Newspapers / The Weekly Star (Wilmington, … / Aug. 5, 1870, edition 1 / Page 2
Part of The Weekly Star (Wilmington, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
" Osage Orange Hedge. ; ? Editors Carolina Farmer ; Having vis ited your region in connection with mat ters pretaihing to the improvement of the grounds of the Cape . Fear ' Agricultural Association, l am fahliliar with the soil ' in ? your portion of the State, , which al though it is generally very : sandy, I am confident that it can be made to grow the Osage orange well The plants should be grown one year on alluvial bottom land, and if planted at that age they have few lateral but gener ally have a straight tap. root 12 to 20 inches in length. The hedge border should be prepared in your sandy soil by, turning two furrows apart, plowing two Jurrbws in'depth, then haul the best soil obtaina ble, that containing aliberal proportion of clay and of. vegetable mould will be the best. Give this open furrow a good dress ing with this soil, then close the furrows in again.. Run a harrow or some other levelling Implement over the border, and sketch a linawhere the axis of the hedge is to be, using a line 100 feet or more in length. It should be a strong line so that it will bear to be well stretched. This line should have tied on it at inter vals of one foot a wrapping of white wrap ping twine: these are the markers at which a dibble is to be inserted with which to open holes " to receive the plants. The dibble should be' of hard smooth wood and should be neatly pointed; it should be 3x6 in length and should have a D- shaped handle on the top of it. With this implement one active man will make holes for 5,000 plants per diem and two men and a boy can set the plants well. r ; ;v;. ', ' '. ' v " . The boy , should stick the plants in the holes made by the dibble, and a man on each side of the row with a light, handy rammer should ram the -soil firmly around them, using great care to keep the plants in line. ; When planted thus use shovels, with which to fill any cavities left in the use of the rammers. Having planted the hedge give it a good mulching with sea weed, wild grass or pine shatters. . The mulching should be heavy, and should extend at least two feet on either side of the row of plants. The tops ' of the plants should not be cut off, or shortened at planting, but the fol lowing Spring, after the buds are started, the -plants 'should be cut to within two inches; of the surfacs' of the ground. I have'now had 27 years experience- with this plant for hedges, and have planted . hundreds 6f miles iof it, and would say that I consider it preferable, to all others that I have tested,' for making a straight efficient jence. It is inexpensive to grow and maiutain and where well kept is very beautiful.' 1 - ; I would recommend the Cape Fear Ag ricultural Association, to enclose its ground with an- Osage Hedge, and if it 1 is well planted and trained, those who do ; it '.will leave a pleasing and valuable legacy to those who may succed them. ' Respectfully yours, J. WHiKINSON, : .-c i A t ., Baltimore, Md., Landscape Gardener and Rural Architect. -: A Visit to a Bone Mill. - Editors i Carolina Farmer ; A few even - - ings ago" I was passing near the bone mill I of'Mr.rGeo.' T.'Ram'by, of this; city, and 1 stepped in, or at least went to the deor, to see what was going on. On the one r side were the bones to be reduced, on the ; other the meal. The scent arising there j, from is scarcely to be endured. A stran j ger does as well to get as near as the door. - The.hands in the mill moving about in this F. horrible stench, say a person , does not z mind.it after he gets used to it. The con ' trivance for reducing consists of some half 'dozen upright stems with cast iron at v. the bottom driven by steam, which are raised and dropped after the manner of H crashing gold quartz- Capacity per day nna tnn "RT T T. r r -v vu.; aw iiowijver, purposes t soon' introducing . some improved ina 4 .uiueiy wnicn wiir greatly increase the I;' Many of the, bones crushed are those of :ondemned army ' horsesv One-, person a :w mile's over in Virginia furnished eighty tons for which he .received: $35-per ton, amounting'ta $2,800.v -These horses when? killed were thrown into large pits and cov ered with dirt.? After, remainirig 'from four to eight years the bones are exhumed,-pul-verized and rendered - serviceable to the farmer. Several of such pits remain yet to" be exhumed. One hand can dig up about two tons a day, which is doubtless, for the time being, more profitable . than than the average'gold digging in Califor nia but of course will soon give, out. The work is, of course, somewhat Tin pleasant, but then it should be recollected that," dirty hands handle bright money." My object in giving the foregoing details is that your readers may form some idea of the great value of bones, and thus in7 duce them to husband their resources and save all their bones. "J They can be reduced on a small small- scale by the aid of sul phuric acidf orif placed in a pile of stable manure decomposition "will eventually, be effected. The " manure should, however, not be in a pile sufficiently large to cause ! any great unnatural heat. I would not advise the bones thus saved to be broad cast over a 20 acre field, but put where the effect will be shown, say on your grape vines, strawberry vines (being excellent for each) or something of that kind. You will thus very probably be enabled to have not only finer grapes, strawberries, &c, than your neighbors, but a better yield of corn, wheat, &c, also. . How so ? Why, if you have finer fruits as a result of scien tific farming you will be stimulated to- greater exertions and as a consequence in stead of snoozing at fire you will be found out looking after and cultivating your crops. Farming will have been rendered delightlful. It is in this way that. your corn, wheat crops, &c, may be made to go ahead from a small application of bones. l Therefore, Yira that in fair farming would excel, How much you farm regard not, buthow well. Save your bones. Washington, D. C. B. Suckering Corn. I planted and: am working about two acres of " Sanford corn," a variety origin ated, I believe, on Long Island, within the. last three years. -Wherever the soil is good, each stalk throws up two or more suckers, making each hill a m at ot stalks and leaves similar to sorghum, and render ing the operation of suckering a most tedious and laborious operation. If suck ering is essential, then this variety of corn is certainly not worth growing ; for I feel assured it cannot be enough more prolific than our Ohio yellow corn, to compensate for the additional lakor for suckering. But is suckering essential? Will, as is claimed by'some, the ear be as large with out disturbing the suckers as otherwise ? L. There is quite a; difference .of opinion among farmers in relation to the propriety of removing the stickers from growing cornstalks. The same difference occurs among theorists. Perhaps if the suckers could be removed just as they are begin ing to form, it might throw the vigor of the plant into the ear-bearing stalk. The roots- and leaves mutually depend on each other ; and to strip off a large portion of the leaves or any plant while it is grow ing rapidly, must cut off supplies to the roots, and check general growth. This is the theory ; but we want careful experi ments to decide to what extent injury or benefit might result. Strip off the suckers from five rows, and leave them on five more, and so on alternately through the field. Measure the corn and, weigh the fodder, and give us the result. To have the experiment complete, let the stripping be done at regular intervals from the for mation of the suckers to the ripening of the ears. J Country (jfentleman. Watering Horses. .The Working Farmer has the following suggestions, brance: , which are worthy of remem " , "Horsesshould.be watered from a brook pond or river, and ' not from.! wells or springs, as the well water is hard and colder, while the runniner stream is soft o . and rather i warm. The .? preference of horses is for the soft, even though it be muddy water, to that which is hard. Horses should be allowed in summer time at least four waterings a day, and half a bucketful . at a time, and in winter a pail ful may be allowed morning and evening which is sufficient to assuage their thirst without causing them to bloat or puff up. Care, however, should be taken that the horse is not put to work imm diately after drinking a full bucket of water, especially if required to go fast, because digestion and severe exertion can never go on to gether, and moreover . purging is apt to ensue, v ; In some cases, broken wind or heaves sis thus produced. Avoid giving warm or tepid water to horses that are often' driven , from home, because cold or w"eli water will then perhaps ;be given them, which will be liable to produce a congestive , rchill followed I by lung fever and in some cases colicl" f nrirmmraL Cotton and Corn RootsTheir Length and Position.; ' Eds. Southern Cultivator : It would at firsts seem probably that no , more familiar subject than the above could be suggested to Southern planters. But; inquiring upon if will convince any observer that little is really known about the natural history and the merest external characteristics, ot the plants we chiefly cultivate, so far as they exist underground; and that the conjectures we make vary widely from each other as they, do from the truth. And yet the un derground portion is that through which alone we exert influence upon the crops- the upper portion we look at, the roots we cultivate. . After looking in vain; into two treatises on cotton, and after numerous inquiries, with most contradictory replies from va rious planters,-1 commenced some observa tions on the cotton plant itself, up to its present stage ot growth, and. intend to prosecute them, through its future stages. The results have surprised me, and many older and better planters. Although there are probably some who are well in formed on the subject, there .are certainly many entirely ignorant of the extent and character of the roots of cotton and corn, and I propose,, therefore, to give you the iacts as i ouservea ,tnem. . to ascertain them requires no. learning, no knowledge of botany, chemistry or any other science, but simply the careful use of the eyes, the fingers xfbt too delicate protected from the soil, and a few simple tools. The following little table gives the re sults of a few observations made about the 10th of May: Table of cotton roots, in inches: No. 1. No No. 3. No. 4. No. 5. 2 2 2i 2i 2i 3 5i 4 4 11 2 2 -3 4 . 11 11 - 1 Height Tap Root... Lat'alRoot. Depth ...... Of stalks 2 to 2i inches high, the tap root averaged about 4 inches, and the lat eral root about 2$. A few days later, about the 20th of May, when the plant was somewhat ad vanced, other observations were made, with the following results : , SECOND TABLE. No. 4. Height.. . Tap Root 51 14 21 Lateral Root Depth ...... May 24th. 1 stalk 31 inches high. 1 " 51 . " Lateral Root 13. " " 14. May 28th. Small stalks after rain. Height stalk. Tap. Lat'al. Depth. No. Leaves. 24 4 6 .. 4 1 6 .. .. 2 2 9 3 3 4 " 1 2 2 IK 2 1 0 . . 2 2 5K .. .. 2 Av'ge.2 5K I think .that, in the first two obscrva tions, I broke the lateral roots without dis covering it, as they are extremely delicate and the ground was hard. -The third ob servation was the most careful. A friend (Dr. T. L. Anderson, a nice observer and much interested m such matters,) went with me to the field, and we took with us a spade, with which we dug down on one side of a cotton stalk, about twelve inches deep, throwing out about a bushel of dirt. When, with a tub of water at command we threw a jet from a syringe on the lateral roots, '- gradually undermining them. Without some such means, they were so small and tender, we could not follow them without breaking. - We traced several lateral roots to the length of ten inches or more the longest . twelve and a half inches. The tap root went down ten inches to a small stone. The longest roots left the tap root between one and three quarters and three' and, three-quarter inches below the surtace, and were nearly horizontal through their whole course. Front the lower part of the tap root, lat eral roots extended three to six inches, growing shorter as, they went down. The general outline of the mass of roots re sembled the form of a flat turnip, bulging out near the surtace, and rapidly diminish ing in bulk lower aown. , It will be seen that, of stalks from four to six inches the tap root was from seven to ten inches the lateral roots from four inches (unless these shorter ones were broken) to twelve or fourteen. ' ; COMMENTS. , ; The plants observed, it will be seen, ex tended under ground much more than aoove ground, with sucn stalks as was observed, averaging about five inches high, me roots minree ieet rows would cover two-thirds of the rows, leaving but one foot in the middle not reached by roots. For the development of this significant plant, (in its external appearance,) a box would have been needed as large around as a rice cask and ten inches deep, holding more than two bushels ot earth. vine par ticular stalk was lour and a half inches high, to the highest point, as it stood nat urally on the . ground, three and three quarter inches high to the bud ; had six leaves . and a small bud at the top was planted April 15th, had no . rain after April 30th, and was -observed after three weeks of dry, hot weather, on the 20th of May.;, - ' : : 'v I thought of .sending you 'a' cut of life size, but the double page, of the Cultivator, would be too small. , It would require , a No. 1. No. 2. No. 3. 41 .4 41 8 7 10 41 . 41 121 2 2 2 sheet fifteen inpheiSby eAty-Ave.to rep resent it. , ' x i--' u, ' ' -. . ? -"AJ plow .running within": six inches of, I tne cotion, iwo luuiies uceu.' wuuiu uave cut'some of. the? principle'ro6ts,'arid three iaches deep, nearly all of those extending. ai rig in angles to. .t.i , . , CORN. ROOTS. . " I expected to find these more extended than those of cottony but was surprised at Ihe degree of difference between them. Being-much larger ; and . more tenacious than cotton roots, they can be easily traced with the aid of a garden trowel and the finger, but much earth has to be d isplace d ahd' the tracing goes deep, and into hard grouna. t;?-fV!,y:::v'; The form ;ot the aggregate mass ot roots is that of an 'inverted saucer, or an umbrella; with the apex two and a half to three and a half feet under ground and the ribs extending downwards. ' . . v Table of corn roots inches: "" . . -.q-- No. 1. No.' 2. No. 3. No. 4. Height to bud..i. 2. 2 4, 4 Top as it stands.;. 4 69 10- Length, of root.'.. 1 12 13. 30K Depth at stalk..;. 2 2 .'2 Depth at end...... J 6 8-112- To have accommodated the roots of a stalk, ten inches high as" it Stood abOve ground- without cramping the growth, would have required a box hve ieet in di- ameter and a foot deep, holding about fat- teen bushels of earth which would weigh about 1200.; pounds, arid be? an ordinary two horse load. ' To represent it oh paper" of life size,' would require a sheet as long as. Bonner's map of Georgia; and half as wide - r The roots form a crown around the stalk, leaving the stem about three inches below the surface and bending downward at about the rate of one inch deeper for every three inches of increased length.. In rich ground, the roots instead ot growing larger; are not solong but more ramified than in poorer, especially in light sandy soil. ' ' 'v- ' I think some of your readers can find, in this matter of. observing the roots of plants, an interesting branch of practical inquiry. A knowledge of the physical conformation of the part of the plant which lies underground, will enlighten us as the proper modes of preparation, culti vation and fertilizing to advantage. t We should not work in the dark Upon the only part of the plant on which we can work at all. Only through the roots can we reach the other parts of the plant its stem, branches, leaves and fruit. I hope this statement of facts may lead to some careful observations on the part of others, who will make public the result of ineir investigations. Yours Respectfully, Samuel Barnett. Washington, Ga., May 22, 1870. P. S. It-will be observed that I give no opinion as to the effect of cutting the roots, whether of corn or cotton, but only some facts as to their length and position. To understand thoroughly the consequen? ces of working them, would require con siderable observation, and may vary ma terially with the stage of the plant's growth, the subsequent seasons, arid the texture ot the soil. S. B. Climatology Clouds and Rains. ' Rain is always caused by a cooling- more or less sudden of the atmosphere. The general principle upon which this depends is usually explained by supposing the ' air to have an affinity for water, or a kind of capacity to take it up like a sponge. Careful experiments have shown that this is ' incorrect. ' The phenomena o evaporation and condensation of "water are precisely the same ; in a vacuum or clossed vessel where no air is present it is always necessary to take into account the pressure "to which the 'enclosed- fluid is subject ; this renders the necssary terms very prolix. Ia the open air. the pressure is always nearly , the same ; about fifteen pounds on the square inch, yarying some thing more .than a , pound in extreme changes ot the weather. . Hence the pres sure may be left but of the account and the ; condensing vapor explained by the usual method, if we remember that the same d egrees of h eat evaporates the same amount pi water under a pressure of fitteen pounds to the square inch as well out o the ' air as in it, arid the same degree of cold condenses an equal amount. : The capacity of the air to take up the vapor of water increases in a very rapid ratio witu tne increase pi. neat, it a certain .volume of air at. the temperature or fatty degrees would take up one pound of water, the same volume of air if , heated to onel hundred degrees would take up nearly live pounds ot water. , Upon cool ing, the reverse process; takes place. If the atmosphere is saturated with moisture or has as much vapor as it will hold, which is seldom the case, then a slight cooling of the air wili cause a large pro portion of the water to be precipitated; such a state of the atmosphere is nearly attained at certain seasons in the tropics, when a fall of a few degrees in the tem perature will cause a heavy rain. The change of temperature ot the earth during ihe day is ' sufficient to. effect this, and there is consequently at that season a brisk rain every' day at the same hour of the day for several weeks. ' ' V' ' 4 ; ' ' The phenomenon of warm rain thawing the frost and snow in cold countries would seem to contradict the general proposition that all rain is caused by cooling the. air. But though" the effect seems different,' the cause is the, same. While jthe 'air in sucK lopalities is 'coldj a warmer' carrentladen with vapor sets in, and as it cools, of course oses ' a part of its Vapor which condenses" auu :j.aus iu Hieaecm. mtthe atmos w c- , wmiuji. 'sci,ungjwarmer at the same timeu:-v-- - A- t. : mingling With'a Warm present ktmosbhere and causing rain lis of ilaily 5 experience". -a. . very., coid v wind sometimes uses with out causing rain f ;but inj' such a case it sweeps along, the ground the warm air rising and the two volumes of air do not immediately mingle. A black cloud forms at the junction of the' cold, and warm air, a cold gray cloud also forms at alow elevation, which is the urroer limit of the cold stratum and the . lower limit1 or base of the warm stratum., . The warm air cools slowly and settles mixing, with that bciow, causing a slow drizzling rain which is, however," often prevented by the exceeding dryness pt thieUif in I the cold currenti v ajjvx ui -oiaxJU f puiiciy wausparent and invisible s asthe atmospherelIt is a gas, and indeed there are "good reasons for believirigrthat all gases are vapors of fluids. Tl.mist;which : is seen rising from a boil' ing'ettland.Jrqm the scape of steam engipes 5'bi!eif'0 f 'ininute globules of water conaensed irom the steam and float ing in the air. Fogs and clouds are of the same T coihbdsitiom - 'Clouds '"are -foW and usually! not dense fogs. The amount of li. v .t-:t. xi ' ii. i . water ui wuiuu tuey consist in inatVlSlDle torm is not very great. They are signs displayed along the sides of currents or strata of air heavily laden with' vapor, and serve in the econmy ot nature to shade the ground before and after rain, to -nrR- serve the scanty heat of the earth from i auiauug uo rapmiy at . mgii t - ana in winier, r and by accumulating charges of electricity, causes the phenomena of light ning and thunderby which the condensing of the vapor is facilitated, the atmosphere purified, and all animated nature loudly warned of the approach of great or sudden weather. ? ..- . , But a small tart of a rain is former! from the cloud which is visible before the rain begins. The invisible vapor in the air is the chiet tountam, the rain-falling as fast as it condenses. Single drops of water are often observed " to fall in r.lfinr weather, and they are portentous of : raiD, ueuause mey snow, mai some stratum oi air in the vicinity is saturated with vapor, and a slierht reduction of temnerature will suffice to precipitate it. 'When fogs tend to iorm in drops ana tail-to the ground it is a sign of rain for the same reasen. Clouds nearly always accompany rain, but considerable shoWers - have been known without them. A sprinkle of rain is often observed to fall in showery weather when the skv is clear, and thev indicate a con- . i rf. tinuance o t rainy weather because they 1 iU x i '' i ii suuw iue presence oi greai moisture mine air.- "'' : i"- 1 :" . - rccunuiiy, ot me 'uueen oee. ? In a paper read by Mr. Desborough be fore the Entomological Society," he makes the following extraordinary statement, to quote irom the ' published report or the. meeting : "The author had ( succeefed; ascertaining that in certain cases the queen bee will surve and deposit ; eggs,, .during t not fewer than six seasons, whereas the w.orker bees only live about eight months; A single queen bee had produced as many as 108,000 eggs, which would be about 20,000 a year ; but the greatest 'amount of eggs, was deposited during the first -two . years of her lifey only about 15,000 being laid during each of the last three years." With regard to the longevity of the queen bee I have little to say, except that I do not believe, as a r ule, her existence extends to, more than four years. In all my exper ience I have never known the life of any a i "1 j 1 n.i .... . to exceed f -xnac period; oitime.i The .workers may and do . live about eight months during:; the late autumn, winter ' and spring, but on an average, during the summer, their lives do not exceed three -or-fourimonths But it is with respect -to Mr: -Desborough's statement as to . the fecundity of the 'queen,' that I must take entire exception. ' A- healthy, vigorous perous Colony, in a well proportioned hive, instead of laying only 108,000 eggs in the course of her life of according r! to the author six yearp, twills lay much - nearer . oolf niirl hiT7-PC in whioh T lintTA hnon nmtft ' 70,000 eggs in a single year; and I have; had and heard of other hives in Which I have no doubt that the numbers , far ex ceed that amount." I h ave also h ad occa- uei me a uieai cuaiiKe xor me ui&e laiviUK place in her fourth or last year It" ap- -iL ' -l -1.-1-3- if. 'n borough has drawn his inferences' from- observations ot a colony domiciled in a glass observatory hive t It must be obvious to every one that bees under such circum- '' stances" must be laboring under very great' disadvantages; their energies are cramped in every way, and the breeding powers oi the ordinary bees, cannot have' full scope for their development. S. Bevan Fox, in London, Farmer's Journal. 5 ! " E",Tbe war in Cuba gives more1 than' unusual'prominence to .the article' of sugar, and it is fair to assume that, with a favor-. able season, the" product of our maple or-' chards Will be larger than wheat, jp arm-. ers 4 having-' a'" 5 few; well'. ' develpoped mantes in their reserved fronts,' might makelt pay'to 'bring thenf inb sugar pro- I J I II I .1 VV I ill 1.1 lilllif bUOk. wuv. - - lip i i r f. l.ii i iin i i rrn LULUioi i tJ, , k
The Weekly Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 5, 1870, edition 1
2
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75