THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 

Beboteo to Agriculture, pjortfculture, auH the ^ouseliolti Arts. 



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


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


FRANK: G. RUFFIN, Editor. 


P. D. BERNARD, Proprietor. 


Vol. XIII. RICHMOND, 


OCTOBER, 1853. No. 10. 

• 



For the Southern Planter. 

GUANO. 

Mr. Editor, — The Executive Committee of 
the Virginia Stale Agricultural Society at its 
late meeting, I think, appointed a sub-com- 
rnittee to wait upon the Presidentof the United 
States for the purpose of bringing about nego- 
tiations with the Peruvian government, to the 
end, that guano might be introduced into this 
country on more favorable terms to the farmer, 
than at present. The movement is a laudable 
one, but from my recollection of the terms of 
the resolution, if the committee feel itself con- 
fined within the strict letter of its instructions, 
its labors will prove of no avail. It is well 
known that the Peruvian government is under 
obligations (of the precise nature of which I 
am not informed) to the British government, 
by which the revenue derived from the expor- 
tation of guano is pledged for the protection 
of British subjects who are creditors of Peru; 
and if this debt has not been discharged it will 
prove an obstacle in the way of successful 
negotiation. This, if the Peruvian govern- 
ment were sincere/'when recently approached 
upon the subject, appears to be the root of the 
evil. Should the debt not be a much larger 
one than 1 have any idea it is, I propose to 
get rid of this evil by letting the United States 
apply the surplus revenue which is so rapidly 
accumulating in the treasury, and will be for 
years lying idle there, to the extinguishment 
of these debts, by lending the amount of the 
debt to the Peruvian government and assum- 
ing the attitude of principal creditor. I am 
of that school which has endeavored to con- 
fine the General Government within the limits 
of its delegated powers, and can see no con- 
stitutional objection to such a measure, but if 
others more far-seeing, view the subject dif- 
ferently, there are enough enterprjsing citizens 
in the country who would willingly advance 
the money and relieve Peru from the thral- 
dom of British cupidity. If this, or some- 
thing like it, cannot be accomplished by nego- 
tiation, or if it could, I would farther propose 
that efforts be made to allow free competition 
in bringing guano to the United States. It is 
due to oar commercial marine that this should 
be done. I understand that now no vessel is al- 
lowed to pur chase guano or to load at the island, 
unless chartered by the Peruvian government. 
Vol. XIII.— 10. 



It would not be unreasonable to ask of that 
government to fix upon a uniform rate of 
charges at the islands and permit vessels from 
all parts of the world to load and sell the 
guano in what market, and at what price, they 
thought proper. The price would then, like 
the price of every other article of commerce, 
be regulated by its value, and by the supply 
and demand. Now it is a complete monopoly ; 
and it appears to me we are allowing the Pe- 
ruvian government exclusive privileges incon- 
sistent with the spirit of our institutions, and 
at war with the rights-and interests of our own 
citizens; for if Peru has the power to establish 
an agency in the United States which has 
alone the privilege of selling guano, England 
has the same right to establish an agency with 
the sole power to sell her cloths, and France 
the right to establish one exclusively for the 
sale of her silks, &c. There is this difference, 
it is true, in the one case the government ex- 
ercises exclusive ownership while in the other 
the subjects of government are the owners. 
But I do not think the merits of the proposi- 
tion are materially altered by the changed re- 
lation, for governments might assume the pro- 
prietorship of every article of commerce and 
produce monopolies of every known commo- 
dity throughout the world. The mines of Ca- 
lifornia belong to the Uniled States, but it is 
not pretended that this government would 
'have the right to establish an assay office in 
London under the control of an agent who 
should alone vend the article of gold. If the 
right exists it would be impolitic to exercise 
it; and I am utterly amazed, that in the case 
of Peru it has been so long tolerated by the 
government of the United States. The only 
explanation which can be given to it is, that 
the rights of that portion of the community 
have been chiefly invaded who submit to every 
burden and every imposition without murmur, 
and who are so wrapped up in their high and 
noble calling that they would rather suffer 
wrongs, enjoying the peace of their own fire- 
sides, than gain their rights by agitation. No 
other class of men would submit to such im- 
positions, and I trust that our agricultural so- 
cieties, which are multiplying in all parts of 
the country will bring about such combina- 
tions of interests as to make the sting of the 
crushed worm felt in more ways than one. 

I have been led to these remarks by the evils 
which the agricultural community have uf- 



290 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



fered, and ihe wrongs they have borne under 
the agency of the Peruvian government in 
disposing of the single article of guano. That 
government it is understood has given its agent 
orders to sell this article to none but farmers. 
The agent professes to obey the instructions of 
its master, but it is notorious that farmers can- 
not get it while merchants can; and things 
have been so managed that speculators have 
got the entire control of the market, and car- 
ried the price up to the enormous and unrea- 
sonable sum of $G0 per ton of 2000 lbs. when 
the government price to the farmer is only $46 
per ton of 2240 lbs.— a difference of nearly 
fifty per cent., or $20 in the short ton. How 
is this, if the agent has acted "in good faith"? 
The inference may be naturally drawn that 
either the principal agent is grossly ignorant 
of his duties or that he and his subs have been 
false to their trust, or, lastly, but not probably, 
that these tricks are done under the connivance 
of the Peruvian government. Whether this 
inference be just or not, I will not pretend to 
»ay, but I speak that I know when I assert 
that farmers have been rudely turned away 
-without guano by the principal agent in Balti- 
more, who have since employed and paid mer- 
chants a commission to buy it for them. I, 
moreover, know the fact that at least three 
cargoes of guano nave been ordered to the 
;>ub-agents in Alexandria and Washington, 
and yet the farmers on the Potomac and Rap- 



the agents and speculators, supposing that the 
excess over the government price is divided 
between them. 1 have heard of such things; 
but I do not vouch for their truth, because I 
know nothing about it. Yet there is something 
mysterious in the attitude of the question; all 
seevis well' arranged to fleece the farmer; and 
the public will indulge in its own conclusions 
until the matter is cleared up. If the Peruvian 
agent has not connived with these parties, he 
can easily bytig them to a correct account of 
their respective agencies, by requiring that the 
names of parties to whom guano has been sold 
and the quantity to each shall be furnished him, 
and then for him to have them published in 
the agricultural papers of Virginia and Ma- 
ryland, with a request that they will respond 
to their names; and in this way, it will be 
found whether they are "men in buckram." 

\ throw out these crude and ill digested sug- 
gestions in the hope, that if "the Executive 
Committee" should conclude to act indepen- 
dently of other associations, that its members 
will take time to reflect upon the importance 
of the subject, and suggest to the President, or 
rather to the Secretary of State, something 
positive and practicable. But, I would re- 
spectfully suggest to the committee to stay its 
action until the meeting of the two State So- 
cieties of Virginia and Maryland, (which are 
the principal consumers of guano,) when more 
concert of action can be had, by appointing 



pahannock rivers have been unable to obtain j committees from each, to consult together and 
a supply. Messrs. Fowle of Alexandria, re- j devise some means by which the price can be 
<:eived a very large cargo, all of which was j made stable and reasonable, and at the same 
engaged before Us arrival, and were subsequently ' time insure an abundant supply, ltisevident 
to have another smaller one of eight hundred under the present agency this cannot be done, 
or a thousand tons, which was also engaged. ; I shall attend the meeting in Baltimore, and if 
Mr. Fitzhugh Coyle of Washington, certainly | no one else does, I will offer a resolution to 
received one and, perhaps, two large cargoes, bring about such a result. 



If nothing better can be accomplished, let 
ourgovernment appeal to the Peruvian govern- 
ment to establish direct agencies in all the 
principal towns, who shall regulate the supply, 
and take the business out of the hands of the 



which were also engaged before their arrival. 
Now I do not charge either of these gentlemen 
withdisobeyingthe^WwAcrforders of the Peru- 
vian agent to sell to none but farmers, and al 
fixed rates; but yet appearances are against! 

some one; for out of this large quantity which j present bungling or speculating concern, 
has arrived at a single port I cannot count up j If we can not do this, let the two Societies 
fifty tons in the hands of farmers on the rivers solemnly resolve not to purchase guano at all, 
mentioned. (It is true that some was distri- 1 and in no instance, from any but first hands if 
buted among a favored few.) Whereas, it is j they do. 

a notorious tact that speculators in Alexandria On a former occasion, the Peruvian Minis- 
have it in abundance at sixty dollars per ton ter, accredited to government for grave pur- 
of 2,000 pounds. If necessary, I will mention poses, made a speculative job of the transac- 
ihe name of one— a Mr. Masters. Now, how j tion, and now its agent has so managed the 
■lid Mr. Masters get this guano, in the face of, trust confided to him, that he is either follow- 
the declaration by the Peruvian agent, that ing his minister's example, or has shown him- 



none but farmers were to have it, and that at 
forty-six dollars per ton of 2240 pounds? Will 
Messrs. Barreda & Brother be good enough to 
inform us 1 ? Speculators in other parts of the 
country have it also in any quantities at these 
enormous rates. It is for sale by them in 
Richmond and Fredericksburg, as well as 
Alexandria, I know, and no doubt in all the 
principal towns in the United States, where it 
is used. This state of things has been ac- 
counted for by suspecting a collusion between 



self totally incompetent to discharge the im- 
portant duties of his trust. It requires not only 
an honest man, but a courteous gentleman at 
such a post, and not one who appears to be 
ignorant of the civilities due to gentlemen. 

I am surprised to find that the American 
Farmer has shown a disposition to apologize 
for him, if, indeed, he does not justify him; 
but, I hope you will have the independence to 
make such comments upon his conduct as it 
deserves. It is with this view, that I have 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



291 



called your attention, and through you, that of 
the puolic to the subject, that it may be han- 
dled by abler hands than 

King George. 
September Wth, 1853. 



For the Southern Planter. 

LIME. 

Mr. Editor,— In sending my subscription for 
the Planter, though not in the habit of writing 
for the public, I have concluded to fend you 
my views in regard to liming. A waiter, untier 
the signature of G. F. H , says he was unwise 
enough to fallow for wheat twelve or fifteen 
acres old field, lisht gray soil, covered with 
broom straw, of which he applied one hundred 
bushels of lime upon two acres, and twenty- 
five bushels upon one. During the winter and 
early in spring there was a very marked differ- 
ence between the limed and unlimed portions 
to be seen at a glance a distance off; but as the 
season advanced, it grew fainter and finally 
vanished So at harvest there was no difference 
between the limed and unlimed— all sharing 
the same fate, failing to produce a remunerat- 
ing crop. May not this lie attributed to a bad 
season? Probably too dry, together with the 
roughness of the land, no doubt, filled with 
broom-sedge turf. I verily believe the reason 
farmers do not succeed any better than they 
do is that they do not pay that attention to the 
mode of application, quantity, &c, that they 
should do, and which is absolutely necessary 
to be successful. It has been said by men of 
science that twenty-five bushels of lime to the 
acre is an abundance for the first application, 
and inciease the quantity in proportion to the 
improvement ot the soil. I have not as yet 
used lime to any great extent, nor am I pre- 
pared to go into an analysis of its chemical 
effects upon this, that or the other soil; but 
am satisfied from the little experience I have 
had that it is a permanent improver upon 
worn-out land when there are no traces pf it to 
be (bond in the soil. In the year 1850 I limed 
upon wheat stubble, in the month of August, 
a piece of land, at the rate of fifty bushels of 
shell lime to the acre. In August, '51, I fal- 
lowed the field for wheat, u^ed Peruvian guano 
at the rate of one hundred and fifty pounds, 
putting ihe same quantity upon the limed por- 
tion of mv field that I did upon the unlimed, 
and could see no difference. Indeed, I some- 
times thought if there was a difference at all 
it was in favor of the unlimed land. The 
growth of wheat was a very fine one, though 
Ihe yield was not so good. I, like many others, 
no doobr, being disappointed in the quick and 
ready effects of it, was ready to conclude that 
it was not a manure worth applying to a bar- 
ren and worn-out soil; but lo my surprise it 
ha< showed itself upon my present crop of 
corn, which follows the crop of wheat of '52; 
10 k 



the corn in growth is greatly superior to the 
unlimed land just alongside— the ears larger, 
the texture of the soil completely changed, 
and its color also, from a grey to a dark brown. 
I have used upon another field, last year fal- 
lowed for wheat, lime in connexion with farm- 
pen litter, rotted wheat-straw, &c, about forty 
bushels to the acre; seeded the wheat about 
the fifteenth of October; ploughing the whole 
in together, and dragged a bush so as not to 
interrupt the litter, but level the ground. The 
wheat came up badly, owing lo defective seeds; 
the crop was apparently no better than it would 
have been without ihe lime. Since, however, 
I have harvested my wheat, the growth of 
grass and weeds is a very good one, evidently 
showing its action. Although I failed mea- 
surably in wheat, I look forward to the day 
when I shall behold its benign influence upon 
the corn crop; and 1 have no doubt if it is ju- 
diciously used in connexion with barn-yard 
and stable manures, its good effects will be 
more readily seen, and will be as lasting as 
mother earth, itself, the great source and foun- 
tain of man's sustenance. 

J. M. H. 
Westmoreland county, Va. 



For the Southern Planter. 

JOINT WORM. 

Mr. Editor, — There has been much said, 
both publicly and privately upon the subject 
of the joint worm — their origin— iheir place 
of residence, or place of wintering — their time 
of continuance in any one seciion of the coun- 
try — the way to get rid of them — ihe best ways 
and means to use to prevent their destroying 
the wheat crop, &c. &c. It does seem to me, 
sir, that there is nothing which exists before 
the eyes of the community that the majority 
appear to have so little knowledge of as the 
joint worm. I call them "joint worm" be- 
cause others do. I believe them to be a spring 
fly, which raises in the shuck of the blades, 
and rarely, if ever, go into Ihe joint. In 1848 
was the first of my discovering the joint worm. 
I was shown in what part of the wheat they 
were located. I determined to examine them, 
to know what they were, and when they come 
out of the cell in which I found them, &c. 
Consequently, at harvest I collected a parcel 
of straw in which they were, and put it into 
a glass jar and sat it over my porch door un- 
stopped, and so let it remain until the 1st of May 
(18-19) following, when I found by examining 
some wheat stubble on my field that they would 
soon be out. I then placed thin cloth over the 
jar to prevent their escape. About the 15th of 
May, that year, they came out of the straw, a 
small black-winged fly, capable of transport- 
ing themselves where Ihey choose by the use 
of their wings. At that lime our ctops were only 
partially destroyed by them, mostly around the 



292 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



borders of ihe fields. Those farmers amongst 
us who sowed the early purple straw wheal 
were those only who made anything like a full 
crop; and the consequence was that wheat 
sold above the common market price for seed, 
and the demand for it could not be supplied, 
the people believing it "joint worm" proof. 
The next two years thereafter, ihat kind of 
wheat was worse injured by those worms (with 
ns) than any other, and really it was amusing 
to hear the various reasonings given for it — 
some saying it was the bard frosts, some the 
fly, some the joint worm, &c. &c. At that date 
the quantity of flies or joint worms was not 
sufficient to destroy the whole crop of wheal, 
as they now are. 1 have endeavored to watch 
them closely from 1848 to the present time, 
and find they leave ihe straw or stubble from 
the 1st to thp 15ih of May, as ihe spring sea- 
son may be early or laie. In the two seasons 
alluded to above, in which the early wheat 
was most injured, the seasons were forward, 
(the dogwoods bloomed early.) consequently, 
when they came forth the early wheat was 
right for thfir use, having kept pace with ihe 
season, whilst only the forwardest of other 
kinds was ready for them, and the later portion 
thereby was the less injured. The spring of 
1849 was later, and the early purple straw was 
too far advanced for them, their numbers not 
being sufficient then to destroy all the crop. 
Of their origin 1 know nothing. They are an 
insect and have their beginning as all others 
did. I have no reason to believe that they 
winter any where but in ihe wheat and rye 
straw and stubble, where they are at first de- 
posited; ami I also have no reason to believe 
they inhabit any thing else. It is reported 
amongst us that Col. James Barbour's crop of 
oats (being forward) is destroyed by (he joint 
worm. If so, will Col Barbour be so kind as 
to infirm your readers through the Southern 
Planter, and give them all ihe particulars in 
the case. I have seen as fine oats this spring 
growing amongst wheat, which was entirely 
destroyed, upon oat (allow for wheat, as I ever 
saw grow, and ihey lived through ihe winter, 
and consequently were as forward as any 
spring sown oats could have been. I have 
no reason to justify the belief that Ihey will 
not continue as long as we continue to sow 
wheat and raise them, unless someihing in ihe 
direction of Providence destroys I hem. The 
only way to destroy or get rid of them which 
I can conceive is, for nil f irmers to quit sow- 
ing wheal for two or three years, which I think, 
in all probability, will rid us of them. The 
opinion ihat the joint worm raises in the woods, 
raises in clover, raises in timothy ami in weeds, 
&c. &c Ins mnnv supporters, but all such opi 
nions conflict with mine, consequently I would 
be pleased to read the experienced opinion of 
any farmer upon the subject in the Southern 
Planter. 

I seriously fear Ihat ihe use of guano upon 
the wheal crop is lo prove to be a curse upon 
our community, because we have farmers 



enough amongst us, who, through the use of 
it, think iheir interest is sufficiently promoted 
to justify their continued use of it, and they 
will thereby raise joint worm enough to se- 
riously injure their crops and totally destroy all 
their neighbors' crops. 



Albemarle, July, 1853. 



Ed. J. Thompson. 



WHAT IS CHEMISTRY DOING FOR 
AGRICULTURE'? 

From a very able review of a number of 
valuable agricultural publications, we con- 
dense the following, showing, in a degree, 
what science has done for the farmer. A can- 
did perusal of these extracts will serve per- 
haps to convince some who are skeptics in re- 
sard to the value of science, and who look 
with favor upon practice only, that the subject 
of farming must be viewed from different 
stand points, in order to arrive at correct con- 
clusions: 

"Among the parts of the living animal, the 
muscles occupy an important place, not merely 
in bulk, but in reference also to the health and 
strength of the body. The muscles contain 
nitrogen; and, besides a Utile fat, are mainly 
composed of a substance to which, because of 
iis stringy or fibrous nature, chemists give the 
name of fibrin,. Now this fibrin is almost 
identical, in chemical character and composi- 
tion, with the white of eggs, (albumen,) the 
curd of milk, (casein,) with the gluten of 
wheat, and with certain similar substances 
which exist in beans, peas, barley, oats, pota- 
toes, turnips, cabbage, and, in fact, in almost 
every vegetable esculent, in greater or less 
proportion. All these substances contain 
nearly the same per centage of nitrogen, and 
are distinguished by the general name of pro- 
tein compounds. 

"It is now ascertained, that when vegetable 
food is introduced into ihe slomach, ihe gluten, 
albnmen, &c. which it contains, is dissolved 
and extracted from it, .conveyed from the sto- 
mach into the blood, and by, ihe circulating 
blood carried to those parts of ihe body in 
which, owing lo the natural waste, or to the 
demands of animal growth, the muscles re- 
quire to be renewed or enlarged. The power 
of a vegetable substance, therefore, lo increase 
or sustain the muscles of- an animal, depends 
materially on the q.iantrty of these protein 
compounds it contains — or on the quantity of 
nitrogen hv which that of the protein com- 
pounds is indicated and measured. It must 
heof importance, therefore, lo knov. how much 
of these compounds, or in other words, how 
much nitrogen different vegetahle productions 
usually contain — how far the usual pioporiion 
is subject to variation— and how far it is within 
ihe reach of human control. Such questions / 
have obviously an intimate relation to the 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



/ 
293 



actual money value of food in the rearing and 
nourishment of animals; and a few^illustra- 
tions will show how chemistry has recently 
occupied itself in solving them. 
• "It is the object of chemical research not 
merely to explain known facts, but to remove 
misapprehensions and correct erroneous opi- 
nions. The recent determinations of the pro- 
portion of nitrogen contained in wheat have 
served both these purposes. Thus it was 
asserted and believed, that the wheat of warm 
climates always contained more nitrogen, and 
consequently was more«iutritive and of higher 
money value, than the wheat of our more 
temperate countries. But later researches 
have corrected this hasty deduction, and have 
placed our home wheat in its proper position, 
economical and nutritive, as compared with 
the wheat of India, of Southern Australia, or 
of the Black Sea. 

"Again, the British miller usually requires 
a portion of foreign wheat to mingle with our 
native grain, both to make it grind moreeasily, 
and to satisfy the baker with a flour which will 
stand much water. The pastry-conk, and the 
macaroni maker, also demand of him a flour 
■which will make a peculiarly adhesive dough. 
These several qualities were supposed to be 
inherent only io wheat which abounded, in an 
uncommon degree, in gluten, and which was 
produced underespecially favorable conditions 
of soil and climate. Modern chemistry has 
the merit of gradually removing these misap- 
prehension', a'td of directing us to the true 
causes of all such differences. 

"So in regard to the superior amount of 
muscle-forming matter supposed to exist in 
wheat in comparison with other kinds of na- 
tive grain, such as the oat. Experience had 
Ions taught the Scotch that oats, such as they 
grow in their climafe, are a most nutritious 
food; but the habits of the more influential 
English, and the ridicule of a prejudiced lexi- 
cographer, were beginning, to make ihem 
ashamed of their national diet. Chemistry 
has here stepped in; and by her^nalysis of 
both, has proved not only that the oat is richer 
in muscle-forming matter than the grain of 
wheat, but that oat meal is, in all respects, a 
better form of nourishment than the finest 
wheaten flour. 

"But what is more, chemistry has brought 
ns acquainted with the value of parts of the 
grain formerly considered almost as waste. 
The husk or bran of wheat, for example, 
though given at limes to pigs, to miller's 
horses, and other cattle, was usually thought 
to pos.ess but little nutritive virtue in itself. 
Analysis, however, has shown it to be actually 
richer in muscular matter than the white inte- 
rior of the grain. Thus the cause of its an- 
swering so well as food for cattle in explained ; 
and it is shown that its use in bread (whole- 
meal bread) must be no less nutritive than 
economical. 

"The true value of other kinds of food is 
alio established by these inquiries.- Cabbage 



is a crop which, up to the present time, has* 
not been a general favorite in this country, 
either in the stall or for the table, except du- 
ring early spring or summer. In North Ger- 
many and Scandinavia, however, it appears to 
have been long esteemed; and various modes 
of storing it for winter use have been very 
generally practised. But the cabbage is one 
of the plants which has been chemically ex- 
amined, in consequence of the failure of the po- 
tato, with the view of introducing it into general 
use; and theresultof theexamination is both in- 
teresting and unexpected. When dried so as to 
bring it into a state in which it can be com- 
pared wilh our other kinds of food, (wheat, 
oats, beans, &c ,) it is found to be richer in 
muscular Trailer than any other crop we grow. 
Wheat contains only about twelve per cent., 
and beans twenty -five per cent.; but dried cab- 
bage contains from thirty to forty per cent, of 
the so-called protein compounds. According 
to our present views, therefbie, it is preemi- 
nently nourishing. Hence, if it can but be 
made generally agreeable to the palate, and 
easy of digestion, it is likely to prove the best 
and easiest cultivated substitute for the potato; 
and no doubt the Irish kolcannon (cabbage 
and potatoes beat together) derives part of its 
reputation from the great muscle-sustaining 
power of the cabbage — a property in which 
the potato is most deficient. 

"Further, it is of interest — of national im- 
portance, we may say — that an acre of ordi- 
nary land will, according to the above result, 
produce a greater weight of this special kind 
of nourishment in the form of cabbage than 
in the form of any other crop. Thus, twenty 
tons of cabbage, and good land will produce, 
in good hands, forty tons of drum-head cab- 
bage on an imperial acre — contain fifteen 
hundred pounds of muscular matter; while 
twenty-five bushels of beans contain only four 
hundred pounds. The preference which some 
farmers have long given to this crop, as food 
for their stock and their milch cows, is ac- 
counted for by these facts* while, of course, 
they powerfully recommend its more general 
cultivation as food for man. 

"We may add, while speaking of cabbage, 
that it is known to be so exhausting to many 
soils, that wheat will scarcely grow after an 
abundant crop of it. It springs up indeed, bui 
yields little straw, and early runs to a puny 
ear, containing little grain. But the same 
analysis which shows the value of the cab- 
bage crop, shows also what it takes from the 
soil; and explains therefore the kind of ex- 
haustion produced by it, by what special ap- 
plications this exhaustion is to be repaired, 
and how repaired at the least cost." 

We shall take occasion to make more selec- 
tions from this excellent article; at the same 
time we commend the ahove to the close at- 
tention of our readers, believing that every. 
one, whether farmer, mechanic, or merchant, 
may be benefited by a perusal of them. — Farm 
Journal, 



\ 

294 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



For the Southern Planter. 

BRINING AND LIMING IN PREVENTING 
SMUT IN WHEAT. 

Mr. Editor,— Confident of the efficacy of 
brining and liming in preventing smut in 
wheat, I made a communication last fell, 
through the Planter, setting forth this remedy, 
with all the assurance ten or fifteen years suc- 
cess could prompt. Another year's contradic- 
tory result renders some qualification just and 
proper. A high land field of white and red 
wheat, sown from early in October to the 10ih 
of November, was exempt from smut, so far 
as observed. A low ground field, sown in red 
May wheat between the 10th and 20th of No- 
vember, was very badly diseased, though the 
seed sown on boih high and low land were 
equally treated and prepared, by brining and 
liming. It will be remembered by many that 
on and from the 2'2d of November, rains 
drenched the earth till some time in January, 
during which time the late wheat came up. 
Now, though the seed of the smut infesting 
the grain may have been destroyed by the 
brine or lime, or the two conjointly, yet the 
seed of the parasite consiantly residing in the 
earth or plants, in a dormant state, may have 
been brought into life and action by wetness 
qf the season, or some latent circumstance 
favorable to its development on flat land. A 
neighbor has observed an exemption from the 
disease where the remedy was adopted, and its 
very injurious presence where it was omitted, 
the circumstances in other respects alike. An- 
other neighbor tells me he used the remedy, 
permitting the seed wheat lo remain in brine 
ten or twelve hours, with entire success, whilst 
on an adjoining farm, all remedy being omitted, 
the crop was grievously affected. 

I shall trv again. Instead of removing the 
seed from the brining lo ihe liming inb as soon 
as skimmed, as has been my practice, it will 
remain in brine eight or ten hours. This is a 
serious evil, and it is hoped the farmers will 
compare noies on the subject. Will some gen- 
Sleman give the result of the bluestone wash, 
so highly recommended last summer and fa 111 
Thomas Meaux. 

Amelia, Aug. 17, 1853. 



For the Southern Planter. 

GRAPE VINES. 

Mr E'H/or, — A correspondent from Buck- 
ingham inakps inquiry about grape vines. In 
the ah^encp of something better, please to sub- 
mit the following. All the most celebrated 
vine-growing countries known lo us are dry 
and warm naturally, or made so artificially. 
We find thev are so naturally in Palestine, 
Greece and her islands, Italv, Spain and 
iFrance. On the Rhine the celebrated wine 



localities are made dry by their 'steep acclivi- 
ties. So much so, indeed, are they, terracing 
is necessary to keep the soil together. Look- 
ing to our own country, New Mexico and Ca- 
lifornia stand forward, as probably affording 
as good, if not the best, wines on earth, wlen 
attention and skill shall be directed to the 
subject. The absorbent sands on Albemarle 
Sound yield the most perfect wine known to 
oureastern slope, from the native Sctippernong. 

Jn view of these facts three years ago I 
made the earth along, a row of some dozen 
thriftless vines as dry as possible by running 
ditches some eighteen inches or two feet deep 
around them, giving a bed of some eighteen, 
or twenty feet wide, and throwing the earth 
in a rounded form on the middle, so as to shed 
the rain as rapidly as practicable. Last year 
my vines, consisting of native, Isabella and 
Catawba, were perfect as our country ever 
yields. The last fall I added three Scupper- 
nong to my little stock, having made a conge- 
nial soil by hauling sand to the spot for this 
purpose, and forming it into beds. The vines 
at this time arc vigorous and loaded wilh fruit 
just beginning to turn. Even the Scuppernong 
are bearing, as pleasing as unexpectedly. — 
Ashes constitute the best manure, and a lofty 
scaffold the best frame. Trimming off super- 
fluous wood and traii:ingequallyover the frame 
in January, is the treatment. By this means 
the fruit hangs in the air and out of the reach 
of interlopers, except birds. How are they to 
be managed? 

Umxea. 

Amelia, Aug. 1G, 1853. 



For the Southern Planter. 

PUT NOT YOUR TRUST IN DAMASK 
ROSE BUSHES. 

Mr. Editor, — Having sworn upon the altar 
of Flora, perpetual hostility to the rose bug, I 
am always on the look out for any thing which 
seems to promise me aid in this war of exter- 
mination; and, therefore, I read with much 
interest the paragraph in your February num- 
ber, which has since taken the rounds of the 
papers, headed "A cure for rose bugs." 

Now, as I have always given the sweet, old 
fashioned damask rose a place in my flower 
beds, I was rather incredulous as to. its pro- 
tective qualities; but determined this summer 
to examine into the matter, and the result of 
my observation has been, that the dama.-k rose 
is rather less subject to the ravages of this in- 
sect than other roses of the same hue. The 
bug shows a decided preference for vM'e and 
b/vsh roses; and just in proportion as the color 
of the rose deepens, do you find it less liable 
f o attacks from this destructive foe. And I his 
f ct |by-the-way, is an additiona' rec mmetidr. 
tion (if any be needed,) to the valuable tribe 
of remontant roses. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



295 



After trying, without success, a variety of 
schemes to rid myself of these troublesome 
intruders, I read, about three years ago, that 
as they were not migratory in their habits, but 
remained, from year to year, in the same lo- 
cality, you could gradually kill them off, with- 
out fear of having their places supplied from 
abroad. I determined to make the effort, and 
since then, during the season, I go round, morn- 
ing and evening, and perseveringly shake off 
the bugs into a bucket of hot water. I think 
I can see each year their number diminishing; 
but still they are so numerous as to make me 
anxious for some quicker mode of warfare. 
So, Mr. Planter, if you or any of your friends 
will "show a more excellent way," it will be 
thankfully received by your numerous lady 
readers — who, by-the-way, would be still more 
numerous if your valuable pages would occa- 
sionally cease from "guano," "joint-worm," 
"tobacco," and "M'Cormick's reapers," and 
freshen themselves with a few flowers culled 
by the way. 



HOW TO KEEP HARNESS IN ORDER. 

The subject indicated by the above heading 
has been discussed of late in the Rural, by 
two or three correspondents, hut is of suffi- 
cient importance to bear further comment. 
With all due deference, we are constrained to 
express the opinion that few of those directly 
interested give proper attention to the dura- 
bility and appearance of harness, carriages, 
&c. We will, therefore, give the mode of 
oiling and washing harness, practised by one 
who is qualified to speak understanding^ upon 
the subject. 

Observing the good condition and fine ap- 
pearance of the harness of Aid. Baker, pro- 
prietor of the most extensive livery establish- 
ment in Rochester, we requested hirn to impart 
to as, for publication, the modus operandi by 
which so desirable a result was achieved. In 
compliance therewith, he stated the eou/se 
adopted as the best and most economical, after 
twenty years experience in a business which 
required considerable attention to tackling ap- 
paratus. His process of oiling and washing 
harness is substantially as follows: 

Takeneats foot oil, and ivy or patent black; 
the latter well pulverized, or to be made so 
before using. Mix thoroughly— adding the 
black until the oil is well colored, or quite 
black. In cool weather the oil should be 
warmed somewhat before mixing. With a 
sponge apply a light coat of the mixture— only 
what the leather will readily absorb, unless 
the harness is very dry, in which case a heavier 
coating may be necessary. After the harness 
is dry— which will be in from two hours to a 
half or a whole day, depending upon the wea- 
ther and previous condition of the leather- 
wash thoroughly with soap-suds. In making 
the suds, use gwid Castile soap and coldrain^wo> 
Ur. (Warm water should never be used on 



harness leather.) Apply the suds with a 
sponge. Rub off with buckskin. This will 
give your harness a nice, glossy surface, and 
the leather will retain a good color and con- 
tinue pliable for months. If it becomes soiled 
wiih mud 0/ sweat, an application of soap and 
water, as above directed, (without oiling,) will 
be sufficient to give it a bright appearance. 

Two applications of this oil and black mix- 
ture a year, (or once every six months,) will 
be sufficient to keep harness, as ordinarily 
used, in good order. It may be necessary for 
livery men and others who use harness con- 
stantly, to apply the oil oftener— but in most 
cases two oilings a year, and washing with 
suds when soiled, will keep a harness in good 
trim for sight and service. This process will 
pay a large dividend in extra service and dura- 
bility — to say nothing of improved appearance. 

Aid. B. assures us that the same, or a very 
similar application is just the thing for car- 
riage top? which are made of loplcalkcr.i The 
only difference in treatment is, that less oil 
should be used, or rather a light coating ap- 
plied — and it should be washed off before dry- 
ing in, top-leather being thin and much more 
penetrable than harness. Of course the mix- 
ture would not answer 'for enameled leather, 
of which some carriage tops are constructed. — 
Rural New Yorker. • 



From the Wool Grower and Stock Register. 
MERINO SHEEP FOR MUTTON. 

Mr. Editor, — In the Wool Grower for May, 
is the following statement, or advice: " If you 
grow sheep for muttqn, grow the large, coarse 
kind." Believing that the sentence contains 
a sentiment calculated to mislead men, and 
defeat their object, viz. the greatest income of 
cash from a given number of acres stocked 
with sheep, we deem it a duly to examine and 
expose its incorrectness. It is a generally con- 
ceded point, that animals of the same kind, 
or breed, being of the same age, flesh and 
temperament, will consume food in proportion 
to their live weight— i. e. an ox which weighs 
2000 lbs. will consume daily 25 per cent, or 
one-quarter more food than any ox of the same 
breed, aae, flesh and temperament, that weighs 
only 1600 lbs. A sheep that weighs 200 lbs. 
will consume just double* of one that weighs 
only 100 lbs.— the age, the breed, the flesh, &c. 
being alike in both. Sufficient experiments, 
both in England and America, have established 
this axiom beyond all reasonable doubt. No 
scholar will deny it. Hence, it follows that 
the estimate of profits should be reckoned by 
the acre, and not by the head.. Here is the tip- 
stone of multitudes— this is a common blunder. 
If an acre or ten acres turn off annually more 
profit when stocked with South Downs, than 
ten acres will, stocked with Spanish Merinos, 

" This is stating the case a lectle too strong. — Ed. 



296 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



then the South Downs are preferable; if the I 
Merinos yield the best returns in dollars and 
cents, then the palm of honor must be awarded j 
:o them. 

In this comparison we do not propose to 
estimate the Merinos at their value for stock 
purposes, but simply as the coarse sheep are 
reckoned — for their fleece and meat. This [ 
will be considered fair by the friends of the j 
coarse sheep. And first, we assert that we 
can raise as many pounds of Merino mutton 
from an acre, or given number of acres, stocked 
with the Merino wethers, as we can stocked ! 
with the coarse sheep; and, secondly, we af- 
firm that it is equally as good, and will fetch 
as much by the pound; and our third state- [ 
ment is, that the acre will yield one-third more 
wool, and every pound is wojrth one-third more 
than coarse — so that the fleeces are worth more I 
than double those from the'acre slocked with 
coarse sheep. I am aware that it is said by 
rradition, or self-interest, that the mutton of 
the Merino is comparatively valueless. We | 
have, on hearing these objections, been re- I 
minded of the South Sea Cannibal's repast on I 
the flesh of his dead enemy, or of the chap 
that managed to shed tears to sell at so much 
a pint. The truth is, the objection is without 
foundation— it is false and disreputable. Take j 
a leg of fat Merino, and one of fat South | 
Down mutton, have them equally well cooked, 
and not all the epicures in America can tell 
which is which if they be blindfolded before 
sitting at the table. 

We will here introduce testimony from se- 
veral highly intelligent gentlemen from differ- 
ent States corroborative of our position. Says 
Mr. Theodore N/ Davidson of Virginia: '• 1 
can raise as many pounds of Merino mutton 
to the acre as of any other breed, and I am 
sure, of decidedly better quality." Says H. 
W. Chapline, Esq. of Virginia : " The Merino 
highly recommends itself to all farmers." Af- 
ter enumerating several qualities in theirfavor 
over the coarse sheep, he adds: "Their mut- 
ton, when fat, is excellent, being tender, juicy 
and of fine flavor, when well cooked." Says 
Mr. Bidleman of New York, "I know, from 
experience, that the Merino makes better mut- 
ton than the coarse-grained English sheep." 
Says Nathan Dustan of Galena, Ohio, "A 
grade of sheep between coarse and fine, are 
better for mutton than the coarse English 
iheep." Says John Young of Belleville 1 , Ohio, 
speaking of Merino sheep, "It is allowed to 
be a good business to rear them for mutton." 
Says James DeMott of Seneca county, New 
York, " Butchers here declare that they prefer 
jheep of medium size— from 60 to 70 lbs. and 
at least one-half Merino— they show more fat 
when opened, and the flesh is better generally 
than the common large sheep, or English 
breeds." Says Humphrey Howland, Esq. of 
Cayuga county, New York, "The Merino 
wether is fully equal to South Downs for mut- 
ton/" Says Mr. Samuel Wood of Scottsville, 
Monroe county, New York, "The Merino 



sheep are the most profitable both for mutton 
and wool." [See Patent Office Reports for 
1850-51.] This array of evidence might be 
extended, ad infinitum. Thousands in the vi- 
cinity of Brighton market will give in similar 
testimony. 

Aside from all this, the following are a few 
among many other reasons which the Merino 
claims as characteristic of the race: 

1st. They are hardy and endure the severi- 
ties of the climate much better than the Eng- 
lish or native breeds of sheep, for the best of 
reasons, viz. they are much better protected, 
having 400,000 wool hairs to the square inch', 
while common American sheep have 62,000 
only. 2d. Their longevity is great: they pro- 
pagate, doing well, until tweve and fifteen 
years old. 3d. They never shed their wool 
when kept in uniform condition. 4th. They 
are very quiet, and seldom jump a fence four 
feet in height, and hence take on flesh much 
easier than the coarse sheep. 5th. They will 
bear crowding in large flocks and do well, 
while coarse sheep invariably decline when 
heavily stocked. 6th. They will do well on 
pasture so short and indifferent that on it a 
flock of coarse sheep would most certainly 
decline. 7th. They yield about one-third more 
wool, which is worth one-third more per pound, 
so their fleeces bring double those of common 
sheep. 8th. The wool hairs have 2400 serra- 
tions, or saw-teeth to the inch, being much more 
than that of common wool, and consequently 
its felting properties are unsurpassed. 9th. 
The luxurious yolk of the fleece furnish these 
sheep with an impervious eoat-of-mail, which 
resists rain and snow, and impurities that 
would injure the wool, and gives to the manu- 
factured fabric a softness and finish that adds 
'20 per cent, to its price when thrown upon the 
market. 

In short, we believe they combine more ex- 
cellencies than any other breed of sheep on 
the globe, and when their merits are fully and 
every where known, will take the place of all 
others. S. B. Rockwell. 

Cornwall, Vermont, June 1, 1853. 



POINTS OF DIFFERENT BREEDS OF 
CATTLE. 

We clip from an exchange the following 
account of the relative points of cattle from 
the Mark Lane Express. They were written 
in regard to the animals exhibited at the show 
in Gloucester, England: 

The Hereford cattle were represented in 
the first prize by a bull of Lord Berwick's, 
who is known as a winner for fat cattle. 
The present case showed an animal of very 
superior merit— probably the best beast in the 
show-yard. The width and depth of carcass, 
with the length of body, were very superior, 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



297 



and the animal showed an activity that does 
not always attend such heavy carcasses. No 
more supetior animal of the breed has ever 
come under our notice. The shoulder was 
uncommonly well covered*, which produces 
an uniformity of shape along the whole frame. 
It is a point of great importance, and the 
Hereford beasts excel in it. A sloping shoul- 
der joining the neck and ribs, admits the co- 
vering of flesh, and removes the heavy objec- 
tion of bare bones. The present animal was 
well provided in this point. The cows showed 
uncommonly well, especially in the first prize, 
■which has been seldom equalled. The fat- 
tened condition might be objected to in a lean 
animal. The other prizes of this breed were 
equally distinguished. 

The Hereford cattle were largely and richly 
exhibited at the show, the contiguity of their 
native county to the place of exhibition favored 
the convenience of transit, and it was exten- 
sively used. No superior animal to the bull 
of the foremost prize has ever been presented 
to our view, and we believe general opinion 
supported our judgment on that point. The 
palm of merit between the Hereford and Short- 
Horn cattle may never be settled; but the for- 
mer are superior in the fore-quarter, or in the 
shoulder and first ribs. The slanting shoulder 
slopes into the neck and ribs; and has not the 
bony projection of the Short-Horn, producing 
much bare bone, and a great weight of useless 
formations. This superiority cannot be, and, 
we believe, is not generally disputed; the 
Short-Horns show a heavy coarseness in the 
fore-quarter, with much leathery skin from 
the shoulder and neck. The very best breeders 
have not been able to banish this property from 
their herds, along with a lean girth joining the 
shoulder and first ribs. Eight out of ten Short- 
Horn bulls inherit this defect. On the oiher 
side, no animals of any kind exhibit such an 
ample development of the hind-quarter, — the 
deep and fleshy thigh, wide twist, and length 
of cut in the rump. This superiority advances 
to the forepart of the middle ribs, and there 
cea?es, and other animals take the lead. This 
superiority was never more conspicuous than 
in the Hereford first prize bull of this year. 

The Devon cattle excelled in two bulls, 
which well supported the reputation of the 
breeders. The first prize was the smaller 
beast, but probably unequalled even in the 
symmetry of the handsomest of all British 
cattle. The straight carcass from the shoulder 
to the rump, along the back and both sides, 
formed a point of preeminence not at all 
equalled in the show-yard, and probably never 
surpassed by animals of the Devon breed. 
No cattle in Britain exhibit the same square- 
ness of carcass as the Devon; especially along 
the sides, from the point of the shoulder to the 
extremity of the mid thigh. This breed, and 
the Hereford, lose the posterior width behind 
ok-boaes, which the Short-Horns main- 
tain, and even expand; but in the fore-quar- 
ters, in the covered shoulder, and fulness of 



girth, the Devon probably exceeds the Here- 
ford—at least the equality is fully supported. 
If the Devon were one quarter heavier, and 
the horn reduced in one-half the length, the 
appearance in worth might be improved, al- 
though not very materially advanced. As with 
the Suffolk horses, the uniformity of colormuch 
! recommends the Devon cattle; the character 
J throughout is equally uniform, and the symme- 
I try is unequalled by any cattle in Britain ; and 
the general and most entire character has 
| never been more fully upheld than by the two 
I bulls now mentioned. The protuberant but- 
\ tock of the Devon and Hereford beasts forms 
I a defect in comparison with the upright stand- 
! ing of the Short-Horn, confirming the former 
j observations on the respective merits of the 
different breeds. The cows and heifers of the 
Devon breed at this show supported the usual 
character — small in appearance, but capable 
of yielding a larger progeny than is indicated 
by the size of carcass. 



PROFESSOR MAPES. 

We publish below some strictures on Prof. 
Mapes, who has lately condescended to notice 
the article in the Planter in which G. Blight 
Browne and the Editor of this paper — the latter 
with assistance that Prqfessor Mapes little 
dreamed of— had taken the liberty of explod- 
ing an analysis of his, made by his pupil, it is 
true, but adopted as his, and acted upon pro- 
fessedly by him in a prescription for a sick soil. 
When we get leisure we shall reply to Prof. 
Mapes' article. As to his personalities we 
need only say now, that we suppose he acts 
on the principle of Dr. M'Jargon, the Chemist, 
in Moore's little farce of the Blue Stocking, 
who upon being reproached with his slovenli- 
ness replied, that "he had no objection to dirt 
for h\c knew what it was composed of." 

To the Editor of the Southern Planter: 

I perceive that the Southern Planter hat 
fallen under the censure of Professor Mapes 
for having copied Mr. Browne's essays on 
lime, originally written for, and published in 
the Farm Journal. 

The Southern Planter has dared to agree 
with the views of Mr. Browne and to disagree 
with thote of Mr. Mapes on a purely scientific 
matter. 

Mr. Browne, in bis essays, has strictly con- 
fined himself to such matters as are clearly 
and legitimately proper subjects for public 
discussion, and throughout has avoided the 
use of epithets, and has not introduced into 
his articles any expressions which would be 
out of place in a drawiDg room. . 



-93 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



The first article which appeared from the j 
pen of Mr. Browne, which in any way alluded 
to Mr. Mapes, is to be found in the Farm 
Journal at page 68, June, 1852. This article j 
calls in question' the virtues attributed to the i 
salt and lime mixture of Professor Mapes, and 
further says, that the chemical changes as laid 
down by Mr. Mapes cannot, and do not take 
' place. 

I am not aware that this article has ever 
been noticed, but on the contrary, the gentle- 
man has not ceased to reiterate his advice to 
the readers of his journal that such valuable 
results do take place. 

The promulgation of incorrect information 
on purely a scientific subject by the editor of a 
public journal, surely is fair subject for criti- 
cism, in another journal devoted to the same 
branch of knowledge. Mr. Mapes in his ani- j 
madversions of the Southern Planter (August, 
1853, page 121,) asserts that the objections 
urged by Mr. Browne have been fully answered 
by himself and others in the paper where they 
first appeared. I am not aware of any an- j 
swer of the Professor's appearing in the co- 
lamas of the Farm Journal. At page 3, April, 
1853, Pennsylvania Farm Journal, will be 
found a short article copied from the Working 
Farmer of the same month, and which is from 
the pen of Mr. Mapes. The Editor of the 
Pennsylvania Farm Journal, says to his read- 
ers on the subject of this reply by Mr. Mapes, 
"In discussions on such matters of great im- ; 
portance to the farmer, we see no advantage 
musing persona] and offensive epithets. There 
is no argument at least in them. We omit 
here some expressions of this character which 
we think uncalled for. All analyses, profess- 
ing to be of a scientific character, are cer- 
tainly open for critici.<m and examination." 
In the May number of the Pennsylvania Farm 
Journal at page 5-1, will be found a short arti- ! 
cle, by J. H. B. This article touches merely : 
upon Mr. Browne's views of the mechanical | 
effect of lime, and does not attempt to support 
the rationale of Mr. Mapes, but on the con- : 
trarv, puts forth a hypothesis of his (the au- ! 
thor's) own creation. The article in question 
bears upon its face the evidence of the au- 1 
ihor's want of erudition as a chemist. 

What the readers of the severnl journals 
want, and require at the hand of Mr. Mapes, ! 
is, that he should take up each of the objec- 
tions urged, and show by what authority he 
has stated that such chemical changes will I 
take place as he attributes to his salt and lime 
mixture, and why, if such is the case, such 
expensive process fs resorted to by the manu- 
lacturers of carbonate of soda. Next let him 
take up the three analyses selected by Mr. 
Browne, and show wherein the knowledge of 
the exact chemical proportions of the several 
soils therein mentioned worked any benefit to 
the parties interested. Let him inform us why, 
notwithstanding the wide difference between 
the soils manifested by the analyses, he re- 
commended substantially the same amend- 



ments in all these three cases. Let him tell 
us why he has recommended the>application 
of phosphoric acid to all of these soils, the 
two containing, we may say, none, and the 
other 10S9 lbs. per acre. Let him tell us how 
it comes to pass that the application of 19 lbs. 
of phosphoric acid per acre will manifest it- 
self to the farmer by the increased fertility, 
and what relation this acid so applied bears 
to the quantity already in the soil. Let him 
tell us what use it can be to the farmer, to 
know the exact quantity his land contains, 
provided he is to go on adding more in any 

event. Let him inform us why Mr 

Warren of Somerset county, New Jersey, is 
required to take 10-100 for the standard of or- 
ganic matter in his soil, when Mr of 

Monmouth is only required to take 5-100. Let 
him inform us why one of these soils is only 
to be treated by the standard of the 40th of 
one per cent, of phosphoric acid, and in the 
other the standard is to be 5-100. Let him in- 
form us why in the one case potash and soda 
are set down at 7-100 and in the other at only 
the 1-5 of one per cent. 

These analyses were not made, it is true, by 
Mr. Mapes, but this Mr. Bradley was his stu- 
dent and employed by him to make them, and 
he afterwards endorsed them by publishing 
them in his journal, together with his letters 
of advice founded on them. His readers would 
like to know how many years he would advise 

Mr Warren of Somerset county, New 

Jersey, to continue to purchase and apply the 
Improved Super-Phosphate of Lime. These, 
with other interesting matters, present them- 
selves to the minds of those seeking informa- 
tion, and I, for one, shall be happy to hear from 
him on the subject. 

As to any offensive expressions, such as 
"Billingsgate" and "Twaddle" they only fall 
back on the author of them. The use of such 
words is very unbecoming a public journalist, 
and is disrespectful to his readers. Agricul- 
tural journals should find their way into the 
hands of youths of both sexes, and badly se- 
lected language is very much out of place in 
them. As to Billing-gate, it is a low expres- 
sion, used only by vulgar English writers, and 
the word twaddle is no where to be found in 
any language; there is a low expression, taken 
from Wiseman, and I think to be found in no 
other author, but he writes it twiddle. It is no 
compliment to his readers to cater for their 
taste from such unrefined sources. 



THE SHEPHERD'S DOG. 

Well might a popular writer say, 
"Without the shepherd's dog, the moun- 
tainous land in England and Scotland 
would not be worth sixpence. It would 
require more hands lo manage a flock of 
sheep, gather them from the hills, force 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



299 



them into houses and folds, and drive them 
to market, than the profits of the whole 
would he capable of maintaining." And 
though this may be true as regards the 
wild and headstrong sheep of the Scottish 
mountains, it is also correct as applied to 
our own; and most of the difficulties of 
gathering and driving will vanish in ihe 
presence of a really good dog. The sheep 
seem to know as if by instinct, before they 
have been many minutes under the charge 
of such a dog that all their efforts to break 
away are fruitless, let the flock be ever so 
wild and numerous, or the field of operation 
be ever so rugged and unfavorable. 

It is surprising to observe what cunning 
a drove of pure Herdwicks will sometimes 
exhibit in their endeavors to baffle an ill- 
trai.ied dog. While the driving or gather- 
ing ground is favorable to the dog, all goes 
on well enough; but no sooner do the wily 
creatures discover a suitable opportunity, 
than perhaps one or two break off on one 
side, and, while the dog attempts to head 
them, others steal away in different direc- 
tions on the other side; while the dog at- 
tends to them the mischief increases, and 
nearly the whole flock will disperse, to the 
utter discomfiture and amazement of the 
dog; but if at this juncture the tactics of 
a clever dog are brought to bear on the 
flock, in an astonishingly short period the 
whole of them will be subdued and brought 
into order, and may be driven without diffi- 
culty so long as the master spirit is within 
call. 

Some dogs have the faculty of discover- 
ing sheep when buried to a considerable 
depth under the snow, as happens occa- 
sionally. A dog possessed of this quality 
is of immediate value equal to the amount 
of the sheep he releases or marks. A sin- 
gle dog has been known to point out un- 
erringly the locality of many scores of 
drifted sheep in a day, even when several 
of them were at a depth beyond the reach 
of a shepherd's snow-pole. In the great 
Martinmas snow storm of 1807 (by lar the 
heaviest fall within the present century,) 
the writer was personally engaged though 
very young, assisting to search Ibr and re- 
lease about four hundred sheep, being part 
of a flock of Herdwicks which had been 
turned out on the common from the fold 
late in the evening before the snow began 
to fall. The darkness prevented them from 
reaching their known heaf; and the 6torm 
g suddenly, and falling very heavily 
the p'»or animals were surprised at a dis- 
advantage, and nearly all were covered 



up in hollows, under wall, and other places 
where they had sought shelter. To add 
to their confusion the wind veered during 
the night, while ihe snow was falling, from 
south-east to north-west, and thus all 
chance of escape was cut off; for those the 
first part of the* storm had left uncovered 
were drifted under a still greater depth by 
the enormous masses of loose snow whirled 
about by the wind, and blown in exactly 
the opposite direction to that of the first 
fall. After a fearful night of tempest, and 
of useless foreboding on the part of the 
family, at day break next morning not a 
sheep of the flock turned out was to be 
seen, for every one was drifted over, and 
none could tell where a single sheep was 
to be found. All hands were put to work 
probing in the drifts with long poles, and 
here and there a few sheep were discovered 
after much laborious exertion and dug out. 
An untutored sheep dog, not quite a year 
old, was one of the party, with three or 
four older dogs of the same kind. The 
older dogs took little notice of what was 
going on, but the young one began to be 
very curious about the proceedings, and 
amid his gambols among the snow, would 
every now and then return to the working 
party to peep into and snuff about the holes 
they made with their poles. In a little time 
heseemed to takestill greater interest in the 
■ work, and went from hole to hole, examin- 
ing and smelling at them as the poles were 
j drawn out. He was purposely unnoticed, 
to see what the result would be, and to 
i avoid diverting his attention. He remain- 
ed looking intently into one of the holes 
I after the men had gone some distance; 
jand all at once a new light seemed to 
I break in upon him, and he began to scratch 
the snow with all his might. This was 
just what was desired: and when he was 
; seen to be in earnest, the men returned 
j and dug down through the drift for seven 
lor eight feet, encouraging the anxious 
' whelp, and deeper than their poles could 
reach, they found a cluster of five or six 
sheep huddled close together. When 
these were released, the dog barked and 
howled with delight, and no doubt the 
j owner and his assistants felt that the saga- 
cious animal was in a fair way to lighten 
their labors, as well as to save much pro- 
perty which was in imminent risk. From 
that moment the dog was the principal and 
by far the most valuable actor. For a 
! while he would insist on helping to scratch 
out the half suffocated sheep; but as he 
, got to understand the matter, he merely 



300 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



indicated by a few scratches the locality 
of the buried sheep, no matter how dee,> 
they were, and on he went to others, with 
all the importance of an old hand. 

The dog being so anxious, and the peril 
of delay so great, no cessation of labor 
was indulged in till evening, when , all 
were obliged to leave the exciting duty 
from sheer exhaustion and cold. The re- 
sult of this, the first day's labor, was the 
releasing of over two hundred sheep liv- 
mg, and likely to live, and about a score 
smothered. The following day, by the 
exertions of the same young dog, several 
more were dug out, some living, but many 
dead; and few indeed were passed over 
without being marked by the young crea- 
ture, whilst the older dogs stood listlessly 
by, though infinitely more accustomed to 
sheep, and trained to almost perfection in 
other duties. Day after day added to the 
numbers of both living and dead, till finally 
all were found; but the loss amounted in 
this lot, and on the rest of the farm, to 
nearly two hundred sheep. The last liv- 
ing sheep discovered was on a new year's 
day. It had taken shelter in a hollow 
under a whin, and had remained in the 
small space of a five feet cave from the 
18th of November, with nothing to eat but 
what it could nibble from the prickly bush; 
and when liberated on a bright frosty day, 
it appeared nearly or quite blind. 

The dog above mentioned exhibited 
another trait of intelligence and calcula- 
tion of a remarkable kind. His master 
was a constant church-goer, and the parish 
church was more than a mile distant. By 
some singular process, the animal arrived 
at a true knowledge of the day when his 
master attended church, and of the hour, 
and almost minute of his leaving again; 
and was as punctual in going to meet his 
master about two-thirds of the way. 

Another instance, among many, of the 
sagacity of a Cumberland sheep dog de- 
serves to be put on record. A plot of low 
and level ground near Muncaster Castle, 
called Hesiholm Marsh, is usually covered 
twice in the day by the tide, and sheep 
were constantly depastured on it, with a 
field on a higher level to retire to on the 
rising of the tide; but the stupid animals 
being fond of the salted grass, were some- 
times surprised and impounded by the 
tide, and then the dog's services were re- 
quisite in the rescue. In a little time, he 
learned to go down and clear the marsh of 
his own accord, as constantly as the tide 
flowed during daylight; and thus was the 



means of preventing all loss by the waters, 
so long as he was able to attend to his self- 
imposed duty. 

There may be little remarkable in dogs 
executing duties occurring daily and at the 
same hour. Many dogs have learned to 
bring the cows home at the regular milk- 
ing hour, without special directions, and 
one well known by the writer, performed 
this service with great punctually for many 
years, as well as hastening home from 
other work every day, to be present whilst 
an unru4y bull was let out to water. 

There is an old saying, and one not de- 
void of trulh, that 'the laziest shepherd 
invariably has the best dog;" but necessity 
is as powerful an agent in this case as in- 
dolence, for no shepherd can have better 
trained dogs than the one at Stockhow 
Hall, who has numbered four score years, 
and whose daily range few young men 
would willingly undertake. Another old 
man, a rheumatic cripple, almost unable 
to walk, and mounted on an ass from morn- 
ing till night, has ihe sole care of a large 
stock farm; and, with the aid of his two 
dogs, can ride into the flock in any part of 
the fields, and lift a sheep before him on 
the ass and ride away with it. — Journal of 
ihe lioyal Ag. So. of England. 



For the Southern Planter. 

ASHES AND GUANO. 

Mr. Editor,— As guano is so much used at 
this time, and withal, is so scarce and dear, 
any method by which it can be saved, or made 
to go over a larger portion of land, will be 
useful, I will, therefore, proceed to detail to 
you some of my experience in the use of that 
valuable manure in the last two years. Among 
the first who used it in this vicinity were two 
of my neighbors, as good, if not the best, far- 
mers among us— one of whom, finding his 
guano would not hold out to go over the land 
he wished to seed, mixed half and half leached 
ashes and guano, and applied the mixture to 
the balance of the field, and he informed me 
that a"t Christmas following he could distinctly 
see at two hundred yards distance where the 
ashes and guano commenced. The wheat was 
fully as good, if not belter, at harvest with. 
the ashes and guano as with 140 lbs. guano 
alone. The other gentleman mixed leached 
ashes with all the guano he used, and marie a 
fine crop upon verv poor land. Last fall I 
mixed my guano with leached ashes and ap- 
plied only 200 lbs. of the mixture per acre and 
my wheat was fully as good as any of my 
neighbors who used 200 lbs. guano alone per 
acre. In order to test the matter fairly 1 ap- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



301 



plied to one wheat land half bushel of guano | 
and ashes; to the next, half bushel of guano | 
alone; to the next, half bushel of guano and 
Ketilewell's Renovator, mixed. I could per- 
ceive no difference in the wheal until harvest, 
at which time the land with the ashes and 
guano was certainly the best — the wheat was 
some six in rhes taller than the adjoining lands. 
The chemists tell me the a.'hes will destroy 
the ammonia in the guano. I am no chemist, 
but from thisexperiment, accurately and fairly 
made this year, I am entirely sati>fied in my 
owa mind, that 100 lbs of guano well mixed 
with the same amount of leached ashes, which 
have been well protected from the weather, 
are fully equal to 200 lbs of guano alone. Il 
this be true, what an amount of money may 
be saved to the State of Virginia by carefully 
saving all our ashes. 

My plan is to have the ashes, little or much, 
removed from ihe fire places every day. If 
they are suffered to accumulate for a week or 
more, the yield is not half so great. I have a 
brick ash house in which they are deposited 
daily from the different fire places, where I hey 
remain under lock and key until wanted to 
make soap. After using enough for this pur- 
pose they-are put back into the house again 
until wheat seeding commences. 

Few persons have an idea of the amount of 
ashes which may be saved in a winter in a 
large family by using a little care and trouble 
in .removing them every day. We saved last 
winter from the dwelling house and kitchen 
alone four tons, which was mixed with an 
equal amount of guano and applied to wheat 
at the rate of 200 lbs. of the mixture per acre, 
by which operation I have about doubled my 
average crop, though my land is light and not 
well adapted to the wheat crop. 1 have aNo 
n^ed guana this summer on pea fallow, with 
fine effect thus far. 75 lbs. per acre, applied 
when the peas were sown, about the first of 
June, has produced as fine a crop of vines as 
I ever saw, and some of them on the poorest 
kind of light, stony broom straw hillsides. 

1 have made for several years pasta good 
portion of what may he called domestic guano, 
by keeping all the poultry houses regularly 
littered with straw. The goose pen is also 
littered in like manner, except ihe straw is put 
in until about a fool thick. Over this pen is 
the turkey pole. The houses and pens are 
cleaned om occasionally and a large amount 
of first rate manure secured with but little 
trouble. For this idea I am indebted, in part, 
to my friend, ihr> late highly respected and 
very intelligent Col. Thomas Roane of this 
coun'y. 

If I can induce any farmer to save all his 
ashes, and thereby double the value of his 
guano, I am sore 1 shall do him a great ser- 
vartienfariy as there is great doubt of 
getting a supply this fall, even at the last year's 
high prices. 

I nsed a ton of KettlewelPs Renovator last 
fall on wheat and some on corn this spring. 



Mixed with guano, half and half, I consider 
it about as good as ashes and guano. On 
corn, mixed in the same way, not much better 
ihan I should expect ol the guano alone (100 
lbs. per acre) Renovator alone, one barrel 
per acre, shows but very little on coin. 
Respectfully, 

Edward Hill. 
King William, Avg. 27, 1S53. 



BEST BREED OF MUTTON SHEEP. 

We call the attention of our readers to the 
very interesting communication of the Hon. 
William C. Rives on sheep, including his own 
letter and a letter and tabular statement of 
Mr. Druce. Mr. Rives' importation of the 
sheep in question is, we believe, the first that 
has been made into the United States, and we 
are glad that he will have the credit, as, we 
cannot doubt, Piedmont will have the advan- 
tage, of his public spirit. Those who cannot 
obtain these sheep may at all events study 
them as models, and from materials already at 
band in Orange, Albemarle and Nelson — which 
we deem the best mutton district in Virginia — 
may create a breed of precisely the same 
blood. As our fn'end, the Agricultural Editor 
of the Advocate, observes, Mr. Colston and 
Mr. Garth of Albemarle, have, the one the 
South Down, the other the New Oxfordshire, 
at least a very large infusion of the blood 
of the latter, and persons in want of a stock 
to start from need not send to the North after 
them. Besides Mr. Garth, Messrs. James 
Newman, John Willis and Garrett Scott of 
Orange, have flocks of sheep which we deem 
quite equal to Mr. Garth's, in the aggregate, 
and a few lliorouslibred Cotswolds or New Ox- 
fordshires, they having purchased, at a high 
price, last fall, of Col. Ware of Clarke, six of 
his very finest ewes in lamb by his best im- 
ported buck. 

The quality of these gentlemen's flocks can 
be seen at our Fair next fall, as they promised 
to biing twenty-five of their best to the show 
ground. 

Of South Downs, Mr. Dulaney of Loudoun 
county, has, probably, the best specimens in 
the United States, if we except Mr. Francis 
Rotch of Otsego, New York, who lalely, at a 
ram letting in England by Mr. Jonas Webb, 
"the Southdown man," gave ,$GGC(!) for the 
use of his best ram for or.e year! Mr. Dula- 



302 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



ney has imported his direct from England, ' 
without regard to expense, and with a sole I 
view to get the best sheep in the world. At ] 
present his supply of thoroughbreds is limited, I 
but his grade sheep are of very fine quality, ! 
and better, we suspect, than the average Iho- . 
roughbreds of the Korth. 
• 

Castle Hill, Aug. 20, 1853. 

Mij Dear SIt,— \ send you herewith, in com- ! 
pliance with your request, the very interesting 
and instructive table exhioiting the compara- 
tive profits of the different breeds of sheep in 
England, which one of the most intelligent 
and successful practical farmers of that coun- 
try, (Mr. Samuel Druce of Oxfordshire) had 
the kindness to communicate to me. I send 
you also the letter of Mr. Druce which ac- 
companied the table. Mr. Druce is a member 
of trie Council of the Royal Agricultural So- 
ciety of England, and that circumstance alone 
sufficiently attests the high estimation in which 
he is held by his brethren. 

In the letter which I addressed to yon in the 
month of October last from Paris in answer 
to your inquiries respecting the French Meri- 
nos and which you honored by publication in 
the "Planter," I mentioned that I should con- 
tinue to occupy myself with researches as to 
the kind of sheep which would probably prove 
most profitable to us in Virginia. My opinion 
then was, as it is now, that our aim in breed- 
ing sheep should be to produce both mutton 
and wool, and that the kind of sheep that 
■would give us the largest return for the two 
products united would be the best for us. 

Having, af.er much inquiry and seeking in- 
formation from the most competent sources, 
come to the conclusion that the Merino is not, 
:n any of its varieties, to be regarded as a 
mutton sheep, my attention was turced to the 
British breeds. I went over to England in the 
month of April last expressly for the purpose 
of making myself acquainted, by personal ob- 
servation, with the different breeds of that 
country. I visited many flocks, and called to 
see many practical farmers, whom I supposed 
to be the besf sources of information in the 
question with which I was occupied; and it 
would be ungrateful in me not to say that I 
found their hospitality and kindness equal to 
their sagacity and intelligence It was in the 
course of this excursion that I had desired to 
call on Mr. Druce, but being prevented from 
doing so by circumstances beyond my control, 
I wrote to him on my return to Paris, and the 
ietterand valuable document I send you were 
Lis obliging answer. 

That you may the better appreciate the 
bearings of this document, I ought to premise 
that for some years past the attention of the 
practical farmers of England has been ear- 
nestly turned to the creation of a new and 
distinct breed of sheep. The Leicesters, once : 



so celebrated and still patronized by the Royal 
Agricultural Society, but mainly as tops for 
crossing, are now almost universally rejected 
for mutton, on account of their excessive and 
disproportionate outride fat. For the same 
reason and for the imputed coarseness of its 
grain, the Cotswold mutton is but little in fa- 
vor. The Sussex or pure South Downs, highly 
es:eemed for their mutton, are deficient in 
weight both of carcass and fleece. The prac- 
tical desideratum, therefore, has been to create 
a new breed which should unite the quality of 
the South Down mutton and its finerfleece with 
a good measure of the superior weight both 
of fleece and carcass of the long-woolled sheep. 

This is not to be done by a first, or a second, 
or a third, or a fourth cross, as it is well known 
that there is always a tendency in the produce 
of such recent crosses to revert to the partien- 
lar character of one or the other of the origi- 
nal races. The establishment of a new breed, 
with the requisite fixity of type, is the work 
only of time and careful and judicious breed- 
ing. There is every reason to believe that 
this has been, at length, successfully accom- 
plished by the Oxfordshire farmers by a pro- 
gressive blending, long and systematically 
pursued, of the South Down and the Cotswold. » 
It is this new breed which appears as the fifth 
and last in Mr. Druce's fable. 

He has not, as you will perceive, drawn out 
in figures the results of the data given by him 
for estimating the profits of the different breeds. 
But the calculation is easily made from the 
data he has furnished. Taking the average 
value of the teg (first year's) fleece of each 
breed, with the weights and prices of the mut- 
ton, and supposing each flock to be ewes, of 
which the produce sent to market annually, at 
a year old and upwaids, is equal in number 
to the ewes from which they ate bred, (a safe 
and ordinary calculation in England,) the ag- 
gregate proceeds of the respective flocks will 
be found to stand as follows, to wit: 

£ s. d. 
Leicesters, - - - - 218 13 3 
Pure South Downs, - - 244 2 

Cotswolds, - - - - 248 6 8 
Hampshire Downs, - - 263 10 10 

Cross-bred or Oxfordshire Downs, 292 18 

A striking superiority is thus shown by the 
results of English experience in favor of the 
new breed of Oxfordshire Downs. Before the 
receipt of Mr. Druce's letter I had visited a 
flock of them (that of Mr. Gillett, South-Leigh, 
Oxfordshire,) which had taken a first prize at 
the Birmingham Show in December, 1853, and 
I at once made arrangements for the purchase 
of six of them, one buck and five ewes, Mr. 
Gillett giving me the pick of bis whole flock 
after reserving the first choice of a ram for 
his own use. Mr. Druce, w bo, as he says, has 
been engaged for near twenty years in forming 
a similar flock, obtained at the Birmingham 
Show the second prize. 

This new breed, which in its dark face and 
legs shows its close affinity to the Sussex 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



3CJ 



Downs, but with a larger carcass and heavier 
fleece, is considered by the best authorities in 
England to be the latest and most important 
advance in the sheep husbandry of that coun- 
try. You will observe that public attention is 
strongly drawn to it in the last number of the 
Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society; 
and 1 have a letter of very late date from Mr. 
Pusey, the present able and distinguished Pre- 
sident of that Society, in which he tells me 
that so convinced is he of its advantages that 
he is giving up his old stock of Hampshire 
Downs and collecting one, as rapidly as he 
can, of the new breed. My purchase has not 
yet arrived, but I trust it will do so in time to 
be shown to my brother farmers in our meeting 
of the 1st of November, which, I am happy 
to perceive, promises to be so creditable to the 
agriculture of the State. 

1 remain, my dear sir, -». 

With great respect, 

Very truly and faithfully yours, 
W. C. Rives. 

Frank: G. Ruffin, Esq. 

[ COPY. ] 

Eynsham, near Oxford, April 26, 1853. 

Dear Sir, — I regret you had not the oppor- 
tunity of paying me a visit when you were on 
your agricultural tour in England, because I 
could have given a much more comprehensive 
account of the relative values of flocks of 
sheep personally, and by seeing some cross- j 
bred ones of two kinds than I can by letter. 
I have, however, arranged a table to commu- 
nicate my information as lucidly as possible, < 
from which I apprehend that you will be able, 
with a r;mall amount of calculation, to arrive 
at the particular merits as to remuneration in I 
the sorts that you inquire about. 

I may add that the prices named in the 
table for "Cotswold" and shorter wools are 
nearer on a par this season than they have 
been for years, in consequence of the great 
demand there appears to be for coarse fabrics 
for the colonies. In a general way, the prices 
for Cotswold are from ten to fifteen percent, 
lotver than cross-breds. 

So satisfied arn I as to the greater return 
from the "cross-bred" sheep, that I have con- 
tinued the flock for nearly twenty years, and 
some of rny neighbors have done the same; 
and I see no difficulty in keeping up a good 
flock with only the common skill of sheep 
farming, and I maintain that the character, 
form and appearance can be obtained far bet- 
ter from a cross of long standing than by the 
fir-t cross. 

Although this information would have been 
more satisfactory to me if given personally, I 
trust it will throw the light on the subject that 
you are seeking. 

i subscribe myself, dear sir, 

Yours, most obediently, 

(Signed; Sam'l Druce. 

W. C. Rives, Esq., Paris. 



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304 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



From the Culturist and Gazette. 

CURE FOR SCRATCHES IN HORSES. 

Wash clean with warm castile soapsuds, 
then anoint with this mixture, well rubbed to- 
gether: — Equal quantities of fresh lard, gun- 
powder and spirits of turpentine. 

Faithful attention to the above will cure 



even "white stockings," although the horse 
be constantly worked through "mud time." 

The above recipe I have tried frequently, 
and have given it to others to try, and never 
have known a failure in curing even "hard 
cases." If any should have occasion to use 
it, let them furnish you the results for publi- 
cation. 

William Renne. 



COOPER'S LIME SPREADER, 




The above cut, borrowed, as is our descrip- 
tion of it, from our friends of the Pennsyl- 
vania Farm Journal, "represents the Lime 
Spreader, invented and patented by Lewis' 
Cooper of Coopersville, Lancaster county, Pa. 
and is represented as a most admirable imple- 
ment for the purpose for which it is intended. 
Although but recently patented, and but little 
efforts rrrade to introduce it to public notice, 
its merits have already won for it a high place 
in the estimation of a large number of intelli- 
gent and observant farmers, in our own and 
adjoining States. Some of the advantages 
enumerated in its behalf are" — 

1. It saves labor and time, and does its work 
with inimitable evenness. 

2. It is an entire machine in itself, to which 
a pair of horses, oxen or mules may be hitched, 
and a load carried, without waste, to the 
place where it is to be used, where it may 
be put in operation in hall' a minute, and 
will evenly distribute any desired quantity to 
an acre. 



3. It weighs no more than an ox-cart, and 
will carry as large a load. 

4. It feeds itself, crushes and thoroughly 
pulverizes all hard lumps, and even small lumps 
of core, while large lumps will not injure the 
machine, but having been cleaned of all lime 
that is on them, may be thrown out as refuse 
when the trough becomes empty. 

5. With it, one man and team can do at 
least as much work as four men and two teams 
without it, while the evenness with which the 
work is done can in no way be equalled. 

6. The machinery is simple and strong, not 
liable to get out of order, and very durable — 
the working parts being all of iron. 

The want of such a machine as this, has 
long been felt, as it is not only a labor-saving, 
but a lime-saving implement, "spreading the 
lime evenly as a snow-fall," thus securing re- 
gularity in every part of the field. Besides 
this, it can be regulated to spread almost any 
desired quantity to the acre. 

Mr. Cooper having made arrangements to 
manufacture more extensively than heretofore, 
he will, for the future, be able to supply all 
demands. Paschall Morris & Co., 380 Girard 
Row, Market Street, Philadelphia, are the 
Agents lor that city, and machines may be 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



305 



seen at their agricultural warehouse, any time 
after the first of July. 

"We have written to Messrs. P. Morris & 
Co. and they will send one of these machines 
to our order. We have also taken steps to 
have it thoroughly tried by one of our best 
practical liming farmers, and when we get 
the result will report it for our readers. The 
price of the machine is eighty dollars. — Ed. 
Southern Planter. 



POSTAGE ON THE PLANTER, 

When paid quarterly or yearly in advance. 
To any part of the United States 1| cents 
per quarter, or 6 cents per annum. 




THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



RICHMOND, OCTOBER, 1853. 

TERMS. 

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

0*No subscription received for a less time 
than one year. 

53r Subscriptions may begin with any No. 

13=- No paper will be discontinued, until all 
arrearages are paid, except at the option of 
the Publisher. 

§3r Office 6*n Twelfth, between Main and 
Cary Streets. 



NOTICE. 

?J* T subscribers do not order a discontinu- 
ance of the Planter before the commencement 
of a new year, or volume, it will be considered 
as a renewal of their subscriptions, and they 
■will be charged accordingly. 



0»lt is indispensably necessary that sub- 
scribers ordering a change, should say from, 
what, to what post officelhey wish the altera- 
tion made. It will save time to us and lose 
none to them. 



WARNING. 

Those of our subscribers who are in arrears 
must not find fault with us if they find their 
bills in the hands of collectors for the lull 
amount of our terms, Si 25 per annum. We 
cannot afford to print a paper at $1 a year and 
pay twenty per cent, for collecting. 



THE DISTRICT AGRICULTURAL SO- 
CIETIES OF THE STATE. 

We are glad to see, by the following extracts 
from various papers, that these most useful in- 
stitutions are being organized in various por- 
tions of-the State; and we are not less glad to 
see the press of various quarters lending its 
powerful help to the work. If they will con- 
tinue to give their aid and comfort, as we can- 
not doubt they will, the task will be more than 
half completed. Heretofore, except the public- 
spirited Richmond Dispatch, they have been 
somewhat laggard in the good cause; but it is 
never too late to do good, and we cordially^ 
invite them to continue their efforts. It is not 
to be denied that the local papers can do 
more good in this way than the Planter, though 
devoted to this express business, lis circula- 
tion is more circumscribed in each locality 
than the paperof the District, and only reaches 
its readers once a month; whereas the news- 
papers can stir up their readers always once 
a week, in many cases twice, and sometimes 
every day. 

One other thing remains for them to do, 
and we respectfully appeal to them to do it. 
Let them state as strongly as they can the 
claims of the State Agricultural Society, which 
should be the head and focus of all the Dis- 
trict Associations. 

We have received from our old friend, Col. 
James P. Corbin, a copy of the Constitution, 
&c. of the Rappahannock River Agricultural 
and Mechanical Society, of which Col. Ed. 
T. Tayloe is President, and Col. Corbin, W. 
P.Taylor, Richard Baylor, Richard Royston, 
Vice Presidents; Richard H. Garrett, Record- 
ing Secretary; John Taylor, Jr. Corresponding 



3C6 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



Secretary; RobertCallett,Treasurer,and John 
W. Kidd, Agent and Collector— (the latter a 
most important office.) The whole list makes 
<: a sirong ticket," as the politicians say, and 
we are not surprised to hear that they are do- 
ing well and expect to do better. 

In point of territory this Society is headed 
by Caroline and King George, and extends 
from east of the Pamunkey and York to the 
Potomac and the Bay shore. A finer region 
for every thing that the farmer requires is not 
to be found under the sun; and~as some of the 
finest fellows in the world— and most intelli- 
gent men too they are — inhabit that country, 
we shall not believe that they will let this ef- 
fort of public spirit die out for want of en- 
couragement. 

We have had a hint that King & Queen 
has been somewhat slow in coming up to the 
mark. Why so 1 ? Where are the Greshams, 
the Boulwares, Franklin Dew, Colonel Fleet, 
Tom. Hoskins, Harwood, Jeffries, and twenty 
'more we might name — men of means, sense 
and spirit? In old times there was so much 
money in King & Queen that they had to lend 
it to people out of the county, and we have 
heard "old John Roane" say that Pea Ridge 
could buy out the Mattaponi flats any day, 
and sometimes did do it. And now that 
guano makes peas lodge on the Ridge, and 
gives an average of fifteen bushels of whoat 
per acre on land worth eight or ten dollars, 
whilst lime holds the fertility the peas impart, 
we want to know what they mean to do with 
the money. The Planter has not had much 
of it, and we hear the Agricultural Society is 
not much better off in that respect. Will our 
friends let us advise them to three good invest- 
ments: join the District and State Agricul- 
tural Societies and become life members of the 
Southern Planter; then improvement in land, 
stock and agricultural intelligence will follow, 
of course. 



CHILIAN CLOVER SEED. 

Persons who wish packases of the above 
seed are requested to address their letters to 
Frank: G. Ruffin, Shad well, Albemarle county, 
Virginia. By doing so it will save me the 
trouble of re-mailing their letters here, as well 
as the postage on them from Richmond to 
Shadwell. P. D. Bernard. 



DE BURG'S SUPER-PHOSPHATE OF 
LIME. 

The Proprietorof the Planterin the last issue 
"invited attention to the advertisement of C. 
B. De Burg's Super-Phosphate cf Lime." We, 
the Editor, construe this into a recommenda- 
tion, however faint, of that article; and as we 
are not in the habit of recommending, even 
by calling attention to what we know nothing 
of, we beg leave to say that we are not re- 
sponsible for it in this case. We impute no 
blame to Mr. Bernard, who is no farmer, and 
has not investigated the claims of any of these 
new compounds, either theoretically or prac- 
tically, for giving the notice; but as some per- 
sons may be misled by it w"e think it proper 
to give the above explanation. 

Our own opinion of this manure is that it 
is not the thing Mr. C. B. De Burg makes it 
out, though it may be a good thing. The ex- 
aggerated terms in which he speaks of it 
makes us suspect as much, and lends a savor 
of quackery — as does also the expression 
"other fixed salts, &c. only known to himself I" 
"It is quite as effective as guano, but much 
m'ore durable as a manure, and less volatile 
than any other," says he. This sentence can- 
not be true. The Royal Agricultural Society 
of England has a standing premium of .£1000, 
we think, for a cheap manure equal to guano, 
and it is given up by their best chemists that 
such a substitute has not yet been found. It 
is hardly likely that Mr. De Burg has found 
it out, and still less so that he should have 
kept his discovery "to himself," as the fact of 
having earned that premium would make his 
fortune at once. For these reasons we dis- 
trust this advertisement almost as much as 
we do Prof. Mapes', and we cannot advise 
our readers to buy what contains substances 
known only to their compounder. We do not 
think that land, any more than animals, should 
be treated upon empirical principles. If Mr. 
De Burg will state what substances he uses, 
and their proportions, and will sell the mix- 
ture, warranted genuine, at a moderate cost, 
and we are satisfied that the ingredients are 
useful to land, we will very cheerfully recom- 
mend his compound, and will insure him large 
apd profitable sales. He need lear no loss by 
his candor. The unskilfulness of the farmers 
is such that they will always pay liberally an/ 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



307 



man in whom they have confidence to relieve 
them from the trouble of obtaining and pre- 
paring the ingredients of valuable special 
manures. • 



NUTTSVILLE AGRICULTURAL CLUB. 

We received in August from Dr. Merriwe- 
ther Lewis, Corresponding Secreiary, but too 
late for insertion in that number, the Constitu- 
tion and By-Laws of the Nuttsville Agricul- 
tural Club, of Lancaster county, Virginia. 
We have not room for the proceedings, and it 
is not necessary to publish them, as they are 
si nilar to so many others; but there are two 
laws not commonly found in such bodies that 
might well be enacted elsewhere — the one 
requiring an initiation fee of twenty-five cents, 
the other, a monthly contribution of twelve 
and a half cents. A fund may be raised in 
this way without inconvenience that may be 
applied to many good purposes. 

As we believe in the benefits of such Clubs 
everywhere, and believe in the improvabilily 
of the whole northern neck, which is naturally 
one of the finest countries on earth, we cannot 
do otherwise than welcome this Club most 
cordially into the ranks, and wish them all the 
success which they are so capable of achieving. 



GUANO. 



On another page will be found a clear and 
cogent article, signed "King George," on the 
subjeetof the difficulty of getting guano. 

Our contributor has left us but little room 
and less occasion for the comment which he 
invites. But we will endeavor to stRte pre- 
cisely the attitude of the question as far as we 
have been enabled to understand it. 

Mr. Hazlewood, an Englishman, perfectly 
familiar with the subject, and so stated to be 
by the London Farmer's Club, through which 
he was accredited to the public in the (Eng- 
lish) Farmer's Magazine, of March, 1852, 
says, there does not exist the smallest doubt 
in the minds of those best informed on the sub- 
ject that the quantity o.f guano is almost inex- 
haustible, and that (at the then rate of con- 
sumption,) there is ample for the next three 
generations. But, it appears, in the August 
number of the same pftiodical, that "authori- 



ties are conflicting on this point," and that in 
the opinion of a ' learned professor,' at the rate 
of existing supply, the stock can scarcely hold 
out for twenty years. Whichever of these 
parties be right, if either is, it strikes us that 
when we remember that Peruvian guano, es- 
pecially Chincha Island guano, is not the basis 
merely, but the life of Peruvian agriculture, that 
the government of that country can not now 
afford to furnish it at a less price than they — 
not their agents, or sub-agents — charge for it 
at present, and that they owe it to their own 
preservation to ascertain the precise quantity 
and rale of export, present and prospective, be- 
fore they consent to a serious reduction in 
price. 

But however that may be, we do not antici- 
pate any great fall in the article under the 
present contracts, for it appears from the Edin- 
burgh GLuatterly Journal of Agriculture that 
the British creditors of Peru have the mono- 
poly of guano, and we believe the control of 
the market every where. By an arrangement 
entered into between the contracting parties 
in 1847, a fund was created of £1,800,(100 of 
active debt at 6 per cent, interest, and £1,900,000 
of deferred debt at 3 per cent, interest — equal 
to £3,700,000. This debt is. to be gradually 
redeemed out of the sales of guano, one-half 
the net amount being paid to the Peruvian 
government, and the balance, after paying ex- 
penses, being appropriated to dividends on the 
stock. 

By this arrangement, as we understand it, 
guanocannot be sold at less than present rates, 
without the assent of the British creditors; 
and that they are not very likely to give. As 
little, we think, will they be disposed to permit 
the debt to be assumed, even if this govern- 
ment had any right to assume it, which is at c 
least very doubtful, since the security is now 
of the very best description; and as capitalists 
they can have no wish either to change it or 
to re-invest their money. Some idea may be 
formed of the difficulty when we state that in 
July of last year Lord Palmerston said at a 
meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society at 
Lewes, that his negotiations in this matter, 
undertaken at the instance of that Society, 
the most influential body of its kind in the 
world, had failed altogether, he having found 
Peru, as he said, as little inclined to negotiate 



308 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



for a reduction of the price of guano, as they 
would have been to entertain propositions for 
a reduction in the price of grain. It is true, 
that such negotiations are very likely to be 
renewed, and our own efforts, strengthened 
by as much agricultural combination among 
ourselves as possible, may aid them, and cer- 
tainly should not be withheld; but we are not 
very sanguine of present or even ultimate suc- 
cess for the reasons above stated. Meanwhile 
we must endeavor to find a substitute, or wait 
until the English debt is paid off, which, at the 
present rate of export, will be in some fifty 
years, or endeavor to get our own government 
to send an expedition in search of guano 
islands in the rainless latitudes off the coast 
of Peru and beyond her jurisdiction: or, better 
still, aim to increase and improve our stocks 
of all sorts — cattle, horses, hogs, and above 
all, sheep particularly fine wooiled sheep, so 
as to derive both manure and profit from them, 
which may be gradually and easily done in 
every part of Virginia. We know lands that 
are too rich for guano, and many more that 
might be made so. 

Of the complaints against the present agents 
of the Peruvian government we have heard a 
good deal, and we have no doubt that they are 
richly merited; but we do not see much help 
for them. We are informed that Barreda & 
Brothers have agents in Richmond and Pe- 
tersburg, two in each place, restricted in their 
prices to forty-six dollars a ton, and that they 
cannot get the article, whilst other persons 
can supply a large, if not the whole, demand, 
at a price some fifty per cent, higher than their 
extreme limit!! 

We rake it for granted that the same thing 
t is true of other cities of Virginia. How this 
happens we do not know. In common with 
every body else we have our suspicions, and 
they are strengthened by a report which we 
have heard, that Barreda & Brother have ad- 
vanced $3,000,000 l0 PerU) and thereby se- 
cured this monopoly for four years. We 
think our government owes it to those of us 
who use guano to investigate this matter, and 
if it be found that the agents have abused 
their trust then they should be sent back home, 
and others put in their places, whose manners 
as well as principles shall be more agreeable 
to those who deal with them." 



It has been asked if vessels from Richmond 
to California cannot bring a return freight of 
guano. We have heard of one such case, 
where the gentlemen employing the vessel 
could not obtain permission to load until they 
had first paid brokerage or a commission of 
five per cent, to Mr. Barreda. 

One way in which the difficulty may be ob- 
viated is for the farmers not to purchase until 
the winter, and then top dress their wheat with 
guano, sowing it broadcast on snow. We 
have heard of one or<wo cases in which this 
plan has succeeded admirably — just as well as 
when sowed in the usual way; and from an 
experiment of our own, made on grass, the 
guano being sowed as above, we have every 
reason to think it will answer. Another, and 
a better plart, practicable if some little trouble 
is taken, will be for the farmers to hold meet- 
ings and pledge themselves to buy from none 
but the regularly authorized agents — a course 
which we now pursue from principle. Why 
cannot farmers strike for lower prices, as me- 
chanics strike for higher wages — are they in- 
ferior to them in spirit, enterprise, intelligence 
or power to combine'? If so, we would be 
pleased to know why. 



SOUTHERN CENTRAL AGRICULTURAL 
SOCIETY. 

We have been requested to call attention to 
the next exhibition of this Society. We can- 
not do so better than by letting its friends speak 
for themselves, as we do, by inserting the fol- 
lowing from the Richmond Whig of Sept. 23d: 

We received a letter from a friend in Geor- 
gia, in reference to the Agricultural Fairwhich 
is to be held at Augusta, from the 17th to the 
21st of October, from which we make the fol- 
lowing extract: 

"You will observe by the name 'Southern 
Central,' as well as bv the great variety of 
articles embraced in the list of the Society, 
that its object is to embrace in its influence, 
and excite an interest in the improvement of 
everything valuable to our section without at 
the same time being exclusive in any of its 
features. 

"It will readily occur to you that the posi- 
tion (geographical) of Georgia is eminently 
favorable for the location of such a Society 
'within its borders, It has already a system of 
railroads within its borders of over one thou- 
sand miles completed, and several hundred 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



309 



more building and projected with confidence 
in the building. It has two lines running 
across the whole breadth of the State, and one 
line through its whole length — and to all which 
there are numerous branches. By the meeting 
of the Society on the 17ih October next, there 
will be a continuous line of railroad from 
Augusta to the Capitals of Alabama and 
Tennessee, and even now, the same car which 
leaves Charlotte, North Carolina, passing 
through the Capital of South Carolina, may 
roll its freight into Augusta. These roads 
will, doubtless, in a very short time, be ex- 
tended through Virginia, Kentucky, Missis- 
sippi and Louisiana. It is now Only sixty 
hours from New York to Augusta, and in a 
few years, the time will be still less between 
eitherof the inland cities of Georgia, Augusta,- 
Macon, Atlanta or Columbus, and the most 
distant South cities, Baltimore, Louisville, 
St. Louis, Memphis and ]Ne>v Orleans. 

"The above mentioned cities of Georgia 
are now more accessible to all other portions 
of the Southern States than is any other one 
point in either of the other States to all the 
balance of them. 

"From the facilities of travel and transpor- 
tation already existing between this and the 
adjoining States, I have the pleasure of stating 
that I have at this early date received notice 
from contributors in neariy every Southern 
State of iheir intention to be present at the 
next annual meeting, with' their products, 
stocks, &c, &c, for exhibition. 

"The railroad companies, connected with 
the system of roads terminating at Augusta, 
will, doubtless, extend the usual facilities of 
conveying passengers to the fair at half price, 
and articles for exhibition free of charge. 
Upon this point further advertisements will be 
made. 

"The Society is no longer an experiment. 
The next will be the eighth annual meeting. 
From having had a fund of only about forty-five 
dollars, paid in by forty-five members at its 
fir-t meeting, it now controls, directly and in- 
directly, a fundof overseven thousand dollars." 

We were informed in the same letier that 
the premium list and regulations of the Society 
had been forwarded to us, to which our atten- 
tion was invited, but not having received the 
paper, we avail ourselves of the following ex- 
tract from an article in the National Intelli- 
gencer, noticing the premiums: 

"These premiums are five hundred in num- 
ber, many of them as high as fifty dollars, for 
the most successful cases of planting and 
farming, and the best crops, the best specimens 
of all products of the soil, of all kinds of cul- 
tivation, of all sorts of domestic animals, do- 
mestic manufactures, and in fact of every 
kind ot useful industry. We wish we could 
puMish the list entire, but it is too long. It 
fills several columns of the paper in which it 
comes to us. The five hundred premiums 
make an aggregate of near five thousand 
dollars." 



LIBERAL PREMIUMS. 

Availing himself of the general invitation 
to individuals given by the State Agricultural 
Society, Col. J. W. Ware has offered the fol- 
lowing very liberal premiums to purchasers 
of his favorite and celebrated breed of .sheep, 
the well known Cotswolds or New Oxfordshire. 

These premiums are not only very liberal 
but proper in themselves, and a new feature 
in fairs. We hope the example will be fol- 
lowed by others who are in the habit of selling 
fine stock. 

Dear Sir, — Wishing to advance the interest 
in the approaching Fair, which 1 think can be 
better accomplished hy increasing the number 
of prizes to be contended for, I offer the fol- 
lowing: 

For i he best thoroughbred improved Cots- 
wold buck, bought bv its owner of me, $10 

For the best pen of ewes, (not less than 
four,) tho'roughbred improved Cotswold, 
bought by their owner of me, - - - 10 

For the best pen of ewes, (not less than 
four,) mixed long wools, bought by their 
owner of me, 5 

For the best pen of ewes, (not less than 
[ four,) middle wools, bought by their owner 
of me, 5 

Contestants will leave their names with the 
Secretary, at the meeting the night preceding 
j the commencement I will select a commit- 
tee, who will decide according to the rules of 
the Society. 1 give less to the mixed long 
wools and middle wools, because not half so 
costly. 

Yours, truly, 

Josiah W. Ware. 
Mr. Ruffin, Cor. Sec'y Va. State Ag. Soc'y. 



ALFALFA, OR CHILIAN CLOVER SEED. 

Thecirculars which accompanied the pack- 
ages of the above seed having become ex- 
hausted, we publish a copy below for the in- 
formation of the distributees. There are still 
some packages left. 

U. S. Patent Office, 
June I6/A, 1853. 
Among the seeds imported for distribution 
from this office is the Peruvian Alfalfa, (Mcrfi- 
cagnsativn?) believed tobea varietvof lucerne, 
accidentally arisen from the seed introduced 
into South America from Europe. It was pro- 
cured at considerable cost direct from the 
mountain valleys of Chili, and has been sent 
in small parcels to every State in the Union 
for experiment. Those who have received it 
are requested to give it a fair ttial, and, if sue- 



310 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



cessful, to save ihe seed they raise, and report 
to this office the result. 

The San Ftancisco Herald having received 
information of its introduction into Calilornia, 
brings it into notice as follows: 

Among the imports from Chili, a list of 
which appeared in our yesterday's issue, will 
be noticed the seeds of the alfalfa. We are 
not aware to whom they arrived, but we think 
the attention of agriculturists in this State 
might be called with advantage to the pirn', 
for whose benefit the importation is probably 
intended. The alfalfa is a species of lucerne, 
greatly in use as forage for animals in the 
mining districts of Chili. It is a vigorous 
grower, requires little labor, and furnishes two 
crops a year of most nutritious food for stock 
of all kinds. As is well known, the mining 
districts of Chili are for the most part very 
sterile, and rain is of seldom occurrence. 
Natural grasses are therefore of scanty growth, 
and the miners are compelled to rely tor the 
maintenance of their animals upon alfalfa 
estates which lie within the valleys of that 
mountainous region. 

The supply would, however, be wholly in- 
adequate were not the plant so remarkably 
prolific, and possessed of such extraordinary 
nutritious properties. With the addition of a 
little barley, it is found to keep mules in the 
best working condition, and consequently the 
owner of one of these alfalfa haciendas is able 
to draw from his estate a much larger revenue 
than if cultivated in grain. In its green state, 
cattle feed upon it with the utmost avidity, 
and acquire flesh so fast that it is a practice 
in Chili to drive herds from the grass pastures 
of the south for hundreds of miles, in order to 
obtain the benefit of its use. The land is pre- 
pared for the seed of this plant in the same 
manner as for clover, it being in truth of the 
same family as the latter. 

Dr. Tschudi, in his Travels in Peru, states 
that this plant is cultivated in great abundance 
throughout the whole of Peru as fodder for 
cattle. It does not bear great humidity, nor 
severe heat or cold, yet its elevation boundary 
is 11,100 feet above the level of the sea. On 
the coast, it flourishes very luxuriantly during 
the misty season, but during the months of 
February and March, (corresponding with our 
August and September,) it almost entirely dries 
up. In the mountainous districts, it is also 
most abundant during the humid season, but 
as soon as the first frost sets in, it decays, 
takes a-rusty-brown color, and remains in a 
bad state until the beginning of the rainy sea- 
son. On an average, the alfalfa, may be cut 
four times in a year, but in the elevated dis- 
tricts only three times, and in humid soils on 
the coast, particularly in the neighborhood of 
rivers, fiv« times. Once in every /bur or five 
years the alfalfa fields are broken up by the 
plough, and then sown with barley or maize. 
The sixth year alfalfa is again sown. ' 

The most favorable soil for the growth of 
this plant would appear to be a deep sandy 



loam, such as the alluvial deposits along rivers 
and streams, or the fertile prairie and bottom 
lands of the South and West. It is not adapted 
for heavy lands nor those which are wet. Be- 
ing a deep-rooted plant, it requires a soil that 
is loose, in order th.it its roots may penetrate 
to a considerable depth. If the soil is not suffi- 
ciently light by nature, it should be made so by 
the use of the spade or sub-soil plough. 
Charles Mason, 
Commissioner of Patcnls. 



A TOBACCO PROJECT. 

We have been requested to publish, from 
the "Planter's Advocate," the following call 
for a convention of tobacco planters at Lou- 
isville, Kentucky, on the lGih of November 
next. We give place to the article with 
pleasure, but we regret that the author of 
the call had not signified more definitely what 
purpose he had in view in the call. Wetioubt 
not it was intended for good, and we, a tobacco 
planter, would throw no impediment in the 
way of anything that can tend to the advan- 
tage of our brethren of the weed. But unless 
something mote precise is set forth, with the 
means of attaining that something, we fear it 
will not receive much encouragement from 
our planters, who, like most others of their 
craft, are hard to move. 

Subjoined, there will be found an intelligent 
communication from a gentleman in this 
county, (a grower of tobacco,) addressed to 
raisers of that product all over the country. 
His design is to have a general convention of 
tobacco gravers in Louisville, Kentucky, 
some time in November next, to take such 
measures' as may be deemed necessary for the 
advancement of so large a portion of our 
countrymen. 

Lending, as we always will do, a ready ear 
to everything that whispers advantage to the 
planting interest, we most cheerfully publish 
the communication, and invite the attention 
of our brother editors and the public generally 
to the scheme. 

The great clue to the success of any calling 
is Association. As long as the members of 
any profession or the practisers of any art 
keep to themselves and aloof from one ano- 
ther, so long will such profession and art re- 
main in the back ground. It is by consulta- 
tion -by meetings together, by full and free 
conferences, that the members of any calling 
can best benefit it. This truth has come to 
be an axiom. . 

That a great convention of tobacco grow- 
ers, coming from all parts of the country, 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



3.11 



reasoning and comparing experiences, wciuld 
effect much for the permanent good of that 
class of agriculturists, we cannot for a moment 
doubt. It would afford opportunity for a full 
interchange of opinion. It would present an 
occasion for such a harmonious and united 
action as has never been attempted on their 
behalf though, of all men, they have most 
stood in need of it. 

We cannot persuade ourselves — we would 
not persuade our readers — that the effect of 
such a convention would be permanently to 
raise or even to steady the prices of the product 
in question. There is a relation between the 
supply of every article and the demand for it. 
(and consequently its price,) which is governed 
entirely by the general laws of trade, which it 
would be impossible to alter. But yet there 
are other and extensive improvements which 
might be produced by this convention. One 
is, that it would unite and strengthen the to- 
bacco interest; the other is that referred to by 
our 'correspondent: it might be the means, 
through Congress, of lightening the duty on the 
quantities exported. 

We earnestly call attention to the scheme, 
?nd request our cotemporaries of the press, 
everywhere, to "pass it around." 

August 17, 1853. 
To the Tobacco Growers of the 

United States, greeting: 

Whereas, Tobacco is one of the most pro- 
minent staple products of the United States, 
to the growth of which large portions of the 
States of Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, 
Tennessee, Missouri, and small portions of 
the States of North Carolina, Pennsylvania, 
Indiana, Connecticut and Florida are devoted, 
and the growers of which are, consequently, 
deeply interested; and whereas the many fluc- 
tuations in prices of said staple cause great 
deiriment'to the growers thereof, by alternately 
enhancing and depressing the value of real 
and personal property in the neighborhoods in 
which it is cultivated. I propose by this address, 
to suggest a plan which, if carried into prac- 
tice, will greatly benefit your interests, indi- 
vidually and collectively — and in doing so, I 
am prompted by no other than the motive of 
benefiting you and the communities in which 
yon live and act. Nor do I claim for the plan 
which I propose, any individual merit or very 
novel proceeding, unless it be nofel as applied 
to this particular staple, to hold a convention 
of tobacco gtpwers from all the States in which 
it is cultivated. 

And this is the fmmdalwn of the plan I sug- 
gest: That a Convention be held in Louisville, 
Ky., composed entirely of Tobacco Planters, 
and that said convention be represented by 
delegates, to be selected in each county where 
lobaeeo is cultivated in such States of the 
Union where it is raised. And I would here 
I ihat the first convention be held at the 
id place, on Wednesday, the lGth day 
of November next. 



The object for which it is called being to 
promote the interests of the planters of tobacco, 
by interchanging of views and opinions as to 
the best mode of its culture, the best descrip- 
tions to plant to yield the greatest amount of 
profit, the quantities which should be aimed at 
to be raised to pay best forits production, and for 
such other purposes as may suggest themselves 
to the convention as being conducive to the 
welfare of this class of citizens — among which, 
as last, though not least important which I shall 
suggest, is, that said convention may unitedly 
petition Congress to pass such laws as will be 
calculated to lower the duties charged by fo- 
reign governments on tobacco imported into 
their respective limits. 

Individual efforts have, from time to time, 
been made by citizeus of Maryland and else- 
where, and by individual representatives in 
Congress, with but little success, as is very 
generally the case with individual efforts in 
any very great and important enterprise; but 
when there is unity of purpose and action by 
individuals, if persevered in, their greatest 
enterprises and designs become successful. 

You will find, upon investigation, that all or 
nearly all other classes of citizens have had, 
and still continue to have, conventions — cotton 
planters, sugar planters, wool growers, me- 
chanics, physicians, lawyers, &c, &c. — and 
with great advantages, no doubt, to their re- 
spective and various pursuits — but the tobacco 
planters, comprising a very large and impor- 
tant and influential portion of the citizens of 
these United States, have all along satisfied 
themselves with county and Stale agricultural 
exhibitions for an interchange of views among 
themselves in regard to tobacco. This should 
not be so. But, tobacco planters, allow me 
to urge upon you to attend the convention, and 
though the first one may be composed of but 
few members, you may rely upon the prediction 
that subsequent ones will be largely attended, 
and ihat good and great benefits will be the 
result of the consultations and deliberations 
of such a meeting. 

I might say much more in favor of the sug- 
gestions herein contained, but lest it may 
prove tedious to be read, if made more prolix, 
I close by simply stating the reasons for pro- 
posing the time and place for the meeting of 
such convention; which are, that the place is 
central to the different tobacco growing sec- 
tions, and easy of access; and the time such 
as is the most leisure of the whole fall season 
to tobacco growers. 

A Planter, 
of Prince George's county, Md. 



AUGUST NO. OF PLANTER FOR 1853. 

Post Masters, or others, having any of the 
above numbers, will confer a favor by for- 
warding them to this office. 



312 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



SALES OF IMPORTED STOCK IN 
KENTUCKY. 

The estimate that good judges put on good 
cattle may be^seen — but will be hardly under- 
stood by many of our readers — from the fol- 
lowing account, which we take from the Ohio 
Cultivator, of the Sales of the Stock recently 
brought over from England by the Northern 
Kentucky Cattle Importing Company. But 
those who scorn grazing and aim to keep as 
few stock as possible may doubt the propriety 
of their course when they see what is done by 
men who live five hundred miles from the 
butcher: 

The Northern Kentucky Cattle Import- 
ing Company resolved to sell their recent im- 
portation on the farm of B.J. Clay, near Paris, 
on the 18th ultimo. Purchasers were restricted 
to be citizens of Kentucky, and to give borfds 
in twice the value of the purchase, not to re- 
move it from the State within twelve months. 
With this limitation, the sale was well at- 
tended, and the bidding spirited. The follow- 
ing is the reported list of sales. 

The cost of the stock delivered in Kentucky, 
was about $23,000, while the aggregate of its 
sales was $55,970, a profit of $32,976! The 
competition between Bourbon and Fayette for 
Diamond, the finest bull in the lot, was most 
spirited, but the nerve of the Favette men 
failed them; the Bourbon men would not have 
stopped bidding under $10,000. 

BULLS. 

1. Young Chilton, white— calved in May, 
1850; cost in England, say $600, sold for$3005, 
to William Warneld of Fayette. 

2. Diamond, roan — calved in June, 1850; 
cost $630, sold for $6001, to Clay, Bedford & 
Duncan of Bourbon. 

3. The Count, roan — calved in July, 1851; 
cost $525, sold for $2575, to S.Goff of Carlisle. 

4. Orontos, red and white — calved Septem- 
ber, 1851; cost $630, sold for $4525, to Benj. 
Gray of Woodford. 

5. Fusileer, roan — calved February, 1853; 
cost $375, sold for $1425, to R. W. Scott of 
Franklin. 

6. Senator, white— calved April, 1852; cost 
$630, sold for $2000, to Allen & Curd of Fay- 
ette. 

7. Belleville, roan— calved January, 1852; 
cost $1050, sold for $1500, to Geo. W. Sutton 
of Fayette. 

8. Challenger, roan— calved January, 1852; 
cost $450, sold for $4858, to T. GofT of Carl isle. 

9. Fortunatus, roan— calved December, 1852; 
cost $275, sold for $1800, to George Martin of 
Carlisle. 

5 0. Yorkshire Maynard, dark roan — calved 
in March, 1852; cost $275, sold for $1000, to 
F. Taylor of Clarke. 



COWS AND HEIFERS. 

1. Lady Stanhope, roan — calved in 1847; 
cost $375, sold for $1500 to Brutus Clay of 
Bourbon. 

2. Lady Fairv, red — calved in June, 1848; 
cost $525, sold for $1100, to W. Warfield of 
Fayette. 

3. Roan Duchess, roan— calved July, 1850; 
cost $275, sold for $900, to W. Brand of Fayette. 

4. Goodness, red — calved September, 1847; 
cost $525, sold for $2025, to D. Coleman of 
Fayette. 

5. Gem, roan — calved in April, 1851; cost 
$775, sold for $825, to S. Van Metre of Clarke. 

6. Equity, deep red — calved March, 1852; 
cost $400, sold for $1000, to James Waller of 
Jefferson. 

7. Necklace, roan — calved April, 1852; cost 
$260, sold for $805, to Henry Clay of Bourbon. 

8. Bracelet, roan, twin of Necklace; cost 
$260, sold for $750, to M. M. Clay of Bourbon. 

9. Mazurka, dark roan— calved August, 1851; 
cost $600, sold for $3050, to Benjamin Gr«y of 
Woodford. 

10. Lady Caroline, light roan — calved July, 
1851 ; cost $400, sold for $1825, to Brutus Clay 
of Bourbon. 

11. Duchess of Sutherland, red — calved De- 
cember, 1850; cost $375, sold for $900, to W. 
Brand of Fayette. 

12. Maid of Melrose, rich roan— calved Oc- 
tober, 1851; cost $775, sold for $2200, to Sam. 
Humphreys of Woodford. 

13. Muffin, red roan — calved June, 1852; 
cost $225, sold for $535, to Dr. Smith of Scott. 

14. Orphan Nell, roan— calved November, 
1852; cost $325, sold for $1000, to J. A. Gano 
of Bourbon. 

15. Flattery, white— calved November, 1851; 
cost $325, sold for $815, to W. R. Duncan of 
Clarke. 

SHEEP. 

South Down— 3 bucks sold for $755, $400, 
$340, and 3 ewes for $350, $180, $230. 

Cotswold-2 bucks $1010, $710, and 6 ewes 
$270, $105, $221, $200, $140, $200. 

Leicester— 1 buck $50, and 2 ewes sold for 
$52 each. 

HORSE. 

Cleveland Bay horse, (Young Lord,) cost 
$1000, sold for $2800. 



EASY SHAVING. 



We invite attention to the adijertisement of 
Mr. Micajah S. Meador, who is very skilful in 
the art of sharpening razors. He set three 
old ones for me, which I had thrown aside 
as useless, and they cut as well now as when 
I first got them. Those who may employ him 
to set their razors will certainly enjoy the 
luxury of an easy shave afterwards. 

P. D. B. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



313 



AGRICULTURAL FAIR IN THE CITY WHEAT DRILL WITH A GUANO AT- 



OF NORFOLK. 

Od the 15th day of November and the three 
following days, the Agricultural Societies of 
Norfolk and Princess Anne counties will hold 
at Norfolk a joint Agricultural Fair. 

We have received a copy of their rules, regu- 
lations and list of premiums, which are all right. 
The premiums are exceedingly liberal, consi- 
dering the fact that these Societies are only a 
year or two old, and that only one exhibition, 
so far, has been held in that region. They 
embrace all the usual subjects, and amount in 
the aggregate to something upwards of $1000, 
which, we think, beats every county or district 
Society in the State. The modest apology for 
the smallness of their premiums is therefore 
unnecessary 



THE JUDGES AT THE STATE AGRI- 
CULTURAL SOCIETIES 

Have all been notified of their appointments 
by a circular. As the Post-offices of several 
of them were not known — in which cases they 
were generally addressed at their respective 
Court Houses— some letters may not have 
reached their destination. The Correspond- 
ing Secretary, who is the Editor of this paper, 
will be very glad to hear from all such as 
have not already written. The Executive 
Commutes meets on the 7ih of October, when 
it will be very desirable to fill up vacancies in 
the committees. 

Certificates of Membership will be forward- 
ed as fast as possible to all gentlemen who 
are known to have joined the Society, and 
such as do not receive them can obtain them 
in Richmond by application to any officer of 
the Executive Committee. 



ORANGE COUNTY 

Beats all others in subscriptions to the State 
Agricultural Society. She has already sent 
S130 and has more behind, to say nothing of 
what she paid before she gave her pledge for 
9125. Charlotte comes next. But then Char- 
lotte has a whole Delegate to the Legislature 
and Orange only half an one. 

Albemarle we are sorry to say is not up to 
what she should be. 



TACHMENT. 

We have seen a certificate of several gentle- 
men of the county of Clarke to the effect that 
Thomas F. Nelson, Esq., of said county, has 
invented a machine for sowing guano which 
can be easily attached to an ordinary drill, 
and that 42 lbs. per acre applied by this ma- 
chine have produced as much effect as two 
hundred pounds would have produced if sown 
broadcast. This is a very important state- 
ment, especially if made after a fair compa- 
rison of the two modes side by side. No doubt 
the gentlemen who made it believed it fully, 
as they are persons of the highest respectability, 
and we do not gainsay it, but only call their 
attention to the necessity of a more precise 
statement than their certificate now gives. 

Mr. Nelson, (whose P. O. is Millwood,) and 
who is very well known to us as a gentleman 
every way reliable, and practical farmer, has, 
we learn, applied for a patent. 

We hope he will have his invention at the 
Fair. We regret that an earlier notice of 
this invention was prevented by our mislaying 
the paper. 



For the Southern Planter. 

FRENCB MERINOS. 

Mr. Editor, — With a view of renewing 
the blood of my Spanish stock, I have re- 
cently procured of Mr. George Campbell, 
of Vermont, a buck of the far famed French 
Merinos. He is the progeny of his favo- 
rite buck Matchless, and weighed when 
only fifteen months old one hundred and 
fifty-five pounds. Soon after reaching his 
destined home, his wool was thoroughly 
washed on the back, and sheared as soon 
as it was sufficiently dry. The finer parts 
of the fleece, which were sent to market, 
weighed a fraction above eight and a half 
pounds. The portion retained was a frac- 
tion less than one pound. This quantity 
of" pure wool would be about equivalent to 
nineteen pounds in the grease. The dis- 
tinctive feature of the French Merinos is, 
that they combine the qualities of fineness 
of staple and aptitude to fatten better than 
any other breed; but what degree of me- 
rit attaches to this characteristic is a ques- 
tion sub judice. I incline myself to the 
belief that in respect of profit, other cir- 



314 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



cumstances being equaj, the difference be- 
tween the improved varieties of stock is 
rather apparent than real, and that the 
question of relative value will be best re- 
solved by the circumstances of locality and 
a knowledge of the particular mode of 
management, adapted to the one or the 
other. For the purpose of illustration, let 
us institute a comparison between the 
French and Spanish Merinos, based upon 
two principles which appear to have been 
clearly established. These are, first: That 
the expenditure of food is in the ratio of 
the size of the animal; and secondly: That 
fineness of staple and aptitude to fatten 
are antagonist processes. In accordance 
with the first principle the same herbage 
that will keep one hundred Spanish will 
not be more than sufficient to sustain se- 
venty-five of the French. But the greater 
expenditure of food in the case of the 
French being only proportionate to a cor- 
responding return in wool and flesh, the 
final results will be similar. If, however, 
the yield in wool or flesh on the part of 
the French, should exceed that of the 
Spanish, then consistently with the second 
principle, the profits would be equalized 
by the superior quality of the fleece to be 
derived from the latter. 

Thus it appears that number is the equi- 
valent for size, and fineness of staple for 
diminution in weight. Similar observa- 
tions are applicable to the New' Oxford- 
shire and Southdown when compared with 
each other, or with the Merinos. Each 
breed has its peculiar excellencies, and the 
conflicting opinions upon this subject might 
all, it is conceived, be reconciled by an ac- 
curately constructed table of equivalents. 
Entertaining these views, the question 
may be asked, why a preference should 
have been given to the Merinos? The 
answer is, that my decision was influenced 
by the single consideration of hardiness of 
constitution. It is generally conceded, I 
believe, that in this respect the Merino 
race is entitled to precedence over every 
other. But again, this advantage may be 
counterbalanced by another which attaches 
to the mutton varieties. I refer to their 
being more prolific. 

"Young Matchless" will be exhibited at 
the State Agricultural Fair in November, 
when those who feel an interest in the sub- 
ject will have an opportunity of judging 
for themselves. 

Yours, respectfully, 

Wm. L. Wight. 

Goochland, Sept. 15, 1853. 



For the Southern Planter. 

COTSWOLD SHEEP AT THE FAIR. OF 
THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY 
OF ENGLAND IN 1853. 

" For several years past the exertions of the 
Society have been directed to suppress the ex- 
hibition of animals which were distinguished 
for nothing more than the enormous quantity 
of fat they bore about with them. Of late 
years they have taken morestringentmeasures 
than ever, until this year they have determined 
that the^ judges shall pronounce any over-fed 
animal to be ipso facto disqualified lrom com- 
petition. The breeders will take warning in 
lime and bring their stock in such a condition 
that their point shall not be lost or undistin- 
guishable in a mass of fat. 

" In the department of sheep, the Leicesters, 
which have hitherto been the principal feature 
of these exhibitions, exhibited a considerable 
falling off— in numbers, that is, not in quality. 
The same thing may be said of the South 
Downs, where the animals shown were very 
few but extremely choice. In fact, the con- 
spicuous feature in this year's show was the 
exhibition of the sheep, native to the district, 
the Cotswolds. The appearance of this breed 
elicited the admiration of every farmer, who 
all concurred in declaring that such a show 
of prime animals, all in the same class, never 
had been brought together before and that it 
would probably be long before they would be 
gathered together again. This breed of long 
woolled sheep has only of late'years attracted 
the attention of the public, but their merits 
are becoming every year more recognized. 
They are dow to be found scattered over the 
country, and are found to make an excellent 
cross with the South Downs." — Extract, from 
an English paper. 

We understand that Col. Josiah W. Ware 
of Berryville, Clarke county, is again the pur- 
chaser of the Cotswolds that took the high 
prizes this year at the above fair, and that they 
are now on their way to Virginia.— Ed. S. Pl. 



PROPOSED FAIR IN NORFOLK CITY. 

At a joint meeting of the Princess Anne 
and Norfolk County Agricultural Societies, 
held in the city of Norfolk on the 13th inst.: 

On motion of Thos. A. Hardy, Esq., Gen'l 
Henry B. Woodhouse was appointed Chair- 
man and W. H. C. Lovitt, Secretary. 

The following resolutions were offered by 
Thomas A. Hardy, Esq., and unanimously 
adopted: 

Resolved, That the Agricultural Societies of 
Princess Anne and Norfolk County unite in 
getting up and holding a fair in the city of 
Norfolk on the 15th day of November next, 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



315 



and that the two Societies share equally in, the 
privileges and responsibilities incident to the 
undertaking. 

R- solved, That a Commitieeof twelve mem- 
bers (one-half from each Society) be appointed 
to make arrangements for holding said fair, 
and the Societies shall be respectively respon- 
sible for the action of said committee, and 
that said committee have power to fill vacan- 
cies, and if necessary, to enlarge its number. 

Committee of arrangements appointed in 
pursuance of ihe foregoing resolutions: 

From Princess Anne Society, W. H. C. 
Lovitt, E. H Herbert, J. W. Old, E. Bur- 
rough*, H. F. Woodhoose and J. W. Lewis. 

From Norfolk Co. Society, W. H. Haynes, 
Thos. A. Hardy, S. March, Gen. H. Dashiel, 
P. S. Hancock and J. G. Hatton. 

On moiion, ordered that the proceedings be 
published in the Norfolk and Portsmouth 
papers. 



From the Farm Journal. 

THE CULTURE OF CAULIFLOWERS. 

Ffom ihe 15th to the 25th of September sow 
the seed in an open border. Let the plants 
remain until the 20th of October, when they 
will be small, having four leaves. Plant them 
dm four inches apart in a pit or frame, where 
you can protect them from the winter's Irost; 
let them remain there until the first week in 
January, then prepare your pit to grow them 
in. 

The pit should be eight feet wide, three feet 
deep in front, and four at the back. Get one 
load of leaves and one load of hot stable ma- 
nure — I mean in this proportion; have the 
leaves and manure well mixed a week or two 
before you intend to use it. and then fill the 
pit to what will settle down to twelve or four- 
teen inches; take then and get your soil, old 
sod three parts and one part manure— hog 
manure is the best; cover your bed over to 
the depth of at least eighteen inches; dig it 
nicely, then put on the sashes and keep them 
close for three days, when the liitle heat that 
the manure and leaves have created will be 
sufficient to give the pianis a start. This is 
all that is nece-sary, for if there be loo much 
heat, it will spoil all. Then mark out your 
bed, two rows to each sash, which should be 
three feet ten inches, and two niches lor the 
wood of the rafters. 

It will he understood that the plants were 
pri'ked-out in rows, so that ihey could be taken 
up wiih the trowel wiihout bre-iking any of 
the ball; set them five plants in the row, and 
two row,s to each sash; you plant, lettuce be- 
tween each plant in the row. and a drill ol 
short-top tirrnip radishes bei ween them. After 
yoo h'veall planted, let the sashes remain 
close for a day or two, when they will begin 
to show they have taken to the ground. You 



must ihen give all the air you possibly can — 
even take the sashes entirely oft in good wea- 
ther. They must be coveted every night with 
straw mats and shutters until the first of March, 
or longer, according to the season. 

By ihe I Oth of March they will require to 
be watered twice a week; leave off the sash 
every day you can; by ihe first of April give 
plenty of water — and by this means you can 
grow early cauliflowers as good as in any part 
of the world. I have groun them lour, five, 
and nearly six pounds. For the truth of this 
staiemeni, as to weight, &c. I refer you to the 
Tiansaciions of ihe Pennsylvania Horticul- 
tural Society, from 1833 until 1837, both years 
included. 1 took ihe premium so long as I 
cultivated the cauliflower. 

An Old Philadelphia Gardener. 

These remarks are intended for the latilude 
of Philadelphia, where the season is three 
weeks earlier in the fall than ours is. — Ed. S. 
Planter. 



PAYMENTS TO THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 
From 2G/A Au°vs' lo 26th September, 1853. 

William Irby to July 1 854 ^ 
T. B. Dyson to July 1854 | 
D. M Justiss to Julv 1854 [> $'4 16 

J. R. Jones to July 1854 | 
J. C. Hardv to July 1854 J 

J. S. Payne lo January 1855 2 00 

Rdward M. Tomkies to January 1854 2 00 

Major William Hill to October 1853 1 00 

James Wysong to July 1853 1 00 

Dr. R. C. Randolph to July 1854 1 00 

William A. Reese to September 1854 1 00 

John W. Scott to Julv 1854 1 00 

Ch-rles A. Scott to July 1854 2 00 

Joseph C. Haley to January 1854 1 00 

Daniel P. Lewis to July 1853 2 00 

M. H. Harris to January 1854 1 00 

William Rennolds to September 1853 1 00 

William Long to January 1854 1 00 

George Still man to Sep'smher 1854 1 00 

William Morton lo May 1854 1.00 

Roberi P Fickle to September 1851 1 00 

John R. Edmonds to July 1854 2 00 
Wm. A.Tnrner(forrection)to Jan. 1854 1 00 

Dr. W. .1. Harris to January 1854 1 00 

Dr. A. H Perkins to October 1853 1 00 

C. W. Dabnev lo July 1854 3 00 

William J Moore lo January 1854 2 00 

John Prait to March 1854 1 00 

J. L. Dean lo January 1854 1 00 

Rev. George Adie to July 1854 100 

J. M. Prav to July 1854 1 00 

Jc.hn W. Waikins to January 1854 2 00 

John H. Waikins to January 1854 2 00 

Joseph S. Thompson to January 1854 G 00 

J. A. Dalhy lo January 1854 1 00 

B H. Btight well to April 1854 1 00 

Jesse Jarratt lo July 1854 1 00 



316 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



Corbin Warwick to July 1854 SI 00 

John H. Eustace & Son to Sept. 1854 

Estate of D. D. Ross to October 1S54 

Estate of T. Barrett lo January 1854 

George VV. Carroll lo January 1855 

James H. Jameson to June 1854 

H. M. Dickinson to July 1852 

Thomas Scott to January 1853 

William M'Ooy to July 1854 

William Martin to January 1855 

James H. Lewis to January 1854 

M. L. Anderson to July 1854 

William K. Moss lo July 1854 

J. W. Shiflett to January 1855 

Dr. S. P. Hirgrove to July 1853 

Georee M. Terrill to September 1853 

John'White to July 1854 

George VV. Coleman lo July 1854 

N. VV. Elsom to July 1854 

H. Z. Shackelford to April 1854 

James E Chapman to July 1854 

D. C. Carver to January J854 
Thomas Garland lo July 1853 

E. T. Douglas to September 1853 
Jeremiah A. Earley to September 1854 
John M. Harvey to September 1854 
John C. Laird to June 1S54 
T. L. Ringzold to July 1854 
Albert G. Green to April 1854 
Dr. Robett Harrison to January 1854 
William C. Graves to July 1854 
Charles T. Graves lo September 1854 
Walter D. Leake to July 1854 
Rev. Samuel D. Steuan to June 1854 1 00 
George VV. Turner to September 1854 1 00 
Creed Taylor to July 1854 1 00 
Wm. B Hobson lo July 1854 1 00 
Wm. S Wallis to June" 1854 100 
Charles P Moncure to January 1854 2 00 
Wm. E. Gaskins to July 1854 1 
Wm. H Hatchetllo January 1854 6 
Wm.E B. Rnffin to January 1855 2 
Hugh H. Fallen to January 1854 2 
Mrs. Susan J. Jones to April 1854 1 
Alex S. Matthews to July 1854 3 
Henry Thompson to July 1854 1 
Howson A. Clarke to April 1854 1 
Wm J. Robertson to September 1853 1 
Ch. I. Cabaniss to September 1855 2 
John M'D Alexander to April 1854 1 
Wm H. Hite to September 1854 1 
W. B. Taylor to January 1854 \ 5 
Thomas Jones to January 1854 3 
James M. Brown to October 1853 2 
Samuel H. Hairston to January 1854 1 
A. T. Gordon lo September 1853 2 
George VV. Kyle to January 1854 1 
E. G. Leigh to January 1*54 5 
Carter H. Page to July 1854 1 
Tho nas H. Drew lo January 1853 1 
Dr G. P. Holeman lo January 1855 3 00 
Wm A. Wright to Decemher 1853 3 00 
Philip Thomas to September 1854 1 00 
J F. Edmunds lo March 1854 2 00 
S. D. B >ok»r to January 1855 5 01) 
Cephas Hardie to Jul v 1854 5 00 
G. Redman to July 1854 2 00 



00 
00 
(it) 
00 

on 

00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
01) 
00 
00 
00 
00 
(10 
00 
00 
00 
00 
0(1 
(10 
00 
00 
00 
1 CO 
1 00 
1 00 
1 00 

1 00 

2 00 



F. F. Jones to January 1853 $2 00 

Alexander Dudley to October 1853 1 00 

F. T. West to January 1854 1 00 

Col. John F. Finch to September 1854 1 00 

Thomas C. Reeks to September 1854 1 00 

Dr. W. E. Dodson to September 1854 1 00 

M. G. Almand to September 1854 1 00 

George S. Penn to September 1854 1 00 

John J. Daniel lo September 1854 1 00 

James Williamson to September 1854 1 00 

Joseph Snead to September 1854 1 00 

Charles B. Bomar to September 1854 1 00 

Thomas B. Wall to September 1854 1 00 

Jesse Adkisson to September 1854 1 00 

Thomas L. Jones to September 1854 1 00 

Thomas J. Lockett to September 1854 1 00 

James Whitice to September 1854 1 00 

Alfred Boyd to September 1854 1 00 

Wm. H. Blanch to September 1854 1 00 

D. N. Carter to September 1854 1 00 

S. C. Lockett to September 1851 1 00 

James H. Pattillo to September 1854 1 00 

Joseph W. Butler to September 1854 1 00 

Wm. Roffe to September 1854 1 00 

James Hays, Sr. to September 1854 1 00 

Robert H. Mason to September 1854 1 00 

Peter Puryear to September 1854 1 00 

John M. Hays to September 1854 1 00 

'James Bowers to September 1854 1 00 

Edward H. Toone to September 1854 1 00 

Dr. Tingnal Jones to January 1855 2 00 

John Duager to September 1854 1 00 

B. W Davis to September 1854 1 00 

J. S. Moss to September 1854 1 00 

Adam O. Daves to September 1854 1 00 

A. W. Hanserd to Septemher 1854 1 00 

Wm. H. Simmons to September 1854 1 00 
Col. W. Baskerville to September 1854 1 00 

Wm. J. Smith to September 1854 1 00 

Reps A. Barnes to September 1854 1 00 

Dr. David G. Smith to September 1855 2 00 

John Taylor to Septemher 1854 1 00 

P. Bracy to September 1854 1 CO 

Thos. H. Castleton to Sepiember 1854 1 00 

A. Thweatt to September 1854 1 00 

R. L. Cheely to September 1854 1 00 

W. M. Gill to September 1854 1 00 

Herbert Whitmore to January 1854 00 



STRPHEK H. FISHFR, MANUFAC- 
TURER OF BOOTS AND SHOES, 
No. 228, Broad Street, notih side, between 3d 
and 4th streets, Richmond, Virginia, keeps 
constantly on hand a full assortment of ready 
made Boots and Shoes of his own manufao- 
TutiE, for Ladies' and Children's wear, which 
he wilt sell as low as can be purchased in this 
city. 

Boots and Shoes for Gentlemen and Boys 
on hand, or made to order-flt short notice. 

Servants' Shoes of all qualities constantly 
on hand. 

SQrAll work warranted. 43 

idfiFarmers are invited lo give him a call. 

og— ly 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



317 



A MOST DESIRABLE FARM FOR SALE. 

QCQ ACRES of land, 16 miles from 
^t)0 Richmond, 70 acres beirg "James 
river low grounds" and the residue the best 
quality of up-land on a clay bottom, separated 
from the 70 acres by the "James River and 
Kanawha Canal," which passes through the 
farm, and over which there is"a bridge, to be 
supported in perpetuity at the expense of the 
Canal Company. The buildings on the farm 
are comfortable and beautifully located, com- 
manding the most picturesque view of James 
river. This farm offers peculiar advantages 
from the facility of communication with Rich- 
mond — one of the best markets in the coun- 
try — the proverbial fertility of "James river 
lands," and the fact that such a farm is rarely 
offered for sale. It will be sold unusually low, 
if application be made soon, and on accom- 
modating terms, with the growing crop of 
com, about 5 acres of Irish potatoes, catile, 
horses, mules and farming implements, in- 
cluding a new " Hussey's Reaper," &c. &c.&c. 

Apply, pre-paid, to 

GODDIN & APPERSON, 

Richmond, Va. 
Or to P.D.BERNARD, 

Publisher Southern Planter. 

Baltimore Sun, Philadelphia Ledger and 
National Intelligencer insert three times each 
and send accounts to this office for settlement. 

October 1, 1853—3t 



SUPERIOR FOWLS. 

I WILL offer for sale at the Virginia State 
Agricultural Fair a large number of the 
Cochin China, Shanghais, Bramah Pootraand 
other most desirable breeds of fowls. 

LEWIS BAILEY. 
' Fairfax, Oct. 1 , 1853- 2t 

A MORRIS, 97 Main Street, is constantly 
• supplied with all New and Standard 
Agricultural Works. ''The subscriber re- 
spectfully invites the attention oi the public, 
especially those visiting the Agricultural 
Fair, to his extensive assortment of Books 
on Aericulr.ure,iamong which may he found 

The Chemical Field Lectures for Agricul- 
turists, by Dr. J. A. Stockhardt; translated 
from the German : edited with notes by James 
E Te«ehema2her. 

The Field Book of Manures, or the Ame- 
rican Muck Book, treating of the na'ure, pro- 
perties, &c of all the principal manures in 
common use, by DJ. Brawn. 

The American Farm Book, or Compend of 
American Agriculture, being a practical trea- 
tise on soils, ma mi res. drain ins, &c.and every 
staple product of the United States, with the 
best methods of planting, cultivating and pre- 
paration for market, by R. L. Allen. 

Elements of Agricultural Chemistry and 
Geology, by James F. W. Johnston, M. A. 

The Monthly Jttirnal of Agriculture, con- 
taining the best current productions in promo- 



tion of agricultural improvement, including 
the choicest prize essays issued in .Europe 
and America, with original contributionsfrotn 
eminent farmers and statesmen, 3 vols. 8vo. 
John S. Skinner, Editor. 

The Principles of Agriculture, by Albert 
D. Thaer. 

The Farmer's arid Planter's Encyclopeedia 
of Rural Affairs, embracing all the most re- 
cent discoveries in agricultural chemistry, 
adapted to the comprehension of unscientific 
readers, by C. W. Johnson, Esq. 

European Agriculture and Rural Economy, 
from persona] observations, by HenryColman. 

Chemistry in its Application to Agriculture 
and Physiology, by Justus Liebig, M. D. 

The Book cf the Farm, detailing the labors 
of the farmer, ploughman, field worker, &c. 
by Henry Stephens. 

Elements of Scientific Agriculture, or the 
Connection Betwetn Science and the Art of 
Practical Farming, by John P. Norton, M. A. 
• An Essay on Calcareous Manures, by Ed. 
Ruffin: 5th ediiion, amended and enlarged. 

The Farmer's Barn-Book, by Claier, Youatt, 
Skinner and Mills. 

Together with many other valuable works 
on farming, the treatment and management of 
cattle, &c. 

A. MORRIS, 
Bookseller, Stationer and Dealer in 

oc— 3t Piano Fortes, 97 Main Street. 



AGRICULTURAL, WAREHOUSE. 

THE subscriber continues lo manufacture 
Agricultural Machines, viz. Horse Pow- 
ers, Threshers, Fan Mills, Hunt's Patent 
Wheat Drill, Hay Rakes, Hay Presses. Siraw 
Cutlers, Corn Shellers, Hillside and Subsoil 
Ploughs, Corn and Cob Crushers, Cultivators, 
Harrows, &c , all of which will be made in 
the -best manner and of the most approved 
patterns. My Horse Powerand Thresher with 
self-oiling box have been tested three seasons, 
and uniformly pronounced the best in use. 
Machines rep-rued, Castings in iron and brass 
furnished at short notice. 

H. BALDWIN, 
oc— 2t 148 Main street, Richmond. 



JEASY SHAVING. 

THE subscriber, a mechanic by profession, 
incapable by loss of health of pursuing 
his former laborious avocation, now devotes 
himself exclusively to the business of Setting 
Razors, Surgical Instruments, Tailors' shears, 
Merchants' and Ladies' Scissors. For this 
delicate art he possesses a peculiar facility in 
having much experience and a very superior 
and well tested hone. Razors and other in- 
struments prepared on this hone, and used ac- 
cording to the directions given by him, when 
of real good metal, will retain their edge lor 
a long time. 
oc-lt MICAJAII S. MEADOR. 



31S 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



No. 1 SUPER-PHOSPHATE OP LIME. 
rilHIS valuable fertilizer has been used for 

I several years ia England and other parts 
of Europe, and next to Guano, holds the high- 
est rank in popularity, and the extent to which 
it is used among farmers. Its introduction in 
this couniry has been more recent; but the 
progress it has made in the estimation of the 
public has not been less marked or successful 
than abroad. It is now extensively used 
throughout the Northern States, after a full 
trial and investigation of its merits; and it is 
rapidly becoming, like its predecessor, guano, 
a favorite manure at the South and West. 

It is composed of crushed or ground bones, 
decomposed by the addition of about one-fifth 
their weight of sulphuric acid, diluted with 
water, to which is added a due proportion of 
guano and sulphate of ammonia. The latter 
is the active and one of the most efficient 
agents in the best Peruvian guano. 

It is suited to any soil in which there is not 
already a full supply of the phosphates, which 
is seldom the case. All crops are benefited 
by its application. 

Forsale in largeorsmall quantities, in bags 
of 150 pounds each. No charge for packages. 
All bags will be branded "C. B. De Burg, 
No. 1 Super-Phosphate of Lime." 

For sale at R. L. ALLEN'S Agricultural 
Warehouse and Seed Store, 189 and 191, Wa- 
ter street, New York. se — 4t. 



ANALYSIS OF SOILS, &c. 

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

Persons desiring further information will 
please address 

WILLIAM GILHAM, 
Prof Chem. and Agriculture, V. M. I. 
Feb 1,1852. Lexington, Va. 



CHOICE POULTRY. 

THE subscriber offers for sale the following 
varieties of pure blooded Foiels, viz. Cochin 
China or Canton Fowls; Blac^k, Whitk, 
Bufp and Brown Shanghais; Chittagjngs 
or Gray Shanghais. 

The above are the largest and best variety 
of fowls bred in this country, and are from 
stock originally imported by the subscriber. 
Gentlemen, Poultry-keepers and others, desir- 
ous of procuring choice Poultry may depend 
upon the above siock being purely bred and 
warranted true to their name. Address 
CHARLES SAMPSON, 
West Roxbury, Mass. 
The different varieties of these beartiful 
fowls may be seen at my residence on First 
Street, between M;iin and Gary Streets. 

W A. BU TTERS. 139 Main Street. 
Richmond, Nov. 1, 1852— ly 



FOR SALE.— A fine farm near Mnrysville, 
Buckingham county, Virginia; well tim- 
bered, has good drinking water, fine grass, and 
is a desirable location for health and comfort. 
Farms in Talbot county, Eastern Shore of 
Maryland, on the salt water, in healthy sec- 
tions. Also, in Baltimore county, within 12 
miles of the city. 

Cotswold Rams, Ewes, Ram and Ewe 
Lambs from the best flock's in the United 
States. Also, Southdown Ram Lambs from 
fine flocks. 

Shanghai Fowls from different importations, 
and as grown by Professor James M'Clintock, 
for which, I am the only Maryland agent. 

Moor's Patent Premium Wheat Drills, on 
moie'accommodating terms, with the improve- 
ments. 

Letters of inquiry and orders, post paid, will 
receive prompt attention. 

MARTIN GOLDSBOROUGH, 
Asent, Harrisonvitte, Baltimore Co., Maryland. 
"july-tf 



AGENCY FOR THE PURCHASE AND 
SALE OF IMPROVED STOCK. 

STOCK Cattle of &11 the different breeds, 
Sheep, Swine, Poultry, &c. will be pur- 
chased to order, and carefully shipped to any 
partof the United Slates, for which a reasona- 
ble commission will he charged. Apply to 
AARON CLEMENT, Philadelphia. 
Refer to Gen. W.H.Richardson, Richmond, 
Virginia. 

N. B. — Allletters, post-paid, will beprompt- 
ly attended to. ap — tf 



SAUSAGE, OR PIE MEAT CUTTERS. 

LUDLAM'S celebrated pattern, improved 
by the undersigned. 

This Sausage Cutter received a Gold Medal 
at the Maryland State Fair of 1853, also, at the 
Mechanic's Institute, as being the very best 
article on exhibition. It possessps a number 
of advantages which are not to be found in 
any other machine, viz: the krrives can be 
taken out and cleaned. The whole article is 
of iron, very compact and durable, and war- 
ranted to cut four limes the amount of any 
other machine in the market, and 33j- per cent, 
cheaper. Price S5 50. A liberal deduction 
to the trade. None genuine as the. premium 
and improved article without our label. 

Also, ourimproved Sausage Filler or Stuffer. 
All of the above articles can be forwarded by 
express at a very small Expense. 

F. B. DIDIER & BRO. 
No. 97, N. Paca, near Franklin St., Baltimore. 

oct— 2t. 



CHESTER PIGS. 

THREE Pair Genuine Chester Pigs, four 
months old, raised from the stock of Mr. 
Dobbin of Maryland, for sale by 

THOMAS BRANCH, 
Oct. 1,1853— 2t- Petersburg. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



319 



AN ESSAY ON CALCAREOUS MANURES, 

BY EDMUND RUFFIN, a practical Far- 
mer of Virginia froin 1812; founder and 
sole editor of the Farmers' Register; Member 
and Secretary of the former State Board of 
Agriculture; formerly Agricultural Surveyor 
of\he State of South Carolina, and President 
of the Virginia State Agricultural Society; 
fifth edition, amended and enlarged. 

Published by J. W. Randolph, 121, Main 
street, Richmond, Virginia, and for sale by 
him and all other Booksellers; fine edition, 
8vo. printed on good paper, and strongly bound, 
library style S2; cheap edition, 12mo. 31 25— 
copies sent by mail, post paid, to those who 
remit the price. 

A large proportion of this publication con- 
sists of new matter not embraced in the pre- 
ceding edition. The new additions or amend- 
ments serve to present all the new and impor- 
tant lights on ihe general subject of the work, 
derived from the author's later observation of 
facts, personal experience and reasoning found- 
ed on these premises. By such new additions 
the present edition is increased more than one- 
third in size, notwithstanding the exclusion of 
much of the least important matter of the pre- 
ceding edition, and of all portions before in- 
cluded, that were not deemed essential to the 
argument and necessary to the utility of the 
work. 

"This work is from a Virginia gentleman, 
whose contributions to agricultural science 
have already given an extensive popularity. 
Mr. Rnffin is a practical farmer, of great in- 
telligence, and is eminently competent to im- i 
part information on the subject, which has 
for so many years engaged his attention." — 
Methodist Quarterly Review. 

The Southern Planter, in speaking about the 
cultivation of Irish potatoes and liming, says: l 

"But for the details of that business, we I 
would refer our correspondent to a book, which 
if he hasnotnow, we beg for his own credit that 
he will get as soon as he goes to Richmond. We i 
mean the final edition of the Essay on Calca- 
reous Manures." 

"The farmers of Virginia have just reason 
to thank both the author and publisher for this 
enlarged and improved edition of a most valu- 
able book." — Hern. Willovghby Newton, je — tf 

SCHOOL, FOR SMALL. BOYS. 

HAVING employed a competent teacher 
to educate my children, I wish to get five 
or sfx boys, not more than twelve years old, as 
boarders. The whole nnmber of pupils will 
not be allowed to exceed twelve or fourteen. 
The teacher is a good classical and mathema- 
tical scholar and a gentleman in whose capa- 
city, fidelity and high character I have entire 
confidence. The school will commence the 
first of October and terminate the middle of 
August, with a short recess at Christmas. 
Terms— ?;130 per annum for every thing. 

FRANK: G. RUFFIN, 
July, 1853. Shadwell, Albemarle. 



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



DR. VALENTINE'S RECIPE FOR 
MAKING ARTIFICIAL GUANO. 

No. 1. Dry Peat,* - - 20 bushels ' 

No. 2. Wood Ashes, 3 bushels 

No. 3. Fine Bone Dust, - - 3 bushels 

No. 4. Calcined Plaster, , - 3 bushels 

No. 5. Nitrate of Soda, '- - 40 pounds 
No. 6. Sal Ammoniac, - - 22 pounds 
No. 7. Carb Ammonia, 11 pounds 

No. 8. Sulph: Sodae, - - 20 pounds 
No. 9. Sulph: Magnesia, - 10 pounds 

" 10. Common Salt, - - 10 pounds 

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

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

Having furnished the above to a number of 
farmers who have tested its qualities — many 
thinking it equal to natural guano — the sub- 
scribers have made arrangements to furnish 
any quantity during this season, and will sell 
the ingredients exclusive of the Peat, Wood 
Ashes, Plaster and Salt, (articles on every 
farm,) at the low price of 3510 per ton. One 
sugar hogshead will hold ingredients enough 
for five tons. All orders will be carefully and 
promptly executed, and sent to any part of the 
State. R. R. DUVAL & BRO. 

Chemists and Druggists, corner above the Ame- 
rican Hotel, Richmond, Va. oc — tf 

FOR SAL.E OR TRADE. 

A FINE FARM, containing over 500 acres, 
lying in Hanover County, Virginia, and 
one for sale in Buckingham County, containing 
over 800 acres; also a number of the finest 
Cotswold Sheep, and the best lot of improved 
fowls in the United Slates. 
Address (post paid) 

MARTIN GOLDSBOROUGH, 
Agent. 
Harrisonville, Baltimore Co., Md. au— tf 



320 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



'CONTENTS OF NUMBER X. 



Guano 289 

Lime 291 

Joint Worm 291 

What is Chemistry doing for Agriculture? .292 
Brining and Liming in preventing Smut in 

Wheat 294 

Grape Vines 294 

Put notyourtrustin Damask Rose Bushes. 294 

How to Keep Harness in Order 295 

Merino Sheep for Mutton 295 

Points of Different Breeds of Cattle 296 

Professor Mapes 297 

The Shepherd's Dog 298 

Ashes ane Guano 300 

Best Breed of Mutton Sheep 301 

Cure for Scratches in Horses 304 

Cooper's Lime Spreader— with a Cut . . . .304 

Warning to Delinquent Subscribers 305 

The District Agricultural Societies of the 

State 305 

Chilian Clover Seed 306 

De Burg's Super-Phosphate of Lime 306 

Nuttsville Agricultural Club 307 

Guano 307 

Southern Central Agricultural Society . . .308 

Liberal Premiums 309 

Alfalfa, or Chilian Clover Seed 309 

A Tobacco Project 310 

August No. of the Planter for 1853 wanted. 31 1 

Sale of Imported Stock in Kentucky 312 

Easy Shaving 312 

Agricultural Fair in the City of Norfolk.. 313 
The Judges at the State Agricultural So- 
cieties 313 

Orange County Subscriptions to the Slate 

Agricultural Society 313 

Wheat Drill with a Guano Attachment . .313 

French Merinos 313 

Cotswold Sheep at the Fair of the Royal 
Agricultural Society in England in 1853.314 

The Culture of Cauliflowers 314 

Proposed Fair in Norfolk City 314 



The address of Frank: G. Rufpin, Esq. is 
Shadwell, Albemarle County, Virginia. Per- 
sons who have business with him had better 
send their letters to the above address if they 
wish it promptly attended to. 

P. D. Bernard. 



BOOKS, PIANOS, MUSIC, &C. 

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

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



AGENCY. 

I AM willing to assist gentlemen in purchas- 
ing and selling farms, stock, and poultry of 
every description; to attend to receiving and 
properly forwarding animals; also, to procure 
suitable overseers and laboring men for farm- 
ers and planters: all of which will be attended 
to for a small commission. My position as 
Marshal of the Maryland State Agricultural 
Society gives me advantages of knowing ma- 
ny men, and most good stock, which with my 
general knowledge of land induces me to ex- 
tend the agency to land, men and stock. I 
have some fine farms to sell in Talbot county, 
and several in Baltimore county: subject to 
my order a number of prize animals, saddle 
and other stallions, and a few fine mares; 
Durhams, Devons, Alderney, and Ayrshire; 
pure long wooled sheep from the best "flock in 
the United Slates; Chester and Suffolk pigs; 
Shanghai and other new and large fowls; also, 
two fine Jacks. All letters post paid, will re- 
ceive prompt attention. 

MARTIN GOLDSBOROUGH. 
Harrisonvillc, Baltimore Co., Md. 
Refer to 

C. B. Calvert & C. Hill, Washington City; 
G. W. Hughs, West River, Md ; J. N. Golds- 
borough, Easton, Md.; R. McHenery, Emer- 
ton, Md.; S. G. Fisher, Philada., Pa.; C. P. 
Holcomb, Wilmington, Del.; Col. J. W. Ware, 
Berry ville, Va.; I. G. Wright, Wilmington, N. 
Carolina; J. W. H. Brownfield, Charleston, S. 
C; McGill Robinson, Louisville, Ky.; Wm., 
A. Lake, Vicksburg, Miss.; Dr. Henry M. 
Robinson, Hunisville, Ala.; T. Hayward, and 
Maj. R. Hayward, Tallahassee, Florida. 

mar — tf 

WILLIAM P. LADD, 

APOTHECARY AND DRUGGIST, 

No. 319, head of Broad Street, Shockoe Hill, 

Richmond, Virginia. 

DEALER in English, Mediterranean, India 
and all Foreign and Domestic Drugs and 
Medicines; also, Paints, Oils, Varnish, Dye- 
Stuffs, Window Glass, Putty, &c. For sale 
on the most accommodating terms. 

f^ Orders from Country Merchants and 
Physicians thankfully received and promptly 
attended to 
ja 1851— tf 



SUFFOLK PIGS. 

THE subscribers are prepared to receive 
orders for pure Suffolk Pigs, bred from 
stock imported in 1848 by the late William 
Stickney, also by the subscribers in January 
last. Address 

JOSIAH STICKNEY, 

Waterlon, 
Or, ISAAC STICKNEY, 
Boston, Mass. 
Boston, August, 1853 — 6t.