THE 



SOUTHERN PLANTER. 

Sebotco to agrtntlture, horticulture, ana the fgousclioin arts. 



Agriculture is the nursing mother of the Arts.- 
Xeaophon. 



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



FRANK: G. RUFFIN, Editor and Proprietor. 



T. BAILIE, Publisher. 



Vol. XV. 



RICHMOND, NOVEMBER, 1855 



No. 11. 



From the London Farmers Magazine. 
ON INCREASING THE SUPPLY OF OUR RI- 
DING-HORSES, AND THE ENCOURAGE- 
MENT BREEDERS SHOULD RECEIVE FROM 
OUR AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 

It has been our duty frequently within the 
last two or three years to impress upon our 
agriculturists, or those whom they take as their 
leaders, the good policy of more directly re- 
cognizing and encouraging the breeds of our 
hunting and riding-horses. With the excep- 
tion of the Yorkshire and Suffolk Societies, 
we do not know one in either England, Scot- 
land, or Ireland that has given any thing like 
that attention it should to the merits of the 
well-bred horse. In fact, such associations 
but too commonly pass him over with the most 
studied indifference. It would almost appear, 
from their proceedings, that the breeding of 
good horses wa3 not a matter of sufficient im- 
portance to command their countenance ; or, 
at any rate, not a pursuit upon which the 
farmer should be expected to engage. 

The grand object of course of an agricultu- 
ral exhibition is mainly obtained by the force 
of example. That, then, which such a body 
does not invite to take a place at its meetings, 
we may justly enough conclude it indirectly 
tends to ignore. The effect, in fact, can 
scarcely be otherwise. Cattle, sheep, pigs, even 
poultry, and perhaps draught horses — but no 
further. Since, however, we first touched on 
this subject as a matter of policy, it has be- 
come one of necessity. Some would have it 
that our roadsters and hunters were sadly de- 
teriorating; the more cause then for our 
looking to them. Thanks, though, to those too 
often maligned works — the Racing Calendar 
and the Stud Book — this was quickly seen to 
be but a false alarm. We may be short of 
torses, as little doubt we are ; but never were 
there such opportunities for breeding good 
ones as we at present enjoy. Hunters, hacks 
and chargers are still rising in price : the verv 
Vol. XV— 11. ' 



government has had to spring a figure. No- 
thing, in a word, promises to pay, or has paid, 
better of late, than that constant desideratum, 
" a good sort of horse." 

And who, pray, should be the first to profit 
by this ? From whom should we look chiefly 
for the supply to meet a demand so long 
growing upon us ? The answer is self-evident. 
Who can breed him so cheaply, or rear him 
with so little inconvenience, as the farmer ? It 
is his business in fact, we might almost say 
his pleasure. But it is a business he has sadly 
neglected, and one that few have cared to put 
him in the right way of proceeding with. 
They will tell him that he must have the best 
blood for a Shorthorn or a Devon, for a South- 
down sheep, or a Berkshire pig. They put 
the best sorts before him, and insist upon the 
absolute need for his using them. It will pay 
him to do so. At the same time they take no 
heed of the best blood for horses, but let him 
cross under-bred animals with perhaps worse, 
and hence the rips on the strength of which 
" our breed of horses is deteriorating." 

We introduce with this at a season but too 
opportune, a letter from our esteemed corres- 
pondent, Mr. Willoughby Wood. We trust 
that we shall not be accused of partiality when 
we pronounce it to be, in our opinion, one of 
the most valuable papers ever written on the 
subject to which it is devoted. Mr. Wood, it 
will be found, goes at once to the evil and the 
remedy. The former is the sheer neglect with 
which agriculturists have regarded the breed- 
ing of riding-horses. As he truly says — 
' : Farmers who would not grudge trouble 
with regard to any other department of their 
business, are in this matter unaccountably re- 
miss. They put their mare to the first horse 
which walks into their yard, having no know- 
ledge whatever of him; while they are igno- 
rant of the very existence of horses of first 
rate reputation standing a few miles from their 
own residence." This is it. And yet our 



322 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



country gentlemen, if they have pre-eminently 
a taste, it is for hunting, and the use of a good 
horse. So they assemble in committee, and 
start societies, and draw out prize lists, and in- 
vite their tenants to breed good oxen and sheep; 
but not a word about good horses. We don't 
want them ; and they wouldn't pay perhaps. 
Unfortunately we do want them ; and they 
would pay — hardly anything better. 

But, then, as a rule they must be good. 
The means to ensure this are simple enough. 
It is but the same principle on which we obtain 
all other good stock — by the use of the • best 
bred animals. Now, there is no animal in this 
country so purely bred, or none whose influ- 
ence is so strong on what he may be crossed 
with, as the thorough-bred horse. Mr. Wood's 
receipe is what has always been our own ; put 
your hackneys, and half-bred mares of all de- 
scriptions, to none but the thorough-bred 
horse. Considering the perfection to which 
we have brought him, it is astonishing to see 
how often we are urged to bring him down 
a»ain. Mr. Wood refers to some of this 
nonsense — for it is really nothing more — 
which it seems was given some time since in 
" a highly popular publication." We do not 
ourselves remember to have seen it, but it can 
certainly have been no great loss. To im- 
prove our cavalry, the magnificent, powerful 
and high-couraged English race-horse is to 
be passed over, and we are to go back to the 
Arab, and breed weeds and palfreys. We 
fancy our contemporary, " the highly popular 
publication," whatever it may happen to be, 
did not gather, its renown on the strength of 
such reaaoning as this. 

The proffered advice from Mr. Spconer to 
the Royal Agricultural Society, for crossing- 
half-bred mares with half-bred horses, was so 
palpable a mistake that we took upon ourselves 
at once to show its fallacy. We have no 
doubt but Mr. Spooner wrote with the best 
intentions ; we gave him every credit for doing 
so at the time we noticed his communication. 
Unfortunately, however, he took the fact of 
any one daring to differ in opinion with him 
as a mortal offence, and replied in a spirit that 
we should be very sorry to imitate. We can 
venture still to assure him that there are not 
ten men in England, who know anything 
about the breeding of a horse, that would be 
likely to back his theory. 

We commend Mr. Wood's remarks on this 
point to his especial attention. We commend 
the whole letter to the several committees and 
managements of our agricultural societies, 
meat and small. Honestly, it touches on a 
duty they have but so far neglected. Above 



all, we would commend it to the farmer him- 
self. It will be to his interest to study more 
carefully the subject of it. He has every 
means ready at hand for following out the ad- 
vice here offered. If he so chooses, he may 
breed good horses even with the material he 
now has, and so, with far less expense than he 
would, or has, set about producing good beasts 
or sheep. Let him search out a thorough- 
bred stallion in his neighborhood. Let him 
run his eye over the list of stallions, as given 
each succeeding spring in the Farmer's Maga- 
zine — some hundred and fifty really well bred 
horses. There are many more, no doubt, never 
advertised at all ; and we should so surmise 
there are few homesteads in England without 
one handy. What, then, is to prevent the 
farmer from rearing a colt or two annually, 
that it shall be his pride to show and his profit 
to sell. 

We hear the Council of the Royal Agricul- 
tural Society had some intention of offering a 
series of such prizes as are here referred to, 
for the ensuing meeting at Carlisle. They, 
however, were ultimately induced to confine 
anything extraordinary in this, way to the 
classes of Clydesdales. We can only say that 
we are very sorry to find they cannot do more. 



ON INCREASING OUR SUPPLIES OF CAVAL- 
RY HORSES. 

Sic , — I address you once more on the sub- 
ject of horses. My object in doing so is, the 
great importance to the country which, an 
adequate supply of cavalry horses is beginning 
to assume. During the two last years, the 
demand for every description of useful horses 
has exceeded the supply. Agricultural horses 
never were known to be so scarce, nor to fetch 
such prices Three year old fillies have in 
many districts fetched upwards of £50, and 
colts of the same age £60, while even foals 
have commonly been sold for £20 each — a 
price which, some years since, would have 
bought a colt of an age fit to work. The pri- 
ces of hunters have been, and still are, euor- i 
mous : indeed, of those which combined power 
with good looks, it may be said that the value 
is pretty nearly what the owner chooses to put 
upon them. Such being the case, it cannot 
excite surprise that it has lately been found 
necessary to raise the price given for cavalry 
horses which may be regarded as forming a 
class between those used in agriculture and 
those devoted to the chase. Of ordinary 
troop horses, indeed, a certain number would, 
if not purchased for the army, have been em- 
ployed in farming operations, being the most 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



323 



active and best breed of that class ; while the 
remainder would have found work as low- 
priced hunters, as hacks, and carriage-horses. 
It is thus evident that an extraordinary de- 
mand for troop-horses must always, of itself, 
tend to diminish the supply and raise the 
price of the general stock of horses through- 
out the country. But at the present time, 
co-existently with such a demand, there is also 
a greater demand than usual for farm-horses, 
while the call for hunters does not appear to 
diminish, and that for hacks and carriage- 
horses is probably also on the increase. Under 
these circumstances, the supply of horses is, 
for many years to come, likely to fall short of 
the general demand for them ; and, as a natu- 
ral consequence, their price will be higher than 
it has ever been. 

It becomes, then, a question of importance 
alike to the community and to the agricultu- 
rist. How is the supply of horses fit for 
cavalry purposes to be increased ? j It is an 
anomaly which ought not to be borne by a na- 
tion so celebrated as ourselves for horses, that 
we are oidy able to send' our cavalry by hun- 
dreds, when our enemy sends his by thousands 
into the field. If, therefore, we are to increase 
the force of our cavalry regiments, as not only 
patriotism but common prudence calls upon 
us to do, it follows that the agriculturist will 
find highly remunerative employment for his 
capital in the breeding of horses. 

To* point out the manner in which he must 
proceed in order to produce the best animals, 
and thus to realize the highest prices of the 
market, has been the object of the letters 
which I hare already addressed to you. In 
the present communication I propose to confine 
my remarks to one point — viz., the choice of a 
sire. 

A paper appeared a few months back, in a 
highly popular publication, on the subject of 
cavalry horses, in which the writer assumed 
that the bulk of those at present used in our 
army were too large ; that to cross our ordi- 
nary breed* with thorough bred horses would 
only add to the evil, inasmuch as it would add 
upright shoulders and washy constitutions to 
overgrown size; and suggested as a remedy 
the cross with Arabian sires. The assertions 
of the writer with regard to thorough-bred 
I shall at present pass over, with the 
Remark that .they can only have been made by 
one practically unacquainted with the noble 
d which he libels. IJdt are our cavalry 
1 . too largo for their work? Certainly, 
[nor. those of the ordinary regiments. With 
regard to those of the Life Guards, the Blues, 
and other heavy regiments, the answer may be 



doubtful; but, at any rate, the weight they 
have to carry must be lessened before the 
horses themselves can be reduced in size and 
substance. The work which a troop horse has 
to do much resembles that of a weight carry- 
ing hunter, with the proviso that it is more 
severe, and that speed is not so primary an ob- 
ject. Now the best size for a hunter is from 
fifteen hands two inches to sixteen hands, both 
inclusive. A horse below the former height 
seldom fetches more than a moderate price for 
this purpose; and a tolerably long experi?nce 
in the hunting-field convinces me that this is 
not a prejudice, for, although I have possessed 
many excellent horses of small size, not one 
of them was entitled to the appellation of a 
first-rate hunter. That is to say, whatever 
might be their speed, however extraordinary 
might be their powers of fencing, they were 
unable to go through a severe day, in which 
both endurance and speed were required in 
the highest degree, without exhibiting undue 
signs of distress. On the contrary, I have had 
several horses above the size which I prefer — 
that is, more than sixteen hands, which ere 
able to go through runs of more than ordinary 
severity, with ease at the time, and without 
requiring a longer rest than usual to recruit 
them. I conclude, therefore, that from fifteen 
hands two inches to sixteen hands is the best 
size for cavalry horses, as for hunters. 

With regard to the use of Arabs as sires for 
cavalry horses, I wish to speak with considera- 
ble diffidence, because my own personal expe- 
rience of them is but limited. As far, how- 
ever, as it extends, it is decidedly adverse to 
their employment, unless in exceptional cases. 
The few Arabs I have seen were characterized 
by the upright shoulders which the writer to 
whom I have alluded attributed to our thorough 
bred horses. They were, moreover, low in the 
forehand (an unpleasant conformation for the 
rider,) and apt to be too drooping at the pas- 
tern. The progeny of Arabian sires, out of 
English mares, is usually small and light of 
bone, though pretty, and possessed of showy 
action. Their character is that of park-hacks 
or of ladies' horses; and they would at once 
be rejected by any officer purchasing troop- 
horses, as unfit to carry even the lightest of 
our so called " light-cavalry troopers. Unless 
then, for the exceptional case of an over-sized 
or enormously powerful mare, it is useless to 
expect cavalry remounts from the use of Arab 
sires. 

A much higher authority has recommended 
that recourse should be had to sires like the 
weight-carrying hunter, with the view of per- 
petuating the breed of horses under conside- 



324 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



ration. I am convinced that such advice, if 
hugely carried out, would lead to the most 
fatal results. Your readers may perhaps re- 
collect that I have always strongly insisted 
upon the necessity of purity of race on the 
part of the sire, whatever may be the class of 
animal which it is desired to produce. That the 
male ought to be thorough bred, or of an ac- 
credited pedigree, and of a higher caste if 
possible than the female, is a maxim I believe 
unanimously upheld alike by the highest theo- 
retical and practical authorities in breeding. 
For my own part, I never knew it departed 
from without signal failure. Taking only one 
or two of the more obvious considerations 
connected with such a course into account, it 
is obvious that such must be the almost inevita- 
ble consequence. On what ground does any 
man, who reflects at all, select a sire ? Why, 
that he wishes her offspring to resemble him. 
But it is well known that the power possessed 
by either parent of imprinting their own type 
upon their offspring depends upon the purity 
of blood and antiquity of race of each. Thus 
the offspring of a thorough bred short-horn 
bull and a common cow will frequently resem- 
ble very closely the character of the pure short- 
horn. In like manner, when a hackney mare 
or a Welsh poney is put to a thorough bred 
horse, the offspring shows indications of being 
much more than half-bred, or in other mares 
it resembles its high bred sire more closely 
than its low bred clam. Supposing then that a 
person wishes to have a horse .resembling a 
three parts bred weight-carrying hunter, the 
most unlikely method which he can take to 
gratify his desire is to put a mare to a stallion 
so bred. Like effects are produced by like 
causes, and by no other. His weight-carrying 
hunter having been produced not thus, but 
quite otherwise, so he may be assured that only 
as it was produced, and in no other way, has 
he any chance of obtaining its like again. A 
three parts bred sire, let his individual excel- 
lence be what it may, is a mongrel and nothing 
else ; and it is against every calculation of pro- 
bability to assume that he will perpetuate his 
own good qualities to the exclusion of the 
baser elements which exist in his pedigree. 

Or, to view the subject for a moment under 
another aspect. It is quite possible that the 
great grandsire of the three parts bred stal- 
lion may have been a cart-horse. It is noto- 
rious that in numerous cases the offspring par- 
takes less of the character of its immediate 
parents than of its remoter ancestors. Who 
then shall guarantee the offspring of such a 
sire from exhibiting one or more of the unde- 
sirable qualities of such a cross, either the 



heavy shoulder, or the deficient courage of the 
cart-horse ? Let no authority then, however 
high, tempt the farmers of England so far to 
depart from sound principle as thus to breed ; 
for they may be assured that by so doing they 
are, in a matter sufficiently dark and intricate, 
throwing away eyery guide and land-mark 
which might otherwise aid them in their course. 
The only method of increasing the number 
of really valuable horses which can be depended 
upon, is for every man who has a good mare, 
of whatever breed, (always excepting those 
ordy adapted for the dray) to send them to the 
best thorough-bred stallion within his reach. 
If a mare is worth breeding from at all, she 
will in this manner produce a better foal than 
any other. Suppose, for instance, that she is 
a cart-mare, at once powerful and active, a 
good bay or brown, quick stepping, and with a 
roomy frame; it is highly probable that her 
offspring by a well-selected thorough bred 
horse will turn out a handsome carriage-horse, 
or one well adapted for artillery service. Sup- 
pose, however, that her owner does not desire 
to sell her for either purpose, and only wishes 
to breed for the purpose of recruiting his team. 
Well, in that case he will obtain an animal 
which will accomplish, if well kept, at least 
one-third more work than an ordinary farm- 
horse. Were the teams of my Staffordshire 
and Derbyshire neighbors thus bred, they 
might diminish their number by one-third 
without impairing their real strength. The 
old-fashioned prejudice that because a horse is 
fit for a higher occupation than drawing the 
plough, therefore he is not fit for that, is deep- 
ly rooted over a large portion of the kingdom ; 
but it must yield at last to the force of truth, 
and ocular demonstration of the contrary. Or 
take the case of a mare of somewhat inferior 
grade — such, for instance, as the farmer drives 
in his trap, or the tradesman in his light cart; 
what useful and valuable horses might we not 
expect from their union with a thorough bred 
horse ? It is from animals so bred, that horses 
for almost any conceivable purpose are fur- 
nished. According to individual peculiarities 
exhibited by each, will one colt make a hunter, 
another a light or heavy cavalry-horse, another 
a hack, or another still a brougham or cabrio- 
let-horse. In one, power may predominate ; 
in another, action ; of some, their figure may 
be the chief recommendation; while a fortu- 
nate few will possess all three in due and happy 
combination. These are the high-priced hunters 
or the guardsman's chargers. 

Of mares more highly bred than the two 
classes I have alluded to, I shall not here 
speak, since they are certain, if used for stud 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



325 



purposes at all, to be put to thorough bred 
horses. I wish to impress upon agriculturists, 
and to induce land owners to impress upon 
their tenants, the expediency, under present 
circumstance, almost amounting to a duty, of 
providing an increased supply of horses, availa- 
ble for the military service of their country. 
The course which I recommend is one, which, 
so far from causing them extra expense, will, 
if properly carried out, bring them in as large 
a share of profit as the rearing of any other 
kind of stock. The real state of the case is 
this : In every district there are to be found 
numerous mares with abundant strength, and 
with many other good points, but wanting that 
one quality, (without which the horse ever re- 
mains the pariah of his tribe,) viz. the power 
to move with, speed and ease. Put such 
mares to a stalliGn no better bred than them- 
selves, and you perpetuate the disqualification 
in their offspring. Such is the parentage of 
the hundreds of low priced brutes which dis- 
figure our fields, and are a drug in our fairs. 
It seems as though some evil-disposed enchan- 
ter had cast his spell upon them, and con- 
demned them for the term of their existence 
to the slavery of the higgler's cart, since for 
lighter labor they are utterly unfit. No effort 
of their own, no external persuasion, could 
take them over four miles in half an hour. 
A horse which cannot on a pinch do thus 
much is worthless indeed. But put the mare 
which I have described to a thorough bred 
horse, with good action, and the spell of im- 
mobility is removed as regards the foal. He 
will pick up his feet freely, and set them down 
in front of him; his muscles will be supple, 
his bone flat, and his gait easy; and all this 
without the sacrifice of power or substance. 
Indeed I would caution the inexperienced 
breeder who has such a mare, not to select too 
large a stallion, for the offspring of such a 
union is apt to err rather in over-size and in 
clumsiness than in deficient power. 

In former letters I have adverted to the 
strange mistake so commonly made, of con- 
necting the idea of high breeding with want of 
substance. It may suffice here to repeat, that 
by no other means than by those I am now re- 
commending, is so much efficient power to be 
obtained. If, indeed, you want a " stand still 
horse" for show, there is nothing like a dray 
horse ; but if you required one to carry from 
fourteen to seventeen stone on his back at a 
moderate pace, or to draw a heavy carriage, 
or to assist in moving a gun, depend upon it 
tbere is nothing superior to the offspring of 
a useful, clean-limbed, working mare by a 
thorough bred horse. • 



It is an important matter to be certain that 
the stallion you employ is actually thorough 
bred. Many horses travel up and down the 
country with long and showy pedigrees, pro- 
fessing to be thorough bred, which are not so. 
I last summer, in Yorkshire, saw in the same 
field two mares, one the daughter of the other. 
The elder mare was not only the better shaped 
of the two, but gave tokens of being better 
bred. I inquired of the owner whether the 
sire of the younger was a thorough bred 
horse ? He answered that his owner asserted 
him to be so ; but that he suspected this was 
not the case. On looking at the horse's pedi- 
gree I found that he could not be thorough 
bred. Such I believe to be a by no means 
uncommon case, even in Yorkshire. But 
farmers who would not grudge trouble with 
regard to any other department of their busi- 
ness, are in this matter unaccountably remiss. 
They put their mare to the first horse which 
walks into their yard, having no knowledge 
whatever of him ; while they are ignorant of 
the very existence of horses of first rate repu- 
tation standing a few miles from their own 
residence, perhaps in the very town whose 
market they weekly frequent. The only proof 
of a horse being thorough bred, which ought 
to be relied on, is the fact of his being in the 
Stud Book. It is a great advantage if he is 
also to be found in the Racing Calendar. It 
is by no means necessary for ordinary purposes 
that a horse should have been a brilliant 
winner; but a preference ought certainly to 
be given to one who has done something. For 
my own part I would far rather pay £5 for 
putting a mare to a horse whose speed and 
bottom had been proved by frequent victories, 
than £2 for the services of one who, never 
having tried, might be a worthless brute. 

Of the other essentials of a stallion, next 
to high pedigree and proved prowess, I would 
place the formation of the shoulders, the po- 
sition and conformation of the fore-legs, and 
the shape of the neck and head. On these, 
space not permitting me to dilate, I must con- 
dense my meaning by saying that no horse 
ought to be used for the class of mares I am 
speaking of, which has not shoulders well rece- 
ding, a good fore-hand, a refined head, and a 
neck long enough, yet with sufficient sub- 
stance ; above all, his action must be as good 
as possible, as much of the value of his stock 
will depend upon their inheriting this quality. 

The convictions which I hold on this subject 
are the result of no brief experience, and of 
no cursory observation. Since, however, I 
hive been the owner of Bed Deer, they have 
received additional strength from the opportu- 



326 



THE SO UT HERN PLANTER 



nities which I have possessed of watching the 
progress of his progeny from the mares which 
have been sent to him by other persons. I 
must say that in numerous instances in which 
I have prognosticated failure, I have been 
agreeably mistaken, and that mares whose ex- 
terior was of the most unpromising kind, have 
produced excellent foals by him. In point of 
size and substanco especially, his stock more 
than bear out what I have always maintained 
on this subject. I will quote one or two in- 
stances. A farmer put two mares of his team, 
the one to Red Deer, the other to a cart-horse. 
The difference in size is so striking between 
the two foals, that persons at a distance always 
mistake in guessing which is the son of the 
thorough bred horse. Another farmer put an 
insignificant looking little mare, about fifteen 
hands high, to Red Deer. The foal promises 
to obtain great size, while his action and gene- 
ral appearance seem well suited for making 
him a hunter. I have two foals of my own 
out of thorough bred mares, one by Red Deer, 
enormously lengthy, and of great strength; 
the other by a Yorkshire coach-horse, (the 
mare having belonged to a farmer previous to 
my purchasing her,) which is small and insig- 
nificant, compared with the first. It is pro- 
bable that the coach-horse might weigh half 
as much again as Red Deer, and therefore to 
the inexperienced would seem to possess more 
substance. The surplus, however, being chiefly 
made up of fat and li offal," is not transmitted 
to another generation. I attach next to no 
importance to the size of the sire, provided he 
does not come of an under sized family 
Gameboy is a small, mean horse in appearance, 
yet is the sire of several winners at the York- 
• shire agricultural shows. His blood, that of 
Tomboy, whicn I have already eulogised, is 
sufficient guarantee for the excellence of his 
stock. Red Deer, standing sixteen hands high, 
is rather above than under the medium size; 
while his blood, being that of Venison on one 
side and of The Colonel on the other, cannot 
be surpassed either for endurance or for speed, 
nor have his achievements on the course often 
been exceeded. Such are the sires likely to 
beget stock suitable for every purpose for 
Avhich they may be required. 

On another occasion I may, perhaps, enter 
into details connected with the mutual rela- 
tions both of form and blood between sire and 
dam calculated to ensure the most successful 
results as regards the offspring. At present, 
both time and space forbid me. to say more 
than that, as a general rule, a better foal will 
be obtained from a useful but somewhat under 
bred mare, by putting her to a good thorough 



bred horse, than by resorting to any other 
cross. 

I remain, your obedient servant, 

WlLLOUGHBY WoOD- 



From the N". Y. Banker's Magazine, Sept. 

GRAIN CROP OF 1855. 

I. Growth of Wheat in each State, 1847,- 
'50,-'55. 17. States in which there is a 
deficiency of production when compared 
with consumption. III. Export from the 

U. States, 1847,-54. IV. Average pro- 
duction per acre, and period of harvesting. 

V. States producing surplus beyond con- 
sumption. VI. European Wheat Crop. 

The importance of the grain crops is such 
to every class of the community, that we have 
taken pains to form reliable estimates from the 
most available sources, as to the production of 
the present year throughout the United States. 
The general result, so far as the wheat crop is 
concerned, will be highly satisfactory to the 
whole country ; and will show that while we 
have the greatest abundance for own popula- 
tion for the next twelve months, we have a 
liberal surplus for export to Europe and South 
America. 

Some of the States show a product of from one 
hundred to five hundred per cent, beyond that 
of 1847, the Irish famine year. This increase 
is almost incredible, but we think the returns 
for the current year will fully bear us out in 
our estimates, namely : 

Estimated production of wheat in some of the old 
as well as new States and Territories in 1855, 
compared with 1847 and 1850, showing the 
vast increase in the supply • 



N. Carolina, 

S. Carolina, 

Georgia, 

Tennessee, 

Missouri, 

Illinois, 

Indiana, 

Iowa, 

Wisconsin, 

California, 

Minnesota, 

Kansas, 

Oregon, 



1847. 
Bushels. 
2,350,000 
1,300,000 
1,950,000 
8,750,000 
1,750,000 

-;,')■ 10,000 

7,500,000 
1,000,000 
1,200,000 



50,000 



1.850. 
Bushels. 
2,130,102 
1,066,277 
1,088,534 
1,619,386 
2,966,928 
9,414,575 
6,214,458 
1,530,581 
4,286,131 
17,328 
1,401 

211,943 



1855. 
Bushels. 
4,000,000 
3,000,000 
4,000,000 
8,000,000 
7.000,000 
16,000,000 
12,000,000 
8,000,000 
'.000,000 
3,000,000 
8.000.000 
1,000^000 
1,500,000 



30,750,000 30,457,044 77,500,000 

1847 to 1850, no increase. 

1850 to 1855, increase 120 per cent. 

In the following tables, to which we direct 
the careful attention of the reader, it will be 
found that we differ materially from the cal- 
culations or 'estimates of some of our contem- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



32 



poraries. The latter were prepared without 
full research into the probable production of 
each State. The estimates were upon crude 
materials. 

Nothing can demonstrate more strongly the 
present productive power and the prospective 
wealth of the Great West, than the official 
tables of the grain crop of that region. From re- 
liable data we show that Illinois alone will pro- 
duce this year 6,000,000 of bushels of wheat, 
or nearly one-tenth of the whole crop of the 
country. Ohio, 20,000,000 ; Indiana, 12,000,- 
000 ; these three States producing more than 
one-fourth of the whole. 

Although the States west of the Mississippi 
do not at present make much show in the cereal 
crops, they will soon exhibit a stronger posi- 
tion. Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota will, in 
a few years, produce as largely as Indiana, 
Illinois and Michigan. 

Our first table is a comparative exhibit of 
the product of the years 1847, 1850 and 
1855, namely: 

I. Estimate of the growth of wheat in the 
different Territories in 1855, as compared 
with the production of 1847, as per Patent 
Office Report; and 1850, by Census returns, 
viz: 



Maine, 

N. Hampshire, 

Vermont, 

Ma-.-achusetts, 

Rhode Island, 

Connecticut, 

We.w i'ork, 

New Jersey, 

Pennsylvania, 

Delaware, 

Maryland, 

Dir-t. Columbia 

Virginia, 

N Carolina, 

S. Carolina, 

Georgia, 

Florida, 

Alabama, 

Mississippi, 

Louisiana, 

Texas. 

Arkansas, 

wemeateei, 

Kentucky, 

Ohio, 

Michigan, 

Indiana, 

Illinois. 

Missouri, 

I 

• isin, 
iota, 
Kansas, 

■lexico, 
Btah, 



1847. 

Bushels. 

890,000 

610,000 

664,000 

256,000 

4,500 

125,000 

14,500,000 

1.100,000 

14,150,000 

410,000 

4,960,000 

12,000,000 
2,350,000 
1,300,000 
1,950,000 

1,200.000 
500,000 

1,110,000 
200,01)0 
8,750,000 
6,000,000 
16,800,000 
8,000,000 
7.500,000 
4,900,000 
1,750,000 
l,000,0i)0 
1,200,000 



1850. 

Bushels. 

296,259 

185,058 

•525,925 

31,221 

42 

41,762 

13,121,498 

1,601,190 

15,367.691 

482,511 

4,494,680 

17,370 

11,232,616 

2,130,102 

1,066,277 

1,088,534 

1,027 

294,044 

137,990 

417 

41,689 

199,639 

1,619,386 

2,140,822 

14,487,351 

4.925,889 

6,214,458 

9,414,575 

2,906,928 

1,530,581 

4.286,131 

1,401 

196,516 
107,702 



1855. 
Bushels. 
400,000 
250.000 
700,000 
100,000 

. 30,000 

15,000,000 

2,500,000 

18,000,000 

500,000 

6,000,000 

20,000 

15,000,000 

4,000,000 

3,000,000 

4,000,000 

150,000 

2,000,00u 

1,000,000 

1,000,000 

1,000.000 

8,000,000 

5,000,000 

20,000,000 

7,000,000 

12,000,000 

16.000,000 

7,000,000 

8,000,000 

7,000.000 

3,000.000 

1,000,000 

500,000 

1 ,500,000 



Oreaon, 
California, 



50,000 



211,043 1.500,000 
17,328 3,000,000 



114,215,500 100,479,150 175,200,000 

These estimates indicate a product of se- 
venty-five per cent, beyond that of 1 850, and 
one hundred and seventy-five millions in the 
aggregate. If we allow three and a half 
bushels of wheat per head annually, or one 
hundred millions of bushels for home con- 
sumption, we shall then have on hand, for ex- 
port or future stock, about seventy five million 
bushels. 

The New England States and some of the 
Southern States are indebted to the West for 
their wheat and flour ; and here the "harmo- 
ny of interests" is beautifully demonstrated. 
The cotton of the south and southwest, and 
the cotton fabrics of New England, go far to 
compensate the west for this indebtedness. 
The deficiency in these few States we estimate 
at about twelve million bushels, namely : 

II. States in which there is a deficiency in 
the quantity produced for consumption, allow- 
ing three and a half bushels to each inhabi- 
tant in the manufacturing, and three bushels 
in other States : 

Quantity produced. C nsurned. Deficiency. 
Bushels. 
Maine, 400,000 

N. Hampshire, 250,000 
Vermont, ' 700,000 
Massachusetts, 100,000 
Rhode Island, 
Connecticut, 80,000 

Deficiency N. E. States, bushels 
Dist. Columbia, 2,000 
Florida, 150,000 

Alabama, 2,000,0. 
Mississippi, 1,000,000 
Louisiana, 

Total deficiency in ten States, 12,450,000 

III. As a vast source of income, and as a 
means of paying a heavy indebtedness to Eu- 
rope, let us look at the aggregate value of 
our export of bread tariffs. And in this ex- 
hibit, we certainly have cause for congratula- 
tion, namely : 

Exports of breadstuff's and provisions from the 
United States to foreign countries, for'each fiscal 
year from 1846 to 1854, namely : 



Bushels. 


Bushels. 


2,100,000 


1.700,000 


1,225,000 


975,000 


1,200,000 


500,000 


3,850,000 


3,750,000 


800,000 


800,000 


1,500,000 


1,420,000 


oushels, 


9,145,000 


250,000 


230,000 


325,000 


175,000 


2,400,000 


400,000 


1,500,000 


500,000 


2,0 0,000 


2,000,000 



1846, 
1847, 
1848, 
1849, 
1850, 



$27,701,121 
68,701,921 
37,472,751 
38,155,507 
26,051,373 



1851, 
1852, 
1853, 
1854, 



$21,948,651 
25,857,027 
32,985,322 
65,901,241 



IV. We must look to the Mississippi valley, 
and to the really far west, CTexas and Oregon,) 
for prolific soils. In order to show the rela- 



328 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



tive productiveness of the several States, we 
have examined the subject carefully, and we 
think the following conclusions are very near 
the truth : 

Tables showing the average number of bushels per 
acre, and the time of harvesting in each of the 
principal wheat growing States : 



States. 


Average per acre. 


Time of harvesting. 


Maine, 


7 to 12 


bushels 


Aug. 10 to Aug. 


20. 


N. Hampshire 


12 to 20 


do 


Aug. 1 to Aug. 


10. 


Massachusetts, 


10 to 20 


do 


July 25 to Aug. 


10. 


Vermont, 


15 to 25 


do 


Aug. 10 to Aug. 


20. 


IS'ew York, 


10 to 20 


do 


July 15 to Aug. 


20. 


New Jersey, 


15 to 25 


do 


July 1 to July 


10. 


Pennsylvania, 


12 to 25 


do 


June 20 to July 


10. 


Delaware, 


12 to 20 


do 


June. 




Maryland, 


10 to 20 


do 


June to Only 


1. 


Virginia, 


10 to 20 


do 


June 15 to July 


10. 


N. Carolina, 


8 to 15 


do 


June 10 to June 


25. 


S. Carolina, 


8 to 12 


do 


June 1. 




Georgia, 


8 to 12 


do 


June 1. 




Alabama, 


8 to 15 


do 


June 1 to June 


20. 


Tennessee, 


8 to 12 


do 


June 10 to June 


20. 


Kentucky, 


12 to 15 


do 


July 1. 




Ohio, 


10 to 20 


do 


July 1 to Aug. 


1. 


Indiana, 


12 to 30 


do 


June 20 to July 


20. 


Illinois, 


12 to 25 


do 


June 1 to July 


25. 


Michigan, 


15 to 25 


do 


July 10 to July 


30- 


Iowa, 


19 to 30 


do 


July 10 to July 


25. 


Wisconsin, 


15 to 25 


do 


July 15 co July 


30. 


Texas, 


20 to 30 


do 


May 15 to June 


15. 


Oregon, 


20 to 25 


do 


Aug. 1 to Sept. 


1 



The year 1855 has exhibited remarkable 
weather — no previous season has been more 
propitious — and we think we have a grand re- 
sult of one hundred and seventy-Jive millions 
of bushels for consumption, export, and for 
seed. 

V. In a small number of States the product 
and consumption of wheat are nearly equal ; 
but with the majority there is a large surplus. 
These latter we enumerate in the annexed 
summary, with a resulting excess of ninety- 
five millions of bushels, namely : 

States and Territories where there is surplus pro- 
duced beyond the consumption required for 
each : 



Many of our readers live " from hand to 
mouth," and few take the pains to collect, 
compare, and preserve the current statistics 
of the day — those that have an important 
bearing upon the vital interests of society. 
Hence we shall find that few persons can re- 
collect the famine or short years, or the sur- 
plus years. To refresh the memories of our 
readers, we will recur to the leading features 
of the past few years, as to the grain crops. 

The spring of 1846 was remarkable for 
wheat and all cereals. The supply for 1846- 
'47 was extraordinary, and enabled us to ex- 
port largely to Great Britain. Many cargoes 
were sent to relieve the suffering Irish. 

In 1848 and 1849 the foreign export of 
breadstuffs declined, and in the latter year our 
agricultural interests were neglected ; thou- 
sands rushed to California, forgetting that our 
wheat and corn, our iron and coal, were and 
still are of more value to us than the gold 
crop. Hence the product of cereals was bare- 
ly sufficient for our own uses : and the year 
1'850 revealed the fact that the production of 
wheat had actually fallen off, as compared 
with 1847. 

The winter wheat of 1854 was nearly half 
destroyed by the weevil in Ohio, Pennsylvania, 
Illinois, Indiana, and northwest Virginia, both 
before and after being harvested. The drought 
injured the late crops, and thus caused a heavy 
demand upon wheat as food. Tke aggregate 
product was within nine millions of bushels. 



Quantity produced 


Ct nsumed. 


Excess. 




Bushels. 


Bushels. 


Bushels. 


Sew York, 


14,500,000 


12,200,000 


2.300,000 


Sew Jersey, 


2,500,000 


1,800,000 


700,000 


Pennsylvania, 


18,000,000 


9,000,000 


9,000,000 


Delaware and 








Maryland, 


6,500,000 


2,500,000 


4,000,000 


Virginia, 


15,000,000 


4,500,000 


10,500,000 


N. Carolina, S. 








Carolina and 








Georgia, 


11,000,000 


7,700,900 


3,300,000 


Texas and Ar- 








kansas, 


2,000,000 


1,300,000 


700,000 


Tennessee, 


8,000,000 


3,000,000 


4,700,000 


Kentucky, 


5,000.000 


3,000,000 


2,000,000 


Ohio, 


20,000,000 


9,000,000 


11,000,000 


Michigan and 








Wisconsin, 


14,000,000 


2,800,000 


11,200,000 


Illinois, 


16,000,000 


4,000,000 


12,000,000 


Indiana, 


12,000,000 


3,800,000 


8,200,000 


Iowa and Min- 








nesota, 


11,000,000 


2,000,000 


9.000,000 


Missouri, 


7,000,000 


2,500,000 


4^00,000 


Kansas, New 








Mexico and 








Utah, 


3,000,000 


700,000 


2,300,000 


California and 








Oregon, 


3,000,000 


1,800,000 


1,200,000 






Total, 


96,600,000 


Deduct: 








Deficiency in ten States, 


12,450,000 




For seed and stock, 


20,000,000 











32,450,000 



Surplus for export, bushels 



64,150,000 



VI. We must not lose sight, however, of 
the fact that the harvest in Europe is very 
flattering. In Austria the harvesting of the 
grain crops commenced about the middle of 
July, and, with the exception of a few locali- 
ties, the yield will be abundant. 

Up to the last two weeks no signs of the 
potato disease have appeared in any of the 
German States. 

The Prussian government has recently made 
inquiries in relation to the crops in all the dis- 
tricts of the provinces; the result promises 
an abundant yield of wheat, while rye will 
scarcely be an average yield. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



329 



In Egypt the fields promise a highly abun- 
dant crop, and the only fear latterly expressed 
was an overflow of the Nile and the damage 
of their harvests. 

We defer until another day any calculations 
as to the demand abroad for American bread- 
stuffs, and as to the home value of flour for 
some months to come. The European demand 
will be in some measure contingent upon, the 
duration of the war. 

We see nothing now to dampen the hopes of 
the product of this year in the United States, 
and we have abundant grounds for congratu- 
lation, north, east, south and west. 



ANIMAL REFUSE AS MANURE. 

Blood is a powerful fertilizer, both from the 
amount of nitrogen and phosphate of soda which it 
contains. The dry matter of lean flesh and of blood 
are nearly similar in composition, as will be exhi- 
ted in the following table by Dr. Playfair : — 

Dry ox-blood. Dry ox-flesh. 
Carbon, 54.35 54.12 

Hydrogen, 7.50 7-89 

Nitrogen, 15.76 15.67 

Oxygen, 22.39 22.32 



100.00 100.00 

The per-centage of ash in dry flesh is 4.23, and 
in dry blood 4.43 ; the ashes of ox-blood, accord- 
ing to Enderlin, contains the following ingre- 
dients :-•- 

Phosphate of soda, 16.77 

Chloride of sodium (common salt,) 59.34 
Chloride potassium, 6.12 

Sulphate of soda, 3.85 

Phosphate of lime and magnesia, 4.19 
Oxide and phosphate of iron, 8.28 

Gypsum and loss, 1.45 

From the quantity of ammonia which is libera- 
ted daring the decomposition of blood, it should 
not be applied to the land as it comes from the 
shambles. The best way to preserve the whole 
fertilizing ingredients is to mix it with soil, clay, 
peat, and similar matters. By Professor Way's in- 
vestigation, relative to the absorbing power of 
soils, we know that, theoretically, this is the saf- 
est way to obtain all the fertilizing substances pre- 
sent; and practically, such conclusions have been 
repeatedly corroborated. The only drawback is, 
that, as the blood contains from 72 to 89 per cent, 
of water, the removal of larger quantities from the 
shambles to a distance of several miles may ap- 
pear more expensive than would in many instances 
be remunerative. The profitableness of such under- 
takings must, of course, depend very much upon 
circumstances; but in general, if the blood is got 
within four or five miles, at a trifling cost, it may 
be used in compost-heaps with as great profit as 
any other kind of refuse matter. Applied to cru- 
ciferous plants, almost no other description of 
composts will yield such fine crops. I have also 
often used a compound manure of this nature for 
fruit trees and gooseberry bushes, and have found 
it unequalled by any other substance. 

Professor Johnston tells us that in Northampton- 
shire, composts are made by mixing about fifty 



gallons of blood with eight bushels of peat-ashes 
and charcoal powder. The mixture is then allow- 
ed to stand for a year or two, and when applied to 
light soils, greatly improves the crops. If proper- 
ly managed, there is no need of so much time be- 
ing lost ; but our remarks on the preparation of 
such composts will be made after noticing the oth- 
er refuse matters of the shambles. A portable ma- 
ure made from blood is used in France and some 
parts of England. The blood is evaporated to dry- 
ness, and then mixed with som pulverulent s ub- 
stance and sown with a drill. In this dry condi- 
tion it was sold in Paris at 8s. per cwt. In Lon- 
don samples containing 22 per cent, of water have 
been valued £8 or £9 a ton. 

(2.) Flesh and other refuse matters of slaughter- 
houses are fertilizers of the first order. The ingre- 
dients present in the offal of the shambles cannot 
be completely represented by the analyses of flesh, 
but the nitrogenous compounds will be nearly sim- 
ilar. According to Dr. Playfair, we have seen that 
ox-flesh contains 15.67 per cent, of nitrogen ; and 
Liebig has shown that flesh contains a much larger 
quantity of potash than blood and consequently it 
deserves especial attention as a manure. Turn- 
bull & Co.'s prepared ground-flesh manure, in a 
gritty state, usually contained, according to Dr. 
Anderson : — 

Water, 12 17 

Organic matter, 78.44 

Phosphates, 3.82 

Alkaline salts, 3.64 

Sand, 1.93 



Ammonia, 



100.00 



11.20 



From this analysis it is evident that refuse fleshy 
matters are of great value as fertilizers. 

In 1852, turnips were raised under my charge 
with Turnbull & Co.'s flesh manure ; and, in con- 
trast to such as were grown with Peruvian guano, 
they were certainly in no respect inferior though 
produced at a fully less cost. The great matter in 
the preparation of fleshy tissues for use in the 
field as manure is to putrify them with substances 
capable of absorbing the large amount of ammonia 
given off. If the prepared compost is to be sown 
with the drill, it is necessary to use only such mat- 
ters as will readily become pulverulent. In other 
cases, any sort of earthly matters, clay, or road- 
scrapings, will be suitable for securing economical 
decomposition. In speaking of flesh manures, I 
may notice the offal of the Edinburg slaughter- 
houses. According to the annual returns up to 1st 
August 1863, it appears that, during the year end- 
ing at the date, there were slaughtered of— 
Cattle, 20,321 

. Swine, 2,970 

Calves, 5,763 

Sheep, 97,280 



In all, 



126.334 

animals, from which, in the form of manure, the 
following sums were realized : — 
To manure sold, 1338 tons, 16 cwt., 

3qrs., at 4s. 8d., £312 7 4 

"Liquid manure for nine months, 7 10 

"Blood 401 puncheons of 150 gallons 

each at about 1 l-7d. per .gallon, 287 2 



£606 19 4 



330 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



By the number of animals slaughtered during the 
year, the above sum yields only about one penny 
and two-thirteenths per head, a sum which, even 
considering the large number of sheep included, is 
very small indeed. To such manures the attention 
of the farmer cannot be too frequently directed; 
and though it is his interest to buy as cheap as 
possible, still it is often bad policy to allow valua- 
ble fertilizers, like the refuse matters of slaughter- 
houses, to slip out of his hand for the sake of a 
few pence on the ton. It is quite evident that the 
1338 tons of solid manure, disposed of at the Ed- 
inburg slaughter-houses last year, might have been 
used on the farm with nearly an equal quantity of 
earth, peat, or similar matters ; and if the mixture 
had been saturated with blood and liquid manure, 
it would have been of as great value as the solid 
offal used alone. Much loss is suffered by the 
farmer decomposing slaughter-house manure by 
itself, or even in conjunction with farm-yard dung, 
as it is only when in contact with absorbent sub- 
stances such as soil that its volatised ingredients 
can be secured for use in the field. 

(3.) Fishciy refuse : — In some sea-coast districts, 
the refuse of fishing stations is of considerable 
value as manure. Sometimes when shoals of sprats 
are caught, large quantities are applied to the 
land. By bad management they are occasionally 
spread on the surface of fields, and not immediate- 
ly plowed in— a system, in warm weather, as inju- 
rious to the health of the neighborhood as it is 
wasteful on the part of the farmer. If immediate- 
ly plowed in, scattering the fish over the surface 
may do very well, but in ordinary circumstances 
it is much safer to use them in compost-heaps. 
The following is the average of two analyses of 
sprats by Professor Way : — 

Water, 64125 

'Oil, 19.050 

Dry nitrogenous matter, 1G.825 



100.000 
The dry nitrogenous matter contains, on an aver- 
age 11.53 per cent, of nitrogen. The mean of two 
analyses gave 42 parts of phosphoric acid and 19 - 
56 of potash in the 100 parts of ash. A very in- 
structive fact has been mentioned by Mr. Way, 
namely, that the proportion of nitrogen in fish is 
nearly the same as in wheat, each having about 2 
per cent. He observes : "We know that wheat 
contains everything that is necessary to support 
life and increase the animal frame j in other words, 
is identical, or nearly identical in composition with 
the body which it nourishes. Sprats, then, may be 
taken as the type of the animal, wheat as that of 
the vegetable life : and there can be no doubt of 
their mutual convertibility when placed in the 
proper circumstances. At Queensferry, sprats 
have been sold for manure at from 3s. to 6s. a cart- 
load. 

But however valuable they are as a manure, it is 
questionable whether sprats ought to be caught 
merely to serve this purpose, as the ultimate effect 
must be prejudicial to the fisheries. Herring gut, 
and the offal of cod, ling, and saith fish are used 
as manure in many districts in Scotland. On the 
south side of the Moray Firth, the fish-curers get 
about 2s. a barrel, or 12s. a cart-load for the refuse. 
At Wick the price is Is., and at Hemsdale from 3d. 
to 6d. a barrel. In other instances, the proprietor 
of the estate on which the fishing sta ion is situa- 
ted claims the refuse without price. The way to 



prepare such fish-refuse in the field, is to form a 
layer of earth, peat, or other bibulous matter, 6 or 
8 inches thick, as a beginning to a compost-heap. 
Over this should then be spread a layer of the re- 
fuse about 2 inches thick, and above it another 
coating of earthy or peaty matter from 4 to 6 inches 
in thickness, then over the mass a suitable quanti- 
ty of fish-brine or dissolved salt should be poured. 
Another layer of fish, earth and brine follows in 
regular alternation till the heap is of sufficient 
height. After being allowed to putrif'y for a 
month or sis weeks, more or less according to the 
nature of the weather, the compound should be 
turned, and in a week or two applied to the land. 
Of course, while salt is necessary to prevent the 
fish-refuse from being entirely consumed by mag- 
gots, care must also be taken not to use more than 
is necessary to serve this purpose. It has been said 
that sometimes heaps of fishery-refuse have liter- 
ally run away through the millions of maggots that 
have been bred in them. In numerous instances, 
however, by an over-abundant use of brine, cereals 
have refused to grow the first application. When 
properly prepared, fish-composts are pre-eminently 
adapted for promoting the growth of cereals. Mr. 
Methven, the fish-curer in Leith, mentions a case 
which came under his notice in the year 1820, at 
one of the northern fishery stations. A poor piece of 
land, which never produced oats more than from 18 
to 20 inches in height, was dressed with some sorts 
of compost containing a considerable proportion of 
putrid fish : matter the following year the crop 
was uniformly from 4 to 4j feet in height, and the 
yield was highly remunerative. Composts prepar- 
ed in the way already mentioned, and used in con- 
junction with farm-yard dung, are all well adapt- 
ed for the production of turnips or other green 
crops on ordinary soils, but applied alone the ac- 
tion is too evanescent to serve a whole rotation. — 
From the fact that guano is only the digested 
dried remains of fish, we may at once see the pro- 
priety of carefully saving every description of fish- 
ery refuse for use on our fields. ' 



PERFORMANCE OF THE STEAM PLOUGH IN 
ENGLAND. 

As we were coming away from the trial field, im- 
pressed with the sentiment that " the steam culti- 
vators were a failure," and soaked with rain, old 
Aquarius having turned on his taps, as if to give 
old Walter Scott the lie for saying the " sun shines 
bright on Carlisle wall," the stewards, Mr. Amos, 
and some few other lucky individuals, received in- 
telligence that another steam plow had started in 
a field half a mile off. Making the best of our 
way to the light land trial field, there sure enough, 
stood a portable engine in one corner, with ropes 
and pulleys, and a plowing machine all in action. 
The engine was that belonging to Mr. Lee, of 
Wisall, and the plow and tackles are the invention 
of Messrs. Fisker, of Stamfordsham, manufactured 
by Roger, of Stockton-on-Tees. It has been tried 
at Perthshire, last winter, being actuated by a wa- 
ter-wheel : this being the first day of its trial with 
steam power. The whole apparatus is novel, and 
we may say, uncommonly promising. Instead of 
a heavy wire rope to drag the plow frame by main 
force, a light endless hemp rope.jonly three-eighths 
of an inch thick, communicates power to the plow 
carriage, which we may call locomotive, as it pro- 
pels itself in the following manner : — a grooved 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



331 



wheel set iu motion by proper spur wheels from 
the rigger actuated by the hemp rope, winds, as it 
were, along a strong wire rope laid upon the 
ground : and the frame being thus carried slowly 
forward, drags plows or other implements after it 
The hemp cord does not touch the ground, but is 
held up at every 4U yards distance by a " horse," 
or small friction pulley frame, about oi feet high. 
This cord travels at the rate of 20 miles per hour ; 
but rh? speed being reduced by the wheel work 
upon the plow carriage, the latter travels only 2 
miles per hour. When two plows are in work at 
once having the draught of four horses, the strain 
npon the rapidly running cord will thus be less 
than half a horse's draught. We were informed 
by the exhibitor that a 4-horse engine is sufficiently 
powerful to work two plows, and that with 4 cwt. 
of coai it wiii plow 4 acres in a day, the expense 
for labor being only that of two men and a boy. — 
If this be stri tly the fact, we have a complete in- 
vention able to plow light land at a cost of say 3s. 
per acre. That it is not far from the truth we are 
sure, for we ourselves saw one plow drawn at the 
rate of at least two miles per hour when the engine 
had only 7 lbs. or 8 lbs. pressure upon the square 
inch, and this was an engine of 6-horse power at 
40 lbs. pressure. To be sure, the land had been 
previously plowed, pulverized, subjected to the 
trial of a'! sorts of drills, and been afterwards well 
trampled by hundreds of people, and consolidated 
with rain, so that the possible quantity and quali- 
ty of the work could not well bt ascertained. The 
ploughing we saw was respectably though roughly 
done, but. there was one point really performed — 
the furrows were well turned If a steam cultiva- 
tor can invert the soil thoroughly and cheaply we 
may pat up with a little imperfection in the 
straightness of cutting and evenness of laying. — 
The method c>f anchoring the pulleys, and the ar- 
rangement of the pulleys aud ropes, is very inge- 
nious and can hardly be explained with brevity. 
The anchorage consists of a plate or plow, a few 
feet in length, and 8 inches only in depth ; this can 
be easily drawn forward in the ground without the 
trouble of digging holes, taking up, setting down 
agaia, &C;, and yet it presents a sufficient resis- 
tance sideways to the pull of the ropes. A wheel, 
pinion and crank, on each anchor is used to draw 
it by means of a rope towards a fixed post, when it 
is required to be shifted. The arrangement of the 
ropes about the anchored pulleys is like th.it of 
the chains in a travelling craie. the anchorage be- 
ing shifted forwards at intervals without altering 
the length of the rope. The plows are not rigidly 
attached to the travelling frame, but are hung by 
short iron beams, which form levers, having a 
slight degree of play up and down. There are 
four plows— two before and two behind the car- 
riage pointing opposite ways, a neat lever move- 
ment i if dug two out of work and dropping the 
other pair of plows in; so that the machine can 
plow both ways without having to turn round at 
the land's end! — LtrnkUm Aj Gaznir. 

To Clea* Paint. — Smear a piece of flannel 
with common whiting, mixed to the consistency 
of common paste, in warm -weather. R,ub the 
surface to be cleaned quite briskly, and wash 
off with pure cold water. Grease spots will 
in this way be almost instantly removed, as 
well as other filth, and the paint will retain its 
brilliancy and beauty unimpaired. 



ORNAMENTAL PLANTING. 

The term Ornamental Planting, will be em- 
ployed as a generic distinction, comprehend- 
ing the forming of avenues, drives or walks, 
combining the ornamental of natural and ex- 
ternal scenery. 

Our observations will have reference to 
grounds around the dwelling-house of the pro- 
prietor of an extensive estate. As a rule, 
the site of the mansion should be the centre 
from which all ornamentation should radiate, 
having reference to the front of the house. — 
The nature of the ground may not always ad- 
mit of this, but it should be kept in view as 
far as practicable. No trees should shade the 
house, and none should stand nearer the front 
of the mansion than one hundred yards, al- 
ways excepting fine grown trees of great beau- 
ty and above medium size. These are gener- 
ally regarded as relics of the past, and always 
possess more or less interest even to a 
stranger. A free circulation of air, with the 
admission of a full breadth of light, is always 
desirable. The ground around, and especially 
in front of the house, may be laid out either 
as a smooth lawn with walks, or as a flower 
garden. Those who have seen the garden in 
front of the Tuilleries, and the garden at the 
Luxembourg in Paris, can judge of the fine 
effect which is produced from the combining of 
shrubs and flowers with well arranged walks. 
Several seats in Scotland have also this design 
of a flower garden in front and partially around 
the house. In forming such, however, consid- 
erable judgment and taste are required, espe- 
cially in avoiding geometric forms, and the 
mad attempt to convert shrubs by clipping 
and training to resemble animate objects. — 
Uniformity and variety should rule the minu- 
test parts, as well as the whole combined. 
Harmony of parts, with beauties single and 
combined, should be, therefore, the object 
kept in view in forming flower gardens. 

In all operations connected with ornamen- 
tation, plans should first be made, and these 
subjected to a severe scrutiny upon the ground. 
This is more especially necessary, where dis- 
turbing the surface is proposed. If the inten- 
tion is to open up to view a distant object of 
beauty, or by planting, to conceal an object 
which is offensive, the plan should always un- 
dergo the ordeal of careful examination, and 
without this, nothing should be attempted. — 
Whore trees are to be introduced either for 
effect, or to exclude the sight of any object, 
poles of certain heights, corresponding in part 
to the supposed height of the trees, should be 
placed, so as to judge of the probable effect. 
On the other hand, in cutting down trees to 



332 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



exhibit some object which has hitherto been 
concealed, the removing of the trees should 
proceed with extreme caution. If these im- 
portant rules were kept always in view, the 
purpose intended would be of much easier and 
of more certain attainment, and failures would 
very rarely follow such alterations. 

Water is always an important element in 
rural scenery, and where its presence can be 
taken advantage of, it seldom fails in improv- 
ing the natural characteristic beauties of the 
locality. But there is no more frequent or 
greater mistake made than in the forming of 
ponds and artificial lakes, where the supply of 
water, such as a running stream, does not ad- 
mit of the whole being kept in a state of puri- 
ty. Stagnant waters are offensive to the sense 
of smell, and injurious to the health of ani- 
mal life, and health is or ought to be, more 
important than ornamentation. But even in 
the absence of the sanitary view of the ques- 
tion, the introducing of water where nature 
forbids it, has hitherto been the most common 
mistake in ancient and modern ornamentation. 
When water is present or can be produced, it 
should be so arranged as to appear to occupy 
a hollow. Studying nature in this, as in every 
other detail, will produce harmony. Violence 
to nature can only provoke aversion in the 
minds of those of cultivated tastes. Where 
water with sufficient fall exists for forming a 
jet d f eau, such can be placed with advantage 
on the lawn fronting the house, and this fall- 
ing into a pond surrounded with flowering 
shrubs has a fine effect. W' iere water is in- 
troduced to the house, a jet rfea%<, can gener- 
ally be obtained, at least when the supply is 
abundant. We will however take occasion in 
a future article, to allude more particularly to 
the introduction of the jet cCeau into orna- 
mental grounds. 

The planting of trees on the banks of a 
pond, lake, canal, or river, should be so ar- 
ranged as to give the appearance of a greater 
breadth and extent of water than what exists ; 
and the trees should be so selected as to har- 
monize in part with the locality. Various 
willows and plane trees can be so arranged as 
to add to and heighten the effect by their co- 
loring and the variety of their forms. It is 
only in certain situations that water-falls can 
be formed ; where these exist naturally, their 
effect can often be considerably heightened by 
planting. The nature of the soil and the 
amount of shading requisite, must determine 
in part the character of the trees. Those hav- 
ing pendulous branches generally harmonize 
well with and heighten the effect of water de- 
scending from a height. The mountain ash, 



the birch, the hazle, most of the pines, with 
the beech, the oak and the lime tree, where the 
soil admits of their growth, are well adapted 
for the top of the fall ; the willows, the birch, 
and the hazle for the bottom. If the study is 
to allow the fall to be seen from a distance, 
trees must be introduced very sparingly, par- 
ticularly below. The attempts to create or 
heighten the effect of water-falls by any other 
means than planting are almost invariably fail- 
ures, calculated only to excite the risibility of 
those who are familiar with nature. Where a 
view of the sea, a lake or a river, however dis- 
tant can be obtained, such should always be ta- 
ken advantage of; no object in nature is more 
sublime than the ocean. Those who in their 
youth have been accustomed to the sight of 
large bodies of water, feel an inexpressible 
pleasure in looking upon them. 

Avenues are often so formed as to make a 
long circuit before reaching the house. This 
practice is becoming somewhat obsolete. The 
road should be, as far as possible, neither a 
straight line, nor a circuitous one. In every 
case it should be subservient to the nature of 
the ground, and should so approach the house 
as not to expose the offices and out buildings. 
Where water exists, advantage should be ta- 
ken to bring it partially into view, by running 
the line of road so as to present a glimpse at 
more than one point. If a large lake exists, 
this can be easily obtained. If a river passes 
through the grounds, this can also be easily 
accomplished, by forming the road for a part 
of the way along its banks; when the banks 
are shaded with trees, this is productive of a 
fine effect. Keeping the avenue as near a level 
with the public road and the situation of the 
house as is convenient is always deserving of 
study ; not but that a little variation in the 
level is very desirable, but utility should never 
be sacrificed to effect. There is a general de- 
sire to have in the avenue many of the charac- 
teristics of antiquity, and with this view, ave- 
nues are frequently formed by cutting a way 
through plantations which have already attain- 
ed a considerable growth. In this manner, 
some of the finest approaches have been form- 
ed. Such avenues should be made to wind in 
a gradual curve, care being taken to spare the 
finest specimens of trees not directly in the 
proposed line. The avenue should rather be 
narrow than wide. Passing underneath large 
trees has a fine effect. The edge of the ave- 
nue should be the natural turf. No attempt 
should be made to introduce evergreens or 
shrubs. The shading of the trees invariably 
spoils the free growth of such, and their 
stunted appearance mars the general effect. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



333 



Where avenues are planted, evergreens of 
various orders and shrubs can be introduced 
into the foreground with excellent effect, the 
nature of the ground regulating, in part, the 
character of both tree and shrubs. In form- 
ing avenues, combining shade with magnifi- 
cence of form, the rows of trees on each side 
may be all of one species ; or two or more 
species may alternate with one another. The 
former, from exhibiting more of majestic uni- 
formity, has advantages, especially where the 
trees attain full size ; while the latter, from 
combining, in part, uniformity with variety, 
secures diversified beauty in form, magnitude 
and coloring. The oak, the Spanish chestnut, 
the lime-tree, the horse chestnut, the beech, the 
plane-tree, native and American, the accacia, 
the English and wych elm, with several of the 
pines, &c. ,- are all suitable. Of these, the 
oak, the lime, Spanish chestnut, and the beech, 
form the most beautiful avenues, especially if 
they are of sufficient width to correspond in 
part with the height of the trees. For effect, 
the width of the avenue should exceed the 
height of the trees. Where shrubs are to be 
introduced into the foreground, this width 
should be still further increased. Of all 
plants introduced into such avenues, none ex- 
ceed in beauty and effect the rhododendrons 
and azaleas; but they require a soft moist 
soil, approaching somewhat to peat. Next to 
these, but of higher growth, are the holly, 
laurel, and laurustinas. Next, for the effect, 
especially in summer, are the thorn and briar. 
Near the house, the cedar, the oak, the Span- 
ish chestnut, and the lime tree, should be' in- 
troduced, if the soil is deep, fresh and some- 
what rich; if gravelly, the beech; and, 
if rocky-, the sycamore, the birch, and the 
ash. 

Where the vista is intended for a drive or 
walk, and shade is required, the Spanish chest- 
nut, the sycamore, and lime tree are very suit- 
able. In forming such roads, variety of trees 
should be introduced. This variety imparts 
additional charms to the drive or walk. Drives 
through plantations should be without any at- 
tempts to introduce other than the trees which 
go to form the whole. Where the whin and 
broom will take, these may be introduced spar- 
ingly. Both are objects of great beauty when 
in flower. 

The avenues, alleys and vistas diverging 
from the house should point to objects of beau- 
ty beyond their termination, and where these 
stop short for producing the full effect, plant- 
ing in stripes should be extended in the direc- 
tion. Single or scattered trees will frequently 
produce the desired effect. Design should be 



always apparent, but should be so subdued as 
not to obtrude upon the attention of the ob- 
server. 

Where the nature of the soil and situation 
do not admit of the introduction of the oak, 
chestnut, &c, the beech, the Scotch pine, the 
larch, the mountain-ash, and birch may take 
their place. To produce a healthy growth, 
freeing the ground of water, and in the first 
stages of growth, keep them free from weeds, 
and protecting them from injury from game, 
will generally prove sufficient. Where econo- 
mizing expense is less an object than to form 
a beautiful place, besides the above precau- 
tions, rich earth, or even manure, may be em- 
ployed to place at the roots of the young trees. 
Some trees, such as the chestnut, in a deep 
calcareous soil. Several other trees also 
thrive where lime is in abundance, — the lime 
tree, all the poplars, the beech, &c. 

Different avenues, clumps, and more minute 
parts, should be formed of different species, 
and some of the rarer or more beautiful trees 
placed in the foreground. • Among the dwarf 
trees, for effect, none exceed the alburnum. 
This should always be introduced into the 
skirts of clumps or masses. Where trees of 
considerable magnitude stand unconnected, no 
other trees of medium height should be intro- 
duced close to them. Nothing can be finer in 
effect than to see full grown trees standing 
alone, dotting a green sward, which undulates 
with the nature of the ground. In forming 
such parks, trees of different forms of growth 
as to magnitude, form of head, branches, 
whether upright or drooping, and shade of co- 
lor, should be introduced. If water is present, 
the weeping willow produces a pleasing con- 
trast to the oak, sycamore, &c. The thorn, 
from its fragrance when in blossom, and also 
from its peculiarity of growing, should be al- 
ways present. Where the land is intended to 
be cultivated, few trees should be introduced, 
and, when introduced, should be in clumps 
rather than as standing apart. Where a road, 
public or private, passes through the grounds, 
a single or double row of trees planted on each 
side of it generally produces a Une effect, par- 
ticularly when the road passes at or near to a 
right angle. The trees by partly concealing 
what is passing, heighten the interest. Where 
the view of a line of railway can be obtained, 
concealment is now not generally desirable. 
The rapidity with which the trains move does 
not admit of the eye being satiated before 
they are lost in sight. Some proprietors have, 
however, rather hostile feelings towards the in- 
novations caused by the line of railway, and 
to such, these are objects of annoyance. The 



334 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



banks can be planted, or trees can be other- 
wise introduced to partially or wholly exclude 
the sight of the passing trains. This preju- 
dice, however, is rapidly giving way, and the 
economic advantages resulting from the con- 
' tiguity of such a means of transit will dissipate 
the remnant feeling. — Korth British Agri- 
culturists 



A NEW SHADE TREE. 

A celebrated writer has lately issued a work 
to show who was, or who was not, the writer 
of the world-famed " Letters of Junius ;" I 
wish some one equally anxious to display the 
acuteness of their logical' powers would under- 
take' to show us whether the ancient Job was, 
or was not, a gardener or arboriculturist. In 
the absence of all positive proof to the contra- 
ry, I venture to offer a presumptive one that 
he was not. He never could have sustained 
his patience under the numerous tempting cir- 
cumstances which crowd on the gardener. Or, 
bad he the heart of an arboriculturist, he could 
not have stood unmoved when told " that his 
Elms were smitten with grubs and borers ; his 
Lindens bore wreaths and festoons of insects, 
and were rotten at the ground ; his Ailantus 
bad become the pests of his country ; and his 
Maples the food of drop-worms and aphides." 
Job could not have been a gardener, and it is 
well he was not, or he would have lost his 
character and the world its model; and we 
have gained him as a precedent in the inquiry. 
" how to stop this plague ;" for trees are essen- 
tial to our existence. If one kind wont do, 
we must find a substitute. 

I am going to propose that we introduce a 
nevj shade tree ! Start not, good reader, the 
" vast and lofty" Himalayas have not been 
ransacked to present you with another "curi- 
ous and rare" specimen of abstract beauty; 
nor has China or Japan been made to lay be- 
fore you another object of a nine days wonder. 
Our subject has got no claims, of kindred 
with either the " Tree of Heaven," or the 
" Deodar;" but is one " to the manor born," 
in which you all, either by birth or adoption, 
claim an iuherftahce. But its country must 
not depreciate its value. It is American ! It 
is Liiquidamber slyraciflua, Lin., better 
known as the Sweet Gum. But the Sweet 
Gum I allude to is not the " Sweet Gum" as 
we find it in densely crowded woods, with its 
stem as slender and as straight as a stud-sail 
boom ; nor the " Sweet Gum" as we frequently 
see it in damp, half swampy places, with 
shoots as weak and delicate as a card-basket 
osier ; but the Sweet Gum sometimes seen 
growing by itself, unsurrounded by other 



rtees, and with its roots' free to extend them- 
selves unchecked in a cool, deep, and rich 
loam. In such situations it has not, perhaps 



the rural grandeur of the Oak, or the graceful 
elegance of a Weeping Willow — not, proba- 
bly, the stiff, majestic foliage of the Magnolias, 
or the lightness and ease of the " gentle" 
Birch ; but yet a claim to picturesque and 
simple beauty which no other can eclipse, be- 
sides combining many other traits of interest 
separate in other trees. It is a very rapid 
grower, will attain a height of eighty feet, and 
a circumference of seven, under favorable cir- 
cumstances, and has a widely spreading, round- 
ish, conical head. The branches have a rigid, 
though much divaricating mode of growth, and 
are covered with that corky barked appearance 
so much sought after and admired in some va- 
rieties of Elms, Maples and Nettle trees. 
The leaves and fruit resemble the Buttonwood 
in all except size and hue, and there is, indeed, 
a sort of distant relationship between the two 
families. The leaves are not one- third the 
size of the Button-wood, deeply lobed — star- 
like, and produced in abundance. The upper 
surface shines as if varnished ; and as the 
foliage moves with the slightest summer breeze, 
gives the tree a playful and pleasing character 
in its frequent successions of light and shade. 
This pleasing character of the foliage is height- 
ened at the approach of fall by its brilliant 
colors. It has no compeer in this character. 
The leaves change to every describable shade 
of orange, yellow and red. 

But beautiful as the tree really is, I would 
not recommend it as a shade tree solely on 
that account. It abounds with a resinous 
principle apparently obnoxious to insects. 
Extended observation has led me to believe 
that not a species attacks it. This property 
alone is worth a " plum" to the planter. 

Having stated its merits as a faithful" histo- 
rian, I must narrate its short-comings. I do 
not believe it is adapted to agreat diversity of 
soil, or to a high northern latitude. In poor, 
dry soils, it is of slow growth and short dura- 
tion ; and it may not probably do well in the 
dry and confined air of a densely built city ; 
but what does well in such extremes ? 

It is easily propagated. Seed should be 
sown as soon as ripe, or early in the spring, in 
a loose, loamy soil, somewhat shaded. Plants 
will appear in a few weeks in the spring, and 
grow over a foot the first season. The seed 
vessels do not ripen till late in the fall, but 
should be gathered before the first severe 
frost, which is apt to split open the capsules 
and suffer the seed to escape. 

It is singular that so handsome and useful 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



335 



a tree should be so long neglected ; and the 
only explanation probably is, that it did not 
come to us with a recommendation from some 
one of "the ends of the earth." — Thomas 
Meehan, in Horticulturist. 



USE OF LIME. 



We have found on inquiring of farmers, 
both in this country and in England, a great 
diversity of opinion as to the action of lime 
upon the soil. While in England in 1851, 
we were presented at a lecture before the Roy- 
al Agricultural Society, on the uses of lime, 
by Prof. Way, and gave the substance of the 
lecture, with the remarks of several practical 
farmers, who were present, on the subject in a 
letter published in our Journal. It was also 
mentioned, that Prof. Way was making inves- 
tigations, whieh would, in due time, be given 
to the public. By the annexed notice, from 
the Mark-Lane Express of the 24th of June 
it will be seen that Prof. Way has given the 
subject a most careful and thorough examina- 
tion. As soon as the details alluded to in the 
■close of the article shall be received, we shall 
publish them — believing that they will be 
found of *fhe greatest importance to the agri- 
cultural interest. 

'•Action of Lime. At a Weekly Council 
of the Royal Agricultural Society, Professor 
Way delivered before the members a lecture 
on the results of nine months' investigation 
into the condition under which lime affects 
the absorbtive powers of soils in reference to 
ammonia. These rules were numerically rep- 
resented in a small table, containing only 
£jur vertical columns, intersected by as many 
horizontal spaces; but would prove, as Pro- 
fessor Way remarked, of a permanent value, 
worth all the time and labor bestowed up- 
on their production, if they should be found 
to lead to the establishment of any new prin- 
ciple in agriculture. His lecture was chiefly 
occupied in the discussion of these results 
and of the clue they might posibly give to ex- 
planations of the mode in which lime acted 
upon soils as a manure. The two principal 
facts ascertained by those experiments appear- 
ed to be the following: 1. That all clay soils, 
more or less, even beyond the depth of twenty 
feet, are found to possess a certain quantity of 
ammonia, derived, as Professor Way supposes, 
from the fishv and vegetable matter of beds 
of lakes or rivers, no bed of clay whatever, 
he thought, being entirely free from ammonia. 
2. T hat the addition of lime to a soil set free 

!-half the ammonia it contained; thus acting, 



in the first instanct, as a "stimulant" to vege- 
tation, but as an exhauster of the stock of 
ammonia already in the soil or to be slowly 
derived from the atmosphere, if applied in 
large quantities. The principal recommenda- 
tions were: 1. That liming should take place 
periodically at short intervals, not more than 
8 to 10 bushels per acre being used every 
year, or every two years: lime would, under 
such circumstances, he thought, be found to 
be one of the most useful adjuncts of the farm. 
2. That lime when slacked and mixed with 
water, forming what was known as "milk lime" 
should be added to tank-water, and distributed 
by means of piping as in the case of Mr. Me- 
chi's operations at Tiptree or Mr. Kennedy's 
at Myre Mill. Professor Way, in the course 
of his lecture, entered into the chemical ma- 
chinery of the double silicates in the soil, by 
which the action of lime was regulated; and 
with the experiments he had instituted for 
showing, in strong comparative contrasts, 
the results he had obtained. He also pointed 
out the great importance of giving to land, by 
means of suitable cultivation, that condition 
under which it would best act as an absorbent 
of ammonia from the atmosphere. He has 
drawn up a complete statement of these de- 
tails, which will be submitted in due course to 
the members." 



Pea Weevils. — Few persons, (says Dr. 
Harris,) while indulging in early green peas, 
are aware how many of these insects they 
swallow. When the pods are examined, 
small discolored spots may be seen with them, 
each corresponding with a similar spot on the 
opposite pea. On this spot a minute whitish 
grub, without feet, will be found therein ; it is 
the weevil in its larva form ; it lives upon the 
marrow of the pea, and arrives at its full size 
by the time the pea is dry. This larva then 
bores a round hole, from the hollow in the 
centre of the pea, quite to the hull, but leaves ' 
the 'germ of the future sprout untouched. 
This insect is limited to a certain period for 
disposing its eggs. Late sowapeas escape its 
attacks. Those sown after the 10th of June 
are generally safe. 

When the peas are green, the Baltimore 
Oriole splits open the green pods, for the sake 
of the grubs contained in the peas, thereby 
greatly contributing to prevent the increase of 
these noxious insects. The instinct that ena- 
bles this beautiful bird to detect the lurking 
grub, concealed as it is within the pod and 
hull of the pea, is worthy of admiration. 

Harris's Insects, &-c. 



336 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 




THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 

RICHMOND, NOVEMBER, 1855. 

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RIDING AND DRIVING MATCH BY LADIES ! 

Except the Baby Shows of Mr. P. T. Barnum, 
which are now imitated by free negroes both in 
New York and Philadelphia, we know nothing so 
intensely disgusting, as what are called equestrian 
exhibitions by the females of the hireling States 
at their shows and fairs ; and we ylTow, few, if any 
thing, better calculated to make lis agree with our 
friend Mr. Fitzhugh in the failure of " free" — he 
might have said free and easy — " society.*** . 

It is one of the greatest triumphs of Christianity 
that it has raised woman from the position which 
Heathenism haft assigned her, and has transformed 
her from the slave of man's passions and domestic 
needs to his companion, his friend, his angel on 
earth. But this position can only be maintained 
on the conditions that produced it, of modesty, 
decorum, reserve, delicacy — not only of feeling 
but deportment — and an admission to the world by 
all her acts that she is his dependent help-mate, 
and not his impudent rival. 

When women so far transgress the express com- 
mands of the Bible, that holy charter of their 
privileges, as to exhibit themselves in any such 



public capacity, as many now assume, at the North, 
they may as well take leave of all the gentle attri- 
butes that attract men to them, and become once 
more as ferocious as Medusa, as cruel as Medea, 
as voluptuous as Sappho, as bibulous as Circe, as 
shameless as Lais. The woman of the Bible once 
thrown off and there is no stopping this side the 
nether regions. Wo betide the country whose 
women rise superior to the teachings of Paul. 

If they choose in other lands to exhibit them- 
selves in " lectures," or by beastly baby shows and 
an exposure of the most sacred mysteries of home 
to the rude gaze of ribaldry, to bring maternity into 
contempt, and by a series of such acts to degrade 
themselves and demoralize their male associates, we 
do not feel that it is any particular business of ours 
to castigate their folly and presumption. But 
when they invade cat tie shows, compete for pre- 
miums with cows and sows, and for " admiration" 
with bulls and rams, we have a right to protest, in 
the name of " man and beast" against such " enter- 
tainment," against the disrepute they reflect from 
themselves upon a noble festival, and against an 
abuse which does introduce, and has introduced, 
the worst form of rowdyism into what should be 
exclusively an area of quiet and respectable rural 
competition. 

To presume the possibility of such innovations 
on the manners and morals of Virginia, would be 
to insult our women, and as absurd as to 

" Suppose a painter to a human head 
Should join a horse's neck," 

and we do not introduce the following, which we 
find in the Dispatch, from the New York Tribune, 
so much to warn as to enlighten us as to what is 
done in " the grandest product of free institutions," 
alias the State of New York : 

RIDING AND DRIVING MATCH BY LADIES. I 

The great Agricultural Fair of the State of New 
York, at Elmira, closed with a grand floral ball on 
Friday evening, given beneath a mammoth tent, by 
the citizens, followed on Saturday by highly inter- 
esting equestrian performances, in which a number 
of ladies participated, in the presence of some 
5,000 spectators. We give the following particu- 
lars from the N. Y. Tribune: 

At 10 o'clock, A. M., the ladies who had entered 
for the prizes, convened at Haight's Hotel, where 
they formed in line. Fourteen of them were moun- 
ted on horses and four others in wagons, each lady 
being accompanied by one gentleman. The pro- 
cession proceeded to the Fair ground, escorted by 
the committee and the gentlemen in waiting. Each 
lady was attired in a riding habit varying in color 
from the others and forming altogether, a very 
pleasing and attractive appearance. Arriving at 
the grounds they were warmly received by the as- 
sembled multitude. On assembling around the 
judges stand, and after answering to their names, 
received some instructions from the chairman of 
the judges, Col. S. G. Hathaway. 
The Tribune here gives the names of fourteen la- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



337 



dies who were competitors for riding on horseback 
(one from England,) and eight for driving in open 
buggy. The account then says: 

The ladies on horseback were first sent out in 
couples, ?nd for more than an hour and a half the 
skilful and graceful management of the horses was 
witnessed by the multitude with intense interest 
and at times their approbation broke forth in en- 
thusiastic applause. During the exercise, Mrs. 
Stephens while testing her horse at full speed, was 
precipitated over his head in consequence of the 
animal coming to a sudden halt. Mrs. S. landed on 
terra firma without injury, and in a moment after 
was making good time around the course. Her 
riding was admired by all. Miss A. M. Alexander, 
an excellent rider, was also thrown, in consequence 
of the breaking of the bridle, but was not injured. 
An exciting trotting match came off between 
Mrs. C. M. Stephens and Mrs. M. Conover. The 
riding of the ladies and the speed of the horses 
was very nearly equal, and each temporary advan- 
tage one drew over the other gained forth the ap- 
probation of the audience- 
Miss H. T. Chapman was fortunate in the pos- 
session of a very spirited and well trained animal, 
which enabled her to display superior skill in the 
management, and by many it was thought she had 
no equal present. 

A contest took place between Mrs. Conover, 
Mrs- 0. C. Childs and Miss E. Council. This was 
a close contest, but Miss Council bore off the 
palm; and received the approbation of the audi- 
ence. 

Little Miss Eliza Ann Taylor, of Ontario connty> 
a slight-formed child, eight years of age — was the 
favorite, She sat upon a large iron-grey horse, 
with perfect ease and elegance, and as firm as 
though she had been fastened to the saddle- In 
one instance, where some five or six ladies in the 
course were striving to take the lead, little Miss 
Taylor's horse appeared to enter the contest, and 
as if conscious of his precious burden, steadily in- 
creased his speed, with an easy motion, passing 
one, then another, and another, until, on the third 
time round, the contest outs were all distanced, and 
then dashed up in front of the judges' stand amid 
the spontaneous cheers and applause of all who 
were witnesses, 

In the driving, greater skill and management 
was shown than in the rifling. Miss A. Finch, a 
little girl 10 years of age, surprised those present 
by driving a fine pair of prize horses. Mrs. F. S. 
Norton, of Onondaga county, in riding, could not 
display her skill to good advantage in consequence 
of having been provided with an inferior horse. In 
the driving match she was more fortunate in being 
provided with a very spirited horse. In driving 
around the ring, in company with others, the horse 
broke up, and snowed a disposition to dash off, re- 
gardless of restraint, when a large number of spec- 
tators made a rush to stop him, but were kept back 
by the owner, and Mrs. Norton appeared to have 
perfect control. Shortly after the hind axle broke 
down, but by coolness and good management the 
horse was promptly stopped. An exciting trotting 
match came off, in which Miss Demarest and Mrs. 
Whitney drove, each lady availing herself of every 
advantage that offered. The first heat the horses 
continued neck and neck, but on the second and 
third time around Miss Demarest came in ahead. 
The driving of Mrs. P. Kinney, Miss Stephens and 



Mrs. S. Miller was also excellent, and those ladies 
also received a portion of the applause. 

About lj o'clock, Col. Hathaway came forward 
and complimented the ladies for the highly credit- 
able manner in which they had acquitted them- 
selves, and remarked that the duties of the Judges 
were delicate, and they would find it very difficult 
to award the premiums, there being so many who 
were certainly entitled to the first. He then clos- 
ed by stating that the Judges would announce the 
premiums at the Haight House, at 4 o'clock, P. M., 
at which time there was a large gathering in the 
halls, and the following premiums were announ- 
ced: 

To the best Rider on Horseback. — 1st, Mrs M. Con- 
over, Onondaga co., $100 ; 2d, Mrs. H. T. Chap- 
man, Yates co., $50; 3d, Mrs. O. C. Childs, Onon- 
daga co., $25 ; 4th, Miss E. Council, Onondaga co., 
$15 ; (and made up to 50 by the committee ; ) 5th, 
Mrs. J. B.Clark, Chemung co.,$10; 6th, Little 
Miss Taylor, Ontario co., (discretionary,) $15. 

To the best Drive)- in open Buggy. — 1st, Miss E. 
Demarest, Chemung co., $75; 2d, Mrs. F. S. Nor- 
ton, Onondaga co.,$30; 3d, Mrs. V. Whiting, Pa., 
$20; 4th, Miss C. M. Stephens, Cayuga co., $15; 
-5th, Miss P. Kinney, Seneca co., $10. 

Discretionary Premiums. — Miss C. AVilcox, Che- 
mung co., $10; Mrs. J. H. Rodgers, Chemung co., 
$10; Miss A. M. Alexander, Wilksbarre, Pa., $10; 
Miss S. C. Rodgers, Livingston co., $10; Miss Fran- 
kyWeyburn, Ontario co., $10; Mrs. S. Minier, 
Chemung co., $10. 



MIXED RYE AND OATS. 

It is not too late now for those who have rye and 
winter oats to make the experiment of sowing 
them together for food, according to the following 
which we take from the Rural New Yorker. We 
think the proportions about right, but the quantity 
directed to be seeded rather larger than necessary. 

Mixed crops are not unfrequently sowed in Eu- 
rope, especially on the continent; and we have the 
authority of Von Thaer that they usually produce 
more thus mixed tnan either would have produced 
separately, though with somewhat more strain to 
the- land. The precise mixture here spoken of is 
not mentioned by him, but there is no more reason 
why it should not do than any others. Try half 
an acre of it, and report results : 

" I had," " a conversation with a man lately 
who was an experienced farmer, having farmed 
both in this State (N. Y.) and Ohio, and his man- 
ner of raising horse feed was this : I take about 
2i bushels of oats, and mix with them one bushel 
of rye, and sow this amount to the acre. The rye 
will support the oats in case of a heavy growth, 
and prevent lodging. In this manner I have 
raised sixty, seventy, and even eighty bushells per 
acre." The soil must have been very strong to do 
that, but the mixture is about in the right pro- 
portion. 






W4 



It lias been ascertained by experiment, tbat 
a cow will drink about eighty-seven pounds of 
water in twenty-four Lours. 



338- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



For the Southern Planter. 

WHAT IS THE PROPER USE OF THE BACK 

BAND TO THE PLOUGHMAN 1 

This, it may be expected, will be regarded 
a very trifling and simple question by most 
persons : one which the most ignorant plough- 
man can readily answer. Simple as it may 
seem, I have often thought that no part of 
the fixtures appertaining to the plough and its 
gearing, is less understood. The ready reply 
of almost every ploughman will be, that by the 
position of the back-band, he regulates the 
depth of the furrow, and that therefore that 
is the appropriate use of the back-baud. — 
This no more proves the true use and intent 
of the back-band, than if a drunkard should 
declare the proper use of ardent spirits to 
be, to make men drunk, because he so uses it, 
prove such to be its proper use. It is true 
that the depth of the furrow may be so regu- 
lated, but the enquiry is, is it proper and best 
to do so ? It is objected to for the following 
reasons : It throws a portion of the draught 
on the horse's back, where there should be 
none, and by so doing causes the collar and 
hames to bear on the under part of the neck 
and unequally against the shoulder. This not 
only subjects the animal to present discomfrrt, 
but greatly increases the liability to galls, 
both of the back and shoulders. Whenever a 
portion of the draught is thrown on the horse's 
back, the trace chains (which should always be 
straight when the horse is drawing) necessari- 
ly make an angle between the swingle tree 
and hame-hook, the inevitable effect of which 
is to, more or less, raise the heel of the plough 
and throw it upon its point ; this greatly in- 
creases the draught and causes the collar and 
hames to bear as above intimated. By a plough 
thus drawn the work is badly executed and 
the point is soon dubbed off and rendered unfit 
for work before it is half worn, whereas, made 
to run level, heel and point both gliding on the 
bottom of the furrow, the point will wear 
very nearly equally bottom and top, and keep 
sharp till worn out. If these things be true, 
it follows, that to undertake to regulate the 
depth of the furrow by the back-band is a di- 
version from its proper use. What, then, is its 
use? I answer, merely to suspend the traces 
and keep them from falling under the horse's 
feet when turning, or at rest ; just the opposite 
of the use of the belly-band to the wagon 
horse, which is to keep the traces'from flyiug 
over his back The wagon horse draws by 
his shoulders and so should the plough 
horse. 

If the above objections to the back-band as 
a regulator of the depth of the furrow, be ac- 



knowledged as valid, the enquiry comes «up, 
how then shall it be done ? An answer to this 
may be attempted at some future and more 
convenient time. B. 



BUCKWHEAT— ITS HISTORY AND USES. 

The buckwheat crop of the United States' 
compared with most of the other grains, is o* 
very insignificant account ; and yet, its culti" 
vation furnishes not only a very palatable, but 
also a very healthful article of diet. The 
great objection to its use lies chiefly in the too 
frequent uuskilfulness manifested in its pre- 
paration for food. Properly cooked, it affords 
the best material for pancakes in the whole 
range of cereals ; while, on the other hand, 
improperly prepared, it lies when eaten almost 
as heavy in the stomach, and is about as easily 
digested, as so much lead. 

There have been great differences of opinion 
as to the nutritive qualities of buckwheat ; it 
being supposed by many of little account on 
the score of economy, and that an individual 
using it as an article of diet, would require as 
large an amount of other food, as. if the buck- 
wheat cakes had not been placed upon the 
table. No doubt any person with a good ap- 
petite will eat more heartily at a table spread 
with palatable food, than at one of the oppo- 
site character, and on that account may make 
away with an extra plate of buckwheat cakes; 
but the analysis of the grain is conclusive evi- 
dence that this grain is highly nutritious. — - 
Wheat, wdiich is universally recognized as the 
most valuable grain raised, and the best 
adapted, all things considered, as an article 
of diet, contains, say twelve per cent, of glu- 
ten, sixty-eight per cent, of starch, and five 
per cent, each of sugar and gum in every hun- 
dred ; while, at the same time, buckwheat con- 
tains over ten per cent, of gluten, fifty-two 
per cent, of starch, and eight per cent of gum 
and sugar. This analysis shows buckwheat 
to compare quite favorable with wheat; and of 
course with corn, barley, or oats, the results 
will be still more favorable. In the above 
analysis of the grain of buckwheat, about 
twenty-seven per cent of the residuum must be 
allowed for husk, while in wheat not over one- 
third of that amount is produced; and hence, 
in the comparison of flour for the two grains, 
instead of the grains themselves, that of the 
former will stand in a still more favorable 
light. 

Buckwheat was brought into Europe from 
the North of Asia, and was first cultivated in 
England about the year 1600, and is princi- 
pally used in that country at the present time 



T.IE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



539 



as food for pigs and poultry. It is raised to a ling it for food comes more properly under the 
limited extent in most of our Northern States, [head of "Domestic Economy;" but it will 



but chiefly in New York and Pennsylvania; 
the latter State producing in 1850, according 
to the U. S. Census Report, 2,193,692 bushels 
and the former 3,183,955 bushels — the two 
together furnishing five-eighths of the whole 
amount raised in the country. When it is 
considered that in the same year there were 
provided about 600,000,000 bushels of cern, 
and other grains in proportion, the nine mil- 
lions of buckwheat dwindles into comparative 
insignificance. 

There are many good reasons for paying 
more attention to the raising of this grain, 
among which may be enumerated the follow- 
ing: — It will thrive on poor land, where other 
crops will fail ; it is easily cultivated, can be 
sown after all other crops [except turnips) are 



in the ground, and before haying'time comes 

on. June and July are the best months for j and worthy to be reckoned 

seeding. The grain finds a quick sale at re- j dishes of a luxurious table. 



uot be out of place here to say, that with very 
little pains, any housewife can make light, 
pala cable and nutritious cakes. In the form 
of batter it is easily made light by the same 
appliances which render wheaten flour fit for 
baking. 

The price of buckwheat flour last year, bore 
the usual ratio to the price of wheat, and the 
flour sold in our market at times as high as 
five cents per pound. At such a figure, with 
the usual appliances of butter and syrup, of 
course pancakes could only be indulged in by 
the - mass of men as an occasional luxury; but 
from present appearances the harvest will be 
more plentiful, and the price within reach of 
all who subscribe to the doctrine that warm 
buckwheat cakes and maple molasses are 
grateful to the palate, good for the stomach, 

among the best 



The former practice of threshing buckwheat 
in the open field and upon the bare ground, 
and then scraping up with it a quantity of 
free soil, is mostly abandoned at the present 
time. Such a practice is unworthy of a good 
farmer, and ought to render his grain unsalea- 
ble. We have very vivid recollections of a 
fine field of the grain threshed in this way in 
our youthful days, and of the gritty flour pro- 
duced therefrom. Secured in such a way, it 
will do for poultry, because grit and gravel- 
stones are a necessary constituent of their 
food; but the functions of mastication in 
the human species, are performed in another 
manner, and without any necessity of the 
above concomitants. 



numerating prices, and brought readily in 
this market last season one dollar per bushel. 
Portions of the grain come successively into 
blossom, and if the earlier should be blighted 
the succeeding flowers will still frequently 
produce a good crop; the straw is nutritious 
as an article of fodder, and when properly 
cured, sheep will eat it almost as readily as 
they will hay ; the grain makes excellent feed 
for poultry, and other domestic animals are 
also very fond of it. It is stated that horses 
will fatten on it very rapidly when at rest, 
but that working ~r driving very soon reduces 
their flesh; and it is, therefore, not recom- 
mended as food for them. Buckwheat blos- 
soms contain much saccharine matter, and 
bees extract large quantities of honey from it. 
The honey, however, is much inferior, both 
in taste and color, to that obtained from other 
sources. It is of a dark, smoky appearance, 
and possesses a strong and rather unpleasant 
flavor. 

The green crop has been much used in some 
localities for plowing under as a manure, and 
possesses the advantage of producing a crop 
on land where clover would fail ; and also of 
being sown and plowed under the same sea- 
son. But, aside from these considerations, it 
is not equal to some of the grasses for this 
purpose. The principal value of buckwheat is 
for pancakes, of which great use is made 
throughout the Eastern and Middle States. 
It is usually packed in small cotton bags, con- 
taining from five to twenty-five pounds of flour 

each; and in tins shape finds its way during I eted things to be gazed at. 
the season of winter into most families of the But after the gay pageant has faded away 
above-named States. The manner of prepar- j like the " baseless fabric of a dream"— after 



ARE WE PROGRESSING 1 
During the months of September and Oc- 
tober of this year, nearly all the Agricultural 

Fairs, both County and State, will be held. 

Millions of people will have left their homes, 
and mingled together at these holiday gather- 
ings. And all, it is to be hoped, will go homo 
wiser, by reason of what they may see and 
hear. 

Mechanics and manufacturers will have 
done their utmost to bring their various labor- 
saving machines in the most attractive form 
before the vast crowds that will examine them. 
The owners and breeders of fine animals will 
have them in their best condition for the ex- 
hibition, and the luscious products of the gar- 
den and orchard will also be anion" 1 the cov- 



340 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



the crowd have dispersed, and nothing is left 
but the greensward upon which, fairy-like, it 
was shown, can the farmer who is really desi- 
rous for the progressive improvement of his 
business, of his profession, looking over all 
that has just been, say that there has been 
any marked improvement over the exhibition 
of the previous year ? The same animals, a 
little better prepared, their horns scraped 
smoother, or their manes and tails combed with 
a little finer comb, or brushed with a more ex- 
pensive brush, their progeny a little fatter and 
ker, — a few more patches in the bed quilt, 
or a little more absurdity in the figures of the 
needle, — a larger pumpkin or a heavier squash 
— may have been seen, talked over and won- 
dered at. But has anything beea done to 
aid the farmer in making two blades grow 
hw ere but one grew before, without its costing 
him double their value? Has anything been 
done by the farmers to give to their profession 
the advantages of science ? Can their sons or 
their daughters obtain any where within their 
reach the means for a more thorough edu- 
cation, so that when they come upon the 
stage of active life they will have their minds 
expanded by high culture, and will bring to 
their business all the lights of modern sci- 
ence ? If this has not been done, we have 
made little or no progress in the direction most 
important for us to go. 



BLOOD STOCK, WHAT IS IT1 

Many farmers have most curious notions in 
regard to the meaning of the phrase " Blood 
Stock." Many have an idea that it must be 
imported stock, and held at a high price, be- 
cause it has been brought across the ocean. 

But in England there is a wide distinction 
between what is called blood stock and the 
common stock of that country. Certain 
breeders of stock have been extremely nice in 
regard to breeding. They have selected from 
the common herds of cattle the very best they 
could find, and have kept them apart from the 
common run of cattle, casting off all the infe- 
rior individuals that often show themselves in 
the best herds. 

By pursuing this course for years in suc- 
cession a race is produced superior to the com- 
mon run of cattle — and at length this race 
becomes so perfect that you can place much 
reliance on the progeny. Different courses 
have been pursued by stock breeders in Eng- 
land — but generally the aim has been to pro- 
duce large animals, and such as will fatten 
early, regardless of their merits as milkers. 

The short horn Durhams meet the views of 



those who pride themselves in the growth of 
the largest animals, and such as will fatten at 
three or four years of age. These cattle are 
said to fatten at less expense also than the 
promiscuous herds of our country — but as re- 
liable milkers the full blood Durhams have 
failed to give satisfaction to purchasers. 

But a prejudice exists against what is called 
" blood stock" that is, imported stock, and the 
question is often asked, why is not our own 
native stock as good as any that can be im- 
ported ? We have cows of no particular 
breed that will excel the general run of im- 
ported cows, and why shall we not rely on 
them in preference to what is termed " blood 
stock?" 

Now we have no idea that the farmers of 
Britain are the only people capable of pro- 
ducing " blood stock." They have taken the 
lead in this business, and to them we look for 
information in regard to results — but we are 
not bound, hand and foot, to the opinions of 
foreign breeders. 

Let us examine this subject fairly. Is it 
best to breed promiscuously and pick out of 
the mass production the best looking individu- 
als — or is it better to endeavor to rear a race 
from the most noted milkers, and keep that 
race apart from the mean animals which are 
often reared as farm stock ? 

A drover who goes into the interior to buy 
cows will prefer such as are bred by an old 
farmer who has long been in the practice of 
raising his own calves, and breeding from the 
best of his cows. A farmer who has pursued 
this course for twenty years or more has now, 
in fact, " blood stock" of his own production, 
and can calculate with considerable confidence 
on the qualities of the calves or young cattle 
that he has produced. 

By pursuing this mode we can rear as good 
blood stock as any foreigner who ever lived. 
Time, patience, and strict attention are needed 
to come to the result which foreign breeders- 
have come to in the improvement of their 
herds. We can have as good cattle as any 
that have been produced in England if we will 
have patience and continue long in the right 
course. 

It often happens that an individual cow, of 

no particular breed, will yield more milk and 

butter than the average of blood stock. What 

of it ? Will her progeny do the like ? If 

cannot rely on her progeny we cannot 



we 



account her as of any great advantage to the 
public, though her owner may have made pro- 
fits out of her. 

Drovers go annually into the interior to buy 
cows to supply a demand of people who live 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



341 



on the sea board, or near large towns where 
young cattle cannot be raised without great 
cost. A shrewd drover picks up thirty or 
forty of the best cows that he can find in 
Vermont or in Canada. 

Well, he sells to those who cannot afford to 
rear calves. The purchasers are benefited by 
this course of trade, but the State is not ad- 
vancing by this course of traffic. The best 
lot of cows is transferred from Vermont to 
Rhode Island — but not the least advance is 
made in the improvement of stock. Rhode 
Island still continues to make veal of all 
the calves, and Vermont continues to rear all, 
good and bad. 

And yet we hear croakers declaiming against 
blood stock, or select stock, because a bastard 
individual is sometimes found to prove supe- 
rior to the average of blood stock or legitimate 
stock. 

Imported stock, and all blood stock should 
be judged by its real merits. If Americans 
will pay the same attention to breeding which 
foreigners have done, they can, without doubt, 
rear as good animals as any of foreign produc- 
tion. Will they not make the trial ? — Mas- 
sachusetts Ploughman. 



DAIRY STATISTICS. 

How much milk does it take to make one 
pound of butter ? 

We have gathered answers to this question, 
from the correspondence of the London Agri- 
cultural G-azette, to the following purport : 

In Blarney, Cork, Ireland, it takes " two 
gallons six and a half pints in summer, and 
two gallons three and a half pints in winter. 
Average two gallons five pints of milk, or two 
and a half pints of cream. This is the well 
bred Irish cow. Crosses of the Dutch and 
Durham produce good cows, but the Durham 
is better adapted to the butcher than to the 
dairy. The Ayrshire is not only good for the 
dairy, but has also every tendency to fatten, 
and is best adapted to light soils. Pure De- 
yons are very pretty stock, and give milk rich 
in quality but much smaller in quantity than 
any of the others." 

In Dorsetshire, it takes, for the season, 
" two gallons six and a half pints, or two 
pints of cream. The average produce of but- 
ter from a cow, in the course of a year, is 
ab«>ut thirteen dozen (156) pounds. Some 
dairies have produced nineteen dozen (228) 
pounds per cow — but this is a rare occurrence." 

In Cheshire, " in a general way, we have 
found, from the large Yorkshire cow, it takes 
three gallons for a pound of butter ; Ayrshire 
less ; and an Alderney still less. A cow gives 



much more butter when she has calved three 
or four months, and the quantity of milk is 
diminished ; also, a great deal will depend on 
the quality of the food. We churn by steam ; 
and last summer we tried the shortest time 
we could do it in ; it was a hot day, and we 
accomplished it in five minutes and a half — 
the engine making 300 revolutions per minute, 
and the quantity eighty gallons of milk. We 
have also found that it pays very well in hot 
weather to put American ice into the milk be- 
fore churning, to reduce the temperature to get 
out more butter ; the result of the same quan- 
tity of milk without ice, fifteen pounds of 
butter ;' with ice, twenty pounds." 

In Suffolk, it takes " three gallons and 
three pints. Our cows were feeding in our 
best piece of pasture, so that I conclude we 
never make more butter from the same quan- 
tity of milk." 

In Gloucestershire, it takes " three gallons 
and six pints, or about a quart of cream. It 
is certainly not a good time to make an aver- 
age trial, as the weather has been so very warm 
during the past week, and the flies have been 
extremely troublesome to the cattle." 

In Guernsey, " I have had that quantity 
from two gallons, and have been assured that 
one and a half gallons have sufficed in some 
cases. I believe about eleven quarts to be a 
fair average. Our pound is the old Norman, 
and with the over-weight with each pound pre- 
pared for market, I should think it was over 
eighteen ounces English weight." 

" Additional returns, representing the pro- 
duce of over 1000 cows, show a general aver- 
age of 1 24-100 of an ounce of butter from 
one quart of milk. 

How much do these quantities differ from 
those necessary to the same result in Ameri- 
can dairies ? 



GREEN MANURING. 

Vegetable substances, in their green and 
succulent state, are powerful fertilizers, when 
thoroughly incorporated with the soil. The 
most pertinent explanation of this fact is fur- 
nished by the consideration that they supply 
the identical elements that future crops re- 
quire; in the same manner, that out of the 
materials of one house, another may be elabo- 
rated, and it is true that many of those mate- 
rials exist in such union and affinity, as ren- 
ders them especially adapted for the nutrition 
of the future crop, for it is a recognized truth 
in physiology, that both animals and plants 
take up and assimilate from their food a por- 
tion of their bulk in the precise form in which 
it exists in that food. 



34-2 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



The practice of growing crops for the spe- 
cial purpose of ploughing in as a manure for 
succeeding crops, is not justified by this con- 
sideration merely. It would seem to be a 
waste of time and material, to convert the 
elements of vegetable growth into living forms 
twice before they are made profitable. Why 
grow a lupine or clover plant one season, to be 
buried, in order that from its remains, a cab- 
bage or a turnip may be produced? Why, if 
you build a house, do you not fetch the mate- 
rials direct from the quay ? These questions 
would be unanswerable, did plants obtain all 
their food from the soil. But such is not the 
case, a great portion of the bulk of green 
crops is obtained from atmospheric sources ; 
and after a green crop is ploughed in, the soil 
necessarily contains more of the organic ele- 
ments esssential to vegetable nutrition, than it 
did before the crop was grown; it is richer, in 
fact, by the carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and 
nitrogen, which the greeu crop has obtained 
from sources independent of the soil. In like 
manner, the crop grown after a green crop has 
been ploughed in, has the advantage of a 
ready supply of mineral elements, which have 
been worked up by the roots of the fertilizing 
crop from the soil and sub-soil, and which in 
many instances, owiug to their sparing solu- 
bility, are with difficulty obtained under ordi- 
nary circumstances. — Progressive Farmer. 



where it would have been difficult to have 
placed a two-horse wagon by the use of the 
horse. 

The nature of the undertaking and the iin- 
portance of having his invention in such an 
improved condition as not to hazard the credit 
of American Exhibitors in Paris, has subjejted 
Mr. Hussey to unavoidable delays, yet he has 
not, until very recently, abandoned the pros- 
pect of getting his plough into the Exposition 
before its close; but it seems, the late edict of 
the Emperor, withdrawing the favor granted 
to American Exhibitors, of entering their ar- 
ticles at any time, has closed up Mr Hussey's 
way in that quarter. This should not be so 
great a disappointment to him, considering 
the Maryland Agricultural Society's Annual 
Show is now so near at hand, where we hope 
to see him turn as good a furrow as he could 
turn in France. — American Farmer. 



NEWLY INVENTED STEAM PLOUGH BY A 
BALTIMOREAN. 

We have been aware, for some time, that 
Mr. Hussey, of this city, the inventor of the 
Reaping and Mowing Machine, was engaged 
in constructing a Steam Plough, with the de- 
sign to exhibit it in the French Exhibition in 
Paris. We learn that he has so far completed 
his invention as to get up steam on two different 
occasions, and steam along the streets, several 
squares in the neighborhood of his manufac- 
tory. The stone pavements did not, however, 
afford a good opportunity to test its ability to 
plough, but we understand that its managea- 
ble qualities were pretty clearly manifested. 
If we can credit our informant, the machine, 
by its own power, started from the manufac- 
tory, down a narrow passage, through the gate- 
way, and along the streets, turning several 
corners, and into the yard of another manufac- 
tory, ou to the scales, where it was weighed ; 
weighing, with water and fuel on board, about 
six tons. It theil backed itself off the scales, 
and returned to where it started from, steamed 
through the gateway, up the narrow passage 
and backed itself at right angles into a shed, 



PRATT'S PATENT DITCH DIGGER. 

A. new era has dawned within a few years 
upon successful and profitable farming, by the 
introduction of a thorough system of under- 
draining. Crops are put in many days earlier 
in spring, drowning out is prevented, severe 
drought is unfelt, roots penetrate deeply the 
mellowed and porous soil, cold soils are made 
warmer, manure is made more accessible, and 
economy of labor promoted by admitting the 
easy working of the earth at all times. 

But the labor and cost of underdrawing 
have deterred many from availing themselves 
of these advantages. To apply the system 
thoroughly to an acre of land, by cutting 
ditches at regular intervals of two and a half 
rods, requires sixty-four rods of drain. At 
twenty cents per rod for cutting two and a 
half feet deep, twelve cents a rod for tile, and 
five cents and a half .more for laying the tile 
and ploughing in the earth, the cost is twenty- 
four dollars per acre. This expense will 
doubtless be lessened in a few years by a re- 
duction in the price of tile in consequence of 
the larger demand, but still more so, we think, 
by the use of Pratt's Ditch Digger, invented 
by R. C. Pratt, and manufactured by Pratt & 
Brothers, of Canandaigua, N. Y. 

This machine is a new invention, and is not 
perhaps fully perfected in all its parts,_yet it 
has already given experimental promise of 
great value. In a recent trial on the farm of 
the late John S. Bates, of Canandaigua, be- 
fore a committee of the Ontario County Ag- 
ricultural Society, and several distinguished 
agricultural gentlemen, among whom were 
John Johnston and R. J. Swan, of Geneva, 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



543 



widely known for their success in extensive 
underdraining, its performance was eminently 
satisfactory. When we reached the ground, 
at half past eleven in the morning, a ditch 
forty-four rods in length had just been com- 
menced, and after suspending operations an 
hour or two for dinner, we found the depth at 
half past three to be twenty-one to twenty- 
three inches, admitting of its easy completion 
before night. The two horses which drew the 
machine, worked very moderately ; the soil 
was a hard and stiff brick clay. A portion 
was stoney, and on this part a man was em- 
ployed with a crow-bar to loosen and throw 
out the stones as they were successively laid 
bare. 

We have also tried this machine on our own 
land, where the ground was quite stony, and 
have found it to succeed well, although the 
speed of its work was greatly impeded by the 
stones. In such ground two or three hands 
are needed to loosen tones, and to throw out 
those which are loosened by the plough-share. 

The principle on which the machine ope- 
rates is a simple one. A small plough-share 
runs along the bottom of the ditch and loosens 
up from one to three inches of the earth ; the 
revolving shovels carry up the loosened earth, 
until it reaches the top of their revolution, 
when it falls bv its weight on an inclined plat- 
form on each side, down which it rolls, and 
drops on each side of the ditch. Motion is 
given to the wheel of revolving shovels, sim- 
ply by its running over the earth, and its mo- 
tion is precisely similar to that of a carriage 
wheel over the surface of a road. When the 
soil is wet and adhesive, a small wheel is 
placed at the top of the machine which clears 
the shovels of the earth It will cut from 
eight inches to one foot wide, and fully two 
and a half feet deep, and may be made to cut 
three feet deep if desired. It is mostly of 
iron, and is strong, and not liable to become 
injured by use. The price, we believe, is 
$150. 

From all the experiments we have witnessed, 
we have made the following estimate of its 
power of performing work : — In soil of me- 
dium hardness, and which is nearly or entirely 
free from stone, a good team without undue 
exertion, driven by one man, will cut from 
seventy-nve to one hundred rods of ditch, two 
feet and a half deep, in a day. Where the 
ground is stony, the length will be reduced to 
fifty or even to thirty rods per day; and a very 
hard and dry soil will also lessen the speed of 
its work. In mucky or peaty land, free from 
large roots, and at a season of the year when 
dry enough to bear horses, one hundred and 



fifty rods a day would be of easy accomplish 
ment. In an actual experiment in such soil' 
the ditch was cut by passing only seven times, 
after the first furrow was made with the com- 
mon plough, or about four or five inches at 
each passage of the machine. 

On the whole, we regard Pratt's Ditcher as 
now made, as standing high in the list of 
modern agricultural inventions; and at a time 
when labor is becoming scarce and high priced, 
likely to prove of immense advantage to im- 
proved farming. — The Country Gentle man. 



FEEDING SHEEP. 

It appears from experiments of the Leipsic So- 
ciety, that sheep cannot be fed to their full extent 
on hay alone, and that those of a particular breed 
which, when fed on hay, reach a weight of 90 lbs, 
acquire an additional 10 lbs., by the'use of con- 
centrated food. Further, that hay is not favorable 
to the production of fat, but that the grains, es- 
pecially rape and linseed cake, greatly surpass it. 
Experiments on cows have also shown that 1 lb. 
of rape-cake given in the food produces an in- 
crease of | lb. of milk, and that with cows of 
high milk-producing powers it may produce dou- 
ble that quantity ; or, on the average, rape-cake 
will produce its own weight of milk. The highest 
effect is produced by 2 lbs daily; but this quantity 
is too high, if butter is the object, as it acquires 
a disagreeable flavor; but when the milk is to be * 
sold, this quantity may with safety be employed. 
In the production of milk, rape-cake cannot be re- 
placed by double its weight of hay ; and under 
favorable circumstances, when conjoined with 
food poor in nitrogen — such as straw, potatoes, or 
turnips — it will produce three times the nutritive 
effect of hay. Rape cake is equally favorable to 
the production of flesh, and it appears that 1 lb. 
daily will increase the live weight of a cow by 15 
'lis, and sustain it at the higher point. In one 
particular experiment the live weight of two cows 
was increased, in the course of fourteen days, by 
62 lbs., and with the consumption in addition to 
their former food, of 66 lbs., rape-cake. This ef- 
fect, however, was only produced under favorable 
circumstances ; for when three or four pouurls 
rape-cake per diem were used, the animal only 
reached a weight proprotionate to this increase af- 
ter the lapse of a very considerable time ; and it 
appears that the more nearly the animals approach 
the fully fed condition, the more slowly do they 
increase in weight especially under the influence 
of the same food. 

With sheep, one pound rape cake added to the 
daily food will gradually produce an increase of 
20 lbs in their live weight, provided the composi- 
tion of the total food be properly attended to. 
This, however, will only do in the early part of the 
feeding, its effect being somewhat diminished in 
the latter part of the process. The poorer the 
other nutritive matters supplied to the animal are 
in nitrogen, the larger is the quantity of rape-cake 
which may be advantageously employed. It is 
not found advantageous to give to each sheep a 
larger quantity of rape-cake than % fliMtafty. If 
the driily food of a sheep of medium weight con- 
sist of i lbs. turnips, lj lbs. hay and a quantity 



344 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



of rape-cake be supplied in addition, commencing 
with a small quantity, and gradually increasing it 
to f lb., the weight of the animal will increase in 
the course of six or eight weeks by about 13 lbs., 
and with the expenditure in all of from 28 to 30 
lbs. of rape-cake. It thus appears that the effect 
of rape-cake on the sheep, though favorable, is 
not so striking as on the cow. 

These experiments have been followed by an in- 
quiry into the quality of the dung produced. To 
connect together the whole inquiry, it may be well 
to mention the principal points established. It 
appears that when rape-cake is given to sheep, 
not for the purpose of fattening but in small quan- 
tity, and a part of their winter food, not more than 
1-6 of the original quantity of nitrogen disappears 
during the nutritive process and by decomposition 
and the other 5-6ths remain in the dung. The 
quality of the cow dung is similiarly increased ; 
for, as 1 lb. of rape-cake produces 1 lb. of milk, 
containing only £ of the nitrogen of the cake, the 
other { must manifestly appear in the dung. When, 
however, a rapid increase is taking place in the 
weight of the animal, a smaller proportion of the 
nitrogen will pass into the dung, and a larger 
quantity be retained within the body of the ani- 
mal. What proportion is thus retained for each 
100 lbs. increase in the live weight cannot be accu- 
rately deduced from the experiments ; at all events, 
it is clear that Boussingault's estimate of 366 lbs- 
of nitrogen is high; a result which is also brought 
out by Mr. Lawes' experiments. It may happen 
that, when a rapid increase in the weight of the 
animal occurs, the whole of the nitrogen of the 
concentrated food may be retained in the animal; 
and this actually occurred in one of the experiments 
where in fourteen days 56 lbs. of rape-cake gave 
an increase of 62 lbs. live weight, and at the same 
time 38 lb. of milk. In this case the rape-cake em- 
ployed contained 281b. of nitrogen, and nutritive 
products 2.49; or very nearly as much; but this is so 
to speak a mere passing phenomenon: for so soon 
as the live weight corresponding to this mode of 
feeding is acquired, only that portion of nitrogen 
necessary for the milk is retained, and the remain- 
ing | pass into the dung. — Canadian Agricultu- 
rist. 



perfect, sweet, and tender, until April 10, as when 
they were taken up. 

Manner of feeding. 
Various and diversified are the opinions of far- 
mers upon the subject of root feeding to stock. 
My opinion, founded upon practical experience, is 
that the most judicious and economical mode of 
using roots is to cook them well. My way of 
using them is this: to thirty gallons of water add 
one bushel ruta-baga, chopped fine ; one bushel 
corn and cob meal ; one quart salt ; all intimately 
mixed and boiled till the whole make a thick soup; 
to be given to swine one gallon per feed ; to cattle 
and horses, mixed with cut straw, shucks or chaff; 
and to poultry in small quantities, and warm, as a 
condiment to other foood, particularly when sul- 
phur be given them. The skeptical are invited to 
view my stock- They can then judge by their ap- 
pearance of the nutritious qualities of ruta-baga, 
and corn and cob meal soup. J. G. T. 

Cloverdale, near Petersburg, June 21th. 



From ihe S . uthern Parmer. 
TURNIPS. 

Preservation through Winter until late Spring. 

After the first heavy frost, and before we may 
expect a hard freeze, have your roots pulled up; 
and carefully handled so as not to bruise them ; 
cut off the tops to within one inch of the root. 
If not provided with a root cellar, place them 
in piles or conical shaped mounds, containing from 
thirty to fifty bushels each. Around these mounds 
place corn stalks vertically, six inches thick ; over 
them place dirt taken from the base of the mounds 
forming a compact covering one foot thick, and 
preventing the water from settling under the roots 
In finishing the top insert a wisp of straw, to be 
removed for a short time after every wet spell, to 
allow the damp confined air to escape. When 
wanted for use, remove the whole mound opened 
to your barn, or place of consumption, to be kept 
dry. Unless this precaution is used, the turnips 
will speedily rot. By practising the same direct- 
ions herein given, the ruta baga can be kept as 



FATTENING ANIMALS. 

There are certain principles which apply to the 
feeding of all animals, which we will shortly no- 

tice : ~ . ii 

1. The breed is of great importance. A well 

bred animal not only affords less waste, but has 
the meat in the right places, the fibre is tender 
and juicy and the fat is put on just where it is 
wanted. Compare the hind leg of a full blooded 
Durham ox, and a common one. The bone at the 
base of the tail extends much further in the former 
affording more room for flesh, and the thigh swells 
out of convex or circular shape ; while in the com- 
mon ox it falls in, dishing and hollow. Now the 
round is the most valuable cut, and is only found 
in perfection in high-bred stock. The same is the 
case over the whole body. So well do eastern 
butchers understand this, that their prices are 
regulated by the breed, even where two animals 
are equally fat. They know that in a Durham or 
Hereford ox, not only will there be less offal in 
proportion to weight, but the greatest quantity _ of 
meat will be where it brings the highest price 
when retailed, and will be of a richer flavor and more 
tender fibre. The same is the case with hogs. A 
large hog may chance to make more meat on a 
given quantity of food than a small one, but the 
meat of the first will be coarse and tasteless com- 
pared with the other ; and in the east flavor and 
tenderness greatly regulate prices. Consequently 
moderate sized, short-legged, small headed hogs, 
always, in the long run, beat large breeds out of 
flavor. In preparing for market, "fashion and 
taste " must be as much considered by the farmer 
as by the tailor. This one fact is at present revo- 
lutionizing the English breed of sheep, The aris- 
tocracy always paid high for small Welch and 
Scotch mutton ; but the great consumers, the me- 
chanics, preferred large fat joints. The taste is 
now changed. In Manchester and other such 
cities, these large joints have become unsale- 
able ; and all the efforts of the breeder are now 
turned towards small breeds maturing early, with 
comparatively little fat. According to late writers, 
the large Leicester and Cotswolds are going quite 
out of fashion. When we give three thousand 
dollars for a Durham bull it is not that his progeny 
are " intrinsically " more valuable to that amount, 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



345 



but the increased value and the fashion together 
make up the difference. And it is thus that while 
Durhams and Herefords are preferred for ships and 
packing, Devons are high in repute for private 
families. The joints are smaller, but the meat has 
a peculiar richness, probably found in no other 
kind of stock ; and the proportionate waste is said 
to be less than in any other breed. Thus in the 
London market, the Scotch Kyloes, and then the 
Devons, (the former even smaller than the latter) 
brings the highest price, because preferred by the 
aristocracy. So in Dublin, spayed heifers are 
sought for. But the breed also regfilates the prof- 
it. There is nothing more certain than that one 
kind of animal will fatten to a given point on 
much less food than another, and as fattening our 
stock is only another mode of selling our grain 
aod grass, those animals are to be preferred which 
come to maturity soonest, and fatten on the least 
food. The difference in hogs is very great and im- 
portant. While some breeds must be fed for two 
or three winters, others are full grown and fattened 
at ten months old ; and the difference in profit 
is enormous. We cannot go into particulars, but 
the following rules may be considered as applying 
to all. An animal may be expected to fatten easily 
when it has fine bone, and fine soft elastic skin, 
with thin or silky hair: the head and legs short, 
the "barrel" large, but chest and lungs small; 
and when it is quiet, sleepy and easy in temper. — 
An unquiet, restless, quick-tempered animal is 
generally a bad feeder, and unprofitable. 

2. Much depends in fattening on outward and 
mechanical management. Fat is carbon, or the 
coal which supplies the body with heat. If we 
are exposed to cold, it is burnt up in our lungs as 
fast as it is deposited by the blood; but if we are 
kept warm by shelter or clothing, it is deposited 
throughout the body, as a supply on hand when nee- 
ded. Warm stables and pens are a great assistance in 
fattening, and should never be neglected. So, al- 
so, quiet and peacefulness are important. Every 
excited action consumes some part of the body 
which has to be surplied by the food, and detracts 
from the fat. In the climate of Michigan, warm 
stables, regular feeding at fixed hours, and kind 
treatment, with perfect cleanliness, save many a 
bushel of grain. Animals fed at irregular times 
are always uneasy and fretting. 

3. Ground and cooked food fatten much more 
profitably than raw food. Mr. Ellsworth found 
that hogs made as much flesh on one pound of corn 
ground and boiled to mush as two pounds raw un- 
ground ; though the first did not fatten quite as 
rapidly, as they could not consume as much food 
in the twenty-four hours. By grinding and soak- 
ing, ten hogs will each gain one-hundred pounds 
in weight, on the same food that five would do if 
it were raw. 

4- A change of food helps in fattening. Thus 
an ox fed entirely on corn and hay will not fatten 
as fast or as well as one which has roots, pump- 
kins, ground oats or buckwheat, &c, fed to it at 
regular periods. The latter may contain intrinsi- 
cally less nourishing matter than the corn, but the 
change produces some unknown effect on the stom- 
ach ar.d system, that adds to the capability of de- 
positing fat. The best feeders change the food 
very frequently, and find that they make a decided 
profit by so doing. Salt should be given with 
every meal to cattle — say an ounce a day. It pre- 
serves the appetite and prevents torpor of the liver, 



to which all fattening animals are subject This 
torpor, or disease, is, to a certain extent, condu- 
cive to fat ; but carried too far the animal sinks 
under it 

5. In cattle the skin should be particularly at- 
tended to. A fat animal is in an unnatural state, 
and consequently easily subject to disease. Ta- 
king no exercise, it has not its usual power of 
throwing off poisons out of the system ; and if the 
skin is foul, the whole labor is thrown on the kid- 
neys. It is found by experience that oxen, regu- 
larly curried and cleaned daily, fatten better and 
faster than when left to themselves ; and if the 
legs are pasted with dung, as is too often the case, 
it seriously injures the animal. 

6. Too much rich food is injurious. The stom- 
ach can only assimilate a certain quantity at once. 
Thus an ox will prosper better on thirty pounds of 
corn and thirty pounds of cob ground together 
daily, than on forty pounds of ground corn. These 
mixtures are also valuable and saving of cost for 
hogs when first put in the pen. If an animal loses 
its appetite, the food should at once be changed, 
and if possible roots, pumpkins, or steamed hay 
may be given. 

7. Oxen will fatten belter if the hay or stalks 
are cut for them, but care must be taken not to cut 
too short. An inch in length is about the right 
size for oxen, half or three-quarters of an inch for 
horses. — Farmer's Com. and Horticultural Ga- 
zette. 



EFFECTS OF FEEDING STOCK UPON THE 
CORN FIELD PEA. 

Mr. Editor: — I have read with much plea- 
sure the observations of Mr. Edmund Rumn 
in your May number of the Soil of the South, 
upon " the facts and causes of injury to ani- 
mals from eating peas," and by your editorial 
invitation, I will offer you my experience upon 
the same subject, although I have not lost the 
first animal from the effects of the cornfield 
pea. 

I perhaps had better premise, by saying to 
you that I am a young planter, not having 
planted but five years. When I commenced 
planting I sought all the agricultural informa- 
tion that I could get, by books, agricultural 
papers and information from persons that I 
knew to be experienced upon the subject upon 
which I sought information. I became the 
subscriber to seven different agricultural pa- 
pers, and for fear some old anti-book farmer 
may ask why take so many papers, I will say 
that I did so for the purpose of having the ex- 
perience of others upon the various subjects 
connected with "practical husbandry" and to 
apply that experience, according to my judg- 
ment, to my own farm ; as I am about to get 
off the subject I started upon, I will retnrn to 
it. 

I have cultivated the corn field pea ever 
since I commenced farming, and have made 
pretty fair crops, and have never gathered only 



346 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



enough for seed and a few for tlie negroes and 
whites also — leaving the balance of the crop 
in the field to be pastured off by the stock. 
I plant my peas in the mouth of May among 
my corn, using principally the red or " Tory 
Pea," which pea will lay on and in the ground 
all the winter, and not rot or decay, and, at 
the proper season in the spring, come up. — 
All other varieties of the pea, that I have 
tried will rot after the first wet spell in the 
fall. I have this year one field of corn con- 
taining one hundred and twenty-five acres, 
every acre of which is already planted with 
the Tory Pea. I have four acres of ground 
peas and five acres of sweet potatoes; I also 
have a great many pumpkins planted in the 
same field. In the fall, when I gather my 
corn, I gather a few of the sweet potatoes — 
as many as all of the hands can use before 
frost, and some few of the pumpkins for stock, 
&c. &c. Through this field passes a tolerable 
large stream of water, which I consider in- 
dispensable. I place three or four troughs in 
which I constantly keep ashes sprinkled with 
salt. My hog feeder tolls the hogs, turning 
them in near the stream of water, giving them 
just as much corn as they can or will eat. The 
hogs will first commence on the ground pea 
and potatoe patches, eating alternately of each 
and it will be some two weeks or more (if the 
oround peas and potatoes are pretty good) be- 
fore you will discover that they have touched 
the " Tory Pea." Now and then you will see 
where they have taken a few mouthfulls out 
of a pumpkin. I keep the hogs on this field 
until I gather the adjoined field of corn con- 
taining about one hundred and forty acres, 
which is also in peas. I have in this field, five 
acres of ground peas and five acres of sweet 
potatoes, with plenty of pumpkins and water. 
If it is the season for saviug sweet potatoes, I 
gather and save all the large potatoes out of 
this field for winter use. I gather aoout 
twenty bushels of ground peas for seed the 
ensuing year. I gather as many pumpkins as 
I can well save and feed away before rotting. 
I also gather from this field whatever peas I 
may wish to save for use or sale. I then re- 
move my troughs and keep ashes and salt in 
them as in the first field, and have the hogs 
turned in. 

My horses, mules, cows, sheep and hogs are 
all indiscriminately turned in, but never hun- 
gry, always full, salted and near the water. — 
I do not think that I have ever lost an animal 
from the effects of corn field pea. But to the 
contrary all my animals come out fat and 
slick; particularly the hogs. And as the best 
evidence of this, I never have had any bacon 



to buy, but every year have some fine hams to 
sell, for which I have never failed to obtain 
fifteen cents per pound. Any man can come 
to my smoke house now and see what a hand- 
some lot of fine yellow bacon I have in it. 
He can then go to my hog lots when my hog 
feeder blows his horn and see and count over 
two hundred hogs squealing for their daily al- 
lowance of corn. It is my opinion that if a 
hog is well fed in winter, and grows fat on 
corn, and is then neglected and not fed in the 
spring, and allowed to shift for himself on 
grass, nine out of every ten will die. 

If every farmer will furnish his hogs with 
plenty of good sound grain of any kind, I 
have no hesitation is saying that he will raise 
an abundance of meat. Rut on the contrary, 
if he calculates to feed man or beast on un- 
sound provisions, sickness and death will be 
the natural consecpuence. 

This article is already spun out too long. 
I may hereafter write you on other subjects, 
according to my experience in "practical hus- 
bandry." — Soil of the South. 



KATE OF INTEREST. 

The Bank of England, under the influence 
of the movement of gold at the seat of war, 
and of the subscriptions of the Turkish loan 
in gold, has raised the rate of interest in Lon- 
don. It does not readily appear how a higher 
rate of money in England will retain gold in 
the vault of the Bank under a war demand. 
In times of business activity when gold rUns 
out under the influence of a small profit, an 
advance in the rate of interest diminishes 
those profits as well as to act as a warning 
against entering into engagements in an ad- 
vancing state of the money market, a dimin- 
ished activity in trade in produced, with a les- 
sened demand for money, which corrects the 
difficulty. When however, the demand for 
money is one of "state necessity," above all 
consideration of price, the raising of the rates 
does not reach it, as said the elder Rothschild 
before the Parliamentary Committee, on the 
occasion of the Russian war with Turkey in 
1829. "When governments want gold price 
is no object. If one per cent, will not bring 
it they will give ten per cent on any sum." 
Inasmuch, however, as that a rise in interest 
checks the employment of capital in ordinary 
commercial operations, it may so far aid the 
future loans of government as to turn so much 
more capital into its service. The war ab- 
sorbs nearly or quite as much as the product 
of the gold countries; but it was supposed a 
slight check given now through a higher rate 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



347 



of interest to reviving enterprise would suffice 
until the outward current of gold should react 
and return to the coffers of the Bank. This 
is not likely, however, to be the case. The 
United States are the chief source whence Eng- 
land is to draw wheat and corn as well as gold, 
and exports hence of the former must check 
the remittances of the latter, thus drying up 
one of the sources whence the war is to be 
fed. When some weeks since we endeavored 
to show that the export demand for bread- 
stuffs must in any event be large, many re- 
ceived the statement with surprise who now 
are disposed to exaggerate the movement. 
The fact is that the quantity of food to be 
spared from the United States is not so large 
by any means as has been estimated, and 
what England buys in the East through the 
opening of the Danubian provinces will en- 
hance that gold drain which is already become 
inconvenient. In the United States business 
has revived with a very considerable degree of 
vigor, but its continuance must depend upon 
a tall in the price of food which will admit of 
purchase of manufactured articles on the part 
of those who buy food habitually, and who 
dun: :_- the last year have had their means ab- 
sorbed mostly for that purpose. There are 
now no enterprizes afoot that absorb much 
capital, which accumulates very rapidly here. 
In England the accumulation is absorbed by. 
the war. It would follow that under these 
circumstances capital will be in England, re- 
latively to the United States, dearer than 
perhaps ever before, leading to a recall of any 
funds that may habitually have been employed 
in the dearer market. As the expenses and 
consequent taxes of the war increase, however, 
capital will migrate to escape taxation. It is 
probably the case that the United States have 
now reached a point where the capital in the 
country bears to its wants a much more equal 
proportion than ever before, and that in years 
of oni;,,ary business, without unusual specu- 
lation, the tendency of the rate of interest 
will be downwards. The dependance of the 
country upon foreign aid to carry out enter- 
prize- of even small magnitude, has gradually 
! away. Since the days when the Fath- 
ers of the Revolution were compelled to so- 
licit email loans of France and Holland to 
defray expenses of the first State necessity, 
baa largely accumulated. The enter- 
prize of the people, and the increase in their 
Bumben have, however, served to keep de- 
mand in excess oven of that rapid accumula- 
tion. The expenses of the Mexican war, 
which cost nearly as much as the Revolution, 
w ere hajdly felt in the country, and an im- 



mense sum has been absorbed in railroads 
which would not have been felt but for the 
severe loss sustained last year in crops and 
by the consequent reduction in productive la- 
bor. This loss has this year been made up 
by Providence, and active values have been 
restored to railroads, shipping, and other de- 
scriptions of capital. Already a renewed im- 
pulse has been given to industry , which is more 
effectively productive now than ever before, 
except perhaps in those localities where 
drought has stopped the motive power. With 
all the natural and mechanical productions of 
capital, there is as yet little disposition to ex- 
tend credits. It does not appear therefore, 
that the advancing value of money in Eng- 
land under war expenditure can much effect 
American interest, other than perhaps to de- 
press slightly the value of cotton. — iV. Y. 
Economist. 



PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION. 

The great increase in the importation of 
men during the past ten years seems to have 
been followed by an increase in the export of 
commodities. The number of immigrants ar- 
rived in the country, since 1850, appears to 
have been 10 per cent, of the white inhabi- 
tants then enumerated. So great a number 
added to the consumers in the home market 
would, it would appear at first sight, cause so 
great a demand for consumption as 4o dimin- 
ish very much the surplus for export. The 
reverse, however, seems to have been the case, 
inasmuch as that the exports have increased 
in a ratio as great as the arrivals. The annual 
" importation* of men " and exportation of 
commodities was as follows: 

Men Commodities 

Imported* Exported. 

1844 74,607 $99,115,170 

1845 102.415 114,640, 606 

VMi\ 158.643 113,488.510 

1847 . . . : 284.756 158,648,022 

1848 220,524 154,032,181 

1849 209.610 145,755,820 

1850 279.1 93 151,398,720 

1851 291 .370 190,489,748 

1852 318,201 192,368,984 ' 

1863 368:643 218. 117,697 

1851 4GV74 252.047,806 

2,785,241 

The influence of the famine year, 1347, 
gave an impulse to the importation of men, 
and to the export of food to feed those who 
remained behind. Since then 'the arrivals of 
men have annually increased, as has also the 
exports of surplus commodities. The arrivals 
since 1843 of a number of human beings 



348 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



equal to the whole population of the States at 
the date of the Revolution, must certainly 
have caused a great demand for products, 
but it would appear from the column of ex- 
ports that they have produced more than they 
consumed, since the aggregate surplus which 
the country has to spare has annually increas- 
ed. The fact of this increased export shows 
also that notwithstanding the large arrivals, 
and the apparent high prices which have here 
prevailed, the general level of prices has been 
lower than abroad, to admit of the larger ex- 
port. The production in the United States 
must have proceeded in an immense ratio to 
meet the home demand of these rapidly in- 
creasing numbers, and to admit of greater 
exports, the general heads of which, as clas- 
sified in the official returns, are as follows : 

EXPORTS FROM UNITED STATES. 

Products of the 1844. 1854. ' Increase- 

Sea $3,350,501 $3,044,301 

Forest. . 5,808,712 11,646,571 $5,887,859 

Agriculture. 17,388,816 66,900,294 49,511,478 

Tobacco- • 8,397,255 10,016,046 1,618,791 

Cott n. 54,063,501 93,596,220 39,532,719 

Manufactures. •• 8.616,459 26,179,503 17,563,044 

Raw Produce.-- 963,265 2,602,301 1,639,036 

Specie. 183,405 38,062,570 37,879,165 

Total Domestic 99,715,179 252,047,806 152,382,627 
Foreign G ods.- 6,214,058 21,715,464 15,501,308 

Foreign Specie. 5^270,809 3,134,730 

Total Experts- $111,200,046 $276,898,000 $165,697,954 

Under every head the increase has been 
very large, as well of manufactured as of ag- 
ricultural products. The accustomed wants 
of the whole population have been supplied 
with manufactures, and 200 per cent, more 
spared for exportation. Considering the in- 
creased wealth of the country it is not proba- 
ble that the consumption per head has been 
any less than in 1840. Taking that census 
as a basis, Professor Tucker, in his work on 
the census, gave the production of all articles 
in the country at $1,063,134,736, of which 
$113,895,634 was exported, leaving $949,- 
239,10"2 as the annual products consumed, or 
$57 per head. At the same rate the produc- 
tion is now as follows : 

Production. Export. Consumption. 

1840 $1,063,134,736 $113,895,634 $949,239,102 

1854 1,781,328,107 252,047,806 1,539,280,301 

Increase. $718,193,371 $138,152,172 $590,041,199 

So vast must have been the productive 
power of the country, arising partly from the 
influx of emigrants, bringing with them gene- 
rally as much capital as the occupation of 
new land requires, as well as more or less 
manufacturing skill and the means of prose- 
cuting it. The great influx of people last 
year, at a time when the crops were short, 



without doubt, aided greatly in maintaining 
prices, and they will this year have an in- 
fluence in diminishing the quantity of food 
that may be spared from the country. It is 
however, the case also that numbers of those 
who within the three last years betook them- 
selves to farms and were not well rewarded 
last year at harvest, will this year, in common 
with other agriculturists, reap a reward that 
must bring them into the market as consumers 
of goods, and on a pretty extensive scale. — 
Year before last, when the railroad expendi- 
ture was active, numbers of new shops were 
opened all over the West, causing a good de- 
mand for stocks of goods, while older establish- 
ments enhanced their varieties. During the 
past year those stocks have run low and re- 
quire ample replenishment to meet the renewed 
demands. These influences are now being felt 
in the markets. — 2V. Y. Ecq/iomist. 



TO DESTROY INSECTS. 

In the tvinged state, most small insects may 
either be driven away by powerful odors or 
killed by strong decoctions of tobacco, or a 
wash of diluted whale-oil or other strong soap. 
Attention has but recently been called to the 
repugnance of all insects to strong odors, and 
there is but little doubt that before a long 
time, it will lead to the discovery o£ the means 
of preventing the attacks of most insects by 
means of strong smelling liquids or odorous 
substances. The moth that attack furs, as 
every one knows, are driven away by pepper- 
corns or tobacco, and should future experi- 
ments prove that at certain seasons, when our 
trees are most likely to be attacked by insects, 
we may expel them by hanging bottles or rags 
filled with strong smelling liquids in our trees, 
it will certainly be a very simple and easy way 
of ridding ourselves of them. The brown 
scale, a troublesome enemy of the orange tree, 
it is stated in the Gardener's Chronicle have 
been destroyed by hanging plants of the com- 
mon chamomile among its branches. The 
odor of the coal tar of gas works, is exceed- 
ingly offensive to some insects injurious to 
fruits, and it has been found to drive away the 
wire worm, and other grubs that attack the 
roots of plants. The vapor of oil of turpentine 
is fatal to wasps, and that of tobacco smoke to 
the green fly. Little as yet is certainly known 
respecting the exact power of the various 
smells in deterring insects from attacking trees. 
What we do know however, gives us reason to 
believe that much may be hoped from experi- 
ments made with a variety of powerful smelling 
substances. 

Tobacco water, and diluted whale-oil soap, 



THE SOUTHERN PLANT EG 



349 



are the two most efficient remedies for all tho 
small insects which feed upon the young shoots 
and leaves of plants. Tobacco water is made 
by boiling tobacco leaves, or the refuse stems 
or stalks of the tobacco shops. A large pot 
is crowded full of them, and then filled up with 
water, which is boiled until a strong decoction 
is made. This is applied to the young shoots 
and leaves with a syringe, or, when the trees 
are growing in nursery rows, with a common 
white-wash brueh ; dipping the latter in the 
liquid and shaking it sharply over extrenieties 
or the infested part of each tree. This, or the 
whale oil soap suds, or a mixture of both, will 
kill every species of plant lice, and nearly all 
other small insects to which young fruit trees 
are subject. 

The wash of whale oil soap is made by mix- 
ing two pounds of this soap, which is one of 
the cheapest and strongest kinds, with fifteen 
gallons of water. This mixture is applied to 
the leaves and stems of plants with a syringe, 
or in any other convenient mode, and there are 
few of the smaller insects that are not destroy- 
ed or driven away by it. The merit of this 
mixture belongs to Mr. David Haggertson, of 
Boston, who first applied it with great success 
to the rose slug, and received the premium of 
the Massachusetts Horticultural Society for 
its discovery. When this soap cannot be ob- 
tained, a good substitute may be made by turn- 
ing into soap the lees of common oil casks, by 
the application of potash and water in the usu- 
al way. 

Maths and other insects which fly at night 
are destroyed in large numbers by the follow- 
ing mode, first discovered by Victor Adouin 
of France. A flat saucer or vessel is set on 
the ground in which is placed a light, partially 
covered with a common bell glass besmeared 
with oil. All the small moths are directly at- 
tracted by the light, fly towards it, and, in 
their attempts to get at the light, are either 
caught by the glutinous sides of the bell glass, 
or fall into the basin of oil beneath, and in 
either case soon perish. M. Adouin applied 
this to the destruction of the pyralis, a moth 
that is very troublesome in the French vine- 
yards ; with two hundred of these lights in a 
vineyard of four acres, and in a single night, 
thirty thousand moths were killed and found 
dead on or about the vessels. By continuing 
his process through the season, it was estima- 
ted that he had destroyed female moths suffi- 
cient to have produced a progeny of over a 
million of caterpillars. In our orchards myri- 
ads of insects may be destroyed by lighting 
small bon-fires of shavings, or any refuse 
brush ; and in districts where the apples are 



vinegar. — 
of trees, 



much worm-eaten, if repeated two or three 
nights at the proper season, this is a very effi- 
cient and cheap mode of getting rid of the 
moth which causes so much mischief. Dr. 
Harris, knowing how important it is to destroy 
the caterpillar in the moth state, has recom- 
mended flambeaux, made of tow wound rouud 
a stake and dipped in tar, to be stuck in the 
fruit garden at night and lighted. Thousands 
of moths will find a speedy death, even in the 
short time which these flambeaux are burning. 
The melon-bug may be extirpated by myriads 
in the same way. 

A simple and most effectual mode of ridding 
the fruit garden of insects of every description, 
which we recommend as a general extirpator, 
suited to all situations is the following. Take 
a number of common bottles, the wider mouth- 
ed the better, and fill them about half full of 
a mixture of water, molasses and 
Suspend these among the branches 
and in various parts of the garden. In a fort- 
night they will be found full of dead insects, 
of every description not too large to enter the 
bottles — wasps, flies, beetles, slugs, grubs, and 
a great variety of others. The bottles must 
now be emptied, and the liquor renewed. A 
zealous amateur of our acquaintance, caught 
last season in this way, more than three bush- 
els of insects of various kinds ; and what is 
more satisfactory, preserved his garden almost 
entirely against their attack in any shape. 

The assistance of Birds in destroying in- 
sects should be duly estimated by the fruit- 
grower. The quantity of eggs and insects in 
various states, devoured annually by birds, 
when they are encouraged in gardens, is truly 
surprising. It is true that one or two species 
of these, as the ring-tail, annoy us by preying 
upon the earlier cherries, but even taking this 
into account, we are inclined to believe that we 
can much better spare a reasonable share of a 
a few fruits, than dispense with the good ser- 
vices of birds in ridding us of an excess of in- 
sects. 

The most serviceable birds are the common 
sparrows, the wren, the red-breast, and, in 
short, most of the birds of this class. All 
these birds should be encouraged to build nests 
and inhabit the fruit garden, and this may 
most effectually be done by not allowing a gun 
to be fired within its boundaries. The intro- 
duction of hedges or live fences, greatly pro- 
motes the domestication of birds, as they afford 
an admirable shelter for their nests. Our own 
gardens are usually much more free from in- 
sects than those a mile or two distant, and we 
attribute this in part to our practice of encour- 
aging birds, and to the thorn and arbor vitse 



350 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



hedges growing here, and which are greatly 
resorted to by those of the feathered tribe 
which are the greatest enemies of the insect 
race. " 

Among animals the toad and. the bat are 
great insect destroyers. The common bat 
lives almost, entirely upon them, and in its 
evening sallies devours a great number of 
moths, beetles, weevils, etc.; and the toad qui- 
etly makes way with numberless smaller in- 
sects. — Downing. 



From the Country Gentleman. 

DRAINING LAND BY WELLS. 

You wish to know if land can be drained 
by wells. I have made one experiment otdy 
and that was entirely successful. I owned a 
piece of land on which there was a basin of 
about three-fourths of an acre, which received 
the surplus water of at least ten acres. It 
would sometimes be from two to three feet 
deep in the centre. The water stood in the 
basin at least eight months in the year, and 
the basin was full every hard rain the other 
four months. On the 3d of August, 1841, I 
dug a well nine feet deep in the centre of the 
basin, and came to living water, which rose 
very rapidly} so much so that I expected to see 
it run over the top in a short time. I think 
the water rose at least two feet in ten minutes 
and then stopped, and remained at that depth 
until a heavy rain of three days. I then went 
to look at the well,' expecting to find it full 
and running over; but to my utter astonish- 
ment, there was not more than two and a half 
feet in the well. It had risen about four feet 
during the storm, I should judge by the 
marks on the side of the well. There must 
have been a great quantity of water run into 
the well, as at least ten acres discharged its 
surplus water into it, and the rain fell in 
torrents during three days. I then dujor 
four open drains leading into the well, and the 
land has been sufficiently dry for wheat, com, 
oats or grass, ever since. It has been in grass 
for the last twelve years, and has borne a heavy 
crop of first-rate hay. 

I should advise in all instances, to dig until 
you come to living water, and then the water 
will pass off in the fissures of the earth. I 
have not the least doubt but that almost any 
spring can be drained by digging a well at a 
little distance, and leading the water into it. 
I would state that I filled the well full of 
stone, thinking it would be cheaper to dig a 
new one than to s one in and keep it covered, 
if it should fail to carry off the water. 
Middletown, Ct. Asa Hubbard. 



Rendering Lard. — One of the best house- 
keepers in the County of Philadelphia, has 
communicated to us the following recipe for 
rendering lard, which was obtained from Char- 
leston, and which possesses many important 
advantages over the common mode. It is sim- 
ply to put in the kettle before the lard — say 
three (pints of li/e, made of hickory ashes, to a 
common barrel-kettle, (generally holding less 
than a barrel.) The advantages of this are, that 
the lard renders easier, becomes' much tchiter, 
is sweeter, and will keep longer. This meth- 
od has been pursued for some years, with the 
highest satisfaction. 

Will not some of the numerous house-keep- 
ers who read this paper, try it this season and 
inform us of the result ? 



Beef Pudding. — Take about one pound of 
steak, cut it length ways in three pieces, and 
then slantways at each inch, instead of in 
lumps; but should you buy cuttings of meat 
from the butcher, then remove all the sinew 
and over fat, and cut the large pieces slant- 
ways, put them in a dish, and sprinkle over 
with a tea spoonful of salt, a half ditto of 
pepper, and a tea-spoonful of Hour, the same of 
chopped onions ; mix well together, make six 
or eight ounces of paste, roll it to the thickness 
of an inch, or a little more, put pudding cloth 
in a basin, sprinkle some flour over it, lay in 
your paste, and then the meat, together with a 
few pieces of fat; when full, put in three wine 
glasses of water, turn the plate over the meat, 
so as not to form a lump, but well closed; then 
tie the cloth, not too close on the paste, or it 
will not be light ; boil it fast in four quarts of 
water for one hour ; take it out, let it stand a 
few minutes to cool, cut the string, turn back 
the cloth, place a dish on the top, and turn it 
over on it, remove the cloth, and serve. If you 
choose to add a kidney, it may add to the 
richness of the gravy, also a few oysters, or 
even. a mushroom. The crust should always 
be cut with a knife. If you carefully follow 
the above instructions you will have a pudding 
quite perfect, the paste as light and as white as 
snow, and the meat tender, with a thick gravy. 



Hoav to make Shi.ep Skin Mats. — Sheep 
skin mats are prepared by taking a fresh skin; 
stretch' it (wool side clown) on a board, tacking 
it carefully round the edges, then take equal 
parts of fine salt and alum, powdered and 
thoroughly mixed — rub the skin three times 
well, with the powder, leaving twelve hours or 
more between each time — keep it out of the 
sv.n, but in the air. — Farm. Journal. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



351 



COMPARATIVE VALUE OF OX AND HORSE 
LABOR. 

The question of the comparative value of 
ox-labor aiid horse-labor, however, is a very 
complicated and difficult one; and has been 
keenly discussed by some of the ablest conti- 
nental writers on rural economy ; and, even 
wbeu thoroughly understood and perspicaeious- 
ly investigated, must be variously determined 
according to circumstances. Burgar says, 
u We must take into consideration the amount 
of labor which horses and oxen can perform, 
in a given period, if we would decide respect- 
ing the one or the other. Because horses per- 
form more in the same time than oxen, and 
are better adapted for many kinds of work ; 
so it not rarely happens that labor is carried 
on cheaper with horses ; a person gains more 
in the le"ss number of the horse-teams and the 
men required for them, compared with the 
greater number of the ox-teams, than the cost 
of their keeping, and the interest of the out- 
lying capital. If the ox-team in a given time 
performed as much work as the horse-team, it 
would unquestionably be cheapest to use them 
for all the work of the farm, and quit the use 
of horses wholly ; but because oxen arc much 
slower in drawing, and a yoke of them, if they 
are strong and well trained, will accomplish in 
favorable circumstances only \ or \ of what 
a good span of farm-horses will ; therefore if 
the keeping of oxen is not unusually cheap, on 
account of the increased number of teams and 
of men required to take care of them, there 
will be greater expense with oxen, than with 
horses." Thaer says, " Horses have an unde- 
niable preference in the following particulars : — 
1. They are suitable for all and every kind of 
work of land-husbandry, in all ways and in all 
weathers. One, therefore, when he keeps on- 
ly horses, is not obliged to choose out work for 
them, but can use his whole team for any busi- 
ness that occurs, and leave no part of it to 
stand still. 2. They accomplish every kind of 
worli more rapidly, and are more constant. 
One can, therefore, not only complete the work 
in the same time more promptly, but also re- 
quire a longer day's work of them. Thus the 
wagon will accomplish more with an equal 
number of horses than with oxen ; although 
with the usual draught of a load they exert not 
more power than oxen, yet thej> overcome by 
their rapidity of motion and energy, many a 
short resistance before which oxen stand still. 
In favor of oxen are the following: — 1, They 
perforaa the greater part of the works on a 
farm, as ploughing, and the near carrying of 
loads, as well as horses do : and one can in a 
usual day's work, if they are well fed, expect 



nearly as much from them. They perform 
the work of ploughing in a certain degree bet- 
ter than horses. 2. The cost of them is con- 
siderably less. Their purchase, on an average, 
is not near so high ; their harness is much 
cheaper ; their food costs much less, and con- 
sists in such things as, on account of its trans- 
portation, are not so marketable as the grain, 
on which horses are kept. 3. What is an im- 
portant particular is, that, if they are well ta- 
ken care of, and not too long kept at work, 
they lessen not as much in value, but improve 
for the most part; so that they often sell for 
more than they at first cost, and thereby soon 
pay the interest on the standing capital ; 
whereas, on the other hand, the value of the 
horse soon sinks to nothing, and the capital is 
wholly exhausted. They are also subject to 
fewer hazards and casualties. 4. They de- 
mand less attention, as one ox-herd can take 
care of 30 oxen, if others work with them by 
change. Finally, they give a greater quantity 
of excrement, which in general affords a more 
productive manure than that of horses. Such 
horses ana oxen must be compared, the rela- 
tion of which in respect to their condition and 
care, are not unlike, &c. There can, there- 
fore, be no doubt, that those labors which can 
be proportionally well performed by oxen, will 
be done cheaper with oxen than with horses. 
If a farm had only such work to be done as is 
convenient for oxen, and it could be executed 
with allowing time to rest, &c., then oxen 
should be used. But if, according to recent 
experiments, another fodder can be introduced 
for horses than corn, and thus the expense be 
lessened, then the question between horses and 
oxen would probably stand differently." 

[Rural Cyclopedia. 



RICHMOND MARKETS. 



firm under the late 
19 25 to #9 50 for Su- 



FL0cn---Tlie market is. 
news. Sales from store at 
perfine and Extra. 

Wheat— Sales at $1 90 to $2 10. 

Corn --85 to 00c. 

Bye— 90 to 05c 

Guano— $55 to #60. 

Lakd— \l\ to 14c. 

Bacon— 13 to 15c. 

W oon— 20 to 35c. 

Feathkrs— 35 to 42c. 

Pt,ASTER---$>4 50; cargo prices. 

Bacon --The Bacon market is rather dull, with a 
downward tendency in prices and limited sa es. 
We quote Weston) Sides, 14c. per lb. ; Shoulders, 
none in market; Hams 13 a 15c. ; Smithfield hog 
round 15c. Nominal, hone in market; city cured, 
noi e in market. Stocks of all descriptions light. 

Tobacco— Receipts are light, without much 
change. Lugs, $4 50 to $5 50; Common Leaf, 
S6to.$7 50; Medium to good, $7 50 to $11 ; Fine 
Shipping $10 to $12 ; Manufacturing, $12 to $20. 






352 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



GOLD EXPORT. 

We some weeks since called atttention to 
the fact, that the war expenditure was but 
now begun to be felt in this country through 
the demand for gold. In another column, an 
extract from the London Economist of the 
latest date will be found in relation to the same 
subject. It admits the necessity of large im- 
ports of grain from the United States. In 
fact, for finer sorts, which are scarce in Eng- 
land, Spain and America are alone to be de- 
pended upon. It is obvious, however, that if 
England is to buy so largely of breadstuffs, 
as well as Cotton and Gold, that credits on 
England must become very cheap. Unless 
the gold returns rapidly from the seat of war, 
it must command relatively a premium, which 
premium will manifest itself in the low price 
of bills drawn against it. This low price of 
bills is, in effect, a diminution to the same ex- 
tent in duties upon imports. If importers 
who gave 110 for bills in the Spring, can re- 
mit for Spring goods at say 105, the differ- 
ence is greatly in their favor, and must impel 
larger imports in exchange for the gold and 
produce. The loss on the export of gold at 
low rates, constitutes the premium which the 
Government must pay for inordinate supplies 
of gold for war purposes. — IV. Y. Econo- 
mist. 



Exportation of Wheat and Wool from 
Spain. — It is but a few years, comparatively, 
since Spain produced all the fine wool in the 
world. But the dispersion of the breed of 
sheep which yielded this wool — the Merino — 
over other countries, has lessened the produc- 
tion in Spain, while from want of care in 
breeding, the quality of the Spanish wool has 
to some extent deteriorated. Wheat has taken 
the place of wool-growing in that country. 
The change is worthy of note by those inte- 
rested in questions affecting the commercial re- 
lations of nations. The Farmer's Magazine 
gives the following summary of the importa- 
tions of wheat and wool into England : 

Of Spanish wool we received in 1850 
440,751 lbs.; this decreased in 1854 to 
383,150 lbs., to 233,413 lbs. in 1852, and to 
154.146 lbs. in 1853. In these years, however, 
the amounts of the Spanish wheat and flour 
imported observed a very different direction. 
It was : — 

In 1850, - - 2,184 qrs. 

In 1851, - - 115 " 

In 1852, - - 6,321 " 

In 1853, - - 103,814 " 

and this has since gone on very largely in- 
creasing in 1854 and 1855. — Boston Cult. 



CONTENTS OF NO. XI. 

PAGE. 

On increasing the supply of Riding Horses 321 

On increasing supplies of Cavalry Horses 322 

Grain Crop of 1855 326 

Animal Refuse as Manure 329 

Performance of the Steam Plough in England 330 

Ornamental Planting 331 

A new Shade Tree 334 

Use of Lime 335 

Riding and Driving Match by Ladies 336 

Mixed Rye and Oats 33* 

What is the proper use of the Back-Band to 

the Ploughman 338 

Are we Progressing 339 

Blood Stock, what is it 340 

Green Manuring 341 

Newly invented Plough 342 

Pratt's Patent Ditch Digger 342 

Feeding Sheep 343 

Turnips 344 

Effects of feeding stock upon Corn Field Peas 345 

Rate of Interest , . . . 346 

Production and Consumption 347 

To D stroy Insects 348 

Draining Land by Wells 350 



WORMS ! WORMS ! ! 

A great many learned treatises have been writ- 
ten, explaining the origin of, and classifying the 
worms generated in the human system. Scarcely 
any topic of medical science has elicited more 
acute observation and profound research; and yet 
physicians are very much divided in opinion on the 
subject. It must be admitted, however, that, after 
all, a mode of expelling these worms, and purifying 
ihebody from their.presence, is of more value than 
the wisest disquisitions as to (he origin. The expell- 
ing agent has at length been found. Dr. M'LANE'S 
VERMIFUGE is the much sought after specific, 
and has already superceded all other worm medi- 
cines, its efficacy being universally acknowledged 
by medical practitioners. 

gjfPurchasers will please be careful to ask for 
Dr. M'LANE'S CELEBRATED VERMIFUGE, 
and take none else. All other Vermifuges, in com- 
parison, are worthless. Dr M'Lane's genuine Ver- 
mifuge, also his celebrated Liver Pills, can now be 
had at all respectable Drug Stores in the United 
States and Canada. Nov. ] -2m 



ANOTHER LETTER FROM TEXAS. 
Travis Co., Texas, Aug. 24, 1854. 
Messrs Fleming Brothers: 

Dear Sirs — There were several cases of Chills 
and Fever in my mother's family at the time we re- 
ceived the M'LANE'S LIVER PILLS ordered in 
my letter of June 1 2th, and a few doses administered 
in each case produced the desired effect, thus de- 
monstrating the efficiency of these celebrated Pills 
in that disease. 

Mother has not been troubled with the sick head 
ache since she has commenced taking these Pills, 
and as we have but few of them left, you will please 
send us another dollar's worih. Direct, as before, 
to Austin, Texas. Respectfully yours, 

MEREDITH W. HENRY. 

fflrPurchasers will be careful to ask for Dr. 
M'LANE'S CELEBRATED LIVER PILLS, and 
take none else. There are other Pills, purporting 
to be Liver Pills, now before the public. Dr. 
M'Lane's Liver Pills, also his celebrated Vermi- 
fuge, can now be had at all respectable DrugStorer 
in the United States. Nov. 1— 2m