Newspaper Page Text
46
AGRICULTURAL.
DANIEL LEE, M. D., Editor.
SATURDAY .....JULY 2. ISS9.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS IN AGRICULTURE
Last week the Senior Class in the University
of Georgia was examined in presence of a com
mittee appointed by the Governor, in reference
to lectures from the Chair endowed by the la
mented Terrell for the promotion of agricul
tural science. Something like a hundred ques
tions were asked by the professor and answer
ed by the students, some of which may be of
sufficient interest to our readers to appear in the
Field and Fireside :
Ques. 1. What is the principal object of the
practical fanner?
Ans. To raise the largest quantity of the most
valuable produce, at the least expense, in the
shortest time, and with the smallest injury to the
land.
Q. 2. What sciences will aid him most in his
calling ?
A. The sciences of chemistry, geology, vege
table and animal physiology, climatology, botany,
comparative anatomy, and natural history.
Q. 3. In what way does a knowledge of chem
istry, and of the other sciences named, assist the
planter and stock grower ?
A. Such a knowledge enables him to judge of
the value of every element of fertility in his soil
and subsoil, in his undrained swamps, or else
where within his reach. Geology and chemis
try reveal the origin and character of all land in
any way adapted to agricultural purposes; while
vegetable and anifhal physiology teach the true
relations of agricultural plants and animals to
each other, and to the natural constituents of
the soil. Climatology, comparative anatomy,
and natural history, extend and improve the
professional attainments of the farmer by a more
critical study of temperature, as it affects plants
and animals, of rain, drouth, and other meteoro
logical influences; by showing the organization
of all live stock, and the best ways and means
of increasing their value; and by tracing the
general laws of organic life, as distinguished
from those which govern all disorganized mat
ter outside of the animal and vegetable king
doms.
Q. 4. Are there any other sciences which de
serve the study of agricultural students?
A. Yes. Agricultural engineering, as applied
to both drainage and irrigation, and entomolo
gy, are equally worthy of attention anil stud}'.
Q. 5. On what basis are sound principles in
agriculture to be established?
Wo will leave the reader to answer this ques
tion, and perhaps resume the subject hereafter.
— —
THE STUD? OF GRASSES NO3.
Meadow Foxtail (Alopecui u< pratensls,) is one
of the most popular meadow grasses grown in
England. According to the analyses of Profi
Way, made for the Royal Agricultural Society,
meadow foxtail stands second only to orchard
grgss in the quantity of flesh-fortning elements
which it contains—having 12.38 per cent. (See
table in Field awl Fireside , of June 4th, page 14.)
It is a native, not only of Britain, but of most
parts of Europe, particularly of Italy, France,
Germany, Holland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden,
and Russia. It is, therefore, naturally adapted
to a wide range of latitude; and according to
Wilson’, const tut sthe ; ri.ieipa! herbage of many
rieli natural pastures. It is distinguished
from timothy, (/’/< 'earn jralei.te,) which it closely
resembles, by having only one paleu, and from
its beard being attached to the base of its palea,
and not to its glumes. Front all other British
grasses, it is distinguished by its flowers grow
ing in close cylindrical heads, and consisting of
two equally sized glumes, and keeled and com
pressed figure, enclosing a single palea. It is
eminently perennial , vegetates with extraordi
nary luxurience, and yields a large produce, both
jn a first crop and as after grass. Its root
leaves are very broad, soft, and slender, and
when eaten down by stock, they grow again
with great rapidity. It is, consequently, a most
valuable grass.
It forms an abundance of seeds; but they are
so nutritious and much liked by insects as often
to be wholly consumed by them. Hence, the
seeds of meadow foxtail are scarcer than almost
any other in the market. Grown with white
clover, it forms a favorite pasture for ewes and
lambs, where the latter are to be sent early to
the butcher. It does not acquire its full pro
ductiveness until the fourth year after being
sown; and, therefore, it is inferior to many other
grasses for alternate husbandry, or for brief pe
riods of grazing; but it is excelled by no grass
in the aggregate value for strictly permanent,
pasture, and ought never to bear a smaller pro
portion titan one-eighth iu any mixture of grass
seeds for land to remain in grass a considerable
number of years. In central Georgia, it would
be in blossom by the first of April. It does
best in a loamy, moist, and rich soil There
are two other species of foxtail, which, accord
ing to the author of “ British Husbandry,”
flourish chiefly on strong, moist soils.
Rye Grass (Cnliuni perenne) grows wild in the
g r ass lands of Britain; and, according to Wilson.
it has been more extensively cultivated by
British farmers than any other kind of forage
grass. It is only within a few years that it lias
attracted attention in tnis country; and many
believe that its value has been quite over-esti
mated. It, however, contains much nutritive
matter, comes e :rly to full maturity, and pro
duces a great deal of seed, which ripens at the
same time. These circumstances adapt it ad
mirably to a system of alternate husbandry, and
for so ling purposes. The varieties of common
rye grass a e numerous, and differ considerably
in value. Some are annual, some biennial or
triennial, and some perpetual growers. It would
require au extended essay to do anything like
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justice to this genus of plants; but we contem
plate only a brief statement of facts, in connec
tion with a few practical suggestions.
No means exist of distinguishing the annual
and biennial kinds front the perennial, by the
seeds alone. By letting plants stand, aud see
that they continue to grow from the root more
than two years, one may then collect perennial
seeds from them, if any are produced. So early
as 1823, G. Whitworth, E-q., of Acre House, in
Lincolnshire, had sixty varieties of rye grass
under experiment. From these he originated a
new one, that has gone by his name, aud been
very popular ns forming a prominent part in
lawn grass. Raceys rye grass is said to 1 e
equally well adapted to pleasure grounds and
for permanent pasture.
We give the preference to the Italian rve
grass whose seeds have been imported, not
from England, but direct from the warmer cli
mate of Italy, into the cotton growing States.
It has a deeper and stronger development of
roots than any of the English varieties, or spe
cies; it arrives sooner at maturity, has taller
and more upright culms, broader leaves, and
more abundant foliage, longer spikes, more thin
ly set spikelets, and less bulky produce of seeds.
It is preferred by cattle, according to British
feeders, to any of the native rye grasses ; and it
is greedily eaten by neat stock, whether in its
green or dry state. It grows so rapidly as to
choke clover, lucerne, or other forage plants, and
is, therefore, generally cultivated alone. It may
be sown either in the spriug or fall, at the rate
of fifteen to eighteen pounds of seed per acre.
Prepare the ground as for a crop of wheat,
harrow smoothly, sow the seed, and roll the
ground, and leave the seed to grow on top of
the earth. For seed, the grass is cradled just
before the seed is perfectly ripe.
From twenty-five to thirty bushels of seed
may grow on an acre of good land. Its straw
is of little more value than that of common rye,
or wheat. All rich grasses, of whatever name
or kind, require rich land to produce large and
satisfactory crops.
Where irrigation is practicable, six crops may
lie grown and cut for feeding, green, in a year.
The Italian rye grass contains something over
ten per cent, less flesli-forming elements, than
the less luxuriant British varieties of this forage
plant. Those of our readers who may have this
grass, will act wisely to save and raise all the
seed they can; for it deserves extensive culti
vation in the planting States, and the seed will
soon be in great request. The South will be
able to produce all the butter and cheese need,
ed in Southern cities, and equal in all respects to
any brought from the North, so soon as we
learn to appreciate the utility of the cultivated
European grasses. With them, we can produce
and keep superior horses, mules, cows, oxen,
sheep and swine, at a trifling expense. With
out them, our agriculture will change from bad
to worse.
ORCHARD GEASS-A DIFFERENCE OF OPIN
luN.
The Georgia Journal <t Messenger says:
We here take occasion to differ from Dr. Lee
in regard to the virtues of the orchard grass.
It will do where none other better will grow.
But in Tennessee, both the timothy and red
top are preferred, we believe. It is too coarse
for either hay or pasture. Still, we would like to
have it tried.
We copy the above to say that we have never
recommended orchard grass to the exclusion of
all others. The fact is generally known that the
subject of grasses, and the production of supe
rior live stock, have received more attention in
England than in any other country. The farm
ers of Great Britain have long sought after and
obtained the best grasses grown in Europe; and
they have made the whole civilized world pay
a willing tribute to their judgment in this mat
ter, by purchasing at exceedingly high prices
their sujierior breeding animals, improved main
ly because well kept on such grasses as are best
adapted to the natural requirements of neat cat
tle, sheep, and other farm stock. Their wonder
ful success in producing the very best domestic
animals in the world, is due to their skill in
grass-culture, aided largely by the natural hu
midity of the climate of the British Islands.
They have been experimenting for a hundred
years, and finally, the Royal Agricultural Socie
ty employed one of the best analysts of the age,
Prot. Way, to analyse thirty-four species of their
best grasses. He found that orchard grass con
tains more of the organized substances which
form the flesh of animals than any ono of the
other thirty-three.
To prevent orchard grass growing in tufts
and coarse, the ground must be thickly seeded.
This, we dare say, was not done by those farmers
of Tennessee who failed to obtain satisfactory
results. Timothy and other grasses, as well as
clover, ought to he sown xv.th orchard grass,
cultivated for meadow. But where one is just
beginning a system of grass-culture, and desires
to raise seed, each species and variety had bet
ter be grown separate from all others, to obtain
pure, unmixed seed. It must not be assumed
that every man who lias not been retired to the
business of grass-culture can master this agri
cultural art in a day, or in a year. There is
not a county in the United States where this art.
approaches perfection. Farmers do not study
their calling sufficiently as an intellectual pursuit,
hut to often jump far to reach their conclusions.
We must learn to reason together— to investi
gate closely the true value of every agricultural
p ant presented fi relimination and trial. Many
a farmer fails to raise good crops of corn, not
from any defect in the plant, but in the culture,
or in the soil. We do not propose to ride as a
hobby grass-culture at the South, or elsewhere.
We have investigated the subject twelve years,
anil hope yet to learn much more in the next
twelve. Nature greatly favors the growth o
nutritious grasses; aud our faith is pretty strong
in the wisdom of Nature, aud in that of her Au
thor.
HOW OBJHARD GRASS-SEED SHOULD BE
SOWN.
Talbotton, Ga., June 24, 1859.
Dr. Lee —Dear Sir: You very generously
propose to give the subscribers of the Field and
Fireside some “ orchard grass-seed.”
Enclosed please find five postage stamps, which
will pay the postage on the amount you propose
to give.
I would like very much to know at what time
to sow, and what kind of soil is best suited to its
growth, and also, how the ground should be
prepared on which it is sown.
1 am highly pleased with your paper.
Your attention to above will oblige,
Respectfully,
J. 11. Brown.
A great many letters similar to the above
have been received —more than can be answered
individually, and we will endeavor to make one
reply answer for all.
The small package of seed sent out from the
office of the Field and Fireside, by its agricultural
editor, had better lie planted in a garden border,
or other rich place, on a well cultivated soil.—
Be careful not to seed too thickly, and not to cover
the seed over a half inch in depth. The seed
may be put into the ground at once, or it would
be a little safer not to plant it till the first of
November. Protracted dr}-, hot weather may
kill the young plants if not watered and shaded,
but this may be done where the quantity is small.
We are having fifteen acres sown, which is in
corn ; expecting the corn to shade the young
grass in August and September, when it is most
likely to need it.
Rich bottom land is the best for all kinds of
grasses; but orchard grass, timothy, clover, oat
grass. and even red-top and blue-grass, may be
grown on any good upland. A clay loam or
sandy loam is better than a soil where sand is
largely in excess. All low grounds, now too
wet to plow, that can be drained, will make
land worth two hundred dollars an acre in mead
ows and pastures. The truth of this statement
will appear hereafter.
As wild carrots and garlics prevail more or
less in Virginia, where the orchard grass-seed
distributed has been grown, we beg to caution
such as obtain seed not to allow any weed that
may come up with the grass to mature its seed,
but to destroy all foreign plants at once. The
danger of distributing pernicious seeds in those
of grass and grain, and even in common garden
seeds, is very considerable. Look out then for
the evil alluded to.
As soon as the orchard grass is ripe, gather
the seed, and extend the area devoted to this and
other grasses. In field culture prepare the soil
as you would to obtain a premium crop of
wheat or corn, but harrow down smoothly be
fore sowing the seed, and then roll the ground
after it is sown. To make good hay, two bush
els of clean seed to the acre are not too much;
but for growing seed, we put only a bushel to
the acre. The seed is light, weighing only some
liftmen pounds to the bushel. IVe want to see
the South well supplied with good seed of all the
plants adapted to the wants of its agriculture.—
Lupins. Vetches. Sanfoin, Lucerne, and many
other plants we have yet to describe; and we
have many grasses not yet named in the Field
and Fireside.
To produce cotton at the least cost, one needs
fertile land; and to have fertile land, one re
quires renovating plants that will grow from
year to year without tillage, and at the same time
yield a better return than broomsedge and hen
grass.
—>
GERMAN M'LLET.
Mr. Oscar Bailey has called our attention t
the superiority of German millet, (miscalled
Hungarian grass,) over the Chinese Sugar Cane
for soiling purposes. Seeds of each sown at the
same time, and on sim lar land, and having
equal advantages in all respects, have produced
very unlike results. The millet is headed out
and in blossom by the time the new kind of
broom corn has grown knee-high. The millet
produces many broad, soft, succulent leaves ;
and the stalk is also soft, and the whole plant
greedily eaten by horses and other stock;
while half-starved cattle and hogs alone eat the
sorgum in its earliest stages of growth. It is
projier to remark, in this connection, that neither
common corn nor any broom-corn is well adapt
ed to feed green before the seeds of the plant
reach the blossoming stage. Mr. B. cultivates a
variety of Canada corn, which is quite as early
as millet, but not so early as lucerne and clover.
There are some ninety pounds of water in one
hundred of the Chinese cane, and in green corn
plants, when they stand about two feet high,
without drawing up the leaves. In that watery
stage both are poor forage.
Mr. Bailey has given us samples of orchard
grass and timothy in blossom, from seed sown
early in the spring. Being perennial grasses,
these plants rarely, go to seed the first year the
seed is sown ; but our climate appears to force
them forward to early maturity. Both spieeies
were sown on poor land. Some twenty-five
years ago, when Mr. B.’s father commenced rais
ing timothy, orchard grass, and clover hay on
worn-out old fit Ids in Virginia, old larmers born
in the county laughed at the idea; yet. we have
ourself seen one hundred tons of choice hay in
one of his large barns; and we trust that his son
will be no less successful in Georgia. The no
tion that the South cannot raise good hay, but
must be forever de[>eudent on the North for this
article, and horses, not to name butter, cheese,
and other products of the soil, is something a
little worse than a mistake.
—- —I
Grafting Camelias. —The Cottage Gardener
says: The manner of grafting Camelias is the
simplest th ; ng on the lace of earth. You (Hit in
the ktiile. and cut down u slice, one inch long, on
the face of a plain piece of the stock; then cut
across the bottom of the slice, which leaves a
notch there—on the notch fix the bottom of the
graft. After spicing it otf. in the same way as
the stock, tie it with a piece of mat or worsted;
putting it five times round, and no more, for it
docs not want much covering when the place is
hot and moist accordingly.
THE INDIGENOUS PRODUCTS OF AMERICAN
SOIL.
J. M. S. of Hightower, in this State, calls our
attention to the well known fact that Indian com,
the Irish potato, pumpkins, squashes, and tur
keys were found in the New World, by the first
European immigrants, ne might easily have
extended the list almost indefinitely; for North
and South America contain a large number of
both plants and animals, not found on any other
continent; but is our friend quite sure that the
Irish potato, (solatium tuberosum)grc\v indigenous
ly “in the Cherokee Indian country, in 1816?”
If it was a natural wild plant then, it must still
exist in some uncultivated places in that region.
Is it not more probable that the potato plants
seen were derived origiually from seed planted !
by the Indians themselves ?
i—-
[Written for the Southern Field and Fireside.]
A FEW WORDS ON THE ANALYSIS OF SOILS.
BY J. D. EASTER, PII. !>.,
Prof, of Chemistry, dec., in Vie University of Georgia.
In the true order of human progress, art al
ways precedes science. -We learn to walk and
to talk without any thought of the centre of
gravity, or the rules of grammar; and so the
practice of every art goes before the knowledge
of its principles. But when the processes of art
Become complicated, empirical knowledge no
longer suffices. The experience of one place, or
one country, may be no safe rule for another.
A thousand accidental causes may require mo
difications of processes, which can only be learn
ed by costly and time-consuming trials. Though
art may advance to a certain degree without the
aid of science, its progress must ultimately be
stopped for the want of knowledge of the prin
ciples upon which its processes depend. This
has been Ibr centuries the condition of Chinese
art.
To separate the intrinsic, or necessary, from
the accidental, is the work of science; and thus
she becomes the handmaid of art. These re
marks are eminently true of agriculture—the
oldest, as it is one of the most honorable, of the
arts of life. When the teeming bosom of the
earth brought forth in profusion all that was
needed for the supply of a scanty population,
agriculture was a pastime. Kefiued processes
of cultivation are not necess.Try where thousands
of acres of virgin soil offer their treasures to the
husbandman. But when the materials thus
stored up are exhausted, and with diminished
resources the demands of an increasing popula
tion must be met, then all the light which scien
tific investigation can throw upon the process of
vegetation must lie sought for. The wants of
the plant, and the means of supplying those
wants, must be carefully studied. The varying
conditions of the soil, and the effects of heat,
moisture, ami light upon vegetation, must bo
thoroughly considered, that money and time may
not be spent in useless experiments.
Unfortunately, that very conservatism which
has made the tillers of the soil, in all ages, the
great bulwark of social order and civil liberty,
lias operated in this case to retard progress, by
rejecting the results of those whose lives have
been devoted to the investigation of natural
laws, because those laws have been studied, not
in the field, but in the laboratory. The practical
man met with a sneer all offers of instruction
from one who had never turned a sod, and
whose only knowledge was that of books. But
the growing necessities of population, aided by
more liberal mental culture, have broken down
the barriers of ignorance and prejudice; and
the value of scientific investigations, if net truly
appreciated, is at least acknowledged by every
intelligent cultivator of the soil. There is even
reason to believe that, with regard to the science
which is now called agricultural chemistry, stub
born contempt has, iu many cases, given place
to excessivo credulity. The farmer often ex
pects too much from chemistry, as he formerly
expected too little. And this disposition is se
dulously cultivated by quacks, who expect to reap
profit from the error. A few years ago, one of
these pseudo-scientists proposed to seek for a
prevention of the ravages of the boll-worm; and
required, as a preliminary to his researches, an
analysis of the soil, the plant, the atmosphere,
and the worm. An analysis of the soil is thus
held up as a sure guide to fertility. The uaturul
result of those over-wrought expectations is dis
appointment. The deluded farmer throws the
blame of his failure on science, and is more than
ever inclined to adhere to the old ways.
The truth is, that chemical science is still in
its infancy, and our analytical processes are not
sufficiently delicate to decide with any great de
gree of assurance, problems so intricate as some
of those presented to the agricultural chemist.
What, then, is the value of a chemical analysis ?
Plants draw the materials for their sustenance
partly from the atmosphere, and partly from the
soil. That portion which we call ash is derived
wholly from the earth. If any of the elements
of the ash be wanting in the soil, the plant
must languish, unless others can be taken up as
substitutes, which may be done to some
Every crop remov s trorn the soil some portion
of those substances which are needed for the
food of plants, and unless the loss be made good
in some way, sterility must result. When this is
the condition of any soil, a cartful chemical an
alysis will generally reveal the cause of the dif
ficulty. Taking as a standard, the composition
of a soil of known fertility, it is easy to detect a
notable deficiency of one or more of its ingre
dients. But there is also a great diversity in
the proportions of the several constituents tak
en up by different plants ; some exhaust the soil
rapidly of phosphates ; others carry off’ large
quantities of potash, while the ash of another
class abounds in lime. A correct idea of the
wants of each plant can, thorelore, only he gain
ed by an analysis of its ash. The soil which is
unproductive of one plant, may yield large crops
of another. In all these cases the value of
chemical analysis is clear to every reflecting
mind.
Another important application of chemistry is
to the analysis of substances which may be val
uable as manures, such as marl, guano, 4c., the
value of which depends upon the amount of cer
tain substances which they contain.
But the physical properties of the soil affect
its fertility no less than its chemical composition.
In many cases, the best manure for the soil
would be an admixture with another of a differ
ent kind-clay with sand, or sand with clay.
The power which the soil possesses of absorb
ing and retaining heat and moisture is an ele
ment of much importance, and may be greatly
mod.fied by drainage, deep culture, and the ad
mixture of vegetable matter. The warmth of
the soil denials much upon its color—the darker
so ls absorbing most of the solar heat.
Every attempt to improve the soil ought,
therefore, to begin with a careful eonsideration
ol its mechanical texture, its power of absorbing
and retaining moisture from the air, and its ca
pacity for heat. In Older to judge fairly of
these couditious, the examination should be
made on the spot. The business of the agricul
' tural chemist should not be limited to the inves
tigations which can be made in the laboratory.
An analysis of a soil can be of no value at all,
unless it be thorough and exact. Cheapness,
| obtained at the expense of accuracy, is very un
! wise economy. The large number of elements
! present, renders the problem of an exact eherni
| cal analysis very difficult, and some of the most
; important constituents exist in small quantities,
; and are among those whose exact determination
I is most difficult. Separate analyses should be
i made of the portion soluble in water, the mat*
I ters extracted by dilute acids, and the insoluble
portion; the former is that part which is iinme
| diately available, while the other portions must
; first be decomposed by the slow action of the
• elements. The decomposition of the soil may
i often be hastened by the use of caustic lime or
j ashes.
Separate analyses should also be made of the
surface soil and the subsoil. The deeper the
soil is stirred, the more food is placed within the
reach of the plant: but to throw a large quantity
of barren subsoil upon the surface would do in
jury, instead of good.
An analysis which shall comply with these
requisitions must necessarily involve an expense
j which few farmers will be willing to bear; and
I I am, therefore, forced to the conviction, that in
the present state of chemical science and of ag
l rieulture, chemical analyses will prove of more
value in determining the adaptation of certain
classes of soils to the growth of particular plants,
than as a guide in the renovation of a special
soil.
No analysis, however thorough or accurate,
can be of any value to the unscientific planter,
; unless its results lie interpreted, and practical
1 directions given, lespecting the best and cheap
j est way of supplying the wants which the ana*
I lysis reveals. Agricultural books and journals
1 abound in reports of analyses, which are about
' as intelligible to the unscientific reader, as an
j essay on Greek accents, or a chapter from New
j ton’s Principia, would be. Most of our intelligent
planters know that phosphoric acid and the
alkalies perform important parts in the growth
of their crops; but very few know how much of
each is needed, or how to supply the want most
cheaply. It will not do to presume, that when
the chemist decides upon the composition of the
soil, the planter will know what it ought to con
i tain, and how to remedy its defects.
But while offering little encouragement to this
special application of chemistry to agriculture,
I would not be understood as sympathizing with
the cant phraseology about practical men. The
leally practical man is one who is ready to ap
preciate and profit by the results, both of scienti
fic induction and the experience of others, so far
as they relate to his immediate business. While
it cannot be expected that the man who is busy
with the details of agriculture will heroine a
scientific specialist—unless he is willing to be a
blind imitator of his successful neighbors, or to
waste time, money, and materials in experiments
conducted without a knowledge of the principles
upon which they depend—he should make him
self acquainted with the principles of all sciences
which have any relation to his calling, and be
ready to avail himself of all the results of modern
science. A combination of theoretical knowledge
with practical skill markes the truly practical
man.
[Written for the Southern Field and Fireside.]
SCRIVEN COINTY. Ga., )
June 14 1 63. f
Dr. D. Lee —Dear Sir: It may not be unin
teresting to you, and the readers of the Southern
Fold and Firtside, to hear from me, through the
columns of your very valuable piqier, as I travel
over the country, and learu what the present
prospects of the corn and cotton crops are, the
state of the weather, kc., kc. I left Mobley’s
Pond a few days ago, and traveled down the
Savannah river road to the Kffinghara line; from
thence up the Central railroad, as far as No. 6,
and 1 do not think there ever has been a belter
prosjiect for an abundant crop of corn and cotton.
Kviry field of corn is in fill bloom, tasseling
and silking, and nearly every farmer has laid by
his corn. Cotton looks fine, and numbers of
j the planters have as many as half a dozen
i blooms on a stalk. 1 was informed by a friend
| of mine, in the fork of Brier Creek, that he had
as many as twenty-five forms and blooms on one
stalk of cotton. But the abundant rain that has
been falling for the last week, I am afraid, will
do serious damage to the cotton crop.
For the last eight days it has rained incessant
ly ; and I think a sufficiency of rain has fallen
to-day on this part of the country (Central rail
road), to make an abundant crop. Some of the
f.rmers have considerable grass, and if these
r.iins continue, they must necessarily neglect
some ports n of their cotton to save the fodder.
Very- respectfully, yours,
J. B. Overstreet.
— —
Cheap Wash for Cottages of Wood. —The
outside of wooden cottages, barns, out-buildings,
fences, etc., where economy is important, the fol
lowing wash is recommended:
Take a clean barrel that will hold water. Put
it in a half bushel of fresh quicklime, and slake it
by pouring over it boiling water sufficient to
cover it four or five inches deep, and stirring it
till slaked.
When quite slaked, dissolve in water, and
add two pounds of sulphate of zinc (white vit
riol.) which may be had of any of the druggists,
and which, in a few weeks, will cause the white
wash to harden on the wood-work. Add suffi
cient water to bring it to the consistence of
thick white-wash. The wash is, of course,
white, and as white is a color which we think
should never be used except on buildings a
good deal surrounded by trees, so as to prevent
its glare, we would make it a fawn or drab color
before using it.
To make the above wash a pleasing cream
color, add four pounds of yellow ochre.
For a fawn color, take four pounds umber,
| one pound Indian red, and one half pound of
lampblack.
To make the wash grey or stone color, add
one pound raw umber and two pounds lamp
black.
The color may be put on with a common
white-wash brush, and will be found much moro
durable than common white-wash, as the sul
phate of zinc sets or hardens the wash.
Downing.
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Wheat Harve t. —Our farmers are now in
the midst of the Wheat Harvest. As far as we
have learned, though the grain stood thin on the
ground in some places, the heads are better
tilled than usual, and the yield will be m ich
larger than was anticipated a few weeks ago.
For illustration, a farmer in the western part of
the couuty told us on Tuesday, that six weeks
ago he offered to take a hundred and fifty
bushels for his crop, but he was satisfied now
• that it would yield three hundred and fifty. And
this is by no means a solitary instance. We have
no means of arriving at the probable figure at
which the market will open.
Athens (Term.) Post.