part of it.—
Well, after this game had been played for
some time, the mate prevailed on the
stewart to place the end which had no
plums in it next to the captain. The cap
tain no sooner saw the pudding, than he
discovered he had the wrong end of it.—
Picking up the dish, and turning it in his
hands, as if merely examining the china,
he said, ‘Thisdish cost me two shillings
in Liverpool,’ and put it down again as
though without design, with the plum end j
next himself. ‘ls it possible!’ said the 1
mate, taking up the dish, ‘ 1 should sup-, i
t
pose it was not worth more than a shilling,’
and, as if in perfect innocence, he put the
dish with the plum end next to himself,
the captain looked at the mate, and the
mate looked at the captain; the captain
laughed. ‘ I tell you what, y oung one,’
said the captain, ‘you’ve found me out;
so we’ll just cut the pudding lengthwise 1
this time, and have the plums fairly dis- i
tributed hereafter.’ ”
From the German of Krummacher.
The Morning Dream.
A little boy, named Leopold, came
i down from his bed-chamber in themorn
-1 ing, crying bitterly, and the glistening
1 tears coursed down his cheeks. His fa
• ther and his mother went to him to see
’ what was the matter, for they thought
: some great evil had happened to the child,
■ or that he was sick and felt violent pain
“ and distress in his head or limbs. They
' asked the child, “ Dear child, what ails
‘ you ? Who has hurt you ?”
s Then the child opened his mouth, and
• said, “O! I had a little while ago twelve
■ clean white sheep, that came round me
t and licked my hand, and I sat among
t them with a shepherd’s staff’. But now
» they are all gone, and I know not where
' they are.” So saying, he began again
- to weep bitterly.”
‘ The parents observed the trouble of the
- child, and saw that he had dreamed ; and
1 they secretly smiled on each other* The
• father, however, remarked, “We indeed
t smile, mother, and yet our sighs and sad
-1 ness are frequently like the tears of the
i child, and our wishing and longing, arc
' they not often like Leopold’s dream ?”
, Leopold was still, however, much dis
i tressed about the twelve sheep. So the
■ parents consulted seriously as to what
' was to be done: and the father went to
i Leopold and said, “ I will go and look
‘ for your sheep.” So he went out and
bought a lamb, and brought it home, and
' put it where the child saw it. The boy
• was greatly rejoiced, ran up and hugged
i the lamb, and said, “Yes, this is it! it
[ looked just so! this is it! He was so
I overjoyed that he said nothing about the
• eleven other lambs, nor expressed anv
i desire for them.
The father then smiled again, and said
1 to the mother, “In dreams and tears, we
' grown people are like Leopold. May we
i resemble him likewise in contentment,
> and modest rejoicing in that which is
' small and moderate !”
The Ithiiioccros.
The following story of the rhinoceros
was related by a boor in South Africa :
These creatures, when enraged, are
more savage, and far more to Ire dreaded
than any other animal of the desert. Even
the lion when he perceives a rhinoceros,
, will fly from him on that instant. I had
a proof of this, said he, about two years
ago. As I was traversing nry lands in the
morning, I perceived a lion enter a thick
| et, about the distance of half a mile from
the place where I stood. In a few min
utes after I observ ed a second, then a third,
and then a fourth came ; they seemed to
follow one another at their leisure, and in
) less than an hour I counted nine that en
tered the same wood. Never having seen
so many of the same species together, I
was desirous to know the event of their
meeting, and I concealed myself for the
purpose.
After waiting for rather more than an
hour in my lurking place, without either
seeing any of them, or hearing any noise
from the quarter where they lay, I began '
to despair of having my curiosity in the
least gratified. At length I perceived a J
rhinoceros of uncommon magnitude ap- .
proach the wood. He stood motionless
ibr about five minutes, when he arrived
at a small distance from the thicket, then 1
tossed up his nose, and at last scented the
, animals that lay concealed.
In an instant I saw him dart into the
r wood, and in the space of about five min
; utes afterward, I observed all the lions
I scamper away in different directions, and
apparently in the greatest consternation.
The rhinoceros beat about the wood in
pursuit of his enemies for a considerable
time ; but not finding any, he broke cover
at last, and appeared in the plain. He
then looked around him, and enraged at
his disappointment, began tearing up the
earth, and discovered every sign of mad
ness and desperation. I remained quiet
ly in my retreat until the animal disap
peared, and then returned to my house.
[ Teacher's Offering.
Rail-Road in India. —The English
government contemplate constructing a
Rail-Road from Calcutta to Delhi, 880.
mites. ]i
[Ose Dollar a Year.
Cost of Royalty*
Mr. Hume, in the course of his speech
in opposition to the grant of a marriage
portion to the Princess Augusta of Cam-'
bridge, from the purse of John Bull, said,
in the published report, he found the fol
lowing statement of payments to the
Queen and Royal Family in the year
ended January.s, 1843 :
hueen’s civil list.
Privy purse, - - - £60,000
Salaries to the house
hold, &c. - - - 131,260
Tradesmen’s bills - 172,500
Bounty, alms, &c. - 13,200
Unappropriated monies, 8.040
——£385,000
Duke of Cumberland £21,000
Duke of Sussex - . 21,000
Duke of Cambridge - 27,000
Duchess of Gloucester 16,000
Prindess Sophia - . 16,000
i Princess Sophia of Glou
cester .... 7,000.
Queen Adelaide - - 100,000
; Duchess of Kent - - 30,000
■ Prince Albert, - . 30,000
; King Leopold, part of
which is returned - 50,000
— 318,000
I --
£703,000
: N. B. The expense for Windsor, and
1 other royal palaces and parks, was to be
: added to this sum.
I
The I .aw of Kindness.
, “Do n’t speak so cross,” said one little
. h oy, yesterday, in the street, to another.
Do n’t speak so cross—►there’s no use in
it.” We happened to be passing at the
, time, and hearing the injunction, o/ra
[ ther exhortation, for it Was made in an
, exhortatory tone and manner, we set the
. juvenile speaker down as an embryo phi
j losopher. In sooth, touching the point
I involved in the boyish difficulty which
made occasion for the reinark, he might
I properly be considered as at maturity.
What more could Solomon have said on
} the occasion] True, he as put it on re
, cord, that “a soft answer turneth away
.wrath;” and this being taken as true—
and every body knows it to be so—it is
| evidence in favor of the superiority cf the
, law of kindness over that of wrath. But
, our young street philosopher said pretty
much the same thing substantially, when
! he said “do n’t speak so cross—there’s no
use in it.” No, indeed, there is certainly
no use in it. On the contrary, it invaria
bly does much harm. Is a man angry ?
it inflames his ire still more, and confirms
in his enmity him who, by a kind word
and a gentle and forbearing demeanor,
might be converted into a friend. It is
in fact an addition of fuel to a flame alrea
dy kindled. And what do you gain by it ?
Nothing desirable, certainly, unless dis
cord, strife, contention, hatred, malice,
and all uncharitableness, be desirable.
He speaks the “words oftruth and sober
ness.” “Do n’t speak so cross—there’s no
use in it.”
A Happy Child.
I was once attending for several weeks
the bed of a sick man. He was ignorant,
and did not know howto read. I observ
ed that when I visited him, I was always
followed to the top of the house, where he
lay, by a little boy of about the age of
five or six years. This little fellow“who
was neat and clean to a nicety, remained
in the room and listened with the greatest
interest and attention while I read, pray-*
ed, and talked with the dying man. I
was struck with his manners, and asked
the sick man who he was. He replied,
“He is my child, sir; and I wish I had
half as much in my head as he has in his.”
“What has he in his head which you so
much desire?” “All manner of good
[things. He is a monitor in the infant
school. He is always at it. He sleeps
,in that little bed. Then he sings himself
to sleep with a hymn. In the morning he
I awakes with a hymn, and last night he
was at it while asleep ; for in his sleep he
was repeating the ten commandments.”
Juvenile Industry,—Mr. Editor, I
was informed a few days since, by a gen
tleman of undoubted veracity, who re
sides near Cambridge, Abbeville district,
b. C., that a white boy in that neighbor- >
hood, not more than tw'elve years of age,
made last year by his own personal la«
bor, with one horse, 350 bushels of corn,
30 bushels of wheat, and 280 dozen bun
dles of oats. My informant further sta|<jd,
that from present prospects, he had no
doubt but the bov would realize more this
year than he did last; and in addition to
his industrious habits, I understand he is
quite intelligent. —Greenville Mount’cer.