THE 



SOUTHERN PLANTER 



A MONTHLY PERIODICAL, 



D £ V'.O T/E D ,T O 



TURE, HORTICULTURE, AND THE HOUSEHOLD ARTS. 



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■- .. , ;- :v r ; 



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Volume I. 



C . ' T . EOTTS, EDITOR 



RICHMOND. 

1842. 



5 
1 

194 HW2. 



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THE SOUTHERN PLANTER; 

Ueboteto to sigrfculture, gjot'tfculturc, anH the gJotuehoUr girts. 

Agriculture is the nursing- mother of the Arts. Tillage and Pasturage arc the two breasts of the State. 

X nop lion. Sully. 



C. T. BOTTS, Editor. 



No. 3, Governor Street. 



Vol. I. 



RICHMOND, JANUARF, 1841. 



No. 1. 



PROSPECTUS 

OF 

THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 

The Subscriber proposes to publish, in this 
City, a momhly periodica!, to be called THE 
SOUTHERN PLANTER. It will be de- 
voted, exclusively, to the promo! ion of Agricul- 
ture, Horticulture, and the Household Arts. 

Rejecting long, and even perhaps able essays, 
he designs to make his paper the medium for 
the promulgation, in a condensed form, of the ob- 
servations and deductions of practical men. In 
this way it is hoped, that the Planter cf the South 
may be enabled to obtain the benefit of his neigh- 
bor's experience with little labor and less cost. 
A very able paper, upon the plan proposed, 
published in our sister State of New York, has 
been eminently successful, and productive of 
great good to the cause of Agriculture. Why 
should not our own State, more peculiarly Agri- 
cultural, be inspirited by so excellent an exam- 
ple ? 

Proposing to extract from that and other 
works, both foreign and domestic, all valuable 
information of a general character, the subscriber 
hopes to add to it valuable communications, 
more peculiarly applicable to our Southern soil, 
climate and institutions; enriching the whole 
with neat cuts, where the opportunity offers, or 
the subject demands it. 

Of his ability to conduct such a work, it 
would neither avail nor become him to speak. 
In this, as in other cases of a similar kind, his 
patrons must be content to risk one year's sub- 
scription to enable them to judge. He will only 
assure them, that he has secured the promised 
assistance and zealous co-operation of some of 
the most able and practical Farmers in our State. 

C. T. Botts. 






TO THE READER. 

With this number commences our editorial 
career; and in this number, it is proper, perhaps, 
that we should lay before the reader a more ex- 
tended view of our design, than the limits of a 
prospectus could afford. Perhaps it will be 
asked, what need of another agricultural paper? 
Rave we not. already enough to supply the wants 
of the community? Docs the editor propose to 
Vol, 1—1 



amend, or improve upon plans already adopted 
or to furnish us with information unattainable 
heretofore % 

The editor makes very few pretensions of any 
sort. He only proposes to introduce into his 
native state a plan, much used and highly ap- 
proved to the north ; that of publishing an agri- 
cultural paper at so small a price, as to bring 
it within the reach of all. The advantages of 
such a work over a more elaborate, and conse- 
quently more expensive rival, are manifold. Its 
very cheapness secures it an extensive circu- 
lation, of itself extiemely conducive to the in- 
terest and well-being of a paper, since in a 
work of this kind, which relies chiefly upon ex- 
traneous assistance, the greater the circulation, 
the greater will be the amount of information 
elicited. Thus too, by throwing the paper into 
ihe hands of plain, economical men, who are 
frequently deterred from subscribing to a more 
expensive work, valuable facts may be obtained, 
which would otherwise be lost to the world. Its 
brevity and rareness render it probable that much 
pains will be taken to condense and elucidate 
information, points most desirable to the general 
reader. The truth is, that facts and experi- 
ments in agriculture are so slowly evolved, that 
in our opinion, such a paper as we propose, af- 
fords ample field in which to introduce them to 
the reader. Let us not. be misunderstood ; we 
certainly do not advise any individual to dis- 
continue his subscription to a more expensive 
work, in order to take our little sheet. The aim 
and object of the two are probably entirely diffe- 
rent; for whilst the philosophical and theoretical 
essays, which constitute their chief adornment, 
are frequently extremely valuable, they are en- 
tirely without the sphere of our more humble 
production. 

Whilst nature has made the people of the 
south peculiarly agricultural, and whilst we are 
the great producers of America, the fact is un- 
deniable, that, in economy and management, wc 
are in many respects inferior to our northern 
brethren. Nor is it to be wondered at, for " ne- 
cessity is ihe mother of invention ;" and if the 
frigid ciimate, and unyielding soil of the north, 
compel them to arts, in themselves highly ad- 
vantageous, why should not we, the children of 
a more indulgent parent, avail ourselves of the 
fruits of their labor 1 ? The truth is, that an ex- 
treme indulgence of nature has blunted our per- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



cept ions, and like other spoilt children, we are 
upon the whole, hardly benefited by the indul- 
gence. 

To collect, examine, select from, and report 
to his readers in a clear, simple, and condensed 
style, all the information, to which, by the most 
untiring exertion, he can gain access, will be the 
aim and object of the editor: and so far as the 
most extraordinary and zealous devotion to the 
cause in which he is embarked, may entitle him 
to hope for success, so far he has a right to ex- 
pect it. 

But afier all, his main reliance must be upon 
the friends of agriculture. His own unassisted 
exertions, no matter how strenuous, must be of 
little worth. Let the hundreds who have al- 
ready manifested such an extraordinary interest 
in the success of this work, remember, that 
without the co-operation of the practical hus- 
bandman, no design of the kind can possibly 
prove successful. Our chief object is to afford 
a medium for the interchange of opinions and 
observations ; we therefore not only invite, but 
entreat, the farmers of the south, to avail them- 
selves of the opportunity to afford, not to us, but 
to each other, and to their brethren of the north, 
from whom they receive so much, the benefit 
of their experience ; and they should remember 
lhat he who adds nothing to the common stock, 
can hardly complain if he receives but little 
from it. 

What can we do, but strain every nerve to 
call forth such communications, and then to con- 
dense and select from the materials thus afforded? 
Knowing the difficulty of eliciting communica- 
tions from men unaccustomed to writing for the 
public eye, and remembering the old adago, that 
" what is every body's business is nobody's," 
instead of waiting supinely for information, we 
design to go in search of it. Our country friends 
must not be surprised, therefore, if they find us 
suddenly intruding upon their hospitality, with 
no other introduction than our paper affords us. 
They must consider it as a penalty incurred by 
their agricultural celebrity, and excuse us for 
our cause. We feel well assured, however, that 
he who comes on such an errand, will never find 
himself an unwelcome guest in a southern 
mansion. 

If thus backed and sustained, we can prove 
successful in our design, we shall be as much 
gratified by the reflection, that we have been 
instrumental in exalting this favorite branch of 
industry in the south, as we can possibly be, 
by any pecuniary advantage to be hoped lor 
from the enterprise. 

In conclusion, it is hardly necessary to ask 
indulgence for our first number, or to remind 
our readers of the many difficulties we labor 
under in catering for them, at first. We hope, 
that with our progress, our facilities will increase, 
and that before the year is out, they will be fully 



satisfied lhat they ha\e gotten the worth of their 
monej^. 



THE HENRICO AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 

We are happy to have it in our power to 
announce to the public, that an Agricultural 
and Horticultural Society, under the above title, 
has been formed in this city. The Society met 
in December, adopted a constitution, and ap- 
pointed its officers. The Rev. Jesse Turner, 
well known for his skilful and successful farm- 
ing, was chosen President, and Anthony Robin- 
son, jr. elected Secretary and Treasurer. The 
next general meeting of the Society will beheld 
on the first Saturday in March next, for the 
choice of Vice Presidents and the despatch of 
other business. Exhibitions will be made, and 
premiums awarded semi-annually, in May aid 
October. The details of the first exhibition are 
under the consideration of an executive com- 
mittee, of whose arrangements we will take 
care to apprise the public. The President will de- 
liver an address at the first semi-annual meeting. 

This Society has gone into operation, we 
think, under the most happy auspices, and has 
been gotten up with a zeal that augurs favora- 
bly for its prosperity. We hope to see a spirit 
excited by its operations, that will give a new 
face to agriculture in our part of the world. It 
would be worse than useless to attempt to argue 
the general question of the benefit to be derived 
from such institutions. The question is no 
longer a problematical one. These associations 
are the very soul of agriculture to the north, and 
the wonder has been, that the Capital of Vir- 
ginia could, heretofore, boast of nothing of the 
kind. 

Will not the Farmers of Virginia support 
this institution, and make it worthy of their na- 
tive state ? The Society is open to all. The an- 
nual contribution of two dollars is a mere pit- 
tance, compared with the good that may be 
effected by it. Let the farmers of Virginia, es- 
pecially those in striking distance of Richmond, 
not only send their names and contributions to 
the Treasurer of this association, but let them 
determine to visit the exhibitions, and vie with 
each other for the honor of the premiums. In 
this way a generous emulation may be excited, 
that will redound, immeasurably to the advan- 
tage of every farmer in the community. 

One of the first fruits of the establishment of 
this Society has been, the adoption and presen- 
tation, to the Legislature, of a memorial, asking 
for the establishment of a Board of Agriculture. 



To RENDER GLUE INSOLUBLE IN WATER. 

Put a coat of boiled Linseed oil on the surface 
to be glued, and do not apply the glue until the 
oil is dry. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



For the Southern Planter. 
BOOK FARMING. 

JWr. Editor, — Permit me to relate to you an 
anecdote which happened to dispel, in one in- 
stance at least, the horror so universally enter- 
tained of book farming. My nearest neighbor, 
Mr. A. is a strong minded but conceited and 
uneducated man. Fie is withal possessed of a 
good deal of practical knowledge, and has been 
tolerably successful in his operations. Some 
four or five years ago, I came into the neighbor- 
hood quite a novice, and very gladly availed 
myself of the information which my neighbor, 
very good naturedly but very pompously afforded 
me. At that time I took the Cultivator, and 
imagined I was receiving much information 
from its pages : my sagacious neighbor, how- 
ever, who had begun to entertain some hopes of 
my eventually making a former, under his in- 
structions, quite gave* me up, I believe, when he 
found that I was induced to place airy depen- 
dence in what he sneeringly called "working by 
book rules." I argued the matter with him, but 
all to no purpose; at length I hit upon the fol- 
lowing expedient: I wrote him a little note, 
requesting him to send me his plan for the culti- 
vation of sweet potatoes, in the culture of which 
his pride had been much elated by his notorious 
success. With this request he promptly com- 
plied, and wrote me very full and satisfactory 
directions on the subject. This communication 
I forwarded to the late Judge Buel, and it ap- 
peared in the next number of the Cultivator. I 
sent the paper over to Mr. A. with a note stating 
that the directions, although valuable in them- 
selves, had become worthless because having 
been printed, they now properly came under the 
head of book farming. Not even the old gen- 
tleman's own argument when turned upon him- 
self, was powerful enough to persuade him that 
any advice, emanating from so sage a person 
as himself, could be rendered valueless, even by 
being printed : and although he at first mani- 
fested a little pettishness at the trick put on him, 
not many weeks afterwards I found the Cul- 
tivator on his table, and he has since acknow- 
ledged to me that the young and inexperienced 
ought certainly to apply to their older and better 
informed friends for advice ; he begins to think 
that putting the advice in print does not hurt it 
at all; but he still insists, (drawing himself up 
with considerable importance,) that nobody but 
an individual rather advanced in life, skilful and 
experienced, should be permitted to write for 
agricultural papers. I only answer him, with 
a complimentary bow, that none others ought 
to be permitted to give advice. 

Mr. A. is now a book farmer, and having 
united the experience of others with his own 
shrewd observations, begins to be in reality, what 
he conceited himself to be five years ago. 

A Farmer. 



From the Farmers' Cabinet. 
DISEASES IN HORSES. 

Mr. Editor, — "An ounce of prevention is bet- 
ter than a pound of cure." A great many re- 
medies for cholic, grubs, &c. have been at va- 
rious times suggested, of more or less value. I 
once applied to a celebrated stock man for the 
best remedy for grubs ; his answer was " keep 
a plenty of salt ahvaj 7 s within reach of your 
horse's mouth." Upon this hint I acted, and 
have now for five years been using troughs di- 
vided into three parts, the middle for grain or 
mixed food, one end boxed up to the floor for 
long food, with a box for salt at the other end : 
if that box is ever found without salt my feeder 
gets an overhauling. This as well for my cattle 
as my horses, for they are all stalled. Now, 
sir, I know cf no other respect in which my 
mode of feeding differs from my neighbors, and 
yet since I have adopted this plan, with an 
average of thirty head of stock, I have not 
known a single case of disease amongst them. 
If by it I have saved the life of only 1113- meanest 
ox, I have made three hundred per cent, on the 
cost, which is as good an outlaj 7 as ought to be 
expected at farming. 

When I see some of my neighbors calculating 
that the cultivation of such a root will pay fifty 
per cent.; such a new variety of com an hundred, 
I frequency laugh in my sleeve, because I know 
that the men proposing these magnificent returns, 
are, at that very moment, entirely indifferent to 
an hundred little fixtures, that, would pay three 
or four hundred per cent, by the saving and fa- 
cilities they would cause. My rule is, if I have 
ten dollars, to ask myself how I can invest it to 
give me the greatest return, and until I get my 
farm rich, and provided with certain fixtures and 
conveniences, 1 am not going to any extraordi- 
nary outlay for improved corn, spring wheat, or 
Berkshire pigs ; because I know that I am yet 
in want of several things, that will repay me 
many fold better than improved corn or pigs 
either. I want to "prepare my cage before I 
buy my bird." Am I not right 1 

Yours, &c. Martin. 

To a certain extent, if we may be permitted to say so, 
we assuredly think our correspondent, Martin, is right. 
We have certainly seen some, young- beginners espe- 
cially, allured by the extravagant calculation sometimes 
made by sanguine writers, invest money and labor in 
projects (good perhaps in themselves,) to the neglect of 
somematter, much more material tothem at that particu- 
lar juncture, which heing more familiar, was not per- 
haps so attractive. As our writer says, the mere fact, 
that such an investment will probably be profitable, 
should not always induce one to make it. The question 
should be, is it the best investment that could be made 
under the particular circumstances of the case? \\ c 
think we have seen some farmers with fencing very in- 
different, stabling not of the best, or pastures of the 
richest, who had laid out large sums of money in buy- 
ing fine Durham cattle, at high prices. We are not 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



sure but that some such idea, as that the cage had better 
have been fixed before the bird was caught, did come 
across our minds upon such occasions. 



CAPITAL. 

We have been permitted to copy the following 
from a letter, written by a very celebrated agri- 
culturist of this state, to his son, who had con- 
sulted him as to the propriety of selecting agri- 
culture as a profession : 

My Dear Son: 

The occupation you propose to adopt, is one 
highly honorable in itself, and one that 1 think 
peculiarly suited to your investigating mind and 
industrious habits. But let me warn you thai 
it is one much misunderstood, and one, in which 
frequent mistakes and miscalculations are made 
in the outset. 

One of the greatest errors committed in farm 
ing, arises from an erroneous impression that 
this business may be undertaken with less capi- 
tal than most others. This I conceive to be the 
prolific source of many difficulties, which will 
readily suggest themselves to the mind of any 
one, who has been engaged in conducting a 
manufactory of any kind. How often is it that 
we see a manufacturing establishment, in itself 
good, and under favorable auspices profitable, 
failing entirely for want of necessary capital? 
How, in this respect, does the farmer differ from 
the manufacturer? What is he, indeed, but a 
manufacturer? How ofien does the most press- 
ing work remain undone, and the season pass 
unimproved for want of means to procure ne- 
cessary labor or implements ? How ofien is the 
farmer working at the greatest disadvantage 
with old or imperfect tools, because he lacks the 
means of purchasing new ones? Like every 
other producer, he is obliged to spend money 
before he can get it back, and it is the height of 
folly to commence the business without sufficient 
float 111*2: capital, to meet contingent expenses. 
The mechanic knows that, unless he can provide 
a sufficient capital, not only to lay in a certain 
amount of stock, but also a sufficient sum in 
ready money to meet unavoidable and contin- 
gent expenses, he had better remain a journey- 
man in the employment of others; but the in- 
experienced farmer imagines that if he can get 
credit upon his land, and hire his negroes, he 
may trust to Providence for the balance. Is it 
wonderful that he is disappointed, and that when 
all his bright visions have vanished, he lays 10 
the door of his occupation, what was the na- 
tural consequence of his own egregious folly ? 
I do not mean to say that a small business may 
not be well done with a small capital; but that in 
this, as in every other business, success very much 
depends upon regulating the scale upon which 
the business is done, by the amount of capital 



that can be commanded. A great deal too de- 
pends upon the proper distribution of capital. 
To make this or any other business lucrative, 
certain fixtures and conveniences are absolutely 
necessary ; and when I have been told by a 
farmer that he could not afford to build warm 
and comfortable stabling for his cattle, or to avail 
himself of a decided and admitted improvement 
in an agricultural implement, 1 have been inclined 
to ask him what he would think of a blacksmith, 
who informed him that, he meant to blow his fire 
with his mouth, because he could not afford to 
buy a pair of bellows. 

It very frequently happens, that a former, with 
a more than sufficient capital invested in land, 
negroes and stock, is absolutely in want of a 
floating capital, out buildings and implements. 

That, under such circumstances, he does not 
convert a portion of his superfluities into means 
which will supply his wants, is not less strange 
than true, and this love of fixed capital, this de- 
votion to extensive landed •property, even lo the 
risk of straitening and cramping himself, is ihe 
besetting sin of the southern farmer. How often 
do we see men of extensive pioperty, farming 
under the most disadvantageous circumstances 
for the want of ready money ? They prefer the 
dignity of doing a large business badly, to the 
satisfaction of doing a smaller busines well. Let 
him sell five hundred of bis thousand, or two 
hundred and fifty of his five hundred acres, and 
make a like reduction in his negroes and stock, 
and wiih the means thus obtained, let him pro- 
vide for the better cultivation and keeping of the 
balance, and my life upon ii, ihat at the end of 
the year he will find his clear profit doubled, and 
this effected with half the vexation and nouble 
that attended his former course. 

There is no more uphill business than farm- 
ing, without a sufficient amount of means to 
supply its various demand?, and there is surely 
no more elegant and charming occupation, when 
it is satisfactorily conducted, which 1 repeat, can 
be done only by a man who, in homely, but ex- 
pressive phrase, is btforc-hand-'d, that is, pro- 
vided with means to meet every call that his 
business will make upon him. 

To this thing of injudicious outlay is to be 
altnbuted much of the farmer's difficulties. Let 
him, instead of laying out all his means in a 
large tract of land, reckon what will be required 
to erect good buildings, and purchase ihe best 
implements, make good enclosures, &c. and then 
buy only as much land, as he can purchase with 
the balance of his money. 

There are other points which I must make 
the subject of a future communication. 
Yours, &c. 

We showed the above, in manuscript, to one of our 
friends, who expects shortly to commence the life of a 
farmer, and he begrs that we would respectfully solicit 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



some of our experienced agricultural friends to com- 
municate, through the columns of the Planter, full and 
specific advice fur the judicious outlay of five thousand 
dollars in farming - . What proportion of it should be 
devoted to buildings, what tostock, what to implements, 
what should be reserved for contingencies, and what 
appropiiated to the purchase of land? Will not some 
of our agricultural friends confer such a favor upon 
him and the community! 



To the Editor of the Southern Planter. 

Why is it, that, of all the arts and sciences, 
agriculture, the most noble, the most universal, 
and the most important, has attracted so little 
the attention of scientific men % Why is it, that 
the labors of the student and philosopher, applied 
to other subjects, command the respect and ad- 
miration of the world, and meet only with scorn 
and contumely when devoted to this most im- 
portant branch of human industry? 

Truth is powerful, and the public is generally 
very discerning, especially upon subjects in which 
they are peculiarly interested. Is the universal 
prejudice, ihen, against vvhat is called book farm- 
ing, founded in justice ? We verily believe, that, 
heretofore, to a considerable extent, it has been. 
The truth is, agriculture is a science, and like 
all other sciences is founded on fact. Now, sir, 
scholars in the popular acceptation of the term, 
have, heretofore, been the only persons who 
could be induced to appear before the public ; 
and they are generally very little informed of 
the facts belonging to agriculture, for whilst 
the philosopher in his closet, may become fully 
acquainted with all the motions of the heavenly 
bodies, whilst with his retort and crucible he 
may elaborate chemical facts, every moment, it 
is only by a long and tedious apprenticeship, 
that he can become acquainted with the more 
intricate, and more slowly elaborated facts, of 
agriculture. He must await the revolution of 
the seasons for the develop . ent of a single ex- 
periment, and he must have held the plough 
himself, to have become fully acquainted with 
the mechanical department of the science, upon 
which much 0/ its success depends; and you 
might just as reasonably expect a literary essay 
from the uneducated husbandman, as a valuable 
agricultural essay from a mere belles lettres 
scholar. 

But, sir, a better day is dawning for the Ame- 
rican agriculturist. The educated and the ta- 
lented, now that the more attractive professions 
of law and medicine have become so crowded, 
are thrown back upon this most independent and 
charming occupation. They will soon redeem 
it from the disrepute into which it has most un- 
justly fallen ; and the day will come, when to 
be a distinguished scientific agriculturist, will 
confer as much honor, as excellence in any other 
pursuit. 

Men are beginning to learn too, that truth is 



the essence of all valuable literary productions, 
and that its absence cannot be atoned for by 
the most flowing words or the most polished 
style. 

Encourage this spirit. By every means in 
your power, induce the practical farmer to lay 
aside his reserve, and 10 furnish you wiih facts. 

With the most ardent wishes for your success, 
and with a determination to follow the advice I 
give others, 

I remain your obedient servant, 

Arator. 

It is with great pleasure we publish the above, from 
a most valued correspondent, especially the promise 
contained in the latter part of it. To his sentiments 
on this subject, in which he is a perfect enthusiast, we 
most heartily respond. Is it not singular that for every 
other art an apprenticeship is considered necessary, and 
yet is it not true, that for this most complicated and 
! extensive science, no previous information is requited? 
Indeed, the general opinion seems to be, that not < ven 
talent is requisite, for if a man has a son, of whom he 
despairs making any thing else, he, of course, intends 
him for a farmer. A greater mistake was never made, 
than to imagine that this art can be practised to the 
greatest advantage, without a devotion and a reach of 
mind, that is hardly required by any other, in the whole 
circle of the arts and sciences; and that men without 
talent and without information do partially succeed at 
it. only proves the very great natural advantages and 
profits of the business, which we believe to be, generally, 
much underrated. 



SEED WHEAT. 
The name of the distinguished author of the 
following article would reconmend it to the con- 
sideration of every farmer in Virginia, even if 
its intrinsic merit, and the importance of the 
subject did not command attention. It is ex- 
tracted from an old number of the Viiginia 
Herald, and we do not know that it has had a 
more extended circulation, than that afforded by 
the columns of that paper. 

To the Editor of the Virginia Herald: 

*Vr, — As the time of harvest is approaching, 
I address through your paper, my brother far- 
mers, on the importance of allowing wheat in- 
tended for sowing, to be entirely ripe before 
reaping. Accident last year, and eve-Hght 1 his 
year, have convinced me of the piopriety of this 
course. 

In the year 1829, having selected my hand- 
some ears of Mexican w heat, and sowed it in 
the fall of the same year, it was forgotten last 
year, until my little son reminded me that it 
ought to be gathered. It was then from seven 
to ten days after my other wheat of ihe same 
kind had been cut. This wheat was then ga- 
thered and deposited in a bag. Last October. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



this wheat was seeded on the same day, in the 
same manner, and adjoining to other Mexican 
wheat. No selection of land was made for if, 
as no experiment was intended. It has survived 
the fly, and the last severe winter with little in- 
jury, but not more than one-third of the adjoin- 
ing wheat has been left alive. From its present 
appearance, it will produce, I believe, two-thirds 
more than its adjacent neighbor. 

Can the keeping in the bag be the cause of 
this superiority ? I believe not, because in se- 
veral previous years, seed has been kept by me 
in the bags, and no similar result has taken place; 
my inference thence, is, that this difference must 
be owing to the entire ripeness of the seed. 
Should any reader of this communication have 
doubts on this subject, it would give me great 
pleasure to show him the growing wheat, which 
will convince, I should think, the most skeptical. 

From my twenty-four years experience as a 
farmer, I am also satisfied, that the smut is 
mainly attributable to unripe seed wheat. My 
seed wheat has been always riper than that of 
my neighbors, and during that period, I have 
never seen but six smutted heads in my own 
crops In a conversation with the late Mr. Isaac 
Williams, he confirmed my opinion, by stating 
to me the same practice of one of his nearest 
neighbors, attended by the most entire success. 

In making this communication, the interest of 
wheat growers is my sole object, and if, by it, 
their crops should be increased, it will contribute 
to the happiness of your obedient servant, 

John Taylor. 

Liberty Hill, Caroline. 



HAY. 



It has often occurred to us, that this is a crop 
much and strangely neglected in Virginia, and, 
we believe, in the southern country generally — 
and why it is so, we have been somewhat at a 
loss to divine. That it pays better, under cer- 
tain circumstances than any other crop, not ex- 
cepting cotton itself, can, we believe, be easily 
demonstrated. When suitable land is once pre- 
pared, the after cultivation is nothing, and the 
gross yield in our markets, is certainly not less 
than forty dollars per acre. 

As to the extent of market, we can only say 
that there has been a time when 5, (00 bales of 
northern hay, averaging 400 lbs. per bale, w T ere 
sold in the city of Richmond alone, in one year. 
Why is this? Is there any thing peculiar in 
their soil or climate to render us dependant upon 
the north for this article? Assuredly not. We 
were struck with a singular fact that happened 
to come to our own knowledge a few years 
since, whilst on a visit to the north. A gentle- 
man whose hay crop generally came to the 
south, frequently to Richmond, had given $200 
an acre for good grass land, hundreds of miles 



from his market, whilst lands within fifty miles 
of that very market, of very superior qualitv, 
would not sell for $50 an acre. That some por- 
tions of our soil are, or can be made equal to 
any north of the Potomac, nobody can doubt. 
Is there any difficulty in the climate ? Although 
some grasses may not grow so well with us, 
yet certainly, in the great variety known to the 
agricultural world, it cannot be, but that there 
are some to which our genial climate is pecu- 
liarly adapted. 

Indeed, we have heard the opinion frequently 
expressed by a most judicious and observing 
man, long the keeper of a livery stable in this 
city, that the hay raised in our own vicinity 
possessed a sweetness and flavor that induced 
his horses to prefer it greatly to that brought 
from the north. 

But we are very apt to do as our fathers did 
before us, and because they made only corn, 
wheat, and tobacco for market, so will we, with- 
out regard to increased demand for other crops. 

The northern hay, we believe, is never pre- 
ferred, except, for the portable and convenient 
shape in which it comes. The bales, in which 
it is packed, enable a larger quantity to be put 
in small compass, a great desideratum in a 
crowded city, or in any bulky article intended 
for market. We want very much a cheap and 
convenient hay press, and we have already 
made a memorandum to look for such an article, 
in a trip we contemplate making, shortly, to the 
northern cities. 

In the mean time, we shall be much obliged 
to any of our correspondents, who will furnish 
us with the result of their experience, in the 
cultivation of grasses in Virginia. 



GREAT YIELD. 

In the Ithaca Chronicle, we find the following 
statement of the amount and value of produc- 
tion from one-fourth acre of land in that village, 
cultivated by Mr. Aaron Curtis, who furnished 
it for publication: 

140 bushels of onions at 50 cents, $70 
600 head of cabbages, at 5 cents, 30 



50 bushels beets, at 50 cents, 



25 



$125 



We doubt very much, if this quarter acre did 
not yield a greater nett profit, than some pretty 
extensive farms we wot of. 

'Tis true this appears to have been done in the 
vicinity of a village, where, probably the facili- 
ties of producing were greater than could be 
commanded on a more distant farm, and where 
the product was more merchantable. If a far- 
mer in Virginia should cultivate many quarter 
acres in this manner, he might perhaps expe- 
rience a difficulty in finding a market for his pro- 
ducts, and we look upon accounts of such yields, 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



which we frequently see from the north, rather 
as curious, in exemplifying what may be ob- 
tained from a small portion of ground, than as 
examples to the farmer, especially the southern 
farmer, to follow on a more extensive scale. 
His great crop must always be, corn, oats, hay, 
wheat and tobacco, none of which require the 
great outlay and quantity of labor, that were 
certainly expended on this quarter acre. Such 
things belong rather to horticulture than agricul- 
ture. There is, however, a certain point of fer- 
tility, to which every acre should be brought, for 
even these crops, before another is put in cultiva- 
tion. The question for the farmer is, how he 
shall bestow his labor so as to obtain the greatest 
yield, not in bushels, but in value. Suppose he 
has ten acres of land, and five hundred bushels 
of manure, shall he put it all on one acre, and 
cultivate that only, or shall he divide the ma- 
nure and the labor amongst the ten acres? Now, 
we imagine, the answer to this question will de- 
pend upon a variety of circumstances. His land 
may be so poor, that the five hundred bushels of 
manure, applied to one acre, would cause it to 
yield as much as the same amount scattered . 
over the whole ten. Thus he saves all the la- i 
bor and expense of manuring and cultivating I 
the other nine acres, by applying all his means 
to the one acre. But his land may be compara- j 
tively rich, and although it be true perhaps that i 
the amount of yield is in exact proportion to the 
amount of fertilizing application, up to a certain 
point of fertility, there is a point, beyond which 
it does not hold true. Certainly a man would 
be mad, to apply a thousand bushels of manure 
to a yard square. Now the quantity that may 
be applied profitably, is certainly greatest where 
root crops, or garden vegetables are raised, and 
although these are not sufficiently cultivated and 
attended to in the south, it would be folly for a 
man, either north or south, to hope to cultivate 
many acres as profitably as Mr. Curtis did his 
quarter acre. We hold then, that to gather and 
concentrate manure up to a certain point, which 
depends somewhat upon the crop cultivated, is 
the great secret of farming. We hold also, that 
the profitable fertilizing point is much lower in 
those crops, which are in universal demand, than 
those raised by Mr. Curtis, which are more 
limited in use, and which will not keep, if they 
are not sold. Still we are afraid, that it will 
be long before the generality of our lands are 
brought even to the point desirable for our crops, 
and we apprehend that we shall be considered 
a little premature in warning our subscribers 
against putting too much manure to the acre yet 
awhile. 



continue so, yet, undoubtedly, much that is sub- 
sidiary, much that will add to the comfort and 
pleasure of the agriculturist, is yet to be accli- 
mated. The American Farmer states, that an 
eminent horticulturist, in New York, has re- 
cently gone largely into the culture of the Lan- 
guedoc Almond, the best variety of this fruit 
raised in France. He has raised in the vicinity 
of New York city, this year, 10, 0( of ihese 
trees, many of which are five feet high, having 
made a most luxuriant growth. He is confi- 
dent the trees will prove perfect]}' hardy and in 
the third season will yield fruit abundantly. 

In Texas, an enterprising horticulturist has a 
nursery of olive trees which are growing finely. 
This is among the most valuable of all the ve- 
getable productions of the earth. The tree 
begins to bear when it is three years old, and 
continues to produce largely to a very great age, 
improving its fruit every season for many years 
after its first yield. 



Many of the products, now peculiar to the 
old world, are probably susceptible of cultivation 
in the new ; and whilst, most probably, those 
which are the great staples of the country will 



The Quebec Mercury contains answers to in- 
terrogatories, propounded by the Agricultural 
Society of Lower Canada, to the celebrated 
agriculturist, Sir John Sinclair, in which he ex- 
presses the opinion, that the improved dairy 
cows, in the western counties of Scotland, are 
certainly now the most celebrated and valuable 
breed of milch cows in Great Britain, or any 
other part of Europe. That the fair average of 
the annual returns of milk given by thousands 
of the best of the Ayreshire dairy cows, when 
they are in good condition, and well fed, and 
when they drop their calves about the end of 
the month of April, will be nearly as under. 
First 50 days, 24 quarts, - - 1200 
Second " 20 " - - 10CO 

Third " 14 « - 710 

Fourth " 8 " - 400 

Fifth " 8 " - 400 

Sixth " 6 " - - 300 



4000 



He says that the Durham, or Teeswater, breed 
are superior, as dairy cows, to any other breed 
in England, and if they were as well fed and 
treaied as the Scots dairy stock, they would 
equal them in beauty and good qualities. 

Some milch cows, of the best sort, and in 
good condition have been sold as high as 25/, 
but young cows, from two to three years old, and 
in calf, may be procured of the best sort, at from 
10/ to 12/ each, or still cheaper. 

For the propagation of a dairy race, bulls that 
have most of a feminine aspect, are preferred to 
those that are more masculine. A dairy bull of 
good shape and quality, may be procured for 
about 14/ to 15/. 

He states moreover, that the quantity of but- 
ter yielded by cows, depends more on the food 



8 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



given them, than on any peculiarity of ihe breed 
of cattle. Clover, turnips, and new herbage af- 
ford most milk. Natural pasture, or what is 
called old turf, yields milk which produces most 
butler. To make the best, butter, milk should 
not be allowed to stand longer than from IS to 24 
hours, since the first cream cast up is always 
the best. Sixteen quarts of mdk, he states, from 
the Scots dairy cows, will on an average, yield 
24 ounces of butter, so ihat the average return 
of these cows, when of good quality, in right 
condition, and properly fed, is 375 lbs. avoirdu- 
pois of butter, per cow, per annum. 

From this statement, we infer, that the favo- 
rite Durhams are not esteemed the best milch 
cows, and that some of our credulous farmers, 
who have paid a thousand dollars for a cow, 
purchased in England probably for $100, if Sir 
John is to be believed, have been pretty well 
humbugged. 



well rubbed up, and nvxed wiih a pint and a 
half of warm gruel, which, if it did not operate, 
might be succeeded by a second injection, of a 
pint of linseed oil mixed in a pint of warm 
water. The assafcetida must be well rubbed 
up, and gradually mixed with a pint of water, 
Which will become thick and milky in appear- 
ance. Let ihe injection be well slit red when it 
is administered. Bye the bye, every man, who 
keeps stock, should have a large clyster pipe, 
as be will frequently find it much the most effi- 
cient and convenient mode of administering me- 
dicine. But if he has no such instrument, cholic 
may be relieved by drenching the animal with 
two table, spoonfuls of laudanum, mixed in a 
pint of linseed oil. 

If you choose to make my practice public, 
my name as authority, is at the service of your 
readers. M. 



For the Planter. 
GRUBS IN HORSES. 

A Doctor Harding, of Kentucky, I think, 
wrote once a very ingenious essay, to prove that 
there was no such disease as the grubs; but, that 
the worm was a natural inhabitant of ihe horse's 
stomach, and never commenced its ravages upon 
it until afier death. 

Certain it is, that happening to be present at 
the deaih of a horse, last summer, which was 
occasioned by an accident in our streets, I was 
curious enough to make a post raonem exami- 
nation, wiih the assistance of a medical friend, 
We examined the horse's stomach, in an hour 
after his deaih, and found it riddled by the worms. 
It was exacily such a case, as would have been 
held to be confirmation strong of the grubs theory, 
if the cause of death had not been known. To 
be sure, this only goes to show, that the fact of 
the stomach's being perforated, is not evidence 
of death from grubs. But if it so happens that 
this fact, the only one ever advanced to prove 
the existence of the disease, turns out to be no 
evidence of its truth, what becomes of the the- 
ory? Now sir, this question is not an idle one, 
or unimportant, in its consequences. If grubs 
never attack the horse, what is the cause of the 
violent pain to which he is sometimes subjected? 
Having been much interested in the subject, 
from the fact that I owned some very valuable 
blooded stock, this point attracted my particular 
attention, and from all that I can see and hear, 
1 have become satisfied, with Dr. Harding, that 
there is no such original disease as grubs; but 
that ihat, which is so frequently mistaken for it, 
is neither more or less than violent cholic. 
Acting upon this supposition, I have treated ihe 
disease as such, and with great success 1 have 
never failed to relieve a horse, by giving him an 
injection, composed of a half 02. of assafcetida, 



SOUND SEEDS. 

As the season approaches when our readers 
will be sowing and planting, we take the liberty 
of abridging from Cobbett's valuable treatise upon 
Gardening, some directions as to the choice of 
seeds, the importance of which is too manifest 
to be dilated on. 

He says, 1 know of no seed, which, if sound 
and really good, will not sink in water. The 
unsoundness of seeds arises from several causes; 
unripeness, blight, mouldiness and age, are the 
most frequent of these causes 

The way to try seed is this. Put a small 
quant iiy of it in lukewarm water, and let the 
water be four or five inches deep. A mug, or 
basin will do, but a large tumbler glass is best ; 
for then you can see the bottom as well as top. 
Some seeds, such as those of cabbage, radish, 
and turnip, will if good, go to the bottom at once. 
Cucumber, melon, lettuce and endive, and n any 
others, require a few minutes. Parsnip and car- 
rot, and all the winged seeds, require to be 
worked by your fingers, in a little water, and 
well wetted before you put them into the glass; 
and the carrot should be rubbed to get. off part 
of the hairs, which would otherwise act as fea- 
thers do to a duck. The seed of beet and man* 
gel wurtzel, are in a case or shell. The rough 
things we sow are not the seeds, but the cases 
in which the seeds are contained, each case con- 
taining from one to five seeds. Therefore the 
trial by water, as to ihese two seeds, is not 
conclusive; though if the seed be very good, if 
there be four or five in a case, shell and all will 
sink in the waier, after being in the glass an 
hour. And as it is a matter of such great im- 
portance, that every seed should grow, in a case 
where the plants stand so far apart ; as gaps 
in rows of beet and mangel wurtzel are so very 
injurious, the best way is to reject all seed that 
will not sink, case and all, after being put into 
war.T. water, and remaining there an hour. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



There is another way of ascertaining this im- 
portant fact, the soundness or unsoundness of 
seeds, and that is, by sowing them either in a 
hotbed or under a handglass. But there is this 
to be said, that with a strong heat under, and 
with such complete protection above, seeds may 
come up that would not come up in the open 
ground. There may be enough of the germi- 
nating principle to cause vegetation in a hotbed, 
and not enough to produce it in the open air and 
cold ground. Therefore, I incline to the opinion, 
that we should try seeds, as our ancestors tried 
witches, not by fire but by water ; and, that fol- 
lowing up their practice, we should reprobate 
and destroy all that do not readily sink. 

I always sow new seed in preference to old, 
if in all other respects I know the new to be 
equal to the old ; and as to the notion, that seeds 
can be the better for being old, even more than 
a year old, I hold it to be monstrously absurd, 
and this opinion I give as the result of long ex- 
perience, most attentive observation, and nume- 
rous experiments, made for the express purpose 
of ascertaining the fact. 




COMMUNICATED. 

If, sir, you think the following worthy a place 
in your paper, you and the public are welcome 
to it. 

Having become full}'' satisfied of the economy 
and expediency of housing and stalling all my 
stock, I resolved in 1837 to build a stable for the 
purpose. I fell upon the following plan, which 
more than answered all my expectations. I do 
not know that there is much novelty about it, 
but as it is recommended by its cheapness, and 
as I found it extremely convenient, I submit it, 
with the subjoined sketch, for your consideration. 

All your readers, I presume, know how to 
build a house, " post in the ground." For such 
purposes as this, I believe it to be the best and 
cheapest mode. 

I premise, that being compelled to use white 
oak posts, to prevent their rotting, I charred the 
Vol. 1—2 



but-end and then filled up the clefts, and covered 
the whole with a good coat of pitch, or boiled 
tar ; taking care to extend the operation to about 
twelve inches beyond the part to be inserted in 
the ground. 

At the expense of being considered tedious 
and minute, I give you an exact description of 
the building ; for this, although perhaps unin- 
teresting to the general reader, is, I know by 
experience, extremely desirable to the individual 
who may determine to avail himself of it. 

The sketch represents the front view of the 
stable, and is nothing more than the usual form 
of a barn, with sheds off, supposed to be stripped 
of weather-boarding. 

The building was erected by setting in the 
ground, two feet deep, four rows of posts, the 
front ones of which are seen as A H, B G, C F, 
and D E. In each row there were eight posts, 
six feet apart. The posts in the extreme rows 
were eight, and those in the two centre rows 
were fifteen feet out of the ground. The dis- 
tance from F to G, or the width of the centre 
building was twenty feet, from E to F, and from 
C to H, or width of sheds, was ten feet. Each 
shed was, by this means, divided into seven 
stalls, each stall 16 feet by 6. Each stall was 
partitioned off separately, and had a door of its 
own. The lower part of the centre building was 
open, and joists 3 by 10 were notched into the 
long posts, three feet from the top, thus giving a 
room below of 42 by 20, with a pitch of 12 feet, 
leaving a spacious loft above. The house was 
built of good timber, well shingled and painted. 

In the partitions which separated the lower 
rooms from the sheds on both sides, a width of 
16 inches was left open, just above the troughs 
in the sheds, so that the feed might be distri- 
buted to all the animals from the main room. 
In this room below, against the backside, were 
placed locked bins, to contain ground food. The 
long food to be cut up, was of course deposited 
in the loft above. When the food passed through 
the cutting knife, it fell into a funnel in the 
floor above, which conducted it into a large 
box beneath, with a portion partitioned off for 
mixing. 

The large room below, served not only as a 
deposit for tools and implements, but was used 
chiefly as a work room in rainy weather. This 
alone was worth the cost of the whole building. 
My cattle used the stalls in one shed, and the 
horses the other. Every ox and milch cow, as 
well as horse, was turned into their own stall at 
night, w T ell littered, rubbed and fed. 

I fell upon this plan, Mr. Editor, because, not 
being over rich, I found I could not offurd the 
old system ; and sir, it is wonderful the diffe- 
rence this simple arrangement made in my 
annual profits. Well housed and well littered, 
my stock, I am sure, upon half the food they 
destroyed before, looked much more lively and 



10 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



healthy. 1 found two horses less expensive, and 
more effective than four. One milch cow, under 
the new, gave me more and better milk than five 
under the old system, and my oxen were fat 
enough for beeves through the whole winter. 

When the pitiless storm came, and the winter 
winds whistled around me, I could lay down and 
sleep in peace, because I knew my cattle were 
protected from its fury, which, under other cir- 
cumstances no honest, farmer can do. 

There is some inconvenience, but many more 
advantages, in having your stalls separated, with 
a separate door to each. You can turn in your 
tired beast unfettered and unhaltered, to dispose 
of his wearied limbs at pleasure. In case of a 
fire, you can extricate him much easier, and you 
can clean your stables, (a thing to which parti- 
cular attention should be paid) with much greater 
facility. 

When I have added that bars were substituted 
for doors to the stables, in summer, I believe I 
have imparted all upon the subject worthy your 
attention. S. 



EARLY CUCUMBERS. 

Mr. Editor, — As you propose to bring horti- 
culture within the scope of your consideration, 
I w 7 ill inform your readers of a very successful 
plan resorted to by an old gardener of my ac- 
quaintance, which ma}' be interesting to those 
who are curious in the production of early vege- 
tables. He filled any small vessel, (he generally 
raised a number of cymlins or gourds for the 
purpose,) with rich mould, in which he planted 
his cucumber seed, as early as probably the first 
of February ; keeping them in a room where 
they were protected from the cold and frost, and 
being portable, it gave him very little trouble to 
expose them to the sun, at favorable opportuni- 
ties. When there was no longer reason to fear 
injury from the frost, he had finely developed 
plants, which he set out in the open ground, by 
merely preparing a hole, in which he deposited 
the undisturbed mould, breaking the gourd, or 
removing the sides of the vessel, which he some- 
times made of plank with sides and bottom to 
hinge. In this way, he always had two or three 
dozen cucumber vines, which were ahead of 
those raised in his neighbors' hotbeds, because 
they had not been retarded by transplanting. A 
large hotbed might be substituted as a deposit 
for the gourds, which would save the trouble of 
moving in and out of the room. There are of 
course other vegetables to which the same pro- 
cess would be applicable. H. 



THE PLOUGH. 

This instrument, so necessary to, and so cha- 
racteristic of the farmer, is much neglected. 
The most important and the most expensive 
operation to be performed by the husbandman, 



is to be effected with this implement. It is, 
therefore, a point of the greatest importance, that 
he should have his plough of that form and 
shape, that is calculated to work in the best 
and easiest manner ; and farmers, generally, are 
little aware of the very great difference in ploughs 
in this respect ; and whilst they have provided 
themselves with patent churns, and patent bee- 
hives of the latest construction, they continue to 
use a plough, the idea of which ma} 7 have been 
obtained from the Georgics of Virgil, or from 
the sample preserved in the Chinese exhibition. 
This is what is vulgarly termed, "stopping the 
spigot and opening the bung.'' It is certain, that 
many farmers are doing inferior work w 7 ith dou- 
ble labor, and all, for want of knowing what is 
the best construction of plough. The truth is, 
the farmer is seldom a mechanic, or the mecha- 
nic a farmer, and without the combination of the 
two qualities, this important instrument cannot 
be brought to perfection. Different forms are 
required, undoubtedly, for different soils, but we 
are inclined to think that there are some forms, 
used in our own neighborhood, that are very 
unsuitable for cultivating any soil that has yet 
been discovered. As the art of spelling is said 
" to be no great accomplishment, yet to be with- 
out it betrays the extremest ignorance," so to 
have the best plough, is neither very difficult of 
attainment, nor a feat on which a farmer should 
greatly pride himself, yet to be working with an 
indifferent one, is abominable. 

In the last number of the Cultivator, there is 
a long and detailed account of some experiments 
made in England, which whilst it is neither 
finished, nor entirely satisfactory, proves, beyond 
a doubt, that some ploughs work with half the 
labor of others in use. This fact is ascertained 
by an instrument called a dynamometer, which 
may be readily imagined, but is imperfectly de- 
scribed, as showing the power expended in the 
draft, by the compression of springs inserted be- 
tween the plough beam and the chain. 

The. result of these experiments goes to show, 
that Hart's improved Berkshire wheel plough 
was the one requiring the least draft. It was 
particularly compared with Ferguson's improved 
Scotch plough, which it was found to excel in 
several particulars. Cuts are given of these 
two ploughs, but they afford us an imperfect 
idea of the shape of the mould board, and ex- 
hibit little, but that the one is, as its name im- 
ports, a plough with a wheel in front, which 
regulates the depth of the furrow, and which 
was supposed to act very advantngeously, except 
on soft ground, where the wheel, instead of go- 
verning the depth of the furrow, sunk in the soil, 
and dragged through it like a coulter. 

Mr. Pusey, the experimenter in this case, dis- 
covered that the rule laid down in books gene- 
rally, that "the draft increases according to the 
square of the depth of the furrow," was entirely 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



11 



erroneous, for whilst the dynamometer showed 
the power required, in a furrow of 5 inches, to 
be equal to a resistance of 322 lbs., the resis- 
tance in a furrow of 12 inches in the same soil, 
was only 7U0 lbs., instead of 103684 lbs., which 
it would have been by ihe same rule. This is 
a matter of considerable importance, and has 
great bearing upon the question of deep plough- 
ing-, which has been objected to on account of 
the supposed great increase of labor. 

In a somewhat similar experiment made at 
the Worcester ploughing match in Mass., it ap- 
peared that a plough, constructed by a Mr. 
Charles Howard, was found most effective for 
lapping the furrows, and one by Messrs. Prouty 
and Mears, the best for flat furrows. 

We shall procure one of each of these for ex- 
hibition at our office as soon as possible. 



For the Planter. 
MANURE. 

The long mooted question as to the mode of 
applying manures, seems to be carried by the 
current of public opinion, in favor of Top Dressing. 
With respect to the wheat crop and the grasses 
in general, there can be no doubt that the most 
economical and efficacious mode is to scatter the 
manure upon the surface in early spring, whilst 
the ground is yet frozen and susceptible of being 
pressed without injury. 

As to the mode of its operation, that is not of 
so much importance to the great mass of farm- 
ers, as the fact that it is the best mode. Still, 
as the peculiar operation of manures, and the 
whole subject, of the vegetation of plants, is not 
only of the greatest importance, but even yet 
involved in the greatest mystery, it may not be 
altogether useless to call the attention of your 
readers more particularly to the subject. And 
let me premise what I am going to say, by as- 
suring the public, that I have no favorite theory 
upon the subject, to which I am about to bend 
the facts. This I consider the great bane of 
agricultural communications, and editors them- 
selves are not always invulnerable to the charge. 
By the importance which they sometimes attach 
to a favorite theory, manifested by the zeal with 
which they defend it, and the neglect of facts, 
which are always to them of secondary impor- 
tance, they remind me of a conversation L happen- 
ed to overhear in one of our bookstores. A gen- 
tleman asked for Judge ******'s late work upon 
the constitution, whichthe bookseller handed him, 
remarking, that the Judge had anoiher work 
ready for the press, the object of which was to 
show, that " the great error of the banking sys- 
tem was the basing paper money upon a me- 
tallic currency at all;" and that the Judge was 
only waiting to obtain some information upon the 
subject of banking before he published his work. 
Now sir, many agricultural writers, I think, not 



only form, but unlike the careful genileman 
above alluded to, actually publish their theories, 
before they obtain their information. 

But let not gentlemen take this charge too 
seriously to heart. Sir Humphrey Davy, him- 
self, fell into the same error, when, having con- 
cluded that the best mode of using manure was 
to plough it in, he proceeds to explain it by 
saying, "exposure evaporates the most valuable 
part of it." But suppose Sir Humphrey had 
lived at the present day, when the fact is known, 
that the most efficacious mode of using manure, 
is that of surface application, what would he 
do? Would he pervert a well established fact, 
for the purpose of sustaining a false theory ? 
We think not. He was not the man to commit 
an error twice. His intellect was too expanded 
to be narrowed to a single idea — he would dili- 
gently investigate a fact, which is in such direct 
opposition to preconceived opinions; he would 
probably, discover that the portions of manure 
evaporated by exposure, are not necessary or 
conducive to the growth of plants — he would 
find, that the nutritious particles sink to the 
roots of the plants, just when they are fit to 
make use of them, instead of being removed 
out of their reach by the time they become ope- 
rative ; and from these, or other facts, to which 
a minute investigation would lead, he would 
draw conclusions probably, of the very highest 
importance to agriculture. Will not "haughty" 
science now-a-days stoop to a theme so humble? 
Let her remember, that the end may ennoble the 
means ; and that its powerful influence upon the 
fortune of mankind, may impart sublimity even 
to a dung heap. 

Our country has still a Silliman, known 
through the world, and within our own bosom we 
have a Rodgers, to whose peculiar province this 
important subject properly belongs. Would it 
be, Mr. Editor, too much for the farmers of Vir- 
ginia to ask of the latter gentleman, that through 
the columns of your paper, he would be pleased 
to shed some light upon the constitution and 
operation of manures ? 

Yours, B. 

We respectfully unite with our correspondent, B, in 
requesting- Frofessor Rodgers to turn the light of sci- 
ence upon this, or any other important subject of agri- 
culture, and assure him that any thing from his pen 
will always find a ready welcome in the columns of the 
Planter. — Ed. 



COMMUNICATED. 

Does it not happen, sometimes, that farmers, 
like other people, are deceived by appearances, 
especially in the choice of their stock ? Is not 
an animal sometimes selected, perhaps at a high 
price, for its mere beauty, without sufficient re- 
gard to its adaptation to the particular use for 
which it is designed? We by no means despise 
a good appearance, even when we have an eye 



12 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



chiefly to profit, but we are enough of utilita- 
rians to consider beauty to be frequently depen- 
dent upon fitness. We are sure that we have 
seen some very beautiful Durham cattle, pur- 
chased at a very high price, that, except to please 
the eye, were very far inferior to much lower 
priced, and greatly despised, because ignobly 
born, animals. The truth is, this stock of cattle 
is considered valuable, some for the shambles, and 
some for the pail ; and as almost opposite quali- 
ties are required in the one and the other, the 
animal should be examined with special reference 
to the purpose for which it is designed. We 
recollect once, desirous to purchase a good milch 
cow, we applied to a very conscientious and up- 
right gentleman, who, we were informed, wished 
to dispose of such an one. He stated that he 
had a young milch cow, of noble blood and beau- 
tiful appearance, (as indeed she proved to be,) 
which could be bought at a high price. The 
only earthly objection, he said, to her as a milch 
cow, was, that she gave very little milk, and 
what she did give was rather indifferent. We 
think it probable that there is a good deal of the 
.same sort of stock in market, not so honestly 
described, and we would only remind our brother 
farmers of the old adage, " all is not gold that 
glitters." 



GATES . 



C 




M\ Editor, — Much of late years has been 
written upon the subject of farm gates, and hav- 
ing been, a few years ago, something of what 
may be termed a fancy farmer, I resolved that 
in so important an article, I would have the 
best, without regard to cost. Accordingly, after 
examining all I could find written upon the sub- 
ject, I constructed two or three different kinds, 
with some improvement of my own, determined 
to test their respective advantages and enlighten 
the world upon the subject. Some of them cut 
a very handsome figure. One of them, in par- 
ticular, I prided myself upon, and frequently 
declared to my neighbors that nothing could 
excel it. The next year I had a projecting kind 
of jack leg carpenter, from Hanover, living with 
me in the capacity of overseer, and desiring to 
have a gate for a particular purpose very quickly 
erected, in a certain position, I requested my 
jack-of-all-tradee to construct one for me, that 



might answer until I could replace it with one 
of my fancy favorites. He went to work after 
the manner of his country, and made me a gate 
of the following fashion. A B and C D are 
posts of the usual kind, from B to D is extended 
a piece of timber, flattened on the top, and in 
this piece is bored a hole, in which is inserted the 
lower end of a common glass bottle, reversed, so 
that the lower end of E F, one of the uprights 
of the gate, may work in the sink always found 
in that part of the bottle. The upper hinge was 
formed by morticing into the gate post a piece 
of two by six tough wood, not liable to split, in 
the centre of which was bored a two inch hole, 
through which the upper end of E F, being 
rounded, might pass, and in which it might re- 
volve. Besides E F there were two other up- 
rights, J K, G H, of lesser length, being only 
the height of the gate. These three uprights 
were split and hewed out of a cedar tree, the 
long one when finished, being three by four, the 
other two, two and a half by four. The slats 
were neither more nor less than skinned cedar 
poles, round and straight, of about an inch and 
a quarter in diameter, passing through round 
holes bored in the three uprights and wedged at 
the two extremes. From J K to G H was 
nailed or pinned a narrow piece of inch plank, 
to which was attached the common wooden 
latch, as is shown in the engraving. 

Now my man being a clever tinker, the gate 
certainly presented a much neater appearance 
than I had expected, and worked admirably, but 
I still looked upon it as only a temporary affair, 
to be replaced by one of my magnificent painted 
gates, with the long iron hinge on the top rail, 
taken from the Cultivator, as soon as leisure 
should permit. 

Well, sir, I was so fortunate as never to find 
leisure to take down that gate, until I discovered 
that, in point of cheapness, durability, and con- 
venience, it was very far superior to its more 
showy rivals. I have now no other gate on my 
farm, and the philosophy of the thing I take to 
be simply this. The difficulties to which gates 
are liable proceed from the tendency to swag, 
and the danger of being broken by the velocity 
which they acquire in falling to. You see then 
at once the value of a light gate. My maxim 
is "a heavy gate can never be a good one." Now 
my Hanover gate, as I call it b}' way of distinc- 
tion, is probably the lightest that can be imagined. 
The wood used is peculiarly suitable for the pur- 
pose, uniting toughness with lightness in a won- 
derful degree. Another important point too was 
here carefully attended to by my cute observer, 
which is generally overlooked by more learned 
heads. To use his expression, "the stuff was all 
gotten out with the grain," which renders the 
same weight at least tenfold as strong. 

I am aware that a great many of your readers, 
especially in this part of the country, may con- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



13 



sider this communication as valueless, because, 
to them such a gate is as familiar as a worm 
fence : many however are ignorant of their ex- 
istence, and very few of those who use them, I 
believe, are aware that, when carefully made, 
and well put up, they are indeed more valuable 
than some they may have seen or read of, that 
looked much better and cost much more. 



GENERAL McDTJFFIE'S ADDRESS. 

An anniversary address was delivered, before 
the State Agricultural Society of South Caro- 
lina, on the 26th November, 1840, by that dis- 
tinguished statesman, General George McDuffie. 
Gen. Mc Duffle's reputation as a farmer, though 
more limited, is not less securely established, than 
his fame as a politician. He has met with that 
incontrovertible mark of excellence in his pro- 
fession, that is not to be gainsayed, success. 
Any thing that falls from the lips of so talented 
and experienced a farmer, must be read with 
avidity, and we wish our limits permitted us to 
transcribe the whole address, which is marked, 
throughout, by sound sense, clothed in plain and 
unaffected language. 

The first great error that the General points 
out in southern farming, is the exclusive direc- 
tion of the whole available labor of the planta- 
tion to the production of the great market staple, 
and the consequent neglect of all the other com- 
modities, which the soil is capable of producing, 
and which are essential to supply the wants of 
the establishment. He seems to think, that he 
must be but an indifferent farmer, who buys any 
thing that his farm could produce. And antici- 
pating the objection, that other products can be 
raised only at the expense of a portion of the 
staple crop, he goes on to show, that if there is 
less of the staple produced, it will bring even 
more money, upon the principle, that an increase 
of an article above the effective demand dimi- 
nishes the price, not in proportion to the excess, 
but in a still greater proportion, so that if the 
planter makes 50.0 bales of cotton, and buys his 
stock and meat, he loses w T hat he expends in 
these articles, because if he made only 250 bales 
of cotton, and raised his own stock, he would 
get as much, probably more, for the 250 bales, 
than he would have gotten for the 500. 

Now, although this reasoning is more espe- 
cially applicable to South Carolina and the cot- 
ton growing States, because, in this article there 
is an over production in this country, yet it is 
undoubtedly a general truth, that the" less a far- 
mer makes for market, the better, provided he 
substitutes for the excess, articles of equal value, 
which be needs for his own consumption ; not 
exactly for the reason the General gives, viz : 
because he thereby decreases the marketable sta- 
ple, and consequently increases the price; because 



we apprehend that would not always be the ef- 
fect. For, if those who raised the slock for him, 
can no longer find a market for stock, they will 
produce something else, which, if soil and cli- 
mate permit, may be the very slaple, whose 
quantity he sought to diminish. And we are 
not prepared to say, that a farmer can never 
purchase some products of the earth cheaper 
than he can raise them ; but we think with Gen. 
McDuffie, that great errors are committed, by 
failing to take into consideration how much time 
and food is unemployed on our farms, that could 
be appropriated only by making our products 
more diversified. 

Another adjuration which he earnestly ad- 
dresses to the farmers, and which he might as 
well have extended to every class of his coun- 
trymen, is, "to keep out of debt." He stalks 
before his hearers the ghost of Mississippi, whose 
bright prospects have all been withered by this 
blighting influence. 

He quotes and endorses the celebrated excla- 
mation of John Randolph, who, in the midst of 
one of his splendid rhapsodies, in the Senate of 
the United States, paused, and fixing his eye 
upon the presiding officer, exclaimed, Mr. Presi- 
dent, I have discovered the philosopher's stone ; 
it consists in these four plain English monosyl- 
lables, PAY AS YOU GO. 

He also relates a saying of an old friend, who, 
never making a large crop, was considered a 
bad planter. And when asked, how he got rich 
so much faster than his more energetic neigh- 
bors, replied, " my neighbors begin at the wrong 
end of the year. They make their purchases 
at the beginning, on a credit, I make mine at 
the end of it, and pay down the cash." 

Indeed there is no point in the address, upon 
which the General lays more stress, and none 
that he argues more ably or eloquently, than the 
evil consequences of pecuniary embarrassment. 
We sincerely recommend to our readers a perusal 
of the whole speech. 



RARE FLOWER. 

Perhaps few of our readers are aware of the 
effects which may be produced on fruits and 
flowers by what is commonly called budding, or 
inoculating the limbs of trees. We saw a 
flower, from the garden of a gentleman (who 
has made many experiments of this kind) com- 
bining the qualities of the rose and peach blos- 
som. The stem and leaf were of the peach, 
except that of the latter was slightly serrated, 
similar to the rose leaf; the leaves of the flower 
were of the color of the peach, and taste of the 
rose ; the farina resembled that of the peach. 
The flower was about four times the size of the 
peach blossom . — Old paper. 



14 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



HESSIAN FLY. 

It seems, that even in agricultural science, we 
are doomed to bow in submission to the superior 
excellence of the gentler sex. It appears, by a 
late number of the Farmer's Cabinet, that a 
Miss Morris, of Germantown, has been bestow- 
ing some attention upon that mischievous little 
insect, known as the hessian fly, and that not- 
withstanding his cunning, he has been unable 
to elude the feminine curiosity of the lady. She 
has established the fact, to her own entire satis- 
faction, " that the ovum of this destructive insect 
is deposited by the parent in the seed of the 
wheat, and not, as previously supposed, in the 
stalk or culm. She has watched the progress 
of the animal, since June, 1836, and has satisfied 
herself that she has frequently seen the larva, 
or insect in its first stage, within the seed. She 
has also detected the larva at various stages of 
its progress, from the seed to between the body 
of the stalk and the sheath of the leaves. Ac- 
cording to the observations of Miss Morris, the 
recently hatched larva penetrates to the centre 
of the straw, where it may be found of a pale 
greenish white semi-transparent appearance, in 
form somewhat resembling a silk worm. From 



one to six of these have been found, at various 
heights, from the seed to the third joint. They 
would seem to enter the pupa, or second state of 
existence, about the beginning of June. 

" To prevent the ravages of this destroyer of 
the grain, it will be proper to obtain fresh seed 
from localities in which the fly has not made its 
appearance. By this means, the crop of the 
following } 7 ear will be uninjured : but in order to 
avoid the introduction of straggling insects of 
the kind from adjacent fields, it is requisite that 
a whole neighborhood should persevere in this 
precaution for two or more years in succession. 

"This result was obtained, in part, in the 
course of trials made by Mr. Kirk, of Buck's 
county, Pennsylvania, with some seed wheat 
from the Mediterranean, in and since the year 
1837. His first crop was free from the fly, but 
it was gradually introduced from the adjacent 
fields ; and, in the present year, the mischief has 
been considerable." 

As we know that some of our male friends, 
in this section of the country, where the ques- 
tion is one of paramount importance, entertain 
different views on this subject, we invite them, 
if their gallantry will permit, to enter the lists 
with the lady. 



FORREST'S PATENT GRAIN PLANTER 




The cut represents a machine for planting 
grain and sowing seed, invented and patented 
by a Mr. John M. Forrest, of Princess Anne 
county, Virginia. A model of the machine has 
been left at our office, by a gentleman, from the 
county of Princess Anne, who speaks very 
highly of its operation. We expect in a few 
days to have one of the machines for exhibition. 
Farmers, and the public generally, are invited to 
call and examine it. 

The Sower itself, apart from the fixtures for 
opening and covering the rows, is neither more 



nor less than a hollow wooden drum, with a hole 
in the surface. This drum works on the ground, 
as a wheel, and, in its revolution, drops the grain 
through the hole aforesaid. By bevilling the 
hole inwards, we are assured it is prevented from 
clogging, and a very simple conductor, on the 
inside, leads the grain, unerringly, to the hole. 
We are perfectly aware, that thousands of in- 
ventions, and especially agricultural inventions, 
are any thing but improvements; and therefore 
hesitate to express an opinion upon an article 
which we have not seen tried ; but this we will 






THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



15 



say, that if Mr. Forrest's machine does its work, I Captains from Walter the Penniless to Napoleon 
as well as we have been assured it does, its 
cheapness and simplicity entitle it, certainly, to 
the preference over any other we have ever seen. 



MISCELLANY. 



Under this head, we have determined to devote 
one page of our paper, notwithstanding its agri- 
cultural character, to polite literature. We have 
done so, under the supposition, not a violent one 
we hope, that our paper will enter no family, 
where this page will not be welcome to, at least, 
a portion of it. We devote it, particularly, to 
the ladies and younger members ; not meaning 
to insinuate that the head will lack the taste to 
appreciate its contents, but intending only to ex- 
press our desire of securing the approbation of 
that class, which is, and ought to be, so poten- 
tial in every family. There is no farmer in Vir- 
ginia, we hope, who will object to relieving the 
tedium of his homelier toils, by reading, monthly, 
one page of curious facts or well selected anec- 
dote, although, it may not come exactly under 
the head of his professional duties. We shall 
endeavor, occasionally, to present our readers 
with scraps of chosen poetry, hoping to gratify 
those who have a taste for the divine art, and to 
inspire it in those breasts, that are now dead to 
its charms. We will certainly promise, that, 
unless seduced by the strongest temptation, we 
will not exceed, in this department, our prescribed 
limit of a single page. 



Bonaparte, compared with these moveable types 
of Johannes Faust ?" 



ORIGIN OF THE WORD LADY. 

Formerly, when the affluent lived all the year 
round at their mansions in the country, the lady 
of the manor distributed to her poor neighbors, 
with her own hands, once a week or oftener, a 
certain quantity of bread, and she was called by 
them the Leff day, that is, in the Saxon, the 
bread giver. These two words were in time cor- 
rupted, and the meaning is as little known as 
' the practice which gave rise to it ; yet it is from 
I that hospitable custom that, to this day, the ladies 
of Great Britain alone serve meat at their own 
table. 



PRINTING. 

Of all the thousand comments, that we have heard 
and read upon the importance and benefit to mankind, 
derived from the art of Printing, the following-, taken 
from an old number of the Foreign Review, seems to 
us by far the most grand in conception and the most 
elegant in diction : 

"When Tamerlane had finished building his 
pyramid of seventy thousand human sculls, and 
was standing at the gate of Damascus, glitter- 
ing with steel, with his battle axe on his shoul- 
der, till his fierce hosts filed out to new victories 
and carnage, the pale on-looker might have fan- 
cied that nature was in her death throes — for 
havoc and despair had taken possession of the 
earth, and the sun of manhood seemed setting 
in seas of blood. Yet it might be on that very 
gala-day of Tamerlane, a little boy was playing 
at ninepins in the streets of Mentz, whose his- 
tory was more important to them than twenty 
Tamerlanes ! The Tartan Khan with his shag- 
gy demons of the wilderness, passed away like 
a whirlwind, to be forgotten forever — but that 
German artizan has wrought a benefit, which 
is yet immeasurably expanding itself, and will 
continue to expand itself through all countries 
and through all time. What are the conquests 
and expeditions of the whole corporation of 



The following exquisite little gem is from the pen of 
Mrs. Southey, (Caroline Bowles,) and is sufficient, of 
itself, to immortalize her: 

THE PAUPER'S DEATH BED. 

Tread softly — bow the head — 

In reverent silence bow — 
No passing bell doth toll — 
Yet an immortal soul 

Is passing now. 

Stranger ! however great, 

With lowly reverence bow ; 
There's one in that poor shed — 
One by that paltry bed — 

Greater than thou. 

Beneath that beggar's roof, 

Lo ! Death doth keep his state : 

Enter — no crowds attend — 

Enter — no guards defend 
This palace gate. 

That pavement, damp and cold, 

No smiling courtiers tread ; 
One silent woman stands 
Lifting with meagre hands 

A dying head. 

No mingling voices sound — 

An infant wail alone; 
A sob suppress'd — agen 
That short deep gasp, and then 

The parting groan. 

Oh change! Oh ! wondrous change — 

Burst are the prison bars — 
This moment there, so low, 
So agonized, and now, 

Beyond the stars ! 

Oh ! change — stupendous change ! 

There lies the soulless clod : 
The sun eternal breaks — 
The new immortal wakes — 

Wakes with his God ! 



16 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



As we intimated before, we must apologise for 
the present number. It is certainly not all we 
desired, or even intended, it should be. A very 
fine likeness of a Berkshire boar, belonging to 
a gentleman in this neighborhood, with which 
we expected to have enriched our pages, is un- 
avoidably postponed to a subsequent number. 
An arrangement, which we have made to secure, 
from an eminent merchant, a monthly report of 
our markets, was entered into too late for the 
present copy of the paper. In short, we need 
only remind our readers of the inherent difficul- 
ties in beginning such a work, to secure their 
indulgence. 

We avail ourselves of this opportunity to re- 
quest every individual who may receive this 
number, without having ordered it, to retain it 
as the first of the volume, if he means to sub- 
scribe for the work, and, at any rate, in return 
for the compliment, to mention the undertaking 
to such of his neighbors as he may think would 
be likely to patronize it. The expense of pub- 
lishing is heavy, and we have boldly adventured 
without a subscription list, relying upon the 
liberality of the agricultural community to re- 
ward our enterprise. We have no fear of the 
result, if those we know to be our friends will 
only be a little active in assisting us. 

{Hr* The second number will be sent, in no 
case, until the subscription is paid ; for the low 
price at which the paper is published, prevents 
the possibility of opening an account, or trusting 
to after collection. Post Masters are autho- 
rized by law to transmit subscriptions free of 
postage, and every Post Master in the Union is, 
ipso facto, an agent for this paper. 



instead of being suffered to cool gradually, 
which renders it hard and difficult to turn. 

Mechanics' Register. 



POSTAGE. 
The Planter is published on one sheet, and 
by the decision of the Post Master General, is 
subject only to newspaper postage : that is, one 
cent on each number within the State, or within 
one hundred miles of the place of publication 
out of the State — and one cent and a half to any 
other part of the United States. 



TO CURE A SCALD OR BURN. 

Dissolve a piece of alum, about the size of a 
walnut, in a half pint of warm water, in which 
immerse a linen cloth. Apply the wet cloth to 
the part affected, and let it lie until relief is ob- 
tained. 

Washing in alum water, is said also to be an 
effectual cure for chilblains. 

We witnessed, ourselves, a few days since, 
the most miraculous effects from the above re- 
cipe, applied to a little boy who had been unfor- 
tunately scalded. The child was writhing in 
agony when the wet cloth was applied ; he soon 
afterwards fell into a sweet sleep, and awoke in 
a few hours, completely relieved, except in a 
small portion of the burn, which was inadver- 
tently neglected. That part continues still sore, 
the after application of the alum water seeming 
to be not as effectual as in the earlier stage. 



TO MAKE IRON SOFT. 
Iron that is wanted soft for working, should 
be cooled by sudden plunging into cold water, 



We beg leave to call attention to the follow- 
ing advertisement of Messrs. J. W. Randolph 
& Co. We are glad to see that the farmers' 
demand for books begins to be sufficiently great 
to justify particular attention to this department 
of the business : 

J. W. RANDOLPH & Co. respectfully in- 
form the agricultural community that they have 
now on hand, and design keeping, a standard 
collection of agricultural works. They have 
made arrangements for procuring, at the shortest 
notice, and upon the best terms, any agricultural 
work that may be ordered, published either in 
this country or in England. Farmers are in- 
vited to call and examine their stock. 



CONTENTS OF NO. 1. 

Prospectus — p. 1. 

Address — To the reader, p. 1. 

Agricultural Society of Henrico— Notice of, p. 2. 

Glue — To render insoluble in water, p. 2. 

Book Farming- — Anecdote of, p. 3. 

Grubs — To prevent, p. 3. 

Capital— Required for farming 1 , p. 4. 

Agriculture— Recommended as a profession, p. 5. 

Seed Wheat — John Taylor's mode of saving - , p. 5. 

Hay— The culture of, recommended, p. 6. 

Great Yield — Impossibility of equalling upon a large 
scale at the south the yield of northern patches, p. 6. 

New Products — Introduction of, recommended, p. 7. 

Milch Coics — Sir John Sinclair's preference for Ayr- 
shire — their price much less than the Durhams in Ame- 
rica, p. 7. 

Grubs — Dr. Harding's opinion of, p. 8. 

Seeds — Cobbett's mode of choosing, p. 8. 

Stables— Economical method of building, p. 9. 

Cucumbers — To obtain early, p. 10. 

The Plough — Its importance — Mr. Pusey's experi- 
ments with, n. 1.0. 

Manure — Top dressing recommended, p. 11. 

Stock — In selection an eye should be had to fitness 
rather than beauty, p. 11. 

Gates — An economical one recommended, p. 12. 

Address — Gen. McDuffic's reviewed, p. 13. 

Rare Flovccr— Produced by grafting, p. 13. 

Corn Planter — Forrest's noticed, p. 14. 

Hessian Ply— Miss Morris's theory of, p. 14. 

Miscellany, p. 15. 

Burn — To cure, p. 16. 

Iron — To make soft, p. 16. 



PRINTED BY P. D. BERNARD, 

BOOK AND JOB PRINTER, OPPOSITE THE CUSTOM- 
HOUSE, RICHMOND, VA.