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THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 

Beooteo to Esrfculture, horticulture, autr the ^ouseltoltr grts. 



Agriculture is the nursing mother of the 
Arts. — Xenophon . 



Tillage and Pasturage are the two breasts 
of the State. — Sully . 



FRANK: G. RUFFIN, Editor. 



P. D. BERNARD, Proprietor. 



Vol. XIII. 



RICHMOND, JANUARY, 1853. 



No. I. 



For the Southern Planter. 
SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE. 

BY PROFESSOR GILHAM. 



NUMBER III. 
(Continued from page 282, Vol. XII.) 

In oar last number we showed I hat the greater 
part of every vegetable, or vegetable product, 
is made up of the four elements, carbon, oxygen, 
hydrogen and nitrogen, which, it will be remem- 
bered, are called the organic elements of plants. 
We now pr#pose to say something in relation 
to those substances which are always found 
to constitute the ash of plants after burning, 
and which are called its inorganic constituents. 

Though these, in most cases, bear but a 
small proportion to the entire plant, generally 
qpi more than from one to five per cent, of the 
mass, still, as we shall see as we progress, the 
suhstances which compose it are just as ne- 
cessary to complete the vegetable structure, 
as the more abundant organic elements. It 
might be supposed at first sight that ihe ash 
of plants was accidental; that from the man- 
ner in which they take up water by their roots, 
and with it the most of' whatever it holds in 
solution, the composition of the ash would 
depend, in a very great degree, upon the nature 
of the soil producing the plants; and that the 
quantity ol ash would be dependent upon the 
amount of solid matter held in solution by tlie 
water. But such is far from being the case. 
It is f'Und that no matter what be the charac- 
ter of the soil, or what the circumstances of 
the growth of the plant, the same plant, when 
matured, yields an ask composed of the same stib- 
fCances, and in nearly the same proportion. So 
o rtainly is this ihe case that a knowledge of 
the composition of the ash of plants that a 
particular soil produces, supplies much infor- 
mation in relation to the composition of the 
soil iiself. We know that that soil must be 
capable of supplying all the inorganic bodies 
found by previous analysis 10 be present in 
the a she*, ollterwise the plants would have refused 
Ut rnaJvre. 

A ?-a in, the ashe* of different species of plants 

grown upon the very same soil are found to 

differ, and this difference becomes greater in 

proportion as the difference in the species 

Voi. XIII.— I. 



widens. Wheat and Indian corn, for instance, 
grown on the same soil differ in their ash, but 
the difference would be much more marked, 
if instead of comparing two grain crops, we 
were to compare one of them with a root crop, 
such as potatoes or turnips. 

We, therefore, conclude that the inorganic 
matter which constitutes the ashes, is, although 
small in quantity, a necessary part of plants; 
and consequently that supplies of it must be 
within their reach, or they cannot mature. 
The substances found in the ashes of plants, 
and which may be said to constitute the inor- 
ganic food of plants, are potassa, soda, lime, 
magnesia, oxide of iron, oxide of manganese, sili- 
ca, chlorine, sulphuric andphosphoric acids. Every 
plant contains nearly all of these, in small 
quantity, though sometimes one and"f(jmetimes 
another is absent; each taking what is neces- 
sary to it. ♦ 

But while (hey all require nearly the same 
substances, there is a striking difference in 
the amount of ashes left by different plants, 
(showing that they require different amounts 
of inorganic food,) and an equally striking 
difference in the proportions of the various 
substances which compose their ashes. A 
familiar illustration of these truths may be 
drawn from a comparison of the ashes of the 
various kinds of wood; every body knows 
I that pine in burning leaves very little ash, 
{ while hickory or oak, leaves a much larger 
i amount; and that the ashes of hickory are 
very highly prized for making lye for soap, 
&c. while there are many kinds of wood 
whose ashes are regarded as almost worthless 
for such purposes. In the one case the ashes 
abound in potassa, the active principle of the 
lye, while in the others the proportion of this 
alkali is small, and hence the lye from them 
must be weak. Altera field, by long continued 
cropping, is exhausted, and turned out as 
worthless, it is soon covered with "old-field" 
pines, or some analogous growth; but never 
with young hickory, walnut or locust, and for 
the simple reason that the field, although ex- 
hausted, has sufficient inorganic matter left 
to supply the small quantity required by a 
growth of pine, but not enough to meet the 
much greater demands of a growth of either 
of the abovementioned trees. Again, it is 
within the observation of every one, that the 
spontaneous vegetation on a soil is a pretty 
good index of its quality; that such trees as 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



hickory and walnut are the product of a good I 
soil; chestnut of a lighter, and pine of a still | 
1 ghter. Now all this results from this differ- I 
enee in plants with respect to the amounts 
and proportions of inorganic food required; 
the hickory can grow only in those situations 
where abundant supplies of food are to be 
fjund, while the pine takes undisturbed pos- 
session of the sterile mountain side, because 
it there meets with supplies sufficient for its 
wants. One class of plants will always be 
found in limestone regions, because it is there 
they meet with soi!.s rich in lime; another 
makes its home upon the sea shore or on the 
borders of salt ponds, because it is only when 
near the salt water that it meets with plentiful 
supplies of soda — and in almost all cases where 
particular plants manifest preferences for cer- 
tain soils or for particular localities, the pre- 
ferences result from the peculiar demands 
of the plants with respect to their inorganic 
food. 

Different plants not only differ in the amounts 
and proportions of the inorganic matter they 
contain, but the same differences are to be ob- 
served in the various parts of the same plant. 
The grain of wheat, for instance, yields but 



from one to two per cent, of ash, the stem 
some six or seven, and the leaf some seven or 
eight. The dried roots of turnips or beets 
leave but one or two per cent, of ash, while 
the leaves often yield some twenty or thirty. 
The ash from different parts of the plant dif- 
fers very materially in composition, a fact 
which is of great practical importance to the 
farmer. The grain of wheat, for example, 
yields an ash in which phosphoric aeid is the 
leading ingredient, while the straw leaves an 
ash, three-fourths of which is silica. The prin- 
cipal inorganic substance taken from the soil 
in the grain is, therefore, phosphoric acid, and 
by the straw, silica. If now the farmer sells 
his wheat and returns the straw to the land, a 
very large per centage of the inorganic matter 
removed by the crop will be returned; but the 
return of the silica of the straw can never 
restore the phosphoric acid removed in the 
grain, and no matter how skilfully the land is 
worked, it must eventually become deficient 
in this acid, unless supplied from some other 
source. 

The following table, taken from the late 
Prof. Norton's Elements of Scientific Agricul- 
ture, is worthy a careful examination: 



Table showing the per centage of the various Inorganic Substances found in the AM of certain 

Cultivated Plants. 





Indian 


Wheat. 


Wheat 


Rye. 


Oats. 


Potatoes 


Turnips. 


Hav. 




Corn. 




Straw. 












Carbonic acid, 


trace 










10.4 


. 


. 


Sulphuric acid, 


0.5 


1.0 


1.0 


1.5 


10.5 


7.1 


13.6 


2.7 


Phosphoric acid, 


49.2 


47.0 


3.1 


47.3 


43.8 


113 


7.6 


6.0 


Chlorine, - - 


03 


trace 


0.6 


- 


0.3 


2.7 


3.5 


2.6" 


Lime, - - - 


0.1 


2.9 


8.5 


2.9 


4.9 


1.8 


13.6 


22.9 


Magnesia, - - 


17 5 


15.9 


5.0 


10.1 


9.9 


54 


5.3 


5.7 


Potassa,- - - 


23.2 


295 


7.2 


38 8 


| 272 


51.5 


42.0 


18 2 


Soda,- - - - 


3.8 


trace 


03 


4.4 


trace 


5.2 


23 


Silica, - - - 


08 


1.3 


' 67.6 


0.2 


2.7 


8.6 


79 


37 9 


Oxide of iron, 


0.1 


trace 


1.0 


08 


0.4 


05 


1.3 


1.7 


Charcoal and loss, 


4.5 


2.4 


5.7 


- - 


0.3 


0.7 


- 


- 




100 


100.0 


100 


100.0 


100.0 


100 


100.0 


1000 



This table not only shows that different 
plants, and different parts of the same plant, 
differ widely as to the amounts of inorganic 
food required, but it shows that they may be 
classified with reference to the inorganic mat- 
ter to be found in their ashes. We see that 
in the grains phosphoric acid is the predomi- 
naiing substance, nearly one-half of the ash 
being composed of it, while in the straw silica 
is greatly in excess, and the proportion of 
phosphoric acid very small. There are also 
considerable amounts of potassa in the grains, 
but less in straw. Hence the grain crops draw 
upon the soil for silica, phosphoric acid and 
potassa more largely than for any of the other 
bodies. 

By reference to the column for potatoes we 
fiad the proportion of phosphoric acid very 



much less than in the grains, and the potassa 
very considerably greater. The other root 
crops, such as turnips, beets, &c. all have a 
larse proportion of potassa in their ashes; and 
hence they all draw largely upon the soil for 
this alkali. There is also a large proportion 
of potassa in peas and beans. 

In the ash of hay we have silica predomi- 
nating as in straw, and for the same purpose, 
to give strength and toughness to the stem; 
the next most abundant substance is lime, 
then potassa, and after that phosphoric acid. 
Clover contains much less silica than meadow 
hay, but the lime is in greater quantity. Lime 
abounds in all the grasses, and this fact ex- 
plains why it is that they flourish so luxuri- 
antly in limestone regions, where the soils are 
plentifully supplied with lime. It explains. 



TEIE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



too, why it is, that on lands that have been 
heavily limed or marled, the farmer finds it 
difficult, in many cases, to keep his fields 
clear of grass. Lime is also the prevailing 
constituent in the ash of tobacco. 

From the above we see that vegetable pio- j 
ductions may be classified with respect to | 
their ashes — 1st, to include all those, such as ; 
the grains, in which phosphoric acid is the I 
leading ingredient; 2,1, to include those in I 
which silica predominates; 3d, to include J 
those, as the root crops, in which" potassa is ! 
the prevailing constituent; and 4th, to include 
those, such as the grasses, tobacco, &c. in 
which lime prevails. 

Different parts of the same plant must fre- | 
quently be classified differently; thus the 
grains, as we have seen, drain the soil of its | 
phosphoric acid, while the stems, which bear i 
this grain, take up large amounts of silica. 
The tubers of the potato are rich in potassa, j 
while the stems, or tops, contain much lime. 
Thus the grains are in the first class, and their 
straw in the second; the potato is in the third , 
class; potato tops in the fourth, and so on for i 
various other plants. But while the plant, or 
part of the plant, from the predominant inor- 
ganic substance it contains, is placed in a par- 
ticular class, it frequently happens that an al- 
most equal demand is made upon the soil for 
some other body. For example, the grains 
draw heavily for phosphoric acid, and at the 
same time some of them draw almost as hea- j 
vily for potassa. Peas and beans, according 
to Boussingault, may be regarded as potassa i 
plants; they also contain very considerable 
amounts of phosphoric acid — more, when*we 
take the yield per acre into the account, than 
would be required (bran average cropof wheat. 
The cotton plant, according to an analysis . 
raa'de in the laboratory of the late Professor j 
Norton, draws most heavily upon the soil for : 
phosphoric acid; it at the same time requires 
nearly an equal amount of potassa and lime. 

We have seen that plants differ as much in 
the per centage of inorganic matter required 
for their uses as in the proportions; hence we 
should expect as great diversity in the quan- 
tities of inorganic matter removed from the 
soil by different crops as would be found in 
the composition of the ashes of these crops, 
supposing even that the same soil produces 
equal amountsof thedifferentcultivated plants. 
Bnt all know that a soil which produces twenty j 
bushels of wheat will most generally produce 
forty bnshels of corn, and that there are as 
marked differences in other crops. Therefore, 
in considering the effects of different crops 
upon a soil, it is proper to consider, first, what 
are the principal substances removed in a 
given crop; second, what relation does the 
weight of the ash bear to that of the entire 
crop; and third, what is the yield of the land in 
this crop, as compared with the yield of the 
same land in the various other crops cultivated 
by the farmer. 

Let us consider for a moment the effects of 



an average crop of wheat and corn, under the 
supposition that the straw and stalks are re- 
turned to the soil. Here we have two grain 
crops, and they differ but little as to the kind 
or proportion of inorganic matter removed 
by each. But if we look for a moment at the 
yield of each per acre, a difference is observed 
that the mere analysis does not point out. In 
these two grains we may assume the per cent- 
age of ash as the same, and still one may be 
called a "delicate" and the other a "gross" 
feeder' A crop of twenty bushels of wheat will 
remove some thirty pounds of inorganic mat- 
ter in the grain, of which nearly one-half is 
phosphoric acid and one-fourth potassa. Now 
since the land which produces twenty bushels 
of wheat will produce some forty of corn, the 
crop of corn must remove a great deal more 
inorganic matter than the wheat, and since 
the two grains yield ashes which are very 
much alike in composition, it follows that the 
crop of corn removes much more of the very 
same bodies, such as phosphoric acid, potassa, 
&c. than the crop of wheat does. A large 
crop of wheat may remove in the grain and 
straw some forty pounds of phosphoric acid, 
but a corresponding crop of corn would re- 
move from sixty to seventy-five pounds of the 
same acid. 

Boussingault has given us the results of 
some very careful analyses of the ashes left 
by the various crops grown on the same land 
in a regular rotation, from which we select a 
few numbers for comparison. The crop of 
wheat, about eighteen bushels to the acre, re- 
moved 25 pounds of inorganic matter, ana 1 the 
straw removed 180 pounds, of which 121 were 
silica. The crop of clover, about a ton and a 
half to the acre, removed 284 pounds, of which 
70 pounds were lime and 77 were potassa. 

The quantities of lime and potassa taken by 
the clover were at least three times as much as 
the quantities of these same substances taken 
by the wheat and straw together. The ash of 
clover contains but six per cent, of phosphoric 
acid, but where the amount of ash is so great 
even this small per centage makes the total 
amount of phosphoric acid in the cropof clovers 
more than it is in the wheat. 

Again, the crop of potatoes removed IIS' 
pounds of inorganic matter to the acre, over 
fifty pounds of which were potassa and soda; 
the potato tops removed 300 pounds, 135 of 
which were potassa and soda, 30 of phosphoric 
acid, &c. 

These examples are sufficient to show that 
it is a matter of no little consequence to the 
scientific farmer to have some correct infor- 
mation in relation to the composition of the 
ashes of the various plants he cultivates, in 
order that he may form some idea of the 
quantity and quality of the substances annu- 
ally removed from his land in his crops-: — 
They also show the importance of restoring 
to the soil all those parts of the plant which 
are not the special objects of cultivation, such 
as the straw, leaves, &c. — for besides- making 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



a positive addition to the store of organic 
matter in the soil, they return much valuable 
inorganic matter. 

The study of the inorganic food of plants 
becomesa matterof consequence in connexion 
with the subject of rotation of crops, for the 
necessity of rotations results from the fact 
that different plants require very different sub- 
stances as food, or require them in different 
proportions. 

In what has been said we have assumed 
that the inorganic bodies of plants are derived 
exclusively from the soil; and that the soil 
supplies them all will become manifest when 
we consider that the atmosphere does not con- 
tain any of the substances found in the ash of 
plants. Of course, then, the soil, to be pro- 
ductive, must contain each and everyone of 
the inorganic bodies to be found in the ash of 
plants, or they must be added to it as manure. 
This leads us to a consideration of the nature 
and properties of the soil, which we shall at- 
tempt in our next. 



For the Southern Planter. 

THE HESSIAN PLY, THE BLACK FLY, 
AND THE JOINT WORM. 

[Extracts from the Memoirs of the Pennsylvania 
Agricultural Society.] 

Mr. Editor, — Since writing you before upon 
the above subjects I have obtained additional 
information upon them, which it may be proper 
to communicate for your paper. 

In September I staid a few days with a prac- 
tical farmer in New York, on the North river, 
and in the course of conversation the appear- 
ance of my wheat last spring was mentioned. 
He at once remarked that his own had a very 
similar appearance at the same time, and 
subsequently, after he had read my communi- 
cation in your paper, he said he believed they 
had the same disease in New York that we 
had in Virginia. Some time after that I was 
informed by a gentleman from Maryland, be- 
fore he had heard of the tufty condition of our 
wheat, that his mother's had a like appearance 
last spring, looking "as if guano had been 
scattered irregularly over the land." To my 
mind the black-fly w,as present in both these 
cases — if nothing else. These are recent in- 
stances. In the Memoirs of the old Pennsyl- 
vania Agricultural Society, (copies of which 
have recently fallen into my hands, for the 
'first time,) the same disease, or diseases, are 
minutely described. In Vol. I. (which is not 
by me, and from which I cannot extract,) 
.there is a communication from L. Hollings- 
worth, dated Elkton, 1807, upon sedgy wheat, 
with comments by Judge Peters. In Vol. II. 
p. 287, he again writes, "June 24, 1810— Gen- 
tlemen, a few years ago I informed you of a 
•distemper in my wheat, which I call a decay 



| in the root; others call it sedge wheat. This 
malady continue:' with increasing spread. 

"From information that on land where the 
red chaff had been destroyed, the white wheat 
would succeed by sowing it the next rotation 
of crops, last fall 1 tried the experiment on 
about two acres, in a field that had been de- 
stroyed three years ago, by sowing part of the 
land that had been affected with red chaff and 
part with white wheat. The red chaff languid; 
white recovering. 

"From about the 15th of March to the mid- 
dle of May the whole appeared nearly dead, 
or what is generally called sedge wheat. At 
present the white wheat is making considera- 
ble progress; and, if it ripens clear of rtfst, 
may be half a crop, while the red chaff don't 
seem to recover. As there must be a cause for 
effects, my hypothesis, or reasoning on this 
subject is, that it is well known that the red 
chaff bearded wheat don't stool or throw up 
as many stalks from the root as other wheat, 
it requires more seed to produce a crop equally 
thick, of course, may not put out as many 
side roots, but depends more on the main tap- 
root for nourishment. 

"The tap-root being injured prevents its 
recovering as other wheats do. This may be 
the cause of the red chaff being injured by 
this pernicious insect more than other wheat. 
Hoping some abler hand may make further 
discoveries on this pernicious insect. It ap- 
pears all sorts of wheat are exactly alike, but 
the bearded don't recover as other wheats do. 
Rye is proof against it." 

Among other comments on the above, Judge 
Peters says: 

"1. The best remedy would be to discon- 
tinue, by general consent of a neighborhood 
infested with the worm or insect, the culture 
of wheat. It may be an indication of Nature 
that a change of crops is indispensable. And 
they may as well do willingly that to which 
necessity will compel. 

"2. I proposed fall or winter ploughing, and 
frequent winter harrowing, to expose the worm 
or larvce of the insect to the severity of frosts. 

"3. To lime lands infested, and to spread 
salt, (marine,) plaster of Paris, or any other 
substance known to destroy insects or worms. 

"4. To try experiments on the living worm, 
or insect, be it moth, beetle, fly, or in whatever 
shape the enemv may, in any stage of its ex- 
istence, be found ; to discover what will kill or 
banish it. The change of one speciesof wheat 
for anotherdoes not seem effectually to answer 
the purpose. ***** 

"The Southern 'decay of the root,' most cer- 
tainly owing to insects, may obl'ge farmers 
afflicted with the misfortune to banish many 
bad habits, such as sowing wheat among In- 
dian corn, and laboring over a vast surface 
for very little proportionate profit, &c. &c." 

Is not this thu black fly of last spring"? and 
it seems to have attracted then, as now, atten- 
tion first at the South. 

In Vol. III. p. 1G5, is a long and well writ- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



ten essay upon "The Failure of the Wheat 
Crops, and the Insects by which they are as- 
sailed,' 1 by Jas. North, dated "Sharon, Bucks 
County, 1823,"— about the time, Mr. Editor, 
that we were so afflicted in Culpeper county, 
as mentioned in my former communication. | 
From this essay I will make some extracts, 
and italicise some portions, omitting by far the 
largest part. • 

"Sir, — The failure of the wheat crops of 
the present year, occasioned principally by 
the depredation of insects, and generally at- 
tributed to the Hessian fly, (cecidomyia — de- i 
structor of hay,) seems to bring us to a point ! 
in which we ought at once to determine either j 
to abandon the crop or devise some decisive 
measures for its future success. * * A failure 
has taken place to an alarming extent through- 
out a great portion of our wheat country. * * i 
From almost every quarter we have accounts 
of the most distressing kind. Many farmers 
have not gathered the amount of seed sown; 
some have found their fields not worth reaping; j 
and the disaster may be considered as gene- 
rally lessening the product more than one-half, j 
and that loo after the fairest prospect of an abun- \ 
dani crop. 

"The wheat crop is injured by at least four ■■ 
descriptions of insects — that which causes the 
disease called sedge or stunt — the Hessian fly — a : 
worm thai is found in the stalks near the roots and j 
aJjoul the joints — and another worm that causes 
the early change of color of the ear. * * The: 
insect that causes sedge or stunt I am not able ', 
to identify, but I presume the damage is done [ 
late in autumn or winter, as when in spring 
we discover the disease we cannot find the in- i 
sect. The root of the original shoot is then 
destroyed and the plant soon afterwards throws 
out new roots which produce weak stalks of, 
a sedge-like appearance. Some observers con- j 
tend that it is a small worm, but the time 
when this worm has been seen leads me to 
suspect that it is attracted by the decayed ; 
root, and therefore is a consequence — not the 
cause of disease. I should rather suppose 
that it is a species of aphis or plant louse! 
which does the mischief: it is certainly some- j 
thing that harbors in the ground. It appears 
that the disease is confined to the bearded 
wheat, especially red chaff; and that by sow- 
ing the bald species, good crops have been 
raised when the other sorts ha*d entirely failed ; 
so that changing theseed has some effect; i 
nevertheless I suppose that all kinds are more I 
or less injured; and to set rid of the evil ef- 
fectually we must apply the remedy to the ! 
soil. 1 have recommended salt; ashes might 
be good; and should perhaps be applied at 
the time of sowing, and be harrowed in with 
the grain. I, however, have had but few oppor- 
tunities of examining the disease, and I here 
mention it chiefly to arrest the attention of 
others. 

"The fly evolves, &c. ♦ * I would, how- 
ever, observe that the fly prefers the weakest 
plants, and hence the reason that the latest 



sowing frequently suffers the most; and hence, 
also, the advantage of manuring; indeed there 
is a difficulty in making a deposit upon a 
broad leaf of a luxuriant plant — the fly having 
to grasp it with its claws in order to press the 
egg into the gutter." (Query, is this a fact!) 
* * "In a letter which I some time ago ad- 
dressed to Mr. Skinner, I took occasion to say 
that I believed my communication to the Phi- 
ladelphia Society for promoting agriculture 
was the first publication of the true deposit of 
the Hessian fly, but I have since found that 
Gen. J. H. Cocke published his observations 
more than two years earlier. I regret that I 
was not apprised of his discovery at the time 

1 wrote, as I would not intentionally detract 
from the merit of any one. General Cocke, 
however, has only noticed the fall deposit. 
Dr. Chapman of Bucks county, appears to 
have been the first observer, but he omitted to 
publish his remarks, and he has only traced 
two generations instead of three, having blended 
the first and second. The worm which is 
found in the stalk, is about three-sixteenths of 
an inch long, pale yellow, somewhat opaque 
about two-thirds its length, with two brown 
spots about its mouth. I have not yet seen 
the winged state, but am taking measures to 
ascertain it. There are three generations in 
a year, and the deposits are made a few days 
earlier than those of the Hessian fly. The 
ravages of the first generation have usually 
been confounded with those of the fly, as the 
plants decline in both cases about the same 
time, and in the same manner;C?) but such as 
are affected by this insect can readily be dis- 
tinguished by an enlargement of the culm 
near the root. The second generation is lodged 
about the several joints, and may frequently be 
found in apparently healihy plants. This gen- 
eration must materially lessen the quantity of 
grain, a,nd I conceive is the principal cause of the 
bad product from the straw. The third genera- 
tion, in the autumn, is lodged in the manner 
of the first, and the damage has also been 
charged to the Hessian fly. 

"As the Hessian fly and the insect last 
treated of accompany each other in point of 
time the same means will destroy both." — 
Questionable. " It has been asserted that sow- 
ing oats among wheat would protect the latter 
by inducing a deposit on the latter." Stated 
not effectual. "A late writer has asserted 
that the Hessian fly deposits its eggs on the 

2 rain of the wheat, and that steeping the seed 
is an effectual remedy." Stated not effectual. 
"Pasturing has been recommended, and when 
accomplished immediately after the spring 
deposit, or while the insect is confined to the 
leaf, it maybe effectual; but the work must 
be completed in a very few days, and even 
then it might be a dangerous expedient, un- 
less on strong grounds, and the season should 
prove favorable; besides it would require close 
examination, to determine the precise time. 
If done before the sexual intercourse that takes 
place, such is the sagacity of the insect that 



s 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



it would await the renewal of the plants, or 
until provision for its progeny be made — ne- 
vertheless if done by only a few individuals, 
say about the 20ih of April, they indeed might 
derive an advantage by causing the flies which 
are in their fields to seek a lodgement else- 
where; but this would be injuiing others ill 
the same degree that they are benefited. 

"Particular species of wheat are supposed 
to resist the attack, but it appears to me that 
the fly prefers the late kinds, therefore, those 
who sow early sorts (I mean early spring growth) 
escape by throwing the fly upon their neigh- 
bors; no general good Jesuits, and if we were 
all to sow early wheat none would be bene- 
fited, unless a late kind were sown amongst 
it, and both being distributed over the field, 
the fly would prefer the late, and so only thin 
the plants without injuring the crop; but the 
difficulty would be in continuing the separate 
kinds, as by a mixture degeneration would take 
place, and indeed one kind would soon be 
destroyed. 

"Late sowing." Stated not effectual. 

"Burning the stubble has been advised. It 
would be likely to destroy such of the insects 
as were then lodged, .but it would prevent the 
scattered grains from vegetating, and conse- 
quently wonld cause the remaining flies (and 
there are a great many lodged elsewhere) to 
wait for our fall sowing, which might be very 
destructive. 

"I will now proceed to state what I con- 
ceive to be a very easy and effectual remedy 
against both the Hessian fly and insect lodged 
in the straw. Plough up the stubble as soon 
after harvest as convenient, and harrow the 
ground well, which will destroy a great pro- 
portion of the insects in the pupa state, and 
will cause a sufficient number of plants to 
spring up to receive the deposit of such as 
may escape the ploughing or evolve from the 
barn or stacks, and by ploughing again at any 
time between 1st October and 1st April, the 
work of destruction will be accomplished; at 
any rate the number would be so reduced as 
to become harmless; but the work must be 
generally gone into, for it must be obvious 
that a few individuals can do but little to re- 
move an evil, whilst thousands are united to 
increase it. + * My plan will probably be 
• ohjected to on account of the prevailing prac- 
tice of sowing grass seeds among the wheat, 
yet a due consideration of the subject will, 1 
'trust, induce a different practice. I have 
changed my course of crops, by breaking up 
the ground for wheat, next corn, and ending 
•with oats and grass, and so far as my experi- 
ment has gone I believe it the better plan for 
all the grains, independent of the fly. If it 
should not succeed as to grass, it is only ne- 
cessary toomit sowing grass seeds among the 
oats, and afterwards prepare the ground spe- 
cially for grass; or if it is found best to con- 
tinue the present course by ending with wheat, 
■ omit sowing grass seeds until the ground is 
ploughed for the destruction of the fly, as above 



advised, causing the last ploughing to be made 
about 1st of October. * * * 

"The insect which causes the early change 
of color of the ear, &c. does not appear, up 
to this time, to have been of enough impor- 
tance to merit farther notice here." 

Should these extracts appear to yon to throw 
sufficient light upon the history of the diseases 
with which we are now troubled, they are at 
your service for publication, entire or abbre- 
viated, at your discretion. 

I am tempted to make some comments, but 
will only make one remark upon the subject 
of spring grazing, or pasturing wheat. It 
would undoubtedly be very beneficial, as to 
the Hessian fly, if done immediately upon the 
deposit of the eggs, and by a flock of sheep 
sufficiently numerous to range over the whole 
surface and consume the foliage in three or 
four days. But as to the black fly, it would 
probably be totally inefficacious, as that is 
deposited within the stalk close down to the 
root, and could only be got at by tearing up 
the whole plant, root and all. 

Anon. 

December, 1852. 



For the Southern Planter. 

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. 

Mr. Editor, — When I subscribed for the 
Southern Planter, at the Loudoun August 
court, 1 promised to give you my experience 
in using some valuable agricultural imple- 
ments, for the benefit of my brother farmers. 
1st. Pennock's Drill; 2d. M'Cormick's Reaper; 
3d. M'Keevei's Threshing and Cleaning Ma- 
chine. I purchased one of Pennock's Drills 
in 1850: price ©100. They have since been 
improved and simplified in their construction, 
and now sell for ©65. In the last week of 
September, 1850, and the first week in October, 
I seeded with the drill two clover fallow fields 
of 45 acres each — one with White Blue-Stem 
and the other with Zimmerman wheal, 1£ 
bushels to the acre, and reaped, the next har- 
vest, 2600 bushels, mill weight, which is near 
29 bushels per acre — more by 5 bushels to the 
acre than I hai ever made from the same 
fields. I had attributed the increased yield 
partly to the favorable season and the in- 
creased fertility of the soil. But subsequent 
experience with the drill has convinced me 
that it possesses much advantage over the 
common broadcast seeding. It saves half a 
bushel of wheat per acre and deposits the 
grain regularly in trenches, where it is not so 
liable to be thrown out by frost. The heads 
all come to maturiij»at the same time without 
any of the undergrowth of small heads, which 
is caused by the roots being frozen out in win- 
ter. One hand and two horses can put in ten 
acres per day with the drill. I have made 
several experiments with the drill on corn- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



land, which answers well when the land is 
light and not much grass. We cut the corn- 
stubble low, and run a harrow before the drill. 
The Pennock Drill is made in Waterford, 
Loudoun. There are drills of other kinds 
thai answer a good purpose. 

I have been using M'Cormick's Reaper for 
seven years, and was the first that introduced 
them in Loudoun. In smooth land and heavy 
wheat thevsave much labor and grain. They 
cut about 5i or 6 feet. Three horses and two 
hands cut about one acre per hour. In heavy 
grain it requires four hands to bind alter one 
reaper. For the last three years I have used 
two of them, and average twenty-five acres 
p:rday through the harvest M'Cormick had 
one at the World's Fair in London, last year, 
which look a premium. He is now making 
them at Chicago, and has made some improve- 
ment on them. Hussey and M'Keever both 
make reapers of another kind, which are highly 
spoken of by iho*e who have used them. 

About thirty years since I purchased the 
patent right of a spike Threshing and Clean- 
ins Machine for Loudoun county — a one-horse 
working model: was brought from Maine. At 
that time there was not a portable horse-power 
or threshing machine in the county, to my 
knowledge. Grain was trod out with horses. 
I was extremely anxious to introduce some- 
thing to supersede the tedious operation the 
farmers had to undergo in getting out their 
grain. I gave Mr. Reuben Hutcheson the 
right to have one made in Loudoun, and Mr. 
Lewis Berkeley had one put up in Prince 
William; both of which proved failures, owing 
to the want of skill in the workmen. About 
five or six years after Mr. George Wright, an 
Englishman, in Middletown, introduced his 
Six-Horse Power Beater Machine. I was 
among the first to use them in Loudoun, and 
the farmers were so well satisfied with them 
that there was no attempt to improve the 
threshing machine for many years. Some 
fifteen or eighteen years past some ingenious 
mechanic commenced making the Spike Ma- 
chine, and it has been improved from time to 
time, until finally Mr. M'Keever of Winches- 
ter, has put to it a fan and elevators. It now 
threshes, cleans and bags the wheat, fit for the 
mill, at the rate of thirty bushels per hour, and 
saves the labor of five hands, and no waste of 
grain in the straw, which is separated from 
the chaff also. They are made in Winchester 
by Richards & May, and some other mecha- 
nics: price about four hundred dollars, horse- 
power, carriage, and all complete. I have 
been using the Wright Beater Machine for 
twenty-five years, as it puts the straw in better 
order to feed cattle. I have bought one of 
M'Keever's threshers and attached it to my 
Wright horse-power, which I like better than 
the horse-power they make wiih them. The 
Wright horse-power is double geared, and 
stronger, and requires the horses to walk much 
slower. 1 started the machine on Monday, 
the 8th of lire present month, and in seven 



dfiys we threshed and cleaned about two thou- 
sand bushels: price of thresher $225. They 
can be attached to any horse-power that works 
with a tumbling shaft, provided it revolves 
any where Between seventy-five and eighty-five 
revolutions to the horses' one. Jn my judg- 
ment, the machine is superior to any I have 
ever seen, and it must supersede all others. 

I have been thus particular in relating the 
first introduction and the subsequent improve- 
ments on the threshing machine in Loudoun, 
to show the farmers how much they are in- 
debted to ingenious mechanics, and how much 
labor has been lost in lime past for the want of 
them. 

Respectfully yours, &c. 

William Bknton. 

Spring Hill, Loudoun, Nov. 25, 1852. 



»For the Southern Planter. 
PRAISE OF AGRICULTURE. 

CARBONATE OF LIME. 

Mr. E'lilor, — At an early period of my life 
I read, with very deep interest, the numbers 
of John Taylor's "Arator," as they first ap- 
peared, I think, in the "Richmond Enquirer." 
The powerful sense of its able author took a 
strong grasp on my youthful mind, and pro- 
duced a conviction — not yet erased — of the 
vast importance of agriculmre to the well- 
being of the community. Not the agriculture 
deceiving its votaries by a vain attempt to 
furnish the means of luxurious and extrava- 
gant living, without mental and bodily exer- 
tion on their part — nor that which man, illi- 
terate and penurious, sordidly delves, as the 
slave of avarice, for the purpose of hoarding 
lucre; but that noble agriculture which gene- 
rously and gratefully cultivates God's earth, 
with the high aim of qualifying it to sustain 
the greatest number of human beings, and to 
become His own garden — to spread plenty 
and beauty over our beloved country — to afford 
personal wealth — 

"Not for to birle it in a hedge, 

Nor for a train attendant; 
But for thf glorious privilege 

Of being independent." 

Such an agriculture is well worthy to be com- 
mended, enlightened and patronized by all 
whoare themselvesenlightened and patriotic — 
j especially by the reverend clergy — for agri- 
culture is not only "a nursing moiher" to the 
| State, but it pours out noble food for every 
; feeling and principle of a generous cast — 
patriotic, mora) and religious. Glorious would 
be the result could the poor sinking Old Do- 
I minion wisely look to such an agriculture to 
|save her from her threatened destiny. The 
I prime of my life has been devoted to a labo- 
1 rious practice of medicine in the country. A 



10 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



conviciion of the importance of agriculture, 
however, held possession of my mind through 
all my labors, and I felt strong faith that new 
lights would be shed on the subject, and that 
new guides would arise to unravel many dark 
mysteries, and unveil much valuable truth. 
In the midst of these sanguine reveries 1 met 
with "The Essay on Calcareous Manures" — 
bought and read it before I left the bookstore, j 
The appearance of this book formed an era j 
in the agriculture of Virginia, the full devel- 1 
opment of which can, as yet, by no means be ! 
estimated. A correspondence which I ob- j 
truded on its author, led me, with many mis- ! 
givings,toeommence writingarticlesfor "The 
Farmers' Register." The discontinuance of | 
that work dashed many hopes which I had j 
enthusiastically indulged and which would ] 
again be greatly revived by "The Southern 
Planter," under your auspices, did I not know 
how hard it is for any thing besides politics 
10 take firm and lasting hold on th% Virginia [ 
mind. Is this because politics with the mind, j 
as alcohol with the body, produces, artificially, 
a pleasurable stimulation, allowing nature to | 
relax in her labors until she is ready to refuse 
work altogether, unless aided by this artificial 
help? If so, perhaps it would be wise to re- 
sort more generally to the caucus, which seems 
to be a sort of political gin, producing such 
delightful intoxication on our citizens. Hole 
and comer clubs, properly conducted, might j 
possibly counteract the power of political cau- 1 
cases, and at the same time excite some agri- j 
cultural fervor in our Commonwealth. 

"The Planter" can do but little of the good 
desired, unless many of those anxious in the j 
cause of agriculture and capable of writing, ; 
will consent to aid you in filling its pages. It 
ought not to be expected of one man to per- j 
form such labor. I once thought that should 
I ever enjoy the leisure of age I would attempt 
much in this way. But with the leisure have 
come the infirmities of age, which disqualify 
as much for the practical researches and ex- 
ertions of agriculture as for the practice of 
medicine. I feel now the same misgivings as 
regards ability to write that I ever did, and 
only attempt it because so few seem disposed 
to aid you. 

My special motive for addressing you at this 
time is to call attention to a subject into which, 
forseveral years, I have been anxiously inquir- 
ing. I had been in the habit of supposing that 
carbonate of lime, in large quantities — natural 
orapplied — was absolutely indispensable to the 
productivenessof any soil and thatlandsdevoid 
of it might, by its application, be rendered per- 
manently fertile, unless they contained matters 
poisonous to vegetation which lime could not 
neutralize. This is doubtless true as regards 
the tide-water region. I have, however, for 
the last fifteen years been hearingoccasionally 
of gentlemen, in this our middle region, who 
have, with great care and some expense, ap- 
plied oyster-shell lime without being able to 
detect the slightest change in the character of 



ihe land. Two of these experiments have 
been tried in the last five years within four 
miles of my house. One of ihem — made by 
a particularfriend, whom I often visit, — I have 
anxiously watched, and neither I nor the ei- 
perimenter have been able to perceive the 
slightest benefit wrought on the land. I am 
not certain that I remember correctly, but I 
think there were about 20(10 bushels of lime 
applied, at the rate of thirty bushels to the 
acre. That land and the adjoining have been 
well dosed, both with purchased and home- 
made manures. Being treated alike, except 
as to the application of lime on part, not the 
slightest difference can be perceived. 

I and many others— bound by ties to this 
region which we cannot think of severing — 
have been living in hopes that the time would 
soon come when, through some of the new 
modes of internal improvement, we might 
procure lime on remunerative terms. If these 
experiments are to be relied on, these hopes — 
even if gratified — would all be vain. But may 
we not believe that He who denied lime to 
our region has provided that it should not be 
needed? I do not know that it has been pro- 
ven that carbonate of lime, a-s such, is taken 
up by vegetation. From all the experiments 
made among us the highest Benefit is afforded 
by phosphate of lime. It is possible that be- 
low tide-water, and in other regions where 
lime produces such striking effects, that phos- 
phoric or some other acid may exist in the 
soil, ready to do good as soon as it comes in 
contact with lime. If such acid be absent 
from our soil, we have only to apply it, com- 
bined with lime enough to neutralize il, and 
we, possibly, gain all the benefits which could 
accrue frot§ lime, whatever additional quan- 
tity of simple carbonate might be applied. A 
gentleman, in my immediate neighborhood, 
purchased, last spring, thirty-seven tons of 
Mexican guano, containing 57 per cent, of 
phosphate of lime. Of this he retained fifteen 
tons, and disposed of twenty-two among his 
friends. Some of this was sown on very poor 
land, in corn, in full view of my house, and 
the crop, 1 judge, must have been at least 
twenty bushels to the acre. I cannot believe 
that land, with so much dry weather, could, 
unassisted, have bVought corn at all, for a 
great portion of it was a naked red gall. Here 
was an instance of one combination of lime 
producing surprising effects. I know that 
without a rigid analysis of any soil it is im- 
possible to give a rational explanation of the 
result of any application made to it. But 
when we know that carbonate of lime won- 
derfully meliorates soil below tide-water, and 
renders no perceivable benefit to soils in this 
region, we may fairly infer that there is an 
inherent difference in the two kinds of soil. 
Moreover, there must be some ingredient in 
the tide-water lands— denied to ours— which 
produces benefit, by combination with carbo- 
nate of lime. 

But one instance of rigid analysis of a soil, 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



11 



in this region, has come to my knowledge. 
That was made by Dr. D. Stewart of Balti- 
more, lor my neighbor and friend, Thomas E. 
Perkinson, Esq. — the gentleman alluded to 
above. I regret that my copy of this has been 
mislaid, and the original has been loaned to a 
gentleman some twenty miles off. I distinctly 
recollect, however, that the high land — red 
Appomattox hills, composed of stiff clay, in- 
termingled with smooth river quartz pebble 
and much coarse sand, very different from the 
ordinary landsof the neighborhood — contained 
not more than one-tenth of one per cent, of 
lime, and so little phosphoric acid, that Dr. 
Stewart recommended the use of Mexican 
guano as the cheapest mode of supplying the 
deficiency. There was, likewise, in this ana- 
lysis but very little potash, which — from the 
underlying felspar and its intermingled de- 
tritus — [ should judge, is much more abun- 
dant in the neighboring grey lands. Should 
the free use of this guano — in many instances 
mixed with Peruvian — greatly increase the 
capacity of our lands for the production of 
grain and clover, and especially, should ana- 
lysis of soils — with a view of adapting ma- 
nures to their particular wants — become com- 
mon, we may, possibly, look less despondingly 
on the negation of lime to our region. Whe- 
ther land, destitute, or nearly so, of calcareous 
matter, can have its privation compensated by 
the application of some of the compounds of 
lime — less bulky and weighty, and, of course, 
less expensive in transportation — is a question 
which we, in this section, ought to have set- 
tled. To draw attention to this subject has 
been my motive in writing this article. 
Most respectfully, 

W. S. Morton. 
Cumberland County, November, 1852. 



For the Southern Planter. 

FRENCH MERINO SHEEP. 

Mr. Editor,— -Yours of the 22d November 
is received, requesting me to send you cuts of 
my French sheep for insertion in the Southern 
Planter. This I would gladly do had I good 
cuts on hand. The cuts that have been pub- 
lished of rny French sheep do not do them 
justice; I am only wailing for the wool to get 
out a proper length, when I shall have some 
new cuts, and will cheerfully forward them 
for insertion in the Planter. There is proba- 
bly no branch of American industry that has 
been so much neglected or managed with so 
little skill as that of wool-growing. While 
our mechanics and manufacturers have been 
steadily progressing in the improvement of 
machinery that is employed in converting the 
products of the sheep into beautiful styles of 
cloth, our wool-growers have been blindfolded 
with negligence, and have in many instances 
suffered ahose noble specimens of Spanish 



Merinos introduced into ibis country by Hon. 
William Jarvis and others, to so far degenerate 
as to become almost worthless. But at the 
present time there seems to be a change com- 
ing over our farmers in relation to this impor- 
tant branch of agriculture. 

The attention of the public has, in a mea- 
sure, been called to the subject. A goodly 
number of our citizens begin to learn that it 
is to their advantage to keep sheep that will 
shear a fleece of from 5 to 8 lbs. of fine clean 
wool, instead of those that will not produce 
more than 2j lbs. and even this is higher than 
the sheep will average throughout the country. 

I see by the census of 1850, taking the whole 
of the United States, the average fleece per 
sheep is only about 2 lbs. and 6 oz. 

Experience has taught us that this is not 
half what it should and might easily be of 
clean, fine wool. Of late some have pretended 
to shear from the French sheep fleeces that 
weigh from 30 to 40 lbs. but it would not be 
reasonable to suppose this to be all wool. 

Although I have at the present time more 
money invested in the French sheep (which I 
purchased from the flocks of Leroux Cugnot 
and Victor Gilbert) than all other breeds, 1 
am not disposed (by some sleight of hand) to 
make my fleeces weigh 40 nor even 30 lbs. 
apiece; but think I would be justified in say- 
ing that flocks of the above breed, well kept, 
will shear an average of from 6 to 10 lbs. of 
well washed wool. 

Of my other breeds of sheep I will speak- 
in a future communication. I would only add 
that our Silesians are heavy shearers, and 
that I have lately sold the wool at CO cents 
per lb. My old Spanish flock also produce 
well. The present season sheared an average 
of 5| lbs. of well washed wool which I have 
sold at 52j cents per lb. My partner, Wm. 
Chamberlain of Red Hook, Duchess county, 
New York, has just received thirty Merino 
sheep from Spain. Of the quality of them I 
cannot judge, as I have not yet seen them. 
George Campbell. 

West Westminster, Vt. Dec. 4, 1852. 



For the Southern Planter. 

PREMIUM WHEAT. 

Mr. Editor, — [n the last number of your va- 
luable journal I observe several accounts of 
the large yield of premium lots of wheat in the 
State of New York ; and also the product of a 
field cultivated by Mr. John Marshall of Fau- 
quier county in this State. This induces me 
to send you a statement of the product of a 
small lot of wheat in this county, cultivated 
by Mr. James R. Garrison. Mr. G. is not in 
the habit of seeding wheat, and did not con- 
template seeding any in the fall of 1851, but 
having received from a friend in Baltimore a 
present of a bushel of wheat which was*e- 



12 



THE 



SOUTHERN 



PLANTER 



presented to be of very fine quality, he sowed 
it broadcast, late in October, on part of a lot 
of ground which had been planied for four 
successive years in sweet potatoes. He in- 
tended to sow the bushel of wheat on one acre 
of ground, but a subsequent accurate mea- 
surement showed that the lot contained one 
acre and one-eleventh of an acre. The pro- 
duct, when carefully cleaned ready for mar- 
ket, was found to be sixty and one-fourth (60J) 
bushels on the whole lot, which is equal to 
fifty-five bushels to the acre. 

The lot Was not gleaned, and Mr. Garrison 
is of the opinion that he could have obtained 
two bushels more by carefully gleaning it. 
The lot had been manured three out of the 
four years in which it had been planted in 
potatoes with farm-yard manure; but it re- 
ceived no additional manuring as a prepara- 
tion for the wheat crop, nor did it receive any 
manure after the wheat was sown, nor was 
any particular pains taken in seeding the 
wheat or preparing the ground. 

Although Mr. Garrison's crop was consi- 
derably less per acre than Mr. Hotchkiss', yet 
it greatly exceeded the crops on the other two 
premium lots, and still more, exceeded Mr. 
Marshall's crop; and the product of Mr. G 's 
crop is the more remarkable when the circum- 
stances attending the seeding of the crop are 
taken into consideration. On the score of net 
profit per acre Mr. G.'s crop exceeded Mr. 
Hotchkiss'. I am aware that it is generally 
believed that the land in this county is not 
suited to the production of good crops of 
wheat, but I know that this opinion is un- 
founded when proper pains are taken in ma- 
nuring the land and seeding the crop. I have 
never before known a crop so great per acre 
as Mr. Garrison's raised in this county, but I 
have several times heard of thirty bushels per 
acre being produced on small lots; and in two 
instances I have heard of as much as forty 
bushels per acre. 

I did not see Mr. Garrison's wheat while 
growing, nor did I see the wheat measured 
after it was prepared for market, bui I received 
this account from Mr. G. himself, and he is 
a highly respectable gentleman, in whose ve- 
racity the most implicit confidence may be 
placed. 

Very respectfully yours, &c. 

Thomas R. Joynes, Sr. 

Accomac, Nov. 24, 1852. 



or one in nine. Sweden, with a population 
of 3,874,203, has 30.000 proprietors, or one 
in twelve. Great Britain and Ireland, 
with a population of 27,041,050, have only 
633,421, or one in forty out of the popula- 
tion, including freeholders, with a direct 
interest in the soil. — City Fact. 



France, with a population of 32,460.935, 
has 10.896.682 landed proprietors, or one 
in three. The United States, with a popu- 
lation of 20,000,000, have 5.000,000 pro- 
prietors, or one in four. Belgium, with a 
population of 15,022.677, has 950,623 pro- 
prietors, or one in five. Holland, a com- 
mercial and shipping country, with a popu- 
lation of 3.500,000, has 400,000 proprietors, 



Prom the Ohio Farmer. 
LIVE STOCK IN THE UNITED STATES. 

STATISTICS. 

From a table of statistics, compiled from 
the seventh census, taken in June, 1850, 
we gather the following facts as to the live 
stock of the United States. It will be re- 
membered that allowance must be made 
for the increase of two years. We copy 
from the "Journal of the United States 
Agricultural Society," edited and publish- 
ed by Dr. Lee. 

The statistics place valuable facts before 
the reader, to which we invite particular 
attention. 

Horses. — If it should be necessary to 
place every farmer in the Union on horse- 
back, there are 4,325,652 horses in the 
country, for their service. Ohio has the 
honor of rearing and keeping more horses 
than any other State;' the. whole number 
reported being about 463,397. New York 
had 447,014; Pennsylvania, 330.39S; and 
Kentucky, 315,581. 

The improvement of four and a half 
million horses, worth at least $200,000,000, 
is an object worthy of more attention than 
it has hitherto received. State and County 
Agricultural Societies have done some- 
thing, and the high price of good animals 
more, to encourage the breeding and rear- 
ing of superior roadsters, and good horses 
of all work. But the years of service 
rendered by a majority of them are fewer 
than they ought to be in this country. To 
prolong their lives and increase their value, 
their natural wants, constitution and dis- 
eases must be more studied and better 
understood by those that own and use them. 
We ought to excel all other nations in the 
number of fine horses, for we possess un- 
equalled advantages for producing them 
to any desirable extent. 

Asses and Mules— Of these useful 
animals the census gives only 559.070 in 
all the States and Territories. New Mex- 
ico had 8,654, and only 5,079 horses; Ten- 
nessee is the largest producer of mules, 



THE SOUTHERN. PLANTER. 



13 



reporting 75.303; Kentucky had 65,609; 
Alabama, 59,895; and Georgia, 57,379. 

The growing of mules is profitable, and 
the business has been considerably ex- 
tended within the last two years. 

Milch Cows. — The number of cows 
exceeds the estimates that we have had 
occasion to make of this kind of farm stock, 
in all the States, except New York, 
where the returns are below what we ex- 
pected from the number given by the Slate 
census of 1845. The whole number of 
cows in the United States two vears ago 
was 6.991.946. Of these, New York had 
931.324: Ohio. 544,499; Pennsylvania, 
530.224; and Georgia, 334.223. 

Cows differ more in value for milking 
purposes than is generally supposed. — 
Thousands fail to pay their way, and are 
a positive tax on their owners; while a 
first rate milker yields a large profit on the 
food consumed. How to banish all indif- 
ferent and worthless kinds, and fill their 
places with superior animals is a question 
for the intelligent growers of neat stock to 
consider. Deterioration is practised by a 
hundred farmers where improvement is 
duly studied by one. As a general thing, 
cows and their offspring must be better 
kept before any decided chanare for the 
better is attainable. High quality in an- 
cestral blood avails nothing in the veins of 
a starved calf. Without good keeping, 
the best breeds of stock are utterly worth- 
less. 

Working Oxen and other Cattle. — 
We are not informed to what age young 
steers must attain before they are entitled 
to rank as "working oxen," or whether, in 
case they have never been subjected to 
the yoke, they are excluded, no matter 
what their years, from the catalogue of 
m working cattle." We suspect that entire 
uniformity in separating "working oxen" 
and "other cattle," has not been observed 
in all the States. Be that as it may, the 
latter number 10,265,180; while the former 
are set down at 1,698,261. By adding to- 
gether the milch cows, working oxen, and 
other cattle, it will be seen that the aggre- 
gate of neat stock was 18,355,387 head. 
New York contains nearly three times as 
manv oxen as Ohio or Pennsylvania. New 
York has 178,909; Ohio, 65.381; Pennsyl- 
vania, 61,527; Missouri, 111.268; which 
places the latter next to New York in this 
kind of stock. 

Sheep. — Many will be disappointed to 
find that all the sheep in the United States 
numbered only 21.621,482, at the last cen- 



! sus. This is a small increase on the returns 

j of 1840, and a state of things that does 

' not promise a rapid advancement in the 

production of wool for many years to come. 

■ Much has been written on this branch of 

husbandry, and in favor of producing at 

' least wool enough lor home consumption; 

but somehow it happens that we import 

annually many million pounds, and cut the 

throats of thousands of young sheep for 

their pelts and lallovv, instead of keeping 

them to increase our flocks. 

It is believed that stock companies might 
be formed, having from $50,000 to $200,000 
capital each to carry on the business of 
breeding sheep and grewing wool, where 
lands are cheap, as in some parts of Vir- 
ginia. Tennessee and Texas, and realize 
a reasonable profit. Economy, capital and 
skill, brought together in sheep husbandry, 
could hardly fail of success. There is just 
now unusual activity in the business of 
importing French and Spanish sheep into 
this country, many of which unite great 
weight of carcass and of fleece, with a fair 
degree of fineness and evenness of the 
fibre; and it is to be hoped that wool grow- 
ing will soon be as flourishing as any other 
department of industry. Ohio and New 
York keep more sheep than any other 
States. 

Swine. — It is pretty evident that many 
American farmers think more of hogs than 
of sheep, for their hogs outnumber their 
sheep by nearly ten millions. This is a 
singular fact, and in the judgment of many, 
indicates a badly cultivated taste which so 
greatly prefers the flesh of swine to that 
of sheep, to say nothing of the superiority 
of wool to hair. Over thirty million hogs 
(30,315,719) are a sufficient stock to render 
pork and bacon-making, as it really is, a 
very important branch of American hus- 
bandry. Tennessee takes the lead in this 
department — keeping nearly four times 
more swine than sheep. Of the latter, the 
census gives her only 811.591; but of 
hog's, she claims 3,114,111. Kentucky has 
2,861,163. Indiana is ahead of Ohio in 
the pig line, having 2,298,776; while Ohio 
is content with 1,964,770. 

Value of Live Stock. — The value of 
live stock in the United States is returned 
at $543,822,711. Of this large sum, New 
York claims $73,570,499; Ohio, $44,124,- 
741; and Pennsylvania, $41,500,053. If 
we add the value of live stock, farm imple- 
ments and machinery to that of farms, 
the whole investment is found to be 
$3,962,353,395. If to this be added the 



14 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



usual increase of two years, and the esti- 
mated value of the slaves engaged in agri- 
culture, the whole amount to five billions, 
or five thousand millions of dollars. 

Wheat, Rye and Indian Corn in Ohio 
and United States. — We also learn from 
the above statistics, that in 1850, there 
were in Ohio 9,851,493 acres of improved 
land, 14,487,351 bushels of wheat, 425,718 
of rye, and 59,078,695 of corn. 

In the United States 118.435,17S acres 
of improved land, 100,479,150 bushels of 
wheat, 14,188,457 bushels of rye, and 
592,141,230 bushels of Indian corn. 



DEVON CATTLE. 

The following article, from the pen of 
an esteemed friend, Dr. George M. Bat- 
tey, of River Bank Farm, near Rome, 
Georgia, expresses so nearly our own opi- 
nion of the Devon cattle, and their adap- 
tation to the South, that we take great 
pleasure in giving it a place in the columns 
of the Cultivator. We are pleased to ob- 
serve that the enterprising farmers of the 
Cherokee Country are turning their atten- 
tion to the raising of fine stock, and we 
feel well assured that no breed of neat 
cattle will so well repay them for care and 
attention as the beautiful, docile and hardy 
Devons. — Southern Cultivator. 

"The great secret success in breeding 
cattle depends mainly upon the adaptation 
of the size of the breed to the soil and 
climate. 

Any large, heavy breed of animals put 
upon light pasturage in a warm climate is 
compelled to deteriorate in value, and de- 
generate in iheir most valuable properties. 
The Devon is the only breed of cattle 
(available in a warm climate,) that com- 
bines a heavy muscular frame, short legs, 
and a remarkable aptitude for fattening — 
with great activity, and an increased power 
of locomotion, which enables them to ga- 
ther from our sparse pastures, a sufficiency 
of food to keep them in an improving 
condition. 

Most, if not all the improved breeds of 
cattle which are enjoying high repute I 
among agriculturists, originated, or were 
bred up to their present high standard, in 
the British Isles. The North Devons can | 
be traced back, in their purity, farther than I 
any other breed. Satisfactory records are 
found, showing that this breed of cattle 
existed, in its native country, more than 
two hundred years ago, and has been 



brought down without any cross with other 
breeds, and without alteration in its general 
appearance and properties, to the present 
day. 

A spirit of careful improvement has 
perfected (he form of the Devons, and has 
rendered them remarkably hardy, and free 
from disease, to a much greater extent 
than any other breed of cattle; (a fact so 
generally conceded, that Stock Insurance 
Companies insure the lives of Devons at 
their minimum rates.) Their milking pro- 
perties have been improved in the hands 
of a few breeders, till their herds rank 
deservedly first for dairy purposes, even 
in England, and upon heavy pastures, in 
the Northern United States. But with all 
this improvement, the Devons retain the 
same beautiful color, fine soft hair, beauty 
of form, activity, etc. which characterized 
them two hundred years ago, indicating a 
remarkable purity in blood, when first taken 
up by the improving breeder. 

The Devons are, upon first sight, consi- 
dered a small breed of cattle, but, upon 
examination, it is proven that they are of 
medium size, exceedingly heavy, and that 
their apparent smallness is owing to their 
short legs and the beautiful compactness 
of their forms. They are of a deep, but 
bright red color, which is peculiar to them- 
selves, with bright orange colored skins, 
clean yellow nose, without a dark spot or 
shade upon it, their hair soft and silky, 
often curly or wavy. Their horns are 
slender, of a medium length, pointing a 
little forwards and outwards, with a grace- 
ful curve upwards. They are heavy and 
compact, but still with a great length of 
body, compared with their height. Their 
girth around the chest is surprising; their 
ribs springing out behind the shoulders in 
that rounded or hooped form, which is so 
much admired by breeders, and so essen- 
tial to the health and thrift of the animal. 

The Devons are remarkably adapted to 
the light pastures of the South; first, by 
the great size of their lungs; second, by 
their proportionately large brain; third, by 
their great activity; and fourth, by the 
comparatively small size of their stomach 
and offal. The Devons are, to a certain 
degree, an exception to the general rule, 
that the fattening properties of an animal, 
under the most favorable treatment, are in 
direct ratio with the smellness of its lungs. 
We find that even with their large lungs, 
they excel most other breeds in the rapidity 
with which they fatten, when stabled and 
well fed, and upon a rougher made of 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



15 



treatment, such as cattle receive at the 
South, the capacity of their lungs tells 
with the most marked advantage. When 
an animal is exercising, the rapidity with 
which the blood circulates is greatly in- 
creased, requiring a large surface of lungs 
to properly arterialize the blood, which be- 
comes a matter of vital importance in the 
expanded state of a Southern summer at- 
mosphere. When an animal can be kept 
quiet and not fatigued, nor excited, a large 
capacity of the lungs is not needed, and in- 
deed it is a rule, that as it fattens and the 
lungs become compressed, the rapidity 
with which it takes on flesh is greatly in- 
creased; but if it should be called upon to 
take any considerable exercise, or should 
become overheated, while in that state, 
the necessity for an increased capacity 
and power in the lungs would be readily 
perceived. The animal will appear sick, 
and as the most favorable termination, the 
impurity of the blood (caused by want of 
proper arterialization) will show itself upon 
different parts of the body in eruptions. 
The truth of these remarks may be seen 
by the comparative shape and powers of 
endurance of different horses. We find 
that those with short bodies and a limited 
capacity of lungs, when kept quiet or 
worked slowly, are readily kept very fat, 
but if called upon to exert their utmost 
strength or activity, they readily become 
fatigued, their lungs become oppressed, 
and if not relieved by rest their health 
becomes immediately affected; while a 
horse with larger lungs will not be so rea- 
dily kept very fat, but will endure a greater 
degree of fatigue, without becoming at all 
affected. 

Now, upon the treatment which our 
herde are subjected to at the South, we I 
readily perceive the necessity for a com- 1 
bination of points in an animal which will I 
fit it to undergo a much greater amount of | 
fatigue (and that under the enervating 
influence of a sultry climate,) than the 
same animal would be called upon to suffer 
in the more luxuriant pastures of the 
North. 

With our sparse pasturage, every animal 
mu6t undergD considerable fatigue each 
time that it filte its stomach w'jth food, 
which becomes a serious drawback to their 
prosperity when undergone beneath the 
rays of a burning sun. Such circum- 
stances tell to the disadvantage of the 
Durhams and other breeds of cattle, which 
have been heretofore tried at the South, 
rendering them diseased or unthrifty, and 



disappointing the hopes of those who have 
tried to acclimate them. By substituting 
the Devons, we will readily avoid such 
'disappointments in future, and easily in- 
crease the quantity, as well as quality, of 
: milk, beef, and butter, at a less cost; and, 
! at the same time, have a stock of cattle 
remarkable for beauty and immunity from 
disease. 

The comparatively large size of the 
i brain in the Devons, is of great advantage 
, in enabling them to withstand fatigue, and 
i the enervating influence which a warm 
J climate necessarily exerts upon the animal 
• economy. Thus fitting them for the yoke 
: and preserving their health under the com- 
bined disadvantages which all herds suffer 
i in this country. 

The reason why man can undergo more 
protracted fatigue, and greater privation 
without injury, than any of the lower order 
of animals, is owing mainly to the greater 
I amount of nervous influence which is at- 
tended upon a larger brain* 

Their activity and the smallness of their 
stomachs and offal are advantages pos- 
sessed by the Devons over any other known 
breed of cattle, adapting them particularly 
to our use. All ruminating animals must 
I of necessity Jill their stomachs before di- 
gestion can properly commence — a small 
amount of concentrated nutriment -will 
' sustain an ox in health, if he has sufficient 
i coarse food (no matter how poor,) to fill 
his stomach, and thus enable him to reque- 
gitate his food. Now with the increased 
size of the paunch in the Durhams, comes 
their want of activity. With the actual 
necessity, for the larger amount of food, 
(to be gathered from a meagre and widely 
scattered supply,) comes an increased dis- 
ability for procuring it. With the Devon 
the exact converse is true. With their 
ability to thrive upon a small supply, comes 
a highly increased power of locomotion, 
enabling them to procure a sufficient sup- 
ply in a shorter time, without fatigue, thus 
allowing them much more time to be at 
rest while digesting their food. In the 
quality of milk, butter and beef, the Devons 
rank first. Their flesh presents that beau- 
tifully marhled appearance (caused by a 
regular distribution of fat,) which is so 
much admired, and which is not attainable 
in a high degree in any of the mixed or 
native-.jcattle common to our country. As 
milkers, the Devons must certainly rank 
first, for the Southern States at least. — 
They will and do give much richer milk 
than any other breed which can be made 



16 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



available here, and, moreover, they give a 
large quantity, and will come into use at 
an age, at least one-third younger, than 
our common cattle, giving milk at two 
years old, and being ready for work or the 
butcher two years before common or native 
cattle, with the same care." 




THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



RICHMOND, JANUARY, 1853. 



TERMS. 

One Dollar and Twenty-five Cents per 
annum, which may be discharged by the pay- 
ment of One Dollar only, if paid in office or 
sent free of postage within six months from 
the date of subscription. Six copies for Five 
Dollars; thirteen copies for Ten Dollars, 
to be paid invariably in advance. 

j£jF! Subscriptions may begin with any No. 

IdrNo paper will be discontinued, until all 
arrearages are paid, except at the option of 
the Publisher. 

O- Office on Twelfth, between Main and 
Cary Streets. 



A HAPPY NEW YEAR. 

In wishing a happy new year to all our 
subscribers, we cannot refrain from doing so 
more particularly to those of our patrons who 
have aided us by their pens, and equally so to 
those who have helped us to obtain subscri- 
bers. We ask of both a continuance of fa- 
vors, which we can only promise them to do 
our best to merit. The subscription list of 
the Planter is creeping up, and we hope some 
day or other to arrive at the goal, which, on 
setting out, we flattered ourselves we should 
reach in two years. But we shall need the 
aid of our friends more than ever, and we 
trust they will give it to us with no grudging 
hand. 



THE STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 

Below will be found the proceedings of the 
State Agricultural Society, which held its 
annual meeting in Richmond on the lGth and 
17th of December. We think the Society is 
looking up. There was much interest mani- 
fested in its proceedings; and though the at- 
tendance was thin, (partly due, we hope, to 
the inclemency of the weather,) the zeal was 
considerable. Two addresses were delivered, 
one by Edmund Ruffin, Esq. of Hanover, on 
the evening of the lGth; and one on the next 
evening by the Editor of this paper. 

The balance of each evening was spent in 
an interesting discussion on various crops, 
and on different points of farm management, 
and the meeting on each occasion continued 
in active and animated session until eleven 
o'clock. We are sorry that we were unable 
to procure the services of a reporter to present 
the discussion to our readers. At the next 
meeting we shall endeavor to do so. We re- 
gard it as one of the most valuable features 
of the Society that it affords to farmers an 
opportunity of meeting and comparing opi- 
nions, and doing it in a manner that is not at 
all calculated to embarrass them. 

It will be seen that our esteemed President, 
Edmund Ruffin, Esq. has resigned his office 
under the pressure of ill health and advancing 
age; but he still retains a place in the Execu- 
tive Committee, and gave the Society every 
assurance that he felt as lively an interest in 
its welfare as ever, and would take as active 
a part in its advancement as his infirmities 
would permit. 

His successor is Philip St. George Cocke, 
Esq. of Powhatan. So far as we know, and 
we think we know pretty far, he is the very 
best choice that could have been made in the 
State of Virginia. To those unacquainted 
with him, let ns say that he is a man of wealth, 
munificence, public spirit, energy 1 and system, 
entirely devoted to Virginia and her institu- 
tions, and thoroughly imbued with the spirit 
of rural improvement. If at all sustained by 
the community, he will succeed in getting up, 
and keeping up, (for this latter is generally the 
difficulty in Virginia,) a good Society. 

Whether the Legislature will give us aid 
remains to be seen. We hope they will. We 
cannot imagine that, if the question is fairly 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



17 



presented, they can fail to see the necessity of 
a liberal endowment, and we are sure that 
there are several gentlemen in the Legislature 
who have the ability to present it fairly and 
urge it strongly. As the supposition more 
complimentary to their sense, patriotism and 
public spirit, we shall presume that they will 
aid us until we know to the contrary. 

VIRGINIA STATE AGRICDLTUBAL SOCIETY. 

At a meeting of the Virginia State Agri- 
cultural Society, held at the Capitol on 
Thursday evening, the 16th of December, 
1S52, the President called the meeting to 
order and delivered an address to the So- 
ciety upon the effects of domestic slavery 
on the social manners, habits and welfare 
of the agricultural population of the South- 
ern States, and in comparison with the 
slavery of class to class existing in the 
Northern States. 

The report of the Executive Committee 
was then read, as follows: 

The Executive Committee of the Vir- 
ginia State Agricultural Society submits 
ihe following report of its labors during 
the past official year of service: 

Circular letters were addressed soon 
after the organization of the State Agri- 
cultural Society to two or more individuals 
in each county of Virginia, requesting them 
to solicit and obtain members for the So- 
ciety. 

Other circular letters, with various que- 
ries annexed, were also addressed parti- 
cularly to some of the best farmers in every 
county, a3 well as generally, requesting 
answers, or any other information upon 
agricultural subjects. 

A petition to the Legislature of Virginia 
(before ordered particularly by the Socie- 
ty) was presented, asking for pecuniary 
aid and facilities to the designed operations 
of the Society. Another petition for the 
putting down the existing useless inspec- 
tions of guano and gypsum, which had 
been ordered by the unanimous vote of 
the Convention which resolved itself into 
this Society, was also presented. 

A scheme of premiums for improve- 
ments or other most meritorious services 
to agriculture, was prepared and approved 
for future adoption and offering to the 
public. But for the present, this scheme 
remains suspended, because of the defi- 
ciency of sufficient funds of the Society to 
provide the premiums. 

A Constitution for the Society was pre- 



pared and tipproved by the Executive 
Committee, and of which the main fea- 
tures are in strict obedience to the prior 
resolutions and instructions of the Society. 
This paper will now be submitted to the 
consideration of this meeting. But a por- 
tion thereof, which is dependent for its exe- 
cution on legislation, then expected, and 
which has not occurred, must remain sus- 
pended, or inoperative for the present time 
at least. 

Copies of the several papers above re- 
ferred to are appended to this report, as 
well as of such agricultural communica- 
tions as have been received from indi- 
viduals. 

The Executive Committee deemed it 
best for the objects of the Society, and 
therefjre so acted, that the completed pro- 
ceedings of the Committee, and also all 
approved communications upon agricul- 
ture, should be published without delay." 
This has been done in the Southern Planter 
and also in a separate publication of the 
Transactions, and so far, without expense 
to the Society. The publisher, Mr. P. D. 
Bernard, has commenced the regular pub- 
lication of the papers of the Society by 
arrangement with and under direction of 
the Executive Committee, but at his own 
charge and risk; and has offered the same 
for sale to the public at a very low price. 
It is hoped that he will not be permitted 
to be a loser by this effort to promote agri- 
cultural interests and the objects of this 
Society. 

The members, at this date, amount in 
number to 339. The funds in the Trea- 
surer's hands amount to $268 — many sub- 
scribing members not having paid the 
amount of subscription for membership. 

In pursuance of a requisition of the 
Constitution Messrs. E. Ruffin and Frank: 
G. Ruffin have been respectively invited 
to deliver addresses to the Society during 
the progress of this meeting. 

E. Ruffin, Chairman Ex. Com.. 

The Constitution, above reported, was 
then taken up and considered, and, after a 
slight amendment, was adopted, and is as 
follows: 

CONSTITUTION OF THE VIRGINIA STATE 
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 

1. The name of this Society shall be 
the Virginia State Agricultural Society. 

Its objects shall be to improve and ad- 
vance the condition of agriculture, horti- 
culture and the auxiliary mechanic arts. 

2. The Society shall consist of such per- 



18 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



sons as shall signify their wish to become 
members and pay to the Treasurer of the 
Society, or other person duly authorized 
to receive the same, an initiation fee of 
two dollars, and one dollar annually there- 
after. And also of such honorary and cor- 
responding members as shall be deemed 
proper by the Society: but no person shall 
be chosen an honorary member of the So- 
ciety upon any other grounds of merit or 
claim than of distinguished services ren- 
dered to agriculture. 

The payment of twenty dollars at one 
time shall constitute a member lor life, and 
shall exempt the donor from annual con- 
tributions. 

3. The officers of the Society shall con- 
sist of a President, six Vice Presidents, 
Recording Secretary, Corresponding Se- 
cretary, Treasurer and an Executive Com- 
mittee, to consist of the above named offi- 
cers and five other members, not more 
than two of whom shall be appointed in 
any one county, town or city of the State. 

All the officers shall be elected by ballot 
annually. 

4. The Recording Secretary shall keep 
the minutes of the Society. The Corre- 
sponding Secretary shall carry on corre- 
spondence with other Societies and with 
individuals in furtherance of the objects 
of the Society. The Treasurer shall keep 
the funds of the Society and disburse them 
on the order of the President, counter- 
signed by the Recording Secretary, and 
shall make a report of the receipts and 
disbursements at the annual meeting of 
the Society. 

5. There shall be an annual meeting of 
the Society at such time and place as shall 
be appointed by the Executive Committee, 
at which time all the officers shall be elected, 
who shall retain their places until their 
successors shall have been appointed. 

6. In the computation of time, in refer- 
ence to the Society, each year shall com- 
mence on the 1st day of February and end 
on the 31st day of January following. No 
person shall join the Society for a shorter 
time than twelve months. The member- 
ship of all persons joining the Society afler 
the 1st of February shall have relation 
back, and shall be esteemed and respected 
members as of that day. Any member 

■ may withdraw from the Society at the end 
of the year by making known his intention 
to withdraw to the Recording Secretary 
and obtaining from him a discharge. 

7. The Executive Committee shall hold 
stated meetings, to be convened by the 



President, to carry into effect, by particular 
regulation, the general resolutions or in- 
structions of the Society, any three of 
whom shall constitute a quorum to transact 
business; may fill all vacancies in their 
body (occurring by death or otherwise) 
until the next general meeting of. the So- 
ciety — and in general shall have power to 
adopt any measures of detail to carry into 
practical operation the general objects and 
resolutions of the Society. The Execu- 
tive Committee shall take charge of and 
distribute or preserve all seeds, plants, 
books, models, &c. which may be trans- 
mitted to the Society, and shall also have 
charge of all communications designed or 
calculated for publication, and as for as 
they may deem expedient, shall collect, 
arrange and publish the same in such 
manner and form as they shall deem best 
calculated to promote the objects of the 
Society. 

8. The Society shall appoint an Agri- 
cultural Com missioner and Chemist, if their 
means shall justify the outlay; and a per- 
son or persons of suitable qualifications 
can be obtained, whose duties, terms of 
office and compensation shall be regulated 
by them. 

9. It shall be the duty of the Executive 
Committee to invite one or more persons, 
eminent for knowledge of practical agri- 
culture or of science directly auxiliary to 
agriculture, to address the Society in gen- 
eral meeting, and generally to invite gen- 
tlemen to furnish communications on such 
subjects, of practical and scientific agri- 
culture as they may deem important, all 
of which shall become part of the archives 
of the Society. 

10. The Society shall hold an annual 
exhibition, cattle show and fair, at such 
time and place as shall be designated by 
the Executive Committee. 

11. The premiums that shall be awarded 
by the Society shall be in all cases such as 
are likely to benefit agriculture, horticul- 
ture or the auxiliary mechanic arts. 

12. This Constitution may be amended 
by the vote of two-thirds of the members 
attending any annual meeting. 

On motion. 

Resolved, Thatthe Recording Secretary 
be instructed to invite the members of the 
General Assembly to attend an adjourned 
meeting of the Society in this piace to- 
morrow night. 

Members present were called on by the 
President to communicate to the Society 
facts of a practical nature on various sub- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



19 



I 

I 



jects connected with agriculture, when in- 
teresting and instructive remarks were 
made by Messrs. Ruffin, Jr., Ruffin, Sr., C. 
C. Lee, Booth. Gilmer, Bondurant, Nelson, 
Harvie and Noland, on the exhausting or 
non-exhausting tendency of the oat crop, 
on wheat {'allow, and especially for and 
against the system of re-fallowing for that 
crop, and upon the natural history, cha- 
racter and habits of, and remedy for, the 
joint worm. 

On motion, 

Resolved, That the President be re- 
quested to furnish a copy of his address, 
delivered this evening, lor publication, un- 
der the direciion of the Executive Com- 
mittee. 

The Society then adjourned to meet at 
the same place to-morrow afternoon, at 4 
o'clock. 

Friday Afternoon, 4 o'clock. 

The Society convened agreeably to ad- 
journment. 

The President announced the first busi- 
ness in order to be the election of officers. 

It being understood that the President 
had determined not to accept a renewed 
appointment to that office, it was, on motion, 

Resolved unanimously, That we acqui- 
esce with painful reluctance in the decision 
of Edmund Ruffin, Esq. to decline a re- 
election to the office of President of the 
Society, and that we deeply regret 'the 
circumstances of declining health and in- 
creasing infirmities which have constrained 
him to this determination. 

Resolved unanimously, That the thanks 
of the Society be, and they are hereby 
tendered to Mr. Ruffin for the ability and 
efficiency with which he has heretofore 
discharged the duties of President, and 
also for his life-long zeal in the cause of 
agriculture. 

The following officers were then unani- 
mously elected by ballot: 

President — Philip St. George Cocke. 

Vice Presidents — Edmund Ruffin, Wil- 
loughhy Newton, Lewis E. Harvie, S. T. 
Stuart, Thomas L. Pre3ton, Gen. S. H. 
Lewis. 

Executive Committee — Wra. Boulware, 
E. G. Booih, W. G. Overton, William H. 
Richardson, Richard Irhy. 

Recording Secretary— C. B. Williams. 

Corresponding Secretary — Frank: G. 
Ruffin. 

Treasurer — Bernard Peyton. 



Resolved, That when the Society ad- 
journs finally it adjourn to meet again at 
the call of the Executive Committee. 

Adjourned to meet in the evening at 
half past 7 o'clock. 

Friday Evening, 1\ o'clock. 

The Society convened agreeably to ad- 
journment. 

Mr. Frank: G. Ruffin, by invitation of 
the Executive Committee, delivered the 
annual address, when, on motion, it was 

Resolved, That the thanks of the So- 
ciety be presented to Frank: G. Ruffin, 
Esq. lor the able, appropriate and highly 
instructive address delivered this evening. 

Resolved, That the Corresponding Se- 
cretary be requested to procure a list of 
all societies, clubs or associations, connected 
with agriculture in Virginia, and report 
them to the Executive Committee. 

Resolved, That the Executive Commit- 
tee request societies and clubs in corre- 
spondence with the Society, and also indi- 
vidual members, to institute experiments 
on important subjects in practical agricul- 
ture, and report results to them for publi- 
cation. 

Messrs. Old, Gilmer, Overton, E. Ruffin, 
Sr., Ruffin of Prince George, Tomlin and 
Nelson made interesting statements on va- 
rious agricultural topics, especially on the 
management of the corn crop, the wheat 
crop, &c. and Mr. Johnson Barbour on the 
character and habits of the joint worm, 
and Peruvian guano as a remedy therefor. 

The Society then adjourned at a late 
hour to meet again at the call of the Exe- 
cutive Committee. 

E. Ruffin, President. 

Ch. B. Williams, Rec. Sec'y. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 

We have received from the Corresponding 
Secretary of the New York State Agricultural 
Society, B. P. Johnson, Esq. the volume of the 
Transactions of the New York State Agricul- 
tural Society for the year 1851. Having only 
got them lately we have had no opportunity to 
look into them. But we take it for granted 
that they are as valuable, we should rather 
say invaluable, as the previous volumes from 
the same source. We are much obliged to 
the worthy Secretary for the present. 

We have also received the concluding two 



20 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



volumes of the series published by Mr. DeBo w 
and advertised in this paper. The whole con- 
sists cf a republication, occasionally in con- 
densed form, of the best articles that had ap- 
peared in the Review up to a tolerably late 
period. We have looked but slightly into it, 
yef sufficiently to assure us of the great value 
of the work; and we do (what, as is known, 
we never do without good cause,) recommend 
it to our readers. The statiscal information 
is of great value, and for the most part unat- 
tainable elsewhere, and no where accessible 
in so convenient and attractive a form. But 
independent of those and of several other mat- 
ters of particular interest, we do not hesitate 
to say that the articles on slavery alone are 
worth many times the money that is paid for 
the book. In particular the able letters of 
Ex-Governor James H. Hammond of South 
Carolina, to Mr. Clarkson, commend them- 
selves to our attention by their rare strength 
of argument, breadth of view and powerful 
style. 

We have also received from Mr. J. W. Ran- 
dolph the promised copy of the "Essay on 
Calcareous Manures," by Mr. Ruffin. That 
valuable book is now published and ready for 
delivery. We hope to have it reviewed in a 
manner suitable to its merits in our February 
number. Mr. Randolph has bought the copy 
right, and the book is stereotyped. It remains 
to be seen how he will be remunerated for this 
enterprise, and whether a Virginia book, by a 
Virginia author, on a Virginia subject, got up 
by a Virginia publisher, will be permitted to 
lie neglected on shelves which have been 
swept of Mrs. Beecher Stowe's romance by 
the demands of Virginia readers. 



SEWING MACHINES. 

We are very much obliged to the reverend 
gentleman who has sent us, at our request, the 
following letter on the sewing machine. Since 
his communication was sent to the printer we 
have seen, and append herewith, an anicle on 
another machine of the same sort, costing only 
twenty-five dollars. 

We regard either invention as one of the 
most important of the age. Whether sewing 
be looked upon as the necessary labor of too 
many of our women, or, as in many instances 



it really is, "that pretty excuse for a woman 1 ' 
idleness," we consider it an evil, as all seden- 
tary occupations must be; and knowing as 
we do full well the toil to which it subjects so 
many southern matrons we hail its substitutes 
as a God-se*Kl. Our ladies in the country 
hold a very responsible station, and one of 
considerable labor and anxiety. We do not 
regret that. Labor and anxiety belong to all 
classes and are a blessing. .And the superin- 
tendence of a country household seems 10 be 
the element in which a lady shines most 
brightly and presides most beneficently. But 
we have always disliked to see them make 
machines of themselves and impair their health 
and usefulness by what we have generally 
considered their habitual, rather than their ne- 
cessary, devotion to the needle. 

Staunton, Nov. 17, 1852. 

Mr. Editor, — Your letter came to me a few 
days since, and I have the pleasure of giving 
the information you desire at my earliest pos- 
sible convenience. The sewing machine, now 
in my possession, was invented by J. M. Singer 
ol New York. It is a small instrument, about 
12 inches square, weighing about 65 pounds, 
and as simple in structure as I can conceive 
it possible for a machine for such purpose to 
be made. And yet with all its simplicity it is 
not possible to give you a full and satisfactory 
explanation of it. 

There are three small wheels — one 7 inches 
diameter, the others about 4 inches diameter. 
The two smallest wheels are both operated by 
the larger one. From each of these smallest 
wheels there is a shaft passing across the ma- 
chine, and terminating each with a small but 
strong friction wheel about half an inch in di- 
ameter. These friction wheels act in grooves 
made somewhat in the shape of a heart. One 
of these little wheels carries the needle bar, 
and the other the shuttle. The needle works 
perpendicularly and the shuttle horizontally, 
just below the point of the needle. There are 
two threads, one passing from a spool which 
turns on a wire at the top of ihe machine, and 
passing down the needle bar through the eye 
ol'theneedle. The shuttle isaboutan inch and 
a half in length, and carries a small spool, tie 
thread passing out at a small hole on the up- 
per side. The machine is operated by a small 
pedal precisely on the principle of the old- 
fashioned flax wheel. Having arranged the 
thread according to the above directions you 
are prepared for work. Just below the needle 
there is a feed wheel which carries the cloth. 
On this the cloth is laid and there kept mo- 
derately pressed by means of a spiral spring. 
When the machine is set in motion the needle 
moves downwards, carrying the thread (which 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



passes through the eye about half an inch 
from the point) through the cloth down to the 
bottom of the groove in which the shuttle 
mores. There the needle stops for a moment 
and by a singular and most ingenious action 
gives a little "twitch" which makes a loop in 
the thread of the needle. The moment this 
loop is made the shuttle rushes almost with 
lisrhtning speed through the loop. Thus the 
thread in the needle catches the thread in the 
shuttle and draws it up to the centre of the 
cloth, making a sort of double stitch. Thus 
every stitch is made with a certainty, regu- 
larity, strength and beauty which no human 
hand could give it. By means of a small 
thumb screw the stitch may in a moment be 
changed from the finest possible stitch to a 
quarter of an inch in length. It may also 
be made as tightly or loosely as you please. 
You may sew seams of any shape you wish. 
When prepared for work, which may be done 
at any time in from three to five minutes, it 
may be put in operation, or put aside as quickly 
and conveniently as a lady usually takes up 
or lays down her sewing. 

We have had this machine nearly four 
months, and so far our experience with it has 
been in the highest degree satisfactory. At 
first, indeed, having no instructor, I found 
some difficulty in adjusting the needle, ar- 
ranging the thread and other little things so 
as to make the machine operate to my entire 
satisfaction. But a little perseverance soon 
taught me that whatever defect there was in 
the sewing was not the result of any defect in 
the machine, but of a want of experience and 
skill, or of proper attention to the directions 
in myself. The machine will do the work of 
from six to ten persons. It will do nearly all 
the sewing, indeed I may say all the sewing 
usually needed by families, except putting on 
the buttons and making the button holes. My 
wife has learned to operate it with ease and 
skill, and says she would not exchange it for 
the best seamstress she ever saw. According 
to the best calculations I have made, if kept 
in operation at a moderate rate all day, say 
8 hours, it will make a seam 500 yards long. 
My wife has made several pair of handsome 
pants between seven and ten o'clock at night, 
and says if she had one or two others to do 
the basting, pressing, making button holes and 
putting on buttons, she could make a pair 
every half hour. 

The machine is of course made on the most 
strictly mathematical principles. The same 
wheel opera ting both the needle and the shuttle, 
these two parts must act in the most beautiful 
and unvarying harmony. These cannot fail 
10 act rightly unless the large wheel which 
moves them be broken, which cannot be done 
by operating. The only things which seem 
to me possible to get out of order are the little 
friction wheels, spoken of above. And yet I 
mast say that 1 do not see how they can get 
ont of order if the machine be kept properly 
oiled. But even if they should by any means 



| be broken they are so simple and small that 
any one who has a little mechanical skill can 
easily make then), or they may be sent by mail 
■ from the factory where the machines are made. 
There are many other things I would like 
to tell you about this machine. But 1 have 
already taxed your patience to a much greater 
length, no doubt, than you anticipated. Should 
you ever find it convenient to call and see me 
it will give me great pleasure to show its opera- 
tion and explain it more minutely and satis- 
[ factorily than I or anyone possibly can on 
J paper. 

In conclusion, let me say, that should you 

: decide to purchase one of ihese machines it 

| will give me pleasure to put you in the way 

of getting one and give you any instruction 

you may need in using it. 

With the most sincere regard, 

I am your friend, &c. 

T. T. Castleman. 
P. S. — I have failed to say that the cost of 
the machine is $125 cash. T. T. C. 

A NEW SEWING MACHINE. 

The most extraordinary event of the Fair 
of the American Institute, now open at New 
York, and the one that has caused most sen- 
sation among the exhibitors, has been occa- 
I sioned by the sudden advent of anew sewing 
| machine. 

A number of other machines of the same 
kind have been in constant operation in the 
garden since the opening of the Exhibition, 
and have been surrounded by curious crowds, 
astonished at their marvellous operation. — 
They little supposed that a man down in 
Pennsylvania was engaged at that very mo- 
ment in perfecting a machine which would 
entirely surpass these, and be sold at less than 
one-quarter of the price. 

But on Thursday the new machine made its 
appearance and was set to work by the in- 
ventor. An eager crowd shortly gathered 
around it. Members of the Institute, exhibi- 
tors and visitors, were alike struck with ad- 
miration at its simplicity of construction, the 
' rapidity of its operation, and the neatness and 
excellence of the work it performed. The 
fame of the new machine rapidly spread 
through the city, and before night tempting 
offers were made the inventor by gentlemen 
from Wall street, who wished to become pur- 
chasers. You may judge of the simplicity of 
its mechanism from the fact that the machines 
will be sold for the low price of Iwcnly-five 
dollars each! and any little girl can learn to 
operate with it in five minutes time. The 
machine makes a double stitch, each indepen- 
dent of the other, so that one-half the stitches 
may be cut or broken, and the work still re- 
main firm. It works equally well on woollen, 
cotton or linen clothes. 

The inventor is Dr. Otis Avery of Homes- 
dale, Pennsylvania, a gentleman of moderate 
circumstances, but whose invention promises 



I 



22 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



to make his fortune. He has associated with 
him C. Nettleton, Esq. of 54 Wall street, and 
the machines will be manufactured by them 
jointly. 

We regard the advent of this new invention 
as one of the exiraordinary events of the times, 
because the simplicity and cheapness of the 
machine bring it within the means of nearly 
every family, thus working an entire revolu- 
tion in the present mode of sewing. — N. E. 
Cultivator. 



EXPLANATION. 



In justice to the gentleman who furnished 
the State Agricultural Society the article on 
tobacco, which was published in our last num- 
ber, we must state that it was written in Sep- 
tember last, and the tables kept open until the 
inspections, &c. of this season were ascer- 
tained. 

The Merchants' Magazine for November 
contains an article so similar in many respects 
that the one might be supposed to be-copied 
from the other. But the writer of the article 
in the Planter did not see that in the Magazine 
until his own was published, although the Ma- 
gazine is sent to him — but it is a singularfact 
that the agent of that publication in Richmond 
had not received the November number on 
the 4th of December. 



AGRICULTURAL FAIR AT KEMPSVILLE. 

We are very sorry that we received too late 
for extended notice an account of the fair held 
at Kempsville in the county of Princess Anne. 
It was highly creditable to the skill, taste and 
enterprise of that thriving and favored region. 



HUNT'S MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE, AND 
DeBOW'S COMMERCIAL REVIEW. 

If any commendation of ours could induce 
our subscribers to take these valuable periodi- 
cals, they would certainly have their lists in- 
creased to the full extent of our own. They 
are the only works of their class published in 
the United States, the one Northern and the 
other Southern, and contain an amount of sta- 
tistical information not to be met with else- 
where, and of great value to those who aspire 
to something more than the mere routine of 
agricultural labor. 



We are very sorry that our pages cannot, in 
consequence of the pressure of purely agri- 
cultural matter, be enriched with occasional 
extracts from these truly useful works. 



•SEED CORN— GOOD IDEA. 

Our friend, Jos. C. Burton, one of the best 
farmers of Henrico, has sent to our office two 
ears of very fine corn raised by him last sea- 
son, for the inspection of his brother farmers. 
He proposes that others who have good corn 
for seed, shall send samples of theirs to this 
office, that farmers who wish to procure seed 
may know of whom they can obtain such as 
is good. If his is better than others' he would 
be pleased to let his brother farmers have the 
benefit of it; if any one has better than his, 
he wishes to profit himself by using the best 
seed he can get. Several have already re- 
sponded to his proposition. We will take care 
of the samples that may be sent, labelling 
them with the names of the persons who send 
them, and show them to all farmers who may 
desire to see. p. d. b. 



GREAT SALE OF CATTLE. 

Sixteen head of short horn improved stock, 
imported by the Sciota Company, were re- 
centlysoldin Ohio, bringing$2l, 785, averaging 
over $1,300 each. The highest price paid was 
$2,520. 

Another. — The entire stock of the valuable 
herd of George Vail of Troy, New York, com- 
prising 61 head, was sold lately for an aggre- 
gate of $10,000. For the Yarm Lass cow 
$670, and for the imported bull, Earl Derby, 
$570 was paid. 



EXTRACT FROM CORRESPONDENCE. 

DOG LAW. 

"Mai/field, near Petersburg, Dec. 13, 1852. 
"Sir, — I suppose it would be hoping against 
hope, to hope that the Legislature of Virginia 
could be induced to touch the subject; but if 
they would pass some law restraining vicious 
dogs from destroying sheep, they would there- 
by add many thousand dollars to the profits of 
Virginia husbandry, and furnish the means of 
reclaiming many thousand acres of exhausted 
and now profitless land. The law, as it now 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



23 



stands, is a nullity. It is not worth the cost 
of printing it in the code. Mr. Rives, for ex- 
ample, sends over one or more of the finest of 
the French Merino, at 3000 francs and charges, 
and shortly after they are safely landed at 
their place of destination some of the canine 
loungers take a fancy for French mutton, and 
make a supper of them. Mr. R. if he can 
find out the owner of the depredaior, iipplies 
to a justice of the peace arid has bim, the dog, 
killed. But that does not bring the sheep to 
life, nor does it restore the cost and charges 
of the lost animal. Let the owner of the dog, 
under such circumstances, be at least made 
responsible for the damage." 



For the Southern Planter. 
NEGROES. 

Mr. Editor, — I have read, with some degree 
of attention, your remarks on hiring ne- 
groes; and whilst I fully concur with you in 
the justness of your opinions, I nevertheless 
think that a more careful consideration of the 
subject will lead you to the conclusion that 
the root of the evil is more deeply involved 
in the laws of political economy than one 
would suppose. In fact it is the demand for 
labor that is the prime cause of this evil; and 
whatever increases that demand beyond a cer- 
tain point has a tendency to increase the evil 
of which you complain. 

I have observed an upward tendency in the 
price of labor since the year 1621 to the pre- 
sent time. At that period four hundred dol- 
lars could not be obtained for a negro man, 
and three hundred and fifty dollars was the 
maximum price of a very likely woman. — 
Shortly alter this period, our first public work, 
the old James River Canal, was completed, 
with great difficulty, to Maiden's Adventure. 
This created a new demand for slave labor. 

In 1829 the Southampton insurrection took 
place, and it was thought by many that the 
excitement in the Legislature and throughout 
the State, consequent on that event, would 
cause the price of slaves to decline; but to the 
surprise of all, it advanced, and has continued 
to advance up to the present time. It is true 
that there has been an occasional recession in 
price, but it has always rallied again, and only 
once has it gone down to four hundred dollars. 
After the action of the Legislature there was, 
with many persons, a feeling of insecurity 
with respect to their right of property in their 
slaves, and they either sold them or removed 
with them to the South. Of course this in- 
creased the demand for labor. 

Again: the removal of the free negroes from 
the State operates directly to produce a va- 
cuum, whilst the progress of internal improve- 
ments creates a necessity for labor to build 
rail roads and canals, so great indeed as to 
bring foreign labor into the State. 



The new Constitution, being the second in- 
dulgence of the kind that the people have al- 
lowed themselves since 1829, by universalizing 
the right of suffrage, which the other had 
greatly extended, is thought to have exercised 
no little influence on this subject by increas- 
ing the foreign population, particularly in the 
cities. All these causes combined may justly 
be thought to operate on master and slave, 
both by creating a greater demand for labor, 
and by demoralizing the slave, whose value 
is always impaired by contact with white labor, 
partly because he observes that less labor is 
exacted of the white than of himself, and 
partly because a condition not much more 
elevated than his own, in some cases not so 
much so, receives more consideration and en- 
joys higher privileges. 

The last thing to which I shall call your 
attention, as operating injuriously on the slave, 
is the influx of persons of the middle and 
higher classes from the free States. Supposed 
at home to have a horror of slavery, they very 
soon become so far reconciled to it here as to 
avail themselves of the institution by hiring 
"helps" for their families; and having no 
slaves of their own, they are only solicitous 
as to the labor without regard to the manner 
of obtaining it; and of course will, with or 
without intention, bribe and corrupt the negroes 
to obtain their services. 

Though there is strong reason to believe 
that the tobacconists of Richmond commenced 
the custom of paying negroes to consent to be 
hired to them; but whether they did or not, 
the writer is firmly convinced that they have 
aided very much in spreading it over the State. 
For some years after the period first named 
herein, the writer hired out slaves annually 
and never heard such a question asked as you 
state to have been asked of Judge Scott; and 
it was not until sometime afterwards that he 
observed the difficulty of hiring out servants 
in such situations as the owner desired 

All the preceding reasons have convinced 
me that the evil is one not easily remedied, at 
least by writing. A very different remedy 
will have to be applied before the evil ceases, 
to wit, a thorough examination and change of 
the laws on this subject. 



Buckeyeland, Dec. 21, 1852. 

We should be pleased if our correspondent 
would review the present laws on slaves, free 
negroes and mulattoes, point out their defi- 
ciencies and suggest a remedy. — Ed. So. Pl. 



CALVES. 



Calves must have good keeping through the 
first winter or they will prove small and infe- 
rior cattle. A little meal given daily will do 
them no harm— oat and Indian corn ate best. 



24 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



From the Wool Grower. 

FUTURE PROSPECTS OF WOOL, AND 
HOW TO GROW IT. 

Il is a fact, worthy of the most profound 
consideration by every grower of wool, 
that his occupation for the next ten years 
promises rich returns for invested capital 
and labor. During the last decade, there 
has been, in many of the old wool growing 
States, a large falling off in the number of 
sheep raised arid pounds of wool grown. 
In 1840, New York had upwards of 
5,000,000 sheep, being some over a quarter 
of all in the United States. Vermont then 
had over 1.600,000. Now, New York has 
only 3,500,000, and Vermont only a fraction 
over 900,000, and by January, 1853, her 
flocks will doubtless not exceed 600,000! 
The causes which have led to this result 
are various, but it is foreign to our purpose 
to speak of them. In many other States 
there has been a similar decrease or fall- 
ing off. 

For ten years, the increase of sheep 
throughout the Union has been only one 
and a half millions, while the population 
has increased from eighteen to twenty-four 
millions. The American population dou- 
bles in about twenty-five years, without 
the aid of foreign immigration; and it is 
moreover true, that the annual increase of 
of our population requires the fleeces of 
1,000,000 of sheep. Six pounds of wool 
to every man, woman and child in the 
United States is the estimated average 
amount required yearly for their comfort 
and use. Consequently, they would con- 
sume 150,000,000 lbs. Of this amount we 
grow 52,500,000, or a trifle over two pounds 
for each individual. Now, we actually 
consume annually three times the amount 
we grow, and this compels us to buy of 
foreign nations 100,000,000 lbs.! Of this, 
25,000,000 is bought in the raw material, 
and the remainder in manufactured goods. 

If it be a correct estimate that the inha- 
bitants of the northern and middle latitudes 
require annually the wool of two sheep to 
each individual, then itfollows that in many 
of the wool growing countries of Europe, 
we shall look in vain for exports, in conse- 
quence of the large gain of population 
over the gain of their flocks. 

France, with a population of 36,000,000, 
keeps only a fraction over 36,000,000 sheep. 
Austria, with a population of 36,000,000, 
has only 33,000,000 sheep. Great Britain 
and Ireland, with apopulation of 29,000,000, 



keep only 32,000,000 sheep. The sheep of 
Russia number 39,000,000, while the popu- 
lation is 60,000,000. Spain does better; 
a population of 13,000,000 keep 18,000,000 
sheep. Prussia has 15,000.000 inhabitants 
and 16,000,000 sheep. 'Turkey, with a po- 
pulation of 11,000,000, keeps 14,300,000— 
while Sweden and Denmark keep less 
than 3,000,000, with a population of over 
5,000,000. In short, in seventeen of the 
largest nations of Europe, the sheep num- 
ber only 207,171.351, while the sum total 
of the population of these countries is over 
225,000,000. 

It appears clear that these nations can- 
not export wool, for in many of them wool 
growing has reached its utmost limits, 
and yet do not raise enough for their own 
consumption! The Australian colonies, 
since 1843, have never exported less than 
16,000,000 lbs. annually, and ofien as high 
as 40,000,000. Since the discovery of the 
gold mines, however, which has caused 
great neglect of the flocks, England has 
suffered materially in her receipts of wool 
from that region. It appears that there is 
a deficiency of sheep and wool throughout 
nearly all of the great wool growing sec- 
tions of the globe; and hence we infer that 
wool, especially good wool, will command 
a high price for a series of years to come. 
Heavy drafts are being made upon the 
old stocks of cloths in market, and when 
theso are exhausted we may expect a per- 
manent rise in the manufactured fabric. 
Many of the countries that once exported 
fine wools now export none. The South 
American States still export large amounts 
of wool, but it is of the coarser grades and 
cannot enter into competition with wool 
grown in the United States. From what- 
ever point we view the subject, we must 
utter it, as the strong conviction of our 
best judgment, that the inducements to 
grow more wool present stronger claims 
upon the attention and enterprise of the 
American farmer, than those of almost any 
and every other of the varied pursuits of 
agricultural wealth. 

"But," says the reader, "to enable me 
to grow more wool, must I not purchase 
more sheep?" I reply,— not necessarily. 
You can grow much more upon the same 
number than you ever have, doubtless.— 
Every one knows that the same acre of 
tillage land may be made to produce from 
30 to 50 per cent, more than its usual yield, 
by the aid of fertilizers. So may a flock 
of sheep he made to shear from 30 to 50 
per cent, more of wool, by the aid of fer- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



25 



lilizers, or in other words by adapting their 
feed to the make and growth of wool. 
One of the constituent parts of wool is al- 
bumen; hence those grains which contain 
the largest per cent, of albumen, make the 
most wool when fed to sheep. Wheat and 
rye contain largely of it, — peas and beans 
have 29 per cent, of it,— oats 10| per cent, 
only. ' 

It has been ascertained by actual expe- 
riment,* that the following are the results 
of feeding different kinds of roots and 
grains for the production of wool: 

1000 lbs. Potatoes, raw, with salt, make 6^ lbs. wool. 

Do. Mangel Wurtzel, raw, make 5i " 

Do. Wheat, make - - 14 " 

Do. Oats, make 10 " 

Do. Rye, with salt, make - 14 " 

Do. Rye, without salt, make 12i " 

Do. Barlev, make - - Ui " 

Do. Peas/make - - 14i " 

Do Buckwheat, make - 10 " 

These results (and they are the same 
by different experiments) show that peas, 
wheat and rye, produce the greatest in- 
crease of wool, and give about twice the 
number of pounds of wool that roots do 
when in equal weight. Corn meal, oil 
cake, and such gross substances, are the 
proper feed when fat mutton and tallow 
are the objects. But the flock-master, 
whose main object is wool, must rely on 
good hay and water, and a daily moderate 
allowance of these grains, with some po- 
tatoes or carrots as green food, for the at- 
tainment of his object, viz: the greatest 
amount of good wool, and that in the very 
best condition. 

S. B. Rockwell. 
Comic ell, Vt. Nov. 1, 1852. 



From the Rural New Yorker. 

WIRE FENCES— AN EXPERIMENT. 

Messrs. E'/itors, — My farm being nearly des- 
titute of fencing materials, I have recently 
tried wire for replacing worn-out fences. — 
While fixing on my plan, I read the articles 
which have appeared on the subject in the 
back volumes of the Rural, and examined 
other books and papers. Judge Osborne of 
Albany, who has built several miles of this 
fence, also favored me with his advice, and I 
finally settled on a plan presented by Mr. Nor- 
cross, an ingenious mechanic of Cicero, from 
whom I obtained much information on the 
subject. I have erected eighty rods of wire 
fence ihe past season, as follows: 

I set my posts four rods apart, about as per- 

* De Raumer. 



manent as I would for a common board fence, 
and between the posts drive down two small 
cedar stakes — this leaves a space between the 
stakes of twenty-two feet — then in the middle 
of each space, I put what I call an evener, 
that is a strip of board about an inch thick, 
three inches wide and five feet long; the edge 
of the board sawed into with a little saw made 
for the purpose, so as to let the wire in about 
one inch, where it connects with a hole a little 
larger, than the wire and about an inch above 
the cut of the saw. I fasten the upper and 
lower end of the evener to its place with a 
small annealed wire. The first post must be 
large and set very permanent and well braced, 
and on this post place wheels turned out of 
almost any kind of wood, one and a half 
inches thick, and in diameter sufficiently large 
to spread the wire to such width as may be 
deemed proper. This must depend, in sorne 
measure whether you reside in a respectable, 
law-abiding town, where they keep their cat- 
tle, hogs, &c. confined to their own premises, 
as they should, or whether you reside in a 
lawless town or neighborhood, where they let 
them run at large, as they should not. I com- 
mence by fastening the wire as high on the 
first post as I wish to make the fence, then 
take the wire carefully off the roll, and go 
about twenty-five rods to a kind of frame made 
of two posts, with wheels on, put the wire 
round the top wheel, and go back and forth 
till the fence is as many wires high as may 
be desirable. When I commence stringing 
the wire, I put in my staples as I pass along; 
this keeps the wire up and makes it stretch 
more evenly. Thus you have twenty-five rods 
strung, but it should not be stretched light until 
you put up as much more, and then when 
stretched it will pull both ways alike. In this 
manner you may go a thousand miles without 
a permanent post or frame, except at the be- 
ginning and end of the fence. 

I use staples made of wire, No. 12, which 
may be drove into cedar postsorstakes without 
boring, by flattening the ends a little with a 
hammer — any man can make ten or twelve 
hundred staples in a day. My fence is six 
strands high, but it should be seven for an 
outside or road fence, and five for an inside 
fence. I commence stringing my wire at the 
top, go down to within twelve or fifteen inches 
of the ground, and to fill up the space below I 
plough two or three furrows on each side — if 
sod, pitch it under the fence with a barley 
fork— follow with a shovel and throw up the 
loose dirt, bringing il up to a ridge under the 
wire; this makes a kind of ditch on each side, 
and prevents sheep, hogs, &c. from going un- 
der, and also gives notice to horses and cattle 
that there is someihing in the way of their 
progress; besides it makes it quite difficult for 
them to get over. 

I used charcoal wire, No. 8; of this it takes 
five bundles for forty rod,'*, six strands high, (a 
bundle weighs C3 lbs ) My wire cost six cents 
a pound, but I cannot say that it is any belter 



I 



26 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



than the common wire which costs from four 
and a half to five cents. My fence cost about 
fifty-four cents a rod. A good, substantial 
wire fence, seven wires high, may be built in 
most localities for sixty cents a rod, and I 
think it will last three times as long as a rail 
fence. 1 painted my fence with red lead and 
oil. I took a piece of soft sponge dipped in 
in the paint, and went along at the rate of 
eighty rods a day; it took five pounds of red 
lead and two quarts of oil. Mr. Norcross has 
a plan for fastening the ends of wire together. 
He turns them up a quarter of an inch— puts 
them in a mould made for the purpose, and 
runs in melted zinc, which makes it stronger 
than any other part of the wire. Mr. N. has 
an application before the Patent Office now 
pending, to secure a right for this and other 
parts of his plan. 

I made my fence partly as an experiment, 
with a view of preventing snow drifts in the 
road, which fills up every winter so as to pre- 
vent passing with teams. That my fence is 
anything like perfect, I do not pretend, but I 
think it far the best plan that has come to my 
knowledge, and with my present views I shall 
adopt wire fence as the best and cheapest I 
can build. 

A. Eastwood. 

Cicero, Onondaga Co. November, 1852. 



CHEAP DRAINING. 

It is stated in the foreign correspondence of 
the Michigan Farmer, that a method of cut- 
ting drains has been adopted in Scotland, re- 
quiring much less cost than formerly, being 
all done with the plough. It is very useful in 
all cases where the ground is clayey and to- 
lerably free from stones. "In the first place 
a common plough is passed back and forth, 
turning a furrow out on each side. Then fol- 
lows the draining plough, which goes down 
from two to two and a half feet, the mould- 
board being so formed as to turn the earth all 
out. In this manner twelve acres in the vi- 
cinity of Sterling were drained with three 
ploughs, in one day, the tile being laid in the 
furrow just as the plough left it. The earth 
was tetumed to the ditch by means of a scra- 
per, in the form of the letter V, the legs, of 
course, protruding forward, and a team at- 
tached to each leg, on each side of the ditch." 

We have been long since satisfied that the 
cost of excavating ditches might be reduced 
by more horse labor than is generally used. 
For instance, let a Michigan subsoil plough, 
with ample team be set in a foot deep — a thing 
very easily done; by throwing a furrow each 
way (leaving but a narrow strip in the middle) 
the first foot of the ditch is at once thrown 
out with sufficient rapidity to prepare some 
miles for the spade in each day. By running 
twice each way, a greater depth and more 
perfect work might be attained. A regular 



and thorough system of draining is at present 
quite expensive, costing some twenty-five or 
thirty dollars per acre; and if its cost could 
be reduced one half by the application of 
horse power, it would greatly contribute to- 
wards its general introduction, — and be worth 
millions to the country, lying, as it does, in 
most cases at the very foundation of success- 
ful farming. 



From the Supplement to the Southern Recorder. 
USEFUL RULES. 

Messrs. Editors, — I found myself at much 
loss for a few simple rules to work by when I 
first began on my own hook, therefore, submit 
the following to your discretion as suitable 
matter for the Supplement. Young beginners 
may properly appreciate them, as 1 would 
have done some years ago, and would still, 
farther light upon these and kindred subjects. 

To find a good length for rafters for any 
house. Rule: Multiply the width of the house 
(from out to out) by eleven and divide the 
product by eighteen, the quotient is the answer. 

To know how far apart rafters must be, the 
length of plate, number and thickness of raf- 
ters given. Rule: Deduct the thickness of all 
the rafters on one side from the length of the 
plate, and divide the remainder by the number 
of spaces, (which in this case, is one less than 
number of rafters;) the quoiient is the answer. 
But if the rafters are irregular in thickness, 
to find the distance from middle to middle. 
Rule: Deduct the thickness of one rafter from 
the length of the plate, and divide the remain- 
der by the number of spaces; the quotient is the 
answer. For sleepers to a house, where one 
is put at each end of inside space, deduct from 
the whole space, as from the plate for rafters, 
and proceed by the same rule precisely.' But 
where sleepers are let into the side sills, and 
the end sills are made to answer for two 
sleepers, the spaces will be one more than real 
sleepers; and to find .from middle to middle, 
in this case. Rule: Add the thickness of one 
sleeper to whole space between end sill, and 
divide the same by the number of spaces; the 
quotient is the answer. To mark the places, 
then, begin half the thickness of one sleeper 
on the end sill, and the distance of the quo- 
tient mentioned, along the side sill, will show 
the place for the middle of the first real sleeper, 
and so on for all the rest. To find the length 
of a brace, (called a "square brace",) where 
the mortises are equal distances from the cor- 
ner (say six feet up post and the same out 
upon the sill.) Rule: Multiply one side only 
(say six) by seventeen, and divide the product 
by twelve; the quotient will be near enough 
the correct answer for common purposes. 

For other kinds of braces it will be conve- 
nient to take as a table; that one foot out, and 
one foot four inches up, will require a brace 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



27 



one foot eight inches long. And where a Ion- | nearly; 49 1-5 yards square is | an acre nearly; 
ger brace is required, multiply each sum in i 34| yards square is \ of an acre nearly; '220 
the tahle by anv same figure, the proportion | yards square is 10 acres; 155i yards square 



5 acres nearly; a furlong is \ of a mile, viz: 
220 yards, a square rood is \ of an acre. 

E. J. Blackshear. 
Laurens County, Nov. 1, 1852. 



PROTECTING MANURE FROM THE 
WEATHER. 



in the several products will be the same, and 
the answer minutely correct, viz: Multiply 
the table by five. Answer is five feet out, six 
feet eight up, and eight feet four inches the 
length of a brace that will fit. 

To find the shape for a square brace, the 
iron square is commonly laid down 12 and 12 
at the corner of the limber, but for this other 
kind it must be laid down 12 and 9, instead of 
12 and 12, and the scribes made, one with long 

slope, the other with short. i One of the sources of profit, or perhaps we 

lo make a cog-wheel where the number ttf \ shom sa one of m items of sa ^ ing f the 
cogs and their s.ze and spaces have been deter- j fer dl] - , he wint fe , he manure made 
mined, the sweep staff is the first work This I . hjs st(jck duri Mg season _ 0n , he 
sweep staff must be of such a length as to : ' mode of savi [M much f to stre ' h 
describe a circle which will contain the certain £ nd consequentl y its value depends. The Too 
number of cogs and spaces and no more.- common mode ot - Growing it out of the barn 
Then to make a sweep staff, for a wheel which wiQdto takg (he al[ernate drenrh j ng of 
is to contain 92 cogs 2 inches thick and 2 ^ fai (he )reezi of lhe cold and b the 
Rule: Draw a line on the side lhawings of [he warmer weather, is not the 

most prudent course to take with it. 

This species of manure is a compound of 
great value, if all of the ingredients can be 
retained until it is applied to the crops, where 
they will all be required, and used by the 
growing vegetable, to add to its size and pro- 
ductiveness. It is made up of vegetable and 



of a jack plane, and mark the distance of one 
cog and space upon this line, (say 4 inches,) 
divide this 4 inches into 11 equal parts pre- 
cisely, take 7 of these 11 parts upon your 
compasses, with the compasses thus opened 
to seven-elevenths of a cog and space, step in 
a straight line upon the sweep staff, and at 
each step, count four cogs, to any number, but ; ^^^rmatter'both'orwhkh'snb^anTe's^^n" 



23 steps is the length for a sweep staff that 
will describe a circle which will contain 92 
steps on the circle, of four inches each. It is 
evident then we have this general rule: Seven- 
elevenths of a cog and space, from the centre 
outward, is equal to four ot these cogs and 
four spaces, in the circumference. And alier 



tain the due quantity of mineral matters, all 
of which may be required in the formation of 
crops, and through them, for the sustenance of 
animals. Now if a part of these be washed 
out and carried off by the rains and melting 
snows, or wafted away by ihe winds, in the 
form of gases, brought out by the fermentation 



the same rule, seven-elevenths of two feet as whjch .| son ; etimes induce J d b , he changes 
a half dmmeter is equal to (twice i 4 viz:) 8 , (0 whjch h js subje lhere fe a £ orrespondi 

e properly, 4 steps of 2 feet each jloss ^^ jf J ou ca „ conven iently have it 

a shed built over 



aroind in the circle. 



| put under cover, by having 



To find where to strike Ihe lines upon a.= tor by havin? a " barn ceilar inl0 which (0 

T A? U .u r I ihrowit,you will be a great gainer every year, 
octagon or eight-sided piece. Rule: At the I rp, '/., e (V ,„ r,°„, %„ U : „ir..„_' 



square stick of limber so as to make a regular 



end strike a diagonal line from corner to cor- 
ner The difference between half this diagonal 
line and one hide is the distance from the cor- 
ner, to strike the line. A piece of timber 12 
inches square, ihe diagonal line would he very 
near 17 inches — half of this is 8j, which de- 
ducted from one side (12 inches) leaves 3| 
inches, which is ihe distance from each corner, 
to strike the lines. When the end of the tim- 
ber is not convenient, mark its size upon a 
plank, and proceed. 

To ascertain the number of rails for a ten 
rail fence of any given length. Rule: Multi- 
ply the yards by four, the product is the an- 



The editor of the Boston Cultivator gave a 
hint on this subject, not long since, in which 
he alludes to what is called box feeding, in 
England. In that country, you are aware, 
farmers make quite a profit by stall feeding 
cattle while fattening them for market. They, 
therefore, sometimes put their cattle into pens, 
say ten feet square, and feed them, keeping 
them well littered, and thus accumulate a large 
quantity of manure, by building up the sides 
of the pens or boxes, as the manures accumu- 
late, in order to keep the cattle in. 

Stall feeding for market would not be pro- 
fitable in all sections of the United States, but 



swer. Example, a mile of fence, 1760 yards— ; lhe results, as far as the accumulation and 



7040 rails 

Otnvera 'ent Pocket CnlcuMions. — 7040 rails in 
a mile of fen r e. 1700 rails in a quarter of a 
mile; 100 rails in 100 yards, 100 yards is 40 
panels; 100 panels of fence is 250 yards. 09 

yards :J) 52-100 inches square is one acre of \ Cultivator, made at the English Agricultural 
Bid; 60J yards square is J of an acre ' College,showing thedifferencein box manure, 



preservation of manures are concerned, may 
give knowledge to us, useful lo practise upon 
in our management of this article, so essential 
lo the farmer. 

The following analysis is quoted by the 



2S 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



that had been protected from the weather, and 
yard manure, that had not been so protected: 



Box manure. 


Yard manure 


Per cent. 


Per cent. 


Water, 


71.04 


71.00 


Nitrogenized matter, 






capable of yielding 






ammonia, lOOparts 






dried, 


2.37 


1.07 


Salts, soluble in wa- 






ter, containing or- 






ganic mailer, - 


10.07 


4.0G 


Organic matter, - 


5.4-3 


1.82 


Inorganic matter, 


4.28 


2 78 


Phosphoric acid, - 


0.03 


0.26 


Alkalies— potash and 






soda, 


2.00 


0.08 



Thus you see that there is quite a difference, 
and it shows the advantages of sheltering this 
species of dressing. A very little calculation 
will show that the gain or saving made in a 
few years would amply repay the extra ex- 
pense of building sheds or digging cellars for 
this purpose. — Maine Farmer. 



PAYMENTS TO THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 

From. December 1st, 1852, to January 1st, 1853. 

$1 00 
3 00 
2 00 
1 00 
1 00 
1 00 



Richard Allen to September 1853, 

F. W. Scott to January 1853, 
Dr. J. S. Lewis to October 1853, 
R. N. Fierndon to September 1853, 
John P. Willcox lo September 1853, 
A. B. Duncan to July 1853, 
P. D. Samuel to January 1853, 
William S. Dance to January 1854, 
Mrs. M. Hen deques to January 1854, 
Ro. Worthinglon to July 1853, 

R. C. Dickinson to January 1853, 
William P. Tatum to January 1854, 
Joseph C. Burton to January 1853, 
Tucker Carrington to September 1853, 
James Heizer to August 1853, 
C. M. Adkisson to January 1853, 
John G. Guthrie to July 1853, 
W. S. Morton to May 1854, 
Mrs. E. O. Carter to September 1853, 
George W. Fones to September 1853, 
Peterfield Trent to January 1854, 
James M. Ransom to September 1853, 
George VV. Gilliam to January 1854, 
William W. Watkins to January 1854, 
Col. P. W. Meredith to January 1854, 

G. A. Walden to September 1853, 
Rudolph Turk (in full,) 

Dr. P. H. Foster to January 1853, 
J. Pnmplin to January 1854, 
W. P. Tucker to January 1854, 
R. P. Atkinson to January 1854, 
Reuben Ragland to January 1853, 
T. Junius Eppes to January 1854, 
Richard I. Gaines to January 1853, 
James E. Tucker to January 1854, 
John H. Wilkes to January 1854, 



1 00 
1 00 
1 00 

1 00 

2 00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 



1 00 
1 00 
1 00 

1 

1 

1 
I 



00 

00 

00 

00 

1 00 

83 

00 

00 

00 

00 

00 

00 

1 00 

1 00 

1 00 



James E. Harris to September 1853, $1 00 
J. H. Perkins to September 1855, 2 00 

William Smith to July 1852, 2 00 

Robert Campbell to January 1854, 
Sterling C. Anderson to January 1853, 
Thomas J. J. Grymes to January 1853, 
Joseph Weaver to July 1853, 
William P. Waring to January 1854, 
Warner L. Waring to January 1854, 
Thomas Whitworth to January 1855, 
Richard Hawes to July 1853, 

F. M. Irvine to July 1853, 
A. L. Young to January 1853, 
Col. George Townes to January 1856, 
H. S. Langhorne to January 1853, 
John Gilmer to January 1854, 
Ro. W. M'Candlish to January 1853, 
R. C. L. Moncure to January 1854, 
John M. Conway to January 1854, 
Samuel S. Brooke to January 1854, 

j Peter D. G. Hedgeman to January 1854. 

(.John Schooler to January 1854, 
James T. Dunkum to January 1854, 
John H. Maddox to September 1853, 
W. B. Cochran to September 1854, 
John S. Moon to July 1853, 

G. S. Harper to January 1854, 
James H. Shepherd to January 1854, 
L. M. George to January 1854, 
M. H. M'Cue to July 1853, 
James Faris to January 1854, 
Miles C. Tunstall to January 1854, 
W. H. Sims to January 1853, 
James E. Bowles to January 1854, 
F. K. Nelson to January 1854, 
Ambrose Ford to January 1853, 
E. G. Booth to January 1854, 
R. W. N. Noland to July 1853, 
Alexander Irvine to January 1853, 
Samuel T. Brown to April 1854, 
W. A. Carter to January 1854, 
Mrs. F. T. Harvey to July 1853, 
Edmund Ruffin, Jr. to January 1854, 
General Steinberger to January 1853, 
Samuel Heflebower to January 1854, 
H. G. Maslin to January 1854, 
Wilson P. Coe to January 1854, 
William D. North to January 1854, 
N. W. Harris to January 1854, 
W. W. Boyd to January 1854, 
John R. Cluarles to January 1854, 
Carey Breckenridge to January 1854, 
Robert Pollard to January 1854, 
Edward Stabler to January 1854, 
Geo. W. Ruffin, M. D. to January 1854, 
W. H. Vaughan to January 1854, 
W. Gee to January 1854, 
Col. T. J. Boyd to January 1«54, 
Alexander Kerr to January 1854, 
Dr. John W. Supton to January^l854, 
James Arnold to Januarv 1854, 
John Baker to January 1853, 
Samuel E. Lee to January 1854, 
Dr. William Selden to Januarv 1854, 
John E. Flournoy to January 1854, 1 00 
Whitley Fullin to July 1853, 1 00 
Dr. John T. Smith to July 185?, 1 00 



2 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


3 00 


1 00 


3 00 


1 00 


1 00 


i oo 


5 00 


1 00 


1 00 


7 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


3 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


2 50 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 Oi) 


1 00 


1 00 


6 00 


1 00 


1 00 


7 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


5 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


i oo 


1 00 


1 00 


2 00 


1 00 


1 00 


3 00 


5 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


2 00 


1 00 


1 00 


3 00 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



Mat. Harrison to January 1854, 
Henry D. Smith to July 1853, 
W. B. Aston to July 1853, 
A. Fuller to July 1853, 
A. Hendricks to July 1853, 

E. H. Herbert to January 1853, 
Fr. Fitzgerald to January 1854, 

F. W. Brown to June 1853, 
James W. Gresham to January 1853, 
Samuel Drake to January 1854, 
John T. Goodwin to January 1854, 
J. B. Edwards to January 1854, 
John W. Lester to January 1854, 
A. W. Talley to January 1854, 
James A. Cochran to January 1854, 
Edward C. M'Gehee to January 1854, 
Matthias Lamb to June 1853, 
Peter Hanger to January 1854, 
J. R. Maben to June 1853, 
John Lawton to January 1854, 
Dr. George Fitzgerald to January 1854, 
Frederick Gilliam to January 1854, 
R. B. Brashear to July 1853, 
J. Marshall M'Cue to July 1854, 



SI 00 1 


i oo 1 


1 00' 


1 00 


1 00 


4 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


5 00 


1 00 


1 00 


4, 1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


2 00 



Benjamin Estill to April 1853, 
A. H. Moorman to January 1854, 
V. O. Witcher to January 1854, 
William F. Gardner to January 1854, 
Ro. W. Calloway to January 1S54, 
John M. Patton to January 1854, 
Thomas C. Moorman to January 1854, 
Capt. R. A. Booker to January 1853, 

A. Burton to January 1854, 
M. Snead to January 1854, 

G. H. B. Fiizhugh to January 1853, 

B. O. L. Howell to January 1854, 
James D. Crawley to January 1854, 
Dr. A. W. Gay to January 1854, 
Jesse S. Armistead to January 1854, 
William E. Glen to January 1854. 
David C. Anderson to January 1854, 
John Crichton to October 1854, 
Robert Maddox to January 1853, 
M. Davis to January 1854, 
Bannister Coffee to January 1854, 

S. G. Davis to January 1854, 
Dr. H. Lewis to January 1854, 
James M. Garnett to January 1854, 



$1 00 



[>5 00 



CHOICE POULT RY. 





2 00 



00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
2 00 
2 00 



** %^ 

The subscriber offers for sale the following varieties of pure blooded Fovsls, viz: Cochin China 
Fowls; Black, White, Buff and Brown Shanghais; Chittag.ings or Gray Shanghais. 

The above are the largest and best variety of (owls bred in this country, and are from stock 
originally imported by the subscriber. Gentlemen, Poultry-keepers and others, desirous of 
procuring choice Poultry may depend upon the above stock being purely bred and warranted 
true to their name. £fAddress CHARLES SAMPSON, West Roxlmry, Mass. 

The different varieties of these beautiful fowls may be seen at my residence on First Street, 
between Main and Cary Streets, Richmond, Va. W. A. BUTTERS, 139 Main St. 



30 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



ANALYTICAL, LABORATORY 

FOR THE ANALYSIS OF SOILS, &c— 
The undersigned announces, that through 
the liberality of the Planters of the adjacent 
counties, there has been established, in connec- 
tion with the Department of Chemistry in Ran- 
dolph Macon College, an Analytical Labora- 
tory, for the analysis of soils, marls, plaster, 
guano, minerals, &c, and for instruction in 
Analytical Chemistry. The Laboratory will 
be furnished with the most approved appara- 
ratus and choice re-agents, with every desira- 
ble facility. He has associated with him JVlr. 
William A. Shepard, who was recently assist- 
ant to Professor Norton, in the Yale Analyti- 
cal Laboratory, and who comes with ample 
testimonials of skill and capacity. Young men 
can pursue any studies in the College they 
may wish, while they are receiving instruction 
in the Laboratory. Copious written explana- 
tions will always accompany the reports of 
analysis. The charges for analysis and in- 
struction will be moderate — the design beirg 
to make the Laboratory accessible to the peo- 
ple at large. Packages left with Messrs. 
Wills & Lea or Smith & Dunn, Petersburg, 
"Virginia, will be forwarded, free of charge, to 
those who send them. For further information, 
address CHAS. B.STUART, 

Professor of Experimental Sciences, Randolph 
Macon College, Va. oc — tf 

AGENCY FOR THE PURCHASE AND 
SALE OF IMPROVED STOCK. 

STOCK Cattle of all the different breeds, 
Sheep, Swine, Poultry, <fcc. will be pur- 
chased to order, and carefully shipped to any 
part of the United States, forwhich a reasona- 
ble commission will be charged. Apply to 
AARON CLEMENT, Philadelphia. 
Refer to Gen. W.H.Richardson, Richmond, 
Virginia. 

N. B. — All letters, post-paid, will be prompt- 
ly attended to. ap — tf 



EAGLE FOUNDERY. 

THE subscriber having removed to the 
large Foundery, just erected by him and 
fitted out with machinery of the latest and most 
approved style, is, in addition to the manufac- 
ture of Tobacco Flattening Mills, prepared to 
receive orders for Stationary Steam Engines, 
Saw and Grist Mills, Agricultural Machines, 
Tobacco Presses of every description, and all 
kinds of Iron and Brass Castings. He pledges 
himself to execute faithfully, and with dis- 
patch, all work entrusted to him, and respect- 
fully solicits a call from his friends and the 
public generally. 

The highest cash prices paid for old cast 
iron, brass and copper. 

PHILIP RAHM, 
je— ly Cary, between Pearl and 15th sts. 



NEW PLASTER AND BONE MILL. 

ri^HE subscriber offers for sale fine Ground 
JL and Calcined Plaster, both of the best 
and purest quality; he has also a Bone Mill 
atlached, and intends to keep a supply of 
Ground Bones, fine and pure. Farmers and 
others are invited to call and examine lor 
themselves. His prices shall be as low as the 
same qualitv articles can be bought for, North 
or South. The highest cash price will be paid 
for dry bones, delivered at his Mill adjoining 
the Paper Mill. 
oc— tf R. R. DUVAL. 



DR. VALENTINE'S RECIPE FOR 
MAKING ARTIFICIAL GUANO. 



No. 1. 
No. 2. 
No. 3. 
No. 4. 
No. 5. 
No. G. 
No. 7. 
No. 8. 
No. 9. 
" 10. 



Dry Peat,* 
Wood Ashes, 
Fine Bone Dust, ■ 
Calcined Plaster, 
Nitrate of Soda, 
Sal Ammoniac, 
Carb Ammonia, 
Sulph: Sodae, 
Sulph: Magnesia, 
Common Salt, 



20 bushels 

3 bushels 

3 bushels 

3 bushels 

40 pounds 

22 pounds 

11 pounds 

20 pounds 

10 pounds 

10 pounds 



* If peat cannot be obtained, use garden mould, 
or clean virgin soil instead. 

Dirrctions for Mixing.— Mix Nos. 1, 2, 3, 
together — mix Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, in four or 
five pails of water, or enough to dissolve the 
ingredients. When dissolved, add the liquid 
to the mixture, (I, 2, 3,) and mix as in making 
mortar. When thoroughly mixed, add No. 4, 
(the calcined plaster,) which will absorb the 
liquid and bring the whole to a dry state. Mix 
under cover in a dry place — pack so as to ex- 
clude air — observe the proportions in making 
small or large quantities. The above receipt 
will make one ton, which will manure seven 
and a half acres of land. 

Having furnished the above to a number of 
farmers who have tested its qualities— many 
thinking it equal to naturat guano — the sub- 
scribers have made arrangements to furnish 
any quantity during this season, and will sell 
the ingredients' exclusive of the Peat, Wood 
Ashes, Plaster and Salt, (articles on every 
farm,) at the low price of $10 per ton. One 
sugar hogshead will hold ingredients enough 
for five tons. All orders will be carefully and 
promptly executed, and sent to any part of the 
Slate. 

R. R. DUVAL & BRO. 

Chemists and Druggists, under the American 
Hotel, Richmond, Va. oc— tf 



OSAGE ORANGE PLANTS FOR LIVE FENCES, 

THE best and most durable enclosure for 
farms, gardens or lots. 1 have some of 
these plants for sale— $1 per hundred— and 
would be glad if those who want them would 
inform me as soon as convenient. 
de-4t WM. H. RICHANDSON. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



31 



PLANTATION BOOK. 



JW. RANDOLPH, Richmond, Virginia, 
• has just published the Plantation and 
Farm Instruction, Regulation, Record, Inven- 
tory and Account Book, for the use of ma- 
nagers of estates, and for the better ordering 
and management of plantation and farm busi- 
ness, in every particularly a Southern Planter. 
Order is Heaven's first law— Pope. Price $2, 
or six for S10; a larger edition for the use of 
cotton plantations, price $2 50. 

Contents. — Actual number of pounds to a 
Bushel of Wheat, Articles received for use of 
Plantation, Brick-Kiln, Births of Negroes, 
Balance Sheet, Cows, Cultivation, Contents of 
a Corn Crib, Clothing to Negroes, Diameter 
of a Horse Mill, Deaths of Negroes, Directions 
how to use this Book, Expenses and Sales for 
the Year, Form of a Contract with Manager, 
Force of a Draught Horse, Horses, Hogs, 
Instructions to Managers, Implements, Jour- 
nal or Daily Record, Medicines, Manure Ta- 
bles, Mechanical Power, Effect of the Labor 
of an Active Man, Inventory of Negroes, Oxen, 
Washington's Lettsrs to his Steward, Planta- 
tion Management, Police, Ploughing Rules, 
Planting Distances, Physicians' Visits, Quan- 
tity and Value of Produce Made, Quantity of 
Work of a Man and Two Horses, Rules for the 
Government and Discipline of the Negroes, 
Rotation Tables for Cultivation of Crops, 
Rural Economy, Sheep, Steam Engines, Stock 
and Implements, Tools, &c. used by the Ne- 
groes, Weight of Materials, Weights and 
Measures, Wind Mills, Water Wheels, When 
a Horse Draws to Advantage, &c. &c. 

There are extra sheets for monthly and 
yearly reports, for the use of those who do not 
live on their farms. The Book will- he sent 
by mail free of postage to any one who will 
remit the price in money or postage stamps. 

This Book is by one of the best and most 
systematic farmers in Virginia; and experi- 
enced farmers have expressed the opinion, that 
those who use it, •will save hundreds of dollars. 

"Every farmer who will get one of these 
Books, and regulate all his movements by its 
suggestions, cannot fail to realize great bene- 
fits from it. We cannot too highly commend 
it to the consideration of agriculturists." — 
Richmmul Whig. 

"It will prove a most valuable assistant to 
the planter, manager or overseer, and a work 
that will facilitate them gre;uly in the trans- 
action of business." — Ricltmi/id Dispatch. 

"The Book we should suppose to be indis- 
pensable to any one having the management 
of a large estate." — Richmond Republican. 

'■'■ We hope many farmers will bay the work, 
and make an effort to keep things straight." — 
Southern Planter. 

"It is full of useful information and is well 
calculated to induce a methodical system, in- 
dustry and energy especially vital to a suc- 
cessful and profitable cultivation of mother 
earth." — Richmond Enquirer. June — tf 



TO AGRICULTURISTS. 

MORRIS & BROTHER have received the 
following valuable Books, pertaining to 
Agriculture: 

Elements of Scientific Agriculture, or the 
connexion between Science and the Art of » 
Practical Farming. This was the prize essay 
of the New York State Agricultural Society; 
by J. P. Norton, M. A. 

Elements of Agricultural Chemistry and 
Geology; by Jas. F. W. Johnston. 

American Agriculturist, for the Farmer, 
Planter, Stock Breeder, and Horticulturist; 
by A. B.Allen; numerous plates. The 8th 
and 9th volumes of this most valuable work are 
received, also complete sets. Every farmer 
should have this work. 

American Farm Book, on Soils, Manures, 
Drainings, Irrigation, Grasses, Grain, Roots, 
Fruit, Cotton, Tobacco, Sugarcane, Rice, and 
every staple product of the United States. — 
This is a perfect farmer's library, with upwards 
of 100 engravings; by R. L. Allen. 

Farmer's Manual, with the most recent dis- 
coveries in Agricultural Chemistry; by F. 
Faulkner. 



A Muck Manual for Farmers; by S. L- 
Dana. 

Farmer's Land Measurer, with a set of use- 
ful Agricultural Tables; by Jas. Pedder. 

American Husbandry. — Series of Essays on 
Agriculture, with additions; by Gaylord' and 
Tucker. 

Farmer's Encyclopaedia; by Cuthbert W, 
Johnson. 

Productive Farming, with the most recent 
discoveries of Liebig, Johnston, Davy, and 
others. 

European Agriculture, from personal obser- 
vation; by Henry Coleman. This is a very 
popular work. 

Johnson's Chemistry and Geology, with their 
application. 

Johnson's Dictionary of Gardening; by Da- 
vid Landreth. 

London's Gardening, for Ladies; by A. J. 
Downing. 

Squarey's Agricultural Chemistry, Boussin- 
gault, Rural Economy, Buist's Kitchen Gar- 
dener, Landscape Gardening, and Rural Ar- 
chitecture; by A. J. Downing. 

Fessenden's American Gardener. 

American Fruit Book, withfulliustructions; 
by S. W. Cole. 

Downing on Fruit Trees. 

Theory of Horticulture; by Lindley. 

Florist's Manual; by H. Bourne; 80 colored 
engravings. 

Bridgman's Kitchen Gardener. 

In addition to which, Morris & Erother have 
all of the late Works on AgricuLture, Horti- 
culture, and Raising Stock, of any celebrity, 

Richmond, March 12, 1351. — lv 



32 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



CONTENTS OF NUMBER I. 



PAGE 

Scientific Agriculture, No 3 3 

The Hessian Fly, the Black Fly and the 

Joint Worm 6 

Agricultural Implements 8 

Praise of Agriculture. — Carbonate of Lime. 9 

French. Merino Sheep 11 

Premium Wheat 11 

Live Stock in the United States 12 

Devon Cattle 14 

A Happy New Year 16 

Virginia State Agricultural Society 16 

Acknowledgments 19 

Sewing Machines 20 

Explanation 22 

Seed Corn— Good Idea 22 

Great Sale of Cattle 22 

Dog Law 22 

Negroes 23 

Future Prospects of Wool — HowtoGrow it. 24 

Wire Fences — An Experiment 25 

Cheap Draining 26 

Useful Rules 26 

Protecting Manure from the Weather 27 

Payments to the Southern Planter 28 



SeBow's Industrial Resources 

AND PROGRESS OF THE SOUTH- 
ERN AND WESTERN STATES, in 
three large and closely printed volumes, small 
type, double columns; handsome print, paper 
and binding, — being a digest and abridgement 
of the 12 volumes of DeBow's Review. Price 
S>10, or $3 33 per volume. 

Desirous of supplying the large and conti- 
nually increasing demand for the complete series 
of Ike Review, in 12 volumes, now exhausted, 
and which it would require a very large outlay 
to reprint, the editor has been induced to make 
a selection of all the important and valuable 
papers contained in them from the beginning, 
condensing, re-arranging and completing to 
date, and throwing the subjects after the man- 
ner of the encyclopedias, into alphabetical 
order. In this manner everything of interest 
and importance will be preserved in a conve- 
nient form for reference; and the volumes will 
constitute the only repository for the shelves 
of the library, of such information, which by 
means of the monthly numbers hereafter will 
always be brought down to date. 

The Volumes will embrace the gist of every- 
thing that has appeared in the Review relating 
to the Southern and Western States. (An im- 
perfect index of which will be found at the 
opening of the 10th volume.) 

To wit: Their History, Population, Ge- 
ography, Statistics; Agricultural Pro- 
ducts, of Cotton, Sugar, Tobacco, Hemp, 
Grains, Naval Stores, etc. etc. — Manufac- 
tures; detailed accounts, statistics and his- 
tory of all branches,— Internal Improvements; 
complete statistics of Rail Roads, results pro- 



fits, expenses, costs, advantages, miles in pro- 
jection, construction, completed, etc.; Plank 
Roads, Canals, Navigation, etc.— Statistics of 
Health and Diseases, wealth and progress; rela- 
tive condition, whiles and blacks; Slave Laws 
and Statistics, management and amelioration 
of slavery, — origin, history and, defences of slavery 
and slave institutions; the valuable treatises of 
Harper, Hammond, Dew, on slavery, etc. ; 
Commerce or the South and West in all of 
its minute particulars, etc. together with an 
historical and statistical sketch of each of the 
stales and cities, — the domestic and foreign trade, 
resources, manufactures, etc. of the United Slates; 
the Census Returns from 1790, with the com- 
plete statistics of the census of 1850. 

The volumes will be issued in September, 
October and November, 1852, and orders are 
solicited in advance, payable on delivery to 
Merchants, or to the parties themselves. 

DeBow's Review, of which this is a con- 
densation, is published monthly in New Or- 
leans, and other southern and western cities, 
112 to 140 pages, small print, fine paper and 
engravings, and treats of all the great indus- 
trial matters relating to the Southern and 
Western States, and incidentally of the North 
and the Union. Terms $5 per annum. 

The volumes hereafter will be uniform with 
the condensed series. 

A few sets of the complete work may be had 
at the office, in 12 large and handsomely bound 
volumes. Price $42. Single numbers sup- 
plied to make up sets, and binding furnished 
on reasonable terms.. 

J. D. B. DeBOW, 
Ed. DeBow's Review, Merchant's Exchange. 
New Orleans, July, 1852 — Gt 



CLASSICAL, AND MATHEMATICAL 
SCHOOL.. 

RUMFORD ACADEMY, KING WIL- 
LIAM, VA.— This school is about two 
| miles from Sharon Church, on the stage road 
between Richmond and Tappahannock. So 
j healthful is the location, that but few cases of 
serious sickness have occurred in the school 
since its establishment in 1804. No expense 
| is spared in providing for the physical com- 
forts of the pupils; treated in every respect as 
young gentlemen, they are required to conduct 
I themselves as such. 

The subscriber, who has been engaged eight 
! years in guiding and instructing youth, will be 
aided by competent assistants. 

The usual English Course, including Che- 
mistry and Philosophy, an extensive course 
nf Mathematics, and the Latin, Greek and 
I French Languages will be taught. A recess 
of one week will be given at Easter. 

Terms.— For board and tuiiion, with every 
; necessary except lights and stationery, from 
j 15th of January to 1st of July, 884; payable 
I one-half 1st of May, the other'half 1st of July. 
JOHN H. PITTS, ". 
I ja— tf Aylett's P. O. King William.