THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 

ScbotetJ to ggrfmlture, ^ovttcultur?, autr the ^ousehoiu &vt%. 

Agriculture is the nursing mother of the I Tillage and Pasturage are the two breasts 
Arts. — Xenophcn. of the Stale. — Sully. 



FRANK: G. RUFFIN, Editor. 



P. D. BERNARD, Proprietor. 



Vol. XIII. 



RICHMOND, NOVEMBER, 1853. 



No. 11. 



For the Southern Planter. 

BARLEY AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR OATS 
AND WHEAT— JOINT WORM. 

Mr. Editor —\ often regret my inability to 
contribute more freely to the noble cause of 
agriculture, through your valuable periodical, 
in which 1 am daily feeling more and more 
interest. But if I cannot communicate, I can 
a^k for information, and throw out suggestions. 
I have long thought that, although Indian corn 
is so important an article of cultivation, too 
much of so exhausting a crop is aimed at in 
this country. In casting about for a substitute 
I have been led to think that barley might. 
probably, answer this purpose better than any 
other grain. It is said to thrive well in light, 
dry and friable soils, if rich, and to yield, per 
acre, more than any other small grain. I have 
read in the Memoirs of the Agricultural So- 
ciety of Pennsylvania, that two brothers — I 
think by the name of Cooper— gained a pre- 
mium for raising one hundred and seventeen 
bushels of barley per acre for two successive 
years. Now, most of us would think we were 
doing pretty well could we make one-third of 
that quantity per acre of any grain, good for 
feeding animals. That it is good for this pur- 
pose may be inferred from the fact, that the 
excellent horses of Arabia are said to be sup- 
plied with no other grain besides barley. An- 
other reason why, in this immediate section, 
some new grain should be sought for, arises 
from the fact, that for some three or four years 
we have not been able to make the oat crop, 
except on thf; richest land, pay charges for 
cultivation. For the fast two or three years I 
have been trying the Polish, or Multicole rye. 
I should be greatly pleased with this, did it 
not seem to be utterly impracticable to prevent 
its ir.termingling with and befouling the wheat 
crops Whether barley could stand the long 
cold droughts, to which our spring time is so 
liable, any better than oats, is yet to be tried. 
I think it would, as I made two small crops of 
it seventeen and eighteen years ago, when the 
springs were cold and dry, yielding much bet- 
ter than I expected, on quite poor land. I was 
induced to abandon its culture from inability 
to cb-an off the beards, or aims, as, I believe, 
they are called in Scotland. Moreover, the 
worm is making its appalling appearance 
among in, and although they have not come 
Vol.XIIL— 11. 



in sufficient abundance to damage our last 
cropol wheat materially, yet there were enough 
to make us inquire anxiously what we should 
do when their myriads shrill have completely 
marshaled themselves upon us. We will then 
sadly need a substitute for the wheal crop.* 

I have stated these opinions and facts, with 
a view of begging you to inform me, if you 
can, and if you cannot, to aid me in inquiring 
whether there be not, and if there be, where 
attainable, a machine, of moderate cost, called, 
in Scotland, I believe, a "hummelling ma- 
chine," made to remove the formidable beards, 
or aims, from barley. I wish, also, to learn, 
whether there be a market in Richmond for 
barlev. The water of the James and that of 
the Thames are said to be exactly alike, as 
regards the admixture of limestone and free- 
stone. It seems strange, then, that no one has 
attempted to make something equal to London 
porter in Richmond. If there ever was a 
brewery there I have not heard of it. A good 
market for barley might afford great relief to 
that portion of our State afflicted with the 
joint worm. I know nothing of the present 
price of barley in Baltimore, but a lew years 
ago it brought there one dollar per bushel. 
Could we get that price for it in Richmond 
we might afford greatly to curtail our crops of 
wheat until the calamity of joint worm be 
overpast. 

* The barley crop unfortunately is, or was, as 
much infested by the joint worm as wbset, anil 
cannot, therefore, substitute it. The first accounts 
we hare of the insect were from Boston and its vi- 
cinity, where it appeared in 1S28-9, and made such 
destructive attacks on barley that its cultivation 
was discontinued. In fact, its scientific name,Eurj - 
toma Hordei, as our correspondent will see arose 
from its attacks on that crop — a name given to 
it by the learned Dr. Harris of Cambridge Uni- 
versity. Were it not for this, we should advocate 
the cultivation of barley as a substitute for oats, 
thinking it, though our opinion is based on theoreti- 
cal principles, not only a better food for horses than 
oats but also better adapted to our climate than that 
cereal, though it requires richer land. But afte r 
all, the true substitute for the wheat crop, to a great 
extent and one which should be resorted to, whether; 
the joint worm increases or not, is fine wool. We 
venture to predict that the fine country in which 
our friend resides will never be redeemed except 
by sheep, more particularly fine wool .sheep, that is 
to say, Saxon or some other variety of the Merino. — 
Eo. So. Planter, 



322 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



I cannot tell what effect the introduction of 
porter as a common beverage might have on 
the temperance cause. Far be it from me to 
wish evil to that cause when I say that I 
think it would be much better than the com- ! 
moti use of vile and poisonous whiskey. But 
I believe that all history will testily that sud- 
den or violent changes in national habits and 
institutions have been either impracticable or 
injurious. Even the benign influences of Chris- 
tianity have been very gradually diffused over 
part of the earth. In morals, I would cer- 
tainly say, "of two evils choose neither;" but 
if one of them be inevitable, I would prefer the 
least. On this principle I have long doubted 
whether the culture of the grape in Virginia, 
with the view of obtaining cheap native wine, 
might not go far towards abolishing the shame- 
ful use of whiskey. 

As my unfortunate introduction to the joint 
worms has been so recent it might become me 
to say nothing of the destructive little imps, 
whose name, it seems, is legion. But as i 
have mentioned them, I will make a sugges- 
tion. In time of harvest I cut off some of 
the joints of wheat straw containing them in 
the chrysalis state, and put them in a bottle, 
tying a bit of cloth over its mouth, that I 
might see to what they would turn. Being in 
Albemarle not long since I happened to men- 
tion to some friends, better acquainted with 
them than myself, that they remained in statu 
quo, and that I could find them, unchanged, in 
great numbers in my stubble fields. They 
readily informed me that I might find them in 
the same condition until after Christmas. If, 
then, nature has given them their law, that 
they should be preserved, from year to year, 
above ground, in the stubble, to propagate 
their species, it is hardly probable that they 
could be preserved alive under ground, were 
it well ploughed as soon as practicable after 
harvest. It is true, that many of them are 
reaped off at harvest and carried to the thresh- 
ing machine. Such as escape destruction in 
passing through this machine — and it seems 
that multitudes do — are exposed to be eaten 
by cattle, trampled under foot amongst the 
manure, or pressed down in stacks from which 
it is presumable that not many could escape 
in the fly state, should they hatch in the heart 
of the stacks. Should such escape, however, 
be feared, the straw might be spread and 
turned under ground with the stubble, or in 
some other place. In that case, ample provi- 
sion should be made for feeding cattle, by 
saving clover and other kinds of hay enough, 
and the wheat straw would be fine manure, 
whilst we might be killing the joint worms, 
by burying them alive. It is true, that such 
management would destroy the young elove"r 
among the stubble. This might be obviated 
by sowing clover seed elsewhere than among 
wheat. Or the seed might be reserved and 
sown by itself, after fallowing the stubble. 
The crop of clover, in that case, would be 
much more abundant and uniform, as I know 



from experience, and come to maturity just 
as soon as if it had been sown on the wheat. 

I perhaps ought to stale before closing, that 
I sowed a dozen bushels of Troy, or Coad 
wheat, last fall. This is a very large variety 
of wheat, having coarse bristly beards, and 
straws big enough for pipe stems. After dili- 
gent search I found joint worm in but one 
straw of this wheat, and even that had a head 
of good wheat on it. Such experience is not 
sufficient to demand undoubting confidence of 
me, yet it is worth remembering, and will in- 
duce me to sow more largely of this variety 
on ihe approaching seed time. 

Theories, surmises and suggestions are, for 
such a journal as yours, far less valuable than 
practical details; but on a subject of such in- 
calculable importance, I thought that the ma- 
nifestation of even a wish to do good might 
find favor in your sight. 

Most respectfully, &c. 

W. S. Morton. 

Cumberland, Sept. 17, 1853. 

P. S.— I ought to have stated that according 
to the best investigations I could make the 
joint worms travelled about twenty miles* fur- 
ther south during ihe last year. I judge, how- 
ever, from rumors which have reached me, 
that their migrations are divergent in every 
direction. I ought, also, to have said that ac- 
cording to the plan proposed — or perhaps any 
other, it might require concert of action among 
the wheat growers of the community to exter- 
minate the joint worm; yet I would suppose 
that any individual, by vigilant watchfulness 
and effort,.might profitably diminish their ra- 
vages on his own premises. 

W. S. M. 



For the Southern Planter. 
THE PEACH. 

Mr . Editor, — I have been applied to by many 
persons for information relative to my mode 
of cultivating the peach, and I conceive the 
most convenient and acceptable medium of 
communication with such persons will be 
through the Southern Planter, and hope you 
will be so kind as to allow me to use it. I 
have been paying close personal attention to 
the improvement of fruit generally for the last 
ten years, and with the peach have succeeded 
beyond my most sanguine expectations. The 
first thing to be done to have good peaches is 
to select a site for the orchard near the curti- 
lage, and enclose it. This is very important, 
for many persons plant trees in large fields, 
and promise themselves that "at some more 
convenient season" they will enclose it. This 
season never arrives, but summer comes, with 
all its multiplied demands upon their labor, 

* About the rate of migration on the north side 
of James river. — Ed. So. Planter. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



323 



and the orchard fence is neglected for the more j 
urgent demands of Vie crop. By and by the i 
grass in this field is wanted for the cattle — I 
they cannot do without it; it is worth more 
than the yoang trees; there is no time now I 
for fencing, and in the cattle are turned. The 
consequence is, in a few days every tree is 
seridusly inj area or entirely destroyed. I speak 
feelingly on this subject, Mr. Editor, for I speak 
from sad experience. 

Any soil is better suited to the peach tree 
than a stiff, tenacious one. The ground should 
be perfectly broken with a three-horse plough, 
followed by a large subsoil coulter. Then, in 
November or December, give it a dressing of 
thirty wagon loads per acre of well rotted 
stable or farm-pen manure, and incorporate it 
with the soil by harrowing or with a one-horse 
plough. No manure that is liable to go through 
a fermentation should be applied to trees, par- 
ticularly the peach, exceptin winter. February 
is the best month for transplanting peach trees, 
though any time from the first of November, 
until the fruit buds begin to show a little of 
their pink bloom in spring, will answer. Be- 
fore the trees are taken from the nursery dig 
holes twenty feet apart, two feet in depth and 
width. The depth of surface-soil should be 
laid on one side and the subsoil scatiered, and 
its place filled with virgin earth. If the trees 
are brought from a distance, unpack the bun- 
dles and place their roots in a trench and cover 
them with fine earth and water them copiously. 
If it is inconvenient to plant immediately, they 
may remain in this situation for several days 
without injury. Before you plant, prune each 
tree/ree?y(fornurseryraenrarely pruneenoagh) 
and examine about the collar and crown of 
the roots for the borers, or peach warms, and 
destroy them. Plant the tree one or two inches 
deeper than it stood in the nursery; spread the 
roots out, and while the surface-soil is being 
shovelled in pack closely with the foot, taking 
care not to throw in any large lumps of ma- 
nure, and finish by leaving the earth about the 
root in the form of a basin, to receive the rain 
or watering, if the ensuing season should be 
dry. Drive a stake by each tree and tie the 
tree to it with a soft string, first wrapping the 
stake with an old rag where it comes in con- 
tact with the tree. The orchard should be 
cultivated for five or six years in some hoe- 
crop. Never let any other than a one-horse 
plough go into it, and not that if you have 
time to spade it, for after you have taken every 
precaution — wrapped the traces, cautioned the 
driver, &c. some of the trees will be injured, 
A crop of Irish potatoes, planted early and 
covered deep with straw or leaves, is, perhaps, 
the best crop for a young orchard, as it will 
allow cuffee and his plough as few visits as 
any other crop, and at the same time keep the 
land open and moist. The next spring after 
planting remove a little of the earth from 
around the crown of the roots, and examine 
tot the borer. His presence will be indicated 
by the exuded gurn that is deposited about the 
11 L 



wound that he has made in the bark; cut in 
after him with a knife and remove him. After 
examining every tree in this manner, make a 
small mound around each about six or eight 
inches high, of air slaked lime and leached 
ashes, or ashes alone, if lime is not conve- 
nient, or even earth, if you have nothing better. 
This should be done before June, and remain 
until October, as the wasp which produces the 
borer deposits its eggs in the time between 
those months. The lime and ashes will lie 
so close to the tree that when the young grub 
or borer is hatched he cannot get down to the 
soft bark, or else he is killed by the lime or 
ashes. Afterfrost this mound should be scraped 
from, and scatiered under the tree, and the 
collar of the tree left exposed during winter, 
so that if there are any young worms that 
have not effected an entrance into the tree 
they will be destroyed by the cold weather. 
Then in spring make another mound about 
each tree. This practice should continue re- 
gularly from year to year. Lime and ashes 
are the best fertilizers that can be applied to 
young trees in summer, provided the one has 
been slaked and the other dripped or leached. 

The February after the trees have produced 
their first crop of fruit their limbs should all be 
"shortened in," by cutting off about one-half 
of the previous summer's growth. This will 
remove near one-half of all the bearing wood, 
as wood that is more than one year old never 
bears fruit, and consequently will diminish the 
number of peaches, but will give the same 
amount by measure, but of a much more supe- 
rior quality. By this mode of pruning you 
improve the health of the tree, the limbs are 
shorter and stronger, and as the weight of fruit 
is nearer the body of the tree they are not so 
liable to be broken off. The trunk of the tree, 
that is, from the root to the limbs, should be 
about three feet. For more minute direction 
of this subject I would refer to "Downing's 
Fruit and Fruit Trees of America," one of 
the best books, if not the very best of its kind, 
it has ever been my good fortune to meet with. 

The disease known as yellows is one cause 
of discouragement to those who plant peach 
trees. But I am convinced it is not so great 
a scourge as persons are apt to think it. By 
some the disease is considered contagious, but 
from my own experience, I am inclined to 
. think it is only constitutional — produced ori- 
ginally by over-bearing and general neglect of 
tillage and pruning. It may be spread by 
planting seed from a diseased tree, or by bud- 
ing or grafting from a diseased tree. This 
disease is known by the premature ripening of 
the fruit, the yellowish appearance of the £o- 
liage,»and the general unhealthy appearance 
of the tree. It is sometimes the case that only 
a part of the tree is diseased at first. I have 
restored trees, that were entirely diseased, to 
luxuriance and fruitfulness by plucking off all 
the fruit and scattering slaked lime and leached 
ashes very liberally around them as far out as 
I the limbs extended, and by using the pruning 



324 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



knife very freely the next winter, and never 
allowing ihem afterwards to bear an over- 
abundant crop. 

I hope my brother farmers will not think 
this too much la'bor to bestow upon this most 
delicious of all fruits, when I tell them that 
one acre of peach trees, thus treated, will af- 
ford peaches enough for a family of forty — 
white and black — and will only require, aiv- 
nuo.lly, the labor of one hand for two toeeks. 
There are many things necessary to be done, 
but there is but little time required for each; this 
time may all be saved if the farmer will put 
his own hands to the work, and debar himself, 
occasionally, the pleasure of attending court, 
or go less frequently to the store, post office or 
blacksmith's shop, to waste his time in retailing 
scandal or "talking politics." 

I add a list of the best peaches that I culti- 
vate, naming them in the order they stand in 
my estimation. First comes the Old Mixon, 
then the Large Malta, the Royal Kensington, 
Early Red Rareripe, Cary's Large Red, White 
and Red Heath, Lemon, and Early Yellow 
Pineapple. I have always gotten the very 
best trees from Messrs. Joseph Sinton & Sons, 
Richmond, Va. They have a large nursery 
and an extensive variety of fruit trees, and I 
feel safe in recommending them to my brother 
farmers as perfectly reliable. Persons wishing 
trees would do well to refer the nurseryman 
to their commission merchants, where they 
are not personally acquainted. 
Very respectfully, 

P. H. Goodloe. 
Bloom field, Oct. 1, 1853. 



For the Southern Planter. 

IMPORTANT IF TRUE. 

Mr. Editor, — The tobacco fly, or flea, which 
is so destructive to young tobacco plants in 
early spring, often produces a failure in plants 
in many localities, and a consequent short 
crop, as must be the case'this year. George 
P. Richardson, Esq. a practical and very suc- 
cessful planter and farmer of. this county, as- 
sures me that the little depredator can be 
fenced out with absolute certainty, and at very 
little expense. I do not know whether the 
plan of defence is original with him or not, 
but he assures me, from experience, that no 
plant-patch that is fenced in soon after being 
burned in winter, by planks from twelve to 
fourteen inches wide, set up longitudinally, 
and with the ends well adj-tested to each other, 
so as to enclose the patch Wth a close plank 
fence twelve or fourteen inches high, will ever 
suffer fr<tm the depredations of the fly, or flea. 
I feel confident that this mode of defence will 
prove effectual, not only from what I know of 
friend Richardson as a practical planter, but 
from what I have observed of the manners 



and customs of the insect. He seems to travel 
by jumping, and not by 'flying or craicUng,&f\&. 
I hardly think he can jump over a plank four- 
teen inches high. 

A Small Planter. 
Halifax, Sept. 15, 1853. 



For the Southern Planter. 

WHEAT REAPERS AND DRILLS 

Mr. Editor,— Ms. Edwin G. Booth in his 
communication to the Planter has invited any 
farmer to give any report he may choose on 
the subject of reaping machines or farm im- 
plements in general. Now as I have been in 
the habitual use of them for several years I 
will make report of the only two descriptions 
of reapers I have seen used, viz. MCormick's 
and Hussey's. My reasons for doing so are, 
that on -Chricoke farm M'Cormick's reaper 
was first used — and Mr. Booth advocates a 
machine of Hussey's which has cut its fifth 
harvest at Chricoke — there is a M'Cormick's 
reaper which has gone through five consecu- 
tive harvests, and is still a good machine. 
On an adjoining farm — Oak Spring — one of 
Hussey's was used this last harvest — a very 
fine implement it is too— which, new from the 
shop with a good team of four mules, changed 
every few hours, and some seventeen hands, 
cut from twelve to thirteen acres a day through 
the harvest. M'Cormick's, with a similar 
team and twenty-seven hands, cut from twenty 
to twenty-one acres a day. The wheat on 
both fields averaged about seventeen bushels 
per acre. Both machines cut day by day with- 
out any accident. Both cut as clean as possi- 
ble. It was highly exciting to ride from one 
field to the other and see them. The servants 
who worked Hussey's had for several harvests 
previous worked M'Cormick's, and preferred 
it to the former, on account of its cutting a 
foot more in breadth, being easier to rake the 
wheat from, and being a much easier dratight, 
requiring, too, a slower gait for the horses. 
Hussey's, though, is better, from having four 
wheels for the necks of the tongue horses, as 
there is no perpendicular pressure; but as the 
weight is farther off, the draught is conse- 
quently greater. M'Cormick's could be easily 
worked by four wheels, as Mr. Booth proposed 
for Hussey's. My preferences are for M'Cor- 
mick's, because we were the first to use and 
recommend his machine; also, because it is a 
more complete implement. It catches and 
holds the straw wl$le it cuts it. On the other 
hand, Hussey's machine requires the straw to 
be caught and held by the man who rakes, 
which is a severe operation of a hot day, when 
the wind blows the way the machine is run- 
ning—a thing that occurred the last harvest. 
There was wind almost every day, and work 
the machine as you would, half the time the 
wind was from the machine. Mr. Booth also 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



325 



recommended Hussey's reaper because it cut 
clover well. That it ma}' do, but that was not 
tifae object of its invention. To cut wheat was 
its original design, and to that we ought to 
look. When called on to decide the merits of 
a grain reaper, we do not consider its capabili- 
ties as a hay mower any more than if called 
op to iook at a set of grain cradles we would 
say you can't mow clover with these. The 
capability of Hussey's machine to mow clover 
or any other hay comes under another head. 
M'Corrrflck invented his reaper to cut wheat, 
and it succeeds. He has a machine for mow- 
ing hay. The reaper is the one in question. 
Mr. M'Cormick has done his machine great 
irijastiee by the infamous way in which he 
allows them to be built. I have had three at 
a lime in a field, and neither would work, yet 
the plan of the machine was not at fault — it 
was the workmanship. In this neighborhood 
there are several farmers who use M'Cormick's 
reaper who, like myself, have had good and 
bad ones, and will make the same report that 
1 do. Mr. Allen, the owner of Curie's Neck, 
either published, or caused to be published, a 
recommendation of, M'Cormick's reaper after 
the trial on his farm, and he emphatically 
gave the credit to him. Another reason why 
1 prefer M'Otfrmick's reaper, if it is only com- 
paratively as good as the rest, is, he is a Vir- 
ginian, and I have heard the other inventors 
were not. I believe sometlvnggood can come 
out of Nazareth, and choose to prefer it. All 
that I have said, though, is merely in favor of 
my choice, not to deteriorate the other imple- 
ments at all, for if I had not one of M'Cor- 
mick's. or if I could not obtain one that would 
work well, I would certainly get one of Hus- 
sey's. To a farmer unacquainted with ma- 
chinery, Hussey's is probably the best suited. 
Not having a reel makes it rather more sim- 
ple, and shoving straight out behind, appears 
easier until fully tried. Mr. Booth said raking 
straight out behind made (he hands work more 
briskly than where it came off" at the side. I 
in not think so. It requires more binders, 
and, consequently, leaves fewer toaters and 
shockers: causes the overseer to fret more, 
and is altogether more provoking. Should a 
sinale binder leave his place to step aside, his 
place moft be instantly supplied or the horses 
trample the cut down wheat. Should any 
cause make it necessary to push the shocking, 
the reaper must stop, unless you have a full 
f >f< : ; alsd, the entire time of the manager is 
required to the reaper and the binders. With 
the other machine you may cut at will, bind 
at will and shock as you choose. The farmer, 
however, is benefited by them all, and I hope 
all may be enough encouraged to stimulate 
them to still greater improvement, as well as 
to lower the price of them all, which at pre- 
sent is one-third more than is necessary. 

The drilling- machine is also a useful imple- 
ment and suits the tide water sections of our 
Htate very well. The lands are alluvial, and 
easily cultivated, presenting no maierial ob- 



struction to cultivation after they are once 
freed from stumps and roots. Amongst the 
advantages of the drill is the uniform depth it 
deposits the gram, which may be regulated to 
suit the soil as well as the judgment of the 
farmer. Two inches we consider a good depth, 
and usually set the drill to it. The little 
trenches made by the hoes of the drill are a 
decided benefit to the wheat; they break the 
keenness of the wind from about the roots of 
the wheat; besides, when the ground heaves, 
from the action of frost, the dirt crumbles; 
from the sides of those little trenches and co- 
vers the roots. The trenches are all the time, 
from their nature, pressing together, which 
prevents the earth from being so loose about 
the roots of the wheat, making them less sus- 
ceptible of cold. This is apparent ftom the 
uniform color of the wheat through the winter. 
No harrow can cover wheat a uniform depth, 
particularly as much as two inches. There 
must be some placep where the wheat is barely- 
covered; other places where the grain is car- 
ried to the bottom of the teeth. On Pajnunkey 
land a small amount of preparation^ neces- 
sary for the drill. If the land is well broken, 
the swarth well buried, and the land ploughed 
some three or four weeks before it is seeded, 
no harrowing is absolutely necessary; once 
makes the soil more friable and uniform, and 
is best; more than that is unnecessary. Even 
when land is fallowed early, when a considera- 
ble cover of crab-grass, fox-tail and wire- 
grass, has grown on it, heavy harrows, with 
new teeth, being run over it enough to scarify 
the soil, the drill will do good work, and the 
wheat be as good as elsewhere; though until 
late in the winter it will make no show. On 
corn land, where there is a cover of peas 
turned in, or much crab-grass ploughed under, 
the drill is awkward, and had best be let alone. 
But should there be neither peas nor crab- 
grass, if after cutting down the corn, a single 
plough be run down each stubble row, so as 
to throw out the stubble, as well as level the 
ridge, the drill will work finely, and the wheat 
be probably a little better than where the land 
is first ploughed and the wheat harrowed in. 
Again; whilst the corn land is being gotten 
ready and seeded, which will take the best 
part of the team and force, a pair of mules or 
horses, with two men, will put in the fallow, 
whilst if Ruffin red wheat is put on the fallow, 
and white on the corn field, they will come 
into harvest quite suitably, the white wheat 
being always the latest. 

These remarks are confined entirely to my 
knowledge of farming in this immediate vi- 
cinity. The remarks of Mr. Booth are appli- 
cable aDd just, as regards the close soils in 
the upper country — nor do I wish to contro- 
vert one of them. As far as my knowledge 
of wheat machines goes, the machines made 
by Mr. Haw of Hanover, are the best, safest 
and most durable. This machine is a cylin- 
der, or gum log, hollowed out, with wedge- 
shaped teeth put through from the inside and 



326 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



secured with iron rods through them. The 
outer surface is covered with sheet iron, so 
punctured that the teeth are nicely fitted. This 
is the safest threshing drum I have seen. The 
stave, or beater drums, are less permanent and 
not so safe, from the centrifugal tendency of 
the staves, though I have seen them do fine 
work. Those cylinder drums which have 
their teeth either screwed or driven in, are 
still more liable to come out than where they 
are put in from the inner side and secured, as 
mentioned above. The different styles of horse 
powers are as numerous as the different styles 
of pleasure equipages, but to moderate farmers 
some easy portable horse power is most suita- 
ble. One which can be moved to each field, 
the wheat threshed and the grain hauled to 
the barn, whilst the straw is left on the land, 
either to be fed or spread as manure. 

All that I have written has been merely as 
an expression of my views, not to attack or 
hold up any thing in Mr. Booth's piece. His 
called out this, and I hope will call out many 
better. I farther hope that the prejudice against 
agricultural machinery will annually decrease, 
and that the increased demand for it will 
greatly tend to perfect and cheapen all imple- 
ments in the catalogue. 

Wm. A. Braxton. 

Hijbla, King William, Sept. 12, 1853. 



For the Southern Planter. 

THE PENCE LAW— AND THE BEARING 
OF THE MAINE LIQUOR LAW UPON 
PRODUCTION. 

Mr. Editor,—! have read the report of the 
Fence Law Committee appointed by the Agri- 
cultural Society of Brunswick County, which 
was read before that Society on the 16th of 
March last, and published in the June number 
of the Planter, and I am highly pleased with 
that report; it speaks the interest of old Eastern 
Virginia, if not its present sentiments. I have 
been a subscriber to the Planter from its origin 
and have never written any article to encum- 
ber its columns, not because I dislike to write, 
but being a small farmer, and knowing that 
there are so many farmers that understand 
their business, and who make fine crops, and 
who are deeply interested in all things that 
concern the farmer, and who know how to 
write, and are the very men to write to inform 
their less informed brethren, but they do not 
write. This, then, is the apology that I offer 
for thus intruding. I can add very little, if 
any thing, to the able report above referred to. 
Notice was given publicly several months pre- 
vious to our last popular election, by adver- 
tisement set up at the Court House door of 
Sussex county, that a vote would be taken at 
the Court House and the several places of 
voting in the county, on the subject of the 



present fence law. This was done to afford 
sufficient time to discuss the subject fully be- 
fore the people before the day of election, but 
nothing was said upon the subject only in pri- 
vate circles. All office seekers, from a con- 
stable up, were afraid to say yes or no upon 
this question, as they were tauntingly told, if 
you vote for this measure I will mark you 
when scratch day comes round. Some mounted 
the hobby that it would oppress the poor. This 
was sounded like the cry of mad dog, and it 
spread like wild fire. So there was a decided 
majority against the repeal of the present fence 
law. And why 1 ? Because the people did not 
understand the question fully, as no one had 
the independence to come out and advocate 
this measure, though in favor of it — he was 
afraid that it would operate against his elec- 
tion. And, sir, it is idle, under our present 
purely democratic government, to talk about 
our boasted independence and our privilege to 
exercise the right of suffrage. Poor privilege 
it is, when a voter is told at the polls you vote 
for this measure or for that measure and I 
will put my mark upon you. 

The Legislature of Virginia has passed di- 
vers acts declaring certain rivers and creeks 
lawful fences; pome of which in certain sea- 
sons of the year would not swim a pig or float 
a catfish. Why not then say that every man's 
land-marks shall be a lawful fence? Why 
not legislate for the greatest number and for 
the greatest good, instead of this partial legis- 
lation 1 If the Legislature has the right to say 
that a man shall make a lawful fence around 
his corn field, why not say that he shall make 
a lawful fence around his stock and keep them 
in"? This would put to rest the many com- 
plaints that we now hear of stock being killed 
upon rail roads; and besides, many of these 
animals are known to be vicious, and might 
attack little children going to and returning 
from school, &c. 

It is not that we are opposed to our neigh- 
bors' stock grazing or ranging upon our lands, 
for, as "Southampton" very justly remarks, 
"there is no range worth calling a range." 
We are actuated by quite a different motive, 
and that is to relieve ourselves of this enor- 
mous fence tax; for whilst the State tax is 
oppressive enough, in all conscience, and with 
some almost past forbearance, it is nothing to 
compare with the fence tax in old Eastern 
Virginia.' 

Whilst I am writing, I will call your atten- 
tion to one other subject which, it seems to 
me, should be met at ils threshold, as it is inti- 
mately connected with the agricultural interest 
of the Stale of Virginia— and that is this cru- 
sade which is being gotten up by certain fana- 
tics, calling themselves Sons of Temperance, 
or in other words, the Maine liquor law advo- 
cates, or the destructive law advocates. 

In the late State Temperance Convention, 
which assembled in Charlottesville, the fol- 
lowing resolutions were adopted : 

"1st. Resolved, That there ought to be a law 



TF1E SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



327 



prohibiting the manufacture, or keeping for 
sale, or the barter, directly or indirectly, of 
intoxicating liquors, except for sacramental, 
medicinal aDd mechanical purposes, and that 
such a law should be guarded by proper pro- 
visions and penalties, and especially by the pro- 
vision that all such liquors in one's possession 
contrary to law shall be destroyed. 

"2d. Resolved, Thai such law ought to be 
submitted to the people of each county and 
city, and be in force when it is adopted by a 
majority of the legal voters." 

Now, Mr Editor, suppose the Legislature 
of Virginia pass a law abolishing slavery in | 
the State of Virginia and submit that law to I 
the qualified voters of the State, and there is : 
found a majority in favor of that law, does 
any man suppose, or is he soft enough to thiDk 
that such a law would bind the minority"? 
The law itself would be a nullity, because it 
•would be in direct conflict with the Constitu- 
tion of the United States, and I had thought 
that constitutions were made to protect mi- 
norities against extravagant and unconstitu- 
tional legislation. The Legislature of Virginia 
cannot pass such a law as is recommended 
by this wise council that assembled at Char- 
lottesville, unless the members thereof perjure 
themselves, as they have to take an oath be- 
fore they enter upon the discharge of their 
duties, to support the Constitution o< the United 
States. The Constitution of the United Slates 
says, that "no person shall be deprived of life, 
liberty or properly wilhoutdue process of law." 
How then is this law of destruction to be car- 
ried out; how is this due process to destroy a 
man's property to issue when there is nothing 
doe the law, (I mean constitutionally,) and 
how, I would like to know, can due process of 
law issue upon an unconstitutional law, or 
who would regard such a law? This law of 
destruction is then the higher law authority; 
the law by which the abolitionists of the North 
hold on to our fugitive slaves; but the aboli- 
tionists of the North do not undertake, under 
this higher law authority, to destroy our slaves; 
they only hold on 10 them until forced 10 give 
them up by due process of law, but after our 
property is destroyed there is an end of it. 
And, Mr. Editor, it is useless for us, of the 
South, logo to the North to look after northern 
abolitionists when we have so many in our 
very midst. The northern abolitionists con- 
tend that no one has the right to raise, buy, 
or sell a slave, unless it be for the purpose of 
emancipation. On the other side, the Sons of 
Temperance and the Maine liquor law and 
the destructive law advocates contend that no 
one shall be permitted to make, buy, sell or 
use spirituous or malt liquor, wine or cider, 
unless it be for medicinal or mechanical pur- 
poses. 

Now to prove that this subject is intimately 
connected with the agricultural interest, and 
the revenue interest, and the financial interest 
of our Staf, I will take, firsily, five counties 
in Eastern Virginia, to wit: Southampton, Isle 



of Wight, Nansemond, Surry and Sussex, and 
the revenue derivable annually from the sale 
of brandy amounts to as much as that derived 
from the sale of tobacco in the five counties, 
to wit: Mecklenburg, Halifax, Pittsylvania, 
Patrick and Henry, from the sale of tobacco. 
In the single county of Southampton, of a fa- 
vorable year, (for we have bad tobacco years 
as well as fruit years,) the revenue from brandy 
would amount to upwards of one hundred thou- 
sand dollars, more than sufficient to build the 
contemplated plank road from Petersburg to 
Jerusalem; and the county of Isle of Wight 
would fall but little below Southampton. Then 
taking the first mentioned five counties and 
the revenue realized by the citizens thereof, 
would amount annually to between three and 
four hundred thousand dollars. Atid, now, . 
when all the resources of the Slate, even the 
license tax, and all the energies of the people 
are required to save the Old Dominion from 
bankruptcy or repudiation, we are to be de- 
prived (if these fanatics can have their way) 
of the very means of paying our taxes and 
other liabilities. 

The Legislature of Virginia has as much 
right to pass an act to destroy our corn, wheat, 
tobacco, cotton, &c. as it has to pass an act to 
destroy one species of our properly, to wit: 
brandy, and it must have been an oversight in 
this council of wise legislators that lately as- 
sembled in Charlottesville, that they did not 
include every article of commerce and con- 
sumption in Iheir recommended law of de- 
struction. 

This subject is to be the hobby that is to be 
mounted upon in every election by the people. 
It is to ride some men into office who are of 
"us," and to ride some out of office who are 
not of "us." 

Jesse Hargrave. 

Sussex, Sept. 17, 1853. 



For the Southern Planter. 

HORSE vs. MULE. 

Mr. Editor, — I have seen a good many com- 
munications in your paper showing the advan- 
tages of mules over horses. 1 wish to give 
you a few fire-side calculations of an old far- 
mer on the subject. Suppose a farmer to start 
with a team of ten mules, which will cost, 
say $1200; the losses would amount to at 
least one in two years, which, at the same 
price, would be sixty dollars a year to keep 
up his team. Suppose another to start with 
four horses and six mares, costing $1000; he 
ought to raise not less than two colls a year — 
the cost of raising which is, say $40. As I 
have allowed that five mules would die in ten 
years, I will allow that eight horses would die 
in the same time, which would leave the farmer 
twenty-two horses at the end of the ten years. 
He ought to have sold during the ten years 



323 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



twelve of these at $1200; now deduct the cost 
of raising, $480, which would make his team 
cost hi in $280 during the ten years. Whereas 
the fifteen mules would have cost him $1800. 
If he were to attempt to raise the mules, he 
would have to buy mares, which, added to the 
cost and trouble of raising them, would make 
it cheaper in the end to buy the mules. But 
where are the mares to come from if we all 
raise mules'? They say that mules live longer, 
stand abuse, and eat less than horses. I have 
disposed of the long life in allowing eight 
horses to die ili the same time that five mules 
would. I can allow nothing for abuse to either; 
and as for their eating less, I have not found it 
the case; because I can turn my horses out on 
grass every night for six months in the year, 
besides all times when they are not used, and 
have always found the old saying true about 
mules, "that there was but two places for a 
mule, the stable and the harness;" for as soon 
as he is turned out he will get into mischief, 
consequently he will eat more grain in a year 
than a horse. 

Virginia isnaw paying to Kentucky $200,000 
or $300,000 per annum for mules; and must 
pay more, because the Kentuckians have al- 
ready bought up a large number of mares in 
Western Virginia at double the price they for- 
merly sold for, and have almost stopped the 
raising of horses there; and we are obliged 
from necessity to buy their mules. Thai, I 
believe, is the principal cause of the high price 
of horses at present; and I think you will find 
that they will steadily rise to nearly double 
their present value. Now, sir, this must be a 
losing game. Virginia, once famed for her 
fine horses, has now become tributary to Ken- 
tucky for animals to supply their places, which 
cannot keep up their own race, and must be 
an increasing tax on her farmers, who could 
raise their own horses and some to spare. 
Anti-Mule. 



BROOM CORN. 



In the Mohawk Valley, New York, vast 
quantities of this crop are annually grown. 
Pennsylvania, Ohio and Connecticut are the 
next largest producers of it. Its origin, as a 
cultivated plant in this country, is attributed 
to Dr. Franktei. It is a native of India. 
Franklin saw an imported whisk of corn in 
the possession of a lady in Philadelphia, and 
while examining it, as a curiosity, found a 
seed which he planted, and from this small 
beginning arose this valuable product of in- 
dustry in the United States. In the same 
manner, England and America are indebted 
for the weeping willow, to the poet Pope, who 
finding a green stick in a basket of figs sent 
to him, as a present, from Turkey, stuck it in 
his garden at Twickenham, and thence pro- 
pagated this beautiful tree. 

Broom corn is of a different genus from In- 



dian corn. They will not mix. In the Mo- 
hawk flats the best cultivators of it sow with 
a drill as early in spring as ihe ground will 
admit, in rows, three and a half feet apart. 
As soon as it is above ground it is hoed, soon 
after thinned to three inches apart. It is only 
hoed in the row to remove the weeds near the 
plants; the harrow and cultivator are then run 
through to keep down the weeds, and a smal 
double mouldboard plough is run shallow be- 
tween the rows. It is not left to ripen, but cut 
green. It is not lopped till ready to cut. One 
set of hands goes forward and lops or bends 
the tops on one side; another follows and cuts 
them off when bent; a third gathers them in 
carts or wagons. At the factory they are 
sorted over and put into bunches, each bunch 
of brush of equal length. The seed is then- 
taken off by a sort of hatchel, worked by six 
horses. It is then spread thin to dry on racks 
in a building for the purpose. In about a 
week it can be packed away closely. The 
brooms are made in winter, about 75,000 dozen 
to each 100 acres of land. The stalks are left 
on the ground to be ploughed in next spring. 
For the handles a peculiar lathe, turned by 
horse power, is used, which manufactures 
them wiih great rapidity.— Fanner's Companion 
and Hoi ticultural Gazelle. 



From the Mark 'Lane Express. 
ACTION OF DROUGHT ON PLANTS. 

The specific action of drought on plan's 
is one of the problems not yet entirely 
solved. Whether it is the indirect waste 
of moisture on the plants by evaporation, 
or the want of the due proportion of water 
necessary to build up the structure of 
plants, or whether it is some indirect ac- 
tion on the constitutions of the soil, is by 
no means a settled question. 

The present season has afforded abun- 
dant illustrations of the effect of want of 
moisture on the several plants the farmer 
has to cultivate; and what is more remark- 
able, the drought, though absolutely less 
than it was last year, seems to have had a 
far greater effect on the plants. The 
meadows, especially, appear to have suf- 
fered. In all the northern counties, parti- 
cularly, the grass crop is peculiarly affect- 
ed. The finer and shorter grasses are ab- 
solutely either wanting, or so thin that they 
show the meadrJw to be without bottom 
grass. The coarser grasses are tall, but 
thin, and running to seed, forming no til- 
lering stalks, and few blades in comparison 
to those of former years. The corn is the 
same — thin, stunted, and spiry in its cha- 
racter. There has been no tillering — no 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



329 



thick matted surface. The drills have 
been visible up to the present period, and 
the stems are fast running to ear before 
half the usual height is attained, being 
also hard and yellow in color, and as dif- 
ferent as possible from the graceful flop- 
ping blade the wheat plant ufeually exhi- 
bits at this period. 

Now, in what specific way has this 
drought so anted on the plants? In ordi- 
nary vegetables, ninety per cent, of their 
"whole structure is simply water. Hence 
it is easy to conceive how large a quantity 
of that material is necessary during their 
growth and development. But there was 
no such absolute deficier^ this season. 
The soil always contained a comparatively 
large amount of moisture; the dews were 
often plentiful, amounting to fully as much 
more as any diurnal development of the 
plant could require, and all the tables of 
rain fallen in the spring of this year, we 
have seen, showed a larger quantity than 
in the corresponding months of last year. 
Hence, it seems, we must look to the ab- 
stract cause of the injury — to somewhat 
beyond the mere denuding of the plant of 
water, as such. 

We think the theory of Liebig far better 
established this season. The plant, to take 
up its elements, must have them presented 
to it in a state of soluiion. The action of 
rain operates to dissolve regularly and 
gradually the material required by the 
plant, both in the soil and in the rocks from 
which the soil is continually forming, by 
disintegrating the small particles existing 
in the land. These are being supplied to 
the plant by the rains as it requires them, 
but this year they have not been so washed 
out and made ready for its use. But why 
did not the same cause operate equally in 
the spring of 1852? Simply because the 
incessant rains of 'the autumn and early 
winter had washed out the soluble consti- 
tuents of the soil, so as to leave less free 
material in the fend by far than in the pre- 
vious spring, and hence the ordinary 
drought had much greater effect on the 
plants this year than it had last. 

The effect of water on plants, regularly 
supplied, is most wonderful. Those who 
have seen the Clipston water meadows, 
and the small and clear stream, which 
produce from three to five crops of grass 
per annum, either depastured or mown, or 
partly the one and partly the other, roost 
he convinced that it is almost as much 
owing to the p!f ntiful supply of water in 
season, as to any great amount of 



manure held by that small river in solution, 
that the vast increase of grass is produced. 
By watering, Mir. Kennedy, of Myremill, 
keeps close upon a thou.sand head of stock 
on ninety acres of Italian rye-grass, in 
ordinary seasons, from five to nine sheep 
can be kept en one acre of land; the latter 
may be done in a dropping season, on 
clover lays, on well cultivated land; but 
with the aid of a little artificial food and 
by the application of liquid manure, in the 
shower form, by steam, Mr. Kennedy can 
keep fifty-six sheep per acre! Nor can we 
believe that this is altogether due to the 
manure. To that it is partly owing, doubt- 
less; but it is by far more owing to its 
being watered with that manure in a solu- 
ble state, and so fit for the immediate use 
of the plants. Hence he is independent 
of season. The water-drill, to which we 
before alluded, is an application of the 
same principle; and the wonderful results 
of the dressing of dissolved bone liquid, 
in a dry season, by the Duke of Richmond, 
is a powerful fact in the same direction. 

That it is the want of soluble manure, 
or, in other words, elements of plants, 
which is mainly the cause of the injury, is 
manifest from the fact that all the poorest 
land has suffered by far the most from the 
drought. The very highly manured land 
has sustained the least damage; while on 
land to which very highly soluble manures, 
Peruvian guano, for instance, and similar 
materials, have been applied, the crops are 
growing vigorously. 

Nor let it be forgotten that the rain 
brings down the ammonia, whichj in dry 
states of the atmosphere, will float undis- 
turbed; and this failing, as well as the so- 
luble supply below, would of course ag- 
gravate the cause of injury. 



THE SEASONS. 

FROM THE GERMAN. 

Hay and corn and buds and flowers, 
Snow and Ice and fruit and wine — 
Suns and Seasons, sleets and showers, 
Bring in turn, these gifts divine. 
Spring blows, Summer glows, 
Autumn reaps, Winter keeps, 
Spring prepares, Summer provides, 
Autumn hoards and Winter hides. 
Come, then, friends, their praises sound; 
Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring, 
r !':?v run their yearly round, 
Each in turn with gladness sing! 
Time drops blessings as lie flics — 
Time makes ripe, and Time makes wise. 



330 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



INDIAN CORN. 

BY CHARLES L. FLEISCHMANN. 

The following article is from the Ame- 
rican Polytechnic Journal, and furnishes a 
mass of information in relation to our great 
staple, which cannot but prove interesting. 
— Working Farmer. 

The repeated loss of the potato crops 
by rot, on the European continent, has 
caused the various governments of Ger- 
^ many to seek, to provide a substitute for 
that useful root. Among all the known 
agricultural vegetable productions none 
seemed to supply the place of the potato 
so well as Indian corn, and extensive ex- 
periments were ordered to be instituted to 
ascertain how far north this plant can be 
raised there, and which is the best mode 
of culture, the best place in the rotation of 
crops, and its application as food for man 
and beast. Professor Von Lengerke col- 
lected the results of the various experiments 
made in Germany, and published them in 
a work entitled "Anleitung Zum Anbau 
des Mais." Berlin, 1851. We give here 
some extracts from this work, which may 
be, perhaps, of interest to corn growers. 

Indian corn has been sown in Spain 
since the time of Philip the Second ( 1555 — 
1598.) The Italians and French became 
acquainted with it about the same time, 
and it was also introduced into Turkey, 
from whence it became known among the 
people inhabiting the banks of the Danube. 
Hungary's alluvial soil seemed to be par- 
ticularly well suited to it, and from there 
it made its way into Styria under the name 
of Turkey wheat; from Lombardy it was 
taken to Karinthia, Tyrol, and from thence 
ii was carried over the mountain into Ger- 
many, where it was raised in gardens up 
to the 16th century as a curious plant. 

Wurtemburg, Baden, Alsace, were the 
first countries of Germany where the In- 
dian corn was extensively planted, and 
since the potato rot it has been tried in 
higher northern latitudes than those first 
mentioned. 

• The oldest name of the Indian corn on 
the continent of Europe is Fromentum 
turcicum, Turkish wheat. In Portugal 
and Spain it is called maiz, in France, 
Ble (V Espagne; in Holland, Indiaanish, 
Turkish korn; in England, Indian corn, 
also Turkey corn; in Sweden, Turkisl 
twele; in Russia, Kukuraza; in Hungary, 
Kukurioza; in Italy, generally, Fromen- 
lone, viz: big wheat, also Grano tnrco, 
Turkish wheat; in Germany, WelschKorn, 



or turkischer weitzen, Italian or Turkish 
wheat. Mr. Von Lengerke divides, ac- 
cording to Metzger. the Indian corn into 
two varieties. A. American maize, {zea 
altissima, zea hirsuta, and probably also 
zea carragua,) and into B. European 
maize, {zea mais, zea pracco, L.,) which 
he has sub-divided again into 

1. Big maize, seven to eight feet high, 
very long ears with eight to twelve seed- 
rows, large broad seeds; of which there 
are three varieties, a. the white big maize; 

b. white and yellow big maize; c. big yel- 
low maize. These varieties are extensively 
raised about Kehl and Strasbourg and the 
upper parts of the Rhine. 

2. Common maize, four to six feet high, 
short cob, eight to fourteen rows of seeds, 
the kernel somewhat round, the rows are 
not very regular. Several kinds of the 
yellow common maize are very extensively 
raised in the south of Germany, b. white, 

c. light red, d. blood red, e. dark red, f. 
blue, g. variegated, &c. 

3. Maize with pointed ears, four to six 
feet high, cob short and small, pointed, from 
twelve to twenty rows of seeds very densely 
set, the kernel small, a. yellow, b. red, &c. 
blue pointed maize. 

4. Short ear maize, five to six feet high, 
with a very short blunt cylindrical cob, and 
the seeds are set in irregular rows. It was 
introduced from Spain and is not much 
valued. 

5. Broad cob maize, five to six feet high, 
the cob somewhat flat, short, blunt, some- 
times on the top divided; the seeds stand 
in irregular rows, the kernel small and 
round; is much planted in Styria, but is 
not as productive as No. 1. 

6. Branching maize, with branching 
cobs, appeared to be an accidental pro- 
duction. 

7. Cinqiianlino maize, four feet high, the 
cob short, thick; a. of less diameter to- 
wards the top, generally twelve rows of 
seed, somewhat flat. It is extensively cul- 
tivated in Italy, where it is called Cinquan- 
tino, from the fact that it ripens in five 
months. It ripens in Germany a fortnight 
sooner than the common maize. 

8. Dwarf maize, three feet high, the 
ear sometimes only three inches long. It 
ripens very early, generally four weeks 
sooner than the common maize of Ger- 
many, and is planted in regions where the 
common maize does not succeed. It is not 
constant, it changes, the cobs get longer, 
the plant taller; this is ^specially the case 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



331 



when planted with other kinds of Indian 
corn. 

American species of Indian corn have 
been extensively tried in Germany, but 
the most intelligent maize planters are of 
opinion that the German maize is much 
better suited for their climate than the ac- 
climated American Indian corn, which re- 
quires much higher temperature to ripen. 
The American Indian corn has proved, 
however, very advantageous as green fod- 
der, and the Prussian government recom- 
mended the importation of American Vir- 
ginia gourdseed corn, for that it surpasses 
the German maize in its yield one-third to 
one-half. 

A Mr. Von Plotho produced a new kind 
of Indian corn in the following manner. 
He planted gourdseed corn first, and six 
weeks after, the Baden maize (of the duke- 
dom of Baden) in the rows between the 
former, and when the Baden maize pro- 
duced the stamens, they were cut off, so 
that its pistils or silk received exclusively 
the pollen from the American Indian corn. 
The latter part of the summer (1850) was 
very unfavorable to the growth of maize, 
still Mr. Von Plotho obtained a considera- 
ble quantity of ihe new variety of maize, 
and waa enabled to continue and extend 
hi3 experiments the following year. 

It is a general rule that the maize will 
succeed in regions where the vine is grown 
with advantage. Early kinds have been 
raised in Mecklenburg, on the shore of the 
North Sea, and in the valley of the upper 
Rhine. It arrives at perfect maturity near 
Trons, 2,650 feet above the sea. 

PLACE OF THE INDIAN CORN IN ROTATION 
OF Cf.0P3. 

After clover, tobacco, beans, hemp, sum- 
mer barley, Indian corn is always found to 
succeed well. In the vicinity of Gralz, in 
Styria. the rotation of crops is, 1. Indian 
corn: 2. Summer barley with clover; 3. 
Clover; 4. Winter wheat or rye. In the 
wheat stubble they plant turnips; and in 
the rye stubble, buckwheat. Others again 
have rotations of six exchanges: 1. Indian 
corn manured; 2. Barley or oats with clo- 
ver; 3. Clover; 4. Wheat stubble, turnips, 
with a light manuring; 5. Beans or peas; 
6. Rye, and buckwheat in the stubble. 

In the vicinity of Innspruck, in Tyrol, 
maize has been raised for thirty-six years 
in HWceaakHi from the same field with con- 
tinual success. 

This is rather contrary to the ingenious 
theories of the excrements of plants and 
the necessity of rotation of crops. 



A Professor D. Bohm raised wheat for 
thirty years in the same field, and he had 
every year a fine crop. To manure often, 
and to manure well, is the key to this secret. 
Von Ludersdorf recommends potatoes 
as the best preparatory crop for maize. 

Experiments have proved that the hu-' 
man excrements (Taffeh) are the most ef- 
fectual for maize. Taffeh is the Chinese 
term for that kind of manure, and Burger 
recommended this word forty years ago to 
the agriculturists as a substitute for the 
disgusting name we .give it generally. 

Woollen rags have also been used with 
great advantage to manure Indian corn, 
but since the old rags are again worked 
up into new cloth, they became too costly 

! to use them for that purpose. 

In Italy, Franche Comte, Burgundy, in 
some parts of Hungary and Styria, the 

■ maize is sown broadcast. It is either 
ploughed or harrowed in. 

In Germany it is planted in rows with 

: the hand or with drill machines. 

Ludersdorf planted Indian corn in rows 

; sixteen inches apart, and the plants in the 

'rows six inches. When the plant formed 

| the tassel, he had every other plant re- 

1 moved, and gained about forty-two and a 
half cwt. green fodder per Prussian acre. 
Dense planting seemed in the beginning 
not to influence the yield on corn, all re- 
maining plants had well formed and fine 
large ears. Perhaps this mode of planting 

j would present some advantages, especially 

! in 'dry spells. 

Burger made experiments as to thedepth 

,at which maize should be planted, and he 
found that maize planted one inch deep 

| sprouted in eight and a half days; kernels 

I planted four and a half inches deep, in 
thirteen and a half days. All those which 

' had been planted much deeper did not 

j come up at all. 

I consider the greatest fault of the Ger- 

1 man mode of cultivating corn, that they 
plant too many other agricultural plants 
between it. 

The most common and most advantage- 
ous of the plants between the rows of corn 
is the dwarf bean. In Alsass, Styria, they 
are very extensively cultivated with maize; 
the hoeing and cultivating is done by hand. 
Burger invented a corn drill, which 
drops between every two maize seed three 
or four beans. 

In Karinthia the beans are planted se- 
parately; in the maize field between every 
sixteenth or twentieth row of maize they 
use two rows for beans. This method has 



332 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



the advantage of allowing the air more 
circulation among the corn and accelerates 
its ripening-, the beans are sooner gathered, 
and the vacant places can be ploughed 
and the corn transferred to the ploughed 
rows, in order to give access to the plough 
to prepare the ground for wheat. 

Pumpkins (curcubito pepo) are much 
raided among Indian corn in Styria, Hun- 
gary, and Italy. In Karinthia, the pump- 
kins are raised in the same way as the 
beans; after nine to eleven rows of maize 
a row of pumpkins is planted. In some 
places they plant hemp and tobacco be- 
tween the maize; in Wurtemburg and 
Baden the farmers plant beets, cabbage, 
and the like. Peas are also very advan- 
tageous among maize intended for fodder. 
In Wurtemburg, maize is sown with 
stubble turnips; it is cut lor fodder before 
the <stubble turnips arrive at their full 
growth; it is still better to plant the maize 
in rows beSween the turnips; the turnips 
succeed very well, because the maize pro- 
tacts the delicate turnip plants in their first 
stage of growth. 

In Styria the farmers remove all side or 
root shoots, and all the plants which pro- 
duce no ear cut out. In Styria. Grain and 
Karinthia, the stamens, after their object 
is secured, are cut off; this is done when 
the grain has reached a certain degree of 
firmness. In Tyrol, this procedure has 
been entirely abandoned," because it was 
found that it was injurious to the crop, qnd 
it caused, besides, much labor far cutting 
and collecting the tops. 

In Alsass some farmers are against top- 
ping; others say in wet seasons it hastens 
ripening, and they continue to top. 

Ludersdoifcf remarks that maize can sup- 
port more heat and drought than other 
plants; he says, "this property must be 
ascribed to the structure of the plant, the 
leaves surround the stem like a sheath, 
and project from the stem in an acute an- 
gle, the dew and rain glides along the 
furrowed surface of the leaves and accu- 
mulates around the stem; in dry spells the 
dew collects there and assists the plant to 
support a long period of drought." And 
he mentions as a very striking proof, that 
in the year 1847, when the first trials with 
Indian corn were made near Berlin, (Prus- 
sia,) maize was planted upon a high situa- 
tion among a large field o[ peas. The 
drought destroyed the peas entirely, but 
the maize grew luxuriantly. It yielded a 
large quantity of green fodder, for which 
it was planted. 



To prevent, in the spring, the night frosts 
which injure the young maize, the Tyro- 
leans, on the slightest indication of cold, 
make fires in the maize field and raise 
smoke, which has always proved a good 
preventive. In the spring of the year 1S51, 
I was in Styria and saw such fires. The 
smoke being like a heavy canopy over the 
valley, and it seemed to prevent the cold 
air from the mountain penetrating it. 

In Germany maize suffers only from the 
brand; the ear swells up and the husks 
turn a silvery grey; in the beginning the 
interior of the diseased ear- is filled with 
watery excretion, which turns by degrees 
into a black powder. 

The late time of blossoming of the ge- 
nuine American Indian corn makes it par- 
ticularly adapted to green fodder, and it is 
in every respect preferable to the European 
or acclimated American maize. The for- 
mer grows very tall before the blossoms 
develop themselves, and the stem is at the 
time of cutting still very tender. 

Maize has the excellent property that 
the cattle never suffer from over-eating. It 
is said it causes dysentery, which is, how- 
ever, prevented by cutting the stems in 
pieces, say six, eight, or ten inches long, 
and soaking them in water a few hours 
before they are fed out; the water mixed 
with the juice of the maize stems is much 
liked by the cattle. The milch cows im- 
prove by it in their milking qualiiies: 

In Styria sreen maize is always fed with 
dry fodder; the cattle seem to have a de- 
sire for hay and straw whilst they are fed 
with green maize. Experiments have 
shown that cows lose much in their milk- 
ing qualities when fed entirely with green 
maize, but when hay" is added they regain 
it soon again. 

The American maize has been found 
not so favorable to the production of milk 
as the native maize. 

Maize does not feed much better than 
old clover and lucerne. 

In Karinthia the horses are fed with 
maize which is soaked in salt water; its 
nourishing quality is considered to that of 
oats 2: 1. 

Von Ludersdorf made experiments with 
maize as to the production of sugar. 

One-third Prussian morgen-of land was 
planted in American maize, the rows were 
eighteen inches apart and the plants in the 
rows twelve inches. After the blossoming 
was over the maize was cut; it yielded 
sixty cwt. green maize. After the leaves 
were removed, the stems weighed thirty- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



.333 



six cwt.; the weight of the stems was to 
the leaves as 3: 2. A Prussian morgen 
would yield one hundred and eight cwt. of 
stems ready for the mill. 

The best time to use the stem for sugar 
is after blossoming. He ascertained that 
the specific weight of the juice was 1.017 
=40 Beaume. At the time when the stems 
begin to develop themselves, the green 
stem gave eight per cent, dry substance. 
When the maize was in full blossom the 
specific weight of the juice was 1.044=5 
Beaume; the green stems yielded 12.7 per 
cent, dry substance. At the latest period 
of blossoming, the specific weight of the 
juice was 1.047=6-^ Beaume, and the green 
stems gave eighteen per cent, dry sub- 
stance. At the time when the seeds were 
formed, but yet in milk, the specific weight 
of the juice was 1.050=7 Beaume, and 
the green stems yielded 23.8 per cent, dry 
substance. In the fifth stage, when the 
ears began to ripen, and when the seeds 
turned yellow, the juice weighed 1.055, or 
7^ Beaume. It had on dry substance 26.8 
per cent. 

Ludersdorf found that maize contains 
in all its stages of vegetation a larger pro- 
portion of erape sugar than cane sugar; 
and he thinks that these circumstances 
make it impossible to use the maize for the 
production of sugar. The quantity of cane 
sugar, according to his experiments, would 
not amount to four per cent., and the dif- 
ficulty of extracting the sugar from it 
makes it impossible to employ the maize 
for that purpose. 

The experiments made, as to the weight 
and volume of Indian corn, have shown 
that those seeds are the heaviest which 
are placed in the middle of the ear. The 
lightest are on the tops. 

That the weight of ihe seed varies ac- 
cording to the kind of maize; the mean 
weight of thirty seeds of various kinds 
varied from sixty-four to two hundred and 
ninety grains. The American corn on an 
average was one-third heavier than the 
German or European species. 



CHARCOAL AND SALT FOR SHEEP. 

"It is generally conceded that wet-pas- 
turea are unfavorable to the health of sheep. 
I have kept a flock for four years in a pas- 
turf; of thi* description— for the first two 
urith unfavorable results. My sheep 
Were unhealthy, and many of them died. 
I ascribed it to the wetness of my pasture. 



Upon the recommendation of an old far- 
mer, I gave the sheep charcoal mixed with 
salt. The beneficial effects of this mixture' 
were soon apparent. My sheep presented 
a more healthful appearance. I have con- 
tinued the treatment, and the animals have 
continued to thrive. I suppose the medi- 
cinal qualities of this mixture consist in 
the disinfecting property of the charcoal." 
And, in the invaluable tonic and altera- 
tive properties of the salt, we may add; 
for, like many other remedial agents, this 
article, when given in small dosses, aug- 
ments the digestive functions. In larger 
doses it is cathartic. — North Western Cul- 
tivator. 



For the Southern Planter. 
SHEEP. 

Mr. Editor, — In your note on my communi- 
cation, in your September number, you ascribe 
to me ideas not warranted by it. You surely 
could not have read (carefully, at any rale,) 
the part you comment on. 1 cl id not, as you 
charge, ascribe the remark to Mr. Campbell; 
so tar from it, I complained that he ascribed 
it to me— that the French Merino f'rwnx not, 
or are not allowed to breed before they are 
three or four years old." I have not the volume 
or number in which the letters to Mr. Rives 
were published, the binder unfortunately hav- 
ing lost or mislaid it. My remark was on the 
note attached to it. which did not claim to be 
from the Editor; but if you will examine it in 
your last December number, you will find, I 
think, the note somewhat in these words, or to 
their effect. I commented on it with that un- 
derstanding of it. " These owners of the 
French/Merino keep the ewes until three years 
old, the bucks four, before they are permitted 
to copulate." This sounds ifke a statement 
of an "absolute fact." 

Mr. Campbell's communication, in the July 
number, mfi>kes me say in your March number 
that "it was necessary to wait three or four 
years before they will breed." So far fro m 
saving so, it could not even bear such con- 
struction; and that was what my September 
numhercomplained of. Idid not, as?/«?t charge, 
ascribe the note or the saying to Mr. Campbell. 
1 was not even commenting in the March 
number on Mr. Campbell's writing, but on the 
communication of, and letters to, Mr. Rives, 
in your December number, and, of course, 
could not have ascribed it to Mr. Campbell. 
In your September number was my first and 
only reply to him, and that was to his, in your 
July number. Now, let me ask you to rend 
your note in the December Dumber — compare 
it with my comment on it — then Mr. Camp- 
bell's remark, as quoted by me in this, and 



334 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



compare mine, on the same subject in the 
March and September numbers, and see if 
both you and Mr. Campbell have not ascribed 
ideas to me never expressed by me, or could 
be construed so by any language of mine. I 
never ascribed the information about not per- 
mitting them to copulate until three or four 
years old to Mr. Campbell, as you charge, and 
never expressed the idea that they must acquire 
that age before they would breed, as charged 
by Mr. Campbell in his July number. I am 
altogether as unwilling to do Mr. Campbell 
injustice or you either, Mr. Editor, as I am to 
have injustice done me by either of you.. 

Mr. Campbell says, when the market for 
breeders is supplied "I see no reason why 
they will not be sought for as a mutton sheep." 
Again; "for wool and mutton combined, I 
consider them a valuable animal, but for wool 
alone, I believe there are other breeds of the 
Merino that will be quite as profitable to the 
wool grower." Now in this I ca/i find nothing 
"stating, distinctly," (and it is all he does say 
on the subject,) as you ascribe to him, that 
"for mutton alone there are belter sheep than 
the French Merino," or "that they are ihe best 
for the combination." Now, unless he or you 
or any person else can show (which no man 
pretends to) that more money can be made 
every year by both wool and carcass com- 
bined — and that is the only way to calculate 
for general farm purposes, not by calculating 
the sales of breeding sheep sold for their blood, 
against the sales of yearling part bred muttons, 
but by sales of mutton and wool of the same 
age and growth — I cannot yield the point. 
My friend in New York, after showing my 
fleece to a dealer in wool, writes me, "I can 
get fifty cents per pound" — and this is all Mr. 
Campbell claimed for his per pound, and six 
pounds for weight of fleece, I think, in his 
January number. Now, which yields the most 
lno'ney per fleece, and will the sales of year- 
ling muttons of these two competing sheep 
compare'? I am calculating, of course, for the 
profit to the farmer, not your fancy taste for 
muttons. I do not ascribe your strengthening 
Mr. Campbell's position and detracting from 
mine to any other feeling than tendency against 
Cotswolds and a cursory reading of the pieces 
from a press of business consequent on your 
engagements. I would not have burdened 
your columns again now had not such decided 
injustice been done me, nor do I ask a reading 
by you of the whole pieces; but think if you 
would examine the particular points referred 
to you will see I am right throughout. 

In the commencement of your second note 
you take pains to defend Mr. Campbell from 
the charge of humbug as made by me. I deny 
making any such charge. I only said, "it 
appears like a strong tendency to humbug the 
Virginia farmers," and in your conclusion 
you directly charge me with humbug about 
the merits of the Cotswolds "as stated" by 
me. Now, sir, I mean to meet this charge. 
Where is this humbug in my statement"? Had 



I made my calculations on the value of my 
breeding sheep, at high rates, there might, from 
the variety of opinions held by different per- 
sons, have been some color for such a charge, 
but did I not base all my calculations on their 
value for "general farming purposes" alone'? 
In doing so, did I not rule out of my calcula- 
tions all my sales for breeding purposes'? Did 
I not go further, and rule out all extra sales of 
extra muttons and all extra offers to feed mut- 
tons to an extra point as being extra from ge- 
neral farming purposes'? and applied thefleeces 
to the keep of the animals, instead of calcu- 
lating it iti their value — in every case, putting 
the disadvantage to the sheep, not even calcu- 
lating the highest sales of muttons. Did I not 
base my calculations, not on theory or imagi- 
nary value, but on absolute sales of yearlings and 
only part bred muttons and on ordinary treat- 
ment, to the butchers in August and September, 
who, before purchasing, saw and handled them 
and took them from the farm at from eight to 
ten dollars each"? Could any thing be fairer 
than this"? Could any mode more fair be 
adopted to ascertain their true value for ge- 
neral uses'? If this was a humbug, it must 
have been an imaginary value. If so, how 
does it happen that the same butchers, after 
buying, slaughtering and selling, came back, 
not one year, but year after year, to purchase 
the same kind at the same, nay, at advancing 
rates, and anxious to engage them beforehand, 
and so anxious to get them, that not one is 
ever left to reach two years old, if they can be 
bought"? Every one that could be, was bought 
up this year in August — none under. e\s,ht dol- 
lars, many ten dollars each; even lambs six 
dollars each, where their owners would sell — 
andnotcomplaining, buturging an opportunity 
to make an offer next year before a sale to any 
other person. Call you this humbug"? What 
other breed of sheep is there that would not 
be glad to show such a state of things'? If 
butchers, after buying.slaughteringand selling, 
year after year for many years, a kind of mut- 
ton that proves each year deceptive and not a 
profit, and still continue it, they are certainly 
much more stupid, indeed much more suited 
to a lunatic asylum than you will find them to 
be when you undertake to sell them your fa- 
vorite breed of sheep. No, sir, rely upon it 
there is no humbug, nor can we be overstocked 
with such sheep, for the butchers are willing 
to lake standing bargains at such prices, and 
the extra ewes to slaughter with them. What 
other breed of sheep is there that would not 
rejoice to show such a slate of things'? 

Now, sir, for a bolder position than I have 
yet taken, and you shall be the judge. You 
are a farmer,-and of course have good stock; 
I will compare my sheep, per head, (and only 
take part breds,) with your cattle (no matter of 
what blood) for general farming purposes, i. e. 
for meats, not breeding purposes. Are vou not 
willing to take for your cattle eight dollars for 
each year of his life— eight dollars for first 
sixteen dollars for second, twenty-four dollars 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



335 



for ihe third, &c. — not corn fed"? Take from 
this the cost of his keep— for the wool of my 
sheep more than pays his keep, of which your 
cattle has none to pay his — my yearling mut- 
ton, part bred, sells every year at not less than 
ten dollars each, clear, the wool more than 
paying keep — and surely you will not contend 
that a number of sheep cannot be kept on the 
keep of one steer. If I have not allowed 
enough, state the allowance yourself for your 
steer and take off the cost of keep from either 
my allowance of eight dollars or your claim, 
whatever it may be, to equal the wool, and 
say which is the most profitable for general 
farming purposes, per head, your cattle or my 
sheep 1 ? Which is the profitable animal, net, 
to the farmer'? You may calculate aDd decide. 

I have stated facts of every year's occur- 
rence in Clarke — absolute sales, made by all 
in Clarke who have crosses of this blood — 
known by all in Clarke to be the lowest sales 
made in August and September — and where 
can be the humbug in it 1 ? 

Josiah W. Ware, 
Near Berryville, Clarke Co., Va. 

September 9, 1853. 

We shall reply to this letter of C»l. Ware's 
at our earliest leisure. — Ed. So. Planter. 



NEW USE FOR CLAY. 

Farmers have probably always known, 
that clayey 6oils were more retentive ma- 
nures than sandy soils. In other words, a 
cord of manure put upon a given surface 
of clayey soil, would last longer, and give 
out its fertilizing properties more gradu- 
ally, than the same amount of the same 
manure would, if put upon a given surface 
of sandy soil. 

It has also been long known, that clay is 
an absorbent of gases, and that putrid 
substances buried in it have their nauseous 
exhalations completely neutrajized by the 
clay absorbing them. 

R.ecent experiments made in England 
by Profespor Way, an agricultural che- 
mi-t. have demonstrated the fact, that clay 
will completely absorb, or take the ammo- 
nia from water, and many other substances, 
and retain it. 

For instance, if some aqua ammonia, 
water impregnated with ammoniri, should 
be filtered through clay, it would be found 
that the water would pass through pure, 
while the ammonia has stopped°by the 
way. 

On the other hand, should the same wa- 
ter of ammonia be passed through sand, 



it would be found but little changed, if any. 
We all know that clay will also absorb 
water, and retain it with considerable te- 
nacity, while sand will not. Hence, the 
addition of clay to sand soil improves it in 
two ways, viz: mechanically and chemi- 
cally; mechanically, by making it more 
adhesive, or giving it more consistency; 
and chemically, by giving it power to ab- 
sorb and retain ammoniacal, or Ihe gases 
which arise from the decomposition of or- 
ganized substances. 

It must, therefore, be an advantage to 
keep clay pulverized moderately fine to 
scatter over dung heaps, and throw into 
privies and cesspools, in order to absorb 
the ammonia which arises, oftentimes, in 
such places, and thereby neutralize the of- 
fensive odors, which, unless arrested in 
ome such way, become diffused through- 
out the air. 

Plaster of Paris, pulverized charcoal, 
dried peat, and such like substances, have 
been generally used for this purpose, and 
they are very good; but, where these can- 
not be readily obtained, a quantity of clay 
dried and crumbled will serve the same 
purpose. 

It is thus converted to a cheap, and very 
efficient manure holder for the farmer. 

More experiments are needed, in order 
to ascertain and demonstrate more clearly 
the laws which govern the action of clay 
in this respect. Such experiments will, 
undoubtedly, corroborate what general 
knowledge we have, but a]so give, us more 
particular practical knowledge, that will 
be of great value to us. — Maine. Farmer. 



From the Boston Cultivator. 

SALT FOR WIRE WORMS. 

Ata late meeting of the New York Far- 
mer's Club, Prolessor Mapes, according to 
the Agricultor, said: 

l! I kill all worms with salt, and so do my 
neighbors who use it; some do not, and 
they are troubled. Sanford Howard says 
wire worms love salt — will live in brine — 
mine wont; six bushels of salt to the acre 
gives them a quietus." 

In the Working Farmer for May, Prof- 
Mapes says: 

"Use six bushels of common salt per 
acre, on fields intended for corn, a few days 
before planting} this will do away with 
every grub, and unless the wire worms be 



335 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



the kind pickled by the Editor of the Bos- 
ton Cultivator, it will destroy them also. 
We had almost persuaded ourselves to 
doubt our own senses, when told by Mr. 
Howard that wire worms were not injured 
by salt, until we found that many worms 
existed of this species, and that the hard 
cream colored wire worms about the size 
of a knitting needle in thickness, which 
had annoyed us before using salt; had also 
been destroyed on other farms beside our 
own, by the use of this remedy." 

In the first of these extracts it is asserted 
that "Sanford Howard says wire worms 
love salt," &c. This is untrue. The in- 
dividual mentioned never said anything of 
the kind. He never said wire worms "will 
live in brine," but has said and proved that 
they would live in earth which had been 
salted. Others have said they would live 
in brine. Some years since an article ap- 
peared in the New England Farmer, in 
which it was stated that a gentleman in 
New Hampshire had made some experi- 
ments with salt on wire worms. Suppos- 
ing that H. F. French, Esq. might be the 
gentleman referred to, we wrote to him on 
the, subject. In his reply, under date of 
March 26, last, he says: 

"I have never myself made any careful 
experiments with salt to learn its effects on 
worms. My friend, Professor Joseph G. 
Hoyt, had his garden so lull of wire worms 
that they destroyed his seed potatoes. He 
made a saturated solution of salt in water, 
and put a handful of the rascals into it, 
and let them remain two hours, and they 
not only live-d, but appeared as happy and 
sprightly at the end of the time, as at the 
beginning. He was satisfied that salt pro- 
duced no effect on them when applied to 
the land." 

Many insects, while in the larva state, 
have a remarkable tenacity of life, and are 
not killed as easily as some persons state. 
A writer in the Mark Lane Express, a i'ew 
years since, stated that he had tried the 
effect of the most corrosive and powerful 
poisons on wire worms. He says: 

"Preparations of corrosive sublimate and 
arsenic were used in vain. Their immer- 
sion in solutions of these poisons occa- 
sioneclthem no inconvenience. I then tried 
the effect of vitriol and aquafortis; these 
liquids certainly destroyed the worm, but 
only after a very considerable time." 

These experiments, in connection with 
those of Professor Hoyt. will answer in re- 
lation to Professor Mapes' sneer against 
wire worms living in brine. But there is 



other evidence against the idea that "six 
bushels" of salt to the acre, or even a much 
larger quantity, will kill wire worms and 
several other species. Some years since, 
J. J. Thomas, a gentleman, whose state- 
ments may be relied on, slated in the Al- 
bany Cultivator that he put salt round cab- 
bage plants — in some instances in a ring 
round the plant, about an inch wide and a 
quarter of an inch thick, and in other cases 
sowing it thickly round and in contact with 
the stems of the plants. ; "In neither case," 
he says, "did the worms pay the least at- 
tention to the salt, but walked right through 
and destroyed the plants. In one instance 
a cut worm was found, after having eaten 
off/a plant, quietly reposing, with all the 
apparent ease and indifference of a philo- 
sopher, in a white bed of nearly clean salt." 

The individual alluded to by Professor 
Mapes, has tried salt in various ways as a 
remedy against the attacks of worms. In 
one instance he made an experiment by 
putting cut worms, wire worms, and others, 
into a stone jar with earth, and salted the 
earth at various times. The salt was ap- 
plied at first at the rate of six bushels to 
the acre — applying at the same time water 
enough to dissolve the salt. After a few 
days, the earth and worms were emptied 
out of the jar, for the purpose of ascer- 
taining the condition -of the worms. As 
they were not in the least affected by the 
treatment, they were put back, and more 
salt applied. After a proper time they 
were again examined, with the same re- 
sults as before. The salt was ultimately 
applied at the rate of over forty bushels to 
the acre, but without its having any effect 
on the worms. The experiment at this 
stage was broken off by an accident, so 
that the precise quantity of salt necessary 
to kill worms in the soil was not ascer- 
tained ; but as forty bushels to the acre had 
no effect, it is reasonable to believe that at 
least three times the quantity would have 
been required to destroy them. 

We are preparing, now, to repeat these 
experiments, and shall publish the results. 
In the mean time we would ask the public 
to compare the facts given in support of 
our position, with counter statements which 
have no better basis than very loose guess 
work. 

The insect alluded to under the name of 
wire worm, is, doubtless, the same as that 
described by Prof. Mapes as of a "cream 
eolor," &c. although we do not understand 
what he means by there being "many 
worms of this species." 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



337 







iM^ 



-i-- 



^^a3§3& F aBi}BiiKi»sS»®i»^* 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



RICHMOND, NOVEMBER, 1853. 

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ENCOURAGEMENT TO THE PLANTER. 

As the Editor of this paper never blows his- 
own horn, he begs that he may be excused for 
permitting it to be sounded by one of his 
friends. .Sincerely obliged, as he ever is, to 
those who aid him with subscribers, he is the 
more grateful in this case, because the kind- 
ness proceeds from one who is personally a 
stranger to him, though well known for his 
enlarged views and public spirit in another 
sphere, and noted as one who has striven ear- 
nestly and ably for the advancement of Vir- 
ginia even to the extent of taking ground (and 
successfully maintaining it) against the gen- 
'eral views of the section he hails from. 

In expressing thanks for the subscribers thus 
enrolled, and in making acknowledgments for 
the commendation bestowed upon- our efforts, 
it gives us pleasure to say that we claim at 
least as much credit for having called out such 
farmers as "Incog." speaks of as in anything 
else we have done. And, finally, we would 
observe — we hope not impertinently — that 
whilst we never expected to work for nothing, 
and would have no objection to making a for- 
tune by the Southern Planter, yet that money 
alone cannot pay us for the part we are endea- 
voring to play. 

Whilst none but the affluent can afford to 
lose sight of private interests, the poorest citi- 
zen ought to carry into public enterprises as 
much desire for public good as for private 
gain. Those who do so have certainly this 
advantage over the sordid: if their^ labors are 
approved then they have not lost their reward 
even though it be not paid in coin. 

To the Editor of the Southern Planter : 

1 transmit you twenty dollars, being amount 
received for as many new subscribers to that 
invaluablemonthly, the Southern Planter— the 
result of a small effort called forth by your 
circular appeal to the individual subscribers 
to the paper. 

This list was obtained almost without an 
effort; and the facility with which it was done 
shows how easy a thing it is to place this, the 
only agricultural journal in the State, on a 
permanent basis, and to enlarge its usefulness 
and value. 

This county, in point of area, is the smallest 
in the State, and yet in a day or two, with 
perfect ease, twenty subscribers were obtained 
witJiin its narrow limits. Now, I take it-that 
what has been done in this little county — not 
as large as a precinct in Loudoun or Augusta — 



338 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



may be very easily done in every county in the 
Slate. And I am entirely sure, that there is, 
in every county in. the State, at least one man 
of position and influence enough to procure at least 
twenty subscribers to the Planter. The only ques- 
tion is, will that one man undertake the task? 

If these premises be right, let us see to what 
results we are led. 

There are in the State, I think, 140 counties, 
and in that 140 counties, according to the as- 
sumed data, as many persons capable of pro- 
curing each 20 subscribers. Multiply 140 by 
20, and we have 2800 as the number of addi- 
tional subscribers — a number, I presume, that 
would go far to put the paper on a substantial 
footing. 

But much more than, this number can be 
easily had. 

There is not, I think I can safely assume, a 
single present subscriber, who has not influ- 
ence sufficient to procure, at the least, one other 
subscriber. I never saw the man yet who had 
not powers of persuasion enough to effect so 
small an object. Then, let every present sub- 
scriber resolve to himself to get at least one 
other comrade, and the success of the paper 
is a "fixed fact." 

I have not a doubt that every existing sub- 
scriber can, if he will take the pains, obtain, 
on an average, jive new subscribers. At this 
rate, the paper could be made a vehicle of 
agricultural information equal to any in the 
Union, and worihy of our State. 

All that is wanting is a fixed flan, some de- 
terminate system. Let the plan here suggested 
be but tried. Let every individual who has 
influence enough to get 20 subscribers, go to 
work and get his 20. Let every one who can 
command his ten, get his ten. Let him who 
can get five, strike for five. Let him who can 
bring up two to, the light of agricultural know- 
ledge, bring up. his two. But above all, let 
each and every present subscriber firmly re- 
solve to dq his best to gel at least one additional 
subscriber, and the result will be the triumphant 
success of the only agricultural press we have,, 
and an ultimate public good which not all the 
politicians and political papers put together 
can ever dispense. 

Will the thing be attempted'* That is the 
important inquiry. 

Surely, it will' be. State pride, if nothing 
else, should 1, induce the effort. Shall we be 
dependent upon the North for our agricultural 
reading, as we are for our brooms and curry- 
combs, and almost every fabric of domestic 
consumption"? And while the Northern States 
sustain scores of agricultural journals, shall 
we fail to support one? 

Not State pride only, but individual interest, 
' requires us to establish the Planter on the best 
possible basis. 

It is now as well settled as the existence of 
light and heat, that nothing depends more on 
the application of scientific, principles than 
agriculture. There are, it is true, some old 
fashioned prejudices against what is termed 



book-farming, but the impoverished acres and 
hastening poverty of those who reject science 
in the cultivation of the soil, are furnishing 
every day the best commentary on those pre- 
judices, and fast curing people of the delusion. 
How important, then, is it that we have among 
us a good agricultural paper to convey to those 
who till the soil the teachings of science in 
that most important regard? Or if actual ex- 
perience and "nothing shorter," be insisted 
on, how can we collect the experience of prac- 
tical farmers except through the pages of an 
agricultural journal, to which each one that 
chooses may contribute the results of his ac- 
tual experiments? 

There is another and a high motive to the ge- 
neral circulation of agricultural papers among 
the people: it tends, by substituting agricul- 
tural for political reading, to take from politics 
its absorbing, monopolizing character, to with- 
draw gradually public attention from this irri- 
tating subject, and to repress, of course, that 
violence of party spirit which has so disturbed 
our social organization, and so seriously inter- 
fered with our domestic interests. 1 know of 
more than one person who has been cured of 
his love for politics by reading the Planter. 

As a matter of interest, every man in the 
State who cultivates ten acres of land, ought 
to subscribe to the Planter. There is not a 
number that is not worth the dollar that is 
asked for the year's subscription. 

Your "Dollar's Worth on Hogs,?' in the 
May number, has been worth the present sea- 
son to the writer of this, twenty times, yea, 
fifty times the amount of my subscription. 
There is not a letter of Mr. Edmund Ruffin, 
of Rev. Mr. Fife, of Mr. James INewman, or 
of Mr. Willoughby Newton, that is not worth 
a year's subscription. I would not be without 
it for any consideration, nor exchange it for 
all the political papers in the Stale. 

I am no farmer, Mr. Editor — hardly know 
the first move, being merely a beginner: those 
who know me tell me I'll never make a far- 
mer — a thing I don't intend to believe just yet; 
but though not a farmer, I desire ardenily to 
be ranked in that honored class; and farmer 
or no farmer, I cherish a deep concern for the 
agricultural advancement of the State, and 
that concern has emboldened the humble wri- 
ter of this article to venture this appeal in be- 
half of the Southern Planter. 

By the way, while on the subject I may as 
well state something that may prove of prac- 
tical service to those who read the paper. As 
I read a number I index in a blank book the 
more important contents, so that I can in a 
moment refer to any subject treated of in any 
number without the labor of looking through 
the printed indexes at the end of each volume. 
For example, under the head of Guano, I put 
down every thing relating to that subject, noting 
the number and page; and so of other sub- 
jects. By this plan, I am enabled to bring 
into ready use any information the whole work 
contains. For instance: I am now using gua- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



339 



no, and before commencing', I referred, by 
means of my index, to every article on the 
application of guano scattered through the 
numerous numbers of the Planter, and having 
satisfied myself of the best mode, adopted it. 

Incog. 
Elizabeth City Co., Oct. 17, 1853. 



VIRGINIA STATE AGRICULTURAL 
SOCIETY. 

At a meeting of the Executive Commit- 
tee of the Virginia State Agricultural So- 
ciety on the 7th October, 1853, present P. 
St. Geo. Cocke, President; Harvie, Boul- 
ware, Overton, Booth, Irby, Peyton, F. G. 
Ruffio and Ch. B. Williams. 

Resolved, That the following committees 
be appointed to confer with the several 
rail road and other transportation compa- 
nies respecting the terms on which they 
will severally transport to and from the 
Fair, to be held in November next, the 
members of the Society and animals and 
articles designed for exhibition, viz. Gen. 
B. Peyton, to confer with the Manassas 
Gap, Orange and Alexandria, and Virgi- 
nia and Tennessee Rail Road Companies; 
Col. C. Q,. Tompkins with the Steamboat 
and Packet Boat Companies on the Bay 
and River routes; Mr. E. G. Booth with 
the South Side, Petersburg and Roanoke, 
and City Point Rail Road Companies; and 
Mr. Frank: G. Ruffin with the Richmond, 
Fredericksburgand Potomacand the Rich- 
mond and Petersburg Rail Road Compa- 
nies;-and that they report the result to the 
Recording Secretary for publication. 

Resolved, That Col. C. Q,. Tompkins be 
authorized and requested to make arrange- 
ments with the exhi'oiters of machinery for 
the space to be occupied and the kind of 
structures, to be erected by them at their 
own expense, if such structures shall be 
necessary for their accommodation; and 
also to erect, at the expense of the Society, 
such additional structures as he may deem 
necessary for the favorable exhibition and 
proper security of the miscellaneous and 
small articles of machinery and implements 
which may be offered for that purpose. 

Resolved, That Messrs. Cocke, Presi- 
dent; C. Q,. Tompkins, Harvie, Frank: G. 
RnfTiri and Peyton be a committee to pre- 
pare rule3 for the regulation of business 
and the preservation of order within the 
enclosure of the show grounds during the 
progress of the exhibition. 

The Corresponding Secretary read a 



letter from the Commissioner of .Patents 
of the United States, presenting fifty copies 
of the Reports of that department for 1852 
and 1853 for distribution as premiums at 
the next Annual Fair of the Virginia State 
Agricultural Society; whereupon, 

Resolved, That the Secretary be directed 
to express to the Commissioner of Patents 
the grateful acknowledgments of the Com- 
mittee in behalf of the Society. 

Resolved, That Messrs. Cocke, Harvie 
and Williams be a committee to make all 
arrangements L they may deem necessary 
with respect to the show grounds. 

The following persons were delegated 
to attend the Maryland State Agricultural 
Exhibition as representatives of the Virgi- 
nia State Agricultural Society, viz. Messrs. 
P. St. Geo. Cocke, L. E. Harvie, William 
Boulware, Wm. W. Crump, C. Q,. Tomp- 
kins, D. W. Haxall and Thos. Ritchie, Jr. 

Adjourned to meet on Saturday, the 29th 
instant, at 6 o'clock, P. M. 

Ch. B. Williams, Rec. Sec. 



For the Southern Planter. 

GUANO. 

Mr. Editor, — The high price of guano seems 
to cause great dissatisfaction among the con- 
sumers of the article generally, and several 
plans have been proposed for the reduction of 
the price, so as to enable farmers to obtain it 
at a fair and uniform rate. Now, it is a ques- 
tion of some importance, to determine who is 
to blame in this matter; whether it is the Pe- 
ruvian government agents, their sub-agents, 
the speculators, or the farmers who are the 
consumers of the article. It is the interest of 
the Peruvian government to dispose of their 
guano on the most economical principle: and 
it would be absurd to suppose that government 
would open a retail establishment in this 
country, for the purpose of selling guano to in- 
dividual farmers at forty-six dollars per ton; 
when they can sell it by the cargo at the same 
price, without incurring any such expense. 
They, therefore, employ agents, who employ 
sub-agents, with capital sufficient to transact 
the business upon the wholesale principle. 
Now, does any one suppose that the capitalist 
employed as a sub-agent, will retail guano to 
farmers or any one else at an advance of 
about ten per cent, on first cost, when he can 
sell it to the speculator at the same price by the 
cargo, and without ever handling it at all, or 
even seeing it'? Now, when the thing gets into 
the hands of the retail speculators, we may 
take it for granted the Philistines are upon us, 
and will extort as heavy a tribute as we are 
able lo pay; but we have the weapons of our 



340 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



defence in our own hands, and if we do not 
use them effectively, we have no body to blame 
but ourselves. 

In the leading article of the last number of 
the Planter, on the subject of guano, your cor- 
respondent, speaking of the disadvantages and 
burdens under which the great producing class 
labors, says: "No other class of men would 
submit to such impositions, and I trust that 
our agricultural societies, which are multiply- 
ing in all parts pf the country, will biing about 
such combinations of interests as to make the 
sting of the crushed worm felt in more ways 
than one." And, in your editorial on the same 
subject, you ask, "Why cannot farmers strike 
for lower prices, as mechanics strike for higher 
wages — are they inferior to them in spirit, en- 
terprise, intelligence or power to combine?" 
In my humble opinion, the above extracts con- 
tain hints, which, if taken up and acted upon 
by the combined agricultural interest, the evils 
so justly complained o[, would soon be re- 
moved. It is utterly impossible for auy indi- 
vidual to contend successfully with the pow- 
erful antagonism which is at war with the in- 
terests of the producing class. We never can 
succeed upon the "every man for himself" 
principle; and we ought not, forit is too mean 
a principle to be admitted as a motive of hu- 
man action. Weneed an efficient agricultural 
organization, by which, we can concentrate 
the power we possess upon any object or en- 
terprise, calculated to protect or advance the 
interests of the producing class. Apply this 
principle of action to the guano monopoly, or 
any other, and it would be put down at once. 
In order to accomplish this most desirable ob- 
ject, I propose that a committee be appointed 
at the meeting of the State Agricultural So- 
ciety, in November, for the purpose of form- 
ing a plan for the establishment of an agricul- 
tural depot in the city of Richmond, on the 
joint stock principle, with a capital sufficient 
to purchase guano by the cargo, direct from 
the Peruvian agfuts, at the government price; 
and, also, to keep a full supply of mineral ma- 
nures, grass seeds, &c. that are known to be 
valuableimprovers. When such plan ismade 
out and the amount of capital to be raised as- 
certained, let the Society appoint as many 
agents as may be necessary to get the amount 
subscribed. Such an establishment would be 
the property of the farmers themselves, and 
the h^avy profits now paid to sub-agents and 
speculators would be retained in our own pos- 
session, to accumulate and increase continu- 
ally the means necessary for our improve- 
ment, physically, socially -and intellectually. 
Now, this would be a small thing for the far- 
mers of Virginia to accomplish, and only one 
of the things we ought to do to protect our 
interests and improve our condition. But, if 
we cannot do this thing, or something similar 
to protect ourselves, Let us hereafier when we 
are down-trodden and oppressed, utter no 
plaintive murmur of discontent; let us cherish 
the vermin that batten upon our life blood — it 



will be more dignified to suffer in sullen si- 
lence, and like the dumb ass, trudge on under 
our burdens without one word, in sorrow or in 
anger. 

A Subscriber. 
October Uth, 1838. 



"SCIENTIFIC FARMING." 

LETTER FROM EROOMSEDGE. 

"The possession of the raw material for 
making cotton is the starting point with the 
planter, and he can not create this from 
nothing. Cheap guano would help him 
amazingly, but this fertilizer is not cheap, 
and we fear it never will be; for a manure 
18,000 miles from the fields where it is 
to be used, is altogether too far off to be 
very cheap." — Dr. Lee. 

It is a very easy matter for a scientific 
agriculturist to glance over the analysis of 
a soil, and furnish the application of the 
missing constituents — but it may not often 
be convenient, or prudent, for the planter 
to follow the advice. It may do very well 
for market gardeners — for farmers who 
cultivate land worth from one hundred dol- 
lars to two hundred dollars per acre, in Ihe 
neighborhood of large cities, who enjoy 
all the advantages'of a constant and ready 
market, rapid and cheap transportation of 
products and manures to and fro, and who 
can tell to a dime the profit of every trans- 
action — to employ guano, bone dust, and 
all the nostrums now so much in vogue; 
but it is little short of sheer nonsense to 
talk to one cultivating a staple subject to 
as many disasters, and liable to as many 
fluctuations in value as cotton, about using 
your super-phosphates, sulphates, et cetera. 

Let us not be misunderstood. We are 
not disposed to poke fun at the scientific 
gentry, or to underrate the value of any of 
the inorganic manures so much dwelt upon. 
We belong to that unfortunate class, book 
farmers, and have received and enjoyed 
the ridicule of our neighbors for our "sci- 
entific notions," long enough to be allowed 
to "claim as large a charter as the wind, 
to blow on whom we please." 

Let us take a case in point: A farmer 
applies to an agricultural chemist to pre- 
scribe the missing constituents of his soil, 
according to analysis. He is told to make 
a compost per acre, say ten cords muck; 
well, where is he to get the muck? There 
are thousands of farms where muck and 
pond mud are as scarce as guano. "Well, 
then, take leaves from the wood." " Why. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



341 



ray dear sir, that's the very thing I hav'nt 
got. 1 ' "Decomposed peat, then." "Peat," 
says the farmer, "never heard of it; new 
thing, sir/' "Head lands, then." "Worse 
and worse, sir! you're into me again." 
"Charcoal dust, then." "Whe-w! all the 
coal dust in this neighborhood I could haul 
in a day, in a wheelbarrow!" 

But let us admit by some hook or crook, 
the farmer "robs Peter to pay Paul," and 
gets together a few cords of leaves, trash, 
&c. "What next? "Add five bushels 
salt and lime mixture to the cord." " That 
is worth, in our diggins, fifty cents per 
bushel — but here goes. What next?" 
"Now add two hundred lbs. bone dust." 
(: Any more?" "Yes, three hundred lbs. 
guano, and — " "Stop," says the farmer, 
"let's begin to count up before we go any 
further, 

"1. Leaves, time and labor, nothing — all done 
at home. 

2. 5 bush, salt and lime mixture, 50 c. $2 50 

3. 200lbs.bone dust, freight, &C 4 00 

4. 300 lbs. guano, 2£c; freight, $1, 10 50 



$17 00 
"Seventeeen dollars gone — and all the 
missing qualities not yet applied! I never 
can stand it," says the planter. "Why, 
sir, I can buy plenty of fresh land in Flo- 
rida, Texas, Alabama, Arkansas and Mis- 
sissippi, for half the money, that will make 
twice as much cotton per acre, for twenty 
years." "But, my dear sir," says the che- 
mist, "you are only making a profitable in 
vestment." There's the rub! The main 
difficulty is, to induce the planter to discri- 
minate between an investment and an ex- 
penditure. The fact that he is repaid for 
the amount invested in manures, by an in- 
crease of product and improvement of soil, 
escape? him — because his mind is engross- 
ed with the idea that he is paying out more 
per acre than new land would cost him. 
Dp.. Lee has had the good sense to see 
this, and to mark out, to our mind, the 
only course by which we can escape deso- 
lation. 

We must diversify our pursuits. Instead 
of leaving our cotton fields hare, exposed 
to the sun and the bleaching rains of winter, 
sow them down at the last ploughing in 
barley or wheat. During the winter you 
will have a fine pasture for hogs, sheep, 
ind such small stock as will not in- 
jure your land by treading. Thus, the 
c.'irn crib will be saved; and you will have 
to sell, mutton to eat, and wool for 
domestic purposes. If you have any wet 



spots, sow grass upon, and convert them 
into pastures or meadows. 

And if you will make more money than 
you need, do seek some other investment 
than new land, and new negroes and mules 
to wear it out. Instead of running crazy 
about every humbug cotton seed and ma- 
nure, which is to increase the crop and di- 
minish your profits, get a little cracked 
upon what will save your lands from waste, 
your pockets from being picked for ploughs, 
hoes, rakes, shovels, axes, buckets, tubs, 
shoes, blankets, linseys, hats, flour, corn, 
hay, cheese, bacon, horses, mules, and a 
thousand other things, which, when put 
together, bear heavily upon our pros- 
perity. — Southern Cultivator. 



THE USE OP SALT IN AGRICULTURE 

A lecture on the agricultural employment 
of common salt was lately delivered before 
the Weekly Council of the Royal Agricultural 
Society of England, by Professor Way, which 
elicited the following interesting observations 
from Professor Sirnonds and other members 
of the Society: 

Professor Simonds said that "he was not 
then prepared to enter fully on the subject; 
but he might remark, as a general rule, that 
although different conclusions had been drawn 
from the use of salt, according to the amount, 
and under the circumstances it had been sup- 
plied, it was exceedingly beneficial in mode- 
rate quantities, but prejudicial in large ones, as 
a condiment for the food of animals. He was 
aware that it had been considered by some 
persons to be injurious in producing abortion 
in ewes and cows. His experience, however, 
had not led him to such an opinion; for even 
when large quantities of salt had been given 
to animals, he had not found that it exerted 
any specific action on the uterine system, such 
as that which the ergot of many grasses was 
so well known to exert both violently and de- 
leteriously on those organs. He thought undue 
quantity of food and plethora the more proba- 
ble cause of aboriion. It was difficult to fix 
the limit in which salt should be given to ani- 
mals. Professor Way had placed in his hands 
a tabular statement of the amount of common 
salt contained in various kinds of herbage, 
from which he had been enabled to estimate 
the amount of that substance constantly taken 
into the stomachs of grazing cattle along with 
their ordinary food. He showed that cart 
horses, feeding on meadow hay, bean meal, 
and bran, took in a considerable daily propor- 
tion of salt; that in other cases, the hay was 
salted; and that the free use of rock salt was 
commom on a farm; while the animals thus 
receiving these supplies of salt were not only 
uuiiijuicd by its use, but absolutely benefited 



342 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



in their health, gaining vigor and strength. 
Sheep fed on clover hay and turnips would 
not receive so large a proportion of saline 
matter,. and might, therefore, have more salt 
given to them in addition to theirfood. Horses 
might take with advantage from an ounce and 
a half to two ounces of salt daily; but an ex- 
cess of it, no doubt, would render animals 
weak, debilitated and unfit for exertion. Simi- 
lar facts were applicable also to oxen, which 
accumulated flesh faster by the judicious use 
of salt than without it. Arthur Young, in his 
examination before a committee of the House 
of Commons, in 1818, had stated that he found 
salt to prevent the rot in sheep; and Sir John 
Sinclair and many others had given evidence 
to the same effect. 

Professor Simonds then alluded to the solu- 
bility of common salt and its passage into the 
stomach and intestinal canal, its absorption 
into the system by the veins, its action on the 
liver, and the supply of soda it yielded to the 
bile; thus leading to a greater amount of nu- 
triment being derived from the food. Sheep, 
living on pastures giving them the rot, were 
found to recover when they had access to salt; 
and he thought the probable cause of sheep 
not rotting on salt marshes, and recovering 
when put on them, was the healthy stimulus 
thus communicated by the salt to the liver of 
the animals, by which that organ was guarded 
from disease, and its functions invigorated. 
Salt, too, was well known as a vermifuge, de- 
stroying many kinds of worms in the intestines 
of animals, and conferring a healthy tone of 
action which prevented their re-occurrence. 
He then alluded to the prophylactic or preser- 
vative influence of saline impregnation against 
marsh exhalations, and its power of destroy- 
ing the poison of those miasmata, as shown 
by Dr. Stevens, in his work on the blood, where 
reference is made to the fact, that, at Salina, 
in Genesee county, near Oneida Lake, New 
York, all the individuals in and about some 
salt works, situate in the midst of a marshy 
district, escaped from the attacks of marsh 
fever, while the population around them suf- 
fered. 

Colonel Challoner's attention was called to 
the value of salt about fifteen years ago, by 
the late Earl Spencer; and since that time, he 
had invariably used it for his cattle, which, in 
consequence, had attained to a better condition 
of flesh than they had done when no salt was 
given them. His Devons were the best cattle 
on his farm, and they consumed the largest 
quantity of that substance. 

Mr. Fisher Hobbs had little more to state 
on that occasion than he had slated when the 
subject was discussed by the Council a few 
months previously. He agreed with Colonel 
Challoner, that those of his animals which 
had the most salt did best, and even pined 
after i( when it was withheld from them. He 
did not consider that it acted simply as a ma- 
nure on grain crops; but it stiffened and bright- 
ened the straw, and caused it to ripen from 



two to five days earlier than it otherwise had 
done. In the case of root crops, it was more 
beneficial to mangold wurtzel than to turnips; 
and, in tact, that great caution was required 
in its application to the turnip plant, which 
was easily injured by injudicious use, on ac- 
count of its great effect on the vitality of that 
plant. It increased the size of the mangold 
bulbs, and caused the plant to retain its fer- 
tilizing character during dry seasons. He ap- 
plied the Pilchard fishery salt broadcast on 
each side of the plants, in July, either alone, 
(in particular seasons,) or mixed with ashes 
or guano, (which improved it,) and then scari- 
fying it. The frost had less effect on the salted 
than on the unsalted portions of his land; and 
by its means, light soil becomes more retentive 
of moisture, and more adherent and compact 
in its character. His land was variable, con- 
sisting principally of sand, gravel and mixed 
soil. The fishery salt he employed was nearly 
of the same price as the ordinary salt of com- 
merce, and it contained oil and animal matter 
derived from the fish. The wire worm died 
in it. In conclusion, he considered salt to -be 
very beneficial to the soil, either alone or in a 
state of mixture with other substances. 

The Rev. A. Huxtable was rather for leav- 
ing off" salt. Those of his sheep which had 
the most of that substance were the least im- 
proved in their weight; in fact, one ewe, very 
fond of salt, had become a mere skeleton from 
taking it in excess. He found that his animals 
were much purged by the use of salt. His 
milch cows, however, requiring more flesh 
than fat, were much benefited by it. Roots 
were much used by him, and he coniinued the 
use of salt with great effect as a manure for 
their growth; indeed^in this respect, he could 
not do without it, especially in the case of his 
mangolds and carrots, for the latter of which, 
being a sweet root, of which all insects were 
fond, it acted as a shield against depredation 
for these crops. He drilled it in with ashes 
and urine. He mixed a saturated solution of 
salt with dissolved bones, and found it pro- 
duced a more pasty and decomposed substance. 
His soils were gravel, clay, and chalk. 

Mr. Fisher Hobbs thought it probable that the 
circumstance of Mr. Huxtable's sheep being 
shut up when the salt was given to them, was 
the cause of their purging; for he had known 
it to be the common practice in Leicestershire 
some years ago, when the sheep had a purging 
upon them, to get them into a fold, and give 
each of them half a handful of salt as soon 
as the diarrhoea made its appearance. This 
practice he had himself usually adopted with 
success, and he believed it to be common, 
amongst flock masters. 

Hon. R. H. Clive, the Chairman, when tra- 
velling abroad, had noticed in the middle of 
hotel yards, where relays took place, a large 
block of salt, to which the post horses had' 
free access. He considered that horses in full 
work derived an advantage, more or less, ac- 
cording to circumstances, from this substance. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



343 



With regard to its effects on vegetation, a cu- 
rious result had occurred in Cheshire, where 
the Marquis of Westminster had applied salt 
liberally on a road four miles long, for the 
purpose of destroying the weeds on it; but it 
was lbund that the weeds, instead of being 
destroyed by this application, were more nu- 
merous than ever. 

Mr. Barrow had found salt improve the 
strength and quality of his wheat straw, his 
neighbor's cro s having been laid while his 
stood well. He had entirely destroyed fine 
rows of box in his garden by applying salt on 
his garden walks for the purpose of killing the 
weeds. 

Mr. Parkins had not had a weed on his 
gravjel walks for five years, by forming them 
on a bed or substratum of chalk mixed with 
coal gas tar sifted over gravel, and allowed to 
set; lime being used when a more compact 
substratum, (capable of bearing the pressure 
of a loaded cart wheel without yielding,) was 
required. 

Mr. Mechi had used 150 tons of salt on 170 
acres of land during five years' occupation. 
He found it essentially necessary for cattle 
and horses, when fed on wheat straw cut into 
chaff with bean meal. If salt were not given, 
their coats appeared rough and unhealthy; 
but with salt, they were sleek and healthy. 
His sheep and pigs also had salt. Horses and 
cattle received two ounces daily, yearling 
calves one ounce. Without being able to give 
the scientific reason, salt gave strength and 
brightness to the wheat straw, and prevented 
its lodging. He applied it at the rate of 300 
pounds per acre, mixed with the same weight 
of guano. He also used a large quantity un- 
der the animals, to fix the ammonia in their 
manure, which it did far more effectually than 
gypsum. He had known of great advantage 
from mixing it in the dunghill. It was very 
beneficial to mangold wurtzel. It certainly, 
with all deference to Mr. Way, appeared to 
render the land more wet and adhesive. He 
thought it would not be so beneficial on un- 
drained heavy lands. Early on a hot sum- 
mer's morning, he had observed the grains of 
salt formed a wet spot, as though they had at- 
tracted moisture from the dews. 

Professor Way explained that common salt 
might be a better fixer of ammonia than gyp- 
sum, on account of its greater solubility. Salt, 
from any deliquescence it occasioned, might 
affect land in regard to color and resistance to 
the action of frost; but moisture was not the 
simple cause of ihe good effects of salt. 

Mr. Dyer instanced the deliquescent effect 
of salt in bacon-salting rooms, where the pave- 
ment was constantly damp. He had even 
known milk spill cm deal boards years ago, 
which now, in damp weather, always attracted 
ire where the milk had been originally 
absorbed. 

Mr. Fisher Hobbs referred to the power of 
the fishery sail to fix ammonia and used it I 



frequently with guano with a view to that 
object. 

Baron Mertens expressed to the Council his 
thanks for the kind manner in which they had 
acceded to his request, on the part of the Bel- 
gian government, that this subject should re- 
ceive their attention, and give rise to practical 
discussion. He would only further trespass 
on their time by inquiring whether any experi- 
ments had been made to ascertain the increase 
in the weight of milch cows, and of the milk 
they yielded, in consequence of the use of salt 
as part of their food. 

The Rev. A. Huxtable, having a dairy of 
forty milch cows, had found it difficult to make 
experiments on that express point; but Bous- 
singault had last year given an account of ex- 
periments similar in their object to those which 
were now the subject of Baron Merten's in- 
quiry. 



THE HON. WILLOUGHBY NEWTON. 

We are gratified to learn that the services 
of this distinguished agriculturist and eloquent 
gentleman have been secured by the Rappa- 
hannock River Agricultural Society, and that 
he will deliver an address at their first Fair 
and Cattle Show, to be held in Port Royal on 
the 10th of November. A letter to us from 
Col. Tayloe, President of the organization, 
says: "We have also the expectation of the 
presence, on the interesting occasion, of Mr. 
Ruffin, to aid and cheer us on in the great 
cause of agriculture." 

The progress of the Port Royal Society is 
such as must be highly gratifying to every 
well wisher of the great interest of which it 
is the representative. Enrolments into its 
membership are daily being made, and it bids 
fair to embrace a large landed interest, from 
the owners of which may be gathered much 
that is valuable in theory and practice. 

The Agent, Mr. Kidd, has just gone to 
Westmoreland, having secured already, in 
other quarters, ^750, which is to be devoted 
to the encouragement of the various branches 
of the several industrial pursuits — agricultural 
and mechanical — in the way of premiums. 

We trust that old Westmoreland, and the 
counties yet to be visited, will respond in a 
liberal spirit to the call that is just made. 
Tidewater Virginia has the elements for such 
an organization, and all that was necessary to 
set the ball in motion, was the co&peration of 
two or three of the intrepid spirits whose 
broad acres are to be found in Caroline. 

Again, we say, all honor and credit to the 
enterprising spirit which dictated the organi- 
zation, and no less to the zealous and untiring 
efforts of the kw who are nursing it to a full 
fru i lion . — Frcdericksbvrg Herald. 

Rappahannock River Ac.Rictr.TURAL, Soci- 
ety. — We learn that this Society H making 
encouraging progress. Under the active agen- 



344 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



cy of Mr. Kidd, many members have enroled 
themselves, and over six hundred dollars ob- 
tained in the counties of Caroline, Essex, King 
George and Spottsylvania. Essex has re- 
sponded nobly to the call made upon its spirit 
and patriotism. Il is to be hoped that the other 
counties upon the river will do as well, and 
that the Society will enlist many hundred 
members The desire is universal for a union 
with the Society organized recently at Frede- 
ricksburg. Three or four places have been 
named as suitable for the holding of the An- 
nual Meetings of the Society. The first will 
be held at Port Royal, on the 10th of Novem- 
ber next. At that meeting, the members will 
select the next place and will respond to the 
invitation of the Fredericksburg Society. 

At the last Court in King George, Mr. Cor- 
bin addressed the people, and urged them to 
cooperate in the efforts made to promote the 
cause of agriculture. His address was well 
received, and of the small number present, a 
good proportion enroled themselves members. 
Had every county a farmer so energetic, patri- 
otic and liberal, the Rappahannock River 
Agricultural Society would te£n with active 
fri e n d s . — Fredericksb v. rg Herald. 

Agricultural Societies have already done 
and still are doing much to promote improve- 
ments in agricultural affairs, and increase the 
products of the soil. Through their influence 
mainly, wonders have been wrought in the 
Eastern part of the State. Lan is which long 
ago were thrown out as wholly unproductive 
aud not worth cultivation, have been reclaimed 
and are now yielding crops which astonish 
every body who sees them. Our Valley far- 
mers think they have been making rapid im- 
provements in agriculture, and so they have; 
but the improvement made in the tidewater 
district, wiihin the last ten years, far exceeds 
that made in the Valley. This may seem 
strange to our farmers v but still it is true. 
The tidewater farmers have had many diffi- 
culties to overcome; still, by well directed ef- 
forts — by conferring one with another in hole 
and corner clubs, and agricultural societies — 
by a happy union of theory and practice — of 
science and labor, they have to a great extent 
succeeded in making theirs the most product- 
ive section of the State. 

If such splendid results follow such efforts 
elsewhere, why should we not also put them 
forth 1 Why should we disdain to use means 
which have been so productive of good to 
others! We may consider ourselves very 
good farmers, but certainly there is still great 
room for improvement. Perfection is hard to 
attain, however great may be our strivings 
after it. 

The Fair of (he Virginia State Society will 
be held in Richmond, in November next. 
The city has taken great interest in it, and be- 
sides providing a suitable lot of ground for the 
purposes of the exhibition, has appropriated 
six thousand dollars towards defraying ex- 



penses. Gen. Richardson, the intelligent and 
gentlemanly Agent of the Society, is now 
making a tour of the State, awakening a gene- 
ral interest, and making such arrangements 
as will insure such an exhibition of the pro- 
ducts and industry of the State, as will redound 
to its honor. 

We have no doubt that the Fair will far ex- 
ceed any thing of the kind ever before held in 
Virginia, and be every way worthy the atten- 
tion of all who desire improvement in that 
most noble of all pursuits — the cultivation of 
the soil. We are very anxious that the far- 
mers of Rockingham shall be represented at 
the Fair. They can make an exhibit of in- 
dustry equal to any other county in the State — 
one that will do themselves and their county 
great credit. Shall it be sol We shoul'd be 
glad to hear from some of our farmers upon 
the subject. 

We suggest that a meeting be held for the 
purpose of organizing a County Agricultural 
Society, and making arrangements for the ex- 
hibition, of some of our county products at the 
State Fair. Farmers, fix the time and place 
and hold the meeting. Speak out! — Rocking- 
ham Register. 



From the Farmer's Companion. 
FALL MANURING TO PAY FOR ITSELF. 



We wish to recommend to our Western 
farmers, especially those upon the higher 
classes of soils, a new system of agricul- 
ture, which we are convinced cannot but 
produce great, lasting and profitable bene- 
fit, if fully carried out. That in many re- 
spects our Western soils do, and our West- 
ern farming must differ from those of the 
East, we already begin to learn. We came 
to the West totally ignorant of the circum- 
stances that surrounded us; and had to 
gain experience by a slow and often ex- 
pensive accumulation of facts. So far as 
Michigan is concerned, we may lay down 
the following as truths that are now dis- 
tinctly ascertained: 1. That our best wheat 
lands will not stand many successive crops 
without deteriorating in value; 2. That 
under very few circumstances is the yield 
of grain as large as it should be; nor is it, 
one year with another, truly profitable; 3. 
But clover, as affording pasturage to sheep, 
and, when ploughed in, a certain quantity 
of organic and inorganic manures, keeps 
the land up to its original fertility, and in 
some instances temporarily improves it; 
4. Therefore, to grow grain profitably with- 
out immediately injuring our farms, it is 
quite necessary to combine sheep farming 
and clover growing with wheat raising; 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



345 



5. Sheep farming is, in itself, extremely 
lucrative, and is likely to continue so for a 
long course of years; 6. But to the present 
system of wool and clover growing there 
are serious practical objections, which we 
believe may, to a great extent, be obviated | 
by the following plan. These objections j 
are. that clover seed is expensive, and apt to | 
fail in giving a good crop. That it requires 
plaster, itself expensive, to be added to it. I 
That it must be some time in the ground | 
to produce its effect. That it is impossible, ' 
under ordinary circumstances, to keep sheep 
or other stock in robust health, on dry food 
during our long winters; that we have 
generally to turn tbeta to pasture before 
the grasses are fit to afford nourishment; 
and thereby not only are our pastures in- 
jured, but our wool is altered in its charac- 
ter, smaller in quantity, and the lambs less 
apt to be healthy and vigorous. In no 
country in the world has there been greater 
improvement in stock, nor is stock habi- 
tually larger and finer, than in Great Bri- 
tain, and a very essential reason for this — 
undoubtedly the principal one — is the rich 
green food supplied, with an unlimited 
quantity of turnips and other roots. We 
believe it to be a physical impossibility to 
improve stock, or keep up that which is 
imported to its perfection, without green 
food in winter. It was not till improved 
grasses and turnips were introduced into 
England, that any improved stock was 
heard of, and the one has kept equal pace 
with the other; while, it is believed, that 
without exception, imported stock always 
degenerate with us in the second or third 
generation. The conclusion of these facts 
is obvious 1 enough. Again, clover is a late 
plant in the spring, growing hard and 
woolly early; while it is never safe to de- 
pend upon only one standard crop. 

Thereare many other reasons, that^every 
practical man knows, for wishing for some 
other crop which will serve as green food, 
and to plough in as manure at the same 
time, without going to the expense of rais- 
ing roots. Now the crop is rye. Many 
men grow rye, but not according to this 
",m. The plan we propose — aplanha- 
hilvsMy carried ovl year after yea,i — is lo 
plough, as early in full as convenient, the 
land intended for spring crops the next 
KeaKon, and to aow rye heavily, twice as 
heavily as if intended to eeed. By frost 
there will be a fine growth of rich fodder, 
and the sheep may then be turned upon it 
whenever there is no snow; or, what is 
preferable, for three or lour hours in the 



middle of each day, being fed at the barn 
with dry food morning and evening. Or 
this rye may be kept for early spring food 
when the stock begin to tire of hay. In 
most seasons, as in this last, there are two 
or three weeks in spring when sheep will 
not eat hay, and there is no grass for them; 
and the ewe, large with lamb, wanting the 
richest nourishment, is seriously injured 
by this forced abstinence; the vessels that 
should secrete milk, shrink up; and the 
young lamb either dies of starvation, or is 
stinted and unhealthy throughout life. — 
Thousands of lambs are annually lost in 
the North Western States from this cause. 
Then, when lime to plough for spring 
crops comes, plough in the rye, with all 
the manure the sheep have left on the field ; 
and you cannot fail to have a much larger 
spring crop. Compare this with the com- 
mon system. A crop of wheat is taken 
off, and the weeds and wild grass eaten 
up rapidly, doing little good. For eight 
months the field lies bare, paying no inte- 
rest, baking in the sun, and all the valua- 
ble gases escaping. When spring comes, 
the soil is hard, exhausted; or, if you do 
manure, it is by hauling at considerable 
expense from your yard, and the conse- 
quence is only an average crop at the 
most. By this new system, you make your 
field, during winter, grow wool and meat — 
paying good interest; you manure it richly 
at no cost; you find it light and friable in 
the spring; the decaying rye, ploughed in, 
rapidly starts the spring crop, and, supply- 
ing moisture, sets dry weather at defiance; 
and you greatly increase your grain and 
straw. There have been instances where 
utterly barren Virginia farms have been 
brought to a high state of production by a 
kw years' perseverance in this plan. It is 
putting much into the land and taking little 
out; so that each year there is a larger 
accumulation of soluble manures laid up 
in the soil. 



From the Rural New Yorker. 
CONCRETE CELLAR BOTTOMS. 

The facility and cheapness with which 
the bottoms of cellars may be made clean, 
sweet and impervious to water, is generally 
but little known to house owners, — nor the 
ease and certainty with which water may 
be excluded from cellars where it is diffi- 
cult to drain. 

In soft and pervious soils, tb,is process is 



346 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



best performed by paving with small stones 
laid in sand; but in common compact soils, 
the natural surface, well leveled, will an- 
swer all purposes. Make a thin mortar 
with water lime and coarse sand, of the 
consistency called grout, or so thick that it 
can be poured from a pail on the ground. 
Commence with a portion of about eight 
or ten feet at one end, and throw on sufR- 1 
cient to cover it an inch or more thick, and 
with a scraper, or rake-head, spread it 
evenly and smooth; then throw on as much 
clean, coarse gravel as it will absorb, and 
so continue until it is finished. In twelve 
hours, or as soon as it has set, sweep the 
overplus gravel evenly over the surface 
and lamp it down with a short plank and 
a pounder, until it is smooth and compact, 
and in a i'ew days of good weather it will 
become like a solid rock. It assists its du- 
rability and firmness, to give it several 
good dashes of water after it is dry. 

To render the sides impervious to water, 
where drainage is difficult or costly, re- 
quires that the wall should be laid with 
mortar originally: and at the time of con- 
structing the bottom, a good, well propor- 
tioned water lime mortar should be plas- 
tered on a little higher than the source of 
water, and well and firmly slicked down 
when about half dry, and followed by 
another coat of the same — when, if a pro- 
per time intervenes before there is any out- 
ward pressure of water, it becomes tight 
as a barrel or tub, is always - sweet, clean 
and cool, and no vermin can enter or find 
lodgment. 

The sand used in the grout and mortar 
should be coarse, clean and sharp, and the 
gravel from the size of walnuts down to 
coarse sand. 



From the Cotton Planter. 

WATER GATE AND WATER FENCE. 

Dr. N. B. Cloud: Dear Sir,— Yester- 
day I received your valuable work, gotten 
up in much better style, and filled with 
much more useful and interesting matter 
than I believed it possible for a monthly, 
at one dollar per year. But God speed 
your work, and may it prove for us what 
the American Farmer has done for Mary- 
land and Virginia. I see in your first 
number, you invite contributions from the 
whole planting States, and as I believe as 
much information is to be derived from the 
practical farmer as from the theorist, who 
can write articles on farming, or constitu- 



tions, if need be, by the gross, I have de- 
termined, although a manager, to contri- 
bute my mite for the advancement of an 
interest, and consequently a people with 
whom I have been reared, and with whom 
I intend to be buried. 

I propose to give to the farming world a 
water fence that water cannot move, and 
a water gate that is undisturbed by freshets. 
I will denominate the fence as a picket 
fence. First, then, cut and maul some 
white oak rails, ten and a half feet long, 
of good size; cut a ditch three feet deep, 
as narrow as will allow your men, or ditch- 
ers, to stand up in it, then put your rails in 
the ditch, and incline them against the post 
of the water gate, about an angle of forty- 
five degrees, commencing with a rail not 
more than twelve inches long above the 
ground; over that rail drive two stakes 
with a maul on each side, that have first 
been well sharpened, until they refuse to 
go, or until you have driven them within 
one foot of the rail; then put another rail 
between the stakes, observing to keep the 
foot at about the same distance from the 
first rail throughout the whole length. — 
Again, repeat the staking operation, drop- 
ing back about one foot, and so on, until 
you reach the height of four feet (this I 
believe to be the true height) as the fence 
is so rugged nothing will undertake it, and 
the lower the better, so as to allow logs, 
trash, &c. to pass over during a freshet.- 
After your fence is completed to high wa- 
fer mark, have the ditch filled up with rock, 
if they can be had, in which your rails are 
put, and have them well rammed. This 
will make a fence that water cannot move, 
or the weight of water; but strengthen it. 
And to move one rail you have to move 
the weight of the whole fence. 

The water gate is somewhat difficult to 
describe. My gate is fifty-two feet wide, 
the post twenty-four feet long, fourteen 
inches square, and set in the ground six 
i'eet, with braces from the top of the post, 
stretching back at an angle of forty-seven 
degrees, and six feet in the ground, rammed 
with rock; then plank are pinned on the 
post and braced so as to prevent the least 
giving way. Great care must be taken to 
hang the gate four feet higher than high 
water mark, so ae to admit logs of the 
largest size to pass under with impunity, 
and to prevent any hanging, and to make 
doubly sure, the gate will raise by the force 
of water, it must be planked on the but or 
upper side, with three-quarter inch plank, 
very close. 






THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



347 



I have shown you the best representa- 
tion I can, of the fenfce and gate, which 
you will find enclosed, and I have only to 
add, I have seen trees of tbe largest size, 
roots and all, pass under this gate, and any 
quantity of logs, trash, &c. pass over the 
fence. I hope, sir, your readers will be 
able to understand my description of the 
gate and fence, and they may receive as 
much benefit from it as I have. 

W. P. G. 



I 



THE CRYSANTHEMUM. 

This old esteemed favorite of the flower 
garden has long been cultivated, and cheered 
the heart of many a lover of flowers by its 
beauty — prized for its appearance at a season 
when most flowers decay, it lights pale Octo- 
ber on his way — and with its departure we 
glide into winter. It was first introduced into 
England about 1754, but it was not until 1789 
that the choice varieties were brought from 
China to Marseilles, and the next year im- 
ported into England from France. At different 
periods there has been introduced many new 
varieties, until they now include various co- 
lors of rose, buff, gulden quilled, sulphur yel- 
low, Spanish brown, white, and by crossing 
they have been produced in great variety, 
some of them finely tinged with white and 
pink are peculiarly beautiful. The lilacs and 
purples are of great variety of appearance, 
with florets either perfectly quilled, expanded 
and long, or short, so as to form a globose 
flower. While these have been propagated to 
a great extent, it was not until the introduction 
of the Pompone crysanthernum, or Chusan daisy, 
from China, by Mr. Fortune, some five years 
ago, that quite a new impulse to the culture of 
this flower has been given, and completely re- 
established its claims to popular favor, and 
even the richest dahlia can scarcely boast of 
a greater popularity than do these modest, 
charming daisy crysanthemums. They are 
certainly a great improvement on the old large 
flowered Indian varieties. The plants are so 
compact in their growth, so profuse in their 
blossoms, the flowers are so regular and the 
colois so varied, the foliage thick and the en- 
tire plant and its flower so miniature-like that 
they strike the eye at once by their novelty 
and beauty. They are so easily propagated 
and grown, that we may expect that every 
garden will include them among their autum- 
nal ornaments. 

Tfeey are readily struck from cuttings in a 
sandy soil, and by division of the roots in Ja- 
nuary or February, when every portion with 
astern will make a fine nlant if space is given 
for thern to admit light freely around them. 
The pompone varieties are admirably adapted 
to cultivation in pots, and in the early winter 
months furnish a beautiful ornament for the 



parlor window. The only care necessary, 
when the plants have been properly potted and 
established, is to give them light and air, and 
a regular supply of water; with this attention 
they will bloom freely until Christmas. In 
the open garden they require a rich, moist soil. 
The great requisites in the soil for crysanthe- 
mums is moisture in summer and moderate 
dryness in winter. The drought of summer 
seems to weaken them and, of course, injures 
their blooming in autumn. 

The new pompone varieties embrace the 
various colors— blush crimson, dark crimson, 
pink, rose, lilac, orange, yellow and orange, 
straw, white, creamy white. Some of the va- 
rieties are beautifully tipped, and all are of the 
most perfect form and of rich and varied 
colois. — Soulkcm Agriculturist. 



PAYMENTS TO THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 
From 26lk September to 1st November, 1853. , 
All persons who have made payments early 
enough to be entered, and whose names do 
not appear in the following receipt list, are 
requested to give immediate notice of the 
omission, in order that the correction may be 
made in the next issue: 

Geo. F. Davidson to September 1854 $1 00 
William F. Plunkett to July 1853 > ~) 
E. K. Durrett to September 1854 
P. C. Durrett to September 1854 ! ,. ftn 

N. E. Early to September 1854 f D uu 

James M'Mullan to September 1854 | 
William T. Simms to September 1854 J 
Dr. E. Watson to September 1854 1 00 

Henry T. Watkins to October 1854 1 00 

Col. B. H. Barnes to July 1854 1 00 

Dr. J. E. Craig to September 1854 1 00 

John A. Burwell to September 1854 1 00 

Edward L. Travis to January 1855 1 00 

James Birdsong to September 1854 1 00 

Maj. H. D. Thrower to September 1854 1 00 
James A. Smith to January 1854 1 00 

J. A. Elliott to January 1854 1 00 

John F. Whitfield to January 1854 1 00 

Harrison Jones to January 1855 2 00 

James Brown to July 1854 2 00 

P. M. Edmondston to October 1854 1 00 

Dr. John D. Spraggins to January 1854 2 00 
Wm. A. Jones to January 1854 1 00 

James G. Woodson to January 1854 1 00 
Charles A. Fore to January 1854 1 00 

' Hon. Wm. C. Rives to September 1854 1 00 
W. H. Hughart to January 1854 1 00 

Wm. Walton to July 1854 1 00 

John R. Miller to January 1855 ' 1 00 

H. Harrison to July 1854 , 1 00 

Joseph N. Goodman to April 1854 1 00 

Robert B. Payne to September 1853 2 00 

N. C. Clarkson to September 1854 100 

David La Prade to October 1854 1 00 

P. B. Jones to July 1854 1 00 

Wm. M. Branch to May 1854 1 00 

E. D. Hundley to April 1854 1 00 

Estate of B. C. Chinn (in full) 1 75 



348 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



H. F. Tagerto July 1S54 

A. B. Anderson to September 1854 
John Johnson to September 1854 

B. Kent, Sr. to June 1854 

James E. Woltze to October 1854 ■ 
James S. Walrond to January 1855 
Henry R. Cook lo March 1854 
Jesse Barnes to September.1854 

F. N. Waikins to January 1854 
Wm. T. Mordecai to September 1854 
Henry A. Winfree to January 1855 
T. W. Chapman to July 1854 

Wm. H. Clore to July 1854 
P. C. Lauck to September 1854 
Daniel Stickley to July 1854 
Robert V. Lockhart to July 1854 
Chas. D. Castlenian to July 1854 
John Montgomery (in full) 
John W. Burgess to July 1854 
John T. Magill to July 1854 
John W. Patterson to September 1854 
Col. Llovd Noland to September 1852 

G. W. Peter to July 1854 
George Risler to July 1854 

Wm. :VI. Keblinger to October 1854 
Wm. S. Carter to January 1854 
Jos. W. Campbell to July 1852 
Edmund Thurman to January 1854 
Wm. T. M'Oarthy to October 1854 
Albert E. Kennedy to July 1854 
George RrVes to July 1854 
John Sclater to January 1855 
Daniel E. Hickman to January 1855 
Dr. John R. Baylor to October 1854 
Edward J. Thompson to January 1854 
Col. D. R. Goodman to September 1854 
Dr. E. F. Birchhead to July 1851 
Octavius G. Michie to October 1854 
Gideon H. Timberlake to January 1854 
Capt. A. M. Appling to July 1854 
George A. Sinclair to October 1854 
Lewfs C. M'Gehee to July 1854 
J. R. Vest to July 1854 
R. W. N. Noland to Jfaly 1855 
David Byars to September 1853 . 
Dr. T. J. Garden to January 1855 
J. B. Bragg to September 1854 
George Rives to January 1854 

C. H. Lewellen to January U854 

Dr. D. M. Wilkinson to September 1854 
C. S. Hutcheson to September 1854 
John Puryear to July 1854 
Professor B. Puryear to January 1854 
Matthias Lamb to June 1854 
Pichegru Wool folk to July 1854 
Charles W. Statham to October 1854 
Dr. Thomas H. Averett to July 1854 
James Barbour to July 1855 
C. N. Michie to January 1864 
Dr. E. P. Scott to January 1854 
Joseph Rock to January 1855 
John F. Greenlee to June 1854 
Rev. J. R. Garlick to October 1854 
James E. Moseley to September 1854 
Jackson & Williamson to January 1854 
A. Bailey to January 1854 
C. A. Anderson to January 1855 



n oo 


1 00 


2 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


2 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


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1 (10 


1 00 


1 50 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


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1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


3 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


2 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


2 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


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1 00 


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1 00 


4 00 


2 00 


1 00 


7 00 


2 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


1 00 


2 00 



Col. Thomas Pugh to January 1854 
Capt. J. W. Armistead to January 1854 
Thomas B. Martin to January 1854 
Dr. J. E. Nicholson to January 1855 
Wm. Y. C. White to January 1854 
Wm. F. Bentley to September 1854 
Nathaniel Walton to September 1854 
John N. Griffin to September 1854 
John P. Roberts to January 1854 
Thomas Bruce to January 1854 
T. Shumate to December 1853 
John Smith to July 1854 
Henry J. Venable to January 1854 
James V. Kirkpatrick to October 1854 
James Lindsay to January 1854 
Dr. Wm. H. Macon to September 1854 
Dr. M. M. Harrison to July 1854 
Richard A. Tiller to September 1854 
Thomas Patterson to September 1854 
R. R. Barton to January 1855 
T. R. Blandy to September 1854 
R. M. Williams to September 1854 

D. A. Smith to September 1854 

R. F. Omohundro to September 1854 
James Phillips to November 1854 
J. C. Phillips to November 1854 
George M. Bates to November 1854 
Wm. Caussey to November 1854 
Wm. Ivey to November 1854 
Jefferson Sinclair to November 1854 
Nathaniel Gammel to November 1854 
Wm. Phillips to November 1854 
C. K. Mallory to November 1854 
Fayette Jones to November 1854 
Wm. Arnold to November 1854 
Sylvester Kelly to November 1854 
Wm. P. Brittingham to November 1854 
John Tabb, Sr. to November 1854 

E. E. Savage to November 1854 
G. B. Jones to November 1854 
S. W. Outten to November 1854 
Wm. Latimer to November 1854 
Parker West to November 1854 
John P. Topping to November 1854 
Thomas Fitzgerald to January 1855 
Dr. R. A. Patterson to November 1854 
Capt. B. Carper to Jannary 1854 
Daniel Ammen to January 1854 
John S. Woodson to January 1853 
Caleb Leigh to January 1854 

Col. Lloyd Noland to September 1853 
Wm. B. Stanard to July 1854 
Robert F. Fox to July 1854 
Edward Gilliam to September 1854 
Ryland Rodes to January 1855 
Chas. A. Price to January 1855 
Wm. W. Redd to November 1854. 
Edwin Smith to March 1854 
Josh. Miller to July 1854 
Jos. Riddick to January 1855 
Col. W. C. J. Rothrock to January 1852 
Charles Smith to January 1855 
Dr. R. C. Jones to January 1855 
George Hocker to January 1855 
George Chambers to September 1855 
Benj. A. Donald lo November 1854 
A. B. Nichols to July 1854 



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THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



349 



NEW PLASTER AND BONE MILL 

THE subscriber offers for sale fine Ground 
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. P.. 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.A. Calcined Plaster, - 3 bushels 

No. 5. Nitrate of Suda, - -• 40 pounds 
No. 6. Sal Ammoniac, - - 22 pounds 
No. 7. Carb Ammonia, - - 11 pounds 
No. 8. Sulph: Sorts, - - 20 pounds 

yio. 9. Sulph: Magnesia, - 10 pounds 

" 10. Common Salt, - - 10 pounds 

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

Direction's for Mixing. — Mix Nos. 1,2, 3, 
together — mix Nos. 5, C, 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 calcined plaster,) which will ab*orb the 
liqui6*and bring the whole to a dry state. 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 ftlO 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 
8tate. ' R. R. DUVAL & BRO. 

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

FOR SALE OR TRADE. 

A FIXE FARM, containing over 500 acres, 
lying in Hanover County, Virginia, and 
one for jale in Buckingham County, containing 
over 800 acres; also a number of the finest 
Couswotd Sheep, and the best lot of improved 
fowls in the United States. 
Addrcs (post paid) 

MARTIN GOLDSBOROUGH, 
Agent. 
Harr>.vmvWe, BaUirnore Co., Md. au— tf 



SPLENDID FOWLS. 

THE attention of poultry breeders and fan- 
ciers of poultry generally is invited to the 
unrivalled varieties now offered to the public 
by the subscriber, embracing every species of 
value in the United States. Especial care has 
been bestowed to render them all that can be de- 
sired by the poultry dealer, fat mer or amateur. 

Having devoted several years, to the rearing 
of choice fowls, the subscriber flatters himself 
that by his unremittiggj care and attention 
those now offered by him have attained a de- 
gree of excellence, as regards size, symmetry, 
plumage, &c. which cannot be surpassed. The 
several breeds are warranted entirely pure, 
especial vigilance having been exercised to 
prevent any admixture of blood. Among 
these may be enumerated the following: Bra- 
mah Pootra, Chittagongs, Gray Shanghaes, 
Buff Shanghaes, Black Shanghaes, White 
Shanghaes, Red Shanghaes, White Cochin 
China, Malays, Bucks County, White Surry 
Dorkings, Black Polands, White Polands,. 
Game Fowls,Silver Pheasants, Seabright Ban- 
tams, English Bantams, White Bantams, Nan- 
keen Bantams, Royal Cochin China, Hong 
Kongs, Great Javas, Black Spanish, Speckled 
Dorkings, Creoles, Frizzled Fowls, Golden 
Spangled Hamburgs. 

53= Purchasers may buy with the fullest 
confidence that their orders will receive prompt 
attention, and that the fowls furnished are pure 
blooded and in healthy condition. 

1^= All fowls purchased will be carefully 
caged, and delivered in New York or Albany, 
or placed on shipboard or rail way free of charge, 
after which the responsibility of the subscriber 
in reference to their safe arrival at their desti- 
nation ceases. 

' J. W. PLATT, box 128 P. O., 

nov— It Rhinebeck, N. Y. 



HOLLYWOOD NURSERY. 

JAMES GUEST, Florist and Nursery- 
man, a few yards south-west of the new 
Public Square on which the Virginia State 
Agricultural Society holds its Annual Exhibi- 
tion, Richmond, Virginia, has always on hand 
a large supply of Greenhouse Plants, Roses, 
Crape Myrtles, Magnolias, Evergreens, Shade 
and Ornamental Trees, Asparagus Roots (1 
and 2 years old,) Grape Vines, Osage Orange 
for hedges, Strawberry Vines (some fine new 
varieties,) Lancashire Gooseberries (20 varie- 
ties,) Fastolf and other Raspberries, Rhubarb 
or Pie Plant of different kinds, &c. &c. 

ITJT Orders received tor Fruit Trees; in ad- 
dition to which, he will shortly be in receipt 
of several hundred Plum and Pear Trees of 
the choicest varieties from one of the largest 
Northern Nurseries, selected with care, 

Reference is made to the following gentle- 
men : Charles T. Wortham, James Fisher, Jr., 
R. M. Zimmerman, Esqrs., Richmond ; James 
Lynch, Esq., Petersburg; Charles B'. Shaw 
and Montgomery Lynch, Bsqrs., Civil Engi- 
neers, nov— 2t* 



S50 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



PREMIUM BEE PALACE. 

THE following certificate, with other testi- 
monials we have seen, show the profit 
there is in rearing the Bee. The newly pa- 
tented improvement of Mr. Calvert is certainly 
a most valuable invention. The right may be 
purchased by States, Counties or Families by 
addressing Geo. Calvert, Upperville, Fauquier 
County, Va. P. D. B. 

Upperville, Fauquier, Va., Oct. 27, 1853. 
We hereby certify, that we have observed, 
with much interest and astonishment, at dif- 
ferent times during the past summer, the work- 
ing of Mr. George Calvert's bees in his Im- 
proved Experimental Palace, and can say con- 
fidently that we have never known or witnessed 
so large a yield from any other kind of hive. 
Mr. Calvert has from one old colony not less 
than one hundred and fifty pounds of virgin 
honey, including the yield of the swarm which 
came off June 5th. The young colony made 
fully fifty pounds of nice virgin honey over a 
sufficient support for them during the winter. 
The entire yield from the five old hives, or 
colonies, kept by Mr. Calvert over winter, is 
fully five hundred pounds of virgin honey, free 
of bee bread or young bees. 

WILLIAM R. GILL, 
B. F. LINKINS, 
WILLIAM HARDY. 



ANALYSIS OF SOILS, &c. 

THE undersigned is prepared to execute 
the analyses of Soils, Guano, Marls, Plas- 
ter, &c. &c. at the Laboratory of the Virginia 
Military Institute. Packages may be" for- 
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 Folds, viz. Cochin 
China or Canton Fowls; Black, Whitr, 
Buff and Brown Shanghais; Chittagoncs 
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 stock being purely bred and 
warranted true to their name. Address 
CHARLES SAMPSON, 
West Rozbury, Mass. 
The different varieties of these beautiful 
fowls may be seen at my residence on First 
Street, between Main and Cary Streets. 

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



FOR SALE. — A fine farm near Marysville, 
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 flocks 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 
more accommodating terms, with the improve- 
ments. 

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

MARTIN GOLDSBOROUGH, 
Agent, Harrisonvillc, Baltimore Co., Maryland. 

July— tf 



AGENCY FOR THE PURCHASE AND 
SALE OF IMPROVED STOCK. 

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

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

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 possesses a number 
of advantages which are not to be found in 
any other machine, viz: the knives can be 
taken out and cleaned. The whole article is 
of iron, very compact and durable, and war- 
ranted to cut four times the amount of any 
other machine in the market, and 33 J per cent, 
cheaper. Price $5 50. A liberal deduction 
to the trade. None genuine as the premium 
and improved article without our label. 

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

F. B. DID1ER & 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. 



351 



A MOST DESIRABLE FARM FOR SALE. 

O |XQ ACRES of land, 16 miles from 
/OtjiJ Richmond, 70 acres being "James | 
river love 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 i 
river. This farm offers peculiar advantages | 
from the facility of communication with Rich- | 
mond— one of the best markets in the coun- j 
try—the proverbial fertility of "James river i 
lands," and the fact that such a farm is rarely ! 
offered for sale. It will be sold unusually low, j 
if application be made soon, and on accom- i 
moiating terms, with the growing crop of 
corn, about 5 acres of Irish potatoes, cattle, j 
horses, mules and farming implements, in- 
cluding anew "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 spnd accounts to this office for settlement. 

October 1, 1853— 3t 

OTRPHES H. FISHER, M ANUFAC- 
O TTJRER OF BOOTS AND SHOES, 
No. 2-28, Broad Street, north side, between 3d 
and 4th streets, Richmond, Virginia, keeps 
consfanily on hand a full assortment of ready 
made Boots and Shoes of his own manufac- 
ture, for Ladies' and Children's wear, which 
he will sell as low as can be purchased in this 
city. 

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

Servants' Shoes of all qualities constantly 
on hand. 

0"A11 work warranted 43 • 

^j 3 Farmers are invited to give him a call. 

oc — ly 

AGRICULTURAL WAREHOUSE. 

THE subscriber continues to manufacture 
Agricultural Machines, viz. Horse Pow- 
ers, Threshers, Fan Mills, Hunt's Patent 
"Wheat Drill, Hay Rakes. Hay Presses. Straw 
Out:er«, Corn Shellers, Hillside and Sul>soil 
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 
selfoilin? box have been tested three seasons, 
and> uniformly pronounced the best in use. 
MWiines repaired, Castings in iron and brass 
furnished at short notice. 

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



A MORRIS, 97 Main Street, is constantly 
• supplied with all New and Standard 
Agricultural Works. The subscriber re- 
spectfully invites the attention ol the public, 
especially those visiting the Agricultural 
Fair, to his extensive assortment of Books 
on Agriculture, among which maybe found 
The Chemical Field Lectures for Agricul- 
turists, by Dr. J. A. Stockhardt; translated 
from the German : edited with notes by James 
E. Tesehemasher. 

The Field Book of Manures, or the Ame- 
rican Muck Book, treating of the nature, pro- 
perties, &c. of all the principal manures in 
common use, by D. J. Brown. 

The American Farm Book, or Compend of 
American Agriculture, being a practical trea- 
tise on soils, manures, draining, &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 Journal 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 contributions from 
eminent farmers and statesmen, 3 vols. 8vo. 
John S. Skinner, Editor. 

The Principles of Agriculture, by Albert 
D. Thaer. 

The Farmer's and Planter's Encyclopedia 
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 Between Science and the Art of 

Practical Farming, by John P. Norton, M. A. 

An Essay on Calcareous Manures, by Ed. 

Ruffin: 5ih edition, amended and enlarged. 

The Farmer's Barn-Book, by Clater, 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 
qc— 3t Piano Fortes, 97 Main Street. 



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 



352 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



CONTENTS OF NUMBER XI. 



PAGE 

Barley as a Substitute for Oats and Wheat. 

Joint Worm 321 

The Peach 322 

Important if True 324 

Wheat Reapers and Drills 324 

The Fence Law — and the bearing of the 

Maine Liquor Law upon Production. ..32G 

Horse vs. Mule >.. -327 

Broom Corn 328 

The Seasons 329 

Indian Corn .' 330 

Charcoal and Salt for Sheep 333 

Sheep 333 

New Use for Clay 335 

Salt for Wire Worms 335 

Encouragement to the Planter .' . -337 

Virginia State Agricultural Society 339 

Guano 339 

Scientific Farming 340 

Use of Salt in Agriculture 341 

The Hon. Willoughby Newton 343 

Fall Manuring to pay for itself 344 

Concrete Cellar Bottoms 845 

Water Gate and Water Fence .346 

The Chrysanthemum • 347 



HALL & SPEER, PLOUGH MANU- 
FACTURERS, No. 1GG Penn Street, 
Pittsburgh, Patentees of the celebrated First 
Premium Iron Centre and Hillside Revolving 
Beam Ploughs,also manufacture Patent Lever, 
Centre Lever, Improved Peacock, Wrought 
Mouldboard, Creole, Valley, and every other 
description of Ploughs, Plough Castings, Cul- 
tivators, &c. 

Morton & Booker, Agents, Richmond, Va. 

Watkins & Morton, Agents, Petersburg, Va. 

Agencies will be established in all the prin- 
cipal towns throughout Virginia, so that points 
can be supplied regularly and conveniently. 

nov — Gt H. & S. 



SINTON & SONS' NURSERY, NEAR 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 

AS the season for planting has arrived, the 
subscribers would respectfully call the 
attention of their friends and the pub) 
nerally, to their large and axtensiye cojj ctio 
of Fuun' Trees, embracing, perhaps, a' selec- 
tion that has not been surpassed, lor the cli- 
mate of Virginia, and nearly all propagated 
ftpra fruit-bearing trees in their own orchard. 

Catalogues, with directions for planting, may 
be had at William Palmer's Seed and Plough 
Store; at Peyton Johnston & Brother's Apo- 
thecary Store; at C. J. Simon & Co.'-s Hard- 
ware Store, and at Logan Wallcr'.s Commis- 
sion House, where any orders left will be 
punctually attended to, and letters addressed 
to the subscribers, Richmond, will receive 
prompt atteniion. 

nov— tf JOSEPH SINTON & SONS. 



A'GENCY. 

1AM willing to assist gentlemen in purchas- 
ing and selling farms, stock, and poultry at 
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. 
HarrisonviUe, BaUimore 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. Wave, 
Berryville, 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, Huntsvil'e, Ala.; T. Hay ward and 
Maj. R. Hay ward, 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; alsq, Paints, Oils, Varnish, Dye- 
Stuffs, Window Glass, Putty, &c. For sale 
on the most accommodating terms. 

=dr Orders 'from Country Merchants and 
Physicians thankfully received and promptly 
attended to 
ja 1851— tf 



SUFFOLK PIGS. * 
njUIE subscribers are prepared to receive 
X 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, 

Wat ei ton, 
Or, ISAAC STICKNEY, 
Boston, Mass. 
Boston, August, 1853 — 6t,