Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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f\ " \\i THE WEEKLY lli PHIOH TIMES, Ipct'otcd lo g.gritullurf, |jorti(ulfuro, Domestic (fcononin, polite literature, |5oliiits, and the Current $cu-5 of the VOL. XVII.?New Series. UNION C. H., SOUTH CAROLINA, APRIL 10, 188(5. NUMBER lo. Written for the Timfa RKMINISOENCES or THE MACBETH LIGHT ARTILLERY. 11t one or tiikm. The Macbeih Light Artillery has an unwritten history that must be wrested from oblivion by the surviving members of the company, or it will soon be forever lost. During the war I read all the official reports of the battles in which it took a part, aud many reminiscences since, and if any allusion has ever been made to the company it has nut been my pleasure to see it. 1 am induced to write out my recollections of it, more with the view of drawing out others, than any hope of interesting the general reading public. That the efficiency of the Macbeth Light Ar tillcry may be better understood, I deem it worth while to speak brietly of the first Company that left Union in defence of the ordinance of secession, passed 2Uth Dec. 1 l>y the representatives of the people of South Carolina assembled in convention at Columbia. In anticipation of that Act, a company had been organized in Union with that fearless soldior, J. M. (? a ohkh ht as Captain. A3 soon as the ordinance of secession was passed he left the convention, of which he was a member, and immediately proceedod with his company to Charleston, where preparations for war was actively going on. The company was assigned duty on Sullivan s Island and became one cf the ten that composed Cot.. Max* y (iiiKuo's first South Carolina regiment. Cot., (jiteun's command was soon transferred to Morris' Island, where it rcmnincd until after the fall of Fort Sumpter. The infantry on the surrounding islands were witnesses, rather than participants of the bombardment that humbled the stars and stripes and hoisted tlic l'alinctto (lag over Fort Sumpter. To us the war now seemed over, ami our thoughts were of going home without military glory. A few evenings, however, after the fall of Sumpter, while the regiment was uu drcsB parade. Cot., t incuu made us a speech, telling us Unit wo came to Charleston to fight the enemy, that we hail been disappointed, lnit there was still a chance for us. The enemy had invaded Virginia, and (Joy. Fletcher asked South Carolina for help. Shall lie call in vain ? All who are williug to gj step four paces to the front. More than three-fourths of our company stepped to the front and contrasted most favorably with the other companies, which were pretty equally divided between the front and rear lines. After we returned to our camps, a patriotic appeil was made to the company by our worMiy and pipular orderly sergeant, Ciiaui.ks. \V. Bov?. in his easy flowing style and. with few exceptions, those who did not volunteer at dress parade now wheeled into line. The next day we were transferred to Charleston and took the train at the North Eastern depot for li?chmond. Ovations, feasting, patriotic speeches, love making were in order tit stations, towns, and cities along the line of travel. The war spirit had sot aside tho etiquette or formality of an introduction, and our company, being composed largely of young men. love making at tirst sight, was to them the most interesting feature of those patriotic demonstrations. We hal some young married men in the company, who were very much in the way of the blushing youths who had no experience in the art of courting. The former sent cupids darts direct to the hearts of the girls, while ?hc latter thought it necessary to approach them as tlrint did Richmond. by circumlocut ion Many liavo since learned that directness was a quicker if not the better plan. The trip frjin Charleston to Richmond was an enjoyable one. and long to be remembered. On reaching Richmond we were assigned quarters at the Fair (ironn Is. Our camps were thronged daily by the citizens of Richmond, and we were lionized as much as if we had swallowed Fort Sumptor. Mnj. Anderson and his men. .We did not think it necessary to dampen their admiration for ih, by telling them that in taking Fort Sampler we were soldicrs at a distance. In a few weeks our delightful stay in Richmond ended, and we took the train for Manassas Junction. Pretty much the name scenes were enncte I along the lino of travel that wc had witnessed in our trip to Richmond. We heard a great ileal about Manassas as a strategic point, and imagined that it was a city of some importance, and that wo woul 1 have a delightful time I hero, as we had had in Richmond. Von can well imagine our disappointment when we found ourselves emptied out in a barren old field with scarcely a house in view. Rut there was no time for lamentations over the contrast between the uninviting field of Manassas and the happy home that glided so swiftly by in Richmond. Wo were now living amid stirring times. War clouds were now gathering thicker and darker and the ex citcrnent more intense. I have no diary for - ' >.?i ii ?..w iiopln.rw re i refill II mjr iucium;. . ..... the next ilny after we reached Manassas, that Cot . Jo i.-woittii invailcil Virginia, entering the State at Alexandria, and raptured a company of Virginian? stationed there As Kllsworth ?lcHcemleil from the hotel with the secession tl ig that tloatcil from the dome, lie was shot ilea<l l?y Jackson, tiic proprietor, who in turn was himself shot an.l hayoncllcil to ilcath liy the feilcral sol licrs. Such was the exciting news, ten times magnified. that refugee- an 1 escaping soldiers brought on (lie lirst train from Alexandria, while reports that the enemy were marching on Manassas were rife the live-long day. Ah a a precautionary measure. 1 suppose. Cot,, tiitii.i* lead his regiment after dusk two or L three miles along the dirt road to \lexan lria. & and l>ivotnced for the night <>u the hanks of R I In I linn. None of us ilrcati.ed tliat night of w the interest the coming events would give that &. insignificant little stream in the history of our V country. 1 The next ilnv was Sunday, and as wo wore inarching hick to camp, a woman, who had doubtlcBs heard of the exciting rumors of the previous day. took us for yanks and prompted by the inspiration of an ardent love of country, lost no time in debating the manner of her going, but with her dress to her knees, to expedite her speed, tho good woman went in all haste to make known our approach to Cien. ltonham, of South Carolina, who was then in command at Manassas. A Tennessee regiment reached Manassas during the night and. like Kemper's battery, which was already there, knew nothing of Gkkuu's nocturnal visit to una nun. j ?? stimulate mo practice 01 soldierly promptness, as well, perhaps, as to indulge a joke, the long roll was beat, and when wo came in sight these two commands were in line of battle ready to give us an inhospitable reception. Wo halted long enough to make ourselves known, and then marched to our camps under a flag of truce. Ilegirncnts were now daily coming from the South and our regiment, being pioneer troops, was advanced to Centrevillc, seven miles nearer Washington. We found a company of Virginians at Centrevillc. and I saw no better looking soldiers during the war. It. was commanded by Captain Marr, a man of fine appearance, a graduate of the Virgiuia Military School, aud looked every inch a soldier. When we took up quarters at Centrevillc, Capt. Marr moved his command to Fairfax C. II., seven miles still nearer Washington. There were no events of interest during our stay at Centrevillc to relieve the monotony of camp life, save an occasional false alarm, fol- j lowed by beating tlie long roll ami marching out of our camps to meet an enemy that did not conic until after we returned to our homes in South Carolina. It was here that the measles began its devastating work and filled more graves with Confederate soldiers than did tho bullets of the enemy . One of our number fell a victim to ^its ravages, and we laid him away wilt military honors itt the church yard of a little l-.pircopiil church on top of the hill. The next excitement grew out of the news that ( apt. Thomas, of the Federal army, had dashed into the town of Fairfax, wounded Col., afterwards Gen. F.wcll, and killed Capt. Marr. Capt. Thomas was a native of Virginia and afterwards commanded the Federal forces at thebattleof Franklin, Tennessee. The body of Capt. Marr was brought to Ccnlrcvillc the morning after the fight, and it had a depressing effect on our men. Col. Gregg sent cur company that evening to Fairfax C. II., in answer to Col. F.well'a call for help, lie drew us up in line ami read the words he had written Col. KvroU an.l tlioy wore, in effect, if not the Tory words,?"I have sent you a company in whose courage and stcndincs you can depend.*' We arrived after dark and found a sumptuous supsupper awaiting us at. the hotel, given to the company by tho citizens of the town. We slept that night in a church, and I never heard that anybody stood guard. The next morning we returned to our camps at t'ontrcville: but in a few days Col. Gregg advanced bis whole command to Fairfax C. II. We were six months volunteers, and our term of service was drawing to a close : but it was foreign to Col. Gregg's ambition to return to South Carolina without the stnell of battle, and no doubt, he believed tho same spirit nni mated the liosoin of etch member of his regiment. So. on the morning of the second day after wc went into camps at Fairfax II., with three days cooked rations in our haversacks. and reinforced by a section of Kemper's battery, we started for hrancsvillc. where we were told the tnemy had crossed the I'otomac and we would there meet a foeman to try our grit. As wc were marching out of town a hen came running so dangerously near our company that Lieut. .Ioskimi F. Gist, with the skill of a practiced fencer, took oil her head?prophetic of what became of tin im iginary enemy at Prancsville. Tlio Lieut's haversack was full of well cookr 1 meats, and he left the hen Hollering where she fell. l>"ancsvi!lc was an inconsiderable little place, twenty miles north of Fairfax C. 11. We arrive 1 there alioni sundown, worn and jaded and no enemy with whom to measure arms. Wo knew nothing of the importance of husbanding our resource*. Indeed, our improvidence wn? I ?o great that throe days ritions were consumed or wasted in twenty-four hours. The next \ morninglwc fell into line to retrace our steps, j hungry and dejected. I do not know that it j was in the original programme to return by j another route leading s veral mile* nearer j Washington and by a little station on the rail I road between Alexun Iria an I Fairfax G II., i bearing the name of Vienna, or it may have been that a fresh trail of the enemy was tlio temptation that now induce I t'd. Gregg to make a call at Vicuna. At any rate, we eoon noticed that we were deflecting to the left of the r>?ad we came, and were told that Vienna was our objective point, and that the yanks were there repairing the rail road. As wo noare 1 the station silence was enjoined, and we slinpe 1 down through the pines to the station as cautiously .as the Im i tsmnn would pursue a Hock i f wild turkeys. As usual, disspj point incut was liic coin in which we were paid 1 for oni trouhie. The command now tur nod toward our camps: but ere we had marched three hundred yards, we heard the train of the ' enemy and scarcely had time to double quick | back to our position on top of the hill ovor looking the station and Gadbcrry s company to 1 deploy as skirmishers t > a line of woods ;'.imi , yards in trout. The train was shut out from ; our \icw by woodltnd on our left, llooni. ' l?oi>in, iii ra|'i'l succession from Kemper s two guns toM us tint tin- enemy had rounded tlie curve in the road. in-l work of carnage begun*. We could hour the command of the etieiny ? i ill in?Iniihh i/'in It was in the direction of ' Washington. however and not towards its|5y ?oine means the engine came uncoupled from I lie train, and two flats nn I .as many coaches, with six or eight of the killed and wounded fell into our hands. Col. Gregg could not have chosen a more advantageous position if ho had had ever so much time for selecting it, and tho enemy could not have approached us under greater disadvantages tha? they did, if we could have had the ordering of it. They were exposed on open flats in front of the engine, and it is not surprising that the Washington papers reported next day 117 of them killed and wounded. It was ouc of the first lights of the war, and if tho lime an I number of shots fired are considered, it was tho blooddiest battle of the war. I am quite sure that more than ten minutes did not elapse from tho time wc first heard the train until the tiling ceased. And I am equally confident, that the firing did not exceed five miuulcs. We had already marched 10 miles that day. ami 7 miles were stretched out hetweeu us and our camp. NVe were not equal to Jnckson'.i foot cavalry, and l?ut for (he little incident at Vienna, many of us would have given out on the rond. IV lien we reached the camps it was all aglow with excitement. Old man l.ovcbcrry Muagrovc, who wag left with others iu charge of the camps, declared that he knew Col. Crogg was after them, for lie could see the smoke from the cannons going up in the shnpc of a Palmetto tree. In n few days our time of service expired anil we left for our homes. War had now become a reality, and our backs were towards the enemy, and tbat may have had something to do with the marked absence of any patriotic demonstrations along the road. Our trip back t o South Carolina was as quiet as a fuuertd march to the grave. Many, mauy of that splendid company are numbered with the pale army of the dead. At the I'nion depot we found our friends in force to wclotnc ua back as they had done six months previous to bid us good bye. Vint. P. S. I will devote my next to the Macbeth Light Artillery. Cui.tivatino Pooh Land.?1'tnlcr the a- . i\r^ M i? : > L .uuucy in ruiuiiu^, ui i'liuiu number o( 77<>' Cultivifor, 'J. W.O.' gives a very practical and sensible ariicle. He insists that the main cause of the failure of Southern fanners to make money at farming is 'the planting of poor impoverished lands, requiring from three to six acres to make a bale of cotton, even with the help of commercial fertilizers. As we understand the article the suggested yield of such land in cotton is simply descriptive of its quality or productiveness, aud it is not iutended to intimate that the cotton alone should be confined to the best soils and the poorer devoted to corn and other upland crops. The idea is that such poor impoverished soils should be thrown out altogether or sown to small grain, and is in agreement with the oft-repeated exhortations of The Cultivator editors and correspondents during the last forty year?. .1. W. (). concludes his article with tho remark that he 'might write much more upon this important subject, but a hint to the wise ought to bo sufficient.' But it is a sad reflection that so many farmers are not icisr. Lino upon line,' etc., must be the motto of the agricultural writer, if he would do the greatest good. Old truths presented in new forms of expression or under the guise of novel propositions often result in convictions and reformation at last. The argument has finally cri/staVi-rd into the expression, 'iiitrnniv: htrnxint/* now so popular with agricultural writers and speakers. The article under discussion is simply a ' well-put argument for intensive jarmimj. which, after all. is the inevitable result of the exercise of common sense, guided by the lights of science. No merchant would he j so foolish as to buy sugar at a cost of eight : cents per pound, when all chances are \ against realizing more than seven cents per pound when sold again. Such a man would ho called a tool \ yet there are lluois ands of acres of land in the South that are cultivated at a cost of, say ton dollars per aero, which uniformly produce /<> < than : tun dollars in value of the crop. Such u j practice is no wiser than swapping a dollar for ninety-five cents, and will just as inevitably lead to bankruptcy, if persisted in on a large scale. Well, souic will say, what j arc we to do ? The answer is, first, do as' .T. \V. O. says, throw out of cultivation, every single acre that cannot be made to pay a reasonable profit on the cost of the crop. There is no 'getting around' that proposition, and it is not too late oven now to carry it into effect. Next, dismiss and dispose of the labor ! and stock relieved by such contraction of j area, and concentrate skill, fertilizers,1 qualify of plant seeds, etc., on the remain ing land. lh> it nt un--f. II you havt planted a field or a tcn^aere cut of exhaiis- ' ted or very poor land, land from which you cannot, on a sober calculation, expect a just return for the labor that will be required ' to bring it to maturity, ht it //". l>on't touch it, except possibly to sow it in field peas in May or June. As the good book ' says. 'Now is tin; accepted time.' 'now is ! the day of salvation.' S > nun- is the time \ for the farmer to do what iio knows wiil be 1 est for him to do, and cease doing what he knows will not pay him to do. Atlanta, Ca. It. J. I!. an IM10KTAN T DECISION BY THE supreme COUET. The Rights"! Marri'd Women as to Their Separate Estates D- fined and Settled. Tiie State of South (.'aroeina, In the Supreme ('uuitr? November Term, 1SS3. C. C. ilabonioht, plaintiff, appellant, vs. Uawls & Wilhali. John Agucw, jr., aud Jcnuio Agnotv, dcfcudauts, and Jennie Agncw, appellant. Opinion. MCIVER, A. J.: On the 1 -Itit day of January, ISS.'J, the del'ei.-iauts, Jlawls & Wilhulf, tnado the notes sued on payahio to the plaintiff, and before they were delivered to him they were endorsed by the other two defendant, Jennie Agucw then and now being a married woman. The notes were "iven in discharge of :i lien licM by the plaintiff on the stock of goods belonging to llawls A: Wilhalf. Mrs. Agncw had no interest in the stock of goods and received no consideration for her endorsement. 8ho was. therefore, practically, a mero surety for the debt of another and the sole question raised by the appeal is, whether she, being a married woman, was capable of making such a contract. At common law there is no, doubt that she had uo such capacity, and therefore the inquiry is whether she has by statute been endowed with the power to make such a contract. That th^ Act of 1ST", incorporated in Chapter C of tho General Statutes of 1872, I'agc 182, Section 11, did confer upon a married woman the power to make any contract which a. feme sofo could make, even to the extent of becoming surety for her husband, was settled by the eases of Pelzer, llodgers & Co. ts, Campbell, 15 S. C. lvep., 581, and Cliokscalcs vs. Hall, 15 8. C. llep., f>02. Jlut at the very next session of the General Assembly, which couvetied only a few days after the decisions in the eases just recited were rendered, the law which had been thus construed in those eases was altered so as to limit the power of a married woman to contract, and the question is as fr? I ho extent and effect of that limitation. By the law as it formerly stood it was deed" ted ''oaf .a married woman shall have the right * : * to contract and be contincted with in the same manner as if the were unmarried'; but by the law as it tt??od at the date of the alleged contract here in question, and still stands, it is declared 'a married woman shall have the right to contract and be contracted with, as to lo r srpanttc j>roprrfy, in the same manner as if she were unmarried'; the liv-e words italicised have been inserted as an amendment to the law as it formerly stood; so that the question raised by this apbeal is narrowed down to the inquiry as to the effect of these five words. It seems to us that the most natural and the proper construe* tion of the Act. as amended, is that adopted by the Circuit Judge : that the contract which a married woman is thorc authorized to make, is 'as to tho separate property, must have reference to her separate prop- j city, iiui-1 concern her separate property*. If will ho observed that the quossion is as to what contractu a married woman may make, and not as to their cIToct after they havo been made. If a given contract is one that the law authorizes a married woman to make, then its clVeci is, and must necessarily he, the same as that of a contract of a person not laboring under any disability. It is very clear that the Legislature intended to make some alteration in the law as it formerly stood, and we think if equally clear that the intention was to limit the power of a married woman as to the kind of contracts which she was permitted to make, ri. to tlu.se in relation to her separate property: As wo have seen, prior to the amendment, a married woman could j make any kind ol a contract which a person sin'juris could make, and the intention undoubtedly was to alter this, and hence her general power to contract was ijua Idled by the words constituting the amendment, so that while formerly site had the unlimited power to contract* now she can only make contracts *as to her separate property'. We are unable to dhtcovcr anything in the Act which indicates that the intention of the Legislature was simply to confine her H.iLMh, on (tin/ contract, which site might choose to make, to her separate estate, as is contended for by appellant. There is noth;ng in the Act which shows that the attention of the Legislature was directed to t! e kind of property which could he held ? ... it... ,.f .. .....rrtn/l ........ .... ..... .. ........v. woman's contract; and. on the contrary, the lanoiiagu used shows that the legislative mind was directed to the him! of' rontruct which she was t?> be permitted to make, and Dot to the him/ of'/irojirrh/ which could be resorted to incase el a breach of the cmtract. \ cry recently, hefore the law was amended, it had been determined, as we have seen, although there was no little con I traricty of opinion upon the subjoct, as is well known, that a married woman had the auie capacity to uiako any kind of contract as any other person, and tho irresistible inference is that it was this the Legislature intended to alter, so as to confine the eou? trading power of a married woman to a certain class of contracts, to wit, those which wore made as to her separate estate. We are not aware that any controversy had arisen or any adjudication had been made as to the kind of property which couia uc tnauo nauio lor tne orcacn 01 a married woman's contract, and therefore no occasion had arisen for an alteration of the law in that respect, ludecd, wo do not see how such a controversy could have arisen, for the old Code as well as the Code of 1SS1! expressly provided that damages recovered against a married woman could only bo collected out of her separate estate. Section 20S of the old Code, which is in this respect the same as Section 20t> of the amended Code, provides that 'in an action brougut by or against a untried woman, judgment uiay bo given against her as well for costs as for damages, or both for such costs and for such damages, in the same manner as against other persons, to be In-led and eotleetcil of hey separate estate, and not otherwise.' And in section 310 of the old code, the provision was that 'an execution may issue again>t a married woman, and it shall diroct the levy and collection of the amount of the iudumcnt airaiust her t'rum her sen arafr c.<(u(r, urn! not otherwise' ; and the same provision is found in Section !?<)" of the present Code. So that it is very clear that the construction contended for hy tho appellant, to wit, that the amendment now under consideration was simply designed to limit the liability of a married woman on her contracts to her separate estate cannot be the correct one, for such a construction would make the amendment in question wholly unnecessary, as that was the law before. We are therefore of opinion that the object of tho amendment was not to indicate the kind of property which could bo made liable for the breach of a married woman's c ntract, but to limit her right to contract, so that she could only make such contracts as. at the time they were made, related to or concerned her separate property. Hence, before a married woman can be made liable lor the breach of a contract alleged to have been made by her, it must be made to appear, either from the inherent nature of the contract, or otherwise, that the contract was made in relation to or concerned her separate property. Kvcn if she declares in express terms her intention to bind her separate estate, that' alone will not be sufficient to render tho coutiuct valid, for the question is as ?o her poirer, which is to ho determined by the nature of the contract itself, and not as to her intention to bind her separate property. If, therefore, a wife should sign a note as security for her husband, or, indeed, for any /?hcr person, and should declare in the note, in express terms, her intention1 to bind her separate tale, that would not inaketho contract valid as to her, unless it was made to appear that tho contract, though executed by her as surety, was designed to benefit tier separate property, or in soma other way related to or concerned such property. Wc have not deemed it necessary to go into a consi Juration of tho very numerous cases elsewhere upon <|iicstious similar to the one now before us ; lor while the statutes of the various States arc somewhat like our own, yet th^y differ, sometimes very materially, in their phraseology, and in tho very great conilictof authority abroad we have thought it more likely that we would reach a correct s dutoin of the question bv coufiuing our attention to the terms 1 :,.u? VI UUl U'? II OilllUVVO, T IVtlUU 111 VIIU II^IIV U1 our own past legislation and adjudica*tioii''. Tl?c judgment of the Circuit Court is affirmed. I concur. \Y. l>. Simpson, ('. .J. Mc(I(?\tan, A..I.: L concur in the result As the purpose of the Act manifestly was to confer upon a married woman powers heyond what she possessed before, I eannot suppose that by the insertion of the words 'as to her separate estate', it was intended to ' defeat that object entirely aa to contracts. I The same Act, in conformity to the Con' stitution, confers the powers 'to bequeath, doTi?? and convey her separate estate, i in the same manner and to the same c.\? I tent as if she were unmarried, and in orderd ! to harmonize tin* difTercnt provisions, I incline to think thai the intention of the amendment was to limit the power of a mar* l ied woman to such contracts ax r.rjn-css an intent ion to l>ii"/ her sr/niraft /ico/irrtj/? such as arc made v.ith express reference to ? that is to say, 'as to her separate prop* crty'. Filed March lJSSti. household recipes. SWKET l\?TATOES.?'hittlo,' of lultil), Tex , tells the Jlousckcrjicr her plan f'i r cooking sweet potatoes : Wash them, place in the pan, pouring a little hot water ov< r theui, set in the oven ami bake, turnii'g them so as to brown cveuly ; pour in nioto water as needed ; let the pan be about thy when they get done ; place on a dish and Ki>rv<< t lifilvn til i* in /it' ViM'V liirt'O. quarter them), iirst peeling, and bake in a a pan with roast beef or lrosh pork, bnstiug tlietn often with the drippings. Tiny will be found very nice. Kick Cakk.?Take cream, one cupful of butter and gradually boat into it two cupful* of sugar and the juice and lind of one lemon. Add six eggs, the whites and yolks beaten separately, and two and a quarter cupfuIs ol rice flour. Turn it about two inches deep into a shallow pan and bake lVoui half to three-quarters of an hour in a moderate oven. Coco an ct I't ddixo.?15 eat up two oggs with a cupful of new milk, add a quarter of a pound of grated coconnut, mix three tablcspoonluls of grated bread and the same of powdered sugar, two ounces of melted butter, live ounces of rutins and a teaspoonfuI of grated lemon peel with it ; beat the whole well and bake 111 a buttered dish in a slow oven. Sprinkle powdered jug.ir over it. WaiiNKU'n Dol'iitixt is.? M a k c a sponge of two potatoes, boiled, mashed and strained ; one pint sweet milk, one tjaspuonI ful salt, hall' cake 'Warner's Sale Yeast,' which has hecn allowed to Bolien in a i1111 ; tepid water. When light, mix; allow to rise again, and pu. h down as lor bread. When light the third time, work into the dough the following ; two cups sugar, three eggs, two thirds cup of butter and a salt-spoon ful of cin iuiou. if necessary, add a little soda* lloll three quarters inch thick, cut into the desired form, let rise, and fry in hot lard, or what is much better, well clarified beef drippings. blll.AWAUK 111.s<m'its.?Take ten coffee cups even full of sifted flour, one tablespoon even lull of salt and one collee cup eveu full of good cold lard ; mix them together thoroughly, or rather rub them well together with the bauds. Then one colfeo cup and a scant half cup of tho coldest water you can conveniently command will about make it a still'dough enough, ^ it is much bettor stiff )and thou pound and beat it with a lolling pin until it blisters and becomes soft enough to make out in small biscuits. Pick them slightly with a fork, and in a quick oven they will bake nicely from fifteen to twenty minutes. They can he baked in tin pie plates, which should be turned around occasionally to insure an even bake. Lirri.r. Ki.ack I'ka.? I want live bushols of the little black lield pea, the kind not much larger than a large okra .seed and as hard as a buck shot, will lie in the ground all full and winter without rotting or sprouting, is excellent lor sowing or planting with oats, as the pea will citlcr lit; dormant or barely start to grow when oats have been cut, and then will grow rapidly and spread all over the oat stubble, ('an you get mo this good old-fashioned fertilizer ?(I. A. ('room, The above was sent to Messrs. Mark \\*. Johnson A; Co. with the request that if they could not supply the peas that, it be turned over to us. We have no knowledge of the pea in ijucstion, but cur attention was roccn'ly called to a similai variety by a gen. tloinnn in Louisiana, who. under date of September 7, iSSo, writes as folium: 'I have a pea that grows wild and may justly be called the poor land's friend. This year they hare coino up nearly all over the place t'liOO acres) broadcast. Once planted tin y arc practically indestructible. After the peas dry it only takes two or three dews to rot the pod and the peas shatter and arc deposited till the ticxt acasoll. An aged gentleman four miles Iroin here says his land is as good, it not better to day than it was when cleared, all due to this wild pea. It is black in color, and being very iiard is not suited for tabic purposes.' Wo take this p?ea to be the same referred to in the letter above. From specimen sent us we know it is small, black and very hard. We will not give the gentleman's address Lccause it will probably deluge him with letters ; as ho will probably see this, lie can advertise the pea if lie sees proper to do so, or has any of them for sale.? Southern C nltlrntor. Hams J'i.t i f in* AsiiKs.-Can you tell iiiu n uut win extract tno jyi lasic iroin tuy hams that have been in ashes? I have fifteen or twenty ol<l hams now in ashes ami they arc so strong that the fiutiiy will not cat them. ('. II. Mel). ANsw Kit.?We have nothing better to suggest than the usual practice of thoroughly scraping aud washing. If the potash has gone deep into the meat, it may possibly be extracted, in part at least, by soaking the meat in water for a day or two before cooking. Change the water several times.? Cultivator.