Newspaper Page Text
form, before it can be productive of cereal and
other valuable plants. As a general truth, it
may be stated that land which will bear good
crops of wheat, will also yield all other crops
adapted to the climate. Hence, to studv the
composition of wheat plants when ripe, will lead
us at once to all the essential elements of fer
tility. In 100 parts of wheat nearly 98 are com
bustible ; in straw, from 90 to 96 per cent, is
also combustible. The combustible or organic
part of wheat has the following composition,
(Bouissingault:)
Grain. Straw.
Carbon - - 46.10 48.48
Hydrogen - . 5.80 6.41
Oxygen - - - 43.40 88.79
Azote (nitrogen) - - 2.29 .85
Ash - : 8.41 6.97
100.00 100,00
The greatest difference in the combustible part
of wheat and straw is in azote, or nitrogen,
which is regarded as the flesh-forming element
in the plant. One must multiply the nitrogen in
wheat-straw by 1 to givo as much as there is in
wheat. Hence, if a wheat grower had to rely
on decaying straw for nitrogen to form his grain,
it would require 700 pounds of straw to make
100 of wheat. If he depended on clover or peas,
tlie case is widely different, as their organic
analysis indicates:
Pea-straw. Clover-hay.
Carbon 45.80 47.40
Hydrogen - - - - 5.00 5.00
Oxygen ..... 85.57 87.80
Azote (nitrogen) - * - 2.81 2.10
Ash r - - • - . 11.82 7.70
100.00 100.00
It will be seen that pea-straw, or haulm, con
tain as much nitrogen as wheat; and when
timely cut and properly cured, it makes the best \
of hay and the best of manure. Clover contains
a fraction less nitrogen, but is nearly equal as
forage and for manure. By regarding carbon as
charcoal, and oxygen and hydrogen as one form
of water, we may proceed to consider the inor
ganic, mineral, or incombustible part of wheat
and other crops, in their relation to the soil. —
The ash left on carefully burning the seeds and
stems of cultivated plants is not perfectly uni
form in its chemical composition in all varieties
of wheat or straw grown on different soils in dif
ferent seasons and climates. The variations,
however, are no greater than one might reason
ably expect under the influence of a change of
circumstances. The ash, or incombustible part
of the plants, resembles the bones in animals.
A poor animal, like a very lean pig or horse, has
a larger per cent, of earthy matter in its system
than a fat one—that is to say, his bones will
bear a greater proportion to the weight of the
whole carcass. Plants of the same species yield
unlike quantities of starch, sugar, oil, gum, al
bumen, gluten, and other (so-called) protien
compounds. The incombustible earthy matter
in them differs in an equal degree. The follow
ing table contains the results of on analysis
made by Professor Way of Hopeton wheat (ash,)
which is near an average of some 60 performed
by that chemist at the Royal Agricultural Col
lege, Cirencester, and published in the journal
of the Royal Agricultural Society, vol. 8, p. 624:
Silica 2.28
Phosphoric acid ...... 46.78
Sulphuric acid ...... 0.82
Carbonic acid, none.
Lime - 2.06
Magnesia ....... 10.94
Peroxide of iron ...... 2.04
Potash 32:24
Soda - - - ..... 4.00
Chloride of sodium 0.27
99.94
The reader will see in the foregoing all the
elements of fertility named in the preceding
pages, as shown in the analysis of productive
soils. By taking the results of tho 60 analyses
of the ash of wheat together, it will be found
that the amount of lime in the seed of this plant is
about one-third as large as the amount of magnesia,
and one-tenth that of potash. The phosphoric
acid is larger at all times than any other sub
stance, and is chemically combined with lime,
potash, magnesia, and with soda when present,
as it generally is, but in less quantity than in the
foregoing table. The silica is confined to the
cuticle, or bran, and varies from 1 to 8 per cent.
The amount of sulphuric acid is small, as is that
of chloride of sodium, or common salt. The iron,
set down at over 2 per cent., is unusually large.
The following is the moan of several analyses
of the ash of wheat performed by Boussingault:
Phosphoric acid 47.00
Sulphuric acid 1.00
Silica.. 1.80
Potash 29.50
Lime 2.90
Magnesia 15.90
Chlorine, traces.
Soda, traces.
Oxide of iron. none.
Charcoal and loss 2.40
100.00
Although no iron appears in tho above, yet,
when searched for critically, Boussingault did
not fail to find it; but as nearly all soils abound
in this element of crops, no one is under the ne
cessity of applying copperas, or other salt of iron,
to his land as a fertilizer. The reader will see
that the per cent of potash is ten times larger
than that of lime, and that magnesia is more
than five times as abundant. The best natural
wheat soils in the Genesee valley yield a good
deal of magnesia and potash on analysis. The
ash of wheat-straw has the following composi
tion:
Per cent. Removed from an acre.
Silica 69.94........ 107 lbs. 56-10 ozs.
Phosphoric acid.. 8.58 13 16-10
Sulphuric acid.... 2.38 8 9 1-10
Carbonic acid, none.
Lime 4.94 7 9 2-10
Magnesia 1.48 2 3
Peroxide of Iron.. 0.06 0 5 1-10
Potash.; 12.48 19 2 4-10
Soda 0.25 0 5 5-20
Chloride sodium,
none.
99.97 158 5 9 10
This crop was at the rate of 30 bushels per
acre, and the grain contained 3 3-10 pounds
ash, which, added to that in tlie straw, gave
186 2-10 pounds as the incombustible minerals
taken from an acre in a single crop. It is wor
tliy of particular attention that over 100 pounds
of soluble flint, or silica, are required to form an
acre of wheat straw. Too little attention has
beeu paid to this substance by the wheat-grow
ers of the United States.
A judicious rotation of crops favors the accu
mulation of soluble silica in the soil, and how
this result is attainable every farmer should un
derstand. The system consists in making a wise
use of all the silica contained in all straw, corn
stalks, and hay grown on the farm, and in in
creasing the solubility of tlie finest particles of
silicious sand in the soil. The former is simply
a matter of good husbandry, t. «. carefully saving
all straw, stalks, and grass or hay, or the ma
nure derived from the same. There are farmers
in England who make land, which is naturally
poor, yield an average of 36 bushels of wheat
per acre, tako one year with another. In this
operation straw, hay. and turnips, supply most
of thwraw material for making so large an aver
TMK VXBSBXH3S.
ago yield of wheat. The solubility of flint sand,
or silica, is increased by the aid of potash and
soda. When these alkalies combine with silica
in small quantities, insoluble silicates are pro
duced, like common glass; but, if glass be ground
fine and boiled in a concentrated solution of pot
ash or soda, it will be dissolved in the water, the
silica having combined with a large amount of
the alkali. Wood ashes and salt, abounding in
potash and soda, havo been found by experience
valuable fertilizers for wheat; and even salt and
lime, or salt alone, will greatly benefit the crop,
as many wheat-growers in western New York
have demonstrated One reason why peas,
beans, and clover rotate so successfully with
wheat, is, that fhese crops extract comparatively
very little silica from the soil, and of course leave
the more for cereals.
Composition of peas and leans on clay soil.
ANALYSES BY PROFESSOR WAY.
j I to to I R| u
S- I ■g‘2 frs - g
is s »« s 3 -r-
S as®-"- "9 3SJ
I-2 Z is- 2?
3 § i s ®. 3- I | |
is* 5 ■ s. | -| ** .
Silica 0.42 0.22 4.62 2.95 5.05 8.17
Phosphoric acid 14.48 15.28 2.98 0.55 17.36 15.73"
Sulphuric acid 2.98 1.62 5.38 IAS 8.31 8.20
Lime 2.28 2.75 86.80 22.25 89.08 25.00
Magnesia 3.4 S 3.66 13.C2| 2.85 17.10 6.51
Pro'xlde of ioon 1.74 0.69 1.74 0.69
Potash 20.75 27.40 80.18 86.96 50.93 64 36
Soda 2.51 0.28 0.57 8.13 B.OS 8.41
Ohio, of sodium 2.15 23.00 j 15.8 S 25,15 13.88
Total 53.15 51.16 105.54 81.84 207.79 136.00
i m l I I
It will be seen by the above figures that a
ton of peas (2,240 pounds) and 2,989 pounds of
pea straw contain only 5.04 pounds of silica,
j a d beans still less. Hence, an acre of arable
land might yield a crop of 5,229 pounds of peas
one year, and one of 4,510 pounds of beans the
next, and not part with 8| pounds of silica in
tlie two crops. Pea straw consumes a large
amount of lime and considerable potash. Land
should be well stocked with lime so» these crops.
3,583 pounds of perfectly dry clover gave
Boussingault 284 pounds of ashes, equal to 7.7
per cent. In these ashes, or, more properly, in
this ash, there were 13 pounds phosphoric acid,
7 pounds
pounds lime, 1 founds magnesia, 77 pounds
potash and soda, 15 pounds silica, and 1 pound
oxide of iron. To the foregoing must be added
71 pounds carbonic acid, to make the aggregate
284 pounds. In the way that Boussingault
qurns clover, the ash contains 25 per cent, of
carbouic acid. It will be seen that this plant,
like peas and beans, draws slightly on the soil
for soluble silica, but largely for the alkalies and
lime. Scientific farmers realize great benefit in
growing clover and beans in connection with
wool-growing and wheat-culture, because the
first named plants send down their roots in a
permeable soil to a ’great depth, and bring up
phosphates, sulphates, and chlorides of lime,
potash, and magnesia, wiiich are ultimately
consumed in forming generous crops of wheat.
The writer has frequently traced the roots of
clover and beans to the depth of 34 inches into
the earth in sandy and loamy soils. Subsoiliny
and root-culture are profitable operations, when
conducted on scientific principles. Care should
be had that there is not an excess of moisture
in the subsoil. Draining is the only remedy for
this evil. Tho capacity of soils to take up and
retain water without injury to crops by its ex
cess, and the temperature of soils at different
depths and under different circumstances, will
be noticed before the close of this essay. The
reader’s attention Is now invited to the minerals
taken from the earth in the growth of potatoes,
turnips, and carrots, which, under a good system
of husbandry, are valuable crops.
About three-fourths of the weight of potatoes,
when dug, are water; of the other fourth,
twenty-four parts in twenty-five are combusti
blo—the other part being ash. Estimating his
crop at its dry weight, an acre gave M. Bous
singault 2,828 pounds of tubers, which yielded
113 pounds of ash—consisting of 13 pounds of
phosphoric acid, 8 pounds sulphuric, 3 pounds
chlorine, 2 lime, 6 magnesia, 58 potash and soda,
6 silica, 8 carbonic acid, and 1 pound oxide of
iron. It will be seen that more than half of the
ash of potatoes is pure potash, 'for it contains
but a trace of soda. Dry potato tops yield 6
per cent, of ash. An acre (in which the growth'
of vines or tops must have been unusually large)
gave to M. Boussingault 5,042 pounds dry
weight, and 303 pounds ash—consisting of 33
pounds phosphoric acid, 7 sulphuric acid, 4 chlo
rine, 7 lime, 5 magnesia, 135 potash and soda,
39 silica, 16 oxide of iron, and 57 carbonic acid.
Taking the figures as they stand, there are few
so exhausted crops as that of Irish potatoes
(tuberosum solanum ) when entirely removed from
the soil. In the tops and tubers 416 pounds of
inoombustible matter are removed from an acre.
Twenty bushels of wheat require 12 pounds of
phosphoric acid for the grain, and 5 pounds for
the straw ; while an acre of good potatoes de
mands 13 pounds of this acid for the tubers,
and 33 for the haulm or tops. This is equal to
two large crops of wheat. In an acre of pota
toes 193 pounds of potash are oonsumed: one
sixth of that amount answers for an acre of
wheat. Few farmers supply their growing po
tatoes with a sufficient quantity of potash and
phosphoric acid.
1 —-
ABOUT MANURES.
Lestus District, )
Sept. 16th, 1859. j
Editor Southern Field and Fireside:
Will some of our correspondents answer the
following questions for the information of a Burke
planter ?
Ist. In mixing cotton seed and pond muck, if
lime is used freely, will it destroy the nutricious
quality of the seed; and further, if salt is added
will it make a better compost?
2d. In putting up lot manure in pens adding
the pond muck freely, also the lime and salt,
would it make tlie manure more valuable ? Or
would it be loss of time, and an expense for no
profit? A Subscriber.
Answer to the Above. —Ist. Lime mixed
with pond mud and cotton seed, will not injure
the seed for manure, while it will improve the
mud. Salt will still farther improve the com
post. 2d. The addition of lime and salt to lot
manure will greatly benefit tho soil; but the salt
will dissolve and waste if long left where rain s
will fall upon it in tho lot. Add lime and salt
at the time you apply the manure to the land,
or sow both salt and lime on the field immedi
ately after the application of the lot manure.
Carrots for feeding Poultry.—Some one
in the Southern Homestead strongly recommends
the use of carrots, chopped fine in a sausage cut
ter, for poultry.
If a man is happily married, his “ rib ” is
worth all the other bones in his body.
HINTS FOB COTTON PICKING.
I Dr. M. AV. Philips makes the following sug
-1 gestions to cotton pickers, in the last number of
' the Rural Gentleman:
Begin picking as soon as 20 pounds can be
( gathered per hand, and, at the very outset, pick
p clean cotton, not taking the pains to exclude all
leaf, but clean enough to make “ middling ” cot
( ton; sun all cotton until the seed will crack on
pressure between the teeth, pack away in a close
bulk until it heats, then open out and invert
' pile, so as to heat the cotton outside, open out
and gin; so continue until frost has killed the
leaf—except for planting seed, which should be
ginned before bulking and the seed thoroughly
, dried, before putting up. Send to market as fast
as ginned. The bulking and heating w»uld only
procrastinate the first week's ginning, for, after
a few days ginning has been heated, there will
be work ahead not to cause detention, j Our ob
ject is ho give cotton a higher color, a softer
touch, and fit it for more rapid ginniig. Un
derstand us distinctly; we would not heat cot
ton to draw out a high color, only to get out a
part of the oil in seed and to restore the color,
escaped by exposure in field and on Jcaffold.—
There being little or no leaf, little or no dirt,
• there would bo no stain from heat and the nec
| cssary sweating.
After a killing frost, we would sun when
needed, especially morning cotton and after rains;
would bulk it and leave thus until spring or
June, or oven July, then gin out and ship.—
Our object here, is, to give time for the rotting
of the leaf, which will decay so much in four to
six mouths that in ginning it will be blown off
in dust. Another reason: Cduld we impress
this economy on tlie masses, cotton would not
rush into market “ Ist bale,” a> as to give a
false impression as to maturity jf crop. An ad
vantage is ever taken by merch ints and specu
lators ; our crop would not be hastened into
market by January, so„as to- cause a glut in the
market, prices would be better* sustained, and
the opening and closing of marl et would be no
better than the middle.
We have shipped cotton to L verpool and sold
at a less price than wo were offqred at Edwards’.
AA r e have held our late picking under cover at
home until May, and made a goqd interest above
the January price, and enough to pay commis
sion merchants their 10 per cen . loss in weight,
and something for home. AVe have gathered
cotton, leaf, boll, limb, dirt—as; many insist is
the best policy—and purchasers refuse to buy
it. AVe have sold “refused” cotton of January,
in May, at a better price than our saleable cot
tons commanded. But the best plan in our
judgment, after selling twenty-eight crops, is,
as we say, we should not permit exceptions to
make the rule—the “ exception* ” may “ prove
the rule.” \.
REPORTS OF THE CROP.
We have seen “ reports of the crop” from a
number of papers scattered over the cotton re
gion. AVitb only two exceptions, it is admitted,
a very great falling off. Some say less cotton
will be made than last year—the two exceptions
are, one published in Mississippi, says the crop
of corn and cotton “ will be more than a usual
one.” “If the fall is moderately dry, the cotton
crop will be than last year.” “From
one extreme of our noble State to the other, God
has given the early and the latter rain.” The
other exception, an Alabama paper, admits that
planters say the crop will be short, yet —tlieso
fellows are always complaining, and no great re
liance can be placed on what they say, no way
you can fix it. Well, we adroit we are giving
our version of what that sage Editor says, but it is
very much that sort of talk. These exceptions,
we venture upon it, were both written without
reflection, for there has not beeu a season for
many years when rains have been so partial in
some sections, “rain daily;” other* “burniug
up;” others, “not a rain for months;” others,
‘‘not a rain to plant potatoe drawings;” Ac., Ac.
—“ Early and latter rain.” I speak of it!
Why, bless yon, my friend Dr. P., the early rain
was all spring, and the tatter rain “ ain’t sot in
yet” Wo veuture the man who has seen such
fine crops all over the State, could not tell with
in one-half yield of what a crop is, now on the
ground. AVe repudiate this thing of reflecting
on planter's statements. An editor will publish
“tlie largest crop on record,” but “let a planter
' of great respectability"—“a man of unques
tioned veracity,” say, “the worms have cutoff,
in ten days, two-fifths of my crop,” and he is al
ways grumbling. AVe wish these friends to
English Factories would show their hands or
cease.— Rural Gentleman, (Grenada, Hiss..) Sept.
24th.
Ravages of the Black Tongue.—Col. Ken
nett has been, for a number of years, collecting
a park of deer at his place near Mine Shiboleth.
in Washington county. They multiplied rapid
ly, and only a short time since he had forty on
his premises. But the new disease—the Black
Tongue—of which we have before given some
account as raging among the deer in the woods,
as well as domestic animals—got among thorn,
and seventeen were reported as having died in
one night, at one spring, and at the last account
only one out of the forty remained alive. The
disease commences with indications of inability
to eat —the tongue turns black, and swells to an
enormous size, and the animal dies, generally in
the neighborhood of a spring or where there is
water. Remedies have been found in the case
of cows and domestic animals, as they are will
ing to receive copperas and such medicine as
may be administered to them, and they can be
saved if taken in time. But with the deer oc
cupying CoL Kennett’s park no such remedies
could be administered, and hence the fatal re
sult. The loss is a great one, for it will be al
most impossible to replace them.
Dead Animals.—We have just seen some
elaborate discussions on the way of disposing
of dead animals. The space might be saved as
well as not. If the carcasses are small, bury
them in a manure heap, and let the whole lie a
few months. The mass will all be good manure
then. If they are large, bury them in thß
ground in an orchard or garden, when the de
caying matter will be taken up and used by
trees and plants; or, if you can do so easily,
cover the whole with clay and turf, till*he
bones shall be decomposed. Use the covering
for manure and put the bones beneath the roots
of the next apple trees or pear trees you trans
plant. You may thus profitably dispose of all
the carcasses, from a dead ox to a dead mouse
that may encumber the grounds.— Ohio Farmer
IIoW to prevent Soke Shoulders in Work
ing Horses.—The Boston Journal says, the plan
we have tried and never found to fail, is to get a
piece of leather and have it cut into such a shape
as to lie, snugly, between the shoulders of the
horse and the collar. This fends off all the fric
tion, as the collar slips and moves on the leather
and not on the shoulders of the horse. Chafing
is caused by friction ; hence this remedy is quite
a plausible one, and is much better than tying
slips of leather or pads of sheepskin under
the collar.
MANAGEMENT OF HORSEB.
Some of the finest horses in London, England,
are fed on “ chaff ” (chopped clover or hay,) with
a portion of bruised oats or beans. It is in this
way that the celebrated brewers, Barclay and
Perkins, feed their splendid horses, and almost
every other similar establishment uses the same
description of food. A few years ago the pro
prietor of an extensive livery stable in London,
finding that the ordinary manner of feeding
hay and oats was unprofitable, directed his at
tention to economy in provender. He got ma
chines, by which he chopped his straw and clo
ver, and bruised his oats and beans, the labor of
chopping and bruising was unacceptable to the
men, they looked upon the machines as new fan
gled concerns, and made a thousand excuses to
discontinue their use. Tlie proprietor submitted
to the combination, and returned to the old
method of feeding his horses. One of the men
continued, unobserved, to use the machines in
preparing provender for the horses in his charge,
and the proprietor being struck by their supe
rior condition, asked the reason of it, and found
out the secret. He then resumed the use of the
machines, working them by horse power, to keep
his men from grumbling, and found that by this
mode of preparation, a much less quantity of
food than usual was sufficient to keep tlie horses
in first rate condition. When tlie men found
that they had not the trouble of chopping or
bruising they began to patronise the new food,
and would not go from home witliout carrying a
good supply of it for their horses. It is now well
known in Europe and America that “ chaff ” is
much better for horses than ordinary hay or clo
ver, and that bruised or ground grain of any
kind is much more nutritious than that which is
fed whole ; but in countries where labor is dear,
it is much better that tho chopping, bruising or
crushing should be performed by horse-power,
and nothing can be easier than to attach these
machines to any of the “ powers " which are
now so plenty. AVhen the use of “chaff” and
bruised grain becomes general, it will be found
tliat a much less Quantity of provender than is
consumed at present, will bo sufficient to feed
horses, and to keep them in superior condition.
American Horses in England.—The fol
lowing paragraph from The Field shows how
the recent races, in which American horses
competed with the English, have affected Eng
lish jockbydom:
Tho American horse, Starke, puts all doubts
aside as to tho lasting qualities of the importa
tions from tlie Great AVest. His running in the
Goodwood Stakes proved tlie cleverness of his
owner and his trainer. It has induced habitues
of a British race-course to believe what they
have hitherto denied, that natives of other lands
can train and ‘ manage ’ a horse as well as
those of their own; and it has let them iuto a
little secret in regard to the American nation in
particular, namely, that friend Jonathan of the
New AVorld is every bit as good a tactitian in
matters equine as his elder brother of the older
one, yclept Johnny Bull. The match which this
identical nag lost at Newmarket drove the Brit
ishers off their guard, and enabled bis party to
invest his money at a capital price. They won
a large stake, and have amply reimbursed them
selves for their outlay in the expense of purcha
sing horses and importing them to England.—
The talent of that go-ahead people will not again
be questioned. It has been displayed to won
drous advantage in five instances on English
turf. Winning one Cicsarewitcli, and beipg
beaten by a head only for a second with Prior
ess; winning a Gfeat Yorkshire Handicap with
the same mare; and now winning a Goodwood
Stakes on Wednesday and tho Bentinck Memo
rial on Friday, With a horse landed on these
shores but a few months since, and a Nursery
Stakes on the latter day with a colt imported at
the same time—havo set all disputes on the
point of cleverness at rest. Civilization and
learning have always travelled westward, and
the sons of New York have in horse-racing
shown themselves to be the most ‘learned
Thebans.’
» - ■ ■ ——-+•+-
How Driving Affects the Meat of Neat
Cattle.—There is some excuse for the AVeStem
grazer’s preference for the Durhams, as they
drove them over the mountains. The fat of all
cattle is the first to run off, tlie fine panicles
mixed through the flesh of the first —the kidney
being coated over more solid, holding out longer,
and the red meat being the last to fall. One
accustomed to driving, fattening and slaughter
ing, could detect a drove of “ drifted ” cattle
from those taken fresh from the pastures, by
seeing them pass on yonder road, as well as the
skillful butcher could by handling them, and al
though the “ drift ” cattle might have much
more kidney tallow, the meat would be as poor
as wood ; and, instead of being red, would be
as blue as whetstone; whilst those taken fresh
from the pasture or stall, if not fat, would make
more juicy, tender and sweeter beef. If you
see a lot of cattle in the field or elsewhere, with
good shoulders, or rather what a butcher would
term, showing his shoulder to his ear, without
any flank, rest assured that they have been
“ drifted.” or in some way injudiciously handled
for slaughtering; for if there is no flank there
is not much fat. A poor bullock does not wear
a good sLoulderlonger than to get rid of his fat,
aud the tenderest parts of his flesh, and the
neck and round, would be the only parts of such
a bullock left for a steak.— Major Dickinson's
Pen-Yard Address.
—
SOAP-SUDS AS A MANURE.
Few persons care about saving soap-suds and
applying it as a manure; yet it is a most valua
ble liquid for promoting the growth of fiuit
trees, garden vegetables and flowers. AVe have
used it on apple trees, currants, cabbages, toma
toes, melons, cucumbers, Ac., and in every in
stance found it most useful in increasing the
growth of the plant and the size of the fruit.
When sprinkled on the foliage it has been
found effective in checking the progress of des
tructive insects, and preventing their ravages;
thus the gooseberry and curraHt caterpillars,
the rose-bug, the vine-hopper and insects of this
kind, may be driven away by having their fa
vorite foliage made unpalatable by an early ap
plication of this simple remedy. A correspon
dent of the Indiana Farmer says that he finds
the cultivation of currants very profitable, and
that his bushes are now six or eight feet high,
and very thrifty; he attributes their fine growth
and productiveness to the use of soap-suds
poured around the roots of the bushes in sum
mer. Owners of orchards, gardens and flower
beds should not allow ono drop of this valuable
liquid to go to waste; they should apply it to
their trees and plants, at all seasons, and they
would be amply repaid by an abundant supply
of fruit, or a fine bloom of flowers. — [Ex. t
White-Wash fob Fences. —One ounce of
white vitriol sulphate of zinc and three ounces
of common salt, to every three or four pounds
of good fresh lime, will render it durable where
it is exposed to the weather.
- r " ——
PICTURE OF A PROMINENT EX-EDITOR.
A sprightly correspondent of the Newbury
-1 port (Mass.) Herald, who is travelling hi Texas,
1 and who recently visited George Wilkins Ken
dall, formerly the brilliant editor of the New
1 Orleans Picayune, thus sketches him:
His abiding-place, a neat little stone cottage,
is nestled among the hills I have spoken of as
skirting the town westward beyond the Cornel,
lour miles from the main plaza, and here I found
him. As I toiled up the rocky and rough road,
that leads to his residence, I tried to picture to
myself the man. I had read something of his
writings and knew something of his history—
that he was New Hampshire born and in part
Massachusetts bred; that he had experienced
some vicissitudes of fortune, but bravely fought
his way through to wealth and position; that
lie had travelled some and had seen much of
life socially in the great cities of the world, on
tented field, and in “ starred and spangled
courts.” I thought then that he must be a man
of eminent gravity, venerable from Ins great ex
perience, of great dignity and “ awful presence;”
yet with suavity and modesty becoming true
greatness.
The ideal always exceeds the actual. I found
Mr. Kendall a middle-aged, jolly-looking individ
ual, with fun sparkling in his eyes; his face
reddened by exposure to the sun—(perhaps!)
and his tout ensemble the farthest possible re
move from gravity. I confronted him on his
veranda, where 1 found him without coat or vest,
in blue cotton pants and leather pumps; with a
standing collar, the upper edge of which was
considerably above the tops of his ears; and
generally arrayed in a style befitting the weath
er, which was extremoly warm. He was busily
engaged in sewing up a wool sack; for he is a
great shepherd, and the shearing season was at
hand.
The evening of the second day out, we ar
rived at Kendall’s ranehe. I found it a site for
a fine estate, when developed and Improved; a
symmetrical valley of some hundreds of acres,
with a brook running through it, inclosed on
the four sides by ranges of low hills. Its loca
tion is thirty-four miles due west from New
Braunfels, and thirty from his own residence.
Here, in charge of an intelligent Scotch shepherd,
and subject to his own weekly inspection, are
Ins great flocks, amounting in the aggregate to
nearly or quite five thousand sheep and lambs.
He sheared this year three thousand four
hundred sheep, yielding, as he told me, thirteen
thousand pounds of wool, for which he would
realize thirty cents per pound. This year’s in
crease of his flocks was fifteen hundred lambs,
worth, as they aro three-quarters or seven
eighths Merino blood, two dollars per head a
week old. This, you will see, yields the snug
little income of seven thousand dollars, all of
which is deserved by Mr. Kendall for his perse
prance in the business, conducted for a timo
under difficulties that would have been discoura
ging to any man of less energy of character.
His sheep, undey his present system, are easily
managed, but require constant care. They are
divided into four flocks, each with its own herd
er and shepherd. The dogs are turned out at
sun-rise to range the hill-sides and return at
evening. It is pleasant to see them come in
about the sunset hour; a cloud of dust at four
different points of the horizon; the plaintive
bleating of tlie sheep and lambs growing louder
as they approach; then the sheep running hith
er and thither; the weary shepherds, with their
broad-brim hats and pistols in their belts, and
the active and baying dogs.
——n> mm
HIGH PRICES OF HOUSES AND MULES.
When a young man, just graduated in medi
cine, we bought what was then a fine horse, and
was deemed extravagant in paying a “Ken
tucky horse drover" the large sum of sls0 —we
think a similar horse would now command $350
—he was-rather on the fancy order, and break
ing our “ sulkey ” all “to flinders ” the first
week, we sent him to the plow, for we could
not trust “ the prettiest girl in Columbia ” to sit
behind him, esiiecially when our own neck was
saved owing only to its being “ stiff necked.”
But this is only a specimen, for ever since we
have been on this place, we have paid 100, 125
and $l5O for horses that were as good in every
particular as we can now get for 250 and S3OO.
We have a mule now in working order, that cost
$62 50 in 1842—for her equal we will now buy
pairs at S3OO each.
Where is this to end ? We ask our readers of
the Southern Rural Gentleman, when will horses
and mules come to a proper value ? It is need
less to say better and cheaper to buy mules and
horses at such prices than to raise them." Wq
say it is not so 1 Nor do we intend to be un
kind, or to insult. We affirm we can raise als
hand mule at sllO aud at less expense, less loss
to mustle and land, than OQttOn at 10 cents. —
The demand for mules has become so great that
the raising of mules is decreasing horses, and*
brood mares are becoming fewer and fewer.—
At this time the Mustang ponies are taken from
Texas and South Louisiana to Missouri to re
plenish the breeding studs.
To pursue the present policy of the South in
making large crops of cotton and buying all
mules and horses, will not only continue pres
ent evil, but increase it. Really, this “blatter
might, in our humble opinion, be with propriety
made a matter, if not of State action, yet of any
agricultural society. Suppose any agricultural
saciety would give a premtum of SIOO to the
breeder of the most colts and the best, would
it not ssimulate to an increased effort to raise
horses, and thus in a few years even, decreasing
the price $5 each, would add thousands to the
State. The money paid out of Mississippi for
horses and mules, we doubt not, amounts to
hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.
A friend of ours asked, “ How can you find
time to attend to fine stock aud make big crops?
But I suppose it is science.” No, sir, we re
plied, it is norhing but the master’s eye and
hand; his attention. Very little labor and very
little cost is required to raise a few horses, mules,
cattle, Ac. The main thiug is, let the master
see them every day.—[iSbu/A. Rural Gentleman.
Three hundred sparrows, selected,
were recently sent from England to Australia,
to be naturalized in the latter country, and to
assist the fanners in keeping down the armies of
caterpillars, and other grubs that occasionally
devour the harvests.
—
Cost of Manure. — It is estimated that Eng
land pays annually three hundred million of dol
lars for manure —more than the entire com
merce of that country- The total value of a
year’s erop has been reported to Parliament,
some time ago, os being about three thousand
millions of dollars—the crop includes the animal
as well as the vegetable. The turnip crop has
been estimated in that kingdom to be worth
fifteen hundred millions. 4
We believe in good fences, good farm-houses
good stock, good orchards, and children, enough
to gather the fruit.
151