Newspaper Page Text
78
AGRICULTURAL.
DANIEL LEE, Iff. D., Editor.
SATURDAY JULY 80, 1559.
LAND DRAINAGE.
Few agricultural arts are more important than
that which teaches the fanner when and how
to drain, where to drain, and where not to
ditch his fanning lands. Our attention is now
directed to this subject by the perusal of the
prize essay published in this paper, in which
the removal of the real or supposed excess of
water in the soil and subsoil, by the aid of open
ditches, or covered drains, is brought forward as
an elementary principle in agriculture. The
author does not state very clearly, if at all,
whether in his opinion, all tilled lands require
artificial drainage; and if not, how the cul
tivator is to know which fields or parts of fields
need ditches or drains, and which are sufficient
ly drained by nature not to require the assist
ance of art in that respect. Since ditching and
under-draining have become fashionable, many
miles of draining tiles have been laid in ground
where there is no surplus of water to run off,
and where they do no more good than they
would if buried in dry sand. Many open ditches
do more injury by promoting the luxuriant
growth of weeds, briars, and bushes, along their
banks, and interfering with the plow and use
of wagons and carts, than good by removing
water from the land. The subject is one of
much practical importance, and we desire to see
it carefully and thorouglily discussed.
Wherever water collects from the surround
ing surface into a kind of basin, from a defec
tive outlet, adequate artificial channels for the
escape of this stagnant water are an obvious
benefit. But it is rare that land which has no
more water upon its surface or under it than
that falling directly upon it in rain or snow,
will not become sufficiently dry, if deeply and
thoroughly cultivated. Such are the general
dryness and temperature of the atmosphere in
all parts of the United States,.that about twice
as much water will evaporate from the surfaces
of plants and the ground, in twelve months, as
falls from the clouds; so .that if the rain-fall
were evenly and properly distributed through
out the year, having reference to temperature
and the wants of vegetation, there could be no
excess, except where a given surface receives
water by the influx of that from other surfaces.
Some impervious, tenacious clays, however, re
fuse to imbibe water, except vary slowly, and
part with it quite as reluctantly. Such are often
largely benetitted by surface drainage, and by
under drains to prevent the bad effects of tem
porary stagnant water. As between the two
systems, the preference is generally given
to well laid pipe drains, rather than open
ditches. Some prefer to combine both;
having their main drains open, especially
where the amount of water to be removed is
large, and all the tributaries covert, «• «•> not
to interfere with tillage and other farming opera
tions. This is a much better arrangement than
to drain swamps and bogs entirely with open
ditches. Men who make covered drains without
fully understanding the art are apt to see them
fill up in a few years with sand, clay, leaves, or
other trash, to the ruin of the conduit or passage
for water. On the other hand, there are in Great
Britain thousands of miles of such blind drains
that have remained free for the escape of water
for fifty years without repairs. Their excellence
depends on being so covered that no surface
water ever enters them with its mud. All water
has to filter through two or more feet of earth,
and enters the under dram perfectly free from
all sediment. Hence, nothing is deposited and
the conduit keeps open for ages. Draining tile
can now be manufactured so cheaply by farmers
themselves, who have any clay that will make
brick, that open ditches are fast going out of use.
A tile machine costs in New York, from $225 to
$250 ; and its transportation South will not be
very expensive.
But it is quite practicable to make drams of
small trees of the size of fence rails that will
last a lifetime. Most farmers know that logs,
buried in water, as in some mill-dams and ponds,
or in mud, will last a century without rotting,
where the air is nearly excluded. By digging
a ditch three or four feet deep, and placing there
in, side by side, two small logs, say six inches in
diameter, on an average, covered by the half of a
third one, with the split side down, the latter
having a diameter of from eight to ten inches,
one may construct a cheap and quite durable
wooden drain. No surface water must be per
mitted to run into this drain, no more than into
one made of tile or stone. It will often happen
that many of thege covered drains will be re
quired to free the land of all excess of moisture;
for water can only enter them by percolating
through the ground. Where there is sufficient
fall, such drainage water may be profitably used
for irrigating land below. If the water contain
salts of iron, or alumina, or humic substances in
excess, it should pass through marl, or lime, be
fore it is used for irrigation. Land that needs
draining usually contains agricultural salts of
value, if rightly used. They may be in excess.
If so, drainage and liming are the proper
remedies.
One great objection to' all surface drainage
and washing is the removal of much fine or
ganic and inorganic matter from the soil, which
would remain and yield plant-food, if the ex
cess of water were removed from the subsoil
It is a great benefit to land to Yeceive the sedi
ment deposited from surface water, as when
still water, in a freshet, that covers some part of
a river bottom, throws down rich mud. But
let a strong current wash the ground at any
place, and there the fertility is damaged.—
Hence, surface wa thing is always to be avoided;
and clear subsoil water, (not muddy water from
open ditches.) is to escape from cultivated
K SOVXKSjUff FIELD AND DX&SBXDS.
ground. A deep, and properly covered drain,
is the best possible substitute for a natural
spring. These abound on naturally well drained
land; and one can make good artificial springs
where there is sufficient fall, and no lack of
rain. It is however mainly to remove standing
and stagnant water in basins that artificial out
lets are needed. But common uplands require
more care to keep water from running off too
soon than to prevent its exeess or stagnation.
Small patches near springs and a few other
wet places some times demand artificial drains;
but common uneven upland will very rarely
furnish water to an under drain, if made. So
much water runs off the surface, and so large is
the capacity of the ground to hold it, that there
is no surplus. This fact is easily demostrated
by digging a hole three feet deep into which no
water will flow from the subsoil and stand. If
no water flows in and stands in ordinary weath
er, then no outlet should be formed or is needed.
On tilled land, water should never stand in the
subsoil nearer than some three feet of the sur
face. Hence, two feet ditches are nearly value
less, except to remove surface water. To get
clear of water rising up from below, drains,
three or four feet deep, must be used.
—in
THE STUDY OF GRASSES-NO 5.
Tall Oat Grass — (Arena elatior). —This grass
has attracted some attention at the South from
its seed being advertised in the Southern Cul
tivator, under the name of “ Stanford's Wild
Oat Grass.” It has been before the public
several years under a new name, without any
good reason, unless it be to sell its seed at an
extravagantly high price. Some five or six
years ago, Col. Peters of Atlanta received sam
ples of this grass from the gentleman whose
name it bears, and forwarded them to the writer,
then in Rochester, and editor and proprietor of
the Genesee Farmer. The plants received from
Col. P. were submitted to the inspection of Prof.
Dewey, of that city, one of the most reliable
botanists in the country, who pronounced it the
Arena elatior; or under the newest systematic
botany, the Arrhenatherum arenancettm. It is
a tall coarse grass which has been known in
Pennsyluania and New York, since the first
settlement of those States. W ilsox describes it
as “a perennial native of the meadows and
pastures of Great Britain; and it usually grows
to the height of about five feet; and though a
coarse plant, it vegetates with luxuriance, and
has been permitted a place among the agricultu
ral grasses. Yet it contains but a comparative
ly small portion of nutritive matter; and is ill
relished by cattle, and is much disliked by
horses.”
llaxham says: '‘lt is a grass of considerable
value, is eaten by all kinds of stock, and ought
to form a part of all permanent pastures; though
not in too great proportion; as according to the
experiments of Sinclair, it contains too large a
proportion of bitter extractive and saline matter.
The quantity of herbage which it produces
rlnrincr tha wW*U La vory pat\ side ruble.
In dry sandy arable land, the tubers spread
about, and it becomes a very troublesome weed;
and in many districts it is so abundant that
farmers collect their roots and burn them. This
grass and Triticum repens (couch grass) are the
two species eaten by dogs to excite vomiting.”
We might cite other authorities to the same
effect, but it is unnecessary. It is certainly far
better than no grass; but where its true charac
ter is known it is sparingly cultivated. Mixed
to the extent of one- fourth with other seeds, it
will yield both hay and jiasturage. Botanists
describe forty different species as belonging to
the genus Arena, only three or four of which
are of interest to the farmer.
Common oats, (Arena sativa) is beyond com.
parison, the most valuable of the genus. It is
an annual, and may be grown for hay quite as
well as for its seed. Indeed, on rich land, prop
erly cultivated, and cut just before the rust
usually attacks the plant, one may raise a large
amount of excellent forage from either the black
or white oats. The cultivation and annual seed
ing required, are the main objections to growing
the cereal grasses for stock. One wants plants
that will grow for years with one sowing of the
seed, and keep stock as well as young barley,
wheat rye, and oats. It is to be regretted
that grass-culture and stock-husbandry are so
little studied in this country. A writer in the
August number of the Southern Cultivator says
“ Although I am a strong advocate for stock
raising, the idea that stock enriches the soil
seems to me merely speculative. True, stock
are great collectors of manure, but do not create
a particle. The richness scattered over a great
extent of cour try they bring home to their rest
ing places at night, but what they bring they
have taken from their feeding quarter, so that
while they enrich their pen, they impoverish
their pasture.”
The above statement is true only to a limited
extent, as the careful study of the best grazing
lands will soon demonstrate. Perennial grasses
are best produced on bottom land near streams,
springs, or moving water. Everywhere this
moving water supplies growing herbage with its
appropriate aliment, forming green oases even in
the great sand desert of the Sahara. Grass fed
by a perennial spring or brqok can no more ex
haust land, when removed in the stomachs of
cattle and sheep, than the bottoms of the Nile
are exhausted by the exportation of wheat and
rice for thousands of years. In both cases,
moving water restores the elements of fertility.
Hence, one may have hundreds of acres of
swamp, or other low-lying pastures, whose soil
is fattened by living springs, branches, the leach
ings and washings of hills and mountain masses
of eartli, to yield rich manure forever that costs
notlring.* Water will not run up hill and convey
plant food from low lands to high lands; but
sheep, cattle, and horses will, if well fed, easily
travel up hill, and thus carry their manure from
irrigated low-grounds, to the precise places
where the farmer most needs it. For thirty
years we have taught this grand principle in
farm economy through the public press, and no
one lias ever successfully assailed it. Moving
water and moving air are nature s great agen
cies for creating and distributing fruitfulness
over islands and continents. Grass and live
stock co-operate in the work.
It is time to investigate the deep philosophy
of agriculture, and see things precisely as an
all-wise Creator has made them. The reason
why so few farmers see any virtue in grass is
tbeir constant refusal to study the unerring
laws of God. Men set up agricultural idols,
which have their being in the plenitude of hu
man ignorance and false traditions, and insist
that all shall worship them to the end of time.
They assume that human wisdom can no far
ther go than to kill grass and destroy the fer
tility of all arable soils! Let us take one step
beyond this false assumption, and use grass as
infinite Wisdom intended it to be used. Its
function in the great economy of nature is to
augment the fruitfulness of the earth, and pre
pare it for the comfortable subsistence of all the
mammalia, at the head of which is placed talk
ing, reasoning, accountable Man.
iir w
HEAT AND DROUTH.
The corn crop has suffered badly in large
districts in this State in consequence of pro
tracted dry weather, and the scorching influence
of a hot sun. The crop is ruined in many
places, so that no after rains can redeem it.
Both Catawba and Isabella grapes are rotting
prematurely, and mainly from the excess of heat.
The Scuppernong has thus far escaped injury.
Another year, if grapes are exposed to extra
heat and a blazing sun, it will be wise to in
crease the shade of this rather tender fruit.
This may be done by bushes placed on a tem
porary frame work of poles over the vines. It is
the excess of heat, light, and a high dew point,
that rots grapes.
—■—
THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR.
We are pleased to notice in the August num
ber of the Smithem Cultivator that the Rev. C.
W. Howard, the able editor of the South
Countryman, has united his paper with the for
mer, and has become one of the editors of the
Cultivator. The arrangement is wise, and will
benefit all parties.
H >
MARYLAND AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE.
This institution is expected to go into opera
tion in September. Its farm was purchased of
C. B. Calvert, Esq., near Bladensburg, who has
taken a deep interest in this farmers’ college.
It has our best wishes for its success.
t »i
. METEOROLOGICAL.
Mr. Editor : I am often asked, what is the
comparative result of the fall of rain for the
last two years ? Below you will find an abstract
from my register for each month for the two
years ending with 30th June, 1859, and you can
publish it, if you think it of interest.
Yours truly,
Powelton, Ga. H. D. Smith.
Amount of rain In Inches, which fell at Powelton, Ga.,
for the year ending:
July 1857 to July 1858 Inches July 185Sto ’59 Inches
July 2.62 July 8.00
August 2.85 August 8.15
September 95 September. 4.22
October 87 October 2.66
November 5.21 November 1.47
December 4.40 December ..9.51
January 9.41 January........ . .4.44
February 4.38 February 4.00
March 8.84 March 4.96
April 8.46 April...! 2.78
May 1.72 May 2.48
June 6.19 June 2.7 S
44.40 50.45
Mr. Smith has our thanks for a copy of the
above meteorological record. Where fifty inches
of rain fall in a year, every acre receives about
five thousand tons in that length of time. The
influence of so much water, with its various
solvent agents, on rocks, soils, plants and ani
mals, deserves tho careful consideration of every
farmer. It is now known that rain and snow
bring ammonia, nitric acid, carbonic acid, and
even earthy minerals, to the ground on which
they fall. Timely seasons are nature’s manure
for poor land and starving crops.
SORGHO AS A FORAGE PLANT.
The Marquis de Vibrave communicates to the
Journal of Practical Agriculture, his experience
in feeding Sorgho to cattle. We find it in the
London Mark Lane Express. He says:
“ The sorgho is not a violent poison for cattle;
but if the effects observed, not only in my cul
tivation, but also in that of many of my neigh
bors, be frequently renewed, we ought to at
tribute to this plant a deleterious influence. On
a farm which I occupy myself, 25 horned cattle
have been fed exclusively on sorgho during a
month; and from the precise day on which it
was introduced in feeding the cattle, the journal
of the farm shows a diminution of the profit of
the dairy by one-half, and the same decrease
was exhibited every month of feeding with the
sorgho.
“On the other hand, there was, in respect to
one of the cows, a case of wind, that caused its
death. Any other kind of food might have pro
duced a similar accident; but what many of
my neighbors have assertedns, the sterility of
the cows fed on sorgho. If these two facts, ste
rility on the one hand, and a diminution of half
in the production of milk on the other, repeated
regularly in consequence of feeding the cows on
sorgho, we must conclude from them that this
plant is injurious; since it hinders or diminishes
all kinds of production by interfering with the
secretion which must necessarily provoke a
perturbation in the animal organism; all morbid
causos having their origin in suppressions of
this nature.”
It is worthy of remark that the seed of the
Sorgho, or Sorgum saccharatum, was introduced
into this country from France; where it has
been used by the Marquis de Vibrave and
others, much longer than in the United States.
The diminution in the secretion of milk of one
half in a dairy of 25 cows, reported above, cor
responds with results obtained by some of our
dairy friends at the North. No species of broom
corn has ever proved a good forage plant; nor
can the exaggerated statements emanating from
the Patent Office, or elsewhere, remove this
natural defect
TRIAL OF MOWING MACHINES.
We have been interested in reading an ac
count of the trial of fifteen different kinds and
patents of mowing machines in Livingston
county, Western New York, on one of the ex
tensive farms of James Wadsworth, Esq., em
bracing many acres of the famous Genesee bot
toms. The trials were made under the auspices
of the Livingston County Agricultural Society,
and were continued two days with great care
and judgment. On the morning of the first
day, the machines were set at work in clover,
each two-horse machine cutting one acre, and
the one-horse machines half an acre. In the
afternoon the machines were put in timothy
grass, and each required to cut the same
amount as in the morning. The next morning
the committee took charge of all the machines,
and with their own teams and drivers, gave each
machine a separate trial. This examination oc
cupied the entire day, and every point of the
different mowers was closely investigated. The
committee on two-horse machines say:
“ Each machine was driven at different rates
of speed, and the side draft estimated, as well as
the actual draft. They were also frequently
stopped and started in grass that it was difficult
to cut, heavy timothy with thick bottom, and
put to such tests as were sufficient to satisfy
the committee of their relative merits. There
was no machine that did not perform satisfactorily
—some it seemed impossible to place in position
that they could n6t be started with a slow and
steady motion.
The committee consisted of five, and they
were unanimous in the opinion that the four
best machines were the Ketchum, Buck-Eye,
Wood i Manny, and Hubbard.
Os one-horse machines, but two were tried —
those of Wood and Ketchum. The committee
say there was so little difference between the
two machines that they were scarcely able to
decide between them.
Our southern friends who are about forming
meadows, some of which wo doubt not will rival
those of Mr. Wadsworth, will see by the above
that machines for cutting hay may bo had of
the most reliable character. A two-horse
mower costs about $100; a ono-horse mower
$75.
—
WHEAT CROP IN WESTERN NEW YORK.
The Rural Few-Yorker says that wheat in the
Western part of New York will be harvested
the present week, and adds : The result, thus
far, has been most favorable, where the proper
conditions were observed as to varieties, soil, and
time of seeding—except in localities where the
wheat was affected by the severe Juno frost.—
Indeed, during the past ten days we have seen as
fine fields of wheat in this county as were grown
before the appearance of the midge. Many of
these bid fair to produce from thirty to forty
bushels of first quality wheat to the acre.—
Among others, we examined several fields of
Dayton wheat, the product of seed brought from
Ohio last fall by Capt. It. Flinn, of Le Roy. It is
a very fine variety—a white bald wheat, with
short, stiff straw, and if it acclimates os well as
the Mediterranean, will prove invaluable in this
region. Elisha Harmon, Esq., of Wheatland,
has seventy acres of this variety, which we
think will average at least thirty bushels to the
acre. We are aware that “one swallow does
not make a summer —tnat the present season
has been remarkably favorable for the growth
and maturity of the wheat plant—vet, from in
formation obtained last season and this, from ob
servation and reliable cultivators, we are satis
fied that the former great staple of this section
of the Union can still be successfully and prof
itably cultivated.
Before the wheat fly destroyed so much
of their great staple, the farmers of Monroe
county produced nearly a million and a half
bushels of wheat a year ; and we are happy to
learn from other sources that Western New York,
as well as Ohio and other Western States, are
favored with good wheat crops this year.
[Written for the Southern Field and Fireside.]
Coalmouth, P. 0., Kanawiia C’ty., Va., }
July 16th, 1859. )
Dr. Daniel Lee — Bear Sir : I have received
from Mr. Gardner several numbers of the South
ern Field and Fireside, and am very much pleased
with it. Indeed, I have for a long time felt the
want of such a Southern paper, although we
have the Messenger and Planter in Virginia.—
They are only issued monthly, and do not fully
meet our wants. Being a young farmer, your
department is the one which is most interesting
to me. I read with attention your articles on
“grasses,” and merely wnte to add my testimony
to that which you have already adduced as to
the value of Orchard Grass, both for meadow and
pasture. ’Tis not, lam sorry to say, in general
use here, but in Tazwell and some of our South
ern grazing counties, I have seen it growing lux
uriantly, and have been told by reliable men
from that section that it is the best grass for cat
tle that they have ever used. I have had a field
of it myself, for about five years, and think it
the best I have over tried, affording food for
stock earlier in the Spring aud later in the fall
than other grasses, and much less affected by eitli
’ er extremes of wet or dry weather. Mixed with
clover, it makes excellent hay, as both bloom,
and are, consequently, ready for the scythe at or
about the same time. It will yield an immense
deal of seed to the acre. I believe that one rea
son why persons are frequently disappointed
with it is that they sow it too thin, and it does
not spread very rapidly, growing when thinly
‘ sowed, in tussocks. It should be sowed at the
rate of from one and a half to two bushels per
’ acre. I am this year trying what is called
the Hungarian Grass, and am more pleased with
it than I expected, for I was inclined to believe
it a- humbug. I find that it is of very rapid
growth, and when sowed early, would afford
three crops here in one season. Though appa
rently a coarse grass, my horses and cattle seem
to eat it greedily, when given them in the sta
bles. It is, I think, better adapted to soiling
than anything I have yet tried. lam carefully
saving Vetch seed from a few sown in my gar
den ; they grew very luxuriantly, and I have no
doubt will prove valuable for soiling.
I have some subscribers on my list, but shall
not yet send it in, as I hope to obtain more.—
Most of our farmers have subscribed to other
journals, such as the Country Gentleman, See.,
and are not willing to take more. Another year,
I think the Field and Fireside will circulate very
generally here. All to whom I have shown it,
seem to like it very much ; especially as it is a
literary and agricultural journal combined.
Wishing your noble enterprise the success it
so richly deserves, I am,
Very respectfully,
George P. Thompson.
THE HOOK’S INFLUENCE ON PLANTS.
Does the planting of garden seed, in different
stages of the moon’s fullness, affect, in any way,
the growth or productiveness of the plant ? Or
is it only some old woman’s story ?
Green Gardener.
It is quite as likely to be an old man’s story,
as that of an “old woman;” but whether the
story of the one or the other, there is no proof
that the changes of the moon affect, in any way,
the germination of seeds, or the growth of
plants.
NEW YORK STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE.
The ceremony of laying the corner stone of the
New York State Agricultural College, took place
at Ovid, the 7th inst, upon the College grounds.
About 1 o’clock, Gov. King, and most of the
Trustees, with many leading and active friends
of the College, formed a procession Farm
House, and were escorted to the platform by the
citizens of Ovid, preceded by the Geneva Brass
Band. A large concourse had assembled, num
bering not less than four to five thousand—peo
ple who, from their behavior and attention, ex
hibited their deep interest in the proceedings.
On arriving at the foundation of the College
edifice, Gov. King called the assemblage to or
der, and prayer was offered by the Rev. Mr.
Hunt, of Ithaca. CoL B. P. Johnson, Secretary
of the Board of Trustees, read tho contents of
the box to be placed in the comer stone, which
consisted of a long. list of agricultural reports,
books, papers, essays, sermons, letters, daily
papers, names of officers of the institution, Ac.
Gov. King then laid tho comer stone, and de
livered an address to the people in attendance.
Brief addresses were also made by Maj. M. R.
Parker, ofSackett’s Harbor; Hon. A. B. Conger,
President of the State Agricultural Society;
Hon. J. R. Williams, of Ithaca; CoL B. P. John
son, and others.
•
The writer happened to be in Albany in 1822
when The Legislature was in session, and at the
time Judge Bcel, as Chairman of tho committee
on agriculture, reported a bill to establish a
State Agricultural School in New York, and ap
propriating SIOO,OOO to that purpose. The bill
failed to become a law; but from that day to the
present, the plan of having such an institution
has never been abandoned; and after the lapse of
thirty-seven years, and half as many defeats, the
“corner stone of a State Agricultural College
has been laid.” A whole generation of old fogies
has passed off the stage for their country’s good,
while the friends of agricultural learning have
been fighting this protracted battle; and in tho
same way, after the fossil remains of the old
bachelor President who vetoed the land bill that
passed both branches of the last Congress to
found agricultural schools in all the States, shall
be forgotten, a measure of the same character
will become the law of the land.
-
VEGETABLE TRADE.
From Norfolk, Va., Tuesday, there were shipped
3,000 boxes of tomatoes to Philadelphia, and
1,500 boxes of the same to Baltimore. On
Wednesday,3,soo barrels and boxes were shipped
to New York. The shipments now consist prin
cipally of tomatoes, apples, peaches, and pota
toes, besides a great quantity of pears, cucum
bers, beets, egg-plants, okra, Ac.
The growing importance of tho vegetable and
truit trade of the South is worthy of more at
tention than it has hitherto received. It is a
trade from which South Carolina, Georgia and
Florida are destined to reap great advantages in
a few years. To this trade in fruits and vege
tables, there is to be added the export of many
fat lambs and adult sheep, cattle, and other meats,
for northern consumption.
[Written for the Southern Field and Fireside.]
Dr. Lee: Your correspondent, M. A. J.,
from Effiingham, in No. 7, asks if “ any grass
can be grown to profit on which is bottom land
subject, at some periods of the year to an over
flow of two or three inches ?”
If the overflow docs not remain on the land
longer than the usual freshets, I can inform
him, that the Stanford Wild Grass will make
luxuriant crops upon it. I have about six acres
of such ground in that grass, that has been
overflowed several times, from 6 to 24 inches,
and for two or three days at a time, and I could
not discover that it sustained any injury. If,
however, his land is naturally wet and swampy,
I cannot answer for it, not yet having tried it
on wet land. Herds, or red top grass will grow
profitably on swampy land.
Respectfully,
John R. Stanford.
No grass is injured by the overflow of a
stream for one or two days, and rarely, if the
water covers tho meadow or pasture, a week or
ten days.
Without the least unkindly feeling toward
Col. Stanford, we have deemed it our duty to
our readers to speak, in another place, less fa
vorably of his grass than we could have wished.
On the other hand, we are in some danger of
doing him injustice, for we have seen grass
grown in the winter, and early in spring, from
seed sold by CoL S., that yielded much forage
for cows and horses fed in stables. They con
sumed it greedily; yet this grass will compare
with other cultivated grasses about as rye-bread
compares with the best wheat bread. Black
rye-bread, all must admit, is much better than
no bread; and both rye.and tall oat grass will
grow where wheat and clover will not.
Hogs in Kentucky.— Tho Cincinnati Price
Current , from an abstract from the assessors'
returns showing the number of hogs in Ken
tucky, makes the aggregate of sixty-four coun
ties, all that are yet returned, 815,538, against
639,297 last year, being an increase of 176,241.
The returns embrace all bugs of six months old,
on the 10th of January eac h year.
The Providence Journal says thm, the rot
is making »ad work in many of the potato fields
of Rhode Island, and in some localities the crop
will prove almost a total failure. In Bristol
some farmers have ploughed up whole fields of
potatoes, (the rot being so extensive as not to
pay the expense of digging,) and replanted with
other seed.