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ing the more impoverished to grow up in pines and hawthorns. Intervening woods, old fields, and swamps, frequently separate those cultivat ed fields, for miles from the mansion house or the negro quarter, where the stock congregate at night to be fed. Is it wonderful, under this view of the case, that the composting system has been abandoned, as requiring too much la bor, and affording too little profit, and that al most every man’s land in the country has been offered on sale, that more elbow-room might be given to purchasers to rest their tired acres, and give imployment to their rapid y increasing la borers ? Here dawned the advent of another system, in which the purchase and application of concen trated foreign manures was designed to take precedence of the heavy home composts. The first introduction of foreign manures into the country, was, we believe, by Mr. Wm. H. Sayre, who tried the effect of lime, plaster, poudrette, and other fertilisers, on his lands, near Sparta. This was before guano had attracted much pub lic attention in this country. Dr. Terrell also purchased a number of carboys of sulphuric acid, in New York, with a view of manufacturing super-phosphate of lime, by dissolving bones in the acid. We never learned the result of his experiments, but suppose ho came to the same conclusion with the writer, (after destroying a new pair of trousers), that it would not pay to manufacture it in so small away, at the South. The acid laid down cost us about five cents per pound, and the bones a cent; so that the cost of the raw material was greater than the manu factured article. It makes a good fertiliser when combined, especially with ammoniacal manures! and will last much longer than the guano. Five years ago, we applied a hundred pounds of su per-phosphate of lime to a section of an acre, on a poor, worn out clay soil, and sowed in wheat. Every successive crop has been improved by it, especially corn and peas—showing that, for this class of lands, the super-phosphate is not only a fertiliser, but an ameliorator. We are not, by any means, opposed to the ju dicious application of foreign manures. Wo have always used them, to some extent, and never fail to try anything that promises well for remunerative crops; and, though there has been much money spent for them, without correspond ing returns, yet it is a progressive system; and, we doubt not, the evils connected with it will gradually be corrected, under the benignant influ ence of the inductive philosophy. So various are the soils we cultivate, and so diverse in the quantum of soluble salts, as well as inorganic elements, that, what might exhaust one, would add an essential ingredient to another. We must patiently await the slow processes of induc tion, aided by the genial light of agricultural chemistry; and, in the meantime, add all we can to the accumulating mass of agricultural knowledge, which is, even now, dispensing so much food, and clothing, and solid happiness to the children of want. P. Sparta, Ga. — [Writton for the Southern Field and Fireside.] ENTOMOLOGY THE CICADA. Mr. Editor : This insect must not be con founded with the locust, described by the Pro phet Joel, in tho following eloquent language : “ A fire devoureth them, and behind them a flame burneth; the land is as the garden of Eden before them; and behind them a desolate wilder ness ; yea, and nothing shall escape them. Tho sound of their wings is as the sound of chariots, of many horses running to battle; on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people sit in battle array. Before their laces, the people shall be much pained, all faces shall gather blackness. They shall run like mighty men ; they shall climb tho wall like men of war, and thoy shall march every one in his ways, and they shall not break their ranks; neither shall one thrust another.” Tho insect thus mentioned is the grass-liopper (Locusta Miyratoria,)- and not the one with which we are all more or less familiar, and com monly known by the name of locust, albeit his proper name is Cicada. Tho Greeks speak of it under the name of Tettix, while the Romans called it Cicada, both of which names are erro neously translated grasshopper. The grasshopper belongs to an entirely different order. It would be interesting to give an extended history of this insect; but as my time will not allow me that gratification, I must be content with simply referring to a few simple anecdotes, Ac., and trust to the indulgence of your readers for any lack .of interest they may contain. The cicada is celebrated for his song; but it is not quite agreed among men whether it is worth hearing or not. However, I may bo constrained to admit, tliat according to my idea, it is not far in ferior to some of tho fashionable singing we hear on the staga now-a-days. Mr. White very tru ly observes that “Sounds do not always give us pleasuro according to their sweetness and melo dy ; nor do harsh sounds always displease. Thus, the shrieking of the field cricket (Acheta Campes tris), thougli sharp and stridulous, yet marvel lously delights some hearers, filling their minds with a train of summer ideas, of any thing that is rural, verduous and joyous.” “Sounds inharmonious in themselves, and harsh, Yet heard in scenes where peace forever reigns, And only then, please highly- for their sake.” CowrEß. The Spaniards were so fond of the song of this insect, that they would keep them in cages, as we do singing birds, and in which, if supplied by moistened green leaves, they will sing as merri ly and loud as in the fields. But Swammerdam seems to entertain a different notion of their mu sic, he says: “I remember that I oijce saw a whole field full of these singing crickets, each of which had dug a hole in the earth, two fingers deep, and then, sitting at the entrance thereof, they made a very disagreeable noise with the creaking and tremulous motion of their wings; when they heard any noise they immediately re tired with fright, into their little caverns.” So in the case of the cicada, we find some to like, and some to dislike his song. “In the latter months of summer," says Dr. Shaw, “especially from midday to the middle of the afternoon, the cicada is perpetually stunning our ears with its most excessive shrill and un grateful noise. It is in this respect the most troublesome and impertinent of insects, perch ing upon a twig, and squalling sometimes two or three hours without ceasing, thereby too often disturbing the studies or short repose that is frequently indulged in these hot climates, at those hours. The Tettix of the Greeks must have had quite a different voice, more soft, surely, and melodious; otherwise, the fine orators of Homer, who are compared to it, can be com pared to nothing better than loud loquacious scolds.” IK* BSVXBXXB ras&ffl AX» KXiU&SIBK. I think it was in ’4l or '42 that these insects made their appearance in myriads in some parts of Alabama and Georgia. I was residing in Chambers county at the time, and remember receiving much delight in noticing their move ments. Their appearance was rather sudden; tho pavements of the village, and even the hard ground floors of the black-smiths’ shops, were perforated by them ; and how they could make these holes so round and smooth, is certainly a mystery. In a short time they commenced their song, nor did they select any particular part of the day, but continued their incessant din from early morn till late at eve. I subjoin a descrip tion of the instrument with which they produce their song, or more properly sound : “It is only the male tree-hopper which is mu sical, and for this purpose ho is furnished with a pair of drums, one on each side, consisting of two large plates, oval or circular in some, and triangular in other species, fixed to the trunk between the belly and hind legs. When this extorior membrane is raised, a cavity is brought into view, part of which seems to open into tho belly, and another part to be covered with a second membrane, much more delicate than the exterior one, tensely stretched, and iridescent, and in tho middle there is a horny plate, placed horizontally along the bottom. All this, however, seems only a secondary portion of the instrument; for the sound is in the first instance produced by a bundle of muscular strings, which aro attached at one extremity to another membrane in the in terior, obviously the true drum; for when Reau mur pulled the strings and let them go again the sound was produced even after tho insect had been a long while dead. These muscles, in deed, aro so attached to tho under concave sur face of the drum, that when they pull it down wards and let it jerk quickly back again, a vi bration ia produced; the sound issues through an opening contrived on purpose, like the open ing in our own larynx, or the sound hole in a violin." I speak within the bounds of reason when I say it is troublesome to hear one speak to you, while riding through the forest, at the timo when the cicada is doing his best I do not know anything with which to compare their clatter, unless it is the noise of tho looms in a cotton fac tory. There is another insect (Tettogonia Septemdecim,) and which is said to visit Philadelphia in the month of May, every seventeenth year; but whether the two are identical or not, I cannat say, though I believe it is the general opinion that they are. The cicada; do not remain with us for more than one or two weeks, and then die; not, however, before depositing their eggs for a future crop. These are placed under the bark of tho tender branches of the chestnut and other trees, which the insect has the power of slitting for that purpose, where they remain till the time of hatching out. As soon as this takes place, the worm descends, enters the ground, and there remains till ready for another egress. Any one desirous of learning all its transforma tions, Ac., would do well to consult some work on entomology. Respectfully, Y. LaTaste. FRUITS IN JAPAN. We make the following extract from a letter of Towxsexd Harris, Consul General to Japan, first published in the New York Tribune: Very little attention is paid to the cultivation of fruit in this country; the cherry and plum tree produce magnificent blossoms : but they bear very little fruit, and that little is worthless. Peaches are far inferior to those at China, being quite bitter, and the same remark will apply to tho apricot. I have seen only one variety of pears; they are in all shapes and colors, and are quite like a russet apple, but they are unfit to eat raw, and when cooked are quite insipid. Tho best grapes of Japan resemble the Cataw ba in appearance, but are inferior to that variety. The only fruit that I have seen in Japan, that particularly merits notice, is the kali, a variety of Diospyros, and belonging to the order of Ebenacoe ; it is really worthy of being introduced into the United States. Quite a number of sorts have been brought to mo; one has a skin as thin as tissue paper, and the pulp resembles tho Egyptian fig in flavor. Another variety has a thick rind, and a firmer pulp than tho sort first mentioned, while the tasto strongly reminds one of the flavor of the delicious mango of Siam and Bombay. The tree is very ornamental, and of rapid growth. It would, no doubt, succeed in any part of the United States, South of thirty seven degrees latitude. Unlike the persimmon of the United States, there is very little astrin gency in the skin of tho fruit; and frost, w-hieh matures the persimmon, greatly injures the kali. This fruit varies in size, but is always larger than its American relative; and some are seven inches in diameter. The fruit is in season near ly three months. Tho Japanese dry this fruit, which enables them to keep it for some four months. When dried, it resembles the dried Smyrna fig in taste. 1 send you a few seeds of the kali, under this covering, thinking that they may possibly ger minate, after they reach Washington, and know ing that they will only cause a trifling addition to the postage of my letter. I am, very respect fully, Your obedient servant, Towxsexd Harris, Consul General. Hog Cholera ix Texxessee. —Tho Hunting don (Tenn.) Patriot is informed that the hog chol era is raging to a foarful extent in portions of Carroll county. A farmer in Georgia, who has tried it, says if hogs are put in a lot where they will bo entirely excluded from water, that the disease will qt once be arrested. We don’t know how this may be, but at any rate it is worth a trial. We are inclined to regard much of the malady denominated “ hog cholera” as being produced by poisonous minerals dissolved in water, like salts of arsenic, copper, lead, and antimony, which are habitually taken into the system of the animal with its drink, in fields and woods. Having spent some months, for several years, in Southern Illinois and Indiana, many years ago, in districts where the milk sickness prevailed, and seen much of it, we entirely agree with those medical gentlemen who ascribe it to min eral poisons drank by cows. Standing water concentrates all it 3 earthy salts by solar evapora tion, so that such as are poisonous increase in a gallon of water, drank by a cow or hog, as the volume of the liquid is diminished by standing in the air and sun. The writer lost a fine breed ing sow, not long since, that was poisoned from eating mushrooms, or drinking bad water. We shall be pleased to learn all we can in re ference to the diseases of domestic animals, their causes and prevention; and our agricultural friends will render the farming interest an ac ceptable service to write fully on the subject. [From the American Planter and Soil.] AN ESSAY ON HORIZONTAL PLOWING AND HILL SIDE DITCHING. BY X. T. SOESBY, X. D_, OF ALABAMA. INTRODUCTION. * It has been but a few years since tho subject of this essay was brought to tho notice of tho American fanner. It now occupies an important, and a promi nent position, among the scientific operations of the Southern Farm. It may be considered a new branch of agri cultural science, founded upon correct and well established principles of tho science of Engineer ing and Hydraulics; and essential to the welfare of tho farmer, to tho preservation of the soil, and to good husbandry. Forced, almost of necessity, and the strong sense of self-interest and foresight, a few intel ligent minds have been brought to discover the urgent need of reforming the old destructive system of plowing in straight rows up and down hills, and of substituting the better mode of hor izontal culture. The absurdity of the old method is, really, a subject of astonishment and mortification to those who practice the new methods. The arable lands of the South have been nearly exhausted by it, and a careless and wasteful culture. Tho beauty and simplicity of the principles and practice, as well as the advantages of the new methods, can only be realised, and brought homo to the farmer and planter, but by observa tion, study, and practice; and when once under stood, they will wonder at their past folly of land killing, and grieve to know they practiced it so long, when a different, and better system, is so easily learned and pursued. When wo reflect upon the disasters to the soil, occasioned by the pursuit of the old method, and see the apparent apathy to, and indifference with which the more perfect and better system is viewed by some intelligent farmers and plant ers, at the present enlightened era, and golden age of agricultural science, we feel alarmed for them, for their lands, and the succeeding genera tions. What a poor inheritance to hand down to an industrious son, an old and dilapidated home stead, with an old worn out, galled, and gullied farm! Think of it, farmers and planters! The very sight of decay all around, excites in the mind of the young man disgust, despair, a disposition to abandon the old place, once so dear to him and the family, now so much abused, and seek a newer and better place, richer land, among strangers. lie has no desire to cultivate the worn out old fields, and perhaps there is no new land to clear. The old method of plowing up and down hill, has much to answer for; it has driven many a young man to the South west, and, perhaps, eventually, to prison, or the gallows, who might have been a useful citizen, could he have remained at home and made a living. Whilst the horizontal culture and the ridge and furrow system are attracting the attention, and being adopted by intelligent planters and farmers, its principles must be studied scientifically and practically, and new discoveries in the art applied, tested, and settled in the minds of men. or else there will be no end to the diversity of opinions that may arise, and lead to discussions that may retard the advancement of the new science. It would require more time and space to elu cidate the different methods of the horizontal culture, as fully as some men may desire, per haps. We have endeavored to simplify it, and, should some of my readers not comprehend it perfectly, all w’e can say to them is, study the principles laid down here, and then take the level, and fol low" the plumb, and it will lead them over more tortuous and obscure lines than we have penned here, and a few horizontal rows run with pa tience and care, will teach them more about it than was ever dreamed of in our philosophy. Our aim has been, in w riting this essay, to collect together our ideas on this subject, to com pare them with others, and deduce from them correct principles, and upon these principles es tablish, with fidelity, practical rules, and thus ac complish by a general survey of the subject, and a brief enumeration of the details founded upon our own experience and observation, all that we think the State Agricultural Society of North Carolina requires of the writer. HISTORY OF HORIZONTAL CULTURE. We regret to state that we have not been able, by a careful research of all the agricultural works that we have been able to examine, in the Eng lish and French languages, to find the origin of this system of culture. Mr. Thomas Jefferson, who was a close ob server of improvements in agriculture, in a let ter, dated “Monticello, 6th March, 1816,” says: “My son-in-law, Colonel Thomas M. Randolph, is, perhaps, the best farmer in the State; and by the introduction of the horizontal method of plowing, instead of straight furrows, lias really saved this hilly country. It was running off in the valleys with every rain, but by this process we scarcely lose an ounce of soil. “A rafter level traces a horizontal line around the centre of the hill, or valley, at distances of thirty or forty yards, which is followed by the plow; and by these guide-liues the plowman finishes the interval by his eyes, throwing the earth into beds of six feet wide, with large wa ter furrows between them. When more rain falls than can be instantly absorbed, the hori zontal furrows retain the surplus until it is all soaked up, scarcely a drop ever reaching the val ley below. “Mr. Randolph has contrived also, for our steepest hill-sides, a simple plan, which throws the furrows always down hill. It is made with two wings welded to the same bar, with their planes at right angle to each other. The point and the heel of the bar are formed into pivots, and the bar becomes an axis, by turning winch either end may be laid on the ground, and the other, then standing vertically, acts as a mould board. The right angle between them, howev er, is filled with a sloping piece of wood, leaving only a cutting margin of each wing naked, and aiding in the office of raising the sod gradually, while the declivity of the hill facilitates its fall ing over. The change of the position of the share at the end of each furrow, is effected in a moment by withdrawing and replacing a pin.” It seems Colonel Randolph introduced this method of plowing into Virginia, previous to 1816; as Mr. Jefferson states, he was acquaint ed with it two or three years previous to writing this letter. This is the earliest notice that we have seen of the use of the horizontal culture, as practiced in the South at the present day. It would be gratifying to know whence he introduced it, and where it originated. In “ Taylor's Arator,” published in Virginia, in the beginning of this century, on the subject of plowing hilly lands, it is stated “ that such lands will admit of narrow ridges, as well as level, by a degree of skill and attention so easily attainable, that it has existed in Scotland above a century past, under a state of agriculture other wise execrable, and among the ignorant High landers. It is effected by carrying the ridges horizontally in such inflections as the hilliness of the ground may require, curved, or zig-zag, preserving the breadth. The preservation of the soil is hardly more valuable than that of the rain water in the successive reservoirs thus pro duced to refresh the thirsty hill-sides, instead of its reaching to, and poisoning the valleys.” It is very strange, if this system was pursued in Scotland so very long ago, that there is no mention made of it in English works. During an extensive tour, and residence of over three years in Europe, from Great Britain to Naples, Italy, through Holland, Belgium, France, Switzerland, and parts of Germany, we never saw, heard, or road of its being pursued in any of thoso countries, as it is done here; and we cannot conceive how it could have ever been practiced in Scotland, and not kept up nowa days. In our travels throughout the United States, wo have seen it pursued from Mississippi to North Carolina We have been to Monticello, several times, when a student at the University of Virginia, and though remarking the produc tiveness of the soil there, and around Charlottes ville, we were too young to notice the mode of culture, but we are sure we never saw a rafter level, or any other level, applied to land in Vir ginia. Had we seen it, we should have noticed it, because we had followed it before wo went thereto school, in 1836. In “Thair’s Principles of Agriculture," a stand ard Gorman work, in speaking of plowing ridges, he says: “ The most advantageous disposition of them that can be made on an inclined surface, is to give them a horizontal, or standing direction;” but he says nothing more on the subject. Had he been acquainted with the method, as pursued in the South, he would have written considera bly on it. We are inclined to believe the horizontal sys tem of plowing is of Southern invention. We are astonished at the fact, since tho Southern planters and farmers have the reputation of be ing such careless, and wasteful cultivators of the soil. Wo consider it the most important discovery of the modem agricultural era. So important is it to the South, and to the soil in every part of the world, where it rains like it does here, that the discoverer of the method deserves the lasting gratitude of the Southern people, and a place upon the tablet of memory next to that of the father of our country. Hill-side ditching and guard-drains, were dis covered subsequent to the Origin, or introduc tion, of the horizontal system into Virginia. They were first introduced into that State soon after the introduction of the horizontal method —about 1815, or 1816; by whom, we do not know. Tho first written notice of the horizontal cul ture, and hill-side ditching, that we ever saw, was in the pages of the Southern Cultivator. Maj. E. D. W., our step-father, introduced the method of horizontal plowing on the level sys tem, in this country, in the spring of 1834. He had read a notice of it in some paper, which induced lnm to try it on some hilly land at the Dial Place. He used the rafter-level, and plumemt-line, and ran off rows to be plowed four feet apart into beds, for com and cotton. We were a boy then, and carried the hoe, and made the chop marks for him. He was so well pleased with the re sults of it, and with his experiment, that he has continued it ever since, with great success, in two plantations. He lias a thousand or more acres under the plumb. He has'tested it thor uuglily, and has pr»e«rved tlm fertility, retained the soil, and improved his lands, aided by a pro per application of manures, under a severe course of cropping. Without this system, all the manure he could make would not preserve half of the land in its present state of fertility for five years. He would as soon abandon planting as to aban don tho horizontal system of culture. We have assisted him in the work a good deal, and induced him to try guard-drains and hill side ditches, about 1851, or 1852, in order to lighten his labor, and lessen his care and atten tion to it, as he is getting old, and the confine ment to the field and the exposure to the cold during the winter and spring, are injurious to his health. But, he says, “ho could dispense with the drains and ditches, if he could attend to the plowing in person every spring, and di rect the work, and correct tho errors of the pre vious year’s work.” An old negro liorizontaler lays off the rows, and attends to one plantation, where there are between six and seven hundred acros under the plumb; and manages it astonishingly well, for a man of his understanding. His lands were originally of a good quality, and are of a mixed character. On one planta tion, the grey and mulatto sandy land prevails, the subsoil being yellow and red clay, a foot and eighteen inches originally, in parts of it, beneath tho surface soil. The balance of the land is a chocolate loam, on a red clay subsoil. Some of it is considered stiff red clay land. On the other plantation, the chocolate loam prevails with a close, stiff red clay subsoil, requiring a long and sharp-pointed plow to penetrate it when moder ately dry. The rest of the land on this planta tion is grey and gravelly, sandy soil, loose and porous. Most of the land, on both places, is gently undulating ridges; some of it hilly, and some knolls. The stiff red clay land is the most difficult and expensive to cultivate, and is the best land for grain. It is also the most difficult of bis land to manage, on tho level method of culture. • I took my first lessons under him in the sci ence, and owe him a debt of gratitude which can never be paid. He taught me the level culture, and I taught him the grading method. I commenced planting in 1844, in Hinds couutv, Mississippi, near Jackson, in copartnership with a brother. The level culture, No. 1, and the grading method, No. 1, both combined, without drains and hill-side ditches, had been in use a few years on that plantation. The soil, a close, tenacious, marly clay, of a yellow color, changing into an ashy colored soil, when thoroughly dis integrated and cultivated a year or two. I was partial to the level culture, and he to the grading method. I found out, after a better acquaintance with the land, that the level culture retained the water too long, and made the land too wet for cotton. The grading method drained, but wash ed the land a good deal After testing both me thods to my satisfaction, I gave into his views, rather from an avaricious motive than otherwise, to make better crops, though at a sacrifice of some land that took to the streams, and disap peared. From one to three inches fall were giv en to each row, when practicable, and the short inside rows plowed on a level. The land w-* 8 rolling, and drains between the ridges conveyed tho water into ditches and branches. We con tinned both systems, until I left in Pecember, 1850, and moved back to this place The grad ing method has been kept up b/ him. I com menced a mixed system here i» 1851, and have practiced both of them, to a certain extent. My land is chocolate and sandy land, on a red and yellow clay subsoil. The grey land is of a fine texture, and much of it runs together and bakes. The chocolate land is loose and jk> rous. It is generally a little undulating, some rolling, and some flat basias and ponds. It re quires much ditching and surface drainage, and some under draining. Forest growth, pine, oak, hickory, chestnut, and poplar, with a variety of undergrowth. My experience and observation teach me that the level culture is the best method ever discover ed to prevent arable land, of the majority of soils in the South, from washing by rains, but not the best always to secure good crops. The grading method is the safest, as a general rule, for the culture of cotton, and can be pursued to a great advantage on many soils that could not be culti vated well on the level method, when one is willing to lose a little soil, to make a better crop, by draining the land. No one system of culture is, then, applicable to all soils; and on large plantations of mixed soils both the level and grading systems should be applied. He is a for tunate man who understands the different me thods well enough to apply them to the best ad vantage to the different soils, on a large planta tion. It requires close application to field study, a good knowledge of the geology of the soil, and the agricultural character of tho land, with years of experience, to know how to cultivate land to tho best advantage to the soil, and to the in creased size of the purse. (to bk continued.) [Written for tho Southern Field and Flreslde.l IMPROVEMENT OF LANS. Tho first step toward the permanent improve ment of land, is to retain as much of tho virgin soil as is practicable—not an easy undertaking, on broken land, with our culture and very heavy spring rains. This can be done in no way, within our knowledge, so effectually as by a ju dicious system ofhill-side ditching and horizon tal culture. True, there are other important considerations, yet, they are secondary to this. A great deal has been written on the subject of hill-side ditching, and the diversity of opinion in reference to tho details is well calculated to befog the inexperienced. A greater difference prevails in practice than in theory. You will rarely find two farmers, (in the same neighbor hood,) cultivating the same character of land, who will agree as to the requisite fall for a hill sido ditch. 'And if they do, perchance, agree in this most important detail, there are others of scarcely secondary importance, about which they totally disagree. Too much is frequently claim ed by its advocates, for this important Art in Agriculture. The new beginner tails to realize his sanguine expectations, and abandons the undertaking without giving it a half trial. He has been taught to expect too much from too little labor. I would teach him that the price of un gullied hills is eternal vigilance, and that they are cheap at the price. He who thinks the battlo is done when the ditch is dug, will surely awake to a delusion; for he has but made a good beginning. When I see the ditches and rows, in a great many fields, I often wonder that the system has as many followers as it has and unless we are better instructed, and by more practical men, it will lose a great many of its present advocates. Indeed, there are already intelligent men, in my neighborhood, plowing over their ditches, and others who ought to be plowing over theirs. For instance, he who gives his ditch six inches fall to ever}' twelve feet had better fill them up as soon as he can, or overy ditch will soon be the unsightly gully it is intended to prevent. Most of my neighbors, who ditch at all, give six inches fall to twelve feet, or two thousand six hundred and forty inch es, or two hundred and twenty feet in one mile. Nature gave the Mississippi river about two inches fall to the mile. Ido not advocate two inches fall to the mile for a ditch ; but by com parison we may form some idea of the rapidity with which our ditches carry off the water.— Now, this immense fall is given to avoid the little labor of scraping out the ditch two or three times a year. The nearer a ditch approximates a level, the more surplus water will it catch, or the more land w'ill it protect; hence, tho least possiblo fall w hich will carry off the water is the best. The requisite fall may vary as land varies; yet, as a rule, I would say three inches fall to every twelve feet is a plenty. The distance between your ditches will, of course, vary with the land, depending on the steepness of tho hill and the capacity of the land to absorb water. My experience is— contrary to that of a great many—that tlie ditch requires more fall on sandy, than on clay land. On sandy land the water that reaches the ditch carries with it more or less of the sand; hence there is a constant tendency to fill up the ditch’ and owing to the porous soil there is less surplus water; hence, it requires more fall to clean itself. Or. clay, land there is an equal tendency to wash out the ditch, owing to the increased vol ume of w'ater, the land absorbing but little, and the smaller quantity of soil carried to the ditch by surplus water. Ditches may require to be nearer together, or deeper, on clay, than on sandy land, but they do not require as much fall. Ditches should be scraped out thoroughly three times a year-just before the crop is plant ed, after it is “ laid by,” and after it is gathered. As an additional precaution, it would be well to go around and examine, them after every heavy tall of rain, and mend the broken places, if there are auy. Now, all this will require a good deal less labor than any one, who has never done it, would suppose. I have attempted to give as many of the most important items in ditching as is necessary here; of the minutiie, tho planter must judge for him self, relying always on common sense. I will only add, that it would be best so ditch land be fore a plow is ever put in it; there are then no gullies to contend with, and less irregularities in every respect; if too late for this, I would ditch after a crop of small grain. Any one will perceive that he is doing an inaccurate business when running a rafter level across com or cot ton beds, or on freshlyplowed land. Next in order, and of more importance, to the ditch, is level culture. Instead °f trying to convey as much water as into the ditch es, try to keep all out yau can. This object can be best attained by miming the rows on a level. With the rafter level, lay off a few' guide rows on each hill-sid*—»y thirty or forty yards apart, and the intermediate rows will not vary far from a levei There are but few rains heavy enough t° AH up corn or cotton rows fast er than the ground absorbs the water. What the ground cannot take up the ditch is intended to carry off, and no more. The practice of try ing to make every row carry off the water that falls in it prevails to a great extent, and I con sider it a pernicious one. Every drop of rain w'ater that runs off from the field carries with it some fertilizing material. If any one row fails to convey the water off, a gully is commenced, and each row below empties its water in it, adding fuel to'fire. It is generally a year before the rows can be changed, and in that time they have done great mischief. I consider hill-side ditching and level culture combined the first step to the permanent improvement of land. Stewart Co., Ga. Hurricane. 39