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AGRICULTURAL.
DANIEL LEE, 3*l. D., Editor.
SATURDAY JUNE 18, 1559.
BOOK NOTICES.
Farm Draining.— Tlie principles,
and effects of draining land with stone, wood,
open ditches, and especially with tile: including
tables of rainfall, evaporation, filtration, excava
tion, capacity of pipes, cost, and number to the i
acre: and more than one hundred illustrations.
By Henry F. French. A. O. Moore & Co.,
Agricultural Book Publishers, New York, 1859. I
Judge French, the author of the above
named work, is a practical and scientific fanner,
who has studied and observed the advantages
of farm drainage in Europe and this country;
and his book contains a plain and satisfactory
aceount of all recent improvements in draining
land for agricultural purposes. As the publish
ers state, all the processes described, and mate
rials used, are appropnately illustrated; so that
any farmer can operate successfully with this
excellent manual to guide his labors, and instruct
him. Every agriculturist should possess this
book, which contains some four hundred octavo
pages, for it will be valuable at all times for re
ference as historical authority, and showing the
evaporation of surface water from cultivated
fields and plants, filtration, the formation of
springs and swamps, and the most economical
way to remove all exeess of moisture where 1
land needs draining.
Hints to Horse Keepers: A complete manual
for horsemen; including chapters on breeding
mules, and other kindred topics. By the lato
William Henry Herbert. (Frank Forester,)
New York : A. O. More A Co., 1859.
The author of “The Horse of America,’’ “Fish
and Fishing,” “The Deer Stalkers,” and the
“ Complete Manual for Young Sportsmen,” is
too well known to country gentlemen to require
our commendation of his last and best work,
“ Hints to Horse Keepers.”
Herbert had noble blood in his veins derived
from both parents, was educated at Cambridge,
England, and possessed talent and genius, which
under better influences, would have placed him
among the great men of the age. lie was
twice married in this country. His second wife,
(a lady from Providence, R. I.) left him soon af
ter their marriage in February 1858, and the
17th of April of the same year, ho committed
suicide at tho Stevens House in New York.
It is jeedless perhaps to say that the author
of the work under consideration knew more
about horses, their wants, physical and vital
powers, and proper management, including
breeding, than almost any man of his time; for
he made this department of knowledge a pro
fessional study. It suited his taste and habits,
and his book is full of life and instruction.
A Practical Treatise on the Hive and Honey-
Bee: By L. L. Langstrotii. New York: A. 0.
Moore A Co., 1859.
The first edition of Langstroth's work on
bee culture, published some twelve years ago,
placed him among the scientific cultivators of
this branch of rural economy. He is an educa
ted clergyman in feeble health, who has the
time, tact and true German enthusiasm to ob
serve and study honey bees through glass hives
and otherwise, by the aid of skillful microsco
pists and dissections, with eminent success. We
have known many apiarians, but not one equal
to Mr. L. He has rendered it highly probable
that male bees (the drones) are produced from
unimpregnated eggs! When entomologists first
proved that the female of the honey bee, wasp
and humble bee needs scarcely more than one
pairing with the male to produce young broods
in succession for her life time, the statement ap
peared incredible. Yet as the microscope dis
closed the spermatoza in a little sack attached
to the ovary duet, it was seen how the fertilising
cells from the blood of the male might remain
stored up in this sack for an indefinite period to
vitalise any number of ova, in after life, in the
mother, when the father, perchance, was dead.
Without a mate, a solitary female wasp or
humble bee builds her nest in the spring, kvs
her eggs and rears her young; and this she may
repeat indefinitely witliput seeing a male. But
that a virgin queen bee should produce male off
spring by the hundred, is at variance with all
the known laws of animal physiology; and yet,
if we understand Mr. Langstroth, his observa
tions lead to this conclusion. The fact has long
been known that the workers are females whose
ovaries are undeveloped: and that a grub of
this character may, by proper feeding, become a
perfect queen. The study of the formation of
sexes in embryo and fictal life is curious, and
just now engaging the attention of the most ae
cute scientists of the age. Aside from all sci
entific researches, Mr. L. is perhaps the best
practical apiarian in America. His residence is
at Oxford, Butler county, Ohio.
We cannot name the price at which the three
books above noticed will be sent by mail, but
probably at $1,25 each. A. 0. Moore A Co.,
the enterprising publishers of Agricultural and
Horticultural works, which are admirably exe
cuted, will consult their interest to mark with a
pencil the price per mail on every book sent to
the Field and Fireside for editorial notice.
■ ♦»» ■
Aloes to Destroy Bugs, Ac.— A correspon
dent of the London Cottage Gardener recommends
bitter aloes to destroy the aphis and other insect
marauders. Mix half an ounce of aloes with a
gallon of warm water, and apply it to the infect
ed plants by means of a fine syringe, or water
ing can, and. he says, “ before half an hour you
will have clean plants.” He syringed his rose
trees and cucumber plants with it last season,
and it not only cleared the plants at the time,
but there was not one on all the season after:
and it does not harm the foliage in the least.”
It is well known that a solution of aloes is fa
tal to the common bed-bug’; and another intense
bitter—gentian—is fatal to the house fly. Aloes
is a cheap drug, and we would recommend a
trial of it. - ! nrs-e Farmer.
Tmm sotr& mmmm vxs&s mmb raasaxus.
SOUTHERN MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN.
With Mr. Wheeler, the obliging Secretary of
the Southern Porcelain Manufacturing Company, j
we recently visited its works in South Carolina,
near this city. Mr. Farrar at the establish
ment was kind enough to explain to the
writer the different processes, from the mixing of
the kaolin, or porcelain clay, and felspar, in a
crude state, to the final glazing and finishing of
beautiful translucent ware. We will not at
tempt to describle these interesting operations;
but content ourself with the remark that the
machinery appears well adapted to the purposes
, for which it was constructed, and capable of
doing a large and successful business. The
steam engine is of thirty horse power; and one :
pair of the Burr stones for grinding kaolin,
quartz and felspar, is eight feet in diameter. —
The felspar is brought from Connecticut. If
the granite regions of Georgia and South Caro- ,
lina were properly examined, it is highly pro
bable the mineral required in the manufacture
of porcelain would be found much nearer the .
works. Some twelve years since we made an
analysis ot this kaolin, and found it remarkably
free of iron and lima and very similar to that
described by Knapp as used for making poree- •
lain near Berlin, Vienna and Paris. Both kaolin
and felspar differ considerably in different de
posits, and even in the same masses. In a ■
pure state, kaolin is a silicate of alumina: but j
this white clay contains more or less quartz i
' sand, and felspar in a granular state. The care- ,
| ful analysis of the most perfect imported China
ware shows that European and American porce
lains are formed of the same elementary sub
stances, and in very nearly the same proportions.
The Chinese, however, have been practising
this art for thousands of years, and using
materials of a long, established character. Our
materials are comparatively unknown; while
our artists are pursuing what is to them a new
trade. Hence a lack of high artistic skill is una
avoidable. These difficulties should not dis
courage the Company, nor prevent the public
giving it a cordial support. Every month its
workmen will improve—taught by experience
and close observation. Last month they turned
out goods to the amount of four thousand dollars;
and $50,000 may be about their average a year.
The clay from which this strong and durable
ware is produced, being exceedingly abundant
and cheap, and wood hardly less so at the estab
lishment, we visited it mainly to learn what we
might of the economy of manufacturing both
largo and small pijies and tubes for conveying
water from one place to another, for domestic and
other purposes. Most persons know that me
talie pipes like lead, iron, zinc and copper, are
objectionable for various reasons; and that wood
as a conduit soon decays. Pipes made of com
mon red clay, or tile clay, lack strength to re
sist pressure. What is the strength of well vit
rified porcelain to sustain the weight of a head
of water?
The books within our reach throw but little
light on the subject. In treating of clay pipes
and tulies, voL 2nd. page 211, Knapp describes
and figures a hydraulic press of such power “that
its application renders pipes sufficiently strong
to resist a pressure of from thirty five to forty at
mospheres, (above one thousand pounds on the
square inch) which, with pipes manufactured in
the ordinary manner, would be perfectly impos
ible.” Their dimensions, he says, “are from
twelve lines in diameter, with five lines thickness
of substance, to one hundred lines diameter and
ten lines thickness. Their length may be one
metre equal to four feet Hessian. The running
metre of a conducting pipe, including the con
necting pieces, weighed, of the first size, three
pounds; of the last one hundred pounds.”
It seems incredible that any clay pipe, how
ever vitrified, nearly a foot in diameter, (one hun
dred Hessian lines in the aperture) and only ten
lines in thickness, (something like three quarters
of an English inch) should be capable of sustain
ing a pressure of thirty five or forty atmospheres.
It is true that a glass tube whose sides are three
quarters of an inch in thickness, will bear an
immense weight of water before explosion; but
we should not exjiect it, or any vitrified mineral,
to resist a pressure of ojie thousand pounds to
the square inch, or thirty five atmospheres.—
Yes no authority in modern science stands high
er than the author cited; and he professes to state
the result of experiments—not theory. The
weight of ten atmospheres will raise a column
of water in an exhausted tube over three hun
dred feet in perpendicular height; showing that
porcelain pipes up to a foot in diameter, can be
made of any required strength.
It appears probable that the presence of the
fine particles of solid Kaolin, or of pure day, in
the finest kind of glass, which give to China its
milk-like color, increase the strength of this vit
rious cement; as fragments of angular granite
are known to strengthen a wall composed in part
of any lime and sand cement. In good porce
lain, hard felspar is cemented by liquified quartz.
The solid particles in vitrified quartz, as it ex
ists in China, prevents the light passing through j
the glass in direct rays so as to see objects as
through a glass window; yet these opaque bod
ies do not wholly obstruct the light, as any one
may see who will look into a China teacup held
up towards the sun, or any good light.
No one, we trust, will take exceptions if we
suggest the propriety of bringing the excellent
water that issues in copious springs from the
base of the Sand Hills, in a porcelain pipe, large
enough to pass the whole of it into Augusta, so
that our tea and coffee, and the water we drink
may be as pure as nature’s most perfect filter
can make it. We understood Mr. Wheeler and
Mr. Turner to say that they were ready to test
the strength of their pipe in advance of any con
tract to the .satisfaction of the City Council, and
then furnish porcelain pipe as cheap as iron pipe
can be had, and guarantee its soundness and
strength. Believing that Kaolin may become
the basis of a large and profitable industry, and
local trade, it strikes us that the citizens of Au- ]
gusta mav wisely discard their wooden and rot
ten pump-logs for bringing water into the city,
and indulge themselves in the luxury of taking
it fresh to their lips in pure China, direct from
the Fdhntain. If we have material almost at
our doors that will form a semi-glass tube which
will stand a head of water fifty feet high with- j
out bursting : while we have both the men and
the machinery ready to manufacture such tubing j
cheaper then iron, if any pipe is to be purchased, ,
why not let our own citizens have the contract ? i
It will be the auspicious beginning of an im
mense trade; for the Chalk hills in the vicinity .
of Augusta and Hamburg, are not small; and al
ready they are being exported to the North
showing intrinsic value.
The Kaolin deposit at Aue, near Sclmeeberg.
which very nearly resembles our own, has al- ,
ready been exhausted in the manufacture of por- ;
celain. It is only one hundred and fifty years <
since Botticher. a German Chemist, was the first
in Europe to discover a process by which real
porcelein may be manufactured, ne was con- \
fined in prison for several years; twomonarchs,
(Frederick I. of Russia, and Augustus, 11. of Po
land), long tried to express from him the secret |
of trausmuting base metals into gold. The his
torian says: “After very numerous and labo- 1
rious exertions, carried on during his imprison
ment at Sonnestein, Botticher at length in the
year 1709, saw his endeavors crowned with sue
cess by the production of true white porcelain.” j
The art spread slowly from Saxony, and did not
reach Berlin, till 1751; and Sevres, near Paris
in 1765.
—
EARLY FRUIT.
Three varieties of the Pear are now dropping '
their fruit. Os these the earliest one, Amire
Joannet, is so very small that it is really hardly
worth cultivating, where a full sized blackberry j
can bo obtained. House ripened it is a pleas
ant modestly juicy fruit, but soon Incomes
mealy and indifferent. A graft or two inserted
upon a tree, devoted mainly to some more des
irable sort, is better than devoting a whole tree
to this variety. •
A few days later and now in season, comes i
the Madeleine a variety which though long in j
cultivation still is vigorous in growth and quite i
productive. The fruit is rather small and if j
allowed to overbear, deficient in flavor. If the |
tree has been properly thinned the juice and
quality of the fruit are much improved and it
will be found really melting, sweat and refresh
ing.
Doyenne d’ ete ripens with the Madeleine and
is of about the same size. It succeeds well,
whether grafted on pear or quince and the tree
comes early into bearing. In quality the fruit
is superior in sweetness to the Madeleine and in
every respect of a higher grade of excellence
while its clear smooth skin, yellowish green,
where shaded, and warmed up to a lively blush
in the sun, renders it externally much more at
tractive. Though rather small yet from its
beauty and keeping qualities it is destined to bo
ccAne a favorite fruit for market purposes, and
thousands of bushels might with profit be yearly |
shipped to the Northern cities, supplying them ;
with ripe fruit very soon after their own trees
come into blossom. The trees of the Duchess
de Berry d' ete pear have been extensively sold j
as the Doyenne d’ ete. A French nursery hav
ing sent them to this country under this name
but the Duchesse is a pear of larger size, later
in season and more vinous than the Doyenne d'
ete. It lacks also its bright red cheek, but it
is itself an excellent fruit and well worthy of
cultivation.
Os Apples the Red June, a favorite with all,
is now in season, and as it ripens gradually will
continue in use some time. The May which
ripens earlier lasts but a few days and is of in
ferior flavor but still s worthy of culture. The
early Harvest is a more highly flavored apple j
than the June and succeeds equally well. The j
Red Astracan, also now in season, is very fruit- i
fill, and a good fruit for cooking, but for eating j
decidelly inferior in quality to the June and j
Harvest.
. A LAW DEPARTMENT IN THE UNIVERSITY
OF GEORGIA.
The Hon. Jos. Henry Lumpkin, Wm. 11. Hull
and Tiios. R. R. Conn, Esqrs., of Athens, will
commence the first session of a Law School in
connection with the University of Georgia, on
the first of October next. A school of this char
acter is much needed to enlarge the educational
advantages of the Institution, and disseminate
among the cultivated youth of the State, and the
South, a better knowledge of those enduring
principles of right and of justice on which the
law is founded. It is a mistake to suppose that
the mental discipline and solid attainments which
a young gentleman may acquire in a Law School
will be of no service to him in after life, unless
he pursues the practice of law as a profession.—
There is no calling or pursuit in a civilized com
munity, in which the legal rights of person and
of property may not be often presented for con
sideration ; and on such occasions, correct knowl
edge may be equivalent to both money and char
acter. Law and Order being fundamental ele
ments of society, the science of government
should be carefully studied by every freeman as
a part of his republican education. Where the
Ballot box is sovereign, the elementary princi
ples of common law and wise statutes canndt be
extended too widely among the voters and jury
men of a State. In a word, able law schools de
serve the good will and fostering care of every
one who can appreciate the value of progress in
mental culture, in virtue and justice. Such as
avail them;,elves of the teachings of Messrs.
Lumpkin, Hull and Cobb, avail themselves of
the extensive libraries of these gentlemen, and
of the valuable library of the University, will
command advantages as studonts which are
denied to most of their contemporaries seeking
fame and fortune in the world. Let parents and
guardians rememlier that knowledge is better
than property, or rather it is the safest of all pro
-1 pertv, and the most productive; for while ordi
nary wealth may be lost, and consumed in a thou
sand ways, knowledge is a living and ever-grow
| ing power of production, which a man cannot lese
‘ while he lives and has his reason. Every citi
zen should understand that his physical strength
j is valuable just in proportion to the wisdom
which he possesses to direct his own labor and
! that of others to the best advantage, and the wi
-1 sest purposes. In this way alone can one both
1 think and act a very useful and honorably part
through life, and enjoy high public esteem.
A noble spirit is at work in Georgia among
her educated children; and we look confidently
for ripe and rich fruit, in connection with their
Stato University, at no distant day. It must
■ have a School of Mines to aid in developing the
; great mineral wealth of the State; while the ap
: plication of science to manufactures and agricul
ture will place the study of their elementary prin
: ciples on a sound and popular basis.
The chairman of the Prudential Committee of
the Trustees of the University has recently made ■
! a report in reference to some important changes
contemplated in the present organization of
1 Franklin College; a notice of which will be found
in this paper, together with some additional re
marks on university education.
AN ENLARGED ORGANIZATION OF THE UNI
VERSITY OF GEORGIA.
William L. Mitchell, Esq., chairman of the
Prudential Committee of the Trustees of the U
i niversity, has recently made a report, printed by
: order of the Committee, in which it is proposed to
| enlarge the organization of this state institution,
I and better adapt it to meet the educational wants
of the public, and fulfil the purposes for which
an university charter was granted by the Leg
| islature in the last century, in obedience to the
constitution of Georgia.
1. It is proposed to establish an Institute as a
preparatory academy, in connection with the
University, where students shall remain until
they arc sufficiently advanced to join the junior
class ; having pursued the same studies which
| wonld have been required had the}’ been regu
i larly through the Freshman and Sophomore
! classes; so that the certificate of proficiency from
I their teachers shall entitle them to join the junior
! class without an examination. By this arrange
i ment the two first classes in college will cease
to exist as such; and students of the college pro
per will be advanced in age and education, and
better able to realize the responsibility of their
position before joining the University, or col
lege.
2. To establish University Schools each in
dependent of the other, and also of the col
lege proper so far as such school can bo self
sustaining. It is suggested that the Medical
College of Georgia, in the city of Augusta is will
ing to be incorporated with the State University
on terms which appear just and proper.
3. A school of Civil Engineering and applied
Mathematics; the professor to be paid in part
from the treasury of the University.
4. An Agricultural School in connection with
I the Terrell endowment, in,which the application
of Chemistry to the Industrial Arts, as well as
agriculture is to lie taught.
5. Scliolorsliips, Fellowships and Professor
ships in the University, are contemplated in the
report now before us; but our space will not
permit more than an allusion to this feature of
the enlargement of the Institution. It will be
for the Trustees to consider the advantages, and
disadvantages of the proposed change at their
next meeting; and it is not our place to express
any opinion on the subject. Something, howev
er, ought to be done: and we doubt not that wis
dom and progress will characterize the action of :
the Board.
—■• -
[Written for the Southern Field and Fireside.]
IS IT TRUE?
j Mr. Editor : I have often heard it said that
j vultures and birds which feed on carrion, are
| void of the sense of smell, and find the carcass
I by the sight. Is it true ?
j Dr. James Johnson says “he was led to
i doubt the received opinion while observing, some
i years ago, a concourse of birds of prey from
l every point of the horizon towards a corpse
I floating down the river Ganges, and that during
i the North-east monsoon, when the wind blew
j steadily from one point of the compass for months
;in succession. It was extremely difficult to im
; agine that the effluvium from the body in the
i water could stream off in direct opposition to
| the wind, so as to be perceived by birds many
i miles distant. It lias been ascertained, by direct
j experiments, that, where very putrid carrion
was exposed in a basket, through which the ef
fluvium could penetrate, while it was concealed
from sight, it attracted not the notice of birds of
prey, but when it was exposed to view, crowds
of them came rapidly from different quarters of
the horizon, when these were invisible a few
minutes before. This is most rationally account-
I ed for from their soaring at an altitude beyond
! our sight, though they can thence discern their
prey.”
1 am not prepared to give credence to this
reasoning; for, even admitting it to be true to
the letter, it is not enough to prove conclusive
ly that birds of prey are void of the sense of
smelling; it only proves that of sight to be keen
to an extraordinary degree. Nor is it reasonable
to suppose that the Creator woidd have provided
them with the necessary organs, and yet make
i them useless. We all know' that the fish found
in the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky are perfect
ly eyeless, and we can readily understand the
reason for this, but in the other case we cannot;
in fact, if I were jiermitted to make a sugges
: tion, it would be that the sense of smelling
ought to be more acute in those animals whose
nature is to feed on matter emitting a rank odor.
The hawk is provided with a very keen sense of
seeing, because his habits of life requires it;
besides, his reputation is so bad, his enemies so
numerous, that, without such a provision, his
existence would be more than precarious; but
with the buzzard it is not so—he is on the very
best of terms with men, under no necessity for
keeping a watch, except for something to eat,
and if lie can’t find that with his nose, I must
conclude that he is badly adapted for this world.
Y. L.
THE SOUTH ADAPTED TO WHEAT CULTURE.
Successful experience is fast proving the im
portant fact, that the best cotton growing states
are as well adapted to the production of wheat
as to the great agricultural and commercial’ st aplo
of the South. Os course, it will take some time
to bring as much skill and enterprise to bear on
wheat culture as characterize the cultivation of
cotton; but it is something to know that the
large production of this valuable grain is entirely
practicable in this quarter of the confederacy.
The first new wheat delivered in Charleston was
grown on the plantation of J. F. Mathews, Jlsq.
at Pon Pon. St. Bartholomew's Parish, in the
low country. The Mercury calls attention to the
fact that the sale of this crop at one dollar and
seventy five cents a bushel (indicating a fine
quality) shows “ the entire adaptation of that
section of the state to the culture of wheat, and
the degree of profit to be derived therefrom.”
The Kdgefield Advertiser of June Ist says :
the accounts of wheat crops are very cheering;
the prospect is generally thought to be rather
better than it has been for some years past.”
The Savannah Republican of the same date
. notices the sale of now wheat in that city, from
the plantation of W. B. Hodgson, Esq., in Burke
county. Ilia crop was thrashed in the field by
means of a small steam engine, placed on wheels,
and so light in structure as to bo moved about ,
by hand power. Reapers, gang-plows and
steam, aided by a better system of tillage and
farm economy, will soon achieve wonders in the
production of wheat as a great southern staple.
Much depends upon the proper preparation of
the soil. If too wet in any part, it should be
drained; for wet land rarely if ever yields good
wheat. If there is considerable vegetable mat
ter in the ground cultivated, limeing or marling
will better adapt it to the habits and wants of
this cereaL It is of more importance than many
suppose that the land be made right in all res- •
pects before planting or sowing the seed. A
fine seed bed, rich in all the essentials of fer
tility, gives one the best chance for obtaining a
profitable crop. Above all things, work the
soil so it will not wash, and lose the elements of
wheat by having them transported into some
distant creek or river.
Take the best possible care of whatever fruit
fulness nature has given to your cultivated fields
by constructing hill-side ditches wherever ne
cessary, and horizontal plowing. To waste the
raw material of paying crops of grain and cot
ton, from sheer carelessness, and then buy guano
at a high price, or do without it at perhaps a
greater loss, is the way to mako farming a los
ing business. Learn to mako the most of al[
the natural resources of your plantation; then
your annnal crops of whatever kind will pay a
good return for the labor and money expended.
Be careful to sow the best seed wheat you can
command, and not too late for the climate. It
is better to put too little rather than too much
seed on an acre; for if the land lias heart and
strength, the young plants will tiller, and spread
in the spring, if too thin on the ground. Wash
all seed in blue-stone water and dry in lime or
ashes, before sowing. Sow small lots to wheat,
barley, rye or oats, for pasturage, so as not to
injure your main crops by winter feeding.
No cotton planter goes over his crop of grow
ing cotton with hoes more earnestly to kill grass
and other injurious plants, than do the wheat
growers ofWestern New York, to kill red-root and
other weeds among their growing wheat. Care i
pains and close attention to the crop, from be
ginning to end, always secure the most satisfac
tory results.
—■•«■■■—
[Written for the Southern Field and Fireside.]
AGRICULTURAL LETTERS FROM HANCOCK.
BT AN OLD MEMBER OF THE PLANTERS’ CLUB.
NO. HI.
Ignorant Planters—Experimental Farms—Mooted
Questions.
The great difficulty of our Southern farming
is, that few planters have ever learned tho very
alphabet of agricultural chemistry. Without
this knowledge, how can such progress be made
as is commensurate with tho great interests in
volved? How many of them know of what
their soils are composed, beyond the simple and
palpable compounds of clay and sand ? True,
there are now many catechumens, old and young,
who are learning all they can from reading agri
cultural papers, but most of them never having
received the basis of a scientific education, make
sad progress; and many blunders at almost
every step. The wisdom and munificenco of our
own Terrell has partially provided for the wants
of a certain class, in this regard, but proper ad
vancement can never lie made until we have
agricultural schools and experimental firms all
over the country.
We suggested years ago to the Planter’s Club
of Hancock, the establishment of an experimen
tal farm, remarking at the time, that this would
prove to be our crowning glory, and give to our
Club an advance in agricultural science above
and beyond any other movement it has mado.
What are clubs, what are fairs, what are agri
cultural schools even, without well conducted
experiments? Mere theories without practice,
while the latter is practice developing theory.
Both should always go together, in order for
proper success in any of the departments of
scienc?. One well conducted experimental farm
in twenty years would throw more light on agri
cultural science than all the practice and expe
dience of individual farmers, as gathered and
pbblished in our journals, would do in double
that time. Every enlightened farmer is experi
menting all the time. One in one way, and one
in another. How much trouble and expense
would be saved if this thing could be done on a
single farm, by some distinguished practical
and scientific man? Just look at the questions
of vital importance to every Southern planter re
maining as yet undecided, embracing tho com
parative value of certain fertilisers and ameliora
tors, of various grasses, as well as different modes
of agriculture, involving, in fact, every possible
question of interest to the planter.
It is yet a mooted question (nay, it has been
decided in the negative), as to whether there is
any winter grass suited to our Southern climate
in every respect. What a field for investigation
on an experimental farm I Twenty years ago,
Edmund Ruffin of Virginia, announced that he
| had found in the cow-pea a great ameliorator of
our Southern soils, which, he felt assured, would
! accomplish for the South what the clover was