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230 AGRICULTURAL. DANIEL LEE, M. D., Editor. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1859. HEW PLOWS, AND NEW PLOWING. Dr. D. Leb—Sir: You will gratify myself and other readers of the Field and Fireside, by giv ing us a review or critique on the first article m Deßow's Review for November, on the four furrow ridge system of plowing, Ac. ~ * B. J. M., Edgefield. The article referred to is introduced to the public with a much louder flourish of trumpets by the Editor of the Review, and the au thor, than the subject demanded ; but as we happen to know both Mr. Dbßow and his friend Mr. Flbischmanw, and would rejoice to see the latter make as much money out of a real im provement in plows and plowing, as we know Mr. McCormick has made from his reaper, we shall give this “Four Ridge System” of corn and cotton culture the benefit of about all that can be said in its favor. The paper in question occupies some eighteen pages in the Review, and we must necessarily pass over, without notice, much that might very properly receive at tention. Mr. Flbischmann says: “ The plow with which the new mode of plowing is accomplished, is a simple combina tion of known parts. It costs about as much as three ordinary two-horse plows. It will re quire in new prairie lands, one yoke of oxen more, to execute at once the whole operation of opening the prairie, and of plowing the centre furrow. In old cultivated lands, two yoke of oxen will suffice. I prefer a wheel plow to a swing plow. The new plow being so arranged that it requires no holding, and no further hand ling than to take it from, and to put it into the ground; thus one able bodied man, who under stands plowing and driving cattle, is sufficient to plow in one day two acres, with twelve inches deep centre furrows—preparing the land in the most suitable manner, for corn, tobacco, cotton, and sugar, and affording all facilities to inter mingle the sub with the surface soil, and chang ing the nature of the land in the most desirable manner.” Again he says, in another place : “ This new mode of plowing consists in open ing a wide furrow, say from 18 to 24 inches or more, and four indies deep, splitting the slice in two, and turning ono part of it to the right and the other to the left of the furrow. The next furrow is to bo opened parallel to the first one, and care must be had that the slices are placed side by side. The new plow with which wo execute this mode of plowing, has in the roar another double mould board plow, which is set from six to eight inches below the main plow, thus opening in one and the same operation, a smaller but deeper furrow. The first and wide furrow being four inches deep, the small ono eight, makes the centre furrow twelve inches in depth." It is in this centre furrow where the earth is stirred 12 inches, that the row of corn, cotton, tobacco or sugar cane is planted. Can Mr. Flbischmann, or any one, give a good and suffi cient reason for plowing a single narrow furrow under a row of corn or cotton twelve inches deep, that will not go far- to prove that all the ground between these deep furrows, and be tween the rows of corn and cotton, ought to be plowed more than four inches deep ? What good cultivator of the soil would prefer leaving so hard and so wide a baulk between every two rows of corn in his cornfield ? If tillage to the depth of twelve inches is really desirable to give the roots of agricultural plants a larger, deeper, and a richer pasture, why not break up and pulver ize at once the earth to that moderate depth, all over its surface which is cultivated at all ? We are sorry to express an opinion adverse to the usefulness and success of this new tillage machine. It has no advantage over the double Michigan plow, which we used thirteen years ago ; and it is inferior to the steel Wisconsin plow that took the first premium at the late State Fair at Atlanta, and with which Mr. Hart, at Union Point, is now plowing land for wheat fourteen inches deep with a pair of heavy stout mules. Mr. W. J. Eve, of Augusta, has four steel plows with which ho breaks up land to an equal depth ; and we might name others who practice deep plowing not merely under corn and cotton rows, but between as well. Mr. Flbischh Ann's idea of saving a considerable share of the hand labor in plowing by having a machine that needs no holding, and requires only one hand to four or six oxen, or mules, is per fectly sound ; for there is neither agricultural wit nor wisdom in having three persons to follow three mules all day, when one hand will do all the work that human hands and heads can do, for the aid of the mules. Twelve years ago we, time and again, pointed out this remarkable waste of human labor at the South, where each mule or horse receives the whole attention of a man or woman, boy or girl. This is precisely like picking out cotton seed by hand instead of separating the seed by the use of a gin. Six of our common plows may be worked together in a gang, without holding, and with one driver, and do much better plowing than they now do. There is, however, no advantage in double mould board gang plows, which will turn two furrows to the right, and two to the left. Better work can be done by turning all the furrows one way, and by having a solid, steady and strong team. Forty years of close observation of the plowing of horses, mules and oxen, teach us that the last named are the cheapest and best for breaking up land, particularly late in autumn, winter, and ear ly in spring. We are always happy when hold ing a good plow drawn by six well broke oxen. With a sharp coulter and shire, small roots never stop the team ; while the soil is, or may be, stirred as it ought to be. To have a quick step, and due activity, steers must be kindly treated and liberally fed. Give them nutritious pastures and hay, a little meal, turnips, or sweet potatoes ; so that after a life of useful toil on the farm, a trifle will make them into excellent beef. Mules now cost too much, and good horses sell ! too high for agricultural purposes. Let us en- j courage, then, the breeding and breaking of su perior oxen for plowing, as well as other farm bowkemi vxs&s rat work. The general intro iuction of first rate plows, and the very best kind of steers to ope rate them, will do more for the improvement of southern agriculture than almost any thing else. First of all, we must prepare for raising a full supply of forage, grass and hay, for cattle. — Do not starve oxen, cows, horses and mules, and then complain that they yield no profit. Either raise more food, or keep less stock. If any de sire to feed cotton and com plants well next summer, now is the time to plow deep, and pre pare the soil to yield the maximum of plant food which its resources can furnish. We of the sunny South, should winter-fallow, not summer fallow our ground. If we pulverize the earth as thoroughly and deeply as grape grow ers and vineyard planters do, can there be a rea sonable doubt that our cotton, corn and wheat fields will be far more fruitful ? Mr. Fleicsh- MANN„says the farmer in “ four years ” will get all the ground cultivated on his plan, plowed to the depth of twelve inches. It is far better to plow it a foot deep at once, if the work is really desirable at all. To deep plowing, as to almost everything else, thero are exceptions. The subsoil may contain an excess of acid salts, which it were well to avoid. It may be a pipe clay that cannot nourish plants ; or the subsoil may be too open and leaky; but these cases are rare. Nearly all recent experiments and gene ral experience encourage the practice of deep and thorough tillage—of plowing the whole sur face gone over in away that shall move the lar gest possible number of earthy particles into new positions, and give an inappreciable space between them for atmospheric air, dew and rain. See the article on “the chemical effects of tillage,” in the next number. We believe in deepening the staple of the soil, and object to the plan set forth in Deßow’s Review, mainly on the ground that it assumes four inch plowing between rows of cot ton, corn, tobacco and sugar cane is deep enough. It would be wiser to plow all the field eight inches, and then twelte inches with two good furrows under each row. Nor will it bo so easy a matter to turn a furrow two feet wide and only four inches thick, as somo may suppose. Strong teams attached to plows that will do good work without holding, will be the next step in practical field culture. These teams will grow and multiply on every well managed farm —a fact that cannot be affirmed of steam en gines for plowing. The teams will yield much valuable manure ; while the ashes of a loco motive are of little account. Steam plowing is in the remote future when oxen cannot bo kept in consequence of the great number of human mouths to consume all that the land is capable of supplying in flesh-forming substances. Cows that will yield much milk will plow long after working oxen, horses and mules shall have been forgotten. To a thoughtful mind, the future of agriculture presents features of profound inter est. Our little clam shell operations in moving the soil with a bull tongue, scooter and hoe, single handed, involve a prodigious waste of labor; but we must not expect to jump from one extreme to the other at a single leap. Lot us obtain the very best plows, roar the very best working cat tle, and use both to the best possible advantage, and we shall huvo done something for the im provement of our race. MR. DAVID DICKSON’S FARM AND FARMING. A correspondent of the Southern Cultivator gives the following description of Mr. David Dickson’s farm and farming, in the November number of that journal: “ A good deal has been said about Mr. Dick sou’s farming, and as much more might be said, and the half not be told. Truly he has, and is producing most wonderful results on pine land, much of which, a few years ago, was considered almost worthless. He has now about thirteen thousand acres of pine land in one body, besides a large landed estate in Texas that he has never seen; but on which he is planting very success fully, his businesss there being managed by a relative, formerly from this county, (Hancock.) who occasionally visits him in order to learn his lessons more fully, and witness whatever im provements have been made. After spending the night with him, we rose early in the morning, mounted our horses for the purpose of seeing the growing crop, and rode without stopping until 12 o’clock, passing through and round many large and fine fields of corn and cotton, and then not seeing half of the crop. His fields being scattered over thirteen thousand acres of land, one day's ride is not suf ficient to see his entire crop. He has from 000 to 1,000 acres in cotton, and 860 in corn, which we venture to say, and without the fear of con tradiction, is the best average crop in Middle Georgia. Mr. D. estimates his corn crop at 25 bushels per acre, and most of the gentlemen present, in which he concurred, judged his cotton as promising to make at least 1,000 lbs. per acre. These results have been brought about by the liberal use of guano and other fertilizers, which he calculates, by long and close experiments, are paying 100 per cent, on the investment; and by an improved system of deep preparation and light surface cultivation, which cannot be given in an article like this, and must be seen to be un derstood and appreciated.” It will be recollected by the close reader, that Mr. Dickson states, in our last issue, that he ‘•opens a wide, deep furrow” under the row where cotton seed is to be planted, and then mixes the guano or phosphates with the earth, by run ning “ a deep scooter furrow through the fertili ser to mix it with the earth.” Mr. D. alludes incidentally to ‘‘the vast quantity of land in his native State that needs improving;” and having done so much to demonstrate the practicability of making improvements that will enrich the owner of a poor soil or of a worn-out plantation) he will confer a still greater benefit on Southern agriculture by giving the public, through the Field and Fireside, a description of his system of cultivating cotton, com, peas and wheat. Never have we known the agricultural mind so open to conviction, and so eager for instruction as it is at this time; ami Mr. D. will, we trust, favor our readers with a plain account of his practice as a planter. Facts are always valua ble to those who are able to understand their true meaning; and a cultivator of so large expe- rience, and so good a judge of the powers of na ture in the production of cotton, grain, and other crops on thin land, must have gathered a rich harvest of useful knowledge. "We flatter no man, but seek the great truths of good hus bandry and wise tillage wherever there is a rea sonable ukmikia ot nuding them. The State of Georgia has reason to oe proud of its Hancock planters, although it has hundreds, perhaps thousands, in other counties, who are their equals in skill, enterprise and intelligence. All should do something to elevate and magnify their calling. The greatness of the Roman em pire depended, mainly, on the agricultural idea of making two blades of grass grow where only one grew before. To make the South greater than Rome was, when at the zenith of her wealth and power, we have only to secure that fruitful ness of soil and of intellect implied by covering the earth every summer and winter, with a rich carpet of living verdure. Barren fields give no life, no strength, no enjoyment. To make a desert and call it planting, is to disgrace the name of planter. HOYTS SUPERPHOSPHATE. Wo have received a gentlemanly note from Messrs. Tiios. P. Stovall A Co., relative to our recent remarks on Hoyt’s Superphosphate, in which they kindly offer to give us a ton of this fertilizer for experimental purposes, intimating that, in case it shall fail to be a very superior ar ticle, they “ will retire from the trade.” We should be glad to test its value on cotton, com, clover, lucerne and peas next year, in compari son with guano from Jarvis Island and Baker’s Island, and other fertilizers, and would make the trial as fair and perfect as possible. It gave us pleasure to publish promptly and commend Mr. Dickson's very favorable experiment with a ton of Hoyt's Superphosphate; and we had once before spoken in its praise from personal obser vation on Beach Island. Still, we must say in justice to the great interest involved, and the South, that it Would be better to manufacture this manure in Augusta for Messrs. T. P. Sto vall A Co., than have it done in New York.— Salt for agricultural purposes can bo delivered in this city for fifty cents per 100 lbs., and there fore it is unwise to buy it at three times that price, or thirty dollars for 2000 lbs. in the city of New York or in Baltimore. The Phosphate of lime is no cheaper in those cities than in Sa vannah, nor can it be; while charcoal and swamp muck will come as cheaply from Georgia forests and swamps as from any in the world. — The only thing we lack is sulphuric acid, and that is precisely what all these phosphatic com mercial fertilizers also lack to produce soluble phosphoric acid. Now, if planters are to pay the price of a super-phosphate for a su6-phos phate, simply because it has passed through sev eral unnecessary agencies and manipulators’ hands, then we say they had better purchase the subphosphato of the parties who sell it to Mr. Hoyt, Mr. Rhodes, Mr. Reese and Mr. Mapes. In place of increasing the value of bone earth as a manure, they dilute and adul terate it with cheap salt, cheaper gypsum, and still cheaper swamp mud and sand. They may use a little oil of vitriol, potash and ammonia, and thus give the farmer’s crops a taste of so luble manure, which tells in the product and se cures a certificate to aid in selling more dirt and more charcoal at fifty dollars a ton. The coun try is getting overstocked with such patriots.— Messrs. Thos. P. Stovall A Co. are just the men to get up the best possible fertilizer for cotton and sell it as cheap as it can be sold at a living profit. As soon as we have completed analyses now in hand, they and all our readers shall have a recipe for such a fertilizer. — Ml ■ GRASS CULTURE AT THE SOUTH. Dr. Lee — Dear, Sir; I sent you a sample of the grass I wrote about that came up with my lucerne, and herein enclose you a few of the seed. I think they should be sown soon. The seed are very small, owing in part, no doubt, to their being so overgrown by the lucerne. I shall get up some of the original grass, and transplant, to see if it stand the winter, and grow from old roots. I have but a poor opinion of any grass that we have to sow annually. Still, we had better have those than none. I know nothing of the grass seed sent, farther than re lated, to-wit: I found the grass in several small places amongst lucerne, the seed of which I re ceived from the Patent Office. Give them a trial, and please let me have your opinion of the grass—whether worthless or val uable. Very respectfully, yours, John Bonner, of Hancock Co. We are much obliged to Mr. Bonner for the seed sent with the above letter, and shall give them a fair trial. Grass culture and Stock hus bandry aro destined to flourish in the Southern States, which contain over five lmndrod million acres of land that is not fenced, nor used at all. A pretty extensive stock range this, and mainly an open country, from the Ohio river to the At lantic, and from the Chesapeake to the Rio Grande. What a magnificent field lor grazing purposes! Grass culture, Wool-growing, and Stock-raising generally, cannot fail to force themselves into notice, as exclusive planting im poverishes the virgin soil of the South. Hus bandry that is worthy of the name, must follow a devastating system of bad tillage, or the whole of the planting States will become a barren • waste, and uninhabited. Now is the timo to inaugurate a wise system of agriculture that shall use grass to produce at once large crops of wool for market, and an adequate supply of man ure for all cotton, corn and wheat fields. Grass will do this, and a great deal more, when proper ly cultivated and studied. Let us cover a few thousand acres with perennial verdure as an ex periment, and see if it be not a valuable im provement. Green pastures in winter, spread out over whole States and territories, and cover ed with fat cattle on a thousand hills, would do honor to our good sense and industry. ZW* It is not too late, during the present month, to sow rye for the winter fields. THE STUDY OF SOILS —CHAPTER Y. The Philosophy of Improving Soils. BY THE BDITOR. [Chapter V.—Continued.] —One may separate one hundred and fifty pounds of carbon and the elements of water from a barrel of flour, and still leave, with its nitrogen and incombustible mat ter, four times more of carbon, oxygen and hy drogen, in weight, than of the other ingredients in the flour. If guano contained 95 per cent of its weight in charcoal and water, as wheat does it would never be worth $4 a barrel as a fertili zer. In one hundred pounds of dry corn there are ninety-seven of carbon and the elements of water; and it is generally easier to grow forty bushels of this grain on an aero than twenty of wheat. Experience shows that the same food of cereals which will produce twenty bushels of wheat will yield forty of maize. The prominent fact that guano and the best nightsoil operate equally to promote the growth of all cultivated plants, indicates that all require ammonia and phosphates; which is true. It also indicates that the things contained in nightsoil and in the dung, or in the excrements of fish and flesh eating animals, are not abundant in ordinary soils ; which is also true. As it takes not far from five pounds of corn to form one of beef, we should not be surprised to find that nature is as true to vegetable as to animal life, and so ena bles a pound of beef to produce five of corn. The quantity ofdifferents kinds of food consum ed to form a given weight of flesh is an interest ing study. Three and a half pounds of cooked corn-meal have yielded one of pork; or three hundred and fifty pounds have produced one hundred of the flesh and fat of swine. Thrifty sheep give quite as large a return; cattle a little less. This whole subject needs further investi gation. The circumstance that some animal perchance eats the beef in advance of corn plants, affects not the purpose of nature in the least. The reader may infer from the remarks offered on “the philosophy of improving land,” that we regard good economy in feeding plants, and in saving the most valuable raw materials for mak ing them, as the direct road to such improve ment. We assume that the soil has been prop erly drained and limed, if it needs either, and that it does not lack vegetable mould. In addi tion to what has been said about the elements of crops, and their scarcity in ordinary soils, we desire to call attention to a few of the best plants for enriching land, which draw from the subsoil and atmosphere the most valuable atoms consum ed in making human food and clothing. Some plants, like mosses, flourish on naked rocks; others can subsist on sterile sands; while by far the larger part of the vegetable kingdom would have no existence, unless the surface of the earth possessed nearly the degree of pro ductiveness now exhibited. Destroy this pro ductiveness by tillage or other means, and in time you make a barren, naked desert. But, in stead of impoverishing the earth, a sound public policy demands that we Bbould increase its nat ural fruitfulness, to meet the increasing wants of an ever-augmenting population To achieve this result in the most economical manner, re course must be had to the agency of growing vegetation. Among the plants best adapted to the improvement of land are the grasses, trifo lias, legumes, turnips, and other root crops. In skillful hands, these can be so managed as to produce a great deal of cheap manure to enrich the surface of the earth, while the substance of the manure will be mainly drawn from the subsoil and the atmosphere. Peas have proved tho best crop in the southern States for the renovation of partially exhausted fields ; but we are inclined to believe that a legume called sainfoin, sanctum faenum, or “ holy hay,” which has long been cultivated in the south of Europe, and is remarkable for the length of its roots and the depth to which they descend iuto earth, will be found, on a fair trial, a more valuable plant The roots of the pea plant do not descend so far as those of clover and lucerne, and, on that ac count, do not draw so much of the mineral food of crops from the deep resources of the earth ns is desirable. In an interesting chapter on “ St. Foin,” Jethro Tull remarks: “The reason why St. Foin, in poor ground, will make forty times greater iuciease than tho natural turf is the prodigious length of its per pendicular tap root. I have been informed by a person of undoubted credit, that he has brok en off one of these roots in a pit, and measured the part broken off, and found it fourteen feet. This tap root has a multitude of very long hori zontal roots at the upper part thereof, which fill all the upper stratum or staple of the ground; and of the thousands of St. Foin roots I have seen broken up, I never found one that was without horizontal roots near the surface, after one sum mer’s growth.” In a note, the same author has these re marks: “There is a vulgar opinion that St. Foin will not succeed on any land where there is not an understratum of stone or chalk to stop the roots from running deep; else, they say, the plants spend themselves in the roots only, and cannot thrive in those parts of them which are above ground. I am almost ashamed to give an answer to this.” “ It is certain that every plant is nourished by its roots,as an animal is by its guts; and tho more and larger roots it lias, the more nourish ment it receives and prospers in proportion to it. St. Foin always succeeds where its roots run deep; and when it does not succeed, it nev er lives to have long roots,” See. There is strong sense and plain Saxon in what this English farmer writes, who was about a century ahead of his time in agricultural im provement. He says: “ Any dry ground may bo made to produce this noble plant, be it ever so poor; but the richest soil will yield the most of it, and thj best. If you venture to plant with the drill, according to the method wherein I have al ways had the best success, let the land be well prepared before you plant it.” Tull was careful not to cover tho seed over a half inch in depth, and not to have it thick in the drill, par ticularly on poor land. In France, with decent culture, two or three good crops of this “holy hay ” are made in a year. In favor of thin seed ing and the resources of the subsoil, Tull has the following remarks: “It is common to see a single St. Foin have a bigger tap root than twenty thick ones, [thickly planted,] and their length is in proportion to their bigness; therefore, that single plant may well be supposed to have twenty times more depth of earth to supply it than all those twenty small roots can reach to. And though these under strata are not so rich as the upper, yet never having been drained by any vegetable, they do afford a considerable quantity of nourish ment to those which first enter them." The above was written a hundred and thirty' years ago, and before subsoiling and the analy sis of soils were known. Science and experi ence have alike demonstrated the fact that tho ” order-strata ” of an impoverished soil nre rich er than the earth or stratum at the surface. The following practical suggestions are worthy of at tention ‘Notwithstanding I commend the planting of St. Foin thin, that most of the roots may be single, yet I have fields that were drilled with but four gallons of seed to an acre, and yet, the rows being seven inches assunder, the roots are so thick in them that the ground is covered with the plants, which seem to be as thick (in ap pearance) as most sown St. Foin whereon seven or eight bushels are sown on an acre. I have other fields that were drilled with about two gallons of seed to an acre, (which is five seeds to each square foot,) the rows sixteen inches assunder, that produce better crops though the ground be poorer. The drilled St. Foin, being regular, is more single, though as thick as the sown, and for that reason always makes a better crop, and lasts longer than the sown that is of the same thickness, but irregular.” And he says: “ I have now a great many single St Foin plants in my fields that are near thirty years of age, and yet seem as young and vigor ous as ever; and yet it is common for thick St. Foin to wear out in nine or ten years, and in poor lands much sooner if not oftened manured with soot, peat ash, or coal ash.” Wood ashes and lime would doubtless be the best fertilizers in most districts of the United States. We invite particular attention to the age or long life of this legume, or “ttoly hay.” It reminds us of the “ tree of Heaven,” (China tree,) whose multitudinous roots spread all over a small neighborhood, and whose leaves are de voured so greedily by cattle. Tull learned to cultivate St. Foin in Langue doc, where he spent several years, and was able in England to cut his earliest crop in the begin ning of May, before blossoming. He divides the crops into four sorts, viz.: “ Ist, the virgin; 2d the blossomed; 3d, the full grown; 4th, the thrashed hay.” Although the following re marks are a little too ethereal, in the main they are true: “ The first of these (virgin hay) is best of all beyond comparison; and, except lucerne, has not in the world its equal. This must be cut before the blossoms appear; for when it stands until full bloom, the most spiritous, volatile and nourishing part of its juices is spent on the next generation; and this being done, all at once the sap is much depauperated, and the St. Foin can never recover that richness it had in its virgin state. And though in blossom it bo literally in the flower of its age, it is really in the declension of it. If it be said that what is not in the stalk has gone into the flower, it is a mistake, because the greater part of its quintes sence perspires thence into the atmosphere.” The aroma, or “quintessence" of “holyhay” in blossom, is doubtless something very nice, but subsequent experience in hay-making and vegetable physiology does not sustain the prac tice of cutting forage plants before they blossom to improve the food or crop. Our author says: “ The owner of this hay, if he be wise, will not sell it at any common price, but endeavor to have some of it every year if possible for his own use.” A full crop of this hay cut when in blossom is 3 tons per acre. In stacking St.Foin,Tull recom mends pulling up a basket in the centre of the stack, a3 the rick is made to form a “vent-hole” for air to circulate through and carry off damp ness. Sainfoin seed is cheap and abundant in France; and we should be happy to see the cul tivation of this perennial, deep-rooted legume fairly tested in the central and southern States, where we believe it would bo valuable. Its seed is worth more per bushel than oats, and is hardly inferior to peas as food for domestic ani mals. Lucerne, the herba medico of the Romans, has maintained a high reputation in the south of Europe for twenty-five centuries. It has been succesfully cultivated in Chili. Peru and Brazil, and from the last named country introduced into this under the name of Brazilian clover. If the Chilian clovor seed ordered from Valpa raiso should turn out to be a variety of the med icago sativa, or sainfoin, we shall not be disap pointed. Mr. Loudon, in his Encyclopedia of Gardening, says: “Lucern is highly extolled by Roman writers; it is also of great antiquity in Spain, Italy and the south ofFrance; is much grown in Persia and Peru, and mown in both countries all the year round." Wo have traced the roots of this plant grow ing in the light, sandy soil of Georgia to tho depth of 34 inches; and, like sainfoin, peas, and red clover, it draws largely on the atmosphere for its organic nourishment. With a directness from the “ well of English undefiled” which we cannot but admire, Tull speaks of its “ tap root that penetrates deeper into the bowels of the earth than any other veg etable she produces.” He describes a plant on his farm 22 years old, and still in its youth. He says: “ Its roots are abundantly larger than the roots of St. Foin; I have one that measures very near 2 inches in diameter; those which are high er than the ground have a bark like a tree. Upon this account, and by its stalks springing again just below the place where cut off, and by the woody hardness of its stalks when they stand too long without cutting, it seems that lu cerne is of a nature nearly approaching to that of a shrub. It is the only hay in the world that can pretend to excel or equal St. Foin.” This “ medica ” and classical hay, which was cultiva ted in bedß by tho Romans without iron-plough, hoe or rake, is too well known to need any en comiums. It does best in a deep, permeable soil; and where the sub-soil is compact, it must be broken, either by trenching or the use of the sub-soil plough. Like St. Foin, it is best Cultivated in drills, which should be far onougli apart for a horse to walk between the rows to draw a hoe or cultivator. If these plants shall prove as popular in this country as in Europe, it will be a very profitable business to raise their seeds for sale. Alter the farmers began to sow clover seed in the north ern States for the purpose of renovating wheat lands, the production of this seed was for many years the most profitable branch of agriculture known in that region. At present, clover seed is too cheap for the business to bo very remu nerative. We do not believe that lucerne or St. Foin, is likely to take the place of clover in any district where the latter does well; but they are worthy of trial on “ clover sick ” fields. The pines that grow spontaneously on the im poverished and abandoned fields in the southern Atlantic States, present a very instructive lesson to all that seek to understand nature’s process for restoring fertility to the surface of the earth. Nature hauls no lime, nor marl, nor manure of any kind. She never ploughs, nor hoes, nor stirs the soil at all; yet she forms a black mould whore man had robbed the ground of this ne cessary aid to the support of the higher orders of plants and animals. To study closely her op erations in the process of enriching soils, is the highest wisdom of the practical husbandman. The seeds of pine trees have a structure that pe culiarly fits them to he carried a great distance by birds and winds, and scattered far and wide over the whole surface of the earth. Under fa vorable circumstances these seods germinate and grow into forests. We have stCMied only tho sprouting and growth of tho seed of the long-