THE SOUTHERN -PLANTER, 

Strjoteo to .Sltjnculture, horticulture, nno tlxt ^ouseltoltr girts. 



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


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


FRANK: G. RUFFIN, Editor. 


P. D. BERNARD, Proprietor. 


Vol. XII. RICHMOND, 


MARCH, 1852. No. 3. 



For the Southern Planter. 

WORN-OUT LANDS IN VIRGINIA. 



first inquiry. Extended and superficial cul- 
ture, with heavy and frequent cropping with 
tobacco, corn and wheat, depending wholly 
I upon the native resources of the soil, in lime 
Mr. Editor, — Much has been said of late in ' effected an almost total exhaustion of its vege- 
our agricultural periodicals, on the improve- table and mineral substances, or at least, such 
ment iif worn-out lands. Inourold common- a special exhaustionof some of theindispensa- 
wealth, no subject can compare with this in ble ingredients of the surface soil, as to render 
importance, and yet, few have been treated in : it incapable of longer producing remunerating 
a manner so little calculated to lead to valu- i crops. The surface soil having been thus de- 
able practical results. Indeed, in most in- ' prived of its fertility, the ready suggestion of 
stances, the modes prescribed tend rather to common sense would seem to be, to look to 
uiscourage, from the fact that those sources thejsnbsoil to supply the deficiencies of the 
of fertility, so frequently recommended, are 
wholly inaccessible to the majority of farmers, 
or if accessible, involve an amoumt of labor 
and cost incompatible with their present neces- j 

sities. Such prescriptions are suited only to : be regarded as the first step in the process of 
the frirmer who resides in the vicinity of a city, i renovating old lands in certain sectionsof our 
or to those of large means and independent of; country, and indispensable to their permanent 



surface. Accordingly we shall find here, in 
all clay soils at leasr, much that is valuable, 
requiring only to be brought to the surface to 
become available. Deep ploughing then, may 



the immediate productions of their farms. 
Lime, guano, bone-dust, ashes, poudretle and 
the various chemical compounds now in vogue, 
are, perhaps, all valuable, some of them cer- 
tainly are, and shonld be resorted to whenever 
practicable; bat how many of our farmers are 
£;ble to purchase those materials, and incur 
the heavy cost of transportation, with a fair 
prospect of remuneration, under the existing 
uncertainty of our staple crop - ? What then 
is to be done by those owning exhausted farms, 
with limited means, and remote from those 
artificial sources of improvement? Are they 
to remain stationary and without hope in the 
future, while the demands of their families and 
the tax-gatherer are yearly increasing upon 
them? What then is "the remedy? Simplya 
cheap, economical mode by which their lands 
may be speedily brought to a degree of pro" 
tiveness that will enable, and, at the s 
time, encourage them to resort to higher gr, 
of farming. On this subject, I propose 
mining a few practical reflections — the resuk 
of my individual experience. " 

The first inquiry that presents itself, is, by 
what means have our lands, once so productive 
in all the staples of the country, been deprived 
of their fertility? And next, what practicable 
mode is there, within the reach of all, of re- 
storing, in some degree, that fertility at the 
least cost and in the shortest time? 

The exhausting system to which our lands 
were /or a long time subjected, and are now to 
a great extent, affords a ready solution of the 
Vol. XII.— 3. 



and progressive improvement. In such cases, 
it may be presurned that, in addition to the 
natural supply of organic and inorganic ma- 
terials in the subsoil, much of that of the sur- 
face has been washed down into it by rains, 
and needs to be brought to the surface that, by 
the action of the atmosphere and other causes, 
they may be rendered soluble, and in a condi- 
tion to be taken up as food, by the roots of 
cultivated plants. As an evidence of the fer- 
tility of our subsoil, I will here mention a fact 
which has more than once come under my ob- 
servation. In a field much infested by ground- 
hogs, near the den of one, upon a heap of clay 
several inches deep, which, from its appear- 
ance, had evidently been drawn by the animal 
from a considerable depth beneath the surface, 
the wheat had branched more, was more lux- 
uriant, with greatly superior heads, and parti- 
cularly striking from the brightness of the 
straw compared with that around it. This 
difference was evidently owing to the existence 
in the subsoil of some virtue of which the 
surface was deficient. 

Next in importance to deep ploughing, must 
be ranked clover and plaster They are in- 
separable, and the farmer who uses one with- 
out the other, is insensible to his own interests. 
Its action is two-fold: by its roots it penetrates 
and loosens the subsoil, bringing up, and as it 
were cooking the food of other plants — by its 
luxuriant top, it shades and screens the surface 
from the injurious effects of the sun. On un- 
improved estates, where the number of animals 



* 
& 



65 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



kept should not exceed the absolute require- 
ments of the farm, and where, of course, pu- 
trescent manures, to any extent, are, lor a 
time at least, out of the question, the farmer 
must look to clover and plaster as the pillars 
of his support. Without them, in the absence 
of means to procure concentrated manures, he 
can do nothing. Hence, the question, as to 
the best mode of ensuring a stand of clover, 
becomes one of grave importance to the far- 
mers of poor lands. I apprehend a costly error 
is frequently committed by many farmers, who 
rely for success on the quantity of seed sown, 
without reference to other material considera- 
tions, being unmindful of the fact that a qwan 
of seed and half a bushel of plaster per acre, 
is more to be relied on, than a gallon of seed 
without the plaster, in an unfavorable season. 
As a general rule, a bushel of seed to twenty 
acres sowed the last of February, or first of 
March, well scattered in breadths of about 
eight feet to the hand, and after a few frosts 
rolled either with a peg roller or a smooth one, 
will be found to give a sufficient thickness, 
provided half a bushel or three pecks of plaster 
is applied to the wheat land in the fall. The 
fall sowing of the plaster is preferred, that it 
may be dissolved by the winter rains, and thus 
made available to sustain the young clover, 
during drought in spring and summer. If the 
application of the plaster is postponed till 
spring, it may often fail in its effects, from the 
want of rain, to dissolve it in time to give the 
young plant a vigorous start. 

Having accomplished a good stand of clover, 
the task of improvement is but half performed. 
Instead of yielding to the temptation (and it 
is a strong one, ) of grazing or mowing, except 
in fertile spots, the luxuriant crop of the first 
year, it should be permitted to remain and de- 
posit its seed on the land. The second year's 
crop, when in full bloom, should be well turned 
under, if the land is intended for wheat, and 
care should be taken in the preparation not to 
turn back the furrow slice. If for corn, partial 
fall grazing may be allowed, and early plough- 
ing becomes necessary to destroy insect^. In 
the gradual development of this system, under 
a judicious rotation, the profits of the farm are 
constantly increasing, and also the means of 
adding to the fertility of the soil, by the in- 
creased quantity of manure, which can now 
be produced from the resources of the farm. 
Decided as are the benefits of guano on our red 
lands, though less than on other soils, I can 
confidently assert, that I have seen on my own 
larmeven more striking and permanent results 
from the first application of clover and plaster, 
in the grain as well as subsequent grass crops. 
Now there are means of improvement within 
the reach of every farmer, and after his fields 
have been each subjected a few times to the 
process above described, he will be enabled to 
draw more heavily on the fertility of his soil 
in the form of grain, beef, butter, &c. and to 
repair the waste thereby occasioned, by re- 
coup to concentrated and costly manures. 



It is a subject of surprise and much regret, 
that so few of our farmers in eastern Virginia 
raise their own clover seed. Two cradlers in 
four days, I apprehend, can easily save from 
six to ten bushels of an average crop, The 
subsequent labor of housing and threshing oj 
from the haum is insignificant, and separating 
the seed from the chaff is unnecessary when 
to be used on the farm. Now this seed is 
wonh from thirty dollars to forty dollars, a 
sum sufficient to purchase the necessary supply 
of plaster. It is estimated, that from three to 
five thousand dollars are annually paid for this 
article by the farmers of Orange, when they 
could save it for themselves at one-twentieth, 
of the cost. 

The low price of grain and the high price 
of guano, it seems to me, should naturally 
lead to inquiry on this subject, by culiivators 
of poor lands. For such, these suggestions 
are intended — but should you, Mr. Editor, in- 
cline to the belief that I am behind the age 
and that my remarks are more appropriate to 
a period twenty years past, I can only regret 
that my observations lead to a less happy con- 
clusion, and that they are as applicable now, 
in very many instances, as then. 

In my next I shall offer you some reflections 
on draining — a department little understood 
and much neglected. 

James Newman. 

Orange county, January, 1852. 

We knew no farmer in the whole range of 
our acquaintance of sounder judgment and 
more practical views than our friend IV! r. New- 
man, who has the good sense to put his name 
to his essay. We commend his essay to the., 
attention of all farmers within his range of 
country. Though several of his suggestions 
are applicable to the whole State. 

We trust that we shall hear from him fre- 
quently.— Ed. 



For the Southern Planter. 

EXPERIMENTS IN THE APPLICATION 
^ OF PLASTER TO MANURE. 

*Mr. Editor, — The great importance of guano 
as a manure, and the liability of its ammonia, 
tjae most important of its fertilizing constitu- 
ents, to escape into the atmosphere, will, I 
trust, be a sufficient apology for my offering a 
few remarks to your readers, in regard to the 
manner in which this difficulty may be ob- 
viated. 

All the analyses of guano that have been 
published, show that most of the ammonia 
exists in the form of urateof ammonia, a fixed 
and insoluble salt, and that the amount of 
carbonate of ammonia, the only volatile salt, 
is very small. This is true in guano that has 



s 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



67 



lost most of its ammonia by decomposition, 
as well as in that of the best quality. The 
explanation of the constant absence of the 
carbonate may be found in the fact, that so 
soon as guano becomes moist in a warm or 
t temperate atmosphere, decomposition com- 
mences; this decomposition consists in the 
formation of the carbonate from the urate of 
ammonia, and there being nothing in the guano 
to prevent, the carbonate immediately escapes 
into the atmosphere. When guano is applied 
to land, this decomposition must take place 
rapidly. Underordinary circumstances, a part 
of the carbonate will be carried to the plants j 
by water, in which it is very soluble, while 
more or less will escape, unless we have pre- 
sent some substance which will decompose 
the carbonate as it is formed, again forming a 
fixed salt. 

The well known power of the carbonate of 
ammonia to decompose plaster, the sulphate 
at lime forming the sulphate of ammonia, a 
fixed and soluble salt, has led many chemists 
to recommend the use of the latter with guano, 
and the experience of many practical farmers 
is in favor of such a mixture. But, as some 
persons are disposed to doubt the utility of 
plaster in fixing ammonia, particularly in dry 
seasons, I was induced to make the following 
experiments, with a view to ascertain whether 
definite conclusions might not be artived at: 

Experiment First. — About equal quantities 
of carbonate of ammonia and plasier were 
well mixed, and sufficient water added to make 
the mixture into a paste. When first mixed, ! 
theodorof ammonia was very powerful; after 
standing a few minutes the odor was sensibly 
less, and in the course of half an hour it was ' 
If- scarcely perceptible. Afterstandingtwodays, 
an analysis showed the presence of sulphate 
of ammonia in quantity, together with a cor- j 
responding amount of carbonate of lime. 

Experiment, Second. — The same mixture as : 
in the first experiment, slightly moistened. In 
this the decomposition took place as before, 
but not with such rapidity. 

Experiment Third. — The same mixture as 
in the preceding eases, but left perfectly dry, j 
the plaster having been previously dried at a 
temperature of aboutonehundred degrees. For 
tliefirst twenty-four hours no perceptibledimi- I 
nution of odor took place; at the end of forty- ' 
eight hours, however, there was a marked di- 
minution, and an analysis proved that, even 
here, a certain amount of ammonia had been 
"fixed," by its union with the sulphuric acid 
of the plaster. As plaster, when dry, still 
contains a certain per centase of water in che- 
mical union wiih the sulphate of lime, this 
Water should be liberated when the plaster is 
decomposed. Such was the case in the present 
instance, lor the mixture, although kept in a 
close vessel, was moist at the end of two days. 

Experiment Fourth. — Moist plaster was sus- 
pended over a solution of carbonate of ammo- 
nia; result the same as above. 

Experiment Fifth. — Dry plaster, suspended 
3c 



over dry carbonate of ammonia, placed in a 
close vessel, so that the plaster may be said to 
have been placed in an atmosphere of the car- 
bonate. Result the same as in all the other 
cases; but the decomposition was slow, and 
less in quantity than when the two were mixed. 

These experiments were repeated, some of 
them several times, and always with the same 
results. They prove conclusively that the 
mixing of plaster with guano, must, in all 
cases, prove beneficial; for, when we remem- 
ber that the decomposition of guano leads, in 
all cases, to the formation of carbonate of 
ammonia, and that the carbonate, as showed 
in the above experiments, will decompose 
plaster, when in contact with it, whether wet 
or dry, there can be no room for doubt. 

As guano is liable to absorb moisture, com- 
mence decomposiiion, and thus lose a part of 
its ammonia, it would be well for farmers to 
mix it with plaster as soon after its purchase 
as possible; or if it is not convenient to mix 
then, the plaster thrown upon the guano and 
moistened, will retain the ammonia until the 
farmer is ready to spread the manure on his 
land. 

Again, the use of plaster in the farm-yard, 
the stable, and on the manure heap, cannot be 
too strongly urged. If, however, the manure 
heap is left to be drenched by every hard rain, 
not an uncommon practice, the use of plaster 
will be of little service, as the sulphate of 
ammonia, although not volatile, is very so- 
luble. 

It appears to me, that if a manure heap were 
well sheltered, plentifully supplied with moist 
plaster, and left until decomposition had far 
advanced, this manure would be more effica- 
cious, in a great many cases, than if it were 
applied fresh. The plaster would retain the 
ammonia, the inorganic consiituents could 
not escape, the decomposition would have pro- 
gressed so far as to enable the crop to appro- 
priate its constituents as food, more readily 
than if it were fresh, and its bulk would be 
greatly less, an important consideration on a 
large farm. But this is a matter for experi- 
ment, and I should be very much pleased if 
some of our practical farmers would take the 
matter in hand and favor us with their results. 

V. M. I. 

January 15, 1852. 



For the Southern Planter. 

GUANO. 

Mr. Editor, — Wanting more information 
than I have been able to obtain, in reference 
to guano as a manure for tobacco, and wishing 
to draw from others of more experience with 
it their success, I am induced to give you an 
account of an experiment made by myself 
last spring, if you think it worth publication. 
After thoroughly preparing a piece of thin 



68 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



land fur tobacco, I divided it into three nearly 
equal parts. On the first piece we applied 
twenty-live bads of well littered stable manure, 
about seventy bu>hels to the load; on the se- 
cond, lour hundred pounds of Peruvian guano; 
and on the third piece, three hundred pounds 
to the acre, and harrowed it in with a heavy 
harrow on the same day. The land was then 
laid off (witha shovel plough) three feet apart 
either way, and hilled— endeavoring to draw 
the guano to the hill as much as possible. The 
crop was planted from the tenth to the thir- 
teenth of June, and stood well, but was slow 
to grow, owing to severe drought, until early 
in July, when we had a tolerable season, and 
re-set the few missing plants. The weather 
continuing dry afterwards caused another se- 
rious check to it, until the more seasonable 
rains in August, when it made a rapid growth, 
and with the late autumn ripened well. 

The first piece, or the stable manured land, 
made a fine crop of heavy tobacco, averaging 
a pound to every three plants. The second 
piece, with four hundred pounds of guano, 
made a pound to four and a half plants. And 
the third a pound to six plants. 

The land would probably have made with- 
out manure six hundred pounds to the acre. 
The crop on the guanoed land was about one 
week later in ripening, but ripened first where 
the guano was heaviest, and cured of a darker 
color, which I think was owing to later cut- 
ling, and the weather being colder. The ex- j 
peritnent was made on clover land of two 
years standing, ploughed early in the winter to ' 
the depth of seven inches, and re-ploughed in ' 
the spring. The soil has some admixture of 
sand with a stiff red clay subsoil. I have not j 
been able to account for the great difference in j 
yields from the two guanoed pieces, the land j 
being nearly of the same fertiliiy, except that j 
the third piece was the last planted, and with | 
smaller plants, and possibly not so good as the 
beds had been closely drawn. The guanoed 
land required nearly double the work to keep 
under the summer gra.-s. 

I am a new tobacco grower, the crop now 
on hand being my first; hut with the kind in- 
structions of experienced friends and neigh- 
bors, and with what I have been able to glean 
from agricultural journals, have succeeded in i 
growing and curing a good crop of bright, ex- 
eel lent tobacco, and think, by accident, have ! 
learned something worth knowing. After cot- 
ting, the tobacco was sei up in the field in the ! 
usual way, to protect it from the sun, carrying ; 
as much as was convenient to a place and co- 
vering it with top fodder. In hauling it in, a 
pile of several hundied plants was overlooked, 
and when found more than a week afterward, 
was of the most beautiful yellow, and seemed 
to have much thickened, and I supposed as 
much injured. It was kept to itself, and so 
far from being at all damaged, it is the very 
best tobacco we have. It may not be new to 
tobacco growers, but was so to me; and I think 
I shall be profited bvit in curing another crop. 



If lam not fatiguing your patience too much, 
it may not be out of place here to mention an 
expeditious and recent way to save the broken 
off leaves. With a large needle and cotton 
thread they are strung together, eight, ten or ^ 
more, to prevent slipping, and they are ready ' 
to hang, by separating two leaves at each end 
and laying them across the stick, then stretch 
the string along the stick, to separate tht leaves 
as much as is desired. In this way they can 
be saved in half the time usually taken, are 
much easier to handle afterwards, and attended 
with less loss. 

1 am having: a tobacco press made, different 
from anything I have seen, and when finished, 
if it comes up to my expectations, you shall 
hear from it. 

Very respectfully yours, 

James A. Reid. 

The above article of Dr. Reid is just what 
we want — an accurate statement of experi- 
ments made with guano. There is much di- 
versity in the accounts of its operation on 
tobacco, and we can decide nothing until we 
get the facts. Let us have more of them, and 
let them be accurately stated. — Ed. 



CURING BACON HAMS. 

The following communication on this sub- 
ject was sent to us by the gentleman to whom 
it is addressed, for publication in the Southern 
Planter: 

Mr. Vaden: Dear Sir, — I have been requested 
by you to give my plan of curing bacon hams. 
I have only one objection in doing so, — being 
a widower, I like to stand fair with the ladies. 
Some of them, jealous creatures, dislike to see 
a man a good domestic manager, dislike to 
have their rights infringed upon to thisextent. 
In this kind of management they like to stand 
alone in their glory, and are much inclined, I 
fear, to look upon a man who has a pretty good 
knowledge of their affairs with some suspicion. 
They must recollect, however, that my know- 
ledge of the kind is the result of dire necessity, 
and I would, most willingly, at -any time, let off 
this kind of management, to any extent, into 
the hands of some fine, fair lady as might suit 
her. But this curing of hams is rather out of 
their line. They should, therefore, acquiesce, 
and be willing to be relieved, to this extent. at 
least, and pride themselves alone in sitiing 
behind a fine old, juicy, Virginia cured ham, 
and sharing it out, taking to herself all the 
credit and pleasure of having it extolled by 
her admiring friends, while the good man 
spreads his mouth in silence, and is much 
pleased to see with how much grace she takes 
all the credit to herself. 

My hanks have been commended to such an 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



69 



extent, by good judges — some of them fine 
managing: ladies, who dc not always yield the 
yalm of victory without a struggle — I shall 
make no furiher effort to improve on my plan 
lor the present. 

In the first place I have my hogs well fatted 
before I kill them. 1 most commonly kill one 
day and cut out the next, salting up and pack- 
ins: away on a platform on thf nonhern side 
of my smoke house. In salting my hams last 
year, I took in my fingers some pulverized salt- 
petre and sprinkled on the flesh side of each 
ham. and then applied a plentiful mixture of 
one-third dry hickory ashes and two-thirds of 
salt. They laid in pack about six weeks. I 
then rolled them in drv hickory ashes and hung 
them up. My plan of drying is to kindle up 
a fire every morning' of small round hickory 
wood. On the 17th March, (I intended to take 
them down the 1st of March,) the hams were 
taken down, and the flesh side covered with 
dry hickory ashes, at least half an inch thick, 
and placed singly on shelves in the smoke 
house, with flesh side up, putting a few dry 
p-hes on the shelves before putting on the 
hams; or. instead of the ashes, a couple of 
small sticks might be used under each ham. 
Here they woul<l keep sate, sound, sweet and 
juicy fin my opinion, lor twenty years, the house 
of course always being rat and mouse proof. 

My hams were soft and spongy while in 
pack, and I supposed they were ruined, and 
determined hereafter to use no more ashes in 
the salting, but cutting a few in two, discovered 
that while they were soft, they were perfectly 
sound. They proved to be so very fine, I shall 
pursue the same planasrain. The application 
of the ashes on the several occasions, causes, 
perhaps, the juices of the ham to be retained, 
as well as to absorb any undue moisture, and 
to keep off the fly, bug. worm, &c. 
Very respectfully yours. &c. 

W. W. Hancock. 

Chesterfield, November 25, 1851. 



For the Southern Planter. 

A SUBSCRIBER'S APPEAL IN BEHALF 
OF THE PLANTER. 

Mr. Editor, — I fear your correspondents 
Yadkin and the one from North Carolina (from 
whose letter you gave an ex tract in the January 
number of the Planter) begin to think I do not 
intend to comply with my promise, endorsed 
bv you, "that when I recovered from my in- 
disposition I would try to answer more of the 
queries of "Yadkin." It is due to you and 
myself I should inform them I am now just 
aMe 10 sit up and walk a few steps, being con- 
fined to my bed nearly thirteen weeks, and 
when I can comply it is not in my power now 
to say. I can't read much, but look a peep 
into your January number, and ventured to 
read your "New- Year's Salutation, and Some- 
thing More," which I have done with interest; 



and I wish it could be read, and its conlenls 
duly considered by every honest farmer in Vir- 
ginia. I am glad you bring to our notice sub- 
jects of such vital importance lo the interest 
and prosperity ol our beloved Virginia, in that 
independent way that becomes you, as the 
editor of such a work, and in language that 
cannot be misunderstood. Go-a-head, sir — 
agitation, agitation, has accomplished much, 
and may do it again. But you mnslhave more 
subscribers to accomplish much and to enable 
you to give us drawings or wood cuts, so im- 
portant to make the Planter what it must be. 
I propose a very easy plan which, if adopted 
will, with small efforis, insure your list to be 
doubled in one month. It can be done. Let 
every man of us resolve to obtain one new 
subscriber to the Planter within one month as 
a return for your "New-Year's Salutation, and 
Something More." Every subscriber can do 
it, if he has any influence or any friends at 
all. Though I am now confined to my room, 
/ will do it, or lake another myself. What is 
the little trouble, or what is a dollar, when 
compared to the end in view"? Your subscri- 
bers may not respond to my proposition, but if 
.you will make it they can't refuse so small a 
request. Will you try ill Ah! if such an 
effort would only insure the election of some 
Democrat or Whig friend to some office, I 
will venture to say your number of subscribers 
would be doubled in one week — committees 
! of vigilance would be appointed all over the 
Stale. But to advance the great interest and 
almost insure the. prosperity of our State, and, 
finally, the happiness of our families and their 
posterity, is (it would seem) of much less im- 
portance. Is it not strange, that while we all 
desire prosperity and happiness, }et we are so 
unwise in the choice of means, often so com- 
pletely in our power to obtain that end"? Yet 
I it is so. If your list is enlarged, as it ought to 
! be, you could devote more time to important 
work lo advance the interest of the Planter. 
| A few years ago the Old Dominion stood still, 
| idle and proud, with her arms akimbow, laugh- 
ing at Yankeeism, until the Yankees had 
well nigh sucked all the life-blood from her 
veins, and robbed her of her glory and strength. 
She now needs your strong tonics to restore 
her again lo her wonted strength, "and then she 
may move on in her majesty and power in the 
broad and plain road to prosperity and happi- 
ness. 1 have said much more than I intended 
when I began— I am tired and must stop. 
Success attend your efforts. 

Respectfully, 

W. Timber-lake. 
Belle Air, Jan. 22, 1852. 

We insert the above at the request of our 
friend, the writer. If one-tenth part of the 
seventy-seven thousand farmers of Virginia 
were animated by the same spirit, Virginia 
agriculture would be the pride of her sons and 
the envy of her neighbors. — Ed. So. Pl. 



70 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



COLIC IN HORSES, AND THE USE OP 
THE TROCHAR. 

Mr. Editor, — One word in reply to your 
comments upon my communication of the 3d 
of December, which appeared in this month's 
number. My horses must have been "of the 
right sort,'' whilst yours, one "half-bred," one 
"old," and the other probably less desirable 
than either, remind me of a lot of animals 
that a facetious dealer who once frequented 
this county, declined purchasing, being as 
much averse to carrying them to Richmond 
as Falstafif was his men through Coventry. 
But seriously, you astonished me very much 
indeed, for you know this was emphatically 
the land of blood-horses, and mv long, con- 
stant, and intimate association with many of 
the worthies who figured so largely in elevat- 
ing the character of that noble animal in this 
region, added to my own expeiience, led me 
to the confident assurance of the correctness 
of my position. It is true that 1 have heard of 
the death by colic of blood-horses, but the 
cases were isolated, "few and far between," 
and it yet remains to me to witness the first 
one. Now there may be, and doubtless is, a 
difference, probably an important one, in the 
constitution of your horses and ours, caused 
by the climate, soil and pasturage. 

But the main object of my article was to pro- 
mulgate, through the Planter, the means by 
which, as a last resort, horses might be saved 
when in ihe condition of the one of which I 
spoke. The process of this operation you 
will greatly oblige me by publishing, and 1 
respectfully ask if the caption to this afore- 
said paper is correct"? 

James Govan. 

February 5, 1852. 

We think the term used, "Heaves," was 
wrong. But we did not use it. Whether put 
there by the publisher or by our friend, we 
cannot tell. We still think, with deference to 
the better judgment of Mr. Govan, that colic 
is not peculiar to the constitution of the cold- 
blooded more than the thorough-bred horse, 
but that its frequency in one case rather than 
another is due to difference in treatment, re- 
sulting from the different uses to which the 
two classes of animals are applied. Stewart, 
Stable Economy, p. 2-25, says: 

"Heavy draught horses are almost the only 
subjects of colic, and among the owners of 
them it is difficult to meet with an old farmer 
who has not lost more than one. Light, fast 
working horses are rarely troubled with it, and 
fewdieofit. Thedifference is easily explained. 
Heavy, slow working horses are long in the 
yoke; they fast till their appetite is like a ra- 
ven's; when they come home they get a large 
quantity of grain at once, and they devour it in 



such haste that it is not properly masticated, 
and the stomach is suddenly overloaded. — 
Possibly the quantity may not be very great, 
yet it is eaten too fast. The juice by which 
the food should be digested cannot be made 
in such a hurry, at least not enough of it; and 
add to this the rapid distension of the stomach; 
more deliberate mastica.ion and deglutition 
would enable this organ to furnish the requi- 
site quantity of gastric juice, and to dilate 
sufficiently to contain the food with ease. In 
fast feeding the stomach is taken too much by 
surprise. 

&£" Light horses are usually fpd oftener, and 
with more regularity;. They receive grain so 
often that they are not so fond of it, not dis- 
posed to eat too much; and the natuie of their 
work often destroys the appetite, even when 
abstinence has been unusually prolonged. 

" The bulk of the food, however, has a great 
deal to do with the disease. An overloaded 
stomach will prudv.ee it in any kind of horse, but 
those who have the bowels and stomach habi- 
tually loaded are always in greatest danger. 

"This seems to me the principal reason why 
slow work horses are so much more liable to 
the disease than fast workers." 

Thus writes a good judge, and we agree 
with him. But we may he wrong. 

We did not understand that we were expected 
to describe the operation of the trochar, or 
we would have done it with pleasure in our last. 

The trochar is an instrument used for punch- 
ing holes in the intestine of the horse or cow 
to let off" the wind which causes colic and 
which cannot escape in the natural way. — 
Having never seen one, we can only say that 
it is a tube and knife combined, which is held 
in place alter the puncture is made until 
the gas escapes through the tube, and that it 
can be so regulated by a guard as to penetrate 
only to the depth required. Nor have we ever 
used, or seen others use on either horse or 
cow, the knife, which is a clumsy and dan- 
gerous substitute. All the knowledge we have 
on the subject is derived from Youalt on the 
Horse* At page 234, Skinner's Ed. he says: 

"Where these two medicines are not at hand, 

* Bythe-by, "Youatt on the Horse" is the only 
complete veterinary treatise we have ever seen. 
There is no foolishness nor quacke^' in it, but 
sound sense, and honest science, and that too of a 
high order. Therefore, we advise every subscriber 
We have to send to J. W. Randolph of Richmond, 
and get it. The price, we think, is two dollars and 
fifty cents, and dirt cheap at that. Skinner's Edi- 
tion is not equal to the English, but is cheaper, and 
will do very well. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



71 



and the danger is imminent, the trochar may 
t'e used, in order to open a way lor the escape 
ot' the gas. The trochar should be small, but 
longer than that which is used for the cow, 
and the puncture should be made in the middle 
of the right flank, for there the large intestines 
are most easily reached. In such a disease, 
it cannot be expected that the intestines shall 
always be found precisely in their natural 
situations, but usually the origin of the as- 
cending portion of the colon or the base of ihe 
carecum. will be pierced. The author of this 
work, however, deems it his duty to add, that 
it is only when the practitioner despairs of 
otherwise saving the life of the animal that \ 
this operation should be atiempted. Much of! 
the danger would be avoided by u.--ing a very \ 
small trochar, and by withdrawing it as soon 
as the gas has escaped. The wound in the j 
intestines will then probably close, from the 
innate elasticity of the parts." 



For the Southern Planter. 

-APPLICATION OF TOBACCO STALES TO 
TOBACCO. BEDS, &c. 

Mr. Editor — The article in the January 
number on the "Application of Guano to To- 
bacco Beds," I suppose is very good, but be 
you assured that no system is superior to that 
of underlaying with tobacco stalks. I speak 
advisedly, and from an experience of some 
ten or twelve vears: and every planter who 
has adopted this course, will bear me out in 
this assertion. By the way, a friend of mine 
t in Prince Edward county the last year, tested 
the merits of guano and tobacco stalks on two 
beds, but could realize no difference; it was 
neck and neck. 

Relative to the communication on the "Ap- 
plication of Manures," I will remark that this 
subject is discussed in the most conclusive 
and laconic manner in the fifth volume of the 
Southern Planter, page 231. i will give an 
extract: 

"What would you think of one who pro- 
fessed to be a surgeon without the knwledge 
of anatomy, or a physician, without knowing 
one medicine from another'? How many of 
us know any thing of the ingredients of our 
lands, and how can we expect to improve 
them without such knowledge"? Our igno- 
rance on this subject has given rise to the 
slurs which are so often cast on scientific book- 
farming, and has caused many an honest man 
to be set down as an impostor, and the author 
of a humbug. For instance, I, living on land 
rich in mineral substances, tell you in the 
Planfer, that I make fine crops from coarse 
unrotted manures, applied to the land; an- 
other of your subscribers, owning land, light 
and porous, and destitute pf such substances, 
tries it, and finds his crop worthless and all 
burnt up; he tells you I am either a fool or an 



impostor. I tell you it is best to bury manure 
because my land is close, stiff and impervious; 
another tells you it is best applied to the sur- 
face, because his is gravelly and porous, and 
the manure soon sinks to the roots of his crop. 
One tells you there is nothing like fall and 
winter ploughing for the ensuing summer's 
crop; he lives on land pulverizable by the 
winter's frosts; another tells you that fall and 
\yinter ploughing is labor thrown away; his 
land runs together from the winter's rains; 
and you will find as many contradictory opi- 
nions relative to the different kinds of ma- 
nures; all owing to a want of the knowledge 
of the ingredients of our soils. If we wish 
to insure the permanent improvement of our 
lands, we must know what ingredients are 
present and what wanting in them." 

Attribute this lengthy communication, Mr. 
Plnnier, to the interest I feel for the cause of 
agriculture. So wishing the Planter a happy 
and prosperous new-year, 1 remain, 
Yours, most respectfully, 

Wii, R. Hatchett. 

Danville, Jan. 23, 1852. 



For the Southern Planter. 

ESTIMATED COSTS OF FREE AND 
SLAVE LABOR, 

CtUOTED FROM HIGH AUTHORITIES. 

Tn Vol. IV. of the Southern Planler, at page 
265, there appeared a communication signed 
J. S. S. which, even without, the signature, 
offers most ample internal evidence of being 
the writing of the late John S. Skinner, Esq. 
, who was so long and extensively known as 
the oldest agricultural editor of this country, 
and a copious writer on agricultural subjects. 
The object of the communication referred to 
was to introduce another, from Dr. William 
Darlington of Pennsylvania, on "Improving 
Poor Lands by Liming," and to comment on 
such operations for Virginia and Maryland. 
The veteran writer then (in 1844) had nearly 
thirty years of experience as a student and 
also a teacher of agriculture. The result of 
all this long experience, of observation and of 
extensive communication with numerous in- 
telligent agriculturists, in regard to the ques- 
j tion of the relative cheapness of free and slave 
j labor, may be inferred to fee intimated, and 
I with enough clearness, by Mr. Skinner, though 
not expressly or affirmatively stated, in this 
communication. In reference to the use of 
' lime in parts of Virginia and Maryland he 
, says: "The question then is, h,ow far the 
jfarmer can haul it into the country before it 
begins, like the Indian's gun, to cost more 
I than it comes tol and that depends, to be sure, 
on the nature of the road and the kind of team 
i and vehicles employed, and at what expense 
| they are maintained. Whether his driver is 



72 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



bond or free 1 and this last branch of the ques- 
tion branches out again into the question of 
difference of expense between slave labor and 
free labor, for it by no means follows that be- 
cause the man belongs to you, that, therefore, 
his labor comes cheaper than if you hired 
either a slave or a free laborer at eight or ten 
dollars a month— because, for every slave la- 
borer of your own, you may be incumbered 
with a woman whose labor is not worth her 
expenses, and with several children— consumers 
of muck and producers of nothing — moreover, the 
interest on the value of the slave is to be con- 
sidered — what it would cost to insure his life 
and to insure him against running awayl 
while the capital is at best wearing and tearing 
onwards towards total loss" Afterwards the 
writer returns to this question, in the last words 
of his communication, and by the following 
emphatic question, italicized as here copied, 
he would appear to decide against the economy 
of slave labor, in yet stronger language — 
though, as before, but interrogatively and by 
implication, in asking, "Can grain be made 
profilablii with slave labor?' 

So much as to the opinion of the oldest agri- 
cultural editor and instructor as to the greater 
cost (and, indeed, as he seems to intimate the 
totally unprofitable use) of slave labor for cul- 
tivating grain crops. I will now refer to an- 
other of the same profession, and of high au- 
thority, for the cost of cultivation bv free labor. 
Judge Buel, Editor of the New York Culti- 
vator, wrote and published in that paper, an 
elaborate and interesting article on corn cul- 
ture, in which he estimates the cost in the 
following passage: 

"I put the average expense of cultivating and 
securing an acre, at fifteen dollars, including 
a fair rent, though it ordinarily exceeds this 
sum. The farmer, therf-fore, who obtains 
thirty bushels from the acre, estimating the 
grain at fifty cents per bushel, gets a fair com- 
pensation for his labor and the use of his land. 
Whatever the ptoduct falls short of this is an 
absolute loss; and whatever it may exceed it 
is net gain." — Cultivator of 1834 — Rc-published 
in Farmers' Register, Vol, II. p G5. 

Judge Buel was a practical farmer, of expe- 
rience, accurate observation and sound judg- 
ment — and having every facility for obtaining 
correct information of the agriculture of the 
Northern States generally, and especially of 
the easily tilled lands of the country surround- 
ing his residence in Albany. No man could 
fie better authority for agricultural facts and 
deductions, within his sphere of observation. 
Yet he estimates the actual cost of cultivating 
corn at fifteen dollars (and usually more) the 
acre — requiring, to barely reimburse labor and 
rent, a crop of thirty bushels, at the fairly 
stated price of fifty cents! This, then, may 
be relied upon as the cost of culture by fee 
labor. Mr. Skinner supposed (as I infer from 
his questions) that slave labor is more costly 
than free labor — and not serving to get back 
Ihe actual cost, if employed in grain culture. 



Hence, if Judge Buel was right (which can 
scarcely be disputed) as to the absolute cost of 
corn culture by lice labor, and if Mr. Skinner 
: was correct (which I certainly do not admit) 
as to the relative costs of free and slave labor, 
then corn culture by the latter must be a losing 
business even when producing thirty bushels 
to the acre — and losing to a speedily ruinous 
extent, at the much lower usual rates of pro- 
duction in lower Virginia. 

I shall not here oppose the proposition of 
the greater expense of slave labor by offering 
direct evidence in estimates of cost. Such 
estimates are necessarily conjectural, and are, 
therefore, uncertain, and usually of but little 
exactness. It is sullicient to meet Mr. Skin- 
ner's supposed proposition by reducing it to an 
absurd conclusion. If it required more than 
thirty bushels of corn, or fifteen dollars, to re- 
turn the costs of culture, then nearly all the 
land of the eastern half of Virginia has been 
cultivated at loss, for the last century, or 
more — and full half of the land has returned 
not more than half the costs of its tillage. 
Su'di enormous losses, if coniined for even ten 
years, would bring to ruin any individual far- 
mer, and the whole communitv that could be 
so stupid as lo persevere in such a course. 
Yet, instead of this ruinous result, the agri- 
cultural community of lower Virginia has 
certainlvmadesomegeneraland average profit, 
although very far less than might have been 
i secured by a better and more improving sys- 
lem of culture. Still, very few of the best 
farms in the tide-water district, and after great 
i and very profitable improvements made, have 
vet exceeded the average production of thirty 
bushels of corn. Hundreds of farmers, who 
have reaped belter profits from their capital 
than any in all the Northern Stales, have not 
reached that average product — and many such 
still fall short of twenty five bushels. And 
j there are thousands of other and worse far- 
i mers, who do not make the half of thirty 
[ bushels of corn, (and this their main crop,') 
and who yet have lived in comfort upon such 
j scanty products, and have certainly grown 
| richer. Further — there are other thousands 
] who do not make more than ten bushels 
■ of corn on an average — and who, though not 
to be cited as either good farmers or econo- 
mists, or as profitable laborers or capitalists, 
I still make out to live, rear and support fami- 
i lies, and leave increased farming capital when 
they die. These general facts are notoriously 
true, and require no proof.- 

My deductions, from Judge Buel's estimate 
of the cost of culture by free labor, and also 
from all the facts under my own observation 
as to slave labor, have been directly the re- 
verse of Mr. Skinner's. Yet we loth had (in. 
Virginia and Maryland respective!}') very 
much the same kind of facts before us upon 
which to found estimates and make deductions. 
I am far from defending or excusing the course, 
or highly rating the profits of the farmers who 
are content with such poor average products 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



K /3 



as ten or fifteen bushels of corn to the acre. 
Such returns indicate a wretched state of agri- 
culture. I only say that even these low pro- 
ducts are not necessarily and always obtained 
at loss, from slave labor. But I do maintain 
that even if a fanner in lower Virginia begins 
with the lowest of these products, and uses 
the ordinarily available means for increasing 
them by fertilization, he may speedily reach 
good profits by slave labor — and in most cases 
will derive much more clear profit from the 
improved rate of production of twenty-five 
bushels of corn, than thirtv-five would return, 
according to Judge Buel's opinion, from tree 
labor. 

It would be waste of words to say more in ! 
support of the opinion above expressed as to | 
the general results of farming by slave labor. 
But it may Dot be superfluous to add that in 
the last few years there have been spread ex- 1 
tensively before the agricultural public, careful 
estimates, from different sources, of particular ! 
cases of the costs and returns of farming in j 
lower Virginia, (and of exclusive grain cul- 
ture for market.) which have shown very large 
and regular profits for farming capital; and j 
which would compare well with, and perhaps 
surpass the profits of any other pursuit of re- j 
gular industry or investment of eapi'al in re- 
gnlar business, here or elsewhere. Hundreds 
of other improving farmers, in the same re- 
gion, have derived and continue to derive pro- i 
fits which surpass any purely agricultural pro- ; 
fits that can be made in the Northern States, j 
from free labor. There is, truly, in lower 
Virginia, and in all the old States of the 
South, among the agricultural class, a great i 
aDd lamentable amount of indolence, apathy, ! 
heedlessness, improvidence and wastefulness, j 
all of which serve to detract very largely from j 
the great available benefits of our position — I 
and the indulgence in which errors would 
speedily bring to want and ruin any people i 
whose advantages were not very great — or if I 
no greater than those of the Northern farmers. ! 
Their greater (and very commendable) indus- j 
try, and economy of means; their frugality,! 
and perhaps even parsimony in expenditures, 
are indispensable to success in their situation, 
while our opposite (and very blamafle)defects , 
and errors are permitted to act, without being 
entirely and generally ruinous, only because j 
of our greater resources. Improving and ju- 
dicious farming in lower Virginia, (and in 
similar circumstances elsewhere,) with even 
but a moderate share of good management [ 
and economv,is certainly more profitable than I 
on any lands of the old States north of Ma- 1 
son's and Dixon's line. And among the se- 
veral elements which constitute this capacity | 
for higher profits for our farming, one of the | 
three most important is the employment of 
slave labor. The other two elements, of great 
imposts nee, are the present low price of land, 
(a great evil to agricultural progress, it is true, 
but not less a benefit to a purcha-er and new 
possessor,) and the facility and cheapness of 



enriching the land by mineral manures and 
other auxiliary means. 

Calx. 



FALL OF RAIN FOR THE YEARS 1850 
AND 1851. 

We are much obliged to our correspondent 
for the following contribution. We think a 
series of such observations would be of very 
decided value, and shall always insert them 
with pleasure.— Ed. So. Pl. 

For the Southern Planter. 

It is interesting to the farmer, as well as to 
the meteorologist, to know how much rain 
falls during the year. Annexed is a statement 
of such for the years 1850 and 1851: 

RAINS. 

-January, 
February, 
March, 
April, 
May, - 
June, 
July, - 
August, 
September, - 
October, 
November, - 
December, 



1850- 



3 24 inches 


1.49 


" 


1.99 


(t 


3.29 


" 


4.66 


cc 


0.98 


cc 


633 


" 


4.73 


" 


4.05 


it 


1.61 


" 


2.68 


tt 


290 


cc 


37.95 inches. 



1850.- 



1850.- 



Total, 



SNOWS. 

-January 14. 8 to 10 inches deep. 
March 28, ' 6 to 8 • " " 
Decembei 31, 3 3" " 



1851c 



Total, 


17 


lo 21 inches 




heav? rains. 




-May 15, 


1.08 


inches. 




May 26," 


1 50 


" 




July 19, 


4.21 


" 36 hours 


August 25, 


3.69 


14 


" 


Sepi'r 7, 


1.56 


It 




October 18 


1.48 


tl 




Nov. 30, 


1.00 


If 




Dec. 7, 


1.90 


U 




RAINS. 






-January, 


- 


43 ir 


ches. 


February, 


- 


3 80 


cc 


March, 


- 


3.73 


u 


April, 


- 


3 73i 


u 


May, - 


- 


1.36 


11 


June, 


- 


3 15i 


cc 


July, - 


- 


2 87 


cc 


August, 


- 


205 


!C 


September, 


- 


1 25 


cc 


October, 


. 


1.27 


cc 


November, 


. 


2.25 


cc 


December, 


- 


1.03 


cc 


Total, 


26.93 ir 


ches. 






- * m *** , * • • 



74 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



1851. 



SNOWS. 

-May 5, 1 to 2 inches deep. 

December 22, 8 to 9 " " 



Total 



9 to 11 inches 



HEAVY RAINS. 

1851— Feb. 21, 1.72 inch. 

" March 8, 1.70 " 3 days. 
" April 8, 1.47 " 
" May 5, 1.03 " (snow.) 
" June 22, 2.4L " (2 in. fell in half 
an hour, doing 
much damage.) 
" July 31, 1.50 " 24 hours, (a most 
refreshing, ser- 
viceable rain.) 
" Nov. 15, 1.07 " 
My rain gauge is Grasley's Patent (English.) 
The present winter thus fur resembles strong- 
ly the winter of 1845-G. On the 6th and loth 
of December, 1845, the thermometer was 19 
degrees; on the 12th and 13th we cut ice four 
inches thick; on the 20th, thermometer 13 de- 
grees; next morning, 12 degrees, and the ice 
four to five inches thick; the Rappahannock 
river was closed by ice for ten days; snow fell 
on the 16th, and lasted two weeks. On the 
24th of January mercury fell to 11 degrees; 
snow was six inches deep, and ice made to 
ihe thickness of three inches; the navigation 
of the river slopped again. 27th of February 
thermometer 12 degrees — snowed on the 28th; 
1st and 2d of March, when the average depth 
exceeded one foot, the roads were made im- 
passable by high drills— no mails arrived for 
a week; the snow disappeared finally on the 
14th. 

On the 10th of December, 1851, the thermo- 
meter was 16 degrees; next morning, 14 de- 
grees; 18th and lllih, II degrees, when we cut 
ice four and a half to five inches thick; on the 
22d snow fell to the depth of eight to nine 
inches; 21th, thermometer 6 degrees— ihe river 
is closed, and continued until the 30th — ihe 
ice on it having been about four inches thick. 
On the 6th insi. snow fell three to four inches 
deep; on the 8th thermometer 14 degrees; this 
morning 21 degrees. There is fine sleighing 
now, as also during nearly all of Christmas 
week. 

E. T. T. 
Powhatan Hill, King George Co. Jan. 12. 



LIME BURNING AND ITS APPLICATION 
TO LAND IN PENNSYLVANIA. 

We are happy to announce that Augusta 
has "resumed payment," as will be seen by the 
two subjoined excellent letters of Col. J. Mar- 
shall McCue, of that fine county. He has 
"broken the ice" in fine style, and now that 
"navigation is opened," we hope for many 
cargoes of rich freight from old A ugusta. 



The subject of which he treats in so clear 
and satisfactory a mode, the burning of lime, 
is an important one to some of his county- 
men, those especially on the line of the Central 
Rail Road. The time is not far distant when 
that fertilizer will be transported east through 
the tunnel. On many farms in this section 
now, perhaps on all except the red land pro- 
per—that is, the land provincially known as 
the southwest mountain land — lime is the one 
thing needful, or rather the thing most needful. 
We presume there is not a fool of gray land 
within the above limits that would not repay a 
liberal dressing of lime by a double product. 
Certainly, if the slate formations do not re- 
spond to it in that ratio, they are an exception 
to all the lands of their class that we ever 
heard of. And many a gravelly knoll now 
barren and verdureless can be made, by the 
aid of this benignant mineral, to blossom as 
the rose. 

Lancaster, Pa. January 20, 1852. 
Dear Planter, — Some months ago I received 
a note requesting me to employ a leisure mo- 
ment in writing something for thy columns, 
and common politeness made it requisile that 
I would ere this have acknowledged its recep- 
tion, yet from various causes it has been de- 
layed. Candor, however, compels me to say, 
that a wantof experience in writing any thing 
for publication, and particularly for at) agri- «■ 
cultural paper, has had much to do with my 
silence. As 1 have strayed off here, for a few 
days from Baltimore, where business carried 
tne, and as the msin object 1 had in coming 
into this, the best, fanned region of Pennsylva- 
nia, was to get some information about agri- 
culture, I will employ a moment in giving you 
some of my observations. 1 spent a day or 
two in the counties of Cumberland and Dau- 
phin, and in the former, examined the mode of 
construction of theii lime kilns, and made many 
enquiries about the mode of its application to 
the land. Through the kindness of ;i friend, 
I visited the farm of Mr. Robert Bryson, a 
gentleman well known to the agricultural 
public, from a most interesting, and, I think, 
a truthful report, made by ihe committee of. 
the Cumberland County Agricultural Society, 
a few years ago, of his farm — termed by them 
the "model farm" of this part of the State. 
He has been very extensively engaged in burn- 
ing lime for some time, and has at least half 
a dozen large permanent kilns, capable of 
burning from five hundred to fourteen hundred 
bushels of lime each. They are siiuaied on 
the edge of his farm, by the side of a public 
road, and where the ground falls off in such 
way as to enable him to bury the kilns in the 
bank, the top being level with the surface of 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



75 



l he ground above, thus making it easy to haul 
the stone and coal to the side, whence they are 
wheeled over the mouth hy harrows and drop- 
ped into the kiln — antl the eye or mouth from 
which the lime is taken, or it' burned with 
wood, where it is deposited and is thus conve- 
nient to be used, is Level with and hyihe road- 
side, whence the lime is easily loaded either 
into sleds or wagons. There being snow on 
the groui.d, there were several farmers who 
had come with their sleds a distance uf ten and 
twelve miles, for lime to apply to their lands. 
The price at the kilns, in the rock or unslaked 
state, is from seven to ten cents per bushel. 
Mr. B. uses boih coal and wood in burning, 
and the tine or interior coal, the cheapest, is 
well adapted to ihe purpose. A ton of coal, 
in a properly constructed ktln, is considered 
sufficient to make from one hundred and twenty 
to one hundred and fifty bushels of lime. The 
permanent kiln is made with an opening 
slightly smaller at the bottom than above, and 
is then built up straight. The outside of the 
kiln may be built of limestone, (or any other 
kind of stone,) and the inside lining is of brick, 
or of any stone that will resist fire. Bricks 
that are made purely of clay, that is free fiom 
sand, Mr. B. intorms me, are preferred, as those 
made in the common way will, under the in- 
tense heat, melt and run, and in a short time 
need replacing. He lines some of his kilns, 
as well as builds the eves and the portions most 
exposed to the fire, with a sands'one often found 
in our mountains in Virginia, and used by 
iron-men in making hearths for their furnaces. 
I ought to have mcnn'oned that the general 
shape of the kiln is slightly removed fiom ihe 
round — is somewhat oblong. Mr. B. prefers 
to have a small arch built up in the bottom 
with brick, with hol<=s left in it for the fire to 
get up and kindle the coal. Under this arch 
is plared a quantity of dry wood sufficient to 
igniie the coal, which is placed in alternate 
layers, with stone fiom the bottom to the top of 
the kiln. Lime is made much more rapidly in 
tiis way than with wood: Mr. B having filled 
up his kiln, fired it and emptied it all in one 
week. He does this frequently and without 
any extraordinary exertion. The stone is not 
broken, as I had supposed necessary, very fine, 
but may be put in in blocks weighing from 
twerty five to fifv pounds, and will be tho- 
roughly burned, and he thinks makes a belter 
lime than when it has been broken small, as 
the excessive heat has not burned the lime too 
much. Mr. B has also one or two //raw Mlvs, 
as they are termed. They are built as the 
others, except that in the bciinm, instead of 
the arch described, he uses a few cross bars of 
iron, and then three or four longitudinal bars 
that can be drawn out. After the kiln has 
bee:, fired and the lower part sufficiently burned, 
these bar-;, turned up at the end, can be drawn 
out. and the lime drawn down with a hook, 
and. at the same time, fresh coal and stone 
can be put in the kiln above, so that the process 
of taking out lime and filling up the kiln may 



I go on at the same time. This is found a con- 
I venience sometimes, when he is hurried for 
I lime; yet in a general way, he prefers the plan 
of filling up and burning a kiln without dis- 
I turbing it. Another plan that is much used 
[ now in this and other counties here, where 
i lime is burned, is to select a spot in the field 
where the stone is quarried, a firm sod is pre- 
| ferred, and to dig out as many small trenches 
as you think necessary for the size of the kiln, 
I and over these turn arches with the stone you 
' are going to burn, and then build up a kiln 
| with alternate layers of stone and coal, drawing 
] it in gradually towards the top, making it of a 
j size proportioned to the quantity you desire to 
burn. They then plough up some earth around 
it, pour some water upon it and tramp it awhile 
with horses, and with the mud plaster carefully 
the outside of the kiln to retain the heat. The 
trenches or arches are filled with dry wood, 
(old rails are fine) which ignites the coal, and 
I if the weather is suitable, dry and calm, the 
stone burns out perfectly, leaving but little 
"core," as they term that part of the kiln not 
thoroughly burned. This is becoming a popu- 
lar method of burning lime, from its simplicity, 
economy and convenience. Almost anyone 
can construct a kiln of this kind— it can be 
done in the field where you desire to use it, 
thus serving the double purpose of removing 
ugly breaks from your field that obstruct the 
plough, and saving labor in hauling the stone 
to a permanent kiln, and having the lime near 
the place where you desire to spread it. Much 
depends on the weather at the time you wish 
to burn, as to Ihe productiveness of the kiln. 
If there is much wind, it chills the side of the 
kiln against which it blows, thus preventing 
its burning out, and if damp and cloudy, it has 
the same effect on all parts of the kiln. For 
the reason of uncertainty, Mr. Bryson thinks 
there is much more economy in the permanent 
kiln. 

As to Ike Application. As soon as the kiln is 
sufficiently cool, the lime is carried out in wa- 
gons or sleds to the field where it is to bespread, 
and if put on land intended for corn, or small 
grain, the ground has first to be marked off 
with the plough or stakes, intosquares and the 
lime placed in neat piles in the middle of those 
squares, the ground being made smooth under 
the piles, lest if rough toomuch remains in that 
rpol, to the injury of the ground. If the wea- 
ther is dry and the farmer is anxious to spread 
the lime directly, he wiil not awp.it the tedious 
process of slaking bythe atmosphere, but with 
a few barrels or hogsheads, on a wagon or 
slide, will carry out water and sprinkle the 
piles. This is often done here, as they much 
prefer to spread it in the flour, as they term it, 
the slate it is in immediately after slaking, 
before any rain has fallen on it. As to the 
qnann'ty per acre, that will vary with circum- 
stances. The maximum quantity in Cumber- 
land and this county, (Lancaster,) I think is 
about one hundred bushels per acre. The 
lime and mode of its application is various. 



• 



76 



TEIE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



Some prefer putting it on in the spring, on land 
designed for corn, after the ground is ploughed, 
and harrowit so as to mix it properly with the 
soil. Others put it on in the fall on ground 
intended for wheat, and others again spread 
it on grass land. An in'elligent farmer, I met 
with, mui-h prefers this latter mode of applying 
it, and on ground designed for corn a year or 
two after its application. Some compost it, 
when they want its immediate action. On. 
thin land the quantity must be proportioned to 
quality. Too much is injurious. On the thin 
hill land skirting this and Cumberland coun- 
ties, the fertility has been increased beyond 
the belief of any but an eye-witness. I have 
exhausted my paper and doubtless the patience 
of your readers, and will finish with the pro- 
mise to write, it may be to annoy you, again. 
J. Marshall McCue. 

Philadelphia, February 4, 1852. 

Edilorof the Southern Planter, — As introduc- 
tory to what follows, suffer me to congratulate 
you on the most appropriate .New Year's 
Address you sent forth with the January num- 
ber of the Planter. Would that the advice 
therein given maybe followed! As german 
to agricultural improvement, I will invite your 
readers to scan carefully the last report of the 
Board of Public Works to the Legislature, 
which sets forth in a clear and condensed 
manner the situation of the internal improve- 
ments of the State. It is a very able State 
paper, and in the main meets my views. Let 
the Legislature act in the premises promptly, 
and as becomes statesmen, having the best in- 
terests of the Old Commonwealih at heart, 
discard all local and sectional jealousies, and 
appropriate liberally to the great lines of im- 
provement. Then will the agricultural and 
mechanical interests of the State receive the 
impetus, so long waited for. /«<migiation, 
instead of emigration, will follow — population 
increase, the worn-out lands will be reclaimed — 
education will be diffused, the plough and loom 
and anvil will approach each other, and the 
consumer will furnish to the producer the best of 
all markets— a home one. 

I promised to say something of the use of 
lime, as applied in the counties of Lancaster 
and Chester to the land — Lancaster being one 
of the largest "feeding" counties in the State, 
grows necessarily a great quantity of grain. 
All her best farmers use lime, when they can 
procure it within a reasonable distance. Our 
farmers in the Valley of Virginia, who have 
the limestone soabund ant, would not agree with 
those of Lancaster, as to what constituted a 
reasonable distance, viz: ten and fifteen miles. 
The mode of application was slated in my first 
letter. The use of salt finds great favor with 
those who have used it in slaking, as it fixes 
some of the properties of the lime most bene- 
ficial to vegetation. A small quantity of salt 
dissolved in the water will answer. The far- 
mer prefers to spread the lime immediately 



after it is slaked and in the flour state, as it is 
termed. Care must be taken to have the spot 
on which the pile is thrown at first, smooth, 
lest too much remain in the uneven places, and 
do injury to the crop. It is then carefully 
mixed with the soil by harrowing orshovelling 
in the wheat, if it is in the fall. One hundred 
bushels peracre is the maximum quantity used 
on any land, and that is too much on land that 
is thin. On land of this description, the ma- 
jority concur in saying that it is best to mix 
the lime with the scrapings of the barn-yard, 
of fence corners, or swamp muck, either of 
which is preferable to fresh stable manure — 
and when thus mixed, the benefit to the crop 
seems immediate, otherwise years will elapse 
before its good effects are visible. Lands of 
aslatey character.orhavingmuehsand in them, 
with a good clay subsoil, show the beneficial 
effects of lime sooner than any other. 

The hill lands along the southern border of 
Lancaster and Chester, near the Blue Ridge, 
called here the South Mountain, which some 
years since were considered almost worthless, 
and were bought at from five to ten dollats 
per acre, bv the judicious use of lime, are ren- 
dered exceedingly productive and now rea- 
dily command thirty and forty dollars. On 
meadow lands in both counties, and the graz- 
ing lands of Chester, lime is applied on the 
sod, in quantities varying from fifty to one 
hundred bushels per acre. The benefits are 
perceptible to the most casual observer; and 
it has been observed here that cattle fatten 
much better on lands that are well limed than 
on those that have been neglected. It is en- 
tirely in accordance with reason and common 
sense that it is so. Mr. Colrhan. in his Agri- 
cultural Tour, speaks of the repealed confir- 
mations of this truth in England, by the expe- 
riments and observations of many of the most 
experienced agriculturists. An intelligent far- 
merof Loudoun county, who has been engaged 
in grazing for thirty years or more, in a con- 
versation with me on this subject, several 
weeks since, confirmed its truth bv his expe- 
rience. My own observation in the grazing 
region in the Vallev of Virginia, has satisfied 
me that it is more difficult evpry vear to fatten 
cattle upon ourold sod lands, which have been 
in grass for many years. Certain is it that 
every year is decreasing the phosrhates and 
biphosphates in the soil, and artificial means 
must be used to restore them. Would not a 
series of experiments made by some of our 
intelligent practical graziers be exceedingly 
interesting, as tending to lest the truth of this 
theory in the Valley? 

As 1 remarked before, some farmers put the 
lime on lands intended for corn, yet there are 
others, and probably the larger mincer, who 
prefer to let their corn lands remain for oats, 
and apply the lime before putting in oats. And 
here 1 could but contrast what I h- ve always 
deprecated wiih us as a most slovenly and 
rnfarmer-like habit, of seeding our ci.rn lands 
in wheal with the cornstalks jutting vp&U over 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



the field, to the great annoyance of the cradler 
and reaper, and an eve-sore to one who has 
seen and compared such seeding with the better 
plan in existence here. Besides, how seldom 
is it you ever see even an ordinary crop of 
r wheat following a good crop of corn 1 You 
find the farmers of the Valley of Virginia 
excusing themselves for neglecting to use lime 
by saying, that "it is needless for us to apply 
lime to our lands, now so strongly impregnated 
with it, the stone being every where so abun- 
dant/' This is a lame apology, and one that 
is dictated by prejudice — I had almost said 
ignorance, and which is every day refuted by 
the experience of the intelligent, thrifty and 
industrious farmers of Lancaster and Chester. 
The farmer here, who neglects to use lime, 
where ii is ai all within his reach, is regarded 
by his neighbors as ut: thrifty and indolent, and 
who will inevitablv fall in the rear in every 
thing that is characteristic of a judicious man. 
Lime is estimated by the firmers here to hold 
the place among manures, which is given to ca- 
lomel in the materia medica, by the allopathic 
physician. It is the Samson among the ferti- 
lize s. I had not designed to spin this letter 
out to such lengths, and with the hope that 
even one among our fa rmprs may be encouraged 
to commence the use of lime. I will close, by 
•wishing veu all the success in the good cause 
to which you are devoting your time that you 
can desire. 

Truly yours,- 

J. M. M. 



The writer of the following communication 
is not only one of the closest calculators, but 
one of the soundest practical farmers of our 
acquaintance. In the application of guano, 
did our land admit of its use, we know no one 
to wh'rm we should prefer as a guide to Mr. 
Fife, and therefore no one to whom we would 
more confidently recommend the gunoo ist — if 
we may coin a word fur the occasion. 

The casual remarks too, the ob>ler dicta, as 
the lawyers would say, are also worthy of 
eon ideration, especially the views as to the 
proper mode of seeding wheat. — Ed. So. Pl. 

For the Southern Planter. 

OX THE USE OF GUANO AND ITS 
PERMANENCY. 

M . Editor, — It is supposed, from the time 1 
have been u-ing guano, and the quantity I have 
put in every year with wheal, that by ibid limi 
I ought to be able to give some information a> 
lo i 8 use, but especially its permanency as a 
manure. In answer to a good many leuer- 
which I have received wiihin a few month* 
past, 1 will give my own practice in the useoi 



it, not doubting but that many farmers under- 
stand its use belter than I do, although they 
may have used less of it than I have done. 

MANNER OF PREPARING IT FOR SOWING. 

Having sifted the guano, we take what will 
not pass through the sieve, and spreading it on 
the barn -floor, rub it down with a log drawn 
by a horse — the log is five feet long, with a pin 
driven into each end, when a log chain is 
siretched from one pin to the other, to the 
centre of which the swingletree is fastened, 
and thus a breadth of five feel is rubbed down 
everytime ihe horse goes round— soon making 
it fine enough to be sown. ] have never, but 
once, used plaster with it, supposing ii best to 
apply the piaster to the surface alter ihe wheat 
is sown on the ground, that if ii were true that 
plaster prevented the escape of ammonia, then 
it would be ihe best policy to place the sentinel 
at the door, where, if Liebig tells the truth, he 
would woik boih ways, and the guano be un- 
disturbed by his operations. The quantity used 
is about two hundred pounds per acre. 

THE LAND BEST ADAPTED FOR IT. 

The finer land can be made, previous to the 
sowing of guano with wheat, the better. For 
this purpose I plough up as much land as I can 
for'oais. After sowing the oats in the spring, 
I cover over all the galled places with straw, 
taking care not to leave it too thick, but spread- 
ing it evenly on the ground, so thai ihe oats 
may grow up through the straw. This will 
save ihe land from washing, supply a little or- 
ganic matter to the land, and secure the wheat 
and clover. Land can always, in ihe driest 
weather, be ploughed after oats, and, next to 
tobacco, leaves the best tilth for wheat. Just 
before sowing, I either run ihe harrow over 
the land, or ihe above mentioned log. 

MANNER OF PUTTING IN WHEAT AND GUANO. 

For reasons which I shall give, I always 
plough in boih wheat and guano wii ha one horse 
plough, and leave the land, as ihe plough leaves 
it, undisturbed by either hanow or roller. I 
begin laying off ihe land eighteen feet from 
ihe outside, all round ihe field, so that when 
sowed, the ploughs can go on without leaving 
any furrow fill they finish the field in the centre, 
ihus by going twice in the eighieen feet, the 
sower can manage to cast ihe guano nine feet 
at a throw; and, generally speaking, we can 
turn the land down the hill all the way, till we 
finish the field. Any person can on.-erve, after 
a rain, that a harrow has left a good deal of 
wheat uncovered: for the ;ame reason it will 
leave ihe guano uncovered. Il is too costly 
an article not to get all the benefit from it we 
can; and it is only v\hen covered over with 
ihe earth, in our ciirnaie, that we can expecf 
us sahs to he detained for food to plants. — 
On theotl er hand, lo turn it down with a ihree 
horse plough, or even a two horse plough, 



73 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



where there is so much clay as there is in our I 
land, is to place it where it will be detained by 
the clay immediately in contact with it. And 
this, perhaps, may account for its failure on 
lands which not being equally balanced, do 
not ad mil of its influence beingdiffused through 
the soil. First, then, after covering the wheat 
and guano with a one horse plough, (and both 
ought to be covered,) it is unreasonable to be ! 
uncovering them, which a harrow is sure, iu ; 
some measure, to do. Second. No land runs 
together in the fall and winter so soon as land 
made fine vfith a harrow. Let any one take 
two lots in a garden, in ihe fall, by way of i 
experiment; let him dig them both, leaving 1 
one raked fine, the other left rough. In the i 
spring the advantages will be vastly in favor j 
of the last, while the other must be dug again, 
or it will be in bad tilth all the summer. In- j 
deed, if there be any truth in the atmosphere 
acting and imparting to it a supply of food for | 
plants, then a rounding surface must be pre- j 
ferable to a smooth one. The one being friable, 
the other crusted over — the one with its pores 
all open, the other glazed and repelling the 
gases as they approach for admission. Third, j 
Complaints are often made that clover seed 
fails on wheat lands; and this is either ascribed 
to the late frosts killing it in the spring, or to 
the drought of summer, drying it np, and I 
consider it a serious loss to the farmer who 
hasused guanotofail in hisclovercrop. Now 
the advantage is altogether in favor of land 
left as the plough leaves it over that which is 
harrowed, both as it regards d rought and frosts. 
The seed has not only a safe deposit on a fri- 
able soil, but the crumbling edges protect it in 
a measure from cold and drought. 1 can safely 
say where I have put plenty of cloverseed, 
though there be mould at all, I have rarely 
failed in clover. Fourth. Rains do not injure 
a surface left by the plough as they do lands 
left by the harrow. Waier in falling on the 
one surface percolates downward into the 
subsoil ; in the other it runs off like water from 
a duck's back. It has always been the expe- 
rience of our most observing farmers, aside from 
the use of guano, that wheat grows much better 
when put in with the shovel plough than by 
harrowing. What then, it may be asked, 
makes the farmer put in wheat with a narrow? 
Because it takes longer time to put it in with 
the plough in the first place, and because it 
looks better in the winter and fall, in the se- 
cond. To the first we have nothing to say, 
only let that on which the guano is put be 
ploughed in and left to get the advantage, both 
to the wheat and clover. To the other, we 
reply, it is only the looks; the smooth surface 
shows yon every inch. It is as good on the 
ploughed land, but the surface hides it from 
you till spring advances, when it will tiller 
and grow and yield beyond harrowed wheat; 
and when the wheat is off the clover is sure 
to follow; whereas, in all likelihood, the smooth 
surface shows only here and there a bunch, 
and that in a sickly condition. 



I may here remark that if any person has 
succeeded in making a perfect gall rich with 
guano they have done more with it than I can. 
To see any permanent benefit there must be 
organic matter sufficient to form at least some 
mould. If the soil be there and be poor its 
poverty has arisen from the fact of taking out 
and returning nothing. In our poor soils the 
great deficiency arises from the crops having 
taken out what was never in them to any great 
extent, viz: ammonia and the phosphate of 
lime. Now it appears that the fanner who 
has to purchase these two articles cannot get 
them cheaper in any other form than that of 
guano: and as ammonia sells at eight limes 
more money than phosphate of lime, it follows 
that the guano that has the largest amount of 
ammonia in it must be the best, and of course 
ought to sell the highest. It would appear 
then that if these two things are put back into 
the soil we are supplying it with the food of 
plants of which it had been deprived by pre- 
vious cropping. This, then, being admitted, 
it would necessarily follow that the crop of 
wheat could cot take up the amount of both 
these articles. Say that the two hundred 
pounds of guano had only twenty-six pounds 
of ammonia and between seventy and eighty 
pounds of the phosphates, no one crop would 
require all to mature it. This might be a suf- 
ficient answer as it regards the permanency 
of guano. 

As I have had a good deal of experience in 
buying manures I can sav that it the same 
amount of money is lai i out in buying guano 
that would be required in buying stable manure 
to go over an acre, the growth after guano 
would be equal to the stable manure, while in 
all probability the wheat would be better on 
the guanoed acre. Now if they were only 
both equal in their effects still the labor is 
greatly in favor of the guano. It was with 
difficulty, when I lived at Rock Hill, that I 
could haul from Charlottesville, though less 
than a mile distant, enough manure to go over 
eight acres of land in one year. Now with 
less lahor I can go over fifty acres in one year, 
and this year have gone over ninety or one 
hundred acres. But in buying stable manure 
you very often get a worthless article. The 
ammonia all driven off by fire-fanging, so that 
you might as well put as much chaff on the 
land. 

That which will lead the farmer to suppose 
that guano is not a permanent manure will, I 
expect, al '<'ays exist. It may tie necessary to 
explain this. A farmer buys two torrs of guano 
which he puts on twenty acres of land: the 
balance of the field he sows in wheat without 
guano. On this field he sows cloverseed and 
as soon as the wheat is taken off, hogs, sheep 
and cows are turned in. To his great surprise 
he sees next year as much growing where 
there was no guano as where he put his one 
hundred pounds, and draws the conclusion 
that the guano does not last over Ihe first crop. 
What can the matter be? Why, plainly this: 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



79 



every thing from a pig to a steer knows where 
sweet rich gra*s grows, and there they con- 
tinue until every thing is eaten off, and the 
poaching finishes the soil by knocking the lile 
■ out of it. The other part is luxuriant in briers 
P aDd sassafras bushes which neither steer, cow 
nor sheep will touch while a spire remains 
that has been guanoed. Now how is he to 
proceed in the use of guano when the first 
crop barely pays him, and wheat at eighty 
cents will give him no profit at all. It can 
onlv be done by keeping stock off and giving 
back to the field the crop of clover, which, in 
return, may pav him in the crop of corn. In 
this way he may go on improving his land by 
degrees with the use of guano, unless his land 
be like that in the neighborhood of Tarnaway 
Castle, built by Thomas Randolph, the nephew 
of Bruce, altogether sand on which nothing 
will grow. It is the scene of a great part ol 
the tragedy of Macbeth where he and Banquo 
met the weird sisiers that gave him so manv 
fatal promises. But from my own experience 
no land is more certain of improving under 
the least attention than our Albemarle lands. 
Should the land be clay it must be made fine 
before guano is applied, and both guano and 
wheat put in near the surface. If it be light, 
loamy land I have put both in with a two- 
horse plough, and it does very well. My only 
fear with regard to guano is that we shall get 
an article that will be destitute of the amount 
of ammonia which is its ch ; ef value. If it 
be said to come from Peru it is marked No. I, 
regardless of the amount of ammonia. When 
Dr. Ure first analyzed it, he found seventeen 
per cent, of ammonia in it. but now it is often 
sold as No. 1, when less than thirteen percent, 
is found in it. The quantity of stable manure 
which I have put on an acre of land and 
hauled from town at the cost of a dollar a 
load, (the bodv of the waggon holding fifty 
bushels.) was twelve loads: this would require 
two hands and two horses for two davs. In 
short clays they could not do it. The expense 
was at least, by the time it was spread, eighteen 
dollars an acre; and, taking one lot of manure 
with another, three hundred pound* of guano 
was equal for the wheat crop, if not betier, 
and though clover aftc it might not be alto- 
gethersogoorl, vet the difference between seven 
dollars and fifty cents and eighteen dollars is 
immense; and allowing nothing for the ex- 
pense of hauling, yet the difference between 
seven dollars and fifty cents and twelve dollars 
is no inconsiderable item in favor of guano. 
Besides all this, unless the roads were in fine 
condition two horses could not haul a full load, 
and consequently you have to pay for what is 
taken by the load, wheiher the waggon be full 
or not, and it would sometimes require four- 
teen loads to go over an acre at an ex| ense of 
fourteen dollar*, without counting the wear 
and tear of teams and the time lost In short, 
I have never seen the time that I had not full 
employment for rnv team on the farm without 
going after manure, nor a da} when I could 



not get two dollars and fifty cents for a two- 
horse waggon and driver, if 1 should choose 
to hire them out. I think I have kept within 
bounds when I have made the cost of manur- 
ing an acre of land atnount to eighteen dollars; 
and even at that price>unless the manure was 
very good, the land would not be enriched; 
and when it is considered that stable manure 
as soon as it is thrown out of the staLle throws 
off, by the heat that is generated during fer- 
mentation, its most valuable ingredient, it be- 
comes, of all manures, the most expensive at 
the present prices. Now as phosphoric acid 
is generally in less quantity in the soil than 
any other substance necessary to the nutrition 
of plants, and this ingredient is in large abun- 
dance in Petuvian guano, it follows that even 
at the very high price of guano it is by far the 
cheapest manure that can be bought. And it 
seems to me to be evident that if the land 
possess the power to detain the ammonia that 
no one crop of wheat can take out the amount 
of ammonia that is contained in two hundred 
pounds of guano, and consequently, the fol- 
lowing clover crop must be benefited. So I 
have found it. Moreover, I have found on 
poor land, by the use of three hundred pounds 
of guano, a large crop of wheat the first year, 
and a heavy crop of timothy the second; but 
then not a hoof was allowed to touch it. I have 
also, where two hundted and fifty pounds were 
sown on poor land, got a large ctop of wheat, 
and the second year cut a fine crop of clover. 
James Fife. 



For the Southern Planter. 

HOLLOW-HORN. 

Mr. Editor, — 1 have just read the article of 
our friend, Dr. Minor, on Hollow-Horn. If 
he had had the same experience in the disease 
that I have he would have told you thai in 
very acute cases free bleeding was the only 
efficient remedy, and that cloths dipped in 
spirits of turpentine and laid just by or on the 
crest, and well burned with a hot iron, (even 
to making sores,) was a much more powerful 
adjunct than a poultice of mullein and bran. 
The case mentioned by him was by no means 
acute in the first instance, and would, proba- 
bly, have yielded to an application of spirits 
of turpentine. Had i.t been an acute case the 
cow would have fallen down and temained in 
the same place until relieved by bleeding or 
death;* for but little reliance is to be placed in 
boring or sawing the horns, and I think had 
best be let alone entirely, as maggots some- 

* When the cow is thought to be entirely cured 
in one of these severe cases it should never he 
penned again at night during that summer, as for a 
lung time it is unalile to stand the heat of the sun, 
and onlv feeds late in the evening and at night, re- 
tiring to the best shade it can find during the day. 



so 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



times get in and do irreparable injury.* The 
bolusis of meal, herrings or frogs, may also 
be dispensed wiih. 

The Doctor has, without knowing it, fur- 
nished your readers with the best prescription 
that I have ever known tried for the treatment 
of the bloody murrain, or distemper, as it is 
sometimes called in the counties of Hanover, 
&c. For seven or eight years that I lived in 
that region of country 1 used the bleeding and 
Glauber salts with great success in the treat- 
ment of that terrible disease. 

I have written the above simply for the pur- 
pose of adding my experience to that of our 
friend, who lays down the principle of treating 
the disease in such a manner as to leave no 
doubt of its correctness. 

Thomas Garland. 

January 19, 1852. 



For the Southern Planter. 

TOMATO PLANTS. 

Mr. Edlf.nr, — I have been often asked for 
my method of raising tomato plants. In the 
small way for twenty-five years 1 have never 
failed to raise as many as I have wanted, and 
often too large to plant before I could venture 
to transplant them, (say from ten to fifteen 
inches high,) compelling me lo raise my glass 
frame, as they should never touch the glass 
when there is frost. I make a frame or box 
three i'eet square, well put together, of good 
plank, one and a half or one and a quarter 
inches thick, and ten or twelve inches wide, 
and as it is likely to spring by warping, small 
bits of tin may be sprigged on the corners of 
this frame. I fit another on this, made of 
three-quarter inch plank of same size from 
out to out — twelve inches deep on one side 
and six inches deep on the opposite side, 
sloped off to receive a glass frame or sash. 
I then nail strips upon the corners of the 
bottom frame, (two at each corner,) to ex- 
tend high enough up to receive the top frame 
and sash, forming a rabbit to keep them in 
place. I also nail strips around the top of 
bottom frame, ex tending one and a half inches 
above it, to prevent air from passing through 
the joints where. the two bottom frames meet. 
My frames now being read}, (I need not give 
any description of the sa/.h or glass frame to 
go on top.) between the 1st and 10th of March 
(not before, or plants will be too forward,) [ 
select some spot in my garden, fair to the sun, 
lay down my first frame on a level spot and 

* Frequent observation has convinced me that in 
all rases of general fever or sickness the cow ceases 
to ruminate, not only because of the sickness, but 
also because it. ceases to gather the food on which 
to ruminate. The observation is perfectly correct, 
that when the animal is relieved the cud will be 
restored as a matter of course. 



fill it with long, rough, fresh stable manure, 
treading or pressing it in all' over alike, but 
not too hard; then two persons raise the box 
gradually, keeping it level, until the bottom is 
nearly to the top of the manure, then fill it as 
befote, and soon until I get it as high as I f 
wish it, say three feet, and then raise it again 
so as to leave a space of about seven inches. 
I then (in order to prevent the box from slip- 
ping down) drive four sharp slicks, eighteen 
inches long, one on each side about the middle, 
and close under the frame, into the manure, 
turning the points considerably down, say a 
slant of twenty-five or thirty degrees, so that 
as the manure settles all may settle together. 
I next fill up the box five inches more with 
some rich virgin earth from the woods, (which 
is light and has no grass seed in it,) making 
this very fine, and lay it off in drills six inches 
apart, and in these drills I carefully put three 
seed in a place, two inches apart; (four inches 
would be better, but I should not have plants 
enough,) covering them very shallow, or they 
will be too long coming up; they should be up 
in five or six days. Now put on the next frame 
with low side to the south-east, and then put 
on your glass frame. Next morning I get from. 
my farm-pen a watering pot of fluid which 
has drained from the manure, and put that on 
my bed. It must be closely attended to, other- 
wise it may, after two or three days, become 
so hot that it may kill the germ when sprout- 
ing or the plants alter they are up. If too 
warm raise the glass frame in front a few 
inches, putting something under it. As soon 
as the plants are fully up I take out one at a 
lime, until I leave but one in a place, and if 
any place is deficient 1 supply with one I draw 
out. I water my bed every night, and in the * 
morning, (after the plants are up,) if the day 
is fair and tolerably pleasant, about eight or 
nine o'clock I take the glass frame eniiiely off, 
putting it on again in the evening; and as they 
grow up and begin to have four or six leaves, 
in a mild day, if the sun is shining, I take off 
both of the top frames. When they get four 
or five inches high I disregard the wind, unless 
it be very cold, or unless it blows hard enough 
to prostrate the plants. At this age of the 
plants I dust fine plaster over them occasion- 
ally in the morning, when they are moist; and 
I also loosen the dirt between the drills and 
with my hands carefully hill up or put dirt to 
the plants, and then fill up the space I have 
made between the drills with a mixture of 
equal parts of the same sort of earth the bed 
is made of and leached ashes. Bv thus ex- 
posing the plants to sun and air I find myself 
soon in possession of one hundred and eight 
fine, healthy, strong, vigorous plants, looking 
as hardy, and in every way as luxuriant, as if 
grown on a rich soil in a warm season — very 
unlike some I have seen from hot-beds, sown 
broadcast, in patches thick and thin, and so 
very feeble and slender, and, so tender that it 
seems difficult to get them to live when trans- 
planted; whereas, my plants seldom droop at 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



Ft 



all, if care is taken in transplanting them. 
But, like every thing else, they require con- 
stant attention to insure success. 1 never leave 
my hot bed open at night, no matter how 
warm; and I never permit a hard shower of 
rain to fall o i the plants. To insure them 
from the cut-worm, as I set them out I wrap 
a small bit of paper around the stalk, loosely 
lied wi:h a yam string, putting dirt a little 
above the lower edge of the paper. I omitted 
to state I always cover my glass frame with 
thin plank to guard against cold, storms and 
other accidents. 

W. TlMEERLAKE. 

BcUe Air, Feb. 13, 1852. 



„. 2 ■• I " 






U ~"-:\ '*'■■ 









THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 
RICHMOND, MARCH, 1852. 



TERMS. 

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the date of subscription. Six copies for Five 
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g5f Subscriptions may begin with any num- 
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arrearages are pajd, except at the option of 
the Publisher. 

Hjr-Office on Twelfth, between Main and 
Gary Streets. 



POSTAGE ON THE PLANTER. 

The following are the rates of postage on 
the Planer, per quarter, for the distances an- 
nexed— to be paid quarterly in advance: 

Not ovr 50 miles, 1} cents. 
Over 50 and not over 300 miles, 2j cents. 
Over .'100 nnd not over 1000 miles, 3} cents. 
Ov»r li K)0 smd not over 2000 miles, 5 cents. 
Over - ; '00 and not over 4000 miles, G'| cents. 
Over 1000 miles, ~\ cet;ts. 



VIRGINIA STATE AGRICULTURAL 
CONVENTION. 

We devote all the space we can spare to 
the proceedings of the Agricultural Conven- 
tion which assembled on Thursday, the 19th 
of February, and adjourned on the following 
Saturday. The Convention was not large, and 
but few counties were represented. Albemarle 
had some thirty members — no other county 
more than two or three, and the balance, being 
by far the larger portion of the Slate, none at 
i all. The farmers of Virginia seem to be 
I asleep. Of the many, we think a majority of 
the body, wbo are in the Legislature a very 
small portion attended. But still the men who 
j did come, came to work. They were nothing 
! daunted by the thinness of attendance, because 
I they knew that all the farmers of the State 
would sanction their efforts, and because they 
, hoped that the Legislature would have intelli- 
' gence enough to perceive and liberality enough 
I to satisfy the wants of agriculture. Whether 
; or not they have judged rightly in this latter 
j regard remains to be seen. A bill, drawn in 
accordance with the wishes and instructions 
of the Convention, has been offered as a sub- 
stitute for the bill now before the House, by 
Mr. Stuart of Fairfax. It was not offered in 
time for us to publish it, nor is it necessary, 
as it will, most probably, be amended, or 
rather alte r ed. We may say, however, that 
! it provides for an appropriation by the Stale, 
' conditioned upon an equal individual eoi'tri- 
j bution, provided, that the latter shall not be 
I less than five hundred dollars; and, provided, 
! that the State subscription shall not ex-ceed in 
I any one year fifteen thousand dollars. This 
! latter amount it is not hoped that we can ob- 
tain since we cannot yet venture to predict an 
individual subscription of that sum. But in 
a few years things will work belter, and when 
our machinery is^ perfected we shall expect 
that many thousands will contribute to swell 
the ranks of the Society. It is proposed to 
expend this money in premiums, based on 
principles of real merit, on inquiries into the 
agricultural condiiion of Virginia, and col- 
lection of statistical facts, and on matters of 
science connecled with agricultural improve- 
ment. We hope that this subject will be duly 
considered by our readers, and if th°y approve 
of such a bill that they will at once write to 



82 



THE SOUTHERN PLATER, 






their respective delegates and urge them to 
vote for it, and give them solid encouragement 
to do it. The taxes are to be raised this win- 
ter, and the Legislature is very tender-footed 
on the subject of appropriations. It is, per- 
haps, unfortunate that it was necessary to 
make our application at this lime, but not to 
do it now would be to defer it for two years' 
longer, and such is the condition of agriculture 
in Virginia at this time, that not a moment 
should be lost in obtaining for it the aid it 
needs so much. To help the members out of 
their extremity we propose to the farmers to 
pledge themselves that whenever in any county 
the re-election of its delegate is objected to on 
this ground that they will vote for such can- 
didate regardless of his politics. If it is neces- 
sary to raise a tax for our benefit, let it be 
done. It will be our duty to see that no dema- 
gogue gets into public life in opposition to our 
interests. 

The President of the Society is Edmund 
Ruffin of Hanover. His energy and devo- 
tion to agriculture, and his distinguished ser- 
vices, guarantee a faithful discharge of his 
duties. 

The Society already numbers ^24th of Feb- 
ruary) one hundred and twelve members, and 
we have no doubt that if proper exertions are 
made we can easily induce some thousands to 
subscribe. 

On Th ursd ay evening Mr. Willotighby New- 
ton, himself a distinguished farmer, made a 
very handsome address to a large audience in 
the Hall of the House of Delegates. We re- 
gret that we have no room to insert it. Its 
object was to show to the farmers the unsur- 
passed natural advantages of Virginia, and 
the skilful manner in which a portion of her 
people had availed themselves of them. On 
the first branch of the subject we fully agreed 
with Mr. Newton, on the last, without dis- 
puting at all his individual achievements, 
which we believe to be remarkable, or those 
of his section of country, Tide Water Virgi- 
nia, which are certainly very considerable and 
very creditable, we yet incline to tbi.ik his 
picture too favorable, whether absolutely or 
relatively considered. But in this candid cri- 
ticism, we would not be thought to detract at 
all from the ability or patiiotism of our dis- 
tinguished friend. 



At the meeting of the Executive Committee 
which is to be held on the 19th of March, a 
Constitution will be reported, to be prepared 
in accordance with the instructions of the So- 
ciety. We shall endeavor to lay it before our 
readers. 



CLOVER DOES A'07'EXHAUST LAND. 

We have been asked once or twice what 
we meant by saying that clover exhausted 
land, and have heard that some of our friends 
have been asked the same question. We reply 
that we have not said so, and must have ex- 
pressed ourselves very in felicitously to have 
conveyed such an impression. We said, or 
meant to say, in the article in our Fehruary 
number, on "Farming in Tide Water Virgi- 
nia," that /he cultivation of clover, "particularly 
when attended with the use of lime, in rapid suc- 
cession and alternation with the usual cereals, if 
unaided by the use of other manures, produced 
ultimate exhaustion, because the clover af- 
forded the food for the wheat, for instance, 
which food being abstracted by the wheat, 
must, in time, become deficient in the soil 
unless replaced by other means. So that live 
wheat is the exhauster and not the clover. The 
lands in Albemarle have been cloveVed some 
forty years, and clover is still used among us. |" 
In fact, as we jocosely but truthfully observed 
to a friend, some time since, there is no man 
in Albemarle, that goes into good society, who 
does not sow clover seed. We shall return to 
this point again when we have more leisure. 
At present we are pretty well used up by the 
labors of the Convention, and beg to be ex- 
cused. 



For the Southern Planter. 

WHEAT-REAPERS-SAUNDE'rS' WIN- 
NOWER. 

Mr. Editor, — Some ten years ago I obtained 
possession of an old tobacco plantation which 
had been subjected pretty thoroughly to the 
common process by which the best lands of 
the tobacco region have been impoverished. 
The last proprietor, however, had practised 
an im proving method and had reclaimed a good 
portion of the exhausted land, chiefly by means 
of farm-yard and stable manure. Adopting 
his practice I continued to strip the little forest 
land of its annual deposit of leaves, to make 






THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



83 



as much manure as possible; and by compost- 
ing these in the pens and yards with corn- 
stalks, I contrived not only to keep up the to- 
bacco lots, but also to enlarge them. But the 
obvious effect of this practice was the general, 
though gradual, deterioration of forest land 
and cornfields; and about five years ago I at- 
tempted to increase the crop of wheat, as an 
essential part of a system of more rapid and 
extensive improvement. Since that time this 
crop has been doubled, and the land is mani- 
festly improved, while its average income is 
certainly not diminished. This has been ef- 
fected chiefly by deeper ploughing, by manur- 
ing new surfaces for tobacco, and by a limited 
use of guano on exhausted land. Clover and 
plaster have been used, but with partial suc- 
cess; and 1 am disposed to believe that until 
I can afford to apply large quantities of lime, 
these agents will not prove very profitable. 
Guano has been used cautiously. In the au- 
tumn of 1849 about half a ion was ploughed 
in on some six acres of the poorest land, and 
seven bushels of wheat sowed upon it. The 
crop was injured by rust, but yielded about 
sixty bushels of good grain. A strip of the 
same land, sowed without guano, hardly pro- 
duced as much as the seed; and the little it 
did produce was cf very inferior quality. 

La>t fall about one and a half tons were put 
in, by two-horse ploughs, on a thin field that 
had been fallowed with three horses, and the 
yiell, though reduced by the ravages of the 
fly, would not be discreditable to fair tobacco 
lots. In this case one part of plaster was 
mixed with four parts guano and four bushels 
of the compost put on an acre. 

In both cases clover was sown in the spring 
hut did not succeed well in either. The land 
is manifestly improved. 

By these experiments and by others' expe- 
rience, I am satisfied that it is safe practice to 
apply guano for wheat, on as much poor land 
as can be sowed in good time, after having 
seeded all the tobacco lots and all the fal- 
lowed land that belong to the year. No doubt, 
taking a term of years, it would be safe to use 
it further, hot I believe no one will have cause 
to regret that he has applied it to this extent 
in anv vear. I would sow my tobacco lot and 
the regular portion of fallowed land, and then 
make out a full crop of wheat by pulling guano 
on the poorest parts of the plantation. 

But, Mr. Editor, while the way seems plain 
enough for an increase of the wheat crop, 
there is a growing difficulty ahead. After the 
crop is made it is hard for a planter to secure 
it in good spason. Even if the weather be 
what we would have it, a heavy crop of wheal 
cannot be "saved" by the regular plantation 
force w'lhout considerable loss — and if ihe 
weather be unfavorable for harvest a great loss 
ma^t be borne. Nor is it possible, at least 
hereabouts, always io get hirelings for the 
harvest; ihe supply of these is less than ihe 
df-rn n I. Now, if we could g't a good reap- 
ing machine this difficulty would disappear, 



or he very much diminished. I have tried 
M'Keever's reaper, put up in Richmond, but 
it failed; and while 1 am confident it may be 
improved and made very valuable, I am equally 
confident that as it is, we cannot afford to use 
it. It cuts beautifully, perfectly, while it cms 
at all; but it is impossible to make it cut re- 
gularly on without interruption. And while 
it works at its best rate it cuts no faster than 
five cradlers, and requires at least ten good 
binders besides the driver and ihe raker! 

Recently you said that M'Cormick's is the 
best reaper yet invcnied, but you refuse to 
commend it until its price is reduced: did you 
mean that the larmer cannot afford to pay that 
pr ice — or simply that it pays more than a fair 
profit to ihe patentee 1 Can you not give us 
such a description of the machine, with its 
price, as will enable us to judge wheiher we 
may use it profitably'! 

As not foreign to the subject matter, let me 
say a word of Saunders' winnower. It is in- 
tended to clean wheat that has passed through 
a fan mill; and its principle is so familiar, its 
construction so simple, and its operation so 
successful, that one is made to wonder it was 
not invenied when men first thought of a fan 
mill Every farmer who wishes to make his 
seed wheat clean ought to have it. Mr. Haxall 
of Richmond, esteems it. very valuable to mil- 
lers, and I would not be without one in my 
mill for three times what it cost me. 
Respectfully, yours, 

T. T. T. 

Prince Edward County. 

The author of the communication, signed 
"T. T. T." in a private note requests us to 
give a description of M'Cormick's reaper. — 
We shall endeavor to do so in a short lime, 
or as soon as we can procure a proper descrip- 
tion from some one more conversant with me- 
chanics than we are. Since writing the short 
notice to which our correspondent refers, we 
have found that there is a very considerable 
disagreement among experienced farmers as 
to the superiority of this reaper over Hussey's; 
and we have seen one gentleman, and heard 
of others, who, after having tried both, or wit- 
nessed their operation, have given up M'Cor- 
mick's altogether in favor of its rival. 

When we refused to commend it we did so 
because we thought the price too high for the 
work necessary io construct the machine, and 
too high for the labor it accomplishes. Such 
is also the opinion of a friend of ours who has 
used and still uses it under the most favorable 
circumstances, io wit: on smooth and level 
lowgrounds. Certainly an inventor should be 
remunerated as well for the expenditure of 



84 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



ingenuity as for the outlay of capital; but that 
form? no excuse for extortion. 

Like all other reapers yet invented, it is a 
complicated piece of mechanism, liable to get 
out of repair, and requires careful manage- 
ment; when out of repair, there are not many 
farmers who can fix it up; and if any of the 
castings break it may be impossible to replace 
them until too late. On rough land, such as 
ours is, where it would be likely in its progress 
through the grain to meet with man}' obstruc- 
tions, and with as little skill in mechanics as 
we possess, we should consider it indispensa- 
ble to employ a competent workman to follow 
the machine through the harvest. And there 
are many farms like ours; and many farmers 
who possess no more skill than we do. 

On some of the large estates upon our rivers, 
the James and Pamunkey, particularly, this 
reaper and Hussey's are both used. The gen- 
tlemen who have used them speak well of 
their performance. What precautions they 
take against accidents, not very likely to occur 
on such farms, we know not; nor what reme- 
dies they have when they do occur. One of 
the most eminent farmers of that country re- 
jects them, from their complicated structure. 
He prefers the old method to the uncertainties 
which, in his opinion, attend the new. We 
know of only three reapers having been intro- 
duced in Albemarle. Of these two were aban- 
doned after the first crop: we are not aware 
that the third is still in use. We think they met 
with no betterfate in thatheavy wheat growing 
district, the Green Springs, though the land 
there is probably not more rolling than many 
a prairie over which they sweep. Here, as 
there, it is always a difficult matter to hire 
good cradlers, who, in spite of their boasting, 
generally shirk a heavy harvest, and are only 
lured to it by high prices. In the Green 
Springs it is probable that the sum paid for 
hirelings on several estates exceeds the cost 
of the reaper. Where there is no such assist- 
ance to be had, then the reaper, whether de- 
sirable or not, must be resorted to. 

As a substitute for labor this machine may 
in some cases be necessary, but so far as its 
exploits have been tested it does not saw labor, 
in the sense in which that phrase is commonly 
understood. In a very interesting article on 
agricultural dynamics, in the Transactions of 



the New York State Agricultural Society for 
1350, we find the following: 

"Well constructed machines for saving hu- 
man labor by means of horse labor, when en-( 
cumbered with little friction, will be (bund to 
do about five times as much work for each 
Horse, as when the same work is performed 
by men. For example, an active man will 
saw twice each slick of a cord of wood in a 
day. Six horses with a circular saw, driven 
by means of a good horse-power, will saw five 
times six, or thirty, cords, working the same 
length of time. In this case the loss by fric- 
tion is about equal to the additional force of 
attendance on the machine. 

"Again. A man will cut with a cradle two 
and a half acres of wheat in a day. A two- 
horse reaper should therefore cut, at the same 
rate, ten times two and a half, or twenty-five 
acres. This has not yet been accomplished; 
we may therefore infer that the machinery for 
reaping has been less perfected than for sav.- 
ing wood. It should however be remembered 
that great force is exerted, and for many hours 
in a day, in cutting wheat with a cradle; and 
therefore a little less than twentv-five acres a 
day may be regarded as the maximum attain- 
ment of good reaping machines when they 
shall become perfected." 

But the reaper does not ordinarily cut more 
than fifteen acres a day, and requires a shifting 
team at that, as one pair of horses cannot 
stand the pace necessary to a proper execution 
of the work. So that according to the above 
data, and not counting the driver and raker,* 
who miy very fairly be offset against the wheat 
lost by the cradle and saved by the reaper, it 
does only one-fourth of the work it ought to 
do in order to rank it as a labor-saving ma- 
chine. But admitting it to be so, its cost is 
much greater than the cost of many machines 
which are eminently labor-saving, the wheat 
machine, for instance. Under the old mode 
of flailing wheat, a hand could usually by 
haid work gel out about twelve bushels a day, 
somewhat more or less, according to I he con- 
dition of the grain and straw. But J. B. and J. 
E. Smith of the Green Springs, county of Loui- 
sa, manufactured a machine which, with eight 
horses and fair attendance, easily threshes 
four hundred and fifty bushels of wheat in a 
day, and has threshed out with full attendance 
seven hundied and thirty measured bushels, 
and stopped work. an hour by sun; thus doing 
at its average the work of ihirty-seven hands, 
and at its maximum the work of sixty hands, 
equal for each horse to four and five-eighths 



. - U~*~ 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



85 



and seven and a half hands respectively. This 
machine is sold at two hundred dollars, whilst a 
reaper doing, bv the same data, less than one- 
Jourth the work, costs five-eighihs of the money. 
Si other words, oilier things being equal, it ought 
to co>t fifty dollars, but does cost one hundred 
and twenty-five, or seventy-five dollars more' 
than a fair proportion would indicate. We 
are not mechanics enough to say anything of 
the relative cost of the materials, though the 
smaller, and more complicated, and nicer work 
required by the reaper may cost more, to be 
offset, however, against the heavier weight of 
the castings in the wheat machine, and the 
greater amount of first rate timber required 
for them, and to be offset further by the less 
liability of the machine to get out of order, 
and the greater facility for repairs, and, lastly, 
by the variety of uses to -which the horse- 
power may be applied, such as sawing wood, 
for instance, (a very valuable use to which 
we are now putting ours,) cutting up straw, 
stalks, &c. 

For these reasons we think the price of the 
reaper, of all reapers, too high, as is the price 
of nearly every agricultural implement. We 
have given the principles upon which our opi- 
nion is founded, and its correctness must stand 
or fall with them. We invite a candid exami- 
q of it. And if the agricultural commu- 
nity agree with us, we respectfully submit that 
it would be highly proper that the State should 
offer a premium of one thousand dollars or five 
thousand dollars for the best reaping machine, 
to be fully tested by practical farmers and 
mechanic*, and to be furnished, by means of 
agencies in different parts of (he State, at a 
price not exceeding seve ity-five dollars. In 
our opinion the money would get us what we 
want, and would be well expended. 

Undoubtedly, reapers in their present state 
are valuable inventions, and we would not be 
thought to underrate them or to disparage the 
genius and merit of their inventors. But the 
question is as lo their value at Ike price now paid 
for them. Individually we have decided against 
their use for this reason, and our subscribers 
have a right to our opinion when they ask for 
it, unless we give them something better in its 
place. The manufacture of reapers is now a 
Monopoly in a few hands, and the jealousies 
of Messrs. MTJormiek and Hussey have not 
caused them to forget it. Perhaps in the end 



that may be better for the community. There 
is a demand for reapers now; but for cheap 
ones. We believe that nine-tenths of those 
who take an interest in them are wailing to buy 
until the price comes down, or until cheaper, 
but equally efficient, machines are invented, 
as they will be — cheaper and better — for such 
is always the course of invention. Had the 
present patentees so lowered the price as to 
have introduced reapers universally, it would 
have been hard to supplant their patents. As 
it is, they invite rivals to the field, and sooner 
or later they must yield to them. Thus mo- 
nopoly always defeats itself. Already we have 
heard, but too vaguely for repetition, of supe- 
rior machines, and many mechanics are trying 
their hands at them. 

Whether T. T. T. and others shall choose, 
in. consequence of the difficulty of getting 
hands — a difficulty which will increase with 
the heavy annual increase of our wheat crop — 
to purchase a reaper, is a question which each ' 
will decide for himself. But we hope be will 
allow us to suggest, what no doubt he is al- 
ready aware of the propriety of doing, that he 
shall curtail his crops to the capacity of his 
labor, and not risk the "considerable loss" 
which it seems he now encounters in "saving" 
his wheat. In fartning, far more than in any 
other pursuit, "a penny saved is two pence 
gained." 



For the Southern Planter. 
DISEASE OF SHEEP. 

Mr. Editor, — After a severe orwetwinle r 
sheep are olten lost by a iiisease known in 
England as the tnrnsiek or sturdy. It attacks 
the one or two year olds; alter that age they 
are said to be exempt from that disease. In 
France, where their sheep are not well at- 
tended to, the loss from this cause is estimated 
at a million a year. In Engl.ind.at an aver; ge 
cf two to three per cent. Such a per centage, 
with our careless management, would scarcely 
be observed, if equalized among our flocks, 
hut it often falls with unequal severity on the 
best. This has occasional}' happened in past 
years to some of my neighbors. I have my- 
self this vear lost ten out of sixt v ewes in one 
flock, mostly those in their second year — none 
more than three years old. The order was 
such wi h those killed, before they had lin- 
gered too long, as to cause the tallow to be an 
object worth preserving. 

When first taken they are dull, and scarcely 



86 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



graze at all— ruminate fitfully and languidly- 
separate themselves from the flock — seek a 
stream or ditch and stand poring over the wa- 
ter until they tumble in— occasionally start as 
if frightened and run off' from the flock. The 
sheep commences a rotary motion, moving in 
concentric circles, his head turned to one side, 
and always turning to the side to which his head 
is bent, he /"alls and scrambles up to recom- 
mence hi,s motion, until he becomes exhausted 
and dies, if his death is not hastened by falling 
into some ditch or stream over which he has 
preferred to stand. 

The disease is said by European writers to be 
caused by an insect, viz: "the Many-Headed 
Hydatid of the Brain." It forms its nidus in j 
a sack of fluid between the membrane cover- ' 
ins the brain and the brain itself, or imbedded 
in its substance. The size of the sack is from I 
a pigeon's to a hen's egg. At first the fluid is i 
transparent, but becomes turbid as the eggs 
hatch. The insect is about a line in length, ! 
and easily discerned with a microscope. Its 
effect is oppression upon the brain, causing ; 
absorption of its substance, and often of the j 
adjoining portion of the skull, pro luring idiocy ] 
of the animal and blindness. With the'edu- 
cated veterinary surgeons of Europe they do 
not hope to save more than two in five of 
those attacked. This is done by trephining 
and extracting the sack. The ignorant shep 
herd swings his sheep round by the ears or 
drives him over a precipice; if his neck is 
not broken by the fall the sack may be burst; 
or thrusts a knitting needle or wire up the 
nostrils into the brain, where, if perchance, it 
strikes the sack, the animal may be relieved. 
Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, when a boy, was 
in the habit of knitting while tending his 
sheep. The sturdied sheep of his neighbors 
would annov him by wandering off" to his own 
flock; to drive them off", he would catch them 
and thrust his knitting needle up the nostril 
into the brain, when to his surprise they would 
spring up relieved and run off". This practice, 
however, upon subsequent trial, was found 
rarely successful, as the sack of the hydatid was 
not always in a position to be reached by the 
needle. Upon my own examinations I have 
not discovered the sack, the rude operation of 
the tenon saw always bursting it; but I found 
the brain highly inflamed, wiih extravasated 
blood in clots between its lobes. Yet the va- 
cant countenance; the absence of furious deli- 
rium; its inoffensive deportment to its compa- 
nions are not symptoms of inflammation u'f 
the brain; he is not lethargic, as in apoplexy, 
and lingers for days and weeks. After three 
years old it is not subject to the disease. 

A flock of maiden ewes and wethers, kept 
upon a high, dry ridge, having access to a 
warm shelter and also the protection of a large 
straw stack, escapedemirely ; but the flock in 
which the loss occurred ran in vale land, turfed 
and not wet, without shelter, and preferred to 
sleep near the house on the north hillside, ex- 
posed to north-east and north-west winds: oc- 



casionally they would be driven into the barn- 
yard in very bad weather, then the yard was 
always muddy. The only preventive 1 can 
suggest is dry pastures and good shelter. 

On farms where there is much waste land, ' 
to which sheep and cattle have access, jiarti- v 
cularly riney old fields, they find warm and 
dry situations, protected by the trees; but upon 
those without waste land at all, the fields are 
exceedingly bleak in winter, and animals with- 
out shelter suffer very much. Wet pastures, 
wet and severe winters and springs are con- 
sidered as the cause of this disease. 

As in the rot, a few hours' grazing of a flock 
upon particular spots, in districts where it pre- 
vails, will infect it with the fluke, an insect 
three quarers of an inch long, which breeds 
in the liver of the sheep, and destroys, bv dis- 
organization of this organ, every individual; 
so in this case the ova of the ammalculae, like 
minute seeds, may remain an indefinite period 
in the earth and be taken up in the food, and 
if they escape the danger of rumination, be 
conveyed in the chyle threading the minutest 
blood-vessels and capillaries until they reach, 
as a favorable spot for the nidas, the brain of 
the young sheep, weakened by exposure on 
cold, wet pasturage, &c. &c. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 

Our contributing friends will not only confer 
a favor, but save us a deal of postage, by 
sending all communications, intended, for the 
columns of the Planter, to the address of/ 
Frank: G. Ruffin, Shadwell, Albemarle Co. 
Va. When they are addressed to Richmond, 
we have to pay postage on them to the Editor, 
and back.again. They will be more promptly 
attended to if directed as above. 

The Publisher. 



THE JANUARY NUMBER. 

We were unfortunate enough to have nearly 
the whole of the mail of this number, on the 
route of the Central Rail Road Agent, lost. 
As soon as it can be reprinted it will be fur- 
nished to such subscribers as did not receive 
it. Although we struck off a large number of 
extra copies, in consequence of the large ac 
cession to our subscription list, the edition has 
been entirely exhausted. Such'/iewsubscribers 
as do not receive the January number along 
with the others, will also be furnished. We 
ask the indulgence of all, for a short lime. 
The Publisher. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



87 



STATE AGRICULTURAL CONVENTION. 

At a meeting of the State Agricultural 
[•Convention, held in the city of Richmond 
\%i Thursday, the 19th of February. 1352, 
the Convention was called to order by 
[Edmund Ruffin, Sr. Esq. and on his mo- 
lion Willoughby Newton, Esq was unani- 
[mously elected President pro tempore, and 
[Charles B. Williams was appointed tem- 
porary Secretary. 

The names of seventy members then 
present, were enrolled. 

On motion, it was 

Resolved. That Messrs. E. Ruffin. Sr. 
Thomas J. Randolph, F. G. Ruffin, Robert 
Grattan. Bernard Peyton, Jas. M. Morson 
find E. G. Booth be a committee to prepare 
business for the Convention. 

Resolved, That Messrs. Franklin Minor, 
R. G. Morris, G. W. Richardson, Thomas 
Ritchie. Jr. and Dr. T. B. Anderson be a 
committee to nominate permanent officers 
of the Convention. 

Resolved, That Messrs. Richard Irby, 
B. F. Dew and James A. Seddon be a 
committee to confer with the Executive 
Committee of the existing State Society 
to ascertain the terms upon which it is 
proposed that they shall cn-operate. 

Adjourned to meet in the Hall of the 
House of Delegates this afternoon at four 
o'clock. 

fc< ~~ 

The Convention re-assembled at four 
o'clock agreeably to adjournment. 

The names of thirty-seven additional 
members were added to the roll of the 
Convention. 

Mr. Minor. from the committee appointed 
to nominate permanent officers of the Con- 
vention, reported the following nomina- 
tions, which were unanimously adopted: 

For President, Edmund Ruffin, Sr. of 
Hanover. \ 

For First Vice President, Willoughby 
Newton of Westmoreland. 

For Second Vice President, Bernard 
Peyton of the City of Richmond. 

For Third Vine President, Thomas J. 
Randolph of Albemarle. 

For Fourth Vice President, Richard G. 
Morri.3 of Amherst. 

For Fifth Vice President, Robt. Grat- 
tan of Rockingham. 

For Sixth Vice President, Edwin G. 
Booth of Nottoway. 

For Secretaries. Frank: G. Ruffin of 
Albemarle, and Thomas Ritchie, Jr. of 
Henrico. 



Mr. Ruffin took the Chair and returned 
thanks for the honor conlerred upon him. 

Mr. Irby, from the committee appointed 
to confer with the Executive Committee 
of the State Agricultural Society on the 
terms of co-operation, &c. reported that 
the Executive Committee manifested the 
most cordial disposition to co-operate with 
the Convention, and authorized them to 
say that they submitted the further organi- 
zation and ihe further direction of the 
State Society to the discretion and wisdom 
of the Convention. 

The report was referred to the Commit- 
tee to Prepare Business for the Convention. 

On motion of F. Minor, Esq. 

Resolved; That the committee appointed 
to prepare business be instructed to inquire 
into the propriety of selecting a suitable 
agent to visit the different portions of the 
State, and make personal application to 
the friends of agricultural improvement, 
to become members of the State Society; 
or some other effective means of enlarging 
ihe number of the members of the State 
Society. 

On motion of Mr. Morris of Amherst, 
the following resolution was adopted: 

Resolved, Thatacommittee beappointeil 
io inquire into the expediency of petition- 
ing the Legislature to amend or repeal the 
laws regarding ihe duties of the Inspector 
of Guano and Plaster. 

The President appointed the following 

gentlemen the Committee: Messrs. Morris 

of Amherst, Newton of Westmoreland, 

Gaines of Hanover. Stuart of Fairfax and 

j John Wood, Jr of Albemarle. 

On motion of Mr. John Wood, Jr. 

Resolved, That the Inspector of Guano 
and Plaster for the City of Richmond he 
requesied to lay before the committee, hav- 
: ing in charge the inspection laws under 
consideration, such facts touching the same 
as to him may seem expedient. 

On motion, the Convention then ad- 
journed to meet again on Friday morning 
at eleven o'clock. 

Friday Morning, Feb. 20, 1S52. 

The Convention assembled at 1 1 o'clock. 

The names of hve additional members 
were added to the roll of the Convention. 

The President called Mr. Newton to the 
chair. 

Mr. Ruffin, from ihe Committee to Pre- 
pare Business, made a report, recommend- 
ing that the Convention establish a Stale 
Agricultural Society, to be called the State 



83 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



Agricultural Society of Virg nia; that the 
officers shall consist of a President, six 
Vice Presidents, a Recording and a Cor- 
responding Secretary, Treasurer, and an 
Executive Committee, to consist of the 
above officees and five other members to 
be elected annually, and committing the 
details of the organization of the Society, 
such as the preparation of a Constitution, 
the ottering of premiums, &c. to the said 
Executive Committee, who are required 
to hold stated meetings, to carry into effect, 
by particular regulation, the general reso- 
lutions and instructions of the Society. 

It is made the duty of the Executive 
Committee to apply to the Legislature for 
an act of incorporation, with provisions in 
the charter to authorize (he sheriffs of the 
Commonwealth to collect the annual dues 
of the Society. 

The first annual contribution of mem- 
bers of the Society was fixed at two dol- 
lars, and annually thereafter at one dollar, 
and life membership at twenty dollars. 

Moneys derived from life membership 
and donations to be invested in State stock, 
and the interest appropriated annually to 
the use of the Society. 

Mr. Morris of Amherst, from the Com- 
mittee on the Inspection of Guano and 
Plaster, made the following report, which 
was ordered to be laid on the table: 

The Committee appointed to inquire into 
the expediency of amending or abolishing 
the Inspection of Guano and Plaster, have 
had the subject under consideration and 
advise that a memorial be' presented to the 
Legislature, praying that said inspection 
be abolished. 

The Society proceeded to the election 
of Treasurer, that the members present 
wishing to unite with the Society might 
enter their names in the Treasurer's book. 
Gen. B. Peyton was elected Treasurer. 

Mr. Edmund Ruffin offered the follow- 
ing resolutions, which were unanimously 
adopted: 

Resolved, as the sense of this Convention, 
That the State of Virginia, and especially 
the cause of agriculture, has sustained, in 
the lamented death of Gen. Corbin Brax- 
ton, a loss that cannot soon be repaired. 

Resolved. That with a full sense of his 
eminent merits, and of the loss which we 
deplore, these resolutions be entered on 
the minutes of the Convention, and a copy 
thereof be transmitted to his family as a 
ffehle though sincere tribute to the me- 
mory of one of the most useful and esti- 
mable men that Virginia has produced. 



The following resolution, ottered by Gen; 
Richardson, was unanimously adopted: 

Resolved, That this Convention mos 
earnestly recommend to the farmers, m^ 
chanics and other householders of Virgi 
nia, that each one of them exert himsel 
to extend the circulation of the Southen 
Planter, the only agricultural paper pub- 
lished in Virginia, more than any othei 
adapted to our people, conducted with sig- 
nal ability, and in every respect entitled tc 
our zealous support. While thousands o> 
dollars are annually paid in subscriptior 
to papers published in other States and ol 
far less value to our agriculturists, our own 
modest and unpretending journal, edited 
and printed by Virginians, laboring with 
untiring industry and perseverance I'or our 
best interests, has hitherto been left by our 
own people to struggle for a bare subsist- 
ence. Let this indifference to those in* 
terests and lo the sterling merits of the 
Southern Planter be instantly shaken off; 
let every man do what he can, and the 
paper will speedily be found where it 
ought to be, a fireside companion of every 
family. 

The Convention then proceeded to the 
election of officers of the Society, when 

Edmund RnFFtN. Sr. of Hanover was 
unanimously elected President. 

James M. Morson of Goochland, First 
Vice President. 

Hill Carter of Charles City, Secow 
Vice President. 

Willoughby Newton of Westmore- 
land, Third Vice President. 

Thomas Jefferson Randolph of Al- 
bemarle, Fourth Vice President. 

Gen. P. H. Steinbergen of Mason. Fifth 
Vice President. 

RobertGrattan of Rockingham, Sixth 
Vice President. 

Messrs. L. E. Harvie of Amelia, Wm. 
Boulware of King & Queen, Edwin G. 
Booth of Nottoway, Wm. G. Overton of 
Hanover, and William H. Richardson of 
Richmond, were elected the Executive 
Committee. 

Charles -B. Williams of Henrico, was 
elected Recording Secretary, and Frank: 
G. Ruffin of Albemarle, Corresponding 
Secretary. 

The Convention then adjourned as a 
Convention, but to meet again to-morrow 
as a Society. 

Ed; Ruffin, President. 

Frank: G. Ruffin, > Secretaries . 
Thos. Ritchie, Jr. ^ 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



89 



VIRGINIA STATE AGRICULTURAL 
SOCIETY. 

The Society met by appointment of the 
Convention on Friday pvening, the 20th of 
February, 1852, at half past seven o'clock. 

The report ol" the Committee on ihe In- 
ipection of Guano and Plaster, laid on the 
able in Convention, was taken up, adopted, 
ind committed to Richard G. Morris, E~q. 
with instructions to prepare a memorial to 
he Legislature expressive of the opinion 
ntertained by the Society that the inspec- 
ion of these articles ought to te abolished. 

On motion of T. J. Randolph, Esq. 

Resolved, That committees be now ap- 
)ointed for the cities of Richmond and Pe- 
ershurg, and hereafter by the Executive j 
Committee, in their discretion, for the other 
iiies and counties of the State, to call on ' 
he citizens and urge them to become 
nembers of the Society. 

Committee for Richmond, Messrs. Huffh 
*V. Fry, Edwin Wortham and John H. 
Claiborne. 

Committee for Petersburg, Messrs. R. 
Boiling. Thomas Branch and Q,uinn 
Jorton. 

En. Rcffi??, President. 

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



PLOUGHING. 



7From a letter received from a genlle- 
iian connected with the Hampshire Coun- 
y Society, we gather the following facts 
n relation to the trial of stubble ploughs, 
it the lale exhibition of that soc : ety at 
Northampton. There were ploughs in use 
rom four ditlerent manufacturers, hut after 

lorm trial, Ru«gles, Nourse, Mason & 
.o.'s No 37 was decided to be ihe best, on 
:ccount ofit3 great ease of holding, and its 
mperior work. 

A feat never before performed in plough- 
nc, was accomplished by one of the con- 
estants, who used Stubble Plough No. 38 
>f the same manufacturers. Starting his 
lorses at one side of the field, he set the 
)loucrh. and then let it run by itself lo the 
;nd of the lot, a distance of 3-3 rods. Then 
t was just touched sufficiently to guide it 
•ound to the next furrow, when it set itself, 
ind went through without a hand being 
ouched to it. This is a quality which has 
ong been desired, and it is manifest that 
:he ploush which can do its work well 
without being held has little need of any 
)ther recommendation. — N. E. Farmer. 



PAYMENTS TO THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 

From January 2G/A to March \sl, 1852. 

All persons who have made payments early 
enough lo be entered, and whose names do 
not .appear in the following rfceipt list, are 
requested to give immediate notice of the 
omission, in order that the conection may be 
made in the next issue: 

Edwin N. Palmer, to January, 1853, ") 

Wm. T. Watts, to January, 1853, I ft „ on 

Dr. Paul J. Carrington, to Jan. 1853, f * J M 

C. M. Adkisson, to January, 1853, J 

Dr. Robert R. Barton, lo Janua'y, 1853, 2 00 

Dr. F. Carr, <o January, IM>3, 1 CO 

Richard O. Morris, to January, 1853, 1 00 

Claudius Dickinson, to January, 1853, 

Rev. W. W. Kennedy, to Jan. 1853, 

Richmond Ter/ill, to January, 1853, 

Henry S. Hathaway, to January, 1853, 

Merit P. Sledge, to January, 1853, ^ 

Powhatan B. Sledge, to Jan. 1853, 

Henry S. Mason, lo January, 1853, I 

J. J. Deal, to January, 1853, j 

Carter Ball, lo January, 1853, 

Dr. N. M. Osborne, to January, 1853, J 

E. Brown, to January, 1853, 

Henry Curtis, to January, 1853, 

Wm. English, to January, 1853, 

Rob. G. Montgomery, to' Jan. 1853, 

Dr. James Motley, to January, 1853, 

Henry Miskel, to January, 1853, 

James L. Lamkin, to January, 1853, 

Andrew Jackson, to January, 1853, 

Thomas Okiham, to January, 1853, 

James Yearhy, to January, 1853, 

James B. M'Carty, to January, 1853, 

Jos. W. Shearman, to January, 1853, 

H. L. Layton, to January, 1853, 

Geo. B. A. M'Carty, to January, 1853, 

John H. Stecer, to January, 1853, 

Julian Ruffin, to January, 1853, 

Edmund Ruffin, Jr. to January, 1853, 

Mrs. Martha Cocke, to January, 1*53, 

Jesse Whitehead, to January, 1853 



1 UO 
1 00 

1 (JO 
1 00 



5 CO 



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r 9 23 



1 



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3 77 
1 00 
1 00 
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1 00 
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Charles B. Williams, to January, 1853, I 00 

James C. Denty, to January, 1852, 2 50 

Rev. A. B. Davidson, to January, 1853, 1 00 

I Wm. R. Hatched, to January, 1853, 1 00 

' J. D. Massenhurg, to January, 1852, 3 00 

J. Lewis Brooke, to January, 1853, 1 00 

Alexander Smith, to January, 1853, 1 00 

Wrn. Finch, to January, 1853, J 00 

Dr. Thos. J. Garden, to January, 1853, 1 00 

! James B. Ford, to January, 1853, 1 00 

John T. Anderson, to January, 1853, 1 00 

: Rev. John T. Clark, to January, 1853, 1 00 

, George Wondfin, to January, 1853, 1 00 

' Dr. C. W. Worrnley. to January, 1853, 1 00 

Peyton S. Coles, to July, 1852, ] 00 

F. K. Nelson, to January, 1853, 1 00 

John Fray, to July, 1852, i 00 

Col. F. H. Smith, to January, 1853, 1 00 

George W. Nelson, to January, 1853, 1 00 

John A. Monlague, to January, 1853, 1 00 

| Wm. K. Perrin, to January, 1853, l 00 



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90 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



Samuel Ball, to January, 1833, 
Win, R. Taylor, to January, 1653, 
J. C. Bruce, to January, 1853, 
Col. Andrew Joiner, to January, 1854, 
(). R. Funsten, lo January, 1853, 

A. A. Chapman, to January, 1849, 
S. T. Brown, to January, 1852, 
J. Warwick, to January, 1853, 
F. M. Cabell, lo January, 1853, 
John Thorn, to January. I&53, 
H. Bear, to August, 1852, 
Dr. D. M. Currie, to January, 1853, 
Thomas L. Lea, to January, 1853, 
W. J. Moore, to January, i852, 
James Hill, to January, 1853, 
P. St. Geo. Cocke, (7 copies,) to Jan. 1 653 
Win. Gordon, to January, 1853, 
Ro. W. Calloway, to January, 1853, 
Dr. T. B. Anderson, to January, 1853, 
J. T. Goodwin, to January, 1853, 
Martin James, to January, 1853, 

B. H. Dawson, to January, 1853, 
A. D Martin, lo January, 1853, 
Major Yancey, to January, 185-2, 
F. Thompson, to January, 1853, 
Dr. Miles George, to January, 1853, 
J.ames M. Sublett, to January, 1853, 
Eiias P. Burnett, to January, 1853, 
Isaac B. Edwards, to January, 1853, 
Wm, H. Davis, to January, 1853, 
L. \V. Allen, to January, 1853, 
Edmd. A. Pendleton, to January, 1853, 
Henry Street, to January, 1853, 
Robert G. Halle, to July, 1852, 
Robert Brook, to January, 1853, 
Dr. Thomas Means, to January, 1853, 
Walker B. Blanton, to January, 1853, 
J. M. Laidley, to January, 1853, 
Capt. John Sims, to January, 1851, 
Wm. E. Glen, to January, 1853, 
John Marshall, to September, 1852, 

F. Lewis Marshall, to Januarv, 1653, 
Fred. Gilliam, to Januarv, 1853, 
Pelerfield Trent, to January, 1853, 
Thom;Ys J. Myers, to Januarv, 1853, ~) 
It. S. Bonham, to January, 1853, 
John L. Sanders, to January, 1853, 
Wm. P. Creel, to January, 1853, 
Thos. Copenhaven, to January, 1853, 
Abijah Thomas, to January, 1853, 
Jas. F. Pendleton, to January, 1853, J> 10 00 
Nathaniel L. Cox, to January, 1853, 
Ro. H. Richardson, to Januarv, 1853 

C. F. M'Donald, to January, 1853, 
E. A. Scott, to January, 1853, 
Watkins Johnson, to January, 1853, 
Wm. F. Campbell, to January, 1853, J 
John P. Stevens, lo January, 1853, 
Larkin S. Garrett, to October, 1853, 
Nathaniel Tally, to January, 1853, 
Charles H. Lee, to Januarv, 1853, 
Ro. H. Vest, to January, 1853, 
Napoleon B. Richardson, to Jan. 1853, 
Robert Burke, to January, 1853, 

G. C. Trevilian, to October. 1852, 
Wm Guthrey, to August, 1852, 
Wm. H. Ott, to January, 1853, 



$1 00 


1 00 


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1 00 


1 00 


2 00 


1 00 


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2 00 


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I Wm. S. Dabney, to January, 1853, 
[ Dr Chailes Brown, to July, 1852, 
| D. C. Carver, to January, 1853, 
: B. P. Teel, to January, 1852, 
:M B. Jarman, to January, 1852, 
• Dr. D E. Watson, to January, 1852, 
! H. St. George ttarris, to July, 1852, 
; James W. Dabney, to January, 1853, 
j E. P. Chamberlayne, to January, 1853, 
C. C. Lee, to January, 1853, 
Bellield Cave, to January, 1853, 
Wm. A. Durvin, to January, 1853, 
! W T m. Durvin, to January, 1853, 
Mrs. Susan A. Gardner, to Jan. 1851, 
W. S. Kemper, to January, 1853, 
Martin Tutwiler, to July, 1852, 
Alexander Faison, to January, 1853, 
; John England, to January, 1853, 
J Dr. J. H. Ellerson, to January, 1853, 
i Thomas J. Blake, to January, 1853, 
James C. Hohbs, to January, 1853, 
G. Breant, to Januarv, 1853, 
Robert Wilson, to July, 1852, 
Dr. R. C. Prilehard, to July, 1853, 
Wm. JVI. Price, to January, 1852, 
Klsey Fogg, to January, 1853, 
P. P. Nafle, (cor ) to January, 1852. 
R. String-fellow, (corr.) to January, 1853, 
Col. D. B. Hancock, to January, 1853, 
John B. Ayres, to September, 1852, 
Robert S. Ellis, to January, 1853. 
J. W. Heptinstall, to January, 1853, 
1 Wm. H. Ponton, to January, 1853, 
! T. C. Moorman, to Januarv, 1853, 
H. M. Kirbv, to January, 1853, 
! John H. S. Hubbard, to Jan. 1853, 
j Wm. Chaney, to January, 1853, 
John Wilkinson, to January, 1853, 
i Isaac T. Oliver, to January, 1853, 
[Joel H. Tanner, to January, 1853, 
; S C. Townes, to January, 1853, 
Thomas Plippin, to Januarv, 1853, 
Wm. Wilson, to January, 1853, 
T. O. Sogars, to January, 1853, 
Isaac N. Dodron, to January, 1853, 
Bird Dodron, to January, 1 853, 
Thomas Chaney, to January, 1853, j 
Frederick Payne, to January, 1853, 
Woodson Hughes, to January, 1853, 
N. B. Clarke, to January. 1853, 
Reuben Blanton, to January, 1853, 
W. H. Harrison, to January, 1H53, 
R. G. Morriss, to January, 1853, 
Gustavus Wingfield, to Januarv, 1853, 
Capt Thomas Lang, to July, 1855, 
E. F. Pinchbeck, to January, 1852, 
Dr. George C. Scott, to Januarv, 1 853, 
Col. C. B Killibrew, to January. 1853, 
Dr. H. C. Worsham, to January! 1853, 
Rev. W. C. Meredith, to Sept. 1852, 
B. Wigginton" to January, 1853, 
S. & M. Pennock, to July, 1852, 
Thomas Hines, to January, 1853, 
J. L. Deans, to January, 1853, 
John H. Tabb, to January, 1853, 
Geo. H. Dobyns, to January, 1853, 
W. D. Mansfield, to January^ 1853. 



SI 



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THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



91 



George W. Claike, to January, 1853, 51 

Patrick B. Carter, to September, 1652, 1 

Andrew Mapwell, to January, 1853, 1 

Elias Dodron, to Januarv, 1853, 1 

Wm. A. Bibb, to July, 1852, I 

Jfeorge C. Gilmer, to September, 1852, 1 

Thomas Garland, to July, 1852, 1 

Eugene Davis, to Julv, 1852, 1 

E. T. Jeffress, to Januarv, 1853, 1 

Wm. tl. Nicholson, to January, 1853, 1 

ivlrs L. W. Barlow, to January, 1852, 1 

M. Harrison, to January, 1853, 1 

W. H. C. Loviu, to January, 1 853, 1 

Col. Wm. A. Dozier, to January, 1S53, 1 

A. N. Bernard, to July, 1851, ' 1 

W. A. Leavitt, to January, 1853, 1 

C. W. Montague, to January, 1m53, 2 

W. B. Montague, to January, Ib53, 1 

M. Davis, Jr. to January, 1853, 1 

Bannister Coffee, to Januarv, 1853, 1 

H. \V. Jones, to January, 1853, ' 5 

James Newman, to January, 1853, 1 

Mrs. Dr. W. B. Smith, to January, 1853, 1 

Samuel ,T. Miller, to Januarv, 1853, 1 

E. B. Hunter, lo January, 1853, 1 

R. H. Sharpe, to January, 1853, 1 

A. Aldridge, to January, 1853, 1 

Wm. Robertson, to January, 1853, 4 

Estate ot J. M. Meriwether, to Jan. 1853, 1 

Thos. Jellis, to January, 1852, 3 

Wm. E. Glover, to September, 1852, 1 

Miss Nancy Perkins, to January, irs53, 1 

Samuel T. Chandler, to Januarv, i653, 1 

John S. Rogers, to Januarv, 1853, 

Charles E. Kent, to January, 1853, 

Archie Brown, to January, 1853, 

Dr. J. N. Powell, to July, 1852, 

|a R. Simms, to January, 1853, 

Jfcr. Wm. Fuqua, to January, 1853, 

HJol. Isham Trotter, to January, 1853, 

3oL Wm. T. Mason, to January, 1853 

foseph Jones, to January, 1853, 

iubbard Minter, to January, 1853, 

jarland Hargrave, to January, 1853, 

Thomas Friend, to January, 1853, 

Henry Deurson, to Januarv. 1853, 

Wm Gibson, to January, 1853, 

Wm. S. Harris, to Januarv, 1853, 

Thomas L. Pleasants, to January, 1853, 1 

Boiling Jones, to January, 1853, 

Wm. E. B. Ruffin, to January, 1854, 

George H. Burwell to January. 1853, 

'oseph Gilmore, to January, 1853, 

Thomas G Burke, to Januarv, 1853, 

rlenry Harris, to Januarv, 1853. 

W. Y. Hiter, to Tanuary," 1853, ' 

oseph Rock, to January, 1853. 

oshua Cannon, to January, 1853, 

irehd. M'Lean, to July, 1851, 

Edward M. Tompkies, to January, 1852, 1 

rV. W. PTarris, to January, 1853, 2 

. M. Jeffress, to Januarv, 1853, 3 

)r. John R. Garnett, to January, 1853, 2 

I. C. Watkins, to January, 1853, 1 

\. G. Jeffress, to January, 1853. 1 

iichard Bagby, to January, 1853, 1 

rVra. P. Peyton, to January, 1853, 3 



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David Shelton, to July, 1853, 
E. B. Jones, to January, 1653, 
Wm. T. Scott, to January, lr53, 
Wm. Irby, (correction.) to Jan. 1853, 
Charles Guerrant, to July, 1S52, 
Thomas D. Edmunds, to January, 1853, 
Thomas Massie, to January, 1853, 
John S. Woodson, to January, 1853, 
Hilary Harris, to January, 1853, 
Wm. Townes. to July, 1852, 
R. D Warwick, to January, 1853, 
Robert Anderson, to January, 1 853, 
Wm. W. Watkins, to January, 1853, 
Gen. W. H. Richardson, to Jan. 1853, 
Major R. P. Blown, to August, lt-53, 
T. B. Robensun, to January, 1853, 
R. C. Dickinson, to January, 1851, 
Lewis W. Ganh, to January, )P53, 
John G. Hancock, to January, 1853, 
Dr. James Latane, to January, 1853, 
Joseph Farrar, lo January, 1H53, 
W. P. Smith, to January! 1853, 
James M. Morson, to July, 1854, 
Thomas W. Meriwether, to Jan. 1853, 
Rev. T. W. Sydnor, to January, 1853,"] 
J. H. Dobbin, to January, 1653, 
S. H. Pettus, to January, 1853, 
Robert Scoit, lo January, 1853, 
G. A. Cralle, to January, 1653, 
Samuel Scott, to January, 1853, J> 

A. Worsham, to January, 1853, 
Reward Farley, to January, 1853, 
Dr. W. J. Harris, to January, 1853, 
E. F. Williamson, to January, 1853, | 
Dr R. E. Haskins, to Januarv, 1853J 
P. T. Spratley, to January, 1852, 
Wm. H. Goodwin, to January, 1853, 
Gen. H. B. Woodhouse, to Jan. 1853, 
H. F. Woodhouse, to January, 1853, 
Henry R. Franklin, to Janna'ry, 1853, 
H. B. Jones, to January, 1853, 
Col. T. F. Wingfield, to January, 1853, 
Richard M. Graves, to January, 1853, 
Richard L. Farenholt, to January, 1853. 
Wm. Metlock, lo January, 1853, 
James P. Anderson, to January, 1853, 
R. H. Harwood, to Januaiv, 1853, 
J. T. Baker, to January, 1853, 
Elias T. Harris, to January, 1853, 
J. O. Claybrook, to January, 1853, 
Wm. Elsom, to January, 1853, 
John A. Thurmond, to January, 1853, 
A. M. Hobson, to January, 1853, 
John D. Hobson, to January, 18?3, 
E. W. Shepherd, to January, 1853, 
D. E. Jiggiits, to January, i853, 
Col John Hargrove, to January, 1853, 
James C. Spotts, to January, 1853, 
Geo. D. Saunders, to September, 1852, 
W. T. Wooton, to January, 1853, 
Wm. S. Graves, to January, 1853, 
J. A. Clay, to January, 1853, 
M. P. Brooke, to January, 1853, 
Thomas S. Hall, to January, 1853, 
Samuel M. Wilson, to January, 1853, 
J. Tisdale, to September, 1852, 
N. B. Gay, to September, 1852, 



®2 00 


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I 



52 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



John M'Alister, 10 January, 1853, 

Thomas Watkins, lo January, 1853, 

E O. Griffith, to January, 1852, 

E. G- Booth, to January, 1852, 

John Hodges, to Jannarv, 1853, 

W. B. Harrison, to January, 1853, 

J. W. Brockwell, to January, 1853, 

Randolph Harrison, to January, 1853, 

Win. Tompkins, lo October, 1852, 

G. B. Mill, to January, 1853, 

J R. Barksdale, to January, 1853, 

Pinch & Carlton, to January, 1853, 

R. M. Glenn, lo January, 1853, 

Anderson Edwards, to January, 1853, 

El. M. Anderson, to January,' 1853, 

Wm. L. Pannill, to January. 1853, 

A. J. Perkins, to January, 1853, 

W. W. Key, to January', 1852, 

Gen. Alex. Brou-n, (2 cops.) to Jan. 1853. 

Z. H. Bn.oks, to January, 1853, 

S-tmuel Griffin, lo January, 1851, 

P. W. Grubbs, to July, 1852, 

Capt. Edwd. Haskins, to January, 1S53, 



$1 00 



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AT 



SANDY POINT FOR SALE 

AUCTION. 
rip HE undersigned, prevented by engage- 

M merits requiring his undivided attention 
elsewhere from residing on his farm, will sell 
publicly, unless previously sold privately, (and 
of which due notice will be given,) at the 
Bollingbrook Hotel, in Petersburg, an Wed- 
nesday, the 26th day of May nexi, at 1 1 o'clock, 
A. M. without reserve or regard to weather, 
that valuable, highly improved and heavily 
limbered estate, known as SANDY POINT, 
situated on James River, in the County of 
Charles City, Virginia, 45 miles below the 
City of Richmond, and 32 miles below the 
Citv of Petersburg. 

This fine body of land contains 4,453 acres, 
and has been advantageously divided into four 
well located farms, with dwellings, commo- 
dious barns, &c. and into live valuable lots of 
timbered land, exclusive of an ample allot- 
ment of wood and timber for each farm. 

Persons desirous of investing in lands of a 
quality not often in market, are invited to ex- 
amine this estate. 

Printed bills giving the qantities in the sub- 
divisions. &c. will be furnished, and accurate 
plats exhibited to applicants. 

Possession given of the timbered lands im- 
mediately after sale; of the farms, at the end 
of the year, with the privilege of fallowing 
and seeding wheat. 

Terms — One-fifih cash; balance in five an- 
nual instalments for the farms; for the tim- 
bered lands, one-ihird cash and three annual 
instalments; credit payments to bear interest, 
and to be secured by deeds and approved en- 
dorsed negotiable notes or bonds. 

R. B. BOLL1NG. 

Address to Petersburg, Va. 

fe — tf Pannill & Sons, Aucls. 



VALUABLE AGRICULTURAL 
WORKS for sale by NASH & WOOD- 
HOUSE, Eagle Square. 

The Complete Farmerand Rural Economise 
and New American Gardener, by T.J. Fesse;' 
den, in one volume, about 700 pagVs, clotlf, 
gilt— $1 25. 

Johnston's Agricultural Chemistry — a new 
edition, in one volume, 1'2 mo. cloth, gilt — $1 25. 

Johnston's Elements of Agricultural Che- 
mistry — 50 cents. 

Johnston's Practical Agriculture, one vol. 
cloth — 75 cents. 

Buist's Family Kitchen Gardener, cloth— 
75 cents. 

Hoare's Treatise on the Cultivation of the 
Grape Vine on open Walls — 50 cents. 

Sheep Husbandry, by H. S. Randall— $'1 25. 

Stephens' Book of the Farm, complete — S4. 

Browne's American Poultry Yard, tenth edi- 
tion— SI. 

Allen's American Farm Book, one volume — 
$1. Mail edition— 75 cents. 

Allen's Diseases of Domestic Animals, one 
volume — 75 cents. 

Chemistry Made Easy for Farmers, paper — 
25 cents. 

Southern Agriculture; or, Essays on the 
Cultivation of Corn, Hemp. Tobacco, Wheat, 
&c— SI. 

Dana's Prize Essay on Manures — 25 centsi 

Miner's American Bee Keeper's Manual — . 
SI- Mail edition — 75 cents. 

Brown's American Bird Fancier— 50 cents. 
Mail edition — 25 cents. 

Canfield on the Breeds, Management, Struc- 
ture and Diseases of Sheep— SI. 

The American Architect, the cheapest a',)] 
best work of the kind published in the wortz,' 
complete in 24 numbers, at 25 cents each, oi 
S5 for the work complete — $6 bound in twoi 
volumes. 

Youatt and Martin's Treatise on Cattle,! 
with one hundred illustrations, edited by Am-i| 
brose Stevens, Esq — SI 25. 

Yonatt on the Breed and Management ol 
Sheep, with illustrations — 75 cents. 

Elements of Agriculture, translated from the- 
French,byF.G. Skinner, adapted for Schools — \ 
25 cents. 

Gunn's Domestic Medicine; or, Poor Man'.'J 
Friend in Affliction, Pain and Sickness — &3;f 

mar — ly 



UNION AGRICULTURAL WARE- 
HOUSE AND SEED STORE. 
EALPH & Co. No. 23 Fulton street, Newf 
York, near Fulton Market, Dealers in all] 
the most approved Agricultural and Horticul 
tural Implements, Imported and American! 
Field and Garden Seeds, Ornamental Shade 
and Fruit Trees, Guano, Bone Dust, Poudrette,! 
&c. Wrought Iron Ploughs, Trucks, Barrows,] 1 
&c. &c. always on hand. Also, the Excelsior.] 1 
or California Plough. mar3t 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



93 



TO AGRICULTURISTS. 

]\/rORRIS & BROTHER have received the 
IVJL following valuable Books, pertaining 10 
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, 
Dramings, Irrigation, Grasses, Grain, Roots, 
Fruit, Coiton, Tobacco, Sugarcane, Rice, and 
Every s'aple product of the United States. — 
This is a perfect fanrer's library, with upwards 
uf 100 engravings; by R. L. Allen. 

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

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

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

American Husbandry. — Seriesof Essays on 
Agriculture, with additions; by Gaylord and 
Tucker. 
Farmer's Encyclopaedia; by Cuthbert W. 
obnson. 

(^Productive Farming, with the most recent 
" overies of Liebig, Johnston, Davy^and 
ttiers. 
European Agriculture, from personal obser- 
aiion; by Henry Coleman. This is a very 
>opular work. 
Johnson's Chemistry and Geology, with their 
pplication. 

Johnson's Dictionary of Gardening; by Da- 
id Lsndreth. 

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

Squarey's Agricultural Chemistry, Bonssin- 
ault, Rural Economy, Bnist's Kitchen Gar- 
ener, Landscape Gardening, and Rural Ar- 
hile c ure; by A. J. Downing. 
Pe -enden's American Gardener. 
American Fruit Book, with full iustructions; 
•y S. W. Cole. 
Downing on Fruit Trees. 
Theory of Horticulture; by Lindley. 
Florist's Manual; by H. Bourne; 80 colored 
Bgra vings. 
Bri 'ginan's Kitchen Gardener. 
In addition to which, Morris & Brother have 
.1 of the late Works on Agriculture, Horti- 
abure, and Raising Ptock, of any celebrity. 
Richmond, March. 12, 1651.— ly 



] TO THE AGRICULTURAL PLANTERS 
OF VIRGINIA. 

Compound Chemical Manures. — John Ket- 
llewell's (late Kettlewell & Davison's.) 
Agricuhural Dtpot, Baltimore, Maryland — 
Renovator, Generator, Diphosphates, Mixture 
of Potash and Plaster, Pure Ground Plaster, 
with every description of Chemical residium 
| for the improvement of Crop and Land. 

The undersigned, after fiveyears'expen'ence, 
and a very considerable outlay of capital, has 
finally triumphed over every obstacle of doubt 
and prejudice, and is prepared to demonsirate 
i that, (oi Crop and Land, he can present to the 
public the cheapest and best Manure known 
to the age. 

His Compounds contain Ammonia, Polash, 
j Biphosphate Soda, indeed every Chemical ele- 
ment, in a powerfully concentrated form, which 
| the soil requires. Any one who doubts this' 
; can have his Salts analyzed at the expense of 
the undersigned, and if they fail in the test, he 
will return the money, if purchased. 

In Wheat, he is willing to admit, that so 
powerful a stimulant as Guano, will, in many 
soils, produce a larger first crop, but veiy far 
less in a third crop, than his Sails. In Corn 
and Grass, he challenges a fair trial, upon any 
soil with Guano or any other Manure — and 
for any forfeit that would make I he experiment 
interesting. For. Corn and Grass, he avers 
that there is no Manure equal to his from a 
first to a fourth crop; and he is able to estab- 
lish it by experimental proof. 

His "Biphosfhates" are pure, dissolved 

I with the strongest Sulphuric Acid, and the 

Bones fresh. In England, no manure is in 

j higher favor, or more sought alter for Crop 

and Land. 

PL's "Renovator" is a Compound of every 
| Chemical which science and experience have 
shown to be necessary to renovate worn-out 
land. 

His "Generator" is a compound made ex- 
pressly lor Tobacco, and is worthy the most 
careful investigation of the Planter. 

His "Plaster and Potash" is also manu- 
factured for the growth of the Tobacco Plant, 
and when the almost absolute necessity of 
Poiash is known, for the growth of prime leaf 
Tobacco, the value of this article may be rea- 
dily estimated. 

His "Ground Plastfr" is so well known 
and so eagerly sought from the most distant 
sections of the Union, lhat he deems it only 
necessary to say, that below the standard he 
has adopted, lhe undersigned will never permit 
it to go. There is no article which the Farmer 
buys that he is more imposed-upon, than in 
this one, of universal use. 

In the January number of the American 
Farmer, the following reply is made by the 
j editor of that valuable paper, in reply to the 
I enquiries of a correspondent: 

"Were we to plant Corn in land so poor, 
| that when unaided by manure, would only 






94 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



, 



• produce five bushels of Wheat, we certainly 
would not rely upon less than four hundred 
pounds of Guano, producing a good crop." 

Now, not relying upon less than four hun- 
dred pounds would certainly imply that an 
additional hundred pounds would do no harm. 

Those four hundred pounds of Guano, with 
transportation, woul.1 cost the Farmer not less 
than ten dollars per acre, which, with the ex- 
penses of cultivation, would require "a very 
good crop" to remunerate, provided no durable 
benefit was rendered to the soil. Now, what 
permanent benefit does Guano render to the 
land] What is its value, except the first crop] 
Does it operate like a similar powerlul stimu- 
lant upon the human mind? with prodigious, 
almost delirious excitement] to be followed 
by a commensurate depression and exhaustion'? 
Is Guano a stimulant or a manure] 

These questions the expeiience of the Far- 
mer can best answer. But at the present 
prices of grain they are of vital importance; 
although in agricultural journals hut little 
discussed. In Pennsylvania, the most lasting 
manure is called the best — further South, the 
first yield is the standard. Now, when these 
Salts' are intended for Corn, the undersigned 
never recommends more than one barrel to the 
acre, (three dollars,) if applied in the hill — or 
two barrels for the poorest worn-out land. If 
the Corn crop is to be followed with a Wheat 
crop one barrel in the hill, and one broadcast 
is recommended, slightly harrowed in — in this 
way, ihe Salts are more efficacious than when 
applied with the Wheat at seeding time. For 
lasting henefit to Land, these Salts are only 
subordinate to fresh lime. As a top-dressing 
they are certain and valuable. 

The price of the Diphosphates are four dol- 
lars per barrel; the Renovator three dollars 
per barrel, or twenty-one dollars per ton. 

The price of the Tobacco Generator is four 
dollars per barrel; the Mixture of Potash and 
Ground Plaster two dollars and fifty cents per 
barrel; valuable for any crop, but indispensa- 
ble for prime tobacco leaf. There is one dol- 
lar and fifty cents' worth of Potash in every 
barrel. 

His Plaster is sold exclusively by Messrs. 
Deane & Brown of Richmond, and Messrs. 
Waikins & Morton of Petersburg. 

Freight from Baltimore to Richmond and 
Petersburg, seventy-five to eighty-seven and a 
half cents per ton — transportation not being 
more expensive, counring teams and laborers, 
if as much so, as hauling out barn-yard ma- 
nure. No man need make an extravagant 
experiment; therefore, no great risk is neces- 
sary to make a trial. The Agriculturist can 
order from the undersigned, to be shipped to 
Richmond or Petersburg, and to the care of 
each particular Agent, upon, whom the under- 
signed can draw free of expense. 

All sums under fifiy dollars, cash; over fifty 
dollars, lour rnonihs; over one hundred dol- 
lars, six months, for acceptances. 



Instead of publishing certificates, which i 
more expensive and less satisfactory, the he 
dersigned begs leave to refer to the followin 
names. He has taken this liberty withou 
consultation or permission*)!' the parties namet. 
but from their intelligence, success and enter 
prise as Agriculturists, and their character a 
gentlemen of the highest respectability an 
honor, he has no doubt but what they woul 
cheerfully impart their experience and infoi 
maiion, many of them having largely use 
these Salts. The postal direction of eac 
party is affixed. It may be proper to observ 
that the Salts do not produce as heavy a stal 
in Corn, as Guano. For its yield the farmt 
must look to the grain of the Corn. 

REFERENCES. 

Professor Higgins, Slate Chemist of Man 
land, Baltimore, for its Chemical constituent; 
Rev. J. S. Armistead, Stony Point post offio 
Cumberland county, Va ; Joseph W.Twymai 
Esq. Earlysville, Albemarle county, Va.; Joh 
M. Dow, Esq. Washington City, D. C ; D 
Win. Mosher, Catonsviile, Baltimore count; 
Md.; Dr. William Kirkwood, Prince George 
county, Md.; Wm. H Herbert, Esq. Beltsvilli 
Prince Georjes county, Md.; Seth W. Wa 
field, Esq. Sheriff Howard District, Mri.; D 
Wm. J. Saddler, Saddlersville, Q.ueen Ann 
county, Md.; W. W. W. Bowie, Esq. Princ 
Georjres county, Md.; George E. Yeatmai 
Warrenton, Fauquier county, Va ; Gener; 
Henry S. Stiles, Cecil county, Md.; H. E. Bati 
man, Esq. Easton, Talbot county, Md.; Arlln 
M'Court, Baltimore; Dr. Robert Dorsey, ( 
Edward, Franklin, Baltimore county, Md 
John L Stavesberry, Treasurer of Baltimo; 
county, Baltimore; Peter Gowan, Esq. Laurd 
Howard county, Md.; Col. Horace Caproi 
Laurel, Md.; Carrville S. Stansbury, Esq. Ba 
timore county, Md., with hundreds of othf 
names, but the above is amply sufficient ft 
all practicable purposes. 'Ihe Messrs. Ba 
bours of Orange county, Va. have also use 
the Salts, with what effect the undersigne 
has never heard. 

Pamphlets will be furnished to all who fei 
interest enough to investigate; and who ai 
willing to believe that there may be progres 
in Agriculture, equal to other branches an 
enterprises of life. 

JOHN KETTLEWELL. 

Office at the Wholesale Drug Store of Obe 
& M'Conkey, corner of Lombard and Hanove 
streets. 

Factory, Federal Hill, Baltimore, where, fc 
personal investigation, I invite all persons th; 
take an interest in Agricultural pursuits, wh 
visit Baltimore, and to whom I will cheerfull 
explain my whole process. There is no seen 
in it. 

Orders addressed to DEANE & BROWF 
Richmond, Va. will be promptly attended t. 
for John Kettlewell. mar 3i 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



93 



;analysis of soius, &c. 

THE undersigned is prepared to execute 
the analyses of Soils, Guano, Marls, Plas- 
ter, &c. &c. at the Laboratory of the Virginia 
Military Institute. Packages may be for- j 
warded through. Webb, Bacon & Co. Rich- 
Snond, or Echols & Pryor, Lynchburg. 

Persons desiring further information will | 
please address I 

WILLIAM GILH\M, 
Prof. Chera. and Agriculture, V. M. I. 
Fb 1,1832. Lexington, Va- 

FRUIT AND ORNAMENTAL TREES, 

ASD SHRUBS. 

i'i THE Subscriber offers for sale a select as- 1 
J. sortment of Fruit and Ornamental Trees 
and Shrubs, a number of new Evergreens, and 
a good collection of Greenhouse Plants, espe- 
cially of Ca:uellias, Roses. Geraniums; also, 
Dahlia Roots, Pceonias, with Bulbous Roots. I 
Garden and Flower Seeds, &c. 

All orders thankfully received and promptly 
attended to. Prices moderate. 

The subscriber is commencing a Nursery 
for the growth of Fruit and Ornamental Trees 
and Shrubs, in which the greatest care will be 
taken to grow ooly those fruits that are adapted ' 
to the climate; and all will be worked on 
seedling stocks. The subscriber has secured i 
the services of an experienced Nurseryman,' 
and thinks he will be aMe to supply those who ! 
may favor him with orders with good Plauts j 
at reasonable prices. 

Catalogues will be published soon and can \ 
lie had on application. 

ia3t JOSEPH RENNIE. 

J I 

COMMISSION HOUSE IN RICHMOND 
fctTTITH the view of giving our friends and 
i VV all Others who may favor us with th:ir 
patronage, the advantages of both rnaikets, we 
have established in the City of Richmond a 
house for transacting a General Commission 
Business, to be conducted by Tazewell S. 
Morton, under the style of Tazewell S. Mor- 
ton & Co. 

The business of Watkins & Morton, will i 
be conducted in Petersburg; by Samuel V. j 
Watkins, assisted by John A. Morton, as! 
heretofore. 

It is our purpose to adhere strictly to the 
Commission Business; giving our undivided 
attention lo the sale of the staple products of 
the conn try, viz: Tobacco, Wheat, Corn, Flour, 
Cot'on, &c. 

We return our thanks for the liberal patron- 
age that has been bestowed on our concern in 
Petersburg, and to the dealers in produce and 
merchandise in that city we feel under many 
obligations for the generous liberality and 
punctuality we have at all times met with in 
our transactions with them. 

TAZEWELL S. MORTON & CO. 

Richmond, Va. 
WATKINS & MORTON, 
ja 3t Petersburg, Va. 



=5 




NEW STYLE MEDALLION DA- 
GUERREOTYPES IN COLORS. 

This splendid improve- 
^L-.^-gffijjfiHL merit must be seen to be 
appreciated. Ourlriends 
are invited to call at the 
original Virginia Skv- 
Light Daguerrean Gal- 
lery, where may be found 
all the latest improve 
ments. consisting of the 

CELEROTYPE, 
by which infant children 
may be taken in one se- 
cond; 

TALBOTYPE, 
or Daguerreotype on Pa- 
per, and 

HYALOTYPE, 
or Daguerreotypes on Glass, which, with every 
oiher improvement, may now be obtained at 
the Gallery, No. 139 Main street, above Go- 
vernor. 

N. B.— Their NORTHERN COMBINA- 
TION SKY LIGHT is now open in full op- 
eration— it is the largest in the State. 

WM. A. PRATT & CO. Proprietors. 
MEDALLION DAGUEREOTYPES IN 
COLORS.— We have inspected the a! ove 
style of Daguereotypes, lately and so success- 
fully introduced here by Messrs. Pratt & Co 
132 Main street. By this process, a relief al- 
most magical, and a variety highly pleasing, 
is obtained. In some cases, the picture so 
closely resembles an enamelled miniature, in 
its ivory tone, as to deceive even an arti.-te; 
in others from the midst of a dark back ground, 
appears the "human face divine,"- in all the 
vividness of life; then, by still another process, 
the picture appears entirely upon a biilliant 
white ground, surrounded by wreaths of flow 
ers. But, we feel our inability to do full jus- 
tice to these beautiful medallion Daguereo- 
types, and must, therefore, request the curious 
in such matters, to call and judge for them- 
selves. Messrs. Pratt & Co. claim to be the 
first to introduce the sky-light system into the 
State, and appear to be constantly inventing 
something for the improvement of the art. Re- 
pair to their gallery and "secure the shadow 
ere the substance fades."— Richmond Times. 



BOOKS. PIANOS, MUSIC, &c. 

NASH& WOODEIOUSE, Wholesale and 
Retail Dealers in Be ks, Piano Fortes, 
Stationery, Music, &c. 139, Main St. Rich- 
mond, Virginia. 

Constantly on hand, a full supply of stand- 
ard Agricultural Works. 
oct— tf 

OSAGE ORANGE PLANTS FOR 
HEDGES — A few thousand raised by 
myself, for sale. 

WM. H. RICHARDSON. 
Richmond, Jan. 1, 1858.— 3t. 



Si 

to 

y 



05 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



CONTESTS OF NUMBER III. 



Worn Out Lands in Virginia 

Experiments in the Application of Plaster 
to Manure 

Guano 



PAGE 

..05 



GREAT REDUCTION IN PRICES OF 
HATS AND BOOTS. 

J. H. ANTHONY'S FASHIONABLE HAT 
STOKE, Columbian Hotel Comer. 

THE cheapest place in the city of Rich- 
mond to buy Hats and Boots is at ibstjj 
above store, where every article sold may be 
By this means he 



~T U ■ '« n~L' (Mi relied on as represented. By this means he 

Curing Bacon Hams ... ....... . . . , . . .W |ngd ^ of cusl and his cus . 

A Subscriber's Appeal in Beh.lt oi the . » ^ Be)ow js & ^ q{ hjs 

P Linlpr _ U.M ,., .,,, . ■ ., . _ ii i .-_ . 



Planter 



thiTmVhVr 7(1 prices, which will be strictly adhered to: 
Colrcin Horses, and the I Besl quality moleskin, - - S3 50 

Second quality " . . 3 00 

Best quality silk, - - - 2 50 
Secoi.d " " 2 00 

Fine Calfskin Sewed Boots only three dol 



Application of Tobacco Stalks to Tobacco 

Beds, &c ......71 

Estimated Costs of Free and Slave Labor. , 1 
Pal| of Rain tor the Years 1850 and 1851.. 73 
Lime-Buruing and its Application to Land 

in Pennsylvania 04 

On the Use of Guano and its Permanency. 77 

Hollow H om '■*• '"Ei 

Tomato Plants...*. »0I™ 

Viigmia State Agriculmral Convention 
Clover Does Not Exhaust. Land 



ars and fifty cents. 
Also, Caps, Shoes and Umbrellas. 
J. H.Anthony has made an arrangement 
.. ,th one of the best makers in the city of 
81 1 Philadelphia, to supply him with a handsome 



8-2| and substantial Calfskin Sewed Boot, which 

" sell at the unprecedented low price of 

dollars and fifty cents. The attention of 

ntlemen is respectfully solicited, as they are 

86-1 the best and cheapest Boots that have ever 

been offered for sale in this city, He intends 



.80 



Payments to the Southern Planter. 



FEMALE SEMINARY. 



Wheat-Reapers— Saundors' Winnower . . .82; 'fie win 

Disease of Sheep " • *??j *™* 

To Correspondents 

The January Number ■ 

v'i^ntf State^gS^Sciety- \ \ \ \ \ M I to keep but the one kind, and sell them* one 
,,.-'.•„ 89 price- ^ e l y 
Ploughing _• 2 j <_ 

: r^HE RICHMOND AND PETERSBURG 
JL RAIL ROAD COMPANY respectfully 
inform farmers living on the Roanoke River 
and on the line of the Raleigh and Gaston 

tobacco 
Pe- 
tersburg with promptness and despatch, run 
ning daily trains of eight wheel covered cars, 
sacuripg tobacco and goods from damase: 
Tobacco consigned to the care of J. Lynch, 
Rail Road Agent, Petersburg, will be for- 
warded, free of commissions, to Richmond. 
Goods purchased in Richmond and consigned 
to the Rail Road Agent at Gaston will be for- 
warded up the river without charge for for- 
warding. THOS. DODAMEAD, 

June 21, 1851— tf 



PIEDMONT 

THE subscriber will open a Female School j ^"jX^ that tbey^are transporting tobf 
at his house, near Gordonsville, on the an ^ other produce between Richmond and. 

15th of January. He has already engaged a 
teacher of unquestionable qualifications. His 
terms per session of 10 months will be 6120, 
for board and tuition in all the English branches, 
and in the French language. An additional 



fee of $30 will be ctiarsed for music. 

(ie _3t* * F J AS. W. GOSS. 



OSAGE ORANGE SEED, 

SAVED with great care, and received direct 
from the region where it is grown, of re- 
liable quality. For sale by 

L. S. HOYT, 
de— 4t 55, Water st. New York. 



Sup't R. & P. R. R. 



AGENCY FOR THE PURCHASE AND 
SALE OF IMPROVED STOCK. 

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

1ST. B.— All letters, post-paid, will be prompt- 
Jy attended to. ap— tt 



VIRGINIA AXES. 

THE undersigned, in connexion with their 
Rolling Mill, have erected an extensive 
Manufactory of Axes, Hatchets, and Tools 
generally, which they warrant equal lo any 
manufactured, and offer at Northern prices. 
They solicit the patronage of the agricultural 
community. 

R.Archer, •, R. ARCHER & CO. 
A. D. Townes, f 
R. S. Archer, I 
C. Dimmock. J oct— ly 



BOOK AND JOB PRINTING executed 
at this Office with neatness and dispatch. 
Office South Twelfth Street.