THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 

Bebotrfcto agriculture, horticulture, aufc the ^ouseliolfc arts. 



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


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


FRANK: G. RUFFIN, Editor. 


P. D. BERNARD, Proprietor. 


Vol. XIII. RICHMOND, 


AUGUST, 1853. No. 8. 



For the Southern Planter. 

GRAPE VINES DROPPING THEIR FRUIT 
—THE CROPS— REASON WHY WHEAT 
HEAVES. 

Mr. Editor.— I havea small vineyard of six 
hundred vines, which bore fine fruit the third, J 
fourth and fifth years after grafted upon wild 
stocks frorn the forest — they were well manured 
when planted; since which, I manured them 
with the vines pruned off, chopping them short 
and burying them near the roots, also with 
soap-suds and the washing of guano bags. The 
vines now cast their fruit when the berries are 
about thdteize of squirrel shot. I have pruned 
with one bud, two buds, and some vines not 
pruned at all; still some vines have not a 
bunch, and those that bear are scattering. 
Perhaps the* ground is made too rich, or in 
working the vines I may put loo much soil 
over the roots — they run extensively to vine. 
1 will thank you to give this a place in the 
Southern Planter, inviting information of those 
who are competent to give me a remedy which 
will be thankfullyreceived through ihe columns 
of the Planter or private communication. 

The joint-worm has caused some damage 
to our wheat crop. This being the first year 
of their visitation, I fear they will be more 
numerous the next year, and cause great da- 
mage; still there is a good crop of wheat 
reaped and secured throughout the valley of 
the James river. Our oat crop is nearly worth- 
less. The corn crop is backward, from the 
severe drought; but the fields are clear of 
grass, and with frequent showers a good ave- 
rage crop may be made yet. The tobacco 
prospect is gloomy indeed; under the most 
favorable seasons of weather and a late fall, 
more than a half crop cannot be expected. 
The chinch-bug is doing great damage to small 
corn that is not jointed. I will state a fact, 
as I believe, based upon many years observa- 
tion, as regards the lime of seeding wheat- 
say the two first weeks and the two last of 
October, and ihe two first weeks of November, 
{he usual time of finishing seeding. The first 
division of October, the tap root forms readily, 
when the horizontal roots mostly perish. In 
the last division of that month it is generally 
cold and frosty, and the tap root being delayed 
in forming, the horizontal roots, as in their na- 
ture, give way, and the plant heaves out of the 
Vol. XIII.-8. 



ground, sometimes, sustained for a while by a 
single root but finally perishing. In Novem- 
ber, the tap root does not put forth till warm 
weather ensues — still by some provision of na- 
ture or the season, the horizontal roots hold on 
and sustain the plants better against spewing 
out than the last division of October; Captain 
Richard Sampson, a distinguished and practi- 
cal farmer, first drew my attention to this sub- 
ject. It is for you, Mr. Editor, or some of 
your intelligent readers to give the philosophy. 
Very respectfully, yours, 

Chs. Yancey. 
Buckingham County, Va. 



For the Southern Planter. 
BORROWING AND HIRING. 

Mr. Editor, — I wish I could hire a wheat 
fan! 

My little farm makes in this, my first year, 
only eighty-five bushels of wheat, and is not 
likely to make in any year, on the five or six 
acres it affords for wheat, more than ninety or 
one hundred bushels, even with guano, and 
without the joint-worm and other plagues that 
be-devil our crops. So that to buy a wheat 
faft at twenty-five or thirty dollars "were 
wasteful and ridiculous excess." I tried to 
hire one; but my neighbors all said that was 
out of the question, and none would hire, 
though several were ready to lend. I'did bor- 
row from the nearest, and have cleaned out 
mv little crop 

A thing as important to cultivate as wheat 
or corn, is a feeling of independence; and 
mine is wounded by having to borrow what is 
so very apt to be worsted both in the removal 
and in the use, as a wheat fan is; and what is 
of such regularly recurring necessity. I don't 
think such a thing oushi to be borrowed or 
lent, unless in case of great urgency — far 
greater than existed in my case. And if the 
urgency recurs periodically, as once a month, 
or once a year, the wanter ought to buy or 
hire, and not to borrow. I should not like to 
lend a wheat fan if I had one, as I do not like 
to lend my horse and Jersey-wagon once a fort- 
night, for my pious neighbor Jobson to carry his 
wife and four children to meeting in— though 
I lend them with great pleasure to carry her 



226 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



to see her sick mother, or to bring her mother 
to see her in sickness. Just so, I gladly lend 
the horse to ride for the doctor; but not to go 
every week to mill, or for a Sunday frolic. 
When my horse has been lame, and I could 
not hire another, I have walked twenty miles 
rather than borrow. 

There are many farmers through the country, 
whose wheat crops are no larger than mine — 
so that they cannot afford to buy wheat fans. 
Some of them may not have as kind neighbors 
as'I have, or they may have still sturdier no- 
tions of independence, so as to be galled even 
more than I am, by having to borrow. What 
a relief! — what a real bird-nest it would be to 
all such if they could hire fans at a reasonable 
price ! I have known one (and only one) hired. 
It was at fifty cents a day, and hired to a wo- 
man — the most manlike woman, for honest 
industry and useful energy, that ever I knew 
of. 

The not borrowing of wheat fans might be 
made the commencement of not borrowing a 
great many other things that ought not to be bor- 
rowed or lent. All over the country there are 
people who seem never to have heard what 
Poor Richard says, that <: He who goes a bor- 
rowing, goes a sorrowing." 

A much more famous author than Poor 
Richard, gives it as the advice of a father to 
his son — 

" Neither a borrower nor a lender be, 
For loan oft loses both itself and friend; 
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry." 

Machines to thresh out wheat are hired. 
Reaping machines will be hired when they 
get into common use, as they ought to do. 
Carriages are hired; and so are laborers of a 
thousand sorts. Why should not wheat fans'? 
A Small Farmer. 



For the Southern Planter. 

HOLE AND CORNER CLUB OF PRINCE 
GEORGE COUNTY. 

It has been justly said that "he who makes 
two ears of corn or two blades of grass to grow 
upon a spot of ground where only one grew 
before, would deserve better of mankind, and 
do more essential service to his country than 
the whole race of politicians put together;" 
aud to effect these things, so as to make the 
earth yield its fruits in due season and profita- 
bly, the forest must be felled and new land 
brought into cultivation, or worn lands must 
be improved by a judicous system of manur- 
ing, liming and culture. 

No comparison can be made, as a matter of 
course, where crops are made upon new land, 
yet all good judges can ascertain if its owner 
has so improved such ground as to obtain more 
from it than could be obtained by the ordinary 
process of clearing and cultivation. But when 



new land has been subjected to the plough and 
hoe, or worn lands have been taken up and 
improved, then skill, untiring industry and 
prudence will place their fortunate possessors 
before their neighbors as men of zeal in the 
good cause of agriculture, and a rich reward 
awaits those whose practice comes up to the 
standard of excellence. But unfortunately for 
the improvement of our good old State too 
many of her sons, men who ought to be orna- 
ments to adorn, instead of drones, eating the 
bread of idleness, look upon agriculture as the 
merest drudgery, and disdain even the theory 
of agricultural improvement, as if their bright 
views of renown would be darkened and their 
high hopes of a brilliant future disappointed 
by coming into contact with an employment 
which feeds countless millions, and is begin- 
ing to find mental food for thousands of the 
talented of this and other countries. But so 
it. is — and when the friends of improvement 
look forward they are almost disheartened at 
the work to be done before Virginia will take 
the first rank in improving her soil. 

But for fear this communication may become 
too long, the undersigned will now present to 
the readers of the Planter an annual state- 
ment made by Mr. Charles Friend to ftae Hole 
and Corner Club of Prince George County, 
Virginia. This Club requires its members to 
make an annual statementembracingthe num- 
ber of acres of land improved, the number of 
acres in culture, and how many cleared, how 
many laborers are regularly employed on the 
farm, how many horses, mules and oxen are 
thus employed, and the amount of their crops, 
together with the amount expended for ma- 
nures, lime, plaster, &c. before the successful 
candidate can receive the premium. Messrs. 
Friend, Jordan and Russell became competing 
candidates for the premium, hence the state- 
ment now submitted for publication. It may 
be proper to state that Mr. Friend took pos- 
session of his farm in 1839. In that year he 
expended $3 46 in manures; this amount being 
the minimum; and in the year 1847, $414 17, 
as the maximum amount in any one year: the 
whole amount expended between those years 
(and inclusive) being $2243 S3. 

In 1839 he reaped 342 bushels wheat; in the 
year 1848 he reaped 2400 bushels. The atten- 
tive reader will perceive that the additional 
wheat in 1848 paid for all manures up to that 
period, and all intermediate crops were so 
much clear gain after deducting the minimum 
crop of 1839 from all succeeding ones. 

The committee will now give the statement 
for 1852. 
Amount of straw applied to land 42 

four-ox loads per acre, - 12 acres. 

Amount of putrescent manures 70 

one-horse loads per acre, - " 39 " 
Amount of guano 150 lbs. per acre, 40 " 
Amount of clover 1 gallon per acre, 80 " 
Amountof plasterl bushel peracre, 30 " 



Total, 



201 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



227 



Number of acres in wheat, - 135 

Number of acr^s in corn, - - 100 

Number^f acres in oats, - - 60 

Number of acres in meadow, - 2 

Total number of acres in culture, - 297 

Number of acres land cleared, - 12 
Number of laborers engaged on farm 7 

men, 6 women, 6 boys — total - 19 

Number of mules and horses, - 10 

Number of oxen, ... 3 

Amount of Crops made 1852. 
3909 12-60 bus. wheat at SI per bus. £3,909 20 
2250 bus. corn at 60 ceDts per bus. 1,350 00 
16.000 lbs. oats at $1 per cwt. 160 00 

6600 lbs. pork at 8 cents per lb. 528 00 



Total, 
Expended for clover seed £48 00 
Expended for plaster 10 50 

Expended for guano 143 00 



$5,947 20 



201 50 



Bal. after paying for manure, &c. £5,745 70 
Or 3302 40 per hand. 

This statement is given to the readers of the 
Planter, hoping others belonging to Clubs will 
follow our example, and thus, though at a dis- 
tance, let us compare resuhs. If this report 
is approved of, others of a like character will 
follow, embracing the statements of Messrs. 
Jordan and Russell. 

J. A. Petersov, 1 

John H. Batte, I Committee. 

CORIOLANCS RUSSELL, ) 



VIRGINIA STATE AGRICULTURAL 
SOCIETY. 

At a meeting of the Executive Commit- 
tee of the Virginia State Agricultural So- 
ciety on Thursday, the 7th of July, 1853, 
present. P. St. Geo. Cocke, President; E. 
Ruffin, Harvie, Overton, Richardson, F. 
G. Ruffin and Williams. 

The President reported to the Commit- 
tee that John R. Edmunds, Esq. of Halifax, 
had accepted the invitation to deliver the 
annual address in November next. 

Mr. Giles, Chairman of the Committee 
on Public Grounds, exhibited the plan of 
the City Engineer for the arrangement of 
the ground appropriated to the use of the 
Society at its first annual exhibition by the 
City of Richmond, and also the estimates 
of that officer for the buildings and fixtures 
necessary to be erected in order to adapt 
it to the uses of the Society; whereupon, 

Resolved, That Messrs. P. St. George 
Cocke, Wm. H. Richardson and Ch. B. 
8h 



Williams be a committee to confer with 
the Committee on Public Grounds, and 
that either of them is hereby authorized 
to act from time to time as occasion may 
require. 

On motion, 

Resolved, That the following subjects be 
added to the Schedule of Premiums, viz: 

Branch II. 

8th. For the best essay on the treat- 
ment arid management of milch Cows 
the year through, a premium of - $20 

Branch X. 

2d. To the first individual in Vir- 
ginia who shall establish and maintain 
in successful operation for six months, 
a factory for tubular draining tiles, on 
the most approved plan, a premium of 30 

Branch XII. 

DOMESTIC MANUFACTURES. 

1st. For the best Family Flour, a 
premium of - $10 

2d. For the best manufactured To- 
bacco, - $10 
3d. For the best pair Bed Blankets, 5 
4th. For the best pair Servants' do. 5 
5th. For the best piece Woollens, 5 
6th. For best piece Cotton Cloth, 5 
7th. For the best and greatest va- 
riety of shoes, - - - 5 

8th. For the best and greatest va- 
riety of hats, 5 

9th. For the best and greatest va- 
riety of hardware, - ' 10 

Resolved, That the Executive Commit- 
tee now proceed to appoint the committees 
of award, to consist of five persons, on each 
of the various subjects embraced in the 
Schedule of Premiums heretofore adopted, 
and that if any person shall have a per- 
sonal interest in any subject to be referred 
to the committee of which he shall be a 
member, he is requested to make it known 
to the Executive Committee, that bis place 
may be filled by the appointment of an- 
other person. 

Branch I. 

EXPERIMENTS. 

Judges — Wm. B. Harrison, Prince George, 
J. Ravenscroft Jones, Brunswick, 
Thomas Meaux, Amelia, 
B. J. Worsham, Prince Edward, 
Edwin W. Friend, Dinwiddie. 



22S 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



Branch II. 

ESSAYS OK WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS. 

Judges — Jas. C. Bruce, Halifax C. H. 

E. T. Tayioe, King George C. H, 
M. R. H. Garnett, Essex, 
Wm. S. Morton, Cumberland, 
Benjamin Hallowell, Alexandria. 
Branch III. 

BEST FARMING IN VIRGINIA. 

Judges — John R. Edmunds, Halifax C. H. 
William Old, Powhatan C. H. 
Jeremiah Morton, Culpeper, 
Braxton Davenport, Jefferson, 
Ed. Ruffin, Jr., Prince George. 
Branch IV. 

Judges — John R. Garnett, Henrico, 

Samuel Mordecai, Richmond, 
William L. Booker. Amelia, 
J. Marshall M'Cue,' Augusta, 
William H. Roy, Matthews. 
Branch V. — Live Stock Exhibited. 

HORSES— THOROUGHBRED. 

Judges— Wm. H. E. Merritt, Brunswick, 
John M. Botts, Henrico, 
Wm. W. Crump, Richmond, 
Wyatt Cardwell. Charlotte C. H. 
George Booker, Hampton, 
John White, Pittsylvania, 
Dr. Abner Crump, Powhatan, 
J. Parke Corbin, Fredericksburg. 

Q.UICK DRAFT AND SADDLE HORSES. 

Judges — Gen. John H. Cocke, Fluvanna, 
R. H. Delany, Fauquier, 
Gen. J. B. Harvie, Henrico, 
Robert Edmond, Richmond, 
Peter Boisseau, Amelia, 
Richard J. Gaines, Charlotte. 

HEAVY DRAFT HORSES. 

Judges — James M. Ranson, Lexington, 
Robert Kyle, Rockingham, 
Michael flarman, Staunton, 
Hillary Harris, Powhatan, 
Reuben Moore, Rockingham. 

MULES AND JACKS. 

Judges — Th. M. Bondurant, Buckingham, 
R. M. Bridges, Caroline, 
D. W. Haxall, Charles City, 
S. Coleman, Sr., Spottsylvania, 
William Irby. Lunenburg. 

CATTLE. 

Short Horns and Herefords. 
Judges— -Gen. P. H. Steinbergen, Mason, 
Allen T. Caperton, Monroe, 
Lewis Bailey Fairfax, 
Dr. Wm. 1. Dupuy, Petersburg, 
Thomas A. Hardy, Norfolk. 
Lewis Steenrod. Wheeling. 



Devons and Alderneys. 
Judges — John Hill Carter, Prince William. 
Henry Massie, Orange, 
Dr. Cyrus H. M'Cormick, Clarke, 
Dr. Williamson, Shenandoah, 
A. A. Matthews, Wytheville. 

Ayrshires and Holsteins. 
Judges — Edw'd Marshall, Fauquier, 
Andrew Maxwell, Powhatan, 
William B. Sydnor, Hanover, 
Robert Grattan, Rockingham, 
Andrew Nichol, Petersburg. 

Natives or Grades. 
Judges — James Newman, Gordonsville, 
S. B. Finley, Augusta, 
J. M. Trevillian, Goochland, 
Ed. C. Turner, Fauquier, 
Andrew Beirne. Monroe. 

Working Oxen. 
Judges — John Willis, Orange C. H. 

C. H. Hunton, Prince William, 
Dr. John W. Gantt, Scottsville, 
Robert Hubbard, Buckingham, 
John H. Steger, Powhatan. 

Fat Cattle. 
Judges — John A. Herring, Rockingham. 
John Patteson, Fauquier, 
Ro. L. Wright, Loudoun, 
John Marshall, Culpeper, 
Jacob Shook, Richmond. 

SHEEP. 

Fine Wools and Middle Wools. 
Judges — J. M. Morson, Goochland, 
J. W. Ware, Clarke, 
Samuel F. Christian, Augusta, 
Dr. H. W. Chapline, Wheeling, 
Edward Cunningham, Powhatan. 

Long Wools. 

Judges — Dr. Wm. L. Wight, Goochland. 
William Garth, Albemarle, 
Clayton G. Coleman, Louisa, 
Dr. W. D. M'Guire, Clarke, 
Noble S. Braden, Loudoun. 
Natives or Mixed Blood. 

Judges — Wm.M'Coy, Franklin, Pendleton, 
W. G. Crenshaw, Orange C. H. 
S. M'D. Reid, Lexington, 
Rev. D. M.Wharton, Spottsylv'a. 
Province M'Cormick, Clarke. 

Imported Sheep. 
Judges — Raleigh Colston, Albemarle, 
N. Loughborough, Fauquier, 
Robert Allen, Bedford, 
Francis Peters, Martinsburg, 
R. W. Baylor. Jefferson. 

/ ■ 

i 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



229 



SWINE. 

Judges— R. W. N. Noland, Albemarle, 

Rev. W. Timberlake, Albemarle, 
Lewis D. Crenshaw, Henrico, 
N. L. Paleske, Henrico, 
Col. W. A. Bell, Staunton. 

PREMIUM ANIMALS. 

Judges — Col. H. B. Powell, Loudoun, 

John B. A. Nadenbousch, Mar- 

tinsburg, 
David Kent, Montgomery, 
Benj'n Wood, Albemarle, 
Dr. A. T. B. Merritt, Richmond. 

POULTRY. 

Judges— Wm. C. Scott, Powhatan C. H. 
Chastain White, Hanover, 
J. Corbin Burton, Henrico, 
O. A. Strecker, Richmond, 
Erasmus Powell, Goochland. 
Branch VI. 

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. 

Class No. 1. 

Judges — Thomas J. Randolph, Albemarle, 
. Wm. Townes, Mecklenburg, 
Dr. John B. Harvie, Powhatan, 
Waller Holliday, Spottsylvania, 
Josiah Burruss, King William. 
Class No. 2. 

Judges — Dr. Wm. F. Gaines, Hanover, 
Wilson Winfree, Powhatan, 
Charles Marx, Chesterfield, 
George Watt, Richmond, 
William Palmer, Richmond. 
Class No. 3. 

Judges — Wm. W. Minor, Albemarle, 

Wm. Allen, Cabin Point, Surry, 
F. Lewis Marshall, Fauquier, 
William C. Knight, Nottoway, 
Ro. M. Taylor, Henrico. 
Class No. 4. 

Judges — Thomas R. Joynes, Accomack, 
Wm. B. Stanard, Goochland, 
Henry Brazeal, Amelia, 
Wm. Y. Downman, Lancaster, 
Francis Nelson, New Kent. 
Class No. 5. 

Judges— Dr. E. P. White, Caroline, 
James Cornick, Norfolk, 
James W. Foster, Fauquier, 
E. H. Herbert, Princess Anne, 
Ro. J. Dunn, Petersburg. 

AGRICCLTURAL STEAM ENGINE. 

Judges— Ro. B. Boiling, Petersburg, 
Jos. R. Anderson, Richmond, 
Thatcher Perkins, Alexandria, 
John Haw, Hanover, 
Thomas Samson, Richmond. 



MOST EXTENSIVE AND VALUABLE COLLEC- 
TION, &C. 

Judges— 'Ex-Pres't Jno. Tyler, Chas. City. 
J. C. Cabell, Nelson, 
Whitemarsh B. Seabrook, 

Charleston, S. C. 
Rich'd H. Stuart, King George, 
Hill Carter, Charles City, 
Henry Dangerfield, Alexandria. 

PLOUGHING MATCH AND TRIAL OF PLOUGHS. 

Judges — Richard Sampson, Goochland, 
Wm. Gilmer, Albemarle, 
John A. Selden, Charles City, 
Charles Selden, Powhatan, 
B. F. Dew, King & Queen. 

WHEAT REAPER AND MOWER. 

Judges— Dr. Wm. F. Gaines, Hanover, 
Dr. John R. Garnett, Henrico, 
Richard Irby, Nottoway, 
Ed. 0. Watkins, Chesterfield, 
Ro. M. Taylor, Henrico, 
Samuel Ball, do. 
Baylor, Sandy Point. 

Branch VII. 

FRUITS AND FRUIT TREES. 

Judges — Tucker Coles, Albemarle, 

Henry B. Jones, Rockbridge, 
Robert L. Wright, Loudon, 
Charles Friend, Prince George, 
H. C. Williams, Fairfax. 

FLOWERS. 

Judges — T. Ritchie, Sr., Washington City, 
Gustavus A. Myers, Richmond, 
James Dunlop, " 

James Gray, " 

Ihjmas T.Giles, « 

VEGETABLES. 

Judges — Thomas B. Irwin, Norfolk, 
Richard Walke, " 

Dr. M. Burton, Richmond, 
Wm. A. Page, Petersburg, 
E. A. Marks, Prince George. 

Branch VIII. 

DAIRY AND HONERY. 

Judges — Peter S. Roler, Rockingham, 
James M. Bowen, Albemarle, 
Boiling W. Haxall, Richmond, 
Dr. R. R. Barton, Rockbridge, 
George Whitlocke, Chesterfield. 

BACON HAMS. 

Judges— 3. R. Todd, Smithfield, 
M. M. R. Todd, Norfolk, 
Blair Burwell, Powhatan, 
John Womble, Richmond, 
Edwin Burton, Sen., Richmond. 



230 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



HOUSEHOLD MANUFACTURES. 

Judges — Dr. John R. Woods, Albemarle, 
James A. Cochran, Augusta, 
Andrew Keyser, Page, 
James M. Harris, Powhatan, 
Thomas D. duarlee, Richmond. 

HOUSEHOLD IMPLEMENTS. 

Judges — J. B. Smith, Louisa, 

E. B. Spence, Richmond, 
William Beers, " 
Hiram M. Smith, " 
James Pae, " 

Branch IX. 

Judges — N. Francis Cabell, Nelson, 

Henry E. Watkins, Pr. Edward, 
Gov'r J. H. Hammond, S. Car., 
William P. Taylor, Caroline, 
James C. Bruce, Halifax, 
Wm. B. Harrison, Prince Geo., 
Thos. J. Randolph, Albemarle, 
Gen. P. H. Steinbergen, Mason, 
B. Johnson Barbour, Orange, 
R.JVI. T. Hunter, Essex, 
Com. T. Ap Cat. Jones, Fairfax, 
Hugh M. Nelson, Clarke, 
Col. Thos. C. Swann. Baltimore, 
Fielding D. Piggott, James City. 
Branch X. 

Judges — John B. Harvie, Powhatan, 

R'd H. Cunningham, Culpeper, 
James M. Smith, Henry C. H., 
Dr. Cary C. Cocke, Fluvanna, 
Wm. Radford, Jr., Bedford, 
Maj. Wm. Gilliam, Rockbridge, 
Gov. J. H. Hammond, Barnwell, 
South Carolina. 
Branch XI. 
■ Judges — Dr. Socrates Maupin, University 
of Virginia, Charlottesville, 
Rev. Geo. D. Armstrong, Norfolk, 
Robert W. Tomlin, King Wm., 
Julian C. Ruffin, Prince George. 

At a meeting of the Executive Com- 
mittee of the Virginia State Agricultural 
Society on Friday evening, the 29th of 
July, 1853, present, Philip St. George 
Cocke, President; E. Ruffin, F. G. Ruffin, 
Harvie, Boulware, Booth, Irby, Overton, 
Peyton and. Williams. 

Resolved, That the following subject be 
added to the schedule of premiums, viz: 
Branch VI. 

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. 

Class 1st. Specification 10th. 
v For the best Ditching Machine, a 
• premium of $30 



Resolved, That in all cases the parties 
entitled to premiums, may receive them 
according to their own election, either in 
money or its equivalent in silver plate, 
bearing an inscription representing the 
particular subject for which the same shall 
have been awarded. 

Resolved, That Messrs. W. Boulware, 
F. G. Ruffin and L. E. Harvie are hereby 
appointed a committee to wait on the Pre- 
sident of the United States to request the 
aid of the State Department in inducing 
the Peruvian Government to abandon the 
monopoly in the trade in guano. 

Resolved, That the President of the 
Society be added to the above committee. 

Resolved, That the Corresponding Se- 
cretary address a circular letter to the 
judges who have been appointed to award 
premiums, and request an early answer, 
that in case of inability to attend, vacan- 
cies occurring may be supplied. 

Resolved, That our Secretary be in- 
structed to acknowledge the receipt of the 
volume of Transactions of the .Indiana 
State Board of Agriculture, and to express 
to said Board the grateful acknowledge- 
ments of this committee in behalf of our 
Society; and that he be further instructed 
to assure the said Board of our disposition 
to reciprocate as soon as a volume of our 
transactions is published. 

Resolved, That the Corresponding Se- 
cretary be requested to obtain from the 
New York State Agricultural Society a 
full description of the points which are 
regarded as constituting the standard of ex- 
cellence in adjudging premiums on cattle. 

Resolved, That Messrs. Sam'l Mordecai, 
Edmund Ruffin, Robert Gwathmey, Chas. 
B. Williams and Socrates Maupin, M. D., 
are hereby appointed a committee to in- 
vestigate and report to the Executive Com- 
mittee, upon the operation and effects of the 
inspection lawsofthisCommonwealth upon 
the agricultural and general interests of 
Virginia. 

Resolved, That Col. C. Q,. Tompkins ia 
hereby appointed Chief Marshal of the 
Society, with discretionary power to call 
to his aid as many deputies as he may find 
necessary to give complete efficiency to 
his department in securing a strict observ- 
ance of the rules and regulations, and in 
promoting the orderly and systematic dis- 
patch of business at the Exhibition to be 
held in November next. 

Ch. B. Williams, Rec. Setfry. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



231 



HORSES— CAREFUL USE OF, &c. 

An acquaintance lost his horse, a few days 
ago, in a manner that would suggest an habit- 
ual caution in driving. The horse, a valuable 
one, well kept, in good spirits, and in perfect 
health, was taken from the stable and driven. 
He had ascended a long and hard hill within 
the first mile of driving, and as soon as the 
summit was reached, the driver, as is thctiabit 
of many, touched him with the whip; he 
sprang, stopped, staggered, and fell, and by the 
time the driver could alight from the carriage, 
he was dead. An examination showed that a 
large blooit-vessel near the heart had been rup- 
tured. No appearance of disease could be 
defected. 

Now there would be in the same circum- 
stances always a danger of a similar occur- 
rence. Especially if the stomach should hap- 
pen to be filled, as it would be directly after a 
full meal. 

Every increase of the muscular action of 
any animal produces an increase in the rapidity 
of the circulation of the blood. This arises 
from two causes, one mechanical, as the com- 
pression of the blood-vessels by the muscular 
contraction; and one physical, as the neces- 
sity for the more rapid purification of the blood 
in a period of exercise. 

Physiology teaches that every muscular ac- 
tion is attended with a waste of the material 
of the body, as in galvanic action when zinc 
is used in the circuit, at each period of action, 
portions of the zinc are destroyed. This 
waste portion of the animal solid goes into the 
blood and must be discharged mainly from the 
blood in the lungs. The more violent the mus- 
cular action, the more of this waste matter is 
given to the blood, and this once loaded with 
it is useless until it has 'been purified in the 
lunss. Consequently, the blood is sent to the 
lungs in a vastly increased current, and the 
breathing becomes more rapid to introduce 
larger portions of air to the blood in the lungs. 
Here, then, are increased quantities of air in 
the lungs, at the same time, producing a state 
of fulness, if the lungs have full play. But, 
if the stomach is full and pressing upon the 
cavity of the lungs, it is easy to see that a 
great pressure of blood in the lungs, and the 
great cavities of the heart must take place. 
Almost every person has experienced the sharp 
pain and distress produced by this slate of 
things after having run a little way, sharply, 
cot being accustomed to the exercise. It is 
not difficult to see how. in this crowded state 
of the vessels, a sudden and powerful muscu- 
lar exertion should cause a rupture of some 
one of the distended vessels. 

When a rupture of a blood-vessel does not 
result, oftentimes so much injury is done to 
the delicate membrane of the air cells as to 
ice an incurable heaves. 
We were early taught this lesson of care in 
driving, by an old stage proprietor of whom 
we once had a pair of horses for a journey. 



"The only caution," said he, "I care to give 
you about driving, is never to start quick from 
the top of a hill you have just ascended. If 
you do, you may spoil the horses' wind." — 
Granite Farmer. 



From the Ohio Cultivator. 
SOAP MAKING. 

D. W. C. B. of Miami county, inquires 
how to manage in making good soap, as 
he has had bad "luck" in this operation." 
We do not believe there is any more luck 
in making soap than in making rail fence. 
The only requisite is to know how. — 
The following, from a correspondent in 
the third volume of the Ohio Cultivator, 
is such advice as we should give in the 
matter, premising that the ashes, while in 
gathering, should be kept dry. The pre- 
sence of a small quantity of salt in the 
grease will not prevent its union with the 
lye: 

"Put lime in the bottom of your leach; 
say one bushel for ten of ashes; (if you 
saturate your ashes with hot water two or 
three days before running off your lye, you 
will obtain the strength much better;) run 
off your lye, and have it clean, and strong 
enough to bear an egg the bigness of a 
dime above the surface; put it into your 
barrel or tub cold, and for one barrel melt 
and turn in about thirty pounds of clean 
grease or lard; stir it well together, and 
stir frequently for three or four days, and 
you will have 'nice' white pleasant smell- 
ing soap, one gallon of which will be worth 
more than two gallons of the black rank 
soap made by boiling lye, bones, rinds and 
scraps all together. 

Cynthia." 



HIGH PRICES FOR MULES IN KEN- 
TUCKY. 

The Western Citizen reports the follow- 
ing sales of mules at the May Court, in 
Bourbon county, Kentucky: 39 mules at 
$107; 24 do. at $70 25; 46 do,at $80 50; 
42 do. at $76 76; 22 do. at $80; 75 do. at 
$79; 7 do. at $78 50; 23 do. at $65 75; 
20 do. at $71 90; 49 do. at $88 75; 9 do. 
at $98 75; 63 do. at 100 5; 18 do. at $103; 
45 do. at $99 75; 69 do. at $100; 46 do. 
at $88; 1 do. at $111 50. At these prices 
the raising of mules would appear to be a 
profitable business. 



232 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



From the Boston Cultivator. 

ACTION OF GUANO. 

The following interesting and valuable 
article has been received in reply to a re- 
quest for information respecting the action 
of guano. In respect to the effect of mix- 
ing this substance with plaster, it will be 
seen that the writer coincides with the con- 
clusion expressed by T. S. Pleasants, Esq. 
in a late number of this paper. — [Eds. 

I may remark in the first place that I am 
aware that a difference is apparent in the 
action of guano upon different soils, or in 
different sections of country, dependent, 
perhaps, often upon a difference in the soils 
themselves; but from facts that have come 
under my own observation, I am entirely 
convinced that this is not always the cause. 
For example, I have myself, for the purpose 
of experimenting, sowed guano broadcast 
in the spring of the year, upon clover, and 
left it exposed upon the surface, and al- 
though it was raining at the time, I have 
seen no effect from it. I have also applied 
it on wheat by harrowing it in with the 
wheat after both were spread broadcast 
upon the surface, and observed a beneficial 
Tesult to the wheat crop, but very far less 
than when it has been ploughed in previous 
to sowing the wheat. In the former case, 
but little, if any, advantage was derived 
from the guano, to succeeding crops; 
whereas, during the whole of my experi- 

■ ence, a marked and important improve- 
: ment in the land has resulted. 

Thus upon the same kind of land we find 

• very different results dependent upon the 
mode of application. I have, however, 
heard of instances where it has been har- 
rowed in with the wheat, and a better ef- 

1 feet realized than I have observed myself. 
May not this have depended upon other 

■ causes than the mode of application? For 
: instance, continued and plentiful rains may 
i have fallen soon afier, sufficient to carry 

the ammonia, &c. into, and incorporate it 
1 more effectually with the soil, than at other 

• times. Also, the state of the weather afler 
the rains may have been such (possibly 

' unobserved by the farmer at the time, as 
connected with his operations,) as to secure 
the most favorable action under the cir- 
cumstances. 

In order to show how these different re- 
sults are sometimes manifested, I will fur- 
ther state that some fourteen or fifteen 
years ago, I limed a portion of one of my 
fields, carefully, at the different rates of 

i fifty, seventy-five and one hundred bushels 



to the acre. In the autumn of 1845, I 
sowed this field in wheat, giving it a dress- 
ing of two hundred and seventy pounds of 
guano to the acre. The average yield 
was within a fraction of twenty bushels 
per acre. Early in the spring, the wheat 
on the limed portion of the land was of a 
darker green than the other; but at harvest 
it was evident that the wheat was, by seve- 
ral bushels, better per acre where there had 
been no lime. In 1849, this same field was 
sown in wheat, and received two hundred 
pounds guano per acre. In 1850, it was 
again sown in wheat, and perhaps a little 
more than two hundred pounds guano ap- 
plied per acre. Each lime ploughed in be- 
fore the wheat was sowed. Both these last 
crops exceeded that sown in 1845, but the 
difference between the wheat on the limed 
portion of the field and the oiher was still 
greater than in the first instance; that 
where no lime had been used being much 
the best. While these crops were being 
grown, a friend of mine, within six miles 
of me, purchased an old worn-out field for 
ten dollars per acre, ploughed it in the fall, 
and spretd thirty bushels of lime per acre 
after the ploughing. In the following 
spring, he sowed (I think) between two 
hundred and three hundred pounds guano 
per acre, and ploughed both in together,, 
planted it in corn, and the measured pro- 
duct was forty-five bushels per acre, for 
which he was offered in cash more money 
than had been expended in the purchase 
of land, lime, and guano too. I am at a 
loss how to account for these different re- 
sults in any other way lhan by supposing 
there must be some difference in ihe con- 
stitution of the soils, which neither he nor 
I have detected. Here, perhips, a good 
practical chemist might be useful to us. 
The only distinction we are able to make 
is, that there is much isinglass [mica] in 
his soil, and none in mine. Both resting 
upon the same kind of yellow clay and 
rather loamy subsoils. 

Secondly — So far as my knowledge and 
observation extend, guano acts more satis- 
factorily on land "containing a considera- 
ble proportion of clay, such as may be 
called a clayey loam" subsoil. And even 
upon our moist, stiff; white clay low "rounds 
(sometimes found here) its effects are very 
striking. 

Thirdly — "What have been the compa- 
rative results in the application of guana 
mixed with plaster, and that which was 
applied alone, or mixed with any other sub- 
stance?" In answer to this interrogatory, 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



233 



I can state that the experiments reported 
through the columns of the "American 
Farmer," by "Caleb Stabler," are fully to 
be relied on. so far as they pertain to his 
own practice and observation, and to which 
alone he intended them to apply. 1 know 
him well, and can vouch for his integrity 
as a man, and his skill and success as a 
farmer. His soil is much the same in ap- i 
pearance as that on which the lime and 
guano were combined in their application 
to the corn crop. On the other hand, I 
have three times used guano combined 
with a portion of plaster, in the proportions 
of a peck or haif bushel of plaster to a 
bushel of guano, without being able to 
discover any difference in the effect. But 
in the fall of 1349, I took' up an old and 
exceedingly poor field, with a view to its 
improvement — ploughed it thoroughly and 
planted it in corn the following spring, 
without a prospect of being remunerated 
by the crop for the expense of cultivation, 
and was not disappointed in my calcula- 
tions. I, however, reserved nearly one 
acre for potatoes. This was treated to 
forty-four large ox-cart loads of manure 
from the stables and barn-yard, and con- 
stituted so heavy a dressing that in plough- 
ing it in (in the spring) several men with 
rakes were necessarily employed in raking 
the manure into the furrow before the 
plough, in order to secure its being covered. | 
The ground was then harrowed, rolled and 
chequered into squares about two feet each , 
way — a moderate handful of leached ashes 
dropped in each chequer, and a cutting of 
Irish potato placed on it and covered with 
the hoe. The roller was again passed over 
it, and one and a half bushels of plaster 
sown broadcast. The potatoes came up 
well, and were well cultivated, though the 
growth throughout a good season, as re- 
gards moisture and temperature, was very 
inferior. The crop when gathered, fell 
short of fifty bushels of indifferent potatoes. 

After they were dug, the ground was 
put in wheat, two hundred pounds of guano 
being first ploughed in. On two sides of 
this pota'o lot. and adjoining it, at the same 
time, I sowed strips of wheat twenty-one 
feet wide, applying to this, at the rate of 
three hundred pounds of guano per acre, 
as nearly as I could estimate the quantity. 
The product was forty-one bushels, and a 
few pounds of wheat, from, say rather less 
than an acre and a half. 

But it was evident to all who saw it, 
that the best of the wheat grew on the 
strips added to the potato ground, and on 



which no manure of any kind had been 
used except the guano, and which was so 
very poor that it probably had not the pre- 
vious season produced five bushels of corn 
per acre. 

The balance of this field lay idle till fall, 
when the whole was well prepared and 
sown in wheat, with perhaps a little over 
two hundred and fifty pounds of guano 
per acre. As the crop matured, to the 
surprise of all who viewed it, that portion 
of the field cultivated in potatoes, while 
the other was in corn, certainly did not 
produce half the amount of wheat grown 
upon the same quantity of land in any 
other portion of the field. In that crop, 
the failure was as signal as it had been 
with the potatoes. While engaged in 
sowing and ploughing in the guano, pre- 
paratory for this crop of wheat, I carefully 
mixed with the guano designed for a small 
strip across a portion "of the field, at the 
rate of half a bushel of plaster to one 
bushel of the guano, and sowed them to- 
gether. Early the following spring, our 
"Agricultural Club" met at my house, and 
while progressing with the usual exami- 
nation of my farming operations, their at- 
tention was directed to the previous treat- 
ment and present condition of the different 
portions of this wheat field. The striking 
contrast before them (the strip on which 
the guano was combined with plaster, being 
much inferior to that on either side of it,) 
became the subject of general remark, until 
at length one of our number observed that 
the different effects produced were proba- 
bly owing to the combination of plaster 
with the guano and other manure, having 
had the effect to 'fix' the ammonia con- 
tained in both, to such an extent as to place 
them out of the reach of the growing crops. 
I can account for this in no other way. 

This field was laid down in clover, and 
about midsummer, during the past year, 
half a bushel of plaster per acre was sown, 
and now the clover is looking well all over 
it. Thou wilt, perhaps, query why, with 
the evidence before me, have I sowed 
plaster on this (now) clover field? I will 
reply, by stating that we frequently find 
here that land on which plaster appears 
to have little or no effect while it is very 
poor, is much benefited by its application 
after it has undergone improvement; and 
I am also able to state, that six years ago 
I gave a field two hundred pounds of guano 
per acre, for corn. The year following 
sowed it in oats, and received fair crops of 
both in return. After the oats came off. 



234 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



the field was broken up, harrowed and 
rolled, then two hundred pounds of guano, 
and three bushels of finely pulverized bone 
to the acre, ploughed in, the roller passed 
over it, and one and a half bushels Medi- 
terranean wheat per acre, put in with a 
drill. In the following spring, six quarts 
of clover seed per acre sowed. This field 
gave twenty-seven bushels and twelve 
pounds of wheat per acre; and the year 
following, so large a growth of clover that 
it fell all over the field. In the fall of that 
year, this twelve acre field yielded seven- 
teen and a half bushels clover seed. The 
year following, (which was last year) early 
in the spring it was dressed with three 
pecks of plaster per acre, and gave a good 
crop of clover hay, though not so abundant 
as the first; and last fall, the same land 
yielded twenty-two and a half bushels of 
clover seed. I now expect to give it ano- 
ther dressing of. piaster this spring, and 
shall probably again cut both hay and seed 
from it the coming summer. This field 
was poor previous to the applications of 
manure above mentioned. It is now com- 
pletely renovated. 

By the foregoing hasty sketch, thou wilt 
perceive that I have arrived at the conclu- 
sion that on my land it is not best to apply 
guano where lime has been previously 
used, nor to mix plaster with guano or 
barn-yard or stable manure at the time of 
using them; but, after the lapse of a year 
or two, or perhaps more, the. plaster may 
be resorted to as an auxiliary with success. 
I may also add, that we have invariably 
found that guano acts well when combined 
with manure from the cow-yard and stables, 
as well as with ground bones. 

' Thos. P. Stabler. 

Brookville, Montgomery Co.. Md. 



"ENGLISH BLUE GRASS," OR MEADOW 
FESCUE [OR RANDALL GRASS,] AND 
KENTUCKY BLUE GRASS. 

During the past two yearsfrequent men- 
tion has been made in this paper of a spe- 
cies of grass known i"n some parts of Vir- 
ginia, and from there introduced into In- 
diana and Ohio, by the name of "English 
Blue Grass," and sometimes as Randall 
grass. The former of these two names 
appears to have been given to this grass 
by the late J. S. Skinner, whose attention 
was called to it when travelling in Virgi- 
nia; but with what propriety we cannot 



discover, inasmuch as there is no grass 
known by the name of "Blue Grass" in 
England, unless it may have been because 
it is an English grass, and somewhat re- 
sembles in growth and quality the Blue 
grass of Kentucky. (See Ohio Cultivator, 
Vol. VII. nage 183.) 

Such' favorable reports were given by 
several of our correspondents in regard to 
this grass that a number of our subscribers 
were anxious to obtain the seed; accord- 
ingly we sent for and obtained quite a 
number of bushels, both in 1851 and 1852, 
and a large number of Ohio farmers have 
now the article on their lands, and will in 
a year or two be able to testify as to its 
value; and when they do, we predict that 
not many farmers who have suitable land 
and desire permanent pasture, will long 
be without it. 

What is the true name of this valuable 
grass? is the first question that arose in 
our mind on reaching the account given of 
it by our correspondent in 1851, and no 
one could be found to give us an answer. 
On receiving a few grains of the seed we 
at first thought it was Rye grass, but a 
few broken fragments of the heads caused 
doubts on that point. In 1852 a few entire 
heads were sent to us (with stems and 
culms;) one of these we sent to friends at 
Albany, and it was pronounced a species 
of rye grass (Lolium) after consulting an 
intelligent English farmer; another was 
sent to one of the first botanists in the 
Union, and he expressed to us the belief 
that it was the Festuca loliacea (or rye- 
grass-like fescue) of the English — but as 
this species was described as bearing very 
little seed, he had some doubt on this point, 
inasmuch as our Virginia species produces 
seed in abundance. Another specimen we 
sent to Mr. Peter Lawson, the great seeds- 
man of Edinburg, Scotland, and author of 
several works on grasses, grains, &c. and 
in due time he wrote us unhesitatingly that 
the grass in question is the Festuca pra- 
tensis of botanists — the "Meadow Fescue" 
of English farmers; and this is esteemed 
the best grass known for permanent pas- 
ture on good strong soils. We had seen 
the "meadow fescue" growing abundantly 
in England, but not as large, and with 
spikes or heads as long and compact as 
those sent us from Indiana, in which re- 
spect our species agrees better with Fes- 
tuca elatior, only that is infertile; still we 
presume that Mr. Lawson is correct, as 
several writers state that the genus is quite 
variable, as affected by soil, climate, &c; 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



235 



and it is claimed by some that improved | that this grass thrives better here than in 
varieties have been produced hy cultiva- j England, or that ours is a different and 
tion, hence we are inclined to the belief I larger growing fertile variety. — Ohio Cult. 



From the Wool Grower and Stock Register. 




xn 



% 

a 
Pi 

o 

Hi 
xJr 



Mr. Editor, — As your columns are al- 
ways open to those farmers who are will- 
ing to throw in their "mite," in order to 
aid in the great improvements of the day, 
and especially, that portion of them en- 
gaged in wool growing, I send you an en- 
graving of a group oi Sitesian Merino 



ewes, which were purchased in Prussian 
Silesia, in April, 1851, and landed in New 
York the following May. These sheep 
are descendants from the far-famed Infan- 
tardo's flock, so much admired in Spain, 
some fifty years ago, and as far as my 
knowledge extends, they are now the only 



236 



T*3E SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



flock of this variety that have been pre- 
served in their pure state, to the present 
time. 

The proprietor of this flock, imported 
the original stock from Spain, in 1811, and 
since that time has given his own personal 
attention to his sheep, and by this means 
has been able to still further improve them, 
especially as regards the quality of wool, 
which has been increased in fineness, with- 
out diminishing the weight of fleece. I( 
is believed that very few, if any, sheep in 
the country at the present day,, will pro- 
duce more pounds of wool, according to 
cost of keeping, than the Silesian Merino. 
For the shape of the sheep, I will refer 
you to the engraving, as it is a faithful 
copy of a dauguerreotype; and to convince 
you of their hardiness and strong constitu- 
tion, I need only to refer you to the cir- 
cumstance, that one ewe of this flock lived 
to be twenty-one years old. The skin of 
this sheep was carefully stuffed and placed 
in (he. sheep-fold, where it now stands with 
quite a life-like appearance. I mention 
this fact merely to show that the gentle- 
man takes an interest in his flock. Had 
he followed the example of other sheep 
breeders and given the management of his 
flock to some other person, as is almost the 
universal case in Germany, we could hardly 
expect to see so perfect looking animals as 
those above represented. It is altogether 
idle for one to expect that he can succeed 
in breeding a valuable flock of sheep, with- 
out devoting his own time and undivided 
attention to the business. 

Probably most of your readers are al- 
ready aware, that nearly all of the sheep 
of Germany are of the Saxon blood, and 
in every respect very unfit for the Ameri- 
can wool grower. But notwithstanding 
most Saxon sheep are of an inferior qua- 
lity there are a few flocks that are really 
fine animals, producing very heavy and 
line fleeces, and in only one point are they 
inferior to our best Merinos — in fact the 
best Saxons had every appearance of Me- 
rinos, excepting that the wool on the belly 
was short and thin. In other respects ihey 
were very good. I had the pleasure of 
seeing only one good lot of Saxon sheep 
while in Germany, but it was not a difficult 
thing ito account for their superiority over 
others of the same blood. The proprietor, 
like the Silesian gentleman, had made 
sheep breeding his favorite employment, 
and to this alone must be attributed the 
snccees of his labor. 

It is believed by a large portion of wool 



growers, that in proportion as the wool 
grows finer, the fleece becomes lighter. 
But I have long entertained a different 
opinion. I am fully satisfied that as much 
fine, wool can be produced from a given 
amount of keeping, as that of a coarse 
grade. 

In proof of this fact, allow me to men- 
tion the progress I have made in breeding 
my Spanish flock. When I commenced 
the wool growing business, I purchased a 
flock of Merinos that sheared an average 
of little above three pounds, (at that time 
considered to be a good yield,) while some 
particular individuals of the flock sheared 
from four to five, pounds each, of equally 
fine wool. I determined to bring up the 
whole flock to five pounds, at least. With 
this view of the subject, my bucks were 
selected without regard to time or expense, 
and all ewes that did not come up to a 
cerlain mark were rejected at once. This 
flock, the present season, sheared an ave- 
rage of five and a half pounds of well 
washed wool, for which I have recently 
refused the offer of forty-eight cents per 
pound, as I have not been in the habit of 
selling my wool for less than fifty cents per 
pound. I think the present flattering pros- 
pects will warrant the old price. 

My Silesian ewes suckled lambs during 
the winter, which every one knows will 
lessen the fleece at least one pound per 
head. They were thoroughly washed and 
sheared as soon as properly dry, shearing 
an average of four pounds five and a half 
ounces per head. Bucks of this variety, 
when fully grown, will shear from six to 
ten pounds of well washed wool. 

Geo. Campbell. 

West Westminster, Vt., Sept. 1852. 



GENERAL WASHINGTON'S MULES. 

CUSTIS'S RECOLLECTIONS. 

Upon Washington's first retirement in 
1783, he became convinced of the defective 
nature of the working animals employed 
in the agriculture of the Southern States, 
and set about remedying the evil by the 
introduction of mules instead of horses — 
the mule being found to live longer, be 
less liable to diseases, and require less 
food, and in every respect to be more va- 
luable and economical than the horse in 
the agricultural labor of the Southern 
States. Up to 1783, scarcely any mules 
were to be found in the American Con- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



237 



federation; a few had been imported from 
the West Indies, but they were of diminu- 
tive size and of little value. So soon as 
the views on this subject of the illustrious 
farmer of Mount Vernon were known 
abroad, he received a present from the 
King of Spain of a jack and two jennies, 
selected from the royal stud at Madrid. 
The jack, called the Royal Gifr, was six- 
teen hands high, of a grey color, heavily 
made, and of sluggish disposition. At the 
same time the Marquis de Lafayette sent 
out a jack and jennies from the Island 
of Malta; this jack, called the Knight of 
Malta, was a superb animal, black color, 
with the form of a stag and the ferocity of 
a tiger. Washington availed himself of 
the best qualities of the two jacks, by 
crossing the breeds, and hence obtained a 
favorite jack, called Compound, which ani- 
mal united the size and strength of the ; 
Gift with the high courage and activity of 
the Knight. The jacks arrived at Mount 
Vernon, if we mistake not, early in 1788. ! 
The General bred some very superior j 
mules from his coach mares, sending them 
from Philadelphia for the purpose. In a ! 
few years the estate of Mount Vernon j 
became stocked with mules of a supe- J 
rior order, rising to the height of sixteen 
hands, and of great power and usefulness — 
one wagon team of four mules selling at 
the sale of the General's effects for $800. 
In no portion of Washington's various 
labors and improvements in agriculture 
was he so particularly entitled to be hailed 
as a public benefactor as in the introduction 
of mules in farming labor; those animals 
being, at this time, almost exclusively used 
for farming purposes in the Southern 
States. — National Intelligencer. 



For the Southern Planter. 

BURDENS OF THE FENCE LAW. 

Mr. Editor, — I have read, with deep interest, 
the able report of the Brunswick Agricultural 
Society, through their committee, upon the 
fence law. I believe that a large majority of 
intelligent citizens in Eastern Virginia are in 
favor not only of a modification of the fence 
law, but of its actual repeal, and it is a sur- 
prising thing that any intelligent man should 
be found to favor so unjust a law. We, of 
course, might expect to see the man who has 
followed all his life in the track of his father, 
irko also pursued that of his father, and so on 
back some century or more; the man who 
laughs at all improvement and denouncese very 
thing new as a humbug; we, I say, might ex- 



pect to find such a man opposed to the repeal 
of the fence laws, as well as every thing else 
that tends towards improvement; but for in- 
. telligent men to favor the actual tax often per 
[ cent, of all the labor performed in the State 
; which is required by this most unjust and bur- 
densome law, and that for no purpose except 
1 the poor pitiful privilege of the range, as it is 
' called, is a thing too mysterious to be easily 
accountedfor. Therange! What is the range 1 ? 
1 It might, with more propriety, be called the 
'■ starve. Now, it is true, that cattle do get a 
scanty subsistence from the common for about 
five or six months in the year; and for this 
scanty subsistence we are taxed to the amount 
of ten per cent, of all the labor we perform. 
Thus the farmer who works ten hands, worth, 
each a hundred dollars, pays one hundred dol- 
lars for the privilege of his cattle grazing 
other people's lands and other people's cattle 
grazing his land. Besides this, a boy and a 
horse is to be sent every evening to drive these 
cattle home to be milked, otherwise they are 
missing more than half of their time. Sup- 
pose the farmer who works a force equal to 
that above indicated, should keep fifteen head 
of cattle, which is too many, but I will sup- 
pose that number to be kept, he then pays, in 
the way of fencing, one hundred dollars for 
grazing these cattle six months, which is $6 CG 
a head. Again: two of these cattle are work 
oxen that might be very well spared but for 
hauling rails, consequently, he pays one hun- 
dred dollars for grazing thirteen head of cattle, 
to say nothing of the value of the two oxen, 
and wintering the same; or about seven dol- 
lars and sixty cents a head, when he could 
graze them upon his own premises for $2 50 
a head, and thus save ©67 50, provided the 
fence laws did not exist. But, says one, there 
are my hogs and sheep, you do not allow any 
thing for them. Well, let us see if any thing 
ought to be allowed. We will take hogs first. 
What do they get from the range? Why, no- 
thing more than a few acorns in the fall, for 
which they run so much from one tree to an- 
other over the woods, that they had better be 
without them. The fatigue they undergo in 
getting the few they do get injures them more 
than the acorns do them good. But suppose 
that acorns were so abundant as to fatten hogs 
without any other feed, then we might expect 
to lose half of our whole stock of hogs by 
straying off or by thefts. And we see that 
this would be poor economy, to raise our hogs 
and then give one-half to get the other half 
fattened, and that on mast. 

I cannot believe that any experienced farmer 
in this section of country (lower Virginia) can 
think that he has ever gained any thing by 
letting his hogs run at large, and if he will 
take account of all lost by diseases contracted 
in the woods — all that have strayed off or been 
stolen, he will find that he has paid dear for 
the range, as far as hogs are concerned. 

Next sheep must be spoken of, but very few 
words will do for them. Consult every farmer 



238 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



\ 

who suffers his sheep to run at large and you 
will find that he loses every year from twenty 
to filly per cent, of his entire flock by their 
rambling off or being killed by dogs. I have 
heard some farmers say that if they got back 
half the number of sheep they turned out they 
thought themselves lucky. One thing is sure; 
that is, if a man cannot graze his sheep on his 
own premises he had better not attempt to 
raise them. 

Now, Mr. Editor, we see from the estimates 
above made, that we are uselessly taxed in 
keeping our lands enclosed ; that it is a heavy, 
a burdensome tax upon the farmer; and who 
is benefited - ? Is anybody? Talk about the 
poor man's cow; but this is all humbug. This 
fence law is most oppressive upon the poor, 
because he is less able to incur the expense 
than the rich man. I will venture the asser- 
tion, that where one man is benefited one dol- 
lar per annum by the fence laws, ten men are 
damaged ten dollars each. Well now, what 
are we to do? Bear it we cannot. Our lands 
must be improved, and this can be done, and 
that quite rapidly, were it hot for fencing. 
They are to be fenced, and that cannot be 
done. We have not the timber, if we were able 
to endure the hardship. Then these laws must 
Le repealed or we must abandon our farms. 
Let us, then, respond heartily to the proposi- 
tion contained in the report alluded to above; 
let one and all speak out, and if any has 
aught to say .for the poor old rickety fences, 
let him speak out also. Let us adopt energetic 
measures, and zealously carry them out. We 
have justice and truth upon our side, and they 
will prevail. The will of the people is sove- 
reign and must be obeyed. The majority are 
with us, or will be when the subject is fairly 
canvassed. All we want is action— energetic 
action, and I hope the Society which has made 
this present move will take hold of the subject 
with the same zeal which their committee has 
manifested, and that something like an organi- 
zation of the anti-fence law voters may be 
effected. 

Southampton. 

July 10, 1853. 



DOGS AND FOXES. 

The Fauquier County Court, at its late ses- 
sion, entered up an order giving effect lo the 
dog law. The following are its provisions: 

The constables of the county are required 
to ascertain all the dogs in their respective 
districts, and report the names of their owners 
to the county court at its July lerm. 

Each housekeeper in the county is allowed 
to keep one dog, exempt from taxation. If he 
have more than one dog, he shall pay twenty- 
five cents tax on the second dog, fifty cents on 
the third, and one dollar each on all over three. 
Persons other than housekeepers shall pay 
uveniy-five cents on the first dog, fifty cents 



on the second, and one dollar each on all over 
two. 

The dog law placed it in the discretion of 
the Court to exempt packs of wolf or fox dogs. 
This was not done, but, as a substitute proba- 
bly, an order was passed allowing fifty cents 
for the scalp of each fox killed in the county, 
so that fox hounds, by being diligent, may earn 
their taxes. We doubt, however, if this will 
not be deemed a hardship rather than a relief, 
by persons who are fond of fox hunting; inas- 
much as it will tend to the extermination of 
foxes and the destruction of their sport. 

The law is now fairly afoot, and the consta- 
bles will soon be upon us with their searching 
interrogatories. It will be well to prepare for 
them, by disposing of all worthless or super- 
fluous dogs without delay. Every person is 
held responsible for the dogs about any farm, 
house or premises in his occupancy. 



From the Ohio Cultivator. 

DRAINING AS A MEANS OF IMPROVING 
LANDS— AMMONIA IN RAIN WATER. 

We have long been convinced that no im- 
provement would be found so beneficial on 
most of the clay lands of Oh\o, as under- drain- 
ing. But the expense of the work, as compared 
with the value of the land, has hitherto been 
an insuperable objection to such improvements 
in the minds of our farmers. , The time has 
come, however, when the value of the land, 
and the ability of the owners, render it both 
expedient and profitable that under-draining 
should be practised on many farms, and we 
are convinced it will be done quite extensively 
as soon as our farmers understand the advan- 
tages and profiloMeaess of Ihe operation, and 
can procure the best material for its perform- 
ance. 

Every farmer understands the importance 
of draining wet lands, so as to remove stand- 
ing water from the surface, but very few have 
any just conception of "the injury done to crops 
and the soil by an excess of moisture beneath 
the surface, or of the benefits which result 
from the filtration of rain water through clayey 
soils, where it is allowed to pass off into un- 
der-drains, or a porous subsoil. In speaking, 
therefore, of under-draining as a means of 
improvement, we have reference to lands not 
commonly ranked as wet, but those of a level 
clayey character, with compact subsoil, and 
forming a large portion of the best wheat lands 
in Ohio. Experience has abundantly shown 
that thorough draining of such lands will pay 
a libera} return for the capital invested. 

Chemical science and experiments in practi- 
cal cultivation combine to prove the import- 
ance of ammonia as a promoter of vegetation. 
It is this element which gives the principal 
value to guano and stable manure; (see arti- 
cle on ploughing-in green crops, in the Ohio 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



239 



Cultivator, October I5ih, 1852;) and as rain 
water, as it falls from the clouds, contains a 
small portion of ammonia, the importance of 
securing this valuable substance in the soil, 
instead of allowing it to run off the surface, 
is one of the strongest arguments in favor of 
under-draining and deep tillage. Il is also an 
argument for which we are indebted to modern 
science, and one that has given a great impe- 
tus to these kinds of improvement in Great 
Britain. But there are many other ways in 
which draining is found to operate as an effi- 
cient means of improving lands; and here we 
cannot do better than to extract a few para- 
graphs from the volume of C. W. Johnson, 
(of England,) on " Modern Agricultural Im- 
provements:'' 

"It was an early and just observation of 
those great improvers of agriculture who fol- 
lowed in the train of Walter Blyth and of 
Jethro Tull that the removal of land water is Ike 
foundation of all good farming . It is true that 
the axiom is admitted pretty universally, that 
it is an operation now carried on with almost 
annually increased perfection and profit to the 
farmer, and it would perhaps be still more sys- 
tematically and advantageously extended if 
the occupier and the young cultivator-more 
clearly understood the ill effects which land 
water produces, even at considerable depths, 
on the crops which grow over it. 

The question sometimes occurs to the young 
farmer: "What difference is there between 
rain water and that which was once rain wa- 
ter too, that in the land 1 ? Why should we 
covet an abundant supply of the first, and be 
anxious for the removal of the last'? Is there 
any difference in their composition!" This 
difficulty ihe chemists of our lime have readily 
answered. They have shown, amongst other 
causes of difference in their value, that rain 
water contains ammonia, of which land is 
commonly destitute. This presence of am- 
monia in rain water has been placed, as Liebig 
remarks, beyond all doubt; it may also be de- 
tected in snow water, and it is worthy of obser- 
vation, that the ammonia obtained by the 
chemical philosopher from these sources pos- 
sess an offensive smell of perspiration and 
animal excrements, a fact which leaves no 
doubt respecting its origin. 

It is to the presence of ammonia, then, in 
sucfi waters, that one source of this effect may 
be attributed. It is true that the ammonia 
contained in rain water is in very minute pro- 
portions, and in spring water the proportion is 
probably still less; but then it must be remem- 
bered, what is not commonly very clearly un- 
derstood, that the weight of water which an- 
nually falls upon the farmer's fields is very 
great. "If," remarks Liebig, (Organic Chem. 
p. 75,) "a poand of rain water contains only 
one-fourth of a grain of ammonia, then a field 
of 40,000 square feet must receive annually 
upwards of eighty pounds of ammonia or six- 
ty-five pounds of nitrogen, (ammonia is com- 
posed of nitrogen and hydrogen.) for, by ihe 



observations of Schubler, (made in Germany,) 
about 700,000 pounds of rain fell over this 
surface in four months, and consequently the 
annual fall must be 2,500 pounds.^ This is 
much more nitrogen than is contained in the 
form of vegetable albumen and gluten, in 
2,G50 pounds of. wood, 2,800 pounds of hay, or 
twenty tons of beet root, which are the yearly 
produce of such a field; but it is less than ihe 
straw, roots and grain of corn (wheat) which 
might grow on the surface would contain." 

[In Ohio and other central parts of the 
United Stales, the fall of rain is about thirty- 
six inches per year — which is seven and a half 
gallons, or seventy-five pounds to the square 
foot — 1,625 pounds to the square yard— 3,932 
tons to the acre. The average amount of rain 
in England is very nearly the same as in ihis 
country, but falls more frequently, in light 
showers. It is easy to see that although, as 
has been stated, ihe amount of ammonia in a 
pound of water is very small, yet the thousands 
of tons which fall in a year upon an acre of 
land may contain as much as any kind of 
growing crop demands.] — Editor Ohio Cul- 
tivator. 

Of the use of this alkali to the farmer's crops 
there is no doubt, for as the same great che- 
mist adds, "no conclusion can have a better 
foundaiion than this, that it is the ammonia of 
the atmosphere which furnishes nitrogen to 
plants." The way, too, in which ammonia is 
formed in the soil, by the decomposition of its 
organic matters, affords us one easily under- 
stood reason for the advantages derived by the 
removal of its land water, a process which is 
thus clearly explained by Professor Johnston: 
"Ammonia is naturally formed during the de- 
cay of vegetable substances in the soil. This 
happens, either as in animal bodies, by the 
direct union of the nitrogen with a portion of 
the hydrogen of which they consist, or by the 
combination of a portion of their hydrogen 
with the nitrogen of the air; or when they 
decompose in contact with air and water at 
ihe same time, by their taking the oxygen of 
a quantity of the water, and disposing of its 
hydrogen at the moment of liberation, to com- 
bine with the nitrogen of the air, and form 
ammonia. In the two latter modes ammonia 
is formed most abundantly when the oxygen 
of the air does not gain the readiest access. 
Hence, in open subsoils, in which vegetable 
matter abounds.it is most likely to be produced ; 
and thus one of the benefits which arise l'rom 
thorough draining and subsoil ploughing is, 
that the roots penetrate and fill the subsoil 
wilh vegetable matter, which, by its decay in 
the confined atmosphere of the subsoil, gives 
rise to this production of ammonia. 

It is evident, then, that if the surface or sub- 
soil is already surcharged with stagnant land 
water the enlrance into il of the rain water, 
which is so beneficial to the crop by the pre- 
sence of ammonia and atmospheric gases, and 
also by promoting the decomposition of the 
materials of which the soil is composed, is 



240 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



entirely prevented ; and, moreover, by this oc- 
cupation of the soil by land water, another ill 
effect upon the soil is produced, its tempera- 
ture is reduced. "The presence of too much 
water in the soil," says Professor Johnston, 
'■keeps it constantly cold. The heat of the 
sun's rays, which is intended by nature to warm 
the land, is expended in evaporating the water 
from its surface; and thus the plants never ex- 
perience that genial warmth about Iheir roots 
which so much favors their rapid growth." 

An important effect is observable in all soils 
properly prepared to receive heat and water, 
and permit their descent, viz: that the trans- 
missions of accessions of heat downwards 
continues during the afternoon of the day (in 
summers) and throughont [he night, whilst the 
super-strata (chiefly from seven inches up- 
i wards) are losing some amount of their heat 
by conduction upwards and radiation. Such 
is the influence of good and deep drainage 
and ploughing upon the temperature of the soils 
thus improved. But the benefit does not ter- 
minate there; others follow from those opera- 
tions, advantages which are thus described by 
Prof. Johnston: "Vegetable matter becomes 
of double value in a soil thus dried and filled 
with atmospheric air. When soaked in water, 
their vegetable matter either decomposes very 
slowly or produces acid compounds, more or 
less unwholesome to the plant, and even exerts 
injurious chemical reactions upon the earthy 
and saline constituents of the soil. In the 
presence of air on the contrary, this vegetable 
compound decomposes rapidly, produces car- 
bonic acid gas in large quantity, as well as 
other compounds on which the plant can live, 
and even renders the inorganic constituents of 
the soil more fitted to enter the roots, and thus 
to supply more rapidly what the several parts 
of the plant require." 

It is to such labors as these that the farmer's 
gratitude is justly due; their value can hardly 
be too highly rated, and in the result no mean 
harvest has been produced; for there is no 
branch of agriculture that has attracted more 
general and successful attention within the last 
few years than the improved drainage of the 
land. Science has here gone successfully hand 
in hand with practice, to a very useful and 
very profitable extent. "It was only in 1835," 
says Mr. Pusey, "that we heard in tCngland, 
that a manufacturer in Scotland, Mr. Smith, 
of Deanston, had found the means of making 
all land, however poor it might be, warm, sound 
and fertile, and that this change was brought 
about by two processes, thorough draining 
and subsoil ploughing. His rule of draining 
was this, that we are not to endeavor merely 
to find out hidden springs, and to cut them 
through by a single drain, which in some of 
our books appeared to be regarded as all that 
was necessary, but that as the whole surface 
of the retentive soils is rendered wet, not by 
accidental springs, but by the rain, the whole 
surface of the fields must be made thoroughly 
dry by the under-drains running throughout at 



equal distances. "Any field," he said, "how- 
ever wet, might be so dried, provided these 
under-drains were cut sufficiently near to each 
other." This was the principle of thorough 
or frequent draining asserted by Mr. Smith, of 
Deanston, in 1835; and this principle, which 
was then new and startling to the generality 
of farmers, may now be regarded as firmly 
established. 

As regards furrow draining on tenacious 
clay soils; the drainage of these soils has ge- 
nerally been done in shallow depths, under the 
prevailing common opinion that otherwise the 
water would not get into the drains. The con- 
traction which the clay beds undergo when cut 
through by parallel drains has thus been en- 
tirely overlooked. This contraction, however, 
is most important, so much so (as I have found 
by experience) that drains dug from thirty to 
forty inches deep have operated to much greater 
advantage than those of shallower depth. The 
bed of clay contracts itself near the drains as 
deep as the drains are made; and the deeper 
the bed of clay is contracted, the larger will 
be the fissures for the water to percolate through 
to the drains. In well drained land, the water 
does not enter the drain by the furrow, but 
percolates through the fissures (formed by 
contraction) from the ridge to the drains. 



AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 

For some time past, efforts have been in pro- 
gress, looking to the formation of an Agricul- 
tural Association in Fredericksburg, which 
should also embrace the mechanical and ma- 
nufacturing interests. 

This highly desirable object was effected by 
a meeting, held at the Court House, on Satur- 
day last. 

William Pollock, Esq., was called to the 
Chair, and J. H. Kelly appointed Secretary. 

Committees from Falmouth and Fredericks- 
burg, appointed to solicit memberships, re- 
ported that they had been eminently successful, 
as none who had been solicited had declined 
to connect themselves. 

After various propositions had been made, 
which were withdrawn, it was, on motion of 
Mr. W. R. Mason, 

Resolved, That the organization should be 
known as the Fredericksburg Agricultural 
Society. 

An election was then held for officers, when 
the following were chosen: 

President — William Pollock. 

Vice President— Ma]. S. Crutchfield. 

Secretary and Treasurer — J. H. Kelly. 

The foliowing resolution, offered by E. Con- 
way, was adopted: 

Resolved, That this Society is willing to 
unite with the Rappahannock Agricultural 
Society, provided the annual meetings shall 
alternate, commencing at Port Royal, on the 
10th of November next, and that a committee 



» 
THE 



SOUTHERN PLANTER 



241 



of three be appointed to confer with the Rap- 
pahannock Society, with a view to carry out 
this arrangement. 

The Chair appointed Messrs. John Seddon, 
G. W. Strother and E. Conway, the Commit- 
tee. 

The following committees were then ap- 
pointed for the purpose of soliciting member- j 
ships and receiving subscriptions, to be for- 1 
warded to ihe Secretary and Treasurer: 

Fredericksburg — H. B. Hoomes, William 
T, Hart and P. Slaughter. 

Stafford— John Seddon, James Ashby, N. ; 
W. Ford. 

Spottsylvania— Maj. S. Crutchfield, J. H. I 
Lacy, Maj. S. Chancellor. 




THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



RICHMOND, AUGUST, 1853. 



TERMS. 

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

J3? Subscriptions may begin with any No. 

J3»No paper will be discontinued, until all 
arrearages are paid, except at the option of 
the Publisher. 

jjr" Office on Twelfth, between Main and 
Cary Streets. 



All communications for the columns of this 
paper, and all letters of inquiry, to insure 
prompt attention, mast be addressed to Frank: 
G. Ruffin, Shadwell, Albemarle County, Va. 

All business letters connected with the 
Planter must be addressed to P. D. Bernard, 
Richmond, Virginia. 



POSTAGE ON THE PLANTER, 

When po/id rpiarUrly or yearly in advance. 
To any part of the United Stales l£ cents 
per quarter, or 6 cents per annum. 



VIRGINIA STATE AGRICULTURAL 
SOCIETY. 

We present our readers with the proceed- 
ings of the Executive Committee of the above 
Society at a meeting lately convened for the 
purpose of completing the details of arrange- 
ments for conducting with orderly and sys- 
tematic propriety the Society's first annual 
exhibition, to be held in Richmond on the 1st, 
2d, 3d and 4th days of November next. 

The scheme of premiums is comprehensive 
and liberal — the Rules and Regulations prac- 
tical and appropriate. The Judges, selected 
with great care and circumspection, are be- 
lieved to be gentlemen whose high character 
and standing are such as to challenge universal 
confidence. 

This work has been accomplished at no 
small sacrifice of time and labor on the part 
of the members of the Committee, who have 
acted under a solemn sense of responsible 
obligation, involved in the relations they had 
voluntarily accepted as the official organs of 
the Society. 

Their motives have been divested of every 
thing sinister or selfish. They have been ac- 
tuated alone by the highest considerations of 
public utility. They will reap the only cov- 
eted recompense of their labors, if they shall 
be permitted to witness the successful accom- 
plishment of the ends at which, with single- 
ness of purpose, they have steadily aimed; or 
they will deeply share in common with all 
the friends of the cause, in the chagrin and 
mortification which must result from a disap- 
pointment of their cherished hopes of a bril- 
liant success. 

They have nobly performed their part. 
They have acted with an energy of purpose 
from which they could not be swerved by dis- 
couragements; like men who, if they could 
not win success were determined to deserve it. 
"Prone to hope where the more cautious de- 
spond," they have moved forward in solid 
column, gallantly contending with every ob- 
struction which opposed itself in their way, 
until "the rough places have been made plain," 
and "the crooked places straight." 

And now we ask, is there no correlative 
obligation on the part of the Farmers, Manu- 
facturers and Mechanics of Virginia? Will 
they by indifference to their own best interests 



242 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



and the honor and prosperity of the State, dis- 
appoint the hopes of success which must rest 
upon the response they shall give to this last 
appeal to their patriotism'! Recreant sons are 
they to "the blessed mother of us all," who, 
shut up in the impenetrable coldness - of iso- 
lated selfishness, cannot be melted into conflu- 
ence with the current of sympathy which 
warms the breast of those who have conspired 
to raise Virginia to the height of prosperity 
and glory to which her position, her climate, 
her soil, and her still undeveloped resources 
of Agriculture, Commerce and Manufactures 
entitle her. She expects every man to do his 
duty. Will any loyal son of Virginia shrink 
from the obligation to enlist in this holy war- 
fare! We will not believe it. We hope bet- 
ter things of them, although we thus speak. 
The exercise of beneficence will bring a rich 
reward with it. 

" The man ivho seeks her peace 
And wishes her increase, 
A thousand blessings on his head!" 



ALFALFA, OR CHILIAN CLOVER SEED. 

We have received from the Patent Of- 
fice some fifty small packages of Alfalfa, or 
Chilian Clover — each package accompanied 
with a printed account of the plant and direc- 
tions for raising it. Those who have tried it 
say that it is a sort of lucerne. It is none the 
less valuable for that, as lucerne is, we know, 
one of the most valuable of all plants used for 
soiling, or cutting green to feed to cattle. The 
postage on each package will be six cents, and 
those who will send us two postage stamps 
shall have a package and directions enclosed 
to them. 

Our thanks are due to the same source for 
two copies of the Agricultural Volume of the 
Patent Office Report. 



For the Southern Planter. 

CORNCOBS IN THE ROOF OF A HORSE'S 
MOUTH. 

Mr. Editor, — Last summer one of my neigh- 
bors had a horse that declined very rapidly 
without any perceptible cause. After many 
attempts to find out the cause he, by close ob- 
servation, discovered the horse could not swal- 
low his food. He had the tongue pulled out, 
expecting to find it sore about the root, but in- 
stead of a sore tongue, he discovered a piece 



of corn cobsluck fast in the roof of the mouth, 
between the grinders. He loosened it with a 
stick, and the horse was relieved immediately, 
and improved as fast as he had declined. I 
had a horse in the same fix this spring, which 
I relieved before it was much reduced, having 
the experience of my neighbor to direct me 
what was the matter. I have very little doubt 
I lost a horse spring before last from the same 
cause, nol knowing then what was the matter, 
With much respect, 

A Subscriber. 
Harris', Louisa, July 6, 1853. 

We have had the same experience in the 
case of a valuable horse of our own. Finding 
that he would not swallow and was rapidly 
wasting away, we ordered him to be drenched 
with gruel as a means of supporting life, when, 
upon opening his mouth and pulling his tongue 
out, the cob — a very small piece — was disco- 
vered just forward of the palate, which, along 
with the whole throat, was very much in- 
flamed. Upon removing it, the horse was en- 
tirely relieved, and rallied in a few days. 



FLY AND JOINT WORM. 

Mr. Isaac Irvine Hite of Sunny Side, near 
New Glasgow, Amherst, has written us a letter 
on the joint worm, from which we take the 
following extracts. Accompanying the letter 
were three specimens of which he says: 

"In one you can see the fly in the flaxseed 
slate; in another the worm was close by it — 
you can see his mark; the third, you can see 
was in a flaxsed state, presseed in the stalk by 
the blade or it was partially penetrated by the 
fly when the egg was deposited. I am anxious 
to hear what you and others have to say about 
it. I give you facts; you may make what you 
can out of them. 

"I have been on the look-out for the joint 
worm, and they have at last made their ap- 
pearance amongst us, but they are few and far 
between. After very close search after all 
sorts of damaged plants of wheat, I became 
convinced that the joint worm and fly (here- 
abouts at least) are one and the same thing. 
I found fly in the flaxseed state, between the 
blade and stalk. I also found them in the 
same state just above the joint, inside the 
stalk. I also found a maggot in the joint of 
the same stalk, but below, and eating upwards 
through the - joint. I also found three maggois 
in the three joints above the ground in other 
plants. I found a hard lump on some joints, 
and the wheat bent elbow-like; and in that 
firm lump on the joint I found just the same 
sort of maggot." 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



243 



His idea of the remedy is, 

"That we should seed only the early kinds [ 
of wheat, and that in the month of March; at : 
any rate by the first of April. (If -it be a late j 
spring, the 5th of April.) We should have 
onr wheat eaien off as close to the ground as 
sheep, calves, colts and hogs can possibly eat 
it; (hogs will eat off rank spots of wheat that 
sheep will avoid.") 

On Mr. Hite's remedy by grazing, we are 
sorry to have to observe that it has failed com- 
pletely in our own case — a field of very early 
red wheat, well guanoed all over, and grazed 
through the winter with sheep, having failed 
io yield ten bushels per acre. 

He is mistaken in his conclusion that the 
Hessian fly and joint worm are identical any 
where — their habits, forms and modes of at- 
tack are different. Nor are we certain that 
the specimens sent us, in which the fly in its 
pupa state is firmly imbedded inside the stalk 
in the pith of the joint, are really the Hessian 
fly, whose place of lodgement is generally a 
very different one. When it is recollected 
that in Europe there are some thirty odd in- 
sects peculiar to the wheat plani, each varying 
in habits and form, we hope to be excused for 
our skepticism. 

We have to thank Mr. Hite for his letter, 
the contents of which suggest the necessity of 
still further observations to give them their 
full valae. 



ERRATUM. 



In the June number, page 186, for "noscea- 
tur" read "nota sit," so says our correspondent, 
■who is tender of his Latin. If we had writ- 
ten, being "above all Roman fame," we would 
have said "uoscitur," and perhaps have injured 
our reputation with scholars. 



For the Southern Planter. 

LIME. 

Mr. Editor,— Tine report from Mr. Hurt, in 
the July number of the Planter, of the results 
of his experiments with lime, induces me to 
communicate to you some of my own, should 
yoa deem thern of sufficient value to occupy 
any space in your columns; though I am 
ashamed to say that they have been so loosely 
conducted as to contribute scarcely a mite to 
the information so much to be desired upon 
this subject. Some five or six years since, be- 



ing but a novice in the business of farming, I 
was unwise enough to fallow for wheat about 
twelve or fifteen acres of an old field — a light 
gray soil — thoroughly exhausted and covered 
with a luxuriant growth of broom straw. 
Upon two acres of it, I applied one hundred 
bushels of shell lime, and upon a third acre, 
twenty-five bushels. During the winter and 
early spring there was a very marked differ- 
ence in color between the limed and unlimed 
portions, so as to enable me at a little distance 
to trace the lines at a glance. Gradually, 
however, as the season advanced, this differ- 
ence became fainter, and finally vanished, and 
when the field was harvested, which, as you 
may suppose, scarcely "brought seed," there 
was not upon the limed acres one wheat straw 
the more, nor ever since, one broom straw the 
less than upon the others. I did not sow clo- 
ver, but did herds grass, which pretty gene- 
rally shared the fate of the wheat. Last fall, 
I burnt off the broom straw and sowed wheat 
again, with an application of guano, which, as 
usual with us, brought a remunerating crop. 
But to this day I have not seen one imagina- 
ble symptom, to indicate the presence of lime. 
Of course, this experiment proves but little, 
as it is now well established that the beneficial 
effects of lime are to be seen chiefly in its ac- 
tion upon putrescent manures or vegetable 
matter. But 1 have often seen broom sedge 
classed by agricultural writers among those 
acid plants supposed to originate in some in- 
jurious vegetable acid existing in an impove- 
rished soil, which can only be eradicated by- 
the application of an alkali to neutralize them. 
Supposing this to be true, I looked confidently 
for this effect, viz: the annihilation of my 
broom straw, but, as I said before, I was dis- 
appointed — the field, in another year, put up 
as thick a growth of it as ever. 

I have, also, upon several occasions, given 
a heavy dressing of stone lime to a fine clay 
loam, with a liberal combination of manure, 
and grown upon it, successively, corn, wheat 
and clover. I made no measurements or ac- 
curate comparisons, but was not struck with 
any superiority in the product of this land 
over similar soil manured without lime. It is 
a cause of no little regret to me, that having 
expended some money and labor in these ex- 
periments, I did not direct them to the point of 
greatest importance, and thereby, in the time 
which has elapsed, have almost decided the 
question as it relates to this region of country, 
whether lime is required at all. I refer to its 
use in conjunction with manure or vegetable 
matter upon worn out lands. But, in truth, it is 
so expensive to us— costing, at least, fourteen 
or fifteen cents per bushel delivered at our 
farms — that nothing short of the most miracu- 
lous results would justify its use, and there- 
fore, I have felt but little zeal in pursuing my 
observations. Still, I gather from Mr. RufTin's 
writings that old field pines and sorrel, particu- 
larly the latter, are infallible signs of the want 
of lime. I take up my old fields to improve, 



244 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



dress them with farm yard manure, guano, &c. 
and make pretty fair crops; but, instead of be- 
ing green with clover, they are red with sorrel! 
Now, is lime an antidote to sorrel 1 that's the 
question. And if it is, ought we to use it at 
such an expense? that's the question, too. 
Very truly, your friend, 

G. F. H. 
Eticora, July 201A, 1853. 



From the American Cotton Planter. 

MORAL BENEFITS OF SLAVERY. 

Freeman Hunt, Editor of the Merchants' Ma- 
gazine, etc: 

Sir: The excuse for sending this article to 
a Merchants' Magazine is found in the title and 
design of such a work; as a. military magazine 
is the appropriate repository of material sup- 
plies for the future, so is a Merchants' Maga- 
zine intended as a repository of mental sup- 
plies for their use. Slaves are considered and 
used as merchantable property by nearly one- 
half of the States, and are guarantied in such 
use by the constitution of our government; 
hence any information respecting any other 
species of merchandise — and I feel assured 
that an article recapitulating the old, or add- 
ing any new light on that subject, will be 
highly appreciated by many of the readers of 
Mr. Hunt's incomparable journal. I pro- 
pose, first, to consider the moral benefits of 
slavery, its design and effect, as is set forth in 
the universally acknowledged book of morals. 
2d. That it is the true, speedy, and success- 
ful method for civilizing the heathen. 
3d. The probable duration of slavery. 
Permitting history to guide us, we must 
conclude from the municipal laws found ne- 
cessary to govern the Hebrews, that the chosen 
people of God were a very depraved heathen, 
previous to their becoming slaves to the en- 
lightened Egyptians.* Although subject to 
the instruction of that enlightened people for 
four hundred and thirty years, yet we find 
when they are intrusted by Providence with 
self-government, that they were wholly incom- 
petent; and the inspired instrument of their 
deli very had to operate on their religious fears, 
(with a thus sayeth the Lord,) to enforce the 
most simplet sanative laws; a circumstance 
unknown, if ever required to govern any other 
heathen. Hence we infer that they were, pre- 
vious to their bondage, a very depraved people, 
but having been taught subordination while 
slaves, their inspired guide could enforce civil 
laws among them by appealing to their fears 
and gratitude, which are the cultivated sensi- 
bilities of a slave. That the God of Israel 
did permit his people to be enslaved, no ques- 
tion can be made, and the permit being couched 



* Gen. xv. 13; Gen. xlvi. 8-4; Exod. xii. 
t Lev. xviii; Deut. xiv. 



40. 



in the strong language (shall) of the decalogue, 
would lead us to believe that it was an unqua- 
lified edict, after the fulfilment of which, they 
were to be made a great nation ; by deduction, 
we infer that in their native condition they 
were not suitable material to make a great 
and useful people of, nor until they were taught 
subordination and the civilized arts by the en- 
lightened Egyptians; thus receiving the moral 
benefits of their enslavement. 

The plan adopted for the civilization of Is- 
rael appears to be the favorite of God to ame- 
liorate the condition of the heathen, and to 
humble the proud. We find him using the 
same strong language (shall) while instructing 
the Hebrews to* buy of the heathen and en- 
slave them forever, which shall be an inherit- 
ance for their children afterwards; evidently 
limiting the term of their bondage by his own 
discretion, or their advancement in the arts of 
civilization and self-government, as in the case 
of' Israel, and furthermore instructed them tot 
enslave the Egyptians, for the purpose of in- 
culcating humility. According to the book of 
morals, this species of merchandise (property 
in slaves) has been used as a means for ame- 
liorating the condition of man, since a very 
early period of the world's history, by a thus 
sayeth the Lord, and would seem that its con- 
tinuance was intended until an object was ac- 
complished. We find under the new dispen- 
sation of Christ, who was sent as an exemplar 
to the world, that his teachings were definite 
in regard to the relation he found existing be- 
tween master! and servant; his intelligent 
vicegerent (Paul) was not less mindful of the 
then existing institution of domestic slavery, 
of which we have an evidence in his inimita- 
ble§ letter to Philemon, in regard to his run- 
away slave, whom he overtook and sent back 
to his owner, begging for his pardon. Much 
more proof could be added, that the Bible re- 
cognizes and teaches the enslavement of hea- 
then, and that they are merchantable property 
and have been since time immemorial; but 
enough has been referred to for the purpose of 
inviting inveslisation. 

2. That it is the true, speedy and successful 
method for civilizing the heathen. We have 
no evidence that any other plan has succeeded 
to any great extent; it is true that the Chris- 
tian churches discourse eloquently in regard 
to their exertions in behalf of the heathen, 
but judging by the fruits of their labors at 
home, the plain inference is, that but little had 
matured abroad. The first effort to introduce 
this plan of civilization in America was made 
with the aborigines, (Indians,) but the Euro- 
peans finding them unprofitable servants, and 
yielding to selfish considerations, adopted the 
African; instead of persisting in that which 
would have proved a blessing to the natives in 
the end. Since the English have had posses- 
sion of the country, the Indians have had am- 



* Levi. xxv. 45 — 46. 
i Ephes. vi. 5. 



t Isai. xiv. 2. 

§ Philemon. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



245 



pie opportunity for improvement in the arts, 
and moral government of civilization; the 
protection of our government is and has been 
thrown around them, they have been encour- 
aged by example, sums of money have been 
appropriated to their use, enough to place them 
in comfortable circumstances, without any 
. valuable consideration (so far as they are con- 
cerned) from them in return. Collection after 
collection of money has been made, much of 
it the result of the properly directed labor of 
the African heathen, and appropriated to their 
civilization; teachers and preachers have been 
sent to them, many valuable lives exhausted 
in their service; the result of all these efforts 
is, that they are Indians yet, and are likely to 
continue such, with the addition of the vices 
of civilization, and an abhorrence of its vir- 
tues. The reason for all this misspent time 
and money is found in the want of authority 
to control them. The task of domesticating 
a wolf unconfined would be as readily accom- 
plished as to instruct, with a permanent effect, 
the Indian, while in the employment of his 
wild freedom, with no other faculty cultivated 
but sense, and that undisciplined. The cul- 
■ pability of this government must forcibly ap- 
pear to every reflecting mind; having those 
people in our midst so many ages without ad- 
vancing them in the road to civilization; in- 
stead, we see them rapidly growing worse in 
a moral point of view, extinction awaiting 
their race, a burlesque on the divine image, 
and a disgrace to the country; and that, too, 
with the book of morals in our hands, plainly 
pointing out the true, speedy and successful 
method of civilization. That they are of a 
superior order of intelligences, when compared 
with the African, we have evidence in their 
sagacity and determination in self defence; 
and that they have received a more enlightened 
revelation, is manifested by never capturing 
their brethren with the view of selling or en- 
slaving, "but of the children of the strangers," 
which edict they fulfil, apparently with the 
same views that the Hebrews were instructed, 
through their prophet Isaiah, to enslave the 
Egyptians. Yet with capacities superior and 
opportunities ampler for improvement, they 
are not comparable to the African heathen, 
which we have under process of civilization 
according to the Bible plan. Had the efforts 
been persisted in, which were made according 
to this plan, it is probable ere this our govern- 
ment could have erected a monument to her- 
self, in the form of a state made up of civi- 
lized aborigines, effected by making them 
profitable laborers, whereas, they have and' 
are costing the labor of the country millions 
of money annually, as a means of defence 
against a worthless and wild enemy. 

Having examined the second proposition 
analogically, of necessity, we will offer an 
analysis of the third, after the same manner 
of reasoning. The duration of slavery is in 
the hopeful, but gloomy future; hopeful, be- 
cause there in a hope during time, and gloomy, 



because of the great number of heathens that 
are in the world. "We have not the least evi- 
dence, according to revelation, that slavery 
can cease so long as there are heathens, or 
until the world is brought to the light and 
liberty of knowledge; it is then we may look 
for equality among men of every grade. — 
Knowledge, or mental power, has taken place 
of the physical of past ages, and until there is 
a mental equality, physical differences will 
prevail to the extent of forbidding the pro- 
miscuous amalgamation of the races, which 
of right should, that the god-like principles of 
man may continue to bring into subjection the 
animal of his kind, that reciprocal benefits 
may accrue, and the world's uses be served. 
Had England and the Northern States (from 
which the present generation were taught the 
first principles of domestic slavery,) continued 
to bear their part in this work, and not have 
yielded to self interest, by dispensing with it, 
because of its unprofitableness, the duration 
of African bondage might have been shortened, 
as Providence evidently has an object to ac- 
complish through it, as in the case of Israel: 
hence the subject resolves itself into this pro- 
position: if it required four hundred and thirty 
years to fit the Hebrews for self government, 
under constant domestic instruction by the en- 
tire Egyptian nation, how long will it' require 
a small part of the American people to effect 
the same with fifty millions of Africans. If 
human officionsness were to succeed in releas- 
ing orextricating them from their present situ T 
ation, it could but give a different and probably 
a worse form and location to their bondage; if 
placed in colonies, a despotic government 
would of necessity have to be administered, 
either by some of them or by the governments 
interested in their colonization, from the fact, 
that a people unfitted for freedom cannot be 
made free, nor can a people prepared for free- 
dom be made slaves. The interference by hu- 
man agencies with the ways of Providence, in 
securing permanently the release of Africa 
from mental and physical bondage, may stay 
the work for a time but cannot prevent it; and 
when the work of their bondage is complete, 
the exodus may be delayed by the self suffi- 
cient wisdom of man, as did the Egypiians, 
but they will pass to the Canaan provided for 
them, although it should require the Atlantic 
Ocean to be opened with the dividing rod 
which was employed on the Red Sea. Their 
having become a nation great in numbers with 
no reliable attainment in self government, 
presents physical circumstances which must 
forever preclude the possibility of individual 
or national action effecting their exodus, and 
an attempt to hasten it without a knowledge 
of the divine will, may meet the rebuke that 
Pharaoh received in attempting to retain the 
Hebrews. 

Respectfully yours, 

Wm. S. Price. 
Spencerville, Marengn Co., Ala., 
February 28, 1853. 



246 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



DR. VALENTINE'S ARTIFICIAL GUANO. 

In answer to a query made through the 
Planter last spring, respecting Dr. Valentine's 
Artificial Guano, we annex the following tes- 
timonials; and we are informed by Messrs. 
R. R. Duval & Brother that they have many 
others, which they will be pleased to show to 
those who desire to see them: 

Extract from a letter from N. C. Kinney, of 

Augusta County, Virginia: 

Say to R. R. Duval that his Artificial Guano 
has disappointed me. I bought it to please H. 
expecting it to be a "humbug," but the wheat 
I sowed it on, (six acres) in a field where it 
is all good, is ahead of the best of it. The 
color is very fine and several shades darker. 
I shall order some more for my next crop. 

Dated Staunton, 25th April, 1853. 

Messrs. It. R. Duval <£• Brotlier, Druggists, 

Richmond, Virginia: 

Dear Sirs, — Agreeably to your request, I 
drop you a lew lines, to inform you of the be- 
nefits derived from the use of your Artificial 
Guano — tst. I used on twelve acres of land 
one ton for corn, by sowing in the drill when 
the rows were laid off, which is not more than 
166 pounds to the acre — very common land. 
I am at this time under the impression the 
yield will be one-third more than it would 
otherwise have been with the same seasons. 
I believe 250 or 300 pounds per acre would 
make double the crop on the same land. 2d. 
I used GOO pounds on my tobacco land per 
acre, and at the present time it bids fair for a 
heavy crop of tobacco. I discover it is a 
fine preparation for corn and tobacco, which 
are all the crops that I have used it on. When 
my crops come to perfeciion, I can say more 
concerning ihe preparation, but so far as I 
have used it, it came up to my expectation. 
Yours respectfully, 

Alex. T. Martin. 

Chesterfield, July 27, 1853. , 



ATKINS' AUTOMATON REAPER. 

The following interesting history of the in- 
vention of the above reaper, noticed in our 
columns of last month, we cut from the Val- 
ley Faimer. We sincerely trust that the ma- 
chine may succeed, and reward the inventor: 

Its Invention. — The inventor is Mr. Jearum 
Atkins, late of Will county, Illinois, now re- 
siding in Chicago. He is a millwright by 
trade, and as this invention testifies, an origi- 
nal and remarkable mechanical genius. About 
ten years ago he had the misfortune to be in- 
jured by a fall, and has since been almost 



wholly confined to his bed, being unable even 
to sit up more than two or three minutes at a 
time. 

Two or three years ago, a reaper was 
brought into his neighborhood, and an oppor- 
tunity given him to examine it for a few mi- 
nutes. A farmer present, knowing his inven- 
tive skill, remarked to him, that if he 'would 
only attach a raker to it, he would make his 
fortune.' Being a son of poverty as well as 
affliction, compelled to rely wholly upon his 
friends for a support, they themselves being 
also poor, yet possessed of a manly, indepen- 
dent spirit, the remark awakened his thought 
and determination. Various plans were suc- 
cessively formed and abandoned without trial; 
farther than a small model, till last winter he 
struck upon a wholly new arrangement. Hav- 
ing mentally studied out the details, he ascer- 
tained by mathematical calculation, before 
making any part of his model, the size, move- 
ment, and effect of each separate piece, and 
then made one part after another of his mo- 
del, according to his figures, put the separate 
pieces together, and the whole movement was 
effected exactly as calculated, even to a little 
rise in the rake as it is drawn across the plat- 
form. That model has not been altered, and 
the full sized machine is almost precisely the 
model enlarged. 

Considering the novel and complicated mo- 
tions, yet perfect simplicity and small number 
of pieces by which they are produced, it shows 
a very high order of mechanical talent to have 
at once perfected such a machine, and in such 
a manner. Most inventors, it is believed, get 
some parts to work right in a model, and plan, 
and add another, but the whole plan of this 
Self-Raker was entirely formed in the inven- 
tor's mind before a single piece of wood or 
metal for his model was touched. 

Seldom is it that an invention involving 
anything like the novelty and complicated 
movement of this, is at once, and so success- 
fully introduced into practical use, even when 
the inventor has the benefit of much experi- 
ence in the branch of industry for which he 
is laboring; yet, so thoroughly had Mr. At- 
kins studied out all the difficulties to be obvi- 
ated, that, though he had never seen a reaper 
but once, and then not at work,— notwithstand- 
ing he knew nothing of grain cutting, having 
from boyhood been closely devoted to his trade 
till he became bed-ridden; still, so correct 
were his views, that where the mechanics de- 
viated from his plans in constructing the ma- 
chine for trial, it failed, and his wishes had to 
be followed out in every particular. 

Not only has Mr. Atkins succeeded in pro- 
ducing a good Sell-Raking Reaper, and so sig- 
nally triumpbed'when others have failed, but 
he has also invented an entirely new mechani- 
cal movement, simple and beautiful, which 
will doubtless be applied with great advantage 
to other uses. And it will not be improper, I 
trust, to suggest to mechanics that they render 
their unfortunate brother the just courtesy 



■> 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



247 



which would be so highly appreciated by him 
to call this invention Atkins' Movement. 

This account may by some be considered 
unnecessary and out of place; but were the 
reader, by an acquaintance with Mr. Atkins, 
enabled to appreciate the modesty of his 
claims to public notice, the low estimate which 
he himself places upon his inventions and his 
genius, which excite the admiration of every 
mechanic and scientific man with whom he is 
brought in contact, he would, with the writer, 
rejoice in the opportunity to draw from obscu- 
rity, in which he has been wholly hidden till 
the last few months, one who, under more fa- 
vorable auspices, would have ranked with the 
most remarkable men of his day. t ' 

The machine was first brought out late last 
season, and then only in an imperfect shape, 
yet, at every exhibii ion where it was presented, 
the first premium was awarded it over others, 
except at the trial of the New York State 
Agricultural Society at Geneva; and here the 
failure to receive it seems to have been 
caused rather by adverse and uncontrolable 
circumstances than by any defect in the ma- 
chine. A letter from H. D. Bennett, Esq., of 
Geneva, to Mr. Wright, says; 'The machine 
was tried under very unfavorable circum- 
stances, but every one that saw it was of the 
opinion that it was the machine; and I have 
seen a few of the farmers that saw its opera- 
tion, and they all very willingly signed the en- 
closed certificate — all go<3d, practical farmers. 



EXTRACT FROM CORRESPONDENCE. 

Bvxldand, Va., July 22, 1853. 
* * * * I believe that every farmer in the 
State ought to take the Planter, whatever 
other paper he may be taking beside. I should 
like to see that Bee Tamer over here. I think 
after thirty years' experience with bees, I know 
something of their habits, &c; but it is the 
first time I have heard of a swarm of bees 
filling themselves with food when they were 
going to swarm. I have known them to 
lie on the outside of the hive for days and 
nights together before swarming, and then if 
two or three days of bad weather occur after 
swarming, one-half or more would die out. I 
manage my bees with as little trouble as most 
men, tut they are sometimes an insubordinate 
race, and will cut up all sorts of capers. / 
think without "rhyme or reason," and very much 
like some writers, write about them. 1 believe 
about as much in patent bee hives as I do in 
patent 'pig-styes. If you will give a good swarm, 
early in May, a good hive of any shape you 
please, and place them where they can have 
plenty of good pasture, you may calculate on 
*. good hive of honey. And if you have a 
good pig, and put it in a good stye and give 
it plenty of good food, you may expect a good 
porker at Christmas. Bees are not republicans; 



their government is monarchial, and their so- 
vereign is not reared in the common walks of 
life, nor in the common cells, but in a palace 
made and provided. After a good many ex- 
periments and some observation, I have come 
to the conclusion that a common hive, round 
or square, with a box on the top, about eight 
to ten inches square and four inches deep, that 
the bees can find access to through a two inch 
hole in top of the hive, is about as good a plan 
to get nice honey as any other. I believe it is 
the practice of farmers, when they have more 
stock than they wish to keep, to sell out or kilL 
ofF the surplus; and so I do with my bees — 
they are a prolific insect, and if all are kept 
alive with merciful intent, they would soon 
become too numerous for their own comfort. 
Yours, 

J. S. T. 



THE GAD-FLY. 



This is a term applied to several species 
of insects belonging to the family CEstridce. 
They are often called bot-flies. The larva 
are bred in various parts of the bodies of 
living animals. The horse, the- ox, the 
sheep, the deer, and the hare, are each at- 
tacked by one or more species, and even 
man, in some countries, is not exempt from 
annoyance by a peculiar species. The 
habits of the different species are quite va- 
rious — some breeding in the skins of ani- 
mals, as the CEstrus bovis, or ox-bot — others 
in the intestines, — as the O. equis, or 
horse-bot, — and others in the cavities of 
the head, — as the O. ovis, or sheep-bot. 

The effect which these parasites pro- 
duce on the animals in which they breed, 
is a question on which there has been 
much discussion. In regard to the horse 
and the sheep, the popular belief has been 
that the insects frequently caused death. 
On the other hand, the distinguished veteri- 
narian Youatt, came to the conclusion that 
the bot did no injury to the horse, and that 
with sheep it might even be "serviceable." 
Careful investigations carried on, several 
years ago, convinced the writer of this ar- 
ticle that the sheep-bot, usually described 
as ' f the worm in the head," was not the 
cause of the mischief ascribed to it, and so 
far as opportunity has been had for obser- 
vation, a similar conclusion is justified in 
respect to the principal species which at- 
tacks the horse. But we are by no means 
prepared to believe that these insects do 
na injury, and still less that they are bene- 
ficial to the animals on which they prey. 

The instincts of animals may in general 
be deemed safe guides; when uninter- 



248 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



rupted, they all tend to self-preservation, 
which has been properly called the first 
law of nature. In the case under conside- 
ration, most animals have an instiniJtive 
dread of the parasites alluded to. Thomp- 
son speaks of the terror which seizes on 
cattle when attacked by "angry gad-flies." 

"Tossing the foam, 
They scorn the keeper's voice, and scour the plain, 
Through all the bright severity of noon ; 
While, from their laboring breasts, a hollow moan 
Proceeding runs low-bellowing round the hills." 

Sheep evince a great abhorrence of the 
species by which they are assailed. The 
fly endeavors to deposit its egg in the nos- 
trils of the sheep. To avoid the enemy, 
the animals huddle themselves together on 
some dusty spot, with their heads to the 
centre and the noses close to the ground. 
To avail themselves of the protection 
which such a situation affords, they will 
remain for hours exposed to the burning 
heat of the sun. If a fly comes near, they 
strike violently with their fore feet and at 
the same time plunge their noses in the 
thickest dust. Sometimes the fly, darting 
out suddenly, will attack the sheep while 
quietly feeding, and leave an egg in the 
nostril. In such cases the animal exhibits 
great uneasiness — shakes its head, stamps 
and runs to some place where it can pro- 
tect itself. 

There are three species of horse-bots. 
They are commonly known as the large 
bot-fly, the small, or red-tailed bot-fly, and 
the brown bot-fly. Of these, the first 
named is most numerous. It deposits its 
eggs chiefly on the fore legs of the horse 
below the knees, sometimes along the belly 
and flanks. This species in the fly state, 
when horses become accustomed to them, 
appear to occasion but little uneasiness. 
But the other species, — especially, the 
brown, which deposits its eggs on the 
throat of the horse, are much dreaded: 
The fly, which attaches its eggs to the legs, 
is so bold that it keeps round the horse con- 
tinually, attaching an egg as often as suits 
its convenience. It may be readily caught 
in the hand. But the kind which lays its 
eggs on the throat is very shy. Its mode 
of attack is similar to that of the species 
which preys on sheep. Without being 
previously visible, it suddenly darts to the 
throat of the horse, fastens an egg to the 
hair, and as suddenly disappears. It hides 
itself on the ground, and when ready, re- 
peats" its attack. If the horse moves, it fol- 
lows, but so far behind as to be seldom no- 



ticed. It is excessively annoying to the 
horse, who tries every way in its power to 
shield himself. Feeding, or quiet rest, can- 
not be enjoyed when this fly is about. If 
there are several horses together, they 
stand with their heads over each others' 
back; where there is but one, he puts his 
head across the fence to keep the fly from 
his throat. If they have occasion to move, 
they do it with the greatest expedition. 

A person by standing at the head of a 
horse, and watching for the appearance of 
the fly, can catch it, when it alights on the 
throat. It will be found darker in color, 
and considerably smaller than ihe one 
which lays its eggs on the horse's legs. 
The species probably differ as much in 
the larva, as in the fly state. The larva 
of the brown bot is nearly one-third 
smaller than that of the other. They are 
[said to differ, also, in regard to the parts 
I of the stomach of the horse to which they 
attach themselves. The late Payne Win- 
gate, of Maine, who paid much attention 
to bots in horses, stated that he usually 
I found the small bots clustered near the 
oesophagus, or gullet, and in some in- 
stances had found them so crowded into 
! that organ as to have choked the animal to 
death. He had never observed anything 
of this kind with the larger bot, and it was 
his opinion that this species occasioned the 
i horse but little inconvenience. Can it be 
j that the greater abhorrence which the 
J animal has of the fly of the smaller spe- 
cies, has any connection with the greater 
injury liable to be done by the larva? 

Whether bots ordinarily produce injury 
and death in horses by eating the coats of 
the stomach, as is alledged, is perhaps still 
a mooted question. We have seen cases 
where the stomach of a horse which was 
opened immediately after death, was per- 
forated, to a great extent by the larva. 
But it is said by some that this was done 
after the death of the horse, or after the 
bots found he would die. The horse, say 
they, died of a cholic, or some other dis- 
ease, and the bots wanted to get away 
from the worthless carcass. How shall 
the matter be settled? 

In regard to the sheep-bot, we have al- 
ready alluded to the idea that it causes 
death. We think it is not well founded, 
for the following reasons: 1st. We have 
seen perfectly healthy sheep — such as 
were in high condition, and killed for mut- 
ton — which had the nasal sinuses filled 
with bots to as great a degree as in sub- 
jects supposed to have died from this 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



249 



cause. 2d. We have examined the bodies 
of many sheep which were supposed to 
have died from "worms in the head." and 
in every case found evidence that death 
was produced from other causes — fre- 
quently '"the rot," sometimes, disease of 
the lungs. 3d. The membrane whicli 
lines the nasal cavities, in subjects where 
bots have been most numerous, (and we 
have taken forty from the head of one 
sheep.) has not exhibited evidence of in- 
flammation or local disease. 

It is evicrent, however, that the deposi- 
tion of the egg in the nostril, and the as- 
cent of the worm to its lodgment, occa- 
sions the sheep much discomfort, if not ac- 
tual pain. So with the efforts of the full- 
grown larva to escape from the head; but 
the full extent of the injury done to the 
sheep, cannot be told. The period of the 
attack of the fly, is from the last of May 
to August. The transformation of the lar- 
va takes place early the following spring. 
Its escape from the head is assisted by the 
sneezing of the sheep, which probably re- 
sults from irritation produced by the mo- 
tion of the insect. The worm when 
ejected, buries itself in the litter of the 
sheep-yard, or in the ground, and in due 
time emerges in its perfect form. All do 
not, however, pass from the head previous 
to transformation; we have found the 
shells of the pupa in the nasal cavities, 
showing that the change had taken place 
there. 

Various prescriptions have been given 
for protecting sheep against this insect. 
At one time, tarring their noses was 
thought to be a specific. It seems proba- 
ble that so long as the tar would emit a 
strong odor, it might repel the fly; but it 
would be necessary to make frequent ap- 
plications of it, to answer this purpose. 
Among those acquainted with the practice 
of tarring,, the opinion has been expressed 
that as ordinarily administered, little or no 
good was derived from it. 

The ox bot-fly deposits its eggs on the 
back of the animal, and the larva are bred 
in the skin, producing swellings called 
"warbles," with which most farmers are 
familiar. In general, they do not appear 
to occasion the animal much inconveni- 
ence. But as the worm gets near its full 
size, it rrftkes a hole, nearly equal to the 
diameter of a common goose-quill, through 
the surface of the skin. This takes place 
in spring, w en from the hair of animals 
becoming thin, if they are exposed to wet 
■weather, the water soak3 into these holes, 



and causes sores. Some animals have 
their backs almost entirely covered with 
warbles, and their backs are sometimes so 
sore that they cannot bear the least touch 
of the curry-comb or card. Cattle which 
are kept under cover at all times, are never 
attacked by the gad-fly. Oxen which are 
kept most of the time in yoke, have but 
i'ew of the larva — the shyness of the fly 
probably inducing it to avoid an attack 
while the animals are guarded by men. 
Hides which have been filled with the 
worms, are much injured for leather, un- 
less they have had time for the holes to fill 
up, and it is doubtful if they ever entirely 
recover. — Boston Cultivator. 



ANOTHER ENEMY TO THE WHEAT 
CROP. 

It is known to most of our readers that the 
wheat crop of this eoumry has been well nigh, 
ruined by the joint worm. We had supposed, 
when witnessing its ravages during the last 
two years, that no greater evil could befall the 
farmer, so far as his grain crop was concerned, 
than the visitation of the joint worm. But we 
discover this season another and a new enemy 
at work, which, should it increase as the joint 
worm has done, must prove more destructive 
10 the grain crop than even the dreadful scourge 
we have mentioned. We are not skilled in 
entomology aod cannot, therefore, dignify this 
new comer with one of those high sounding 
names which scientific men so much delight 
in — the length of which is usually in inverse 
proportion to the size of the thing named, but 
can only say that it is a little worm of about 
one-fourth of an inch in length and of a brown 
color, which gets into the cavity of the straw 
just below the head, and locating itself near 
the upper joint, feeds upon the straw until it 
cuts it in two. This gives the wheat the ap- 
pearance of ripening from the head, which 
will be found to contain no grain. Unlike the 
joint worm it shows no preference for wheat 
over rye, but, on the contrary, is found most 
frequently in the latter grain. We saw to-day 
a crop of rye sensibly affected by it. We are 
told that it has occasionally been seen hereto- 
fore in this country, and if we are not mis- 
taken, this is what was reported as joint worm 
last year in Fauquier. We have furnished a 
scientific gentleman with a specimen of the 
diseased wheat, and he will investigate the 
history and habits of the insect and can pro- 
bably tell us what we are to apprehend from 
it. 

This season seems to us prolific in insect 
pests. Our farmers have all the plagues of 
Egypt upon them at once. Their corn crop is 
injured by cut and bore worm, the wheat by Jly, 
joint viorm, and this stranger, who hae found 



250 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



a "local habitation," but is still without a 
"name," and as for tobacco! there's fly, flea, 
cut worm, bore worm, bugs, grasshoppers and 
crickets, without limit. This is a wormey age 
we live in, and we know of nothing better for 
a man to do than to carry about with him a 
bottle of M'Lane's Vermifuge to protect him- 
self against the prevailing epidemic. — Charlottes- 
ville Advocate. 



From the Ohio Cultivator. 

RED WEEVIL IN WHEAT. 

Mr. Editor, — A few days since I stated to 
you that the fly had injured the wheat crop in 
this vicinity very extensivly. I have now to 
state that the red weevil bids fair to destroy 
most of the balance. An insect has deposited 
its larva in innumerable millions on the grain. 
I have counted as many as eight or ten on a 
single berry. It is of a palish red color, not 
thicker than a cambric needle, and about a 
sixteenth of an inch in length. 

We have two other varieties of weevil, 
known for some time past to this section, but 
this red weevil is a new comer among us. He 
first appeared last year, in the western part of 
the .county where 1 reside; but did not then 
reach the eastern side of the Muskingum 
river. 

I know very little about its habits or its his- 
tory, or the extent of its power to injure. 
Where did this "red weevil" originate'? 
What part of this State, or of the United 
States has it visited'! What is the extent of 
the evils it inflicts upon the wheat crops'? If 
you, Mr. Editor, or any of your readers are 
informed upon these subjects, it would be gra- 
tifying to me to be favored through your co- 
lumns with the information. 

A friend at my side says this weevil has 
been a regular visitant about Union county, 
Ohio, for some eight years past; that he usu- 
ally satisfies himself with about half the crop, 
or less; but in some instances whole fields 
have been so destroyed as not to be worth cut- 
ting. 

I discovered last year that when the grain 
was filled, and the skin or bran tolerably well 
matured, the weevil did not appear to have the 
power to injure it; but when it was immature 
and soft, they so drew away the substance of 
the grain for their own nourishment as to de- 
stroy it. From the immense numbers of wee- 
vil that are now deposited upon the fields 
around here, and the soft, imperfect stale of 
the grain, I should judge that the destruction 
of the crops will be extensive. But in this 
I hope I may be mistaken. When the attack 
was made last year, the grain was in a more 
forward state. 

C. Springer, 
Meadow Farm, Ohio. 



PAYMENTS TO THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 
From 15th June to 1st August, 1853. 



S2 00 
1 00 

1 00 

2 00 



Robert M. Childress to January 1854 

B. L. Johnson to January 1853 
William G. Crenshaw to July 1854 
John Glassell to June 1854 
William S. Dupree to July 1854 1 
George L. Bayne to July 1854 

C. O. Lipscomb to July 1854 
Capt. G. A. Wood to July 1854 
William Hankins to July 1854 
William H. Eubank to July 1854 « 
Wyatt H. Pettus to July J 854 
R. H. Williams to July 1854 j> 11 55 
P. K. Wood to July 1854 
Joseph L. Watkins to July 1854 
Thomas B. Purcell to July 1854 

| R. E. Knight to July 1854 
I A. A. Burwell to July 1854 
I Capt. F. Lester to July 1854 
, J. D. Priddy to July 1854 
] H. T. Miller to January 1854 
j Merit P. Sledge to January 1854 
I Henry S. Mason to January 1854 
I J. J. Deal to January 1854 

Silas Emory to January J 854 
j Dr. F. N. Mullen to January 1857 

V. M. Eppes to January 1855 

Christopher Carlton to January 1854 

Thomas G. Plummer to April 1854 

R. H. Vest to January 1854 

George S. Blakey to July 1854 

S. N. Brooks lo April 1854 

Robert O. Grayson to July 1854 

Robert Martin to March 1854 

Henley Sherman to April 1854 

B. N. Johnson to September 1853 
A. C. Hartman to July 1853 
G. M. Savage to March 1854 
Mrs. Dr. W. B. Smith to January 1854 
William G. Daniel to January 1854 
John Goode to January 1854 
Dr. Jas. E. Williams to May 1854 
Willie Perry, Jr., to July 1854 
John C. Wiltshire to July 1853 
John S. Moore to July 1853 
Richard S. Beavers to July 1853 
Dr. Archibald Graham to April 1854 
Dr. W. S. Brockenbrough to Jan. 1S54 

C. J. Thompson to July 1854 
Madison H. Effinger to July 1854 
Robert Anderson to July 1853 
George W. Richardson to Feb. 1854 
Rev. A. L. Holladay to May 1854 
John Mosby to September 1852 
P. E. Bacon to July 1854 
A. Rives to September 1853 
S. F. Sampson to July 1853 
Dr. G. B. Stephens to July 1854 • 
H. Carpenter to January 1854 
Wood Bouldin to January 1854 
Wm. Leitch to July 1854 
Dr. A. Dold to August 1853 
David E. Sharp to July 1854 
Dr. E. L. Nelson lo August 1854 



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THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



251 



John B. Hurt to July 1854 
Chas. L. Christian to September 1853 
John Carr to September 1856 
Thomas G. Turner to July 1854 
Miss Charlotte H. Carver to Jan. 1854 
James P. White to January 1854 
Dr. P. H. Foster to January 1854 
E. Burroughs to February 1854 
Adam ft. L. Keeling to February 1854 
Francis Thompson to February 1854 
A. MAlpine to February 1854 
J. P. Tatein to February 1854 
Edward H. Herbert to Feb. 1854 
John M. Engle to July 1854 
Wm. F. Hobbs to July 1854 
Dr. H. D. Taliaferro to July 1854 
J. Horace Lacy to July 1854 
John ft. Spottswood to July 1854 
Thomas L. Morton to April 1854 
Major Pax ton to May 1854 
Enoch Edwards to January 1854 
James M. Edwards to January 1854 
• Isaac H. Carrington to April 1855 
Dr. ft. N. Hudson to April 1854 
Merit P. Sledge to January 1854 
John C. Daniel to July 1854 
Wm. B. Millner to July 1853 
Thomas Clarke to January 1854 
B. W. Bailey to January 1854 
"Wm. W. Wallace to January 1854 
Thomas R. Dew to January 1854 
Thomas H. Anderson to July 1856 
Chas. H. Robertson to July 1854 
John E. Rutherford to January 1854 
Dr. W. J. Dupuy to July 1854 
Col. Jos. Fuqua to September 1853 
Alex. Sydnor to July 1854 
John S. Field to January 1854 
T. W. Keesee to July 1854 
H. E. Weston to January 1854 
" Thomas P. Bland to July 1854 
N. W. Burwell to January 1854 
Peyton S. Coles to July 1853 
J. H. Etheridge to January 1854 
J. S. Trone to January 1854 
Fleet W. Cox to July 1854 
Col. W. B. Davis to July 1854 
George T. Thomas to September 1853 
Geo. H Gilmer to January 1853 
Thos. W. Downer to July 1854 

B. Bridseforth to January 1854 
E. T. Tayloe to January 1854 
John F. Link to April 1854 

C. C. Baldwin to July 1853 

R. M. Graves to January 1854 
Geo. E. Williamson to July 1854 
Dr. E. Moss to July 1854 
J. H. Simpson to July 1854 
J. E. Settle to July 1854 
Dr. T. T. Withers to January 1854 
W. M. Watkins to January 1850 
G. C. Hannah to January 1854 
T. C. Morgan to February 1854 
Panl Spindle to August 1854 
William Turner to January 1854 
Carter Braxton to July 1853 
T. K. Bridgeforth to May 1854 



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William Rison to July 1854 SI 00 

Capt. T. C. Goodwin to January 1855 2 00 

T. Michaux to March 1854 1 00 

Gen. J. B. Harvie to July 1854 1 00 

Gen. B. Peyton to July 1854 1 00 

R. H. Dudley to January 1S54 2 00 

S. A. Brock to January 1854 2 00 

Wm. Baylan to January 1854 5 00 

J. C. Riddle to July 1854 1 00 

E. Lightfoot to June 1854 1 00 

J. W. A. Saunders to January 1854 . 1 00 

James Rangeley to July 1854 1 00 



WILLIAM 1». IiADD, 

APOTHECARY AND DRUGGIST, 

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

Richmond, Virginia. 

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

f2r Orders from Country Merchants and 
Physicians thankfully received and promptly 
attended to 
ja 1851— tf 



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AGENCY. 

I AM willing to assist gentlemen in purchas- 
ing and selling farms, stock, and poultry of 
every description; to attend to receiving and 
properly forwarding animals; also, to procure 
suitable overseers and laboring men for farm- 
ers and planters: all of which will be attended 
to for a small commission. My position as 
Marshal of the Maryland State Agricultural 
Society gives me advantages of knowing ma- 
ny men, and most good stock, which with my 
genera] 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 
j the United Slates; Chester and Suffolk pigs; 
; Shanghai and other new and large fowls; also, 
I two fine Jacks. All letters post paid, will re- 
j ceive prompt attention. 

MARTIN GOLDSBOROUGH. 
Harrisonville, Baltimore Co., Md. 
i Refer to 

C. B. Calvert & C. Hill, Washington City; 
G. W. Hughs, West River, Md ; J. N. Golds- 
borough, Easton, Md.; R. McHenery, Emer- 
ton, Md.; S G. Fisher, Philada., Pa ; C. P. 
Holcomb, Wilmington, Del; Col. J. W.Ware, 
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, Hunisville, Ala.; T. Hayward and 
Maj. R. Hayward, Tallahassee, Florida, 
mar — tf 



252 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



NEW PLASTER AND BONE MILL. 

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

DR. VALENTINE'S RECIPE FOR 
MAKING ARTIFICIAL GUANO. 

No. 1. Dry Peat,* 20 bushels 

No. 2. Wood Ashes, 3 bushels 

No. 3. Fine Bone Dust, 3 bushels 

No. 4. Calcined Plaster, - 3 bushels 

No. 5. Nitrate of Soda, - - 40 pounds 
No. 6. Sal Ammoniac, 22 pounds 

No. 7. Carb Ammonia, - - 11 pounds 
No. 8. Sulph: Sodse, 20 pounds 

No. 9. Sulph: Magnesia, - 10 pounds 

" 10. Common Salt, - - 10 pounds 

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

Directions for Mixing. — Mix Nos. 1,2, 3, 
together — mix Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, in four or 
five pails of water, or enough to dissolve the 
ingredients. When dissolved, add the liquid 
to the mixture, (1, 2, 3,) and mix as in making 
mortar. When thoroughly mixed, add No. 4, 
(the calcined plaster,) which will absorb ihe 
liquid 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 $10 per ton. One 
sugar hogshead will hold ingredients enough 
for five tons. All orders will be carefully and 
promptly executed, and sent to any part of the 
State. " R. R. DUVAL & BRO. 

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



FOR SALE OR TRADE. 

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

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



GARDEN BOOKS— Buist's Family Gar- 
dener — 75 cents. 
Fessenden's American Gardener — 75 cents. 
Bridgeman's Gardener's Assistant— SI 50. 
Bridgeman's Gardener's Instructor— 50- cents. 
The American Kitchen Gardener — 25 cents. 
M'Mahon's Gardener's Calendar— $3. 
Downing's Landscape Gardening— S3 50. 

FARMING. 
Fessenden's Complete Farmer — 75 cents. 
Allen's American Farm Book— $1. 
Stephens' Book of the Farm — $4. 
Johnson's Practical Agriculture— 75 cents. 
Saxton's Rural Hand Book, 2 vols.— $2 50. 
Thace's Practical Agriculture— S"2 50. 

GRAPE VINE. 
Buchanan on the Grape— 50 cents. 
Spooner on the Grape and Wine Making— 33 

cents. 
Hoare on the Culture of the Grape— 50 cents. 

FRUITS. 
Thomas' American Fruit Culturist— SI 25.* 
Cole's American Fruit Book— 50 cents. 
Lindley's Guide to the Orchard — S'l 25. 
Downing's Fruit and Fruit Trees— $1 50. 
Barrey's Fruit Garden— $1 25/ 

AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 

Johnston's Agricultural Chemistry — ©1 25. 

Gray's Agricultural Chemistry— SI. 

Norton's Elements of Chemistry — 50 cents. 

Brown's Field Book of Manures, or American 
Muck Book— $1 25. 

Dana's Prize Essay on Manures — 25 cents. 

Dana's Muck Mamal— $1. 
CATTLE. 

The American Cattle Doctor, just published — 
SI. 

Youatt & Morton, on Cattle— SI 25. 

Allen's Domestic Animals — 75 cents. 

Sax,ton's Hand Book of Domestic Animals — 
SI 25. 

SHEEP. 

Youatt on Sheep — 75 cents. 

The Shepherd's Own Book, by Youatt, Skin- 
ner and Randall — S2. 

HORSES. 

Youatt and Randall on the Horse— SI 25. 

Youatt and Skinner on the Horse — SI 50. 

Richardson on the Horse — 25 cents. 

Mason's Farrier— SI 25. 

Hind's Farrier — SI. 
Also, a complete assortment of Books on 

Rural Architecture and AGRICULTURE. 
For sale by NASH & WOODHOUSE, 
ap — 6m ' Eagle Square, Richmond, Va. ' 

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 Slates, for which a reasona- 
ble commission will be charged. Apply to 
A A RON»-CLEMEN T, Philadelphia. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



253 



To THE FARMERS AND AGRICUL- 
TURAL. COMMUNITY OF.VA. 

THE subscriber is desirous to make kuown 
to the above, an article of manufacture of 
Chemical notoriety, namely, SUPER-PHOS- 
PHATE OF LIME, allowed to be one of the 
most efficacious Manures ever yet adopted in 
this or any other country, for its well known 
properties of regenerating and fertilizing the 
barren and worn-out soil. Its first introduction 
was into England, some ten years since, when 
from its then pronounced magic effect, a pa- 
tent right was granted to its inventor, the cele- 
brated Professor Law, of London, who stands 
now unrivalled as one of the first Chemists of 
the day. Having had the honor of graduating 
under him, and together with some years of 
practical experience in the manufacturing of 
this article with him, gives a sufficient confi- 
dence to slate that the A No. 1 of my present 
manufacture cannot be equalled in this vast 
continent, being the sole inventor and intro- 
ducer of it into this country. Should there be 
a doubt as to its truthfulness, my Diploma, re- 
ceived from the New York American Institute, 
will fully attest of the correctness of my state- 
ment, together with a host of the highest tes- 
timonials from the Farming and Agricultural 
consumers of my Manure for the last twelve 
months while there. 

I can also state with pleasure having re- 
ceived many kind letters from mere strangers 
to me, requesting of me to refer any one who 
may feel skeptical of the powerful influence 
it has over the most barren or useless land that 
can be found — in a great many instances, par- 
ties were dubious of buying more than some 
50 or 100 pounds to make trial ; the same par- 
ties now purchase in Tons, and feel proud in 
making it known to their surroundingfarming 
neighbors, who seemed quite astounded at the 
crops produced by the application of this mi- 
raculous process, which enters into the com- 
position of all plants, and the importance of 
invaluable constituent to the agriculturalist 
will be easily understood, when the reader is 
informed that no plant will grow upon a soil 
denuded of it. Phosphates of lime is being 
continually removed and abstracted from the 
soil, and taken up by the plants in solution for 
their nourishment, and unless such an equiva- 
lent be returned, diminution of fertility must 
naturally be the issue. I apprehend the effi- 
cacy of ground or crushed bones on the soil is 
■well known to the American farmer. 

I will presume to point out the advantage 
Super-phosphate of Lime has over bunes. 
Bones are insoluble in water, and have first to 
be decomposed before they can be incorporated 
with the soil — such decomposition taking a 
long time. From authenticated writers and 
scrupulous experimenters, it has been acknow- 
ledged that twenty bushels of Super-phosphate 
of Lime, will have the desired effect of 100 
bushels of unprepared bones. The reason of 
such fact is on account of its being in a state 



of solution shortly after having been applied 
to the soil, and taken up by the plants, which 
derive their strength and growth from the soil 
in no other form. 

The subscriber offers his manufactured Su- 
per-phosphate of Lime as a chemically pure 
and genuine article; a perfect Super-phosphate, 
with the addition of guano and other fixed 
salts, &c, only known to himself— containing 
ammonia and other constituents necessary to 
furnish to the soil that which it has been 
robbed of by previous growth. It is quite as 
effective as Guano, but much more durable as 
a manure, and less volatile than any other. 

To be obtained in bags or barrels, of 

C. B. De BURG, 
Agricultural Chemist, Williamsburg, L. I. 
Where purchasers may rely upon obtaining a 
warranted, pure and genuine article, styled A 
No. 1. 

To prevent deception being practised hence- 
forward, all packages will be branded with 
the manufacturer's name. 

C. B. De BURG. 

Affixed are the names of gentlemen of ac- 
knowledged celebrity and standing as Analyti- 
cal Chemists, who have passed their judgment 
upon it. 

JAMES R. CHILTON, Esq., M. D., 

THOMAS ANTISELL, Esq., M. D., 

WILLIAM W. ELLETT, Esq., M. D.,- 

ISAIAH DECK, Esq., M. D., 

JOHN H. CURRIE, Esq., M. D. 

P; S. — My representative, Mr. J. P. O'Neii,, 
shall do himself the pleasure of visiting Vir- 
ginia on a tour of business, when he shall be 
most happy to receive orders and impart such 
information as may be required of him rela- 
tive to this matter — he shall also bring on with 
him a supply of Pamphlets, with full particu- 
lars, which will be found most essentially use- 
ful to the agricultural community. 

PRICE— $45 for 2,000 lbs. from the manu- 
factory. 

Williamsburg, L. I. 

S. M'CRUDER & SONS, 

July — 3m Agents, Richmond, Va. 

EAGLE FOUNDERY. 

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

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

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



254 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



ATKINS' SELF-RAKING REAPER. 

THIS machine is now offered to the public 
and warranted to be a good self-raking 
reaper. It is also believed to be a good mower, 
but not yet having been sufficiently tested in 
grass, (though it soon will be) it is not war- 
ranted to be equal to a machine made mainly 
or wholly to mow. 

The raking apparatus is of novel and very 
simple construction, and not liable to derange- 
ment, and every farmer who has seen it in the 
harvest field, says it performs the raking better 
than a man can possibly do it. 

Price of machines at Chicago, $175, of 
which, $75 must be paid on giving the order, 
$50 upon successful trial, and $50 in note pay- 
able 1st December. 

The machines are thoroughly built and 
warranted. 

§Qr Descriptive circulars, with cuts, sent to 
post-paid applications. 

J. S. WRIGHT, 
" Prairie Farmer" Warehouse, Chicago, June, 
1852. July— 3t 

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 Fowls, viz: Cochin 
China or Canton Fowls; Black, White, 
Buff and Brown Shanghais; Chittagjngs 
or Gray Shanghais. 

The above are the largest and best variety 
of fowls bred in this country, and are from 
stock originally imported by the subscriber. 
Gentlemen, Poultry-keepers and others, desir- 
ous of procuring choice Poultry may depend 
upon the above stock being purely bred and 
warranted true to their name. Address 
CHARLES SAMPSON, 
West Roxbury, 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 

BOOKS, PIANOS, MUSIC, &c. 

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

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



FOR SALE. — A fine farm near Marysville, 
Buckingham county, Virginia; well lim- 
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, Harrisonville, Baltimore Co., Maryland. 

July— tf 



THE SUBSCRIBER has for sale yearling 
and two year old BUCKS, of the New 
Oxfordshire or Cotswold breed, which he will 
sell any time when called for, and has no hesi- 
tation in sayingthis breed of sheep are superior 
to all others, for large carcass, heavy fleece, 
early maturity, constitution, and defies all 
other breeds for profit. This flock has been 
bred from the best ever imported, the sire hav- 
ing clipped eighteen pounds of well washed 
wool; and a small amount of wethers, 
slaughtered in Philadelphia, in February, 
weighed as follows: 

Live weight, 374, 309, 307, 285, 271, 254 lbs. 
Dead " 2G9J 213, 203, 201, 181, 160J " 

No. 1 being the heaviest sheep ever slaugh- 
tered in the United States. 

i^p Persons are invited to call and see for 
themselves, or communicate by mail to 

WILLIAM REYBOLD, 

Jul}' — 3t Delaware city, Delaware. 

FOR SALE.— A thoroughbred Bull of the 
Ayrshire and Durham breed, in fine health 
and vigor — color rich red, with slight white 
spots in the flank, characteristic of the Ayr- 
shire breed. Said Bull is immediately de- 
scended on both sides from Imported Stock. 
For testimonials of stock, &c. enquire of the 

Editor. oc — tf 

2 



THE DAILY EXPRESS, published at 
Petersburg, Va. is the cheapest daily pa- 
per published south of James river, Virginia. 
It is devoted almost entirely to news matters 
of every description, and eschewing politics, 
may be emphatically styled a "Newspaper." 
Three hundred and twelve copies, which em- 
braces the whole year(Sundaysonly excepted,) 
will be furnished at the unprecedented low 
price of four dollars per annum. Address 
AND. F. CRUTCHF1ELD & Co. 
ap— tf Petersburg, Va. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



255 



PLANTATION BOOK. 



JW. RANDOLPH, Richmond, Virginia, 
* has just published the Plantation and 
Farm Instruction, Regulation, Record, Inven- 
tor}' and Account Book, for the use of ma- 
nagers of estates, and for the better ordering 
and management of plantation and farm busi- 
ness, fn every particular, by a Southern Planter. 
Order is Heaven's first law— Pope. Price $2, 
or six for $10; a larger edition for the use of 
cotton plantations, price $2 50. 

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

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

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

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

"It will prove a most valuable assistant to 
the planter, manager or overseer, and a work 
that will facilitate them greatly in the trans- 
action of business." — RichrriiaH Dispatch. 

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

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

"It 19 full of useful information and is well 
calculated to induce a methodical system, in- 
dustry and energy especially vital to a suc- 
cessful and profitable cultivation of mother 
earth." — Richmond Enquirer. june — tf 



TO AGRICULTURISTS. 

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

Farmer's Encyclopedia; by Cuthbert W. 
Johnson. 

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

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

Johnson's Chemistry and Geology, with their 
application. 

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

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

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

Fessenden's American Gardener. 

American Fruit Book, with full instructions- 
by S. W. Cole. ' 

Downing on Fruit Trees. 

Theory of Horticulture; by Lindley. 

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

Bridgman's Kitchen Gardener. 

In addition to which, Morris & Brother have 
all of the late Works on Agriculture, Horti- 
culiure, and Raising Stock, of any celebrity 

Richmond, March 12, 1851.— Iv 



256 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



CONTENTS OF NU3IBER VIII. 

PAGE 

Grape Vines Dropping their Fruit— the 
Crops — Reason why Wheat Heaves... 225 

Borrowing and Hiring 2-25 

Hole and Corner Club of Prince George. .2-20 

Virginia Stale Agricultural Society 227 

High Prices for Mules in Kentucky 231 

Horses— Careful Use of. &c ..231 

Soap Making 231 

Action of Guano 232 

English Blue Grass, or Meadow Fescue, 
[or Randall Grass] and Kentucky Blue 

Grass *(. ..234 

Silesian Merino Ewes 235 

General Washington's Mules 236 

Burdens of the Fence Law *.... . .237 

Dogs and Foxes flK338 

Draining as a Means of Improving Lands. 238 

Agriculiural Association 240 

Virginia State Agricultural Society 241 

Alfalfa, or Chilian Clover Seed 242 

Corn Cobs in the Roof of a Horse's Mouth. 242 

Fly and Joint Worm 242 

Erratum 213 

Lime 243 

Moral Benefits of Slavery 244 

Dr. Valentine's Artificial Guano 246 

Alkins' Automaton Reaper 246 

Extract from Correspondence 247 

The Gad-Fly 247 

Another Enemy to the Wheat Crop 249 

Red Weevil in Wheat 250 



ANALYTICAL LABORATORY 

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

Professor of Experimental Sciences, Randolph 
Macon College, Va. oc— 1£ 



AN ESSAY ON CALCAREOUS MANURES, 

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

Published by J. W. Randolph, 121, Main 
street, Richmond, Virginia, and for sale by 
him and all other Booksellers; fine edition, 
8vo., printed on good paper, and strongly bound, 
library style $2; cheap edition, l2mo. SI 25 — 
copies sent by mail, post paid, to those who 
remit the price. 

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

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

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

"But for the details of that business, we 
would refer our correspondent to a book, which 
if he has not now, we beg for his own credit that 
he will get as soon as he goes to Richmond. We 
nlean the final edition of the Essay on Calca- 
reous Manures." 

"The farmers of Virginia have just reason 
to thank both the author and publisher for this 
enlarged and improved edition of a most valu- 
able book." — Hon. Willovshhy Nev.t.nn. je — tf 



SCHOOL FOR SMALL BOYS. 

HAVING employed a competent teacher 
to educate my children, 1 wish to get five 
or six boys, nofmore than twelve years old, as 
boarders. The whole number of pupils will 
not be allowed to exceed twelve or fourteen. 
The teacher is a good classical and mathema- 
tical scholar and a gentleman in whose capa- 
city, fidelity and high character I have entire 
confidence. The school will commence the 
first of October and terminate the middle of 
August, with a short recess at Christmas. 
Terms— ?;130 per annum for every thing. 

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