f'^ ■ f - ff - A 



\, «£ r 



1 KUf< Js/^stJ^ 



I cv 



\4%'-^> 



Jffi VOL. XVII. 






[OCTOBER] 



No. 10. Y& 



Publisiied Monthly. Puffin & August, Proprietors, £J 



FRANK: G. RUFFIN, Editor. 



T H- E 



vsssiMMi 




DEVOTED TO 



AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE, 






•AND THE 



HOUSEHOLD ARTS. 



PRINTED AT RICHMOND, Va., h 
BY MACFAKLANE & FERGUSSON 
18 37. 



f-\ 



M 



CONTENTS. 



A Proposition for the Consideration of 
the Executive Committee of the State 
Agricultural Society and the Farmers 
of Virginia, 

Chinese Sugar Cane, 

Our Agricultural Fairs.-FatteningHogs 

Account of Preparation of Wheat Land, 
Wheat Seeding, Application of Diffe- 
rent Manures, and of Lime in Small 
Quantities. By George C. Gilmer, of 
Albemarle, 

Difference in Growth of Wheat upon 
Peas Fallowed under, and Pea Land 
Cleaned off, 

Truck or Vegetable Market of Norfolk, 

A Certain Cure for Kidney Worm in 
Swine, 

Mange in Swine.— The true View of the 
Alleged Sparse Population of Virgi- 
nia.— A Libel Refuted, 

The Guano Trade.— Poultry Houses, . 

The Dairy, 

A Steam Plow, 

Wheat Culture— Results of Certain For- 
eign Experiments, 

Cuban Sugar Plantation, 

Sugar and the Sorghum, 

Bossingault on the Alimentation of 
Plants, 

Wheat turning to Chess, 

Drilling in Wheat.— Location as it Ef- 
fects Temperature and Vegetation, . 

The Chinese Sugar Cane, 

Railroads, • • • 

Agricultural Machinery and its Results, 

tlow it may be Easier for a Machine to 
Work than to do Nothing, &c, 



The Meat Manufacture, . g • 

Arabian Horses in Kentucky.— Preju- 
dice against Agricultural Periodicals, 
, Early Planting, . • .• 

5841 Statistics of English and French Agn- 



586 



587 



589 
590 

590 



591 

592 
593 
596 

597 
600 
601 

602 
604 

605 
606 
607 
608 

608 



culture. — Superphosphates of Lime. 

The Agriculture of Ohio, 

The Crops of the West in 1857.— Criti- 
cism on the Action of Commission 
Merchants in regard to the Inspectors, 

Asparagus— How to make Beds— Plant 
ing— Cultivation— Cutting, &c, 

A Plain Talk about Seed, 

The Next Fair, 

Grapes, and How to Cultivate them, 

Mignonette, 

Flowering Bulbs— To Measure Hay in 
Mows.— Great Yield of Tobacco and 
Wheat, • • 

Grain Trade— Large Corn Demand, 

British Corn Trade, 

New York Markets, • • 

Hard Times.— The late Wm. Maghee of 
Petersburg.— Mr. J. B. Watkins not 
an Agent for the Planter.— Errata.— 
A Draining Plough, . • 

New Kind of Wheat.— On Threshers 
and Cleaners, . • - • 

Varieties of Seeds of Curious and Rare 
Plants, and of Common Plants for 
Distribution at the State Fair.— A 
Remedy wanted for Chulera in Ducks 
and Chickens.— A Singular Fact, . 

Sales of Land in Highland County, Va- 
—Prairie Wind Flour Mills, 

Advertisements, 



609 

615 
616 

617 

618 



6< 

625 

627 

629 

630 



631 
632 
633 
634 



637 
638 



639 

639 
640 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 
Is pubtished monthly, in sixty-four octavo pages, 
upon the following 

TERMS: 

TWO DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS per an- 
num, unless paid in advance. 

Advance payments as follows : 

One copy, one vear, 
Six copies, do 
Thirteen copies, one year, - 
Twenty do do * 

One copy, three years, 

And one copy free to persons sending us the names 
and money for thirteen or more new subscribers. 

All money remitted to ns will be considered at our 
risk only, when the letter containing the same shall 
have been registered This rule is adopted not for our 
protection, hut for the protection of our correspondents, 



and we wish it distinctly understood that we take the 
risk only when this condition is complied with. 



$2 
10 
20 
30 
5 



ADVERTISEMENTS 

Will be inserted at the following rates : 

Business Cards of 5 lines or less, per annum, 
1st insertion, 
Each continuance, 
6 months, ? without - 

12 '" \ alteration, 

1st insertion. 
Each continuance, 
6 moot hi 

12 
1st insertion, 
Each continuance, 
6 months, ) without 

12 " > alteration, 



Each square 
of 10 lines or 
less, 

Half a page or 
One column, 



One. page, 



) without ■ 
$ alteration, 



$5 CO 

I 00 

75 

4 50 

8 00 

6 00 
4 50 

25 00 
40 00 
10 00 

7 50 
40 Oi) 
70 00 



Advertisements out ot the city must he accompa- 
nied with the money or city references to insure inser- 
I lion. 




Devoted to Agriculture, Horticulture, and the Household Arts. 



Agriculture is the nursing mother of the Arts. I Tillage and Pasturage are the two breasts of 
—Zenophon. \ the State.— Sully. 



FRANK. G. RUFFIN, Editor. 



F. G. RUFFIN & N. AUGUST, Prop'r?. 



Vol. XVII. RICHMOND,. VA., OCTOBER, 1857. 



No. 10. 



From the Richmond Wilis*. 

A Proposition for the Consideration of 
the Executive Committee of the State 
Agricultural Society and the Farmers 
of Virginia. • 

1. That portion of mankind engaged in 
the cultivation of the soil, in most countries, 
is subject to peculiar impositions, and is 
the victim of much injustice. Dispersed, 
being rarely brought together in large 
bodies, peaceful and quiet in their habits, 
they seldom combine and rarely act in 
concert for any purpose. On the contrary, 
manufacturers, men in the professions, the 
tradesmen of the towns, and most other 
classes, easily unite to promote their spe- 
cial objects, from their plans, and move 
in harmony to their accomplishment. The 
farmers of this State make no exception to 
the general rule. But I have no inten- 
tion of discussing the general question ; 
jonly one branch of it. 

2. The milling^ business in the city of 
Richmond is carried on, for the most part, 
by three gigantic establishments, which do 
honor to the city by their extraordinary 
magnitude, the remarkable skill with 
which they are managed, and the perfec- 
tion of their operations. It is generally 

37 



understood, that such is their established 
reputation, that their " brands" command 
better prices than all others in most mar- 
kets, if not in all. The South American 
markets are among those where they find 
the largest sales, and where the charac- 
ter of their flour is so high as to give them 
great advantages, and be a source of large 
profits. These three mills buy, it is be- 
lieved, a large portion of the wheat which 
is made on this side of the Blue Ridge 
excepting that which is sent from the 
State or manufactured in Alexandria, 
Fredericksburg, and Petersburg. But I 
speak with no precision as to amounts, • 
having no statistics before me. Their 
purchases are certainly very laro-e, 
amounting to millions, and they fix fhe 
price of wheat in Richmond, and impose 
whatever conditions they deem calculated 
to promote their interests or convenience.* 
Nor is their influence limited to the Rich- 
mond market. Houses trading on so co- 
lossal a scale affect prices throughout the 
State ; nor would it be unreasonable tc 
say, produce some effect in the New York 
markets. Establishments of such magni- 
tude are of public interest, and it cannot, 
with any propriety, be regarded an intru- 
sion into private affairs to discuss their in- 
fluence and their mode of transacting bu- 



578 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



siness, when considering the interests of 
the agricultural class of this State. 

3. These millers fix the price of wheat in 
Richmond ; but there is a limit to their 
power in this respect. They cannot de- 
scend more than fifteen or twenty cents 
below New York prices ; for, when this 
occurs, the wheat is sent to this latter 
place. It will be found on examination, 
that they generally sink in price as low 
as they possibly can, and yet prevent the 
grain from seeking another market. It is 
believed by many, and with good reason, 
that, instead of giving fifteen or twenty 
cents less than the New York price, the 
Richmond miller can afford to give more, 
because his flour brings a better price. 
But he profits by his monopoly of the 
market, as is to be expected. If he could 
inot obtain wheat here lower than in New 
York, he would certainly give the price. 
The advantages he enjoys in water-power 
over the New York miller, the magnitude 

• of .his operations, and the high reputation 
of his brands, would enable him to com- 
pete most successfully, it is believed, in 
the markets of the world, if he were 

■ compelled by circumstances to give even 
more for grain than the New York 
miller. 

:JL. But is it to be expected, under the cir- 
cumstances in which they are placed, 
that the Richmond millers will give what 
they can afford ? It is not ; they will buy 
as low as they can, and sell their flour, 
doubtless, as high as they can. More 
cannot, perhaps, be asked from commer- 
cial men.; but it is certainly much to be 
desired, that the farmer should be placed 
in such a position as to be able' to demand 

• and obtain what is a fair price for his 
grain. He can place himself in this po- 
sition by combination. 

5. The millers act in concert, and from 
the nature of things must do so. The 
great business is done by three houses, in 

• fifteen minutes' walk of each other. It 
is immaterial whether they have any ex- 
pressed agreement or not. One will not 
submit to prices more onerous, to any ex- 
tent, or terms of purchase less profitable 
than the rest. 

6. They all require, as a general rule, that 
the grain should be in Richmond before 
they will make an offer. When it is once 
there, they have greatly the 
the transaction of buying and 



for the farmer must submit to their terms, 
or incur the expense and hazard of stor- 



advantage in 
selling ; 



age or reshipment. He will usually make 
considerable sacrifice rather than defer a 
sale and run the risk, expense, and trou- 
ble of sending his grain to another mar- 
ket. This usage places him very much' 
at the mercy of the buyer, and many will 
submit to a sacrifice of twenty or twenty- 
five cents per bushel. 

7. Again ; these gentlemen find it to their 
convenience, and doubtless to their inter- 
est, to receive grain at their mills, in- 
stead of taking it from the vessel, as is 
usual everywhere else. Accordingly this 
is the rule, and the consequence is, much 
difficulty in inducing captains of vessels 
to become responsible for the cargoes of 
wheat, at a reasonable freight, taken to 
this market, because they very justly urge 
that the grain is taken from their vessels 
and transferred in carts, over which they 
have no control, to the mills, to be weigh- 
ed and delivered. The loss from this 
source is estimated by one of the oldest 
and most experienced commission mer- 
chants of this city as averaging three- 
fourths of one per cent, of the grain. 
There is also another well-founded com- 
plaint as to the delivery of grain here : 
When sold, the miller will not take it of 
the vessels, but frequently detain then 
eight and ten days, and sometimes longer 
using them as depots, and at the sam< 
time refusing to pay anything for the de 
tention. This is, doubtless, a grievanc* 
which ought to be remedied. 

8. Another grievance farmers have t< 
complain of in this market, is at the hand 
of the commission merchants. The pric< 
they charge for selling is believed to b 
most unreasonable, and ought not to b< 
submitted to. The price in Baltimore i 
one cent per bushel for selling grain ; her 
it is two and a half per cent, on the sal< 
When wheat is two dollars, this is fiv 
cents per bushel. To avoid this unre; 
sonable demand, a majority of farmer 
sell their own wheat, and have no ager, 
to attend to the business for them. 

9. All these losses may be avoided, tb| 
farmers' convenience promoted, our price 
materially improved, by imitating the mi 
lers and the commission merchants. Yi 
the former act in concert by an agent at 
thorized to speak in their name and mal 
sales for them. If all the wheat sold in Ricl 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



579 



mond, were committed to the hands of 
one man, he would then occupy the po- 
sition in reference to the millers which 
they now occupy to the farmers. Or if 
one half, his power would be in propor- 
tion to the amount. He would dictate 
his terms, with only this limitation. If 
the price demanded by him were so high 
that the millers could better afford to pur- 
chase in other markets, and suffer all the 
expense of commissions, insurance, and 
transportation, then they would not buy 
of him. But if the sum were only less 
than the price in other markets, with 
these various charges added, they would 
find it then their interest. Thus the pres- 
ent state of things would be reversed. 
Now the millers say to us, practically, you 
must take the New York prices minus "the 
cost of transportation, insurance, commis- 
sions, and all the expenses of sale in that 
city. This would be about fifteen or twenty 
cents loss. Our agent might then say to the 
millers, with equal propriety : you must 
give the N. York prices, or the Baltimore 
prices, plus the expense of transportation, 
and all the other charges incident to pur- 
chasefcmd.transfer, for if I do not sell to you, 
you will be compelled to resort to these mar- 
kets^ This negotiation would probably 
terminate fairly by the millers offering to 
give New York prices, to avoid the expen- 
ses referred to ; and the agents receiving 
the offer, to escape the charges of trans* 
portation and sale in a distant market. 

10. There are a few houses that wish to 
buy two or three millions of bushels of 
wheat. We have it to sell but we 
amount to many thousands. They take 
us in detail, weak from dispersion and a 
total want^ of concert. They are strong 
from practical combination, close contigu- 
ity and thorough information. They act 
with rapidity and together, we move 
slowly, scattered several hundred miles 
apart, and often with imperfect informa- 
tion of the state of the markets. We 
suffer all the disadvantages of a mob act- 
ing against a regular army, or more pro- 
perly, of a population dispersed over a 
wide extent of country, without union, 
without leader, and for the most part, 
without arms, combinating a well-discip- 
lined soldiery. 

11. If we had an agent in Richmond, 
authorized to speak and act for us, we 
would then enjoy all the advantages of 



union. The representatives of millions 
of dollars, who want to buy, would be 
met by the representative of millions of 
dollars in value of grain who wants to 
sell. It would be potentate against po- 
tentate, and not as at present, the weak 
man dealing with the strong. We see 
now, in a^ limited way, the operation of 
this principle. The commission merchant, 
who sells during the season one hundred 
thousand bushels of wheat, can obtain 
better terms than the farmer who sells 
only a few hundred ; and the farmer sell- 
ing five thousand, will probably do bet- 
ter than the man who sends a wagon 
load. It is an object to obtain a large 
amount. But the purchaser of half a 
million of bushels of wheat a year can- 
not afford to give his time to small trans- 
actions without being well paid for it. 

12. Let the Executive Committee of 
the State Agricultural Society appoint a 
commercial agent, (it is immaterial by 
what name he is called,) to reside in 
Richmond, and devote his time and ener- 
gies to the sale of grain. He should be 
a man whose sympathies and interests are 
identified with the cultivators of the soil. 
At the same time he should be acquainted 
with commerce, competent to investigate 
the intricate and complicated question of 
price, to gather information as to produc- 
tion, in the great grain-growing counties, 
whose crops influence the markets of the 
world. A man reliable in integrity and 
in judgment. To such a man so appointed 
and endorsed, the farmers would willingly 
entrust the sale of their crops. He would 



agent, the appointee of their 



be their 

Society. He should report to the Com- 
mittee at stated periods on the state of 
the crops throughout this country and in 
others, whose production effect the prices 
of our staples; and in general, submit 
such importation on this class of subjects 
as would interest the farmers generally. 
If he did his duty, his # office would be 
laborious, but it would be mighty honour- 
able. It would involve much responsi- 
bility, but my impression is, it would be 
largely remunerative. He would be lim- 
ited to one cent per bushel on sales of 
grain generally, as is the usage in Balti- 
more. If sustained, as I believe he would 
be, this per cent would give him a liberal 
income, if not, the office would not be 
worth continuing. But there is no reason 



580 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



to apprehend failure. The farmers of 
Virginia as a class, are men of great in- 
telligence, quick to perceive their inter- 
ests and not slow in sustaining whatever 
they believe would promote it. They 
would recognize at once the public policy 
of such an agency, as well as their indi- 
vidual profit. They would perceive, that 
by this means, concert of action on the 
part of the buyers, would be met by con- 
, cert on the part of sellers, which would 
certainly enure greatly to their benefit. 
Some such means of defence are especi- 
ally necessary, now that the grain market 
is often influenced by all the trickery of 
stock-jobbing; even Louis Napoleon be- 
ing sometime found engaged in the inter- 
esting process of selling grain to depress 
prices, when he wants to buy. This is an 
ordinary strategem in the ' stock market, 
and 1 fear not an uncommon one in the 



grain market. 

13. The millers and commission mer- 
chants would have no cause to complain 
of the adoption of such a measure. The 
object is not to injure them, but defend 
ourselves ; in truth, to place ourselves in 
transactions with them, upon a platform 
of equality. If we who sell wheat in 
Richmond,, were like the millers, three or 
four in number instead of many 
sands, we should need no agenl 
should meet them there on equal terms ; 
and we would probably say to them, un- 
less better reason could be assigned for a 
contrary course than any I have heard ; 
you must buy our wheat by sample, and 
not subject us to the expense of sending 
our wheat to Richmond, with a chance of 
being compelled, if you will not give us a 
fair price, to send it to some other mar- 
ket ; you must receive it on board the 
vessel, as is usual in other markets ; you 
must consult our convenience as well as 
your own ; you must give us as much for 



great, resources and concentrated business 
enable them to wield a strength, which 
it is necessary the farmer should meet by 
union. 

A FARMER. 
King and Queen, July 27th, 1857. 

Since writing the above, I have been 
informed at one of the best commission 
houses in the city of Richmond, that sev- 
eral of the Richmond "brands" command 
at Rio Janeiro, a large market for this 
flour, on an average, about three dollars 
more per barrel than other flour. The re- 
sult is, they pay fifteen or twenty cents 
less for wheat than the N. Y. millers, and 
obtain three dollars more per barrel for 
the flour. 



In publishing the above proposition, in 
courtesy to the gentleman who -wrote it, and 
who is an intimate and highly prized personal 
friend, we feel bound to offer some accompany- 
ing comments. We shall do so by referring to 
the different points he makes in numbers, as 
being more convenient than to repeat them. If 
our readers shall mistake what we deem a can- 
did statement of objections, for an adv^acy of 
the millers and merchants, be it so. "We hope 
we shall never seek popularity at the expenses 
thou- j of our convictions ; nor court the favour of the< 
We class we write for by chimiug in with a policy 
we cannot endorse, and with complaints ofi 
which we cannot see the justice. 

(3.) The price of wdieat is not always fixed 
by the Richmond Miller according to the price 
in New York. When there is a glut here, then 
the price is lower than in other markets, 
whether of New York or other places ; but 
when there is a scarcity, actual or comparative, 
the price rises accordingly, and even goes be- 
yond that of New York. At times, as in the 
commencement of this grinding season, the 
price in Richmond leaves a margin for ship- 



our grain as we can get in New York, or pers> who ava il themselves of it, or not, accord 
satisfy us you cannot afford to do it. Or, { - to circumstailC e S 
we would, at lea^t, negotiate as equals on 
'these subjects. 

14. I deem it proper to say, and I do 
it with pleasure, that I believe the gen- 
tlemen. engaged in the milling business in I Unitod State;; ' ir toust » when local causes! 



The price of wheat in New York affects this 
market so fir and no farther than this : that as 
that Citv is the great centre of trade in the 



Richmond are as liberal, under the cir- 
cumstances, as any other men would be. 
They profit by their power to make pur- 
chases as low as possible, — which is usual 
in commercial transactions. And their 



not interfere, affect the price of flour. Now 
the miller, in his purchases of wheat, must 
have reference to his sales of flour ; and so far 
as New York guages them, it guages also the 
price of wheat. Most of our flour is sold for 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



58: 



New York ; somehow or other it pays tribute 
to it, as every thing here does, and to say that 
the miller gives New York prices less costs of 
sale is in effect to say that he gives the New 
York price, for thither must he send it if the 
farmer does not. 

(5.) " The millers act in concert." We be- 
lieve the experience of every merchant, and of 
many of us who are so circumstanced as not to 
need their intervention, proves this position in- 
correct. To cite our own experience in the 
late crop: We tried four millers; (there are 
four " gigantic establishments," and several 
smaller ones ;) the wheat was all red — early 
purple-straw, and Mediterranean. One " gi- 
gantic" gentleman offered us $1.40 and $1.45 5 
another $1.52 and $1.50 ; another $1,50 and 
$1.45; the fourth $1.50 for the lot round- 
These offers also varied as to requirement of 
delivery and terms of payment. In another 
case, we knew a merchant who had a lot of 
damp wheat for which he could get no offer, 
and he decided to ship it to New York, (which 
is, we are happy to say, a better market 
for rubbish than Richmond) ; but he had 
also a lot of superior red wheat. He found 
out accidentally that that quality was short 
that day in the city, and that one particular 
miller wanted all he could get. He made that 
miller take both parcels, and so affected a sat- 
isfactory sale for both his customers, though of 
course at different rates. 

We could multiply such instances, and could 
shew that there is frequently such active com- 
petition among these millers that they make 
secret bargains for wheats that they want. But 
it is useless and would be tedious to do so. The 
price that each man gives for wheat is just 
what his shipments justify and what the mar- 
ket requires. If heavy shipments find a glut- 
ted market, wheat keeps up ; if a scanty mar- 
ket, wheat goes up ; and so, in ever varying 
phaze, according to the conditions of trade. 
Sometimes competition is sharp, sometimes it 
is dull ; sometimes a miller knows what his 
neighbors offer, sometimes he does not. Occa" 
sionally their views vary. Wheat must ad- 
| vance, says one, and I shall lay in a stock now. 
Wheat must fall, says another, and I will hold 
back. And so one mill may have wheat out on 
storage, while another has- only a current sup- 
ply. Wheat falls, say. You go with your 



sample to the full miller : " Not baying to-day, 
sir." You take it across the street to his 
neighbor, and sell in a minute. 

(G.) They should require as a rule that wheat 
should be in market before they bid for it. Can 
you sell a load in New York by sample ? Sup- 
pose you sell by sample here, and warrant, as 
you should do, conformity to it. Your wheat 
comes into market dirty, soft, damp, "hot 
enough to roast an egg." You at home : the 
miller rejects the lot. What a sweet humour 
you are in with that miller — hotter than your 
wheat — and how you vow you will never sell 
wheat to him again. Suppose that wheat has 
fallen meanwhile. May it not cross your mind 
that a falling market sometimes makes wheat 
hot ? And how will the miller feel under that 
sort of imputation ? No, he is right. As a gen- 
eral rule, he never should buy wheat, except 
when it is in market, or as accessible as if it 
were in market. "This usage places the far- 
mer at the mercy of the buyer." But the other 
places the miller at the mercy of the farmer, 
who likes a good bargain just as much as the 
miller does. It is "hardest fend off:" and the 
wheat grower must do as all other people do 
who have anything to sell. We are sometimes 
caught with a lot of cattle on a glut ; and the 
butchers bleed us accordingly. So of all other 
commodities. Even pigs are sometimes 
brought to a bad market, but the drover never 
complains that they do not buy his " pig in a 
poke." 

(7.) But they receive wheat only at their 
mills. Suppose they do. The wheat must be 
weighed. Shall the millers have scales at all the 
depots, and wharves, and on the landing 
around the basin, to weigh wheat ? Or shall 
they have one common place of delivery with- 
in their own precincts, and subject to their 
own inspection? Take the cost of porters, 
weighers, and other agents under the proposed 
system, who must be paid all the time 'and 
never half employed. Are you willing to de- 
duct that cost from your wheat, or shall they 
bear it? As a question not of generosity, but 
of justice, is it not fairer to take the chances 
and average the loss ? As a question of loss, is 
it not less under the present system than under 
the above, the inevitable alternative of the one 
practised ? If the captains of schooners and 
canal boats — who always remind one of "the 



582 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



day of small things" — object to the roguery 
which prevails, let them make their bargains 
with the draymen. Why compel the miller to 
employ a police force, especially when he is 
bound to charge you with the cost of it? By 
the showing of " f of one per cent," this loss 
is not far short of $20,000. Think you the mil- 
lers will guarantee against such an amount with- 
out a discount on the price of wheat which 
would make you howl? For the loss, which to 
ten thousand farmers would be less than two 
dollars, would be to six millers upwards of 
three thousand each. 

The detention on the vessels is complained 
of, and doubtless it is to be regretted. But the 
system is at fault, not the miller, unless in par- 
ticular cases. If the miller declines to buy 
the wheat, the farmer grumbles ; if he buys 
but cannot receive it at once, the captain 
swears. Roasted by one party or the other is 
our unhappy miller. If he has bought the 
wheat to arrive, he ought to take it off as soon 
as he can. Generally he does so, for our mil- 
ler has learned that the hold of a vessel is not 
the safest storage for wheat ; and as it is his 
wheat this time he consults his experience, and 
gets it off as soon as he is able. There is in 
part a remedy for this thing. The millers 
should have canal boats to take off the wheat 
and bring it up through the dock. But how 
can this apply to the Rail-road depots, when 
the streets are not navigable? 

(8. 9.) But the Commission Merchants charge 
too much. So we have heard before. But let 
us look at it and see ; and, in order to see the 
better, let us go back a little. The mode of 
doing business on commission in Richmond is 
peculiar. 

In old time when tobacco was our main arti- 
cle of export, the merchant resided abroad and 
sent the Planter, in exchange for his produce, 
what supplies he needed, from the mother coun- 
try-r-we had no philanthropic "sister" country 
then. When the merchants, like eagles to the 
carcase, flocked to this country, they became 
the bankers of the Planter, and, by special ar- 
rangement, granted credit to him to be re- 
deemed out of his next crop. That next crop 
was almost always short of the demands upon 
it, if not of the expectation from it. But in con- 
sideration of the payment of a certain sum it 
was carried to "account:" and the Plantei 



drew again ; until, in time, a mortgage was ob- 
tained; then a foreclosure of that, and then the 
merchant became a gentleman. 

The remains of those usages still exist. The 
Farmer, or Planter, has his Commission Mer- 
chant; and it is the rule to draw on him in 
advance of consignments, and for such propor- 
tion thereof as prudence, good will, competi- 
tion, or agreement, on the part of the merchant 
will allow, not unfrequently to the full estimate 
of the consignment, and sometimes over that- 
Whether it be to meet engagements or to pur- 
chase supplies — "I can give you a draft on my 
Commission Merchant." In the one case he 
pays the cash ; in the other he forwards the 
goods ; and he charges six per cent per annum, 
for the money, or credit, as it may happen, and 
nothing for his trouble in making the pur- 
chases. But money meanwhile may be worth 
one per cent per month on the street ; most 
usually is ; and the merchant must forego an 
investment at those rates or raise the money at 
them to accommodate his customer. Now if 
for running of errands — some of them have 
been to our office half a dozen times a day to 
buy one pig — buying every thing one wants in 
the country, accepting drafts, supplying guano, 
if for these things 2 \ per cent on the sale of pro- 
duce is too much, how little ought they to ask ? 
We have considered ourselves pretty strong 
pro-slavery men, but we do not expect white 
men to work for nothing. 

In places where wheat is sold for one cent 
per bushel, we apprehend a different state of 
things prevail. If your Merchant there " ad- 
vances," we presume he charges you for it. If 
you want money he gets it on a note, most 
probably your note, endorsed by himself, paya- 
ble at, say, four months ; for which favour you 
pay him 2} per cent, and the interest besides ; 
for each renewal you go through the same mill 
and pay the same toll. When he buys for you 
he charges a commission on his trouble ; and 
if he pays your bills for groceries or what not, 
it is an " advance." Now which is the most 
liberal system to the Farmer. 

We do not doubt, though we never heard the 
question mooted among them — we cannot doubt 
that all merchants in Richmond would gladly 
agree to charge only one cent per bushel on 
sales of wheat, if he who makes it would only 
agree not to ask them for one cent until the 
proceeds were in hand. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



581 



Still if you can make our merchants work 
for less, do it. We live upon one another— 
" Cannibals all," as Mr. Fitzhugh would say. 
But can you do it by appointing a man to sell 
the wheat for us. Let him sell all. As that is 
about two millions of bushels per annum, he 
will have to disburse of course 2} millions of 
dollars. Now where will he get the money to 
make advances on his sales? for the farmer 
will have the advances. Suppose he has it; 
and that he keeps 33 per cent of the whole 
sum at command. "What will be the effect of 
withdrawing about a million from' active circu- 
lation in order to meet a contingent demand ? 
Or if he keep it in circulation, why then he 
must have a bank based on that much capital, 
a Farmers' Bank in very truth. And who is 
to manage that Bank? Where is its accounta- 
bility. How many farmers who want accom- 
modations, and don't care a button for a pro- 
test, will throng that bank, and will come to 
" The Farmers' Assembly," and "vote against 
the agent, and put in another man," unless* 
they can get money ? 

But along with his bank he will want a few 
clerks and agents to attend to his wheat trans- 
actions. Who will manage them ? Can he ? 
In other words, call any one man do all the 
business that now requires all the attention of 
the hundred Commission Merchants and their 
numerous clerks who daily hurry along to get 
through their daily work? What security have 

! we " now that the grain market is often influ. 
enced by all the trickery of jobbing," that the 
bank may not break, or the banker abscond, or 

I "be sometimes found engaged in the interesting 
process of selling grain to depress prices, when 
he wants to buy" — through an agent, of 
course ? Such an officer of the society must 
give security. Who will go upon his bond? 
But the agent cannot even with that capital, 

I and with every assumption granted, control 
sales. The necessities of hundreds of farmers 
will force him to sell, and their wheat will be 
thrown on the market to take the chances. The 
laws of trade will assert their own paramount 
authority. 

(12.) But he must be a man identified with 
the soil, and "reliable in integrity and in 
judgment" — half dirt, half deity — "compe- 
tent to investigate the intricate and complica- 
ted question of price ;" and of course to decide 



whose theory of price is right. Now where 
does that gentleman live ? Not in the country, 
if he lives at all. Yet he must be one of a 
class that "is subject to peculiar impositions, 
and the victims of much injustice," " dis- 
persed," " seldom combining, peaceful and 
quiet in their habits, rarely acting in concert 
for any purpose," and as a natural consequence 
of all this, rather stupid on " the intricate and 
complicated question of price." 

It is rather curious, and has not, we are sure, 
occurred to our friend, who would make a far- 
mers' monopoly of the wheat trade, that he 
more decidedly than any other gentleman of 
our acquaintance, condemned the monopoly of 
Barreda, and urged the Guano Convention that 
met in Washington and very sensibly " passed 
Resolutions" to do nothing ! Now what is his 
scheme but a monopoly? And how does he 
stand, crying down with monopoly, when he 
wants to make, wheat; and up with monopoly 
when he wants to sell it ? 

But we have said enough, though we could 
not have said less in courtesy to our friend. 
We thank him at least for the opportunity he 
has given us to attempt to defend the Mer- 
chants and Millers from a good deal of com- 
plaint and dissatisfaction. We have consulted 
no merchant in what we have here said, and 
no miller knows, that we have written it. But 
we take pleasure in paying our tribute to the 
general fairness and liberality of both. 

Farmers somehow imagine that they are 
" victims," and feel themselves abused by those 
they deal with. They think themselves the 
honestest people in the world — and no wonder : 
for poets and politicians have always told them 
so. Nevertheless it is not true, as a little com- 
mon sense might have taught them. Of the 
business classes the lawyers are by all odds the 
most honest ; next the merchant ; and then, 
if you choose, the farmers. For this there is 
a reason. Apart from religious influences, 
honesty is a matter of demand and supply. 
The lawyer has more of it because he has more 
use for it. No other class of men is trusted 
without security, with enormous sums of money, 
which he rarely peculates ; no man has as many 
secrets of value which he might sell, but he 
does not betray them ; no man has anything 
like as much confidence reposed in him, not 
only in cases of property, but of life itself. 



584 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



but he seldom abuses it. And it is all the 
more remarkable, in that foolish people ab- 
solve him from the obligations of common 
honesty, and think him the source of rascality, 
when he is only its instrument, and very often 
its dupe* 

And so the merchant finds honesty as indis- 
pensable in his business as capital itself. Both 
can be instantly exposed ; both he and the 
lawyer are in such daily and hourly contact 
with men that if they were dishonest it would 
•'stick out," as the slang says; and yet both 
are exposed to temptations which the farmer 
does not dream of, and could scarcely resist. 
But his business does not require the same de- 
velopment of honesty, and consequently he 
does not manifest it. Farmers have virtues 
peculiar to their life and avocation, beautiful 
virtues; and they are honest, too, but not so 
far ahead of other people as to justify the claim 
they make. 

Let us then, brothers, drop this talk about 
the superior honesty of farmers, and the bad 
treatment they meet with at the hands of other 
classes ; let us leave it off, with that still more 
irrational notion, that cant about the " dignity 
of labour!" whereby we do but exhibit a 
sense of inferiority, and a jealousy of superi- 
ority. Dignity of labour ! As if God himself 
had not cursed labour in " the first man Adam," 
and made it not the badge of dignity, but the 
mark of depravity. 



Chinese Sugar Cane. 

We have seen various accounts of the suc- 
cessful manufacture of molasses from the Chi- 
nese Sugar Cane. Whether or not sugar can 
be made from it, and if so, whether in sufficient 
proportion to make it valuable anywhere, as a 
sugar plant is a question not yet settled. Some 
contend that the resulting sugar is grape sugar, 
others that it is the true cane sugar ; and it is 
asserted that some cane sugar has actually 
been made from it. 

But whether it has or not, and whether mo- 
lasses can be made in large quantities, are 
questions which we can but think of really 
very little practical importance to the farmers 
of Virginia; for we are persuaded that neither 
they nor the farmers north of us will ever go 
extensively into the business. 

Sugar is essentially a product of the tropics. ( 



In Cuba, and other islands of the West Indies, 
it may be made profitably, but at what an out- 
lay of money and labour, let all see in the ar- 
ticle which will be found in another part of 
this paper, giving a detailed account of a sugar 
plantation in Cuba. The grinding season as 
far north of Cuba as Louisiana, lasts some 
three months, and is a period of great labour, 
men and teams working - day and night by re- 
lays, and not ceasing even on Sunday. In Cuba 
the grinding season is still more protracted ; 
and in British Guiana, as we have been recently 
informed, byU practical sugar maker from that 
country, they are grinding the cane for six 
months of every year. 

Our farmers do not know that sugar is a man- 
ufacturing as well as an agricultural operation, 
and that it requires a large capital, as well as a 
large force, to carry it on profitably. It is not 
unusual, or was not, in the West Indies, to em- 
ploy a negro for each acre of land cultivated ; 
that proportion not being actually employed in 
tilling the land, but engaged in some occupa- 
tion connected with the production of sugar. 
A mere incident of the business is the molas- 
ses, the sugar being the main profit. 

Undoubtedly molasses may be made from the 
Chinese sugar cane ; and so may silk worms be 
fed on the morus multicaulis. But it does not 
follow that it will pay to make molasses any 
more than it did to grow silk in Virginia, mere- 
ly because it can be done. 

We should not forget that the new caiie will 
grow perfectly well from suckers, putting out 
at the joint below which it has been cut the 
first time. This gives the regular sugar maker, 
should he find it a good sugar plant, the advan- 
tage over us of a double crop, for with our 
comparatively short seasons, we cannot expect 
to get two crops from it. With this double 
quantity from the same land, the sugar maker 
can undersell us if we attempt to compete, 
and can most probably sell us molasses cheaper 
than we can make it. 

The high prices of sugar and molasses can- 
not last ; they are even now so much lower in 
market that a good man} 7 speculators arc said 
to be ruined by the fall. But even were 
they to keep up for a while, until sugar making 
from 'the Chinese cane were established, the 
price must ultimately, and in a very short time, 
come down, and be no more remunerative than 
our other staples. It will be found that those 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



585 



articles of consumption, which bring the high- 
est prices, derive their value either from the 
small extent of territory which produces them, 
or the labour that their production requires. 
In this view it would seem that tobacco, which 
is peculiarly adapted to all of Virginia, east of 
the Blue Riclge, and to the southern part of our 
great valley,- were a better article for us to 
make, than molasses, since this will require as 
much labour — more if sugar is attempted — 
and yet can be easily made nearly as far north 
as Massachusetts, of as good quality as we 
can produce ; and a great deal better in the 
far South. 

We conclude then that it is unwise to run 
after this new thing, and advise our friends 
not to invest more in it than enough to make a 
slight experiment, and to sow a patch to feed 
their hogs. 

Differing widely from John Dumpling in aU 
he says about tobacco, except in his remarks 
about its injuriousness to health, we should be 
glad to see it once more a staple of the whole 
of tide water. It would not only be produc- 
tive of much revenue, but it would be an im- 
provement to the land ; and, what we regard 
as of far more importance, it would keep our 
negroes at home. We say of " far more im- 
portance," because great as is the pecuniary 
advantage of slave labour, its social benefit is 
ten times greater. 

P. S. — Since writing the above we have read 
the following, from the Richmond Daily Dis- 
patch, and are glad to find that the results 
their stated confirm what we have said above 
as to molasses. We will warrant Mr. Eley 
more money from an acre of tobacco, if not 
from an acre of wheat, than lie will get one 
year with another at his estimate ; and we can 
assure him that his " one difficulty," " a simple 
and effective apparatus for its manufacture at 
such a cost as to place it within the reach of 
farmers of limited means," is the "desidera- 
tum" which can never be supplied. 

Our friend Mr. Harris, of Louisa, will not 
get "fifty cents a gallon" for his molasses; 
and he will make more from an acre of his to- 
bacco than from an acre of his cane : 

The Chinese Sugar Cane. 

This newly introduced Sorghum is fast ap- 
proaching to the dignity of a staple, and reports 
of its condition are looked for with as much in- 
terest as the state of the Southern sugarcane. 



One planter in Louisiana will this season send 
to the New Orleans market 300 barrels of mo- 
lasses made from it, and will next year put a 
large portion of his land in Sorghum seed. He 
thinks it will never supercede the old sugar cane, 
but will form a strong ally to it. Mr. Benj.Eley, 
of Carrsville, Isle of Wight county, Va., writes 
to us as follows about some experiments he has 
been making: 

" Having just concluded an experiment with 
the Sorghum, or Chinese Sugar Cane, and know- 
ing the interest which you, as journalists, feel 
in agricultural experiments, I have determined 
to transmit to you the result of this. The exper- 
iment was made with the rudest apparatus, and 
evidently at too early a stage in the maturity of 
the cane, merely to relieve my own curiosity as 
to its saccharine property, and, though the expe- 
rience thus acquired suggests several essential 
defects in the process pursued, I succeeded in 
obtaining a syrup universally pronounced equal 
to the best Muscovado molasses. I will not at- 
tempt to state, with any pretensions to accuracy, 
the relative ratio between the quantity of syrup 
and the area of land, though I entertain but little 
doubt that an acre of moderately luxuriant 
growth would, by judicious management, yield 
from seventy-five to one hundred gallons of No. 
1 molasses. 

" Whether it is SLisceptible of granulation, I am 
not yet able to determine, my limited experience, 
however, inclines me to the opinion, that it is 
depending of course, upon the thorough maturity 
of the cane. The problem yet remaining to be 
solved is, whether its cultivation will prove re- 
munerative. In its favor may be urged its hardy 
and vigorous nature, its adaptations to almost all 
latitudes and soils, the comparatively little labor 
required in its cultivation, and the superior for- 
age furnished by the blade. In my estimation, 
one difficulty alone remains to be obviated — a 
simple and effective apparatus for its manufac- 
ture, at such a cost as to place it within the 
reach of persons of limited means. Let this de- 
sideratum be supplied, and I hazard nothing in 
predicting, that the time is not far distant, when 
every farmer will make (in the language of 
Hoosierdom) his own ' sweetening,' and when 
Sambo will no longer be under the necessity of 
taking a trip down South, to revel amid 'dodgers 
and lasses' to his heart's content." 

J. Maxey Timmons, Esq., has presented to the 
Darlington District Agricultural Society, South 
Carolina, a report on Sorgho, which appears in 
the " Family Friend," of the 26th August. He 
describes the results obtained as follows : 

" One acre of land that will yield fifteen bush- 
els of corn, will, planted in Chinese Sugar Cane, 
in drills four feet apart, make 17,500 stalks; 
twenty canes to the gallon will make 875 gallons 
of juice ; eight gallons of juice to one gallon of 
syrup will make 109f gallons of syrup. This at 
only fifty cents a gallon, will make about fifty- 
five - dollars per acre. Besides, you then have the 
blades and tops for feeding your horses and cows, 
or the seed for feeding your fowls, all of which 
eat it most greedily. 

" Aside from making molasses or sugar, it. is 



58G 



THE SOUTHEEN PLANTER. 



highly worth the attention of our planters for 
feeding stock. One acre of land that will make 
fifteen bushels of corn, will yield in Chinese Su- 
gar Cane 17,500 pounds of provender, averaging 
the cane, after it is cured, at only one pound 
each ; then, at only fifty cents per hundred, it is 
worth eigthy-seven dollars and fifty-cents per 
acre. If planted nearer than four feet the yield 
will be greater. Besides, the cane may be cut 
down once or twice for feeding in the early part 
of the year, and then mature for seed." 

Mr. N. W. Harris, of Louisa county, Va., has 
also experimented with the cane. Ten canes, 
he says, without selection, make a gallon of juice, 
and six gallons of juice make a gallon of mo- 
lasses ; 26,000 canes per acre can be raised, 
planted 3 by 2 feet apart, 4 stalks to each hill. 
On good land from 400 to 450 gallons of molasses 
can be realized from an acre of canes. The 
Charlottesville Jeffersonian acknowledges the re- 
ceipt of a bottle of Sorghum molasses, made by 
Rev. F. Boyden, of Albemarle. 



Our Agricultural Fairs. 

The Virginia State Agricultural Society holds 
its annual Fair on the four last days of Octo- 
ber, commencing on Tuesday. It is not neces- 
sary, we hope, to say a word about it. With 
good weather, we expect it to be equal to any 
we have had. There is no reason it should not 
be. 

The Fair of the Union Agricultural Society 
will be held, as usual, in Petersburg, and of- 
fers additional attractions. Its managers are 
labouring to make it worthy of the spirited 
town in which it is held, and we wish it abun- 
dant success. It is to be held the week before 
that of the Virginia State Agricultural Society. 

The Seaboard Agricultural Society holds its 
Fair at Norfolk, on the 10th, 11th, 12th, and 
13th, of November. This society is a favourite 
of ours, because we think highly of its mem- 
bers as far as we know them, and presume 
those we know are but a type of the balance. 
In true hospitality Norfolk cannot be surpassed 
in any city on our continent. Its citizens ex 
hibit more of the polish of old times, more 
good breeding, and more kindness of manners, 
than any we know. Nor are they deficient in 
enterprize, as this society of theirs proves. To 
all who may visit them on the occasion of their 
Fair, whether as spectators or exhibitors, we 
feel authorized to promise more of that civility 
which results from the happiest mixture of 
good breeding and kind feeling than they will 
meet with anywhere else in Virginia. 

We understand that their association means 



to procure an act of incorporation, and to 
create an endowment which will afford an an- 
nual revenue of -twenty-five hundred dollars. 
We wish them abundant success in this lauda- 
ble undertaking, and take it for granted that 
it will not fall through for want of means. We 
will not be so unjust as to doubt it. Norfolk 
city itself might well guarantee that amount. 

Other portions of Virginia have had, or will 
have, their fairs. Greenbrier, (which has as 
good cattle as any place except Kentucky,) and 
Monroe, held their fair last month, which was 
well attended, and addressed by Alexander 
Rives, Esqr., of Albemarle, who is reported to 
have made a good speech. Wythe, we think, 
has also held her first exhibition at Wytheville, 
though we have seen no account of it. Of 
course the show of stock was good. The best 
prize short horns of our fair at Richmond al- 
ways come from Wythe, when she is permitted 
by the railroad to send them. 

The Valley Agricultural Society, under the 
auspices and Presidency of Hugh M. Nelson, 
Esqr., of Clarke county, will also hold its fair 
this fall at Winchester. We unfortunately 
lost the paper containing the notice, and have 
applied in vain for another copy. That noble 
section of our State, which has but one fault — 
contiguity to a free State — will doubtless do its 
duty and hold an exhibition worthy of itself. 

It is a feature of our agricultural exhi- 
bitions that they represent districts rather than 
counties ; and we are glad of it. A county 
agricultural society must be rather a piddling 
concern. All the purposes of such associations 
can be fully met by clubs, such as the Albe- 
marle and the Loudoun clubs would be on a 
little wider basis ; and we hope to see them yet 
more numerously established through the 
State as auxiliaries ; first, to District Societies, 
and through them to what is, or ought to be, 
the Grand Agricultural Society of the State. 



Fattening Hogs. 

We should have said something last month 
about fattening hogs to that class of our readers 
who defer this operation until they begin to 
shuck corn, which is generally the commence- 
ment of cold weather. 

It is the greatest mistake, of its order, in the 
economy of a plantation, to defer fattening so 
long. The best mode of raisiug hogs is to 
give them a clover lot until oats are in the 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



587 



milk state, the run of an oat lot in that con- 
dition until roasting-ears come in, or until they 
eat the oats up, which they will do clean. 
Then green corn cut up at the ground until the 
regular planting gets too hard ; then a later 
planting, made expressly for the hogs ; and 
when that is exhausted, or frost catches it, then, 
and not till then, shucked corn, or if meal, and 
pumpkins witliout the seed — mark that — fed 
raw all the better, or best of all, meal boiled 
to a mush. 

If this system is followed hog feeding will 
be inexpensive, and a source of profit; hog 
raising will be attended with no trouble ; for 
your well-fed hog is too lazy to get into mis- 
chief, and may be confined in moderate sized 
lots after he quits the clover pasture, to the 
great economy of fencing. 

Treat sows, pigs and all in this way. The 
sows will get fat enough to winter well ; the 
pigs, if you keep them through the winter, 
will grow all the time ; and the killing hogs 
will not miss — neither will you — what the 
others eat. 

If any part of this system has not been fol- 
lowed, do two things : 1st. Resolve to follow it 
next year. 2nd. Begin now with such part of 
it as may suit your circumstances. Go to work 
and have your hogs ready for the knife as soon 
as possible after the middle of November. 

Hogs will not fatten in cold weather. They 
will hold on pretty well to what fat they have 
if you feed them moderately ; but they will 
gain very little on heavier feeding. What they 
get then goes to support the respiration — goes 
to fuel as it were, and they still keep the store 
of fat which nature has provided against the 
winter's demand. It seems as if they do not 
part with that as long as they get a substitute. 
Moderate feeding is this substitute : more is 
comparative waste. It is for this reason that 
you may keep a hog in condition in winter, 
when yet you cannot fatten him. 

Do not fear to give them green corn if you 
have it, and have not spoilt it by pulling fodder 
and cutting tops: green corn, stalk and all. We 
have practised that system for sixteen years, 
and do not think we ever lost corn by it, and 
know we have saved labour. 

But -if you will fatten your lfogs in cold 
weather, then by all means give them a warm 
shelter and plenty of clean dry litter. The old 



dirty litter ought to be moved every few days, 
especially if the weather is wet, and made into 
a compost with dirt in alternate layers, six 
inches of litter and manure, and three inches 
of dirt. The best plan is to have two pens, 
and let the hogs be driven into one while the 
other is being cleaned out. By enticing them 
with a little feed they will move backwards 
and forwards without excitement; and it is 
very important to keep them quiet. A very 
practical friend of ours once told us that he 
was^ certain a hog lost ten poutfds of flesh 
every time a dog worried him. 



The following article from our friend, Mr. 
Gilmer, will be read with interest as a record 
of actual experiments made by a practical 
farmer. 

He asks, in conclusion, about our experiment 
with lime in minute quantity. It is useless to 
repeat the facts of that experiment. As to the 
result, we can only say that the land limed with 
2J bushels lime in the month of November 
last, was cured of a very bad attack of fly 
which beset it that fall ; that the fly came back 
in diminished numbers in the spring, and was 
discovered too late to make the application of 
lime again ; and that though it was land which 
seemed completely dead when we took it in 
hand, that this, the first crop of wheat, after a 
very indifferent crop of oats, made apparently 
more than the average of the field to which it 
was attached, and which field made 15 30-60 
bushels per acre. True, the land was drained, 
sowed in peas, and guanoed at the rate of one 
hundred pounds broadcast per acre. But the 
whole field was similarly treated, and no part 
of it but this lot had fly. We certainly feel 
sufficiently encouraged to try the lime again in 
such quantities. 

We beg leave to call particular attention to 
that portion of Mr. Gilmer's article which tes- 
tifies to the efficacy of lime in small doses. 

Ed. Southern Planter. 

Account of Preparation of Wheat Land, 
Wheat Seeding, Application of Differ- 
ent Manures, and of Lime in Small 
Quantities. By GEORGE C. GILMER, 
of Albemarle. 

Inglewood, Sept. 9th, 1857. 
Friend Buffm : 

It has been my intention to write you an arti- 
cle for the October number of the Planter upon 



588 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



my mode of seeding my last crop of wheat — the 
amount and kind of manures used, as also of the 
application of lime, and the result. And I had 
hoped to be able by this time to give the pre- 
cise amount of the crop, from which, however, 
I have been prevented by an unusual amount 
of wet weather and my own long indisposition, 
having been unwell for some months, and for the 
last three weeks closely confined to my house, 
3 r et I have threshed and delivered so much as 
to enable me to give a pretty near guess as to 
the amount of the crop. I commenced seed- 
ing on the 1st, and finished on the 23d of Octo- 
ber, the kind of wheat, early purple straw, and 
seeded at about the rates of one and a half 
bushels per acre ; one lot was seeded at the 
rates of two bushels per acre ; the land on 
which this crop, of 1212- bushels, was seeded, 
was chiefly oat fallow, with about seventy-five 
thousand tobacco hills, one half of the crop 
upon high land, the balance on flat land, all 
of which was well ploughed by three and four- 
horse ploughs, and the roughest portion by a six- 
ox plough, which was equal to any ploughing 
I have ever seen any where. The land was 
ploughed close, and broke up fine. Upon this, 
without being harrowed, I seeded my wheat 
and guano, and put it all in together — some by 
one-horse cultivators — some by a two-horse cul- 
tivator — some by a three horse cultivator ; the 
balance with two three-horse harrows, of the 
hinge kind, with 30 teeth ; the other by six 
large oxen ; the amount of guano I supposed 
from 250 to 300 pounds per acre. All guess 
work, except as to the amount of wheat and 
guano given out to my hands, (for I had no 
overseer, and did not live upon that farm, but 
went from and returned here every day,) and 
the laying oif the lands to sow by, which were 
laid off 18 feet wide by stakes ; the wheat 
seedsman sowing up one side and down the 
other, always casting the seed towards the 
middle, the guano sowers sowing likewise, 
with the addition of sowing the third time up 
or down the middle of the land, which gives the 
wheat seedsman nine feet to sow, and the guano 
sowers six feet. The guano is sown by men 
who throw a handful at every fall of the right 
foot — -just as the wheat sower does, which will 
cover all the ground evenly with from 250 to 
300 pounds, according to the hand and step 
of the sower, and the condition of the guano. 
I forgot to mention two lots were in wheat the 
year before, which were flushed up as soon 
after harvest as possible and seeded with buck- 
wheat and peas. Owing to the seasons neither 
did much ; but grew enough to compel me to re- 
plough. "When doing it, it looked much like rain, 
and wishing to complete it, I made my ploughers 
stretch their furrows so wide, it left it in ridges, 
upon which I at once sowed the wheat, (19 
bushels), and guano, and harrowed it in, in 
lands as it was ploughed. This was the nicest 
piece of- thoroughly drilled wheat I had ever 
seen, (and so pronounced by all who saw it.) 



Its yield was greater than the previous crop, 
which yielded me 16| bushels for one. The 
tobacco land which I seeded in wheat, was flat 
land laid off in beds of 3G feet wide, on which, 
in the spring, I used a ton of bone dust — a ton 
of De Burg's superphosphates of -lime, and a 
ton of Peruvian Guano — all mixed (except a 
little of each tried separate,) and applied in the 
drill. I do not think the bone dust or De 
Burg was of one cent's advantage to the tobacco 
crop. I had to plough this land in beds, in order 
to drain it. Then to mix the drilled manures, I 
seeded the wheat and guano across these beds 
and harrowed likewise across them, which so 
completely mixed the drilled manures that no 
man has yet ever been able to tell me where 
one single tobacco row was. I then thorough- 
ly opened the furrows by running a large 
plough twice, then three times with a two-horse 
coulter, and re-opened with the plough, and 
cleaned out with shovels. In like manner all 
my drains were opened, which is the most ex- 
peditious and thorough mode I have ever seen 
tried. Upon 14J bushels of the 121J bushels 
seeded, I used one ton of bone dust, and one 
ton of stuff sent to me as De Burg's superphos- 
phate of lime, from neither of which do I be- 
lieve I received compensation for the labour of 
sowing it, to say nothing about its cost. 

From the 8th to the 14th of January, I 
sowed, by hand, 180 bushels of sifted lime 
upon the 12H- bushels of wheat crop. This is 
a very small application of lime, and yet to 
this very small dose, I am well convinced, 
much is due for my success in my last three 
crops of wheat, upon all of which I used lime ; 
and they were three of the very best crops I 
ever made — and yet, strange to say, none of 
my neighbours will try it — they come and look 
at, and admire it, but say it can't be lime, for 
the dose is too small — it is too cheap, and too 
easily done ; it must be something else. fTig 
true, I use guano — and so do they ; and I used 
guano jrears before I thus used lime ; but these 
three crops upon which I have thus used lime, 
are three of the best crops of my life. So I 
am well convinced lime has something to do 
with it. My wheat crops are not only greatly 
improved since I adopted the plan of this small 
application of lime ; and I have far less chinch 
bug, fly or joint-worm, than any of my neigh- 
bours, but my grasses have also equally im- 
proved, and all agree that, in the last three years, 
my farm has improved equally as fast, if not 
faster, than any other in our rapidly improving 
country. Now I believe it is greatly owing to 
the lime, though applied in even these very 
small doses. I am equally well convinced, 
from a close observation, this is the best mode 
of applying lime, for 1 have used it in doses 
from 20 to 40 bushels, scattered from the 
wagon ; and my neighbour, who has more 
means, and can't be beat as to untiring efforts 
in all good things, and is one of the very best 
farmers in all things for his age I have ever 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



589 



seen, has applied his lime in large and heavy 
doses without the- expected results, whereas I 
have beat him in the last three crops of wheat 
per bushel seeded. From these facts I am well 
convinced the small doscapplication is the best. 
In this way more surface can be gone over, and 
the cost in money and labour is really so small 
a matter that any farmer, however small his 
means, or great a distance he may be from 
the lime kiin, can safely try the experiment, 
and if it does little or no good it can't injure 
him much. 

I believe there are lands upon which lime will 
do little or no good, and - there is lime which is 
not so good for agricultural purposes as other. 
By a slight application of this kind it can be 
fairly tested at so slight a cost that a failure 
can't hurt much. My friend and neighbour, 
Mr. D. G-. Smith, a close observing and practical 
farmer from the wheat-growing district of 
Loudon, Virginia, made an experiment upon 
his last crop of wheat with the lime from my 
quary, and the beautiful lime from Western 
Virginia, and says the difference was greatly in 
favor of this, the Eastern vein of Virginia. I 
do not make this statement from any interest- 
ed motives, for I do not burn lime for sale, nor 
do I ever expect to do it — having refused to 
furnish my neighbours, who wanted thousands 
of bushels ; but merely burnt a kiln or two for 
my friends to test it for their satisfaction, and 
my own use. 

Now I am well satisfied of two things so far 
as my own lands are concerned. First, that a 
bushel and a half of early purple straw wheat 
is better upon any of my lands than two bush- 
els. Second, that the wheat and guano can be 
more rapidly put in by the harrow than by any 
other mode I have ever tried, and that it has 
yielded better; and I have fairly tested it side 
by side. I do not pretend to say that it will do 
the same upon all kinds Of lands. 

My overseer (for I now have one) and head 
man, report five hundred and seventy-four 
bushels of wheat delivered to Messrs. Mason & 
Lewis, and 126 bushels measured up, ready for 
delivery, which they think about one-third of 
the crop, which will bo over 2000 bushels from 
121 J bushels seeded, with 10 tons of Peruvian 
Guano, and one of bone dust, and one of De 
Burgs superphosphate of lime. 

Of the last two, I would advise my brethren, 
upon lands like mine, not to buy one 'pound, 
for with me, it has not, so far as I can judge, 
been of any use. I think it always more safe, 
and generally more profitable to use three hun- 
dred pounds of Peruvian guano per acre for 
wheat and tobacco, for tobacco I use it in the 
drill. What was the result of your lime expe- 
riment? With best washes, 

Yours, most truly, 

GEORGE C. GILMER. 



Difference in Growth of Wheat upon 
Peas fallowed under, and Pea Land 
Cleaned off. • 

Having observed a statement in the Ameri- 
can Farmer, made by our friend, Col. Roiizee, 
of Essex, in regard to the above subject, we 
wrote to him for fuller particulars of the case, 
which he has very obligingly furnished. The 
reader will recollect the article to which we 
refer, as it was copied into the last number of 
the Planter. 

Oakland, Essex Co., Aug. 22d, 1857. 

My Dear Sir. — I am this day in receipt of 
yours of the 19th inst., asking " a detailed 
statement of the kind of land, kind of peas, 
and mode of working them, and the compara- 
tive yield in wheat," of an experiment I com- 
municated to the " American Farmer," which 
appeared in this month's No. A typographi- 
cal mistake in my communication in* that pa- 
per, renders it unintelligible. As I therein 
stated, a portion of land was planted in peas, 
and cultivated in the usual mode ; that imme- 
diately adjoining, above and below, there was 
a luxuriant growth of peas from those sown ; 
that at seeding wheat time, the cultivated pea- 
vines were drawn up and removed from the 
land, and the peas on the fallow 7 turned under ; 
that the three portions of land (I am made to 
say thin portions) had equal quantities of 
guano applied, and wheat sown thereon ; that 
on the 23rd of May last, I -was invited to in- 
spect the wheat sown, and to my unbounded 
astonishment, found that on the cultivated 
pea-lot standing three feet in height, whilst 
that immediately adjoining on the pea fallow 
only eighteen inches ; and that it was the opin- 
ion of the gentleman who had thus experi- 
mented, that the cultivated lot would yield 
twice- the quantity of the fallow lots, — in 
which opinion I concurred. 

I regret that he did not note the yield of 
the three lots ; but I am informed by him to- 
day, that he is of opinion, that the cultivated 
lot from which the peas and vines were re- 
moved, yielded more than double of the fal- 
low lots. He is a practical farmer, and I place 
confidence in his conjectural opinion. The 
lots were on a Southern slope, the soils a 
sandy loam- — precisely alike in soil and fer- 
tility, and tlie peas of the shinney variety. 

The only solution to which I can* arrive in 
this experiment, (and that is not entirely sat- 
isfactory to me,) is, that the fallow lots were 
more porous than the cultivated one, and in 
consequence, there was a greater escape of 
ammonia from them. Thus much in answer 
to your inquiry. 

RICHARD ROUZEE. 



590 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



Truck or Vegetable Market of Norfolk 

The following very flattering exhibit of the 
vegetable trade of Norfolk is extracted from 
the Norfolk City News. When it is remem- 
bered that this trade is still in its infancy, in 
fact hardly begun, we have every reason to 
congratulate the farmers of that section of 
country on their success. Only a short time 
ago we took occasion to show in the most con- 
clusive manner that they had beaten in four 
published and contemporaneous cases the crack 
farm of Rhode Island, opposite New Port, which 
is the finest climate north of New Jersey, and 
no doubt in a very few years they will beat 
themselves. 

Almost every individual in this immediate 
vicinity is aware that large daily shipments 
during the months of June and July are made 
by the various steamers to Norfolk ports, of 
what is commonly called truck by our farmers 
and gardners, either upon their own account, 
or through the agency of hucksters who follow 
the business of buying and selling these pro- 
ductions. 

We believe that the total shipments of one 
season have never been heretofore collected to- 
gether and published, and probably would not 
now be, but for the desire of the publishers of 
the Index, and the assistance of Mr. Writ, D. 
Seymour the efficient clerk of the Merchants' 
and Mechanics' Exchange Rooms, who has, 
with much labor and patience, extracted from 
the shipping lists of the various steamers, the 
number of barrels, boxes and baskets of Peas, 
Cucumbers, Beans, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Ra- 
dishes, Rhubarb, Asparagus, Apples, Peaches, 
Pears, &c, &c. ; and below we give the total 
exports to each market during the months of 
June and July : 

Packages. Value. 

To New York, 50,504 $126,260 00 

To Philadelphia, 4,329 10,822 50 

To Baltimore, ■ 40,216 100,540 00 

To Richmond, 1,050 2,625 00 



Total, 



96,099 



$240,247 50 



The above packages are estimated at $2 50 
each, which is a very low figure ; the largest 
proportion of the packages were barrels of Cu- 
cumbers, Radishes, Potatoes, &c-, which in the 
early part of the season commanded $6 to $10 
each. This large amount of truck, it might be 
safe to say, was shipped in the space of 40 days, 
and very serious inconvenience was felt by 
shippers for the lack of facilities to get off all 
that came to market. Although we have a 
daily line to Baltimore, and a semi-weekly line 
to Philadelphia and New York, each provided 
with steamships of large capacity, more were 



required, and nothing short of a daily line to 
New York, will ever be sufficient to meet the 
demands of the trade. 

The above statement shows a very large 
amount shipped to Baltimore, and it may be 
proper to remark that much of it went through 
to Philadelphia via the former city. 

From the 28th of July to 5th of August, 33,- 
000 Watermelons were shipped hence, to a nor- 
thern port. 

Receipts of Wheat, Corn and Oats. 

Bushels. Est'd Value. 
Wheat, since 12th July 

to date, - - 122,418 $183,627 00 

Corn, since 1st June to 

date, - - 57,105 48,539 25 

Oats, since 1st June to 

date, - - 6,950 2,432 50 



186,473 $234,598 75 
Receipts of Hay into this Port from 1st 

July, 1S56, to 1st July, 1857, bales, 20,40S 



A Certain Cure for Kidney Worm in 
Swine. 

To the Editor of the Planter. 

I have seen an enquiry in the Sou. Planter' 
relative to the kidney worm in swine, and have 
also seen some remedies prescribed, none of 
which, I must confess, I have confidence in. — 
And as I can recommend a remedy which has 
proven perfectly certain with myself and oth- 
ers, I feel it to be my duty to send it to you. 

Give a teaspoonful of arsenic to a grown hog 
in a lump of corn dough ; and should there not 
be a very great improvement, repeat the dose 
the following week. It is scarcely every nec- 
essary to repeat the dose. I have known hogs 
which have been dragging their hind-quarters 
for months to be entirely relieved with one 
dose. Not the least danger need be apprehen- 
ded in giving arsenic to a hog. 

JOHN B. COLES, 
Nelson Co., Va. 

N. B. — I am certain coperas as recommend- 
ed by one of your subscribers is a valuable 
remedy for the destruction of the kidney worm, 
and other worms in swine, but it is extremely 
difficult to use it with sufficient caution to pre- 
vent the destruction of the teeth of the hogs. 

J. B. C. 

Will our correspondent tell us also if arsenic 
is a remedy for mange in hogs as it is said to be 
for the same disease in dogs. He will confer a 
favour by answering, and if arsenic be ineffi- 
cient by suggesting some other remedy. 

[Ed. Sou. Planter. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



591 



Mange in Swine. — John Bonner, of Han- 
cock County, Ga., communicates the following 
never-failing remedy for mange, to-wit : " Give 
the pig or hog affected (according to age) from 
ten to twenty grains of arsenic, twice a week 
for three weeks, feeding him plentifully during 
the time, and I warrant that he will soon shed 
off and become perfectly well, fat and sleek. It 
will also cure the worst case of mange on any 
dog. I speak from experience, and there is no 
danger of doses of that size killing either pigs 
or dogs." — Ex. 

After our query had been put to our friend, 
Mr. Coles of Nelson, in reference to the effica- 
cy of arsenic in mange, we found the above in 
the Alabama Cotton Planter. Can any one 
confirm its accuracy ? — Ed. So. Planter. 



The true View of the Alleged Sparse 
Population of Virginia. 

The author of the following brief, but Uncom- 
monly strong and well written article, is a full 
blooded Yankee. We wish we had more like 
him : 

For the Southern Planter. 
Mr. Editor : 

There is not a more common impression at 
the North than that slavery is a curse to any 
country, or any section of country where it 
exists. "The curse of slavery" — "the blight 
of slavery," &c, have become stereotype 
sayings of northern fanatics — and in proof of 
these, and similar sayings, they refer to the 
fact that population has increased faster in the 
free States than in the slave States. Being a 
native of the North, but now a resident of the 
South, I am, of course, somewhat acquainted in 
both sections, and can very readily see a reason 
for the evil (?) complained of, without seeing any 
" curse" or " blight." The lands through most 
of the South being held in large estates or 
plantations ; the population is, of necessity, 
more sparse than in the North, where the farms 
average not more than one-sixth as large as here. 
Now, it is not an unheard of thing for a plan- 
ter to make one hundred barrels of corn for 
each horse engaged in tending it ; — though, 
probably, an average would be about half that. 
This production, compared with the North, is a 
very wide difference in favor of the South. 
The great difference consists, in part, of "ma- 
king a business of it." Suppose a wheel- 
wright should make one hub, and then one 
spoke, and as fast as he finished each spoke, set 
it in the hub, and so on through the whole of 
his work — every mechanic — every man of com- 
mon sense, knows it would be a tedious process 
to get up wheels : and this is not unlike north- 
ern farming, compared with the plantation 
system of the South. 

Suppose the whole State of Virginia were as 



densely populated as the lower part of Man- 
hatan Island, on which the city of New York is 
built, Virginia would have as many inhabi- 
tants as now exist on the face of the whole 
earth ; but this is an extreme supposition. 
Suppose the population of Virginia as dense 
as Massachusetts ; this is a fair supposition. 
Now the soil of Massachusetts cannot produce 
more than half enough to support her popula- 
tion ; and suppose the soil of Virginia capable 
of producing twice as much by the acre as that 
of Massachusetts ; who would supply the needy 
millions of mankind with our great staples ? 
Or, suppose Southern Russia, (one of the 
greatest grain-growing regions of earth) as 
densely populated as Holland ; who would 
supply the hungry millions of Southern, and 
Western Europe ? I ask these questions to get 
at this great and important fact — that every pro- 
ducing country should have just as much, and no 
more population than is necessary to cultivate the 
soil to the utmost advantage. True, Virginia has 
not yet come up any thing like to perfection in 
this respect ; but if Virginia were so densely 
populated that the soil could do no more than 
support them, the cotton planters, at the South 
of us, would have to go elsewhere for their 
flour — and so of all other articles which Vir- 
ginia now produces for exportation. There 
are many sections of comparatively barren 
country, equally as good for " house lots " as 
the best bottoms on James River, and had better 
be used for that purpose, and keep the good 
bottoms for making wheat, corn, and tobacco. 
Deeply as I feel interested for the prosperity of 
Virginia, I have no wish to have all her best lands 
covered with buildings ; it certainly would be a 
great misfortune to the human family. So 
long then as a state of peace and friendship 
can exist, the South may be the granary of the 
North, and the North may be the work-shop of 
the South ; and through the medium of a pro- 
fitable internal commerce, each section may 
be mutually benefitted by the other. But 
while Northern fanatics are stirring up strife, 
stealing our negroes, and by every possible 
means within their power, setting the North 
against the South ; it requires no prophetic 
vision to see a dissolution of our glorious 
Union not far in the future. Should that hap- 
pen, the North will soon find to their disadvan- 
tage — that we can do without them, but tliey 
can't do without us. THOMAS CHASE. 

Chesterfield, Va., Sept., 1857. 



A Libel Refuted. 

Mr. Editor: 

In the August number of your widely circu- 
lated paper, you copied an article, which origi- 
nally appeared in a little paper published 
somewhere in Connecticut, purporting to be 
from the pen of Dr. Johnson, of Yale College, 
on the money value of " De Burg" as a ferti- 
lizer, which is calculated ^o do much harm, not 



592 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



only to us, but to the farmer and consumer. 
For your information, and that of your readers, 
that article was gotten up for an advertisement 
and a puff, by interested parties, and there is 
not one word of truth in the whole of it so far 
as Be Burg is concerned. The genuine De Burg 
has been analized by every chemist of note 
North and South of Mason and Dixon's Line, 
by disinterested gentlemen, from samples 
drawn from cargoes of 1800 and 2000 barrels 
as it arrived here, and we have never seen or 
heard of any to correspond with the analysis 
published in your paper of last month. 

Now we do not say that Dr. Johnson is in- 
correct in his analysis, but that he has been 
most grossly deceived in the sample sent to 
him. It was not " De Burg/' We heard 
two years ago, that some of the cute Yankees 
of the North were selling three tons of De 
Burg out of every one of genuine they bought, 
and this looks very much like a proof of it. 
For the information of your readers, we sub- 
join the names of the gentlemen who have ex- 
amined the unadulterated De Burg, and found 
it to contain nearly four times the quantity of 
ammonia that Dr. Johnson found in the sample 
sent to him; invariably 5 to 7 per cent of 
ammonia, and 38 to 45 per cent, of mixed 
phosphate of lime. 

Prof. David Stewart, Annopolis, Md., 
" Thos. Anksell, Patent Office Washington. 
" Wm. Gilham, Lexington, Va. 

Dr. Chas. Bickell, Baltimore. 
" James Chilton, New York. 
Isaiah Deck, New York. 

We also annex the analysis of a cargo re- 
cently received, of present Baltimore standard 
quality, the money value' of which, at Dr. 
Johnson's figures, is even $52 per 2000 pounds. 

Proportion soluble in ten times it weight of 
cold rain water is 20 per cent. 

Proportion Insoluble, 755 

Moisture, 1540 

Nitrogen ious Volatile Elements con- 
taining over six 6 13ths of pure 
ammonia. 1740 

Mixed Phosphates, 3650 

Potash and Soda, 9 

Sulphates and other Salts not estima- 
ted separately, 1415 
(Signed,) 100 

DAYID STEWART, M. D. 
Chemist to Md. State Agricult'l Society. 

We now say to the Farmers and Planters o* 
Virginia and North Carolina, that our motto is 
"to excel" guano and every other* fertilizer, 
and whenever any one makes an article to 
equal "De Burg" in quality and uniformity for 
the same amount of money, or approximating 
thereto, we pledge ourselves to increase our 
present standard, and put it out of the reach of 
competition, and as it now is, Excelsior. 
J. J. & F. TURNER, 
. Baltimore, Maryland. 



The Guano Trade. 

The important part which the guano trade 
is performing in the commerce of the world, 
and its influence upon shipping interests, is 
but imperfectly understood. Vessels carrying 
cargoes to our west Pacific coast, formerly 
were obliged to depend for return freights upon 
China and the East Indies alone. Now they 
are directed to the Chinchas, which furnish 
cargoes at high rates, for foreign and American 
vessels, to a very large extent. 

Nearly 400,000 tons of guano are required 
for Great Britain and Ireland, and 250,000 tons 
for the United States. Every sea is explored 
to obtain this valuable fertilizer. 

The aggregate value of the different varieties 
now in use in the markets of the world cannot 
be less than $140,000,000 per annum. To the 
Peruvian government the revenue derived from 
her guano trade exceeds the amount from all 
her other sources of income — her mines of gold 
and silver, agriculture, etc. 

This great trade is annually swelling into 
still greater magnitude, from the introduction 
of ne^ varieties. ,The predominant ingredient, 
of the Peruvian is ammonia, found almost ex- 
clusively in the-rainless latitudes in which the 
Chincha Islands are located ; while those in 
which the phosphates prevail, are largely de- 
posited on islands on the eastern side of our 
continent, particularly on the Caribbean Sea, 
most of which are believed to be included in 
the contract of the Philadelphia Guano Com- 
pany. A very extensive market exists in Eu- 
rope and in this country for this article. Far- 
mers 'have discovered what had clearly been 
demonstrated by agricultural ehemistry, that, 
without the application of the mineral salts 
found in these guanos, soils would soon become 
barren, and the presence of ammonia be of lit- 
tle avail. The impoverished lands on our 
southern seaboard are being resuscitated by its 
use. In England, where an article called phos- 
pho Peruvian, consisting of two-thirds of Co- 
lombian and one-third of Peruvian, is used 
with the most beneficial results, a market is 
opening which it is difficult to supply. We 
have been s*hown letters addressed to the Phil- 
adelphia Guano Company, containing orders 
for 20,000 tons of this article. With but a 
small part of the deposits which the islands in- 
cluded in the contract of that company are re- 
ported to contain, and the very large demand 
from all quarters for their article, that company 
have reason to congratulate themselves upon 
having in their possession an enterprise of vast 
extent and value. — Hunt's Merchants' Maga- 
zine. 



Poultry Houses. — Have these cleaned, 
and preserve the manure. Recollect that 
the droppings of a single hen a year con- 
tain all the elements of 20 bushels of 
wheat. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



59^ 



From the "Valley Farmer. 

The Dairy. 

BY HETTIE HAYFIELD. 

There is an almost irresistible tempta- 
tion when one writes with a printing press 
in the prospective, to give currency *to 
novelties, by*- way of showing intelligence 
or originality. Hence the value of many 
substantially good articles in practical jour- 
nals, is impaired by the grafting-on of un- 
tested theories, to systems of experienced 
utility. We premise this, because, being 
counsellor elect for the current -year to 
young farmers' wives. We deprecate the 
censure that may fall on us if no originali- 
ty marks any division of the subject for 
this month. We do not undertake to orig- 
inate a method, but to endorse what we 
propose, as tested, and as a method that 
will answer to pursue, while the enter- 
prising young housekeeper proceeds, from 
papers, books, notable neighbors and expe- 
rience, to construct a more valuable sys- 
tem. Subjects for mental contemplation, 
as well as natural objects, loom up in size 
by nearness. Thus one by one, as the 
different departments of housekeeping come 
up before us in review, each seems of most 
importance, though reflection convinces us 
that they have a comparative value. The 
mportance of the dairy on the farm, how- 
ever, hardly loses by comparison with any 
other branch of domestic business. Without 
pausing to estimate the value of the cow, 
every particle of whose organized body 
can be made useful after death, her value 

the support of the dairy alone, renders 
her worth incalculable, because indispen- 
sible. 

Milk is the only food which infancy, 
deprived of its human resource, can assim- 
ilate to its system and thrive. It is the 
best animal food for all periods of life, and 
to take away from our tables cheese, but- 
ter and cream, which enter so intimately 
and freely into all our daily food, would be 
to reduce us to the much lauded, but care- 
fully avoided simplicity of primitive times. 
It needs but a short sojourn in the sunny 
South, with all its wealth of vegetables 
and fruits, to satisfy us that the want of 
fresh butter and sweet cream must force 
them to yield a superiority in the arts of 
the table to the dairy regions of the West 
and North. 
38 



COW HOUSE. 

A shelter is almost indispensible. A 
shed close against the north and prevailing 
winds will do. The floor of plank or 
tough clay, rolled firm and smooth, or of 
plank and sloping back very gently for 
drainage. The shed divided securely into 
stalls, and each stall furnished with a 
trough large enough to feed slop and chop 
without waste. Place a rack above the 
stalls for hay, and it is good to have a hay 
loft above the shed. The cow should be 
secured by a door behind, or by a halter or 
bow. The stable should be littered every 
evening with straw, chaff, sawdust or 
leaves, which must be removed in the 
morning to the compost heap. If a close 
stable is used have it ventilated without 
placing cows in the full draft. 

COWS AND THE KEEPING OF THEM. 

We make no comparisons between long 
and short horns, Alderneys, Ayreshires, 
&c, &c. We meekly say, make the best 
of whatever cow the "lord of the Manor" 
provides. But woe is you ! if he is a 
breeder of blooded stock, and expects you 
to supply from the calves leavings a family 
as numerous as his patriarchal prototype, 
Abraham. We hope your mother christen- 
ed 3 7 ou, Patience, and that you have ab- 
sorbed the spirit of your cognomen. But 
if he, like many "guide men" of the West, 
leaves you a Selkirk of the dairy and its 
domain, take no heed to herd-books, or 
whether your cow has horns, hoofs or hide, 
so that she fills a capacious bucket and 
ample butter-tub. If your home herd does 
not afford the cow you want, learn, by ad- 
vertisement or enquiry, where she is to 
be had, (being near home if possible.) 
Send your dairyman to see her about the 
witching hour of milking, or rent her for a 
month, and if she satisfies you give a lib- 
eral price without grudging, and keep, oh ! 
keep her well. Remember, a poor cow 
consumes as much food and requires as 
much care as the best of the species. A 
cow is in her prime with her second calf, 
and will milk ten years after that. An 
average cow gives three gallons of milk a 
day — with good management she will often 
give four. I have known several to yield 
six and seven gallons when kept faultlessly 
and milked three times daity. Cows must 
be fed more discriminatingly than beef 
stock. Rye, cabbage, parsnips, or any 



594 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



green food, or roots of peculiar taste will 
communicate their flavor to the milk. Blue 
grass is unexceptionable; the aftermath of 
meadows and the crop grass that springs up 
in the fields voluntarily, is fine. For win- 
ter every good farmer should reserve some 
grass or provide a field with special reference 
to his dairy, if he does not grow small grain, 
or objects to pasturing it. Green food can- 
not be dispensed with if rich looking, well 
flavored butter is expected. 

Meal, crushed corn, apples, pumpkins, 
any roots without disagreeable flavor, may 
be fed to milch cows. Cooking food is 
economical. It should not be given hot 
enough to injure the creatures teeth. Cows 
should be fed regularly, not in excess ; ob- 
servation will soon govern the quantity. 
They should have free access to water, 
have salt daily, or frequently, and when 
stabled should be curried and allowed ex- 
ercise. In summer stabling may be dis- 
used, in which case a grass paddock, con- 
venient, will afford night browsing and in- 
crease the milk. 

MILKING 

Should be done kindly, regularly, and with 
perfect neatness. If possible, milk at same 
place and hour every day, giving your cow, 
if used to feeding, a mouthfull of some- 
thing to keep her quiet. A considerable 
increase of milk may be had by milking 
three times a day, while cows and grass 
are both fresh. But this necessity is ob- 
viated by milking about twelve hours apart. 
The yield of morning and evening will 
then be equal, and it will prove quite con- 
venient where the cook or housemaid takes 
part in milking, as their service in the cow 
pen will be over before their house duties 
for evening come on. When this plan is 
pursued the night paddock must be had to 
save waste of time in going back and forth 
to distant pastures. 

Some persons take the calves from their 
mothers from the first, or soon as the milk 
becomes fit for daily use. We prefer 
having the calves to suck, parting them 
from the dam soon as her udder seems free 
from swelling. A little favor at first, with 
good grass and water makes the calves into 
respectable beeves, and they repay your 
humanity by luring the mother's home 
without trouble. Give them first access to 
the cow, as the last milk is the richest, and 
when winter comes on, if your pen is too 



full to stable all your cows have the calves 
of the supernumeraries still suckled — it 
prevents your cow from the bad habit of 
drying up too soon, and gives you a chance 
sometimes, to reclaim to use a good cow 
when your favorites fail. This hint is for 
management of dairy stock. Of course, 
raisers of blooded stock would not permit 
such a drain on cows expected to keep up 
their herds. 

THE DAIRY. 

The rich, in this, as well as in other 
things, may raise on the useful, ornamen- 
tal additions, and we commend the outlay, 
but all that is really necessary to success 
can be had in several cheap plans. A 
clean, cool, dark place, capable of being 
lighted, a dairy must be. When extensive 
operations are intended, there should be two 
rooms, one for the furniture and for the 
work to be done, the other for the milk, 
butter, &c, &c, and in no case should meat, 
vegetables, or any decaying substances be 
kept in the milk room. A dairy should 
have a stone or brick floor, and a double 
ceiling filled in with tan bark, or be covered 
with earth and sod. Around should be 
paved, and planted with good shade trees. 
The door should ordinarily face the north, 
and the ventilators or windows be covered" 
with very fine wire net, to prevent the in- 
gress of rats and insects. Dairies of all 
kinds are best plastered with hydraulic ce- 
ment. Where you can have a running 
spring pass over the floor, your dairy work 
is secure in having a right temperature 
provided by nature for summer use. An 
excellent dairy can be made as a basement 
to an ice house, or preferable, beside it. — 
In the last case the drippings from the ice 
being conducted into a trough in which the 
milk can set, the dairy may be perfectly dry. 
Light, (except when necessary for work) 
should be carefully excluded ; it is as ac 
tive an agent hs air, in promoting the de 
composition of animal substances. 

Chests made double, and filled in be 
tween with charcoal or tan bark, are good 
contrivances to keep milk in a small way. 
Of course, there should be ice on the top 
grating in summer, and in winter these 
boxes will be usefully secure agains 
freezing. The temperature of a dairy .should 
be about 50°, and should never exceed 
60°. 

DAIRY FURNITURE. 

A table on which to set vessels whil< 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



595 



working and a chair beside it, as weariness 
in the labor secures no especial merit to 
the product. Buckets, and large, wide 
cups for the milking; a sufficient number 
of vessels to let the milk stand in 24 hours, 
and as many more to take benefit of sun 
and air before their turn. As cream and 
buttermilk crocks need the same favor, 
there should be two of each to alternate in 
service. This x is necessary, if tin, pewter, 
or common stone ware is used. Glass or 
china are ready for use so soon as cleansed. 
A butter ladle, bowl and paddle, of flavor- 
less, hard, smooth wood, A fine wire 
strainer, a skimmering ladle, and a perfo- 
rated skimmer for taking off cream sepa- 
rate from milk when desired. Vessels for 
warm and cold water, and a small portable 
furnace is a convenience. Cheap china but- 
ter crocks and firkins of sweet wood ; a salt 
box, soap cup, and a good supply of coarse 
toweLs are all necessaries for a dairy, with 
the last, but not least, important item, a 
churn. A churn of any pattern will "bring 
butter with sufficient agitation if the cream 
is at proper temperature. We discarded 
the old perpendicular staff churn, because 
unhandy, laborious, and apt to admit im- 
proper substances through the aperture in 
the top. Any churn that moves by a 
crank is an improvement, and equally good, 
so far as labor and results go, but we pre- 
fer the thermometer churn, as the vessel 
containiug the cream lies in a trough in 
which cold or hot water may be used to 
regulate the temperature of the cream. 

If cheese making is practiced, a cheese 
press, hoops, curd kettle, curd basket, curd 
tray and slicer, rennet bottle, box of cheese 
varnish, and abundance of stout cheese- 
cloths are necessary. 

MILK 

Should be strained before the cream begins 
to rise, into vessels that have been scald- 
ed, and in summer rinsed in cold water. 
If milk is kepi; at proper temperature, 
cream will rise to the surface of any ves- 
sel, but sooner in shallow pans. Skim 
milk is not a presentable article on a well- 
to-do farmer's table. For table use it 
should be strained into covered pitchers or 
bottles. Milk will yield up all its cream 
in from 24 to 30 hours. Cream should be 
gathered in a jar for churning, and stirred 



up night and morning 
sion to save sweet 



. If you have occa- 
cream, keep it in a 



freezer as if preparing ice-cream. It will 
change very soon when taken out for use. 
Clabber for the table should be strained into 
a bowl, and after coagulating, set on the ice 
until required for use. 

Directions for curds will be found under 
cheese. They should be drained, broken 
fine, kept on ice, and served with loaf su- 
gar, nutmeg and cream. 

BUTTER-MILK 

Is best of cream soured and moderately 
thick. If water has been poured into the 
churning, it will rise to the top after a few 
hours and can be poured off Indeed, an 
excellent milk managing neighbor, who 
cannot churn often, pours a pitcher of wa- 
ter into her butter-milk every morning, 
stirs it well and pours it off at dinner — she 
says it keeps it fresh all the time. Clab- 
ber, surplus butter-milk, or sour skim milk 
heated until it curds, makes good chicken 
feed. 

butter. • 

Numbers of reliable experiments have 
proved that butter made from sour cream 
is equal to any in flavor, and is the most 
economical use of the milk all in all. — 
Sweet cream produces fine butter, but in- 
ferior butter-milk. Milk will produce but- 
ter (without waiting to separate the cream) 
in small quantity and poor butter-milk. 
Scalding the milk, according to a current 
theory, with us made no perceptible in- 
crease of butter and impaired the flavor 
of the milk. The churn should be scald- 
ed, the milk poured in, and if as warm as 
when fresh from the cow it is right, — (55° 
by the thermometer.) Churn rapidly in cold 
weather and moderately in warm. A few 
minutes work will bring the butter. 

When the butter is carefully gathered, 
draw off the milk, pour in a bucket of fresh 
water, churn briskly, pour off the water 
and repeat the operation until the butter is 
free from milk. (We repudiate the Hol- 
stein system of unwashed butter and hand 
manipulations.) Allow loz of fine salt to 
the pound' of butter. Work it with a pad- 
dle thoroughly, and run a fork through it, 
lest a hair should have strayed through the 
seive. Set it away until it gets firm, then 
repeat the operation. When sure the wa- 
ter is out, set on a perforated dish to drain, 
after you have moulded it. The next day 
put it in your butter crock, in a cool, dark 



596 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



place, or wrap in cloth and put in pickle, 
or beat it down into your firkins, if for 
winter use. 

BUTTER PICKLE. 

1 gallon of water, 1 lb. fine salt, 1 oz. 
saltpetre, 2 oz. loaf sugar, boiled and 
skimmed clear. Pour on cold, and keep 
two inches above the top of the butter. 

CLARIFIED BUTTER. 

Put any quantity of butter in a preserv- 
ing kettle ; boil it ten minutes; set it off, 
and when cold it will be a clear cake. Cut 
it out, scrape of the caseous sediment, re- 
turn it to the kettle, and at boiling heat, 
seal it up in cans as you would fruit. In- 
ferior, but useful in scarce times. 

The receipts for restoring rancid butter 
'by chlorine, charcoal, &c, &c, we have 
found a failure. 

CHEESE. 

The common, and to my notion, unpala- 
table and indigestible country cheese, 
which is, nevertheless, both popular and 
-saleable, is as easily made as butter, and 
more remunerative. But good cheese is a 
tedious, particular and rather a laborious 
business, as taught me by the very pattern 
like, and pleasant friends of a Shaker vil- 
lage. Skimmed milk alone does not make 
eatable cheese. Half the milk skimmed 
is poor. Milk fresh from the cow is the 
right article. It should be strained into a 
kettle and brought to a heat of 85°. Three 
quarts milk is allowed to a pound of cheese. 
One tea cup full of strong rennet water will 
turn 12 gallons of milk. (Too much ren- 
net or heat makes tough cheese.) Cover 
the kettle ; in about half an hour the curd 
should be formed. When it begins to sink 
cut it in small squares with aslicer. Cover 
■it with a tain linen cloth, and dip ofF the 
whey very gently. When you have dip- 
ped the last spoonful to be had by tender 
handling, spread a cloth in your curd bas- 
ket (made with slits, wide apart,) put the 
curd in it; set it to drain, with a light 
weight pressing on it. When it seems 
dry, spread a cheese cloth in your hoop; 
break up the curd into it, fold the ends of 
your cloth over it, put in a follower that fits 
exactly, and press. ('We prefer the lever to 
the screw press.) Alter an hours moderate, 
hut continually and slowly increased pres- 
sure, take it out Break it up in fine crumbs, 



and stir in it enough fresh water to cover 
it well. Let it stand a quarter of an hour; 
drain it*well, then salt it to your taste and 
return it to the hoop with a fresh cloth. — 
Press it all day in the above described way. 
At night take it out, pare off any uneven 
edges, return it to the press until another 
morning," or better, for another 24 hours. 
When made wet it over with cheese-var- 
nish. Lay on a cool shelf and for two 
weeks varnish every morning, and the 
rubbing and turning over keep up for a 
month. 

Sage cheese is made as above, by mix- 
ing sage and spinach juice in the milk. — 
Stilten cheese has equal parts of sweet 
cream and fresh milk, requires very tender 
handling, and to be kept in boxes (while 
drying) without bottom or top. Curds are 
made of fresh milk, as for cheese, or by 
pouring butter-milk into fresh milk and 
heating until it forms. Butter-milk, pour- 
ed into the whey, saved from cheese while 
scalding hot, will produce a quantity of rich 
curds, which may be used for the table, or 
cheese cakes. 

RENNET. 

A piece the size of a dollar of strong 
rennet soaked 24 hours in a tea cup of wa- 
ter will turn ten gallons of milk. 

CHEESE VARNISH. 

1 part beeswax, 3 parts fresh butter, 
melted and seasoned strongly with cayenne 
pepper. 

COLORING FOR CHEESE. 

Annatto squeezed through a cloth until 
the color suits you. 



A Steam Plow, called by its inventor the 
" Pick-Axer," [ia piochense) has been success- 
fully used in France. The invention is in the 
possession of a company with a capital of about 
$200,000. The work is done, as the name im- 
ports, by a series of revolving or descending 
mattocks or pickaxes. The machine is a loco- 
motive, which carries itself over the soil, and 
upturns it to the depth of from six to eight in- 
ches. It has no semblance to a plow, and 
French journals describing it say that it does 
its work better than any machine hitherto con- 
structed for plowing purposes. — Prairie Far- 
mer. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



597 



"From the Michigan Fanner. 

Wheat Culture— Results of Certain For- 
eign Experiments. 

The wheat crop of this year is now be- 
ing harvested. The season is later by at 
least three weeks than the usual time. 
The crop is heavy, however. So far, nei- 
ther blight, nor rust, nor storm has reduc- 
ed the crop. The weevil has occasioned 
•loss only in a few places. The excellence 
of the crop may have the effect of caus- 
ing many to take the necessary precau- 
tions to secure another iike it : and as the 
time for putting in the seed for next sea- 
son's crop is close at hand, it will be in 
place to call the attention of our readers 
to the necessity of preparing the soil in 
such a manner as will ensure that all the 
seed sown shall give a fair return. 

Many think that a wheat crop requires 
no manure, that turning in a clover sod is 
all sufficient to make sure of a crop, and 
when they fail in raising over eighteen or 
twenty bushels to the acre, the blame is 
never laid at their own door, but to any 
casualty from a thunderstorm to abarber- 
rybush. Recent experiments, however, 
demonstrate more fully the importance of 
farmyard manure to the wheat crop; and 
we find a record of some very important 
ones in relation to the growth of wheat in 
a late number of the Journal of the Agri- 
cultural Society of England, which were 
conducted on the farm of the Earl of Lei- 
cester, to test the utility of manures and 
whether wheat could really be grown for 
a series of years most successfully and 
profitably without manure, with special 
manures, or with farmyard manure. — 
There were seven lots, of half an acre 
each, cultivated with wheat for four years, 
and on each except one, a different 
kind of manure was given to the crop. — 
The others had various artificial manures 
and salts applied to test iheir value, and 
the profits accruing from their use. We 
have only to note two of the lots, as the 
use of artificial manure for the purpose of 
growing wheat crops, has not yet come 
into practice with us, nor is. it likely for 
sometime to receive any attention. The 
two lots we shall notice for the purpose of 
comparison, are the unmanured, and the 
Farmyard dung lot. The other 5 were tried 
with superphosphates, muriates, and sul- 
phates, and with an application of ground 
rapecake at the rate of one ton per acre. — 



All of them yielded less than the lot, pre- 
pared with farmyard dung, and all pro- 
duced more than the lot not manured 
at all. 

The field on which the experiments 
were tried, had a soil of brown sandy loam, 
rather thin, and resting on calcareous marl. 
It was generally considered too light to 
produce a wheat crop, and therefore but 
little had been grown upon it for the twelve 
years preceding the commencement of 
these experiments ; turnips and barley 
with grass being the rotation pursued. — 
The crop on the field, the year previous to 
the experiment was white turnips, ma- 
nured with farmyard dung and guano. — 
The cultivation of the four years during 
which the experiments are reported, has 
been the same for all portions, except in 
the application of the manure. 

The lot which was unmanured yielded 
the first year 39| hushels of clean grain; 
the 2nd year 15\ ; 3d year 21^; and the 
5th year 16f bushels. The w 7 eight of straw 
the first year was not recorded ; the 2d 
year it was 964 lbs. ; the 3d year 1690 lbs. ; 
and the 4th year 1240 lbs. 

On the lot to which farmyard manure 
was applied, there was put on in the fall 
of each year at the rate of fourteen tons 
of manure made by young cattle fed and 
fattened on turnips, with some oil cake. — 
The yield of this lot the 1st year was 43i{ 
bushels ; 2d year 31 bushels ; 3d year 30| 
bushels ; 4th yea* 30 bushels. The siraw 
of the 2d year was 2430 lbs : of the 3d 
year 2790 lbs. ; of the 4th year 2599 lbs. 

One of the trials was made with pow- 
dered rapecake, which was applied at the 
rate of one ton per acre. This manure 
gave a return of 52 bushels the first year, 
33 bushels the 2d year, and 31 bushels 
each of the two succeeding years; w r hilst 
the amount of straw for the three years 
was 2,498, 2,786, and 2,856 lbs., respec- 
tively. 

Here wheat was taken off the land for a 
series of four successive crops, and w r here 
| no manure w T as given to the land, the crop 
fell off the first year 24 bushels ; while 
the very first year when farmyard manure 
alone was plowed in at the rate of 20 of 
our two horse loads to the acre, the crop 
on the manured land* gave 4 bushels per 
acre more than the unmanured land, and 
the next year although there was a de- 
crease in crop when compared with that of 



598 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



the previous year of 12$ bushels, the ma- 
nured land gave a crop of 15^ bushels 
more than that unmanured. During; the 
whole four years there were 42 bushels 
more wheat, and nearly two tons more of 
straw produced upon the manured land 
than the unmanured. 

When we consider the vast amount of 
manure that" may be found lying waste 
upon farms that are " sweated" every year 
to produce a crop of wheat, these facts 
may be considered well worthy of atten- 
tion 

There is another matter connected with 
the wheat crop, which is not of less im- 
portance than the preparation of the land, 
and that is the choice of seed. Every far- 
mer acknowledges that wheat seed should 
be the very best and ripest grain that can be 
procured and also the very cleanest. And 
yet it is seldom that much care is taken to 
secure perfect seed. Wheat generally 
grows better where the seed is brought 
from a distance and is submitted to a 
change of soil, though not to any great 
change of climate. A change of this kind 
is necessary after a few years use of one 
kind of seed on a farm. Where it is in- 
convenient to send to a distance, and the 
seed has to be prepared from the crop 
which has been matured, the usual prac- 
tice is to thrash out any part of the crop 
which it may be handiest to get at ; no 
matter whether it has grown on sandy or 
on clay land ; to clean it up in a hurry so 
as to get the sowing over as quickly as 
they can, and to pay as little at l ention as 
possible to the conditions under which it 
was grown. This kind of practice is not 
that which will secure the largest amount 
from an acre ; nor does it give the land all 
the opportunity that it requires. 

The light gravel soils around Tecumseh, 
and the southern part of Washtenaw^, 
would be more apt to grow a crop of some 
three or four bushels more per acre, were 
the seed sown procured from the claylands 
of Oakland. The Oakland farmers, on the 
contrary, would feel the benefit of chang- 
ing seed with eastern or Canadian farmers, 
who had soils somewhat different from 
their own. 

The ripe wheat when taken from the 
field, has usually 5 some of the seeds on 
each head which are riper, larger, better 
matured and more perfect than others. — 
It should be the endeavor of farmers to 



separate these most perfect seeds from the 
other grain, for the purpose of sowing. — 
This can only be done either by picking by 
hand, a mode totally out of the question, 
except for small parcels, or by a moder- 
ate thrashing or shaking which cause the 
ripest seeds to fall readily. Some farmers 
secure seed by selecting the sheaves cut 
from the best portion of their wheat fields, 
and striking them on the edge of a plank 
or block on the barn floor. By this me- 
thod it is found that a very large propor- 
tion of the heaviest grain may be secured, 
and also that the seeds of chess and other 
weeds which may be bound np with the 
straw, are not mingled with the grain about 
to be used to produce the next year's crop. 
This alone would be «a consideration 
of some importance. It may be said that 
the imperfect, or light grains, will be sha- 
ken off the head, as well as the heavy ones, 
the former being equally as ready to fall as 
those most matured ; but then the fanning 
mill properly arranged and driven with 
sufficient speed will readily blow off all 
light grains. This is the readiest method of 
securing good seed. The half thrashed 
sheaves can be stored and thrashed out at 
any time when the rest of the crop is be- 
ing got ready for market. Many are wil- 
ling to pay an extra five dollars for good 
sound seed, when they may have as good 
a quality as their immediate neighbors by 
spending on thetr own crop work to half 
the amount. 

That there are some points connected 
with the sowing of wheat not yet perfectly 
understood is well known to all; probably 
the following experience of a French cul- 
tivator may not be entirely uninstructive, 
and while new to a great many, maysuggest 
something in their own practice which may 
prove beneficial. For instance, why should 
not a mixture of Soulis wheat, with the 
Blue Stem, the White Flint, the Hutchin- 
son, and the "Golden Drop prove as benefi- 
cial and as profitable as the mixture noted 
by M. Rousseau ? 

* In the fall of 1855, M. Lucien Rousseau 
of Angerville, France, sowed 16 parcels 
of wheat of the following kinds : 

1. — A mixture of the 15 sorts named as 
follows : 

2. — Red Saumur. 

3.— Blood Red. 

4. — Barley Wheat. 

5. — Spalding. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



599 



6.— Dantzic Red Chaff. 
7.— Wheat of Haie. 
8.— Winter Richelle. 
9.— Noe Wheat. 
10.— White Saumur. 
11. — Victoria. 
12.— Fenton. 
13. — White Hungary. 
14. ---Hunters 
15. — Flemish. 
16. — Hickling. 

The results of crop are given in the fol- 
lowing table, in which we have reduced 
the French measures to our own, or an ap- 
proximation as close as necessary for prac- 
tical uses : 



CHARACTER OP CROP. 



The best. 



early, heads 



Very high, 

not filled 

3 Good, ripens rather early. 

4 Bad, heads light and thin. 

5 Good, but late ; heads fine 
but unequal 

OjTolerably good ; heads 

sjnall but full 

7jVerybad; heads empty. . 

8 Middling, straw short. . . . 

9 Head drooping, and 

10 Very mediocre 

11 Good late, heads well fill- 

ed '. 

12 Middling, straw short; — 

heads not good 

13 Middling, bad grain 

14 do thin 

15 do Straw short, heads 
tapering, well filled . . . 

16 ; Good ; heads well filled. . 



Straw pr 
acre. 



Wheat per 
acre. 




The above table shows tnat the crop 
from mixed seed not only excels all the 
varieties of which the mixture is compos- 
ed both in weight of straw and grain ; but 
the whole character of the crop is superior 
to that of any single variety named. 

M. Rousseau states, that he had no idea 
of trying the mixture, until after he had 
sown the varieties, when having some of 
the seed of each variety left, he mixed 
them all, and sowed the mixture on the 
poorest piece of the land, much more 
shaded by trees than any other lots, and 
in fact so disadvantageous for a crop that 
he was unwilling to place any of the va- 
rieties in that soil with the chances so 
much against it. 



He adduces several reasons for the ex- 
cellence of the crop from the mixture, 
which are worthy of consideration, espe- 
cially by tho&e who make wheat the lead- 
ing production of their farms. 

1 The several varieties do not head out 
at the same time, and therefore, the period 
of flowering is lengthened, and the chances 
of fertilization are thus increased. 

2. The several varieties are unequal in 
height, some being shorter than others at 
the time when the plants flower ; the heads 
therefore are not so close, are more expos- 
ed to the air, and the floi ation is likely to 
be more perfect, and the fertilization more 
general. This theory seems to be con- 
firmed by the fact that where wheat plants 
are most exposed, or are a little thin, other 
circumstances being equal the fertilization 
is more general over the whole head, than 
where the wheat is thick. 

3. The crop seems to ripen better from 
the same cause, namely, the inequality in 
the height of the varieties, and in proof 
of this it has been remarked that in mix- 
tures of wheat and rye, otten sown in Eu- 
rope, and of barley and spring wheat, the 
grain is finer than that of the same grains 
grown separately, and under the same 
conditions. This is considered to arise 
from the more complete aeration afforded 
by the two kinds of plants, one of which 
grows high and leaves room for the sun 
and atmosphere to ripen the whole more 
perfectly, than when the surface is com- 
posed of one unbroken mass of heads of 
grain which shut out. the light from the 
leaves and stems, and thus ripens one part 
of the plant before the other is matured. 

4. Another advantage claimed by this 
mixture of seed, is that the crop does not 
depend altogether upon one variety which 
of itself may be unsuitable for the soil 
where it is sown. The strong and healthy 
varieties will always fill up the spaces left 
by the decay of the more delicate or ten- 
der kinds, and thus in some degree be 
more likely to ensure a crop. 

The above are the reasons adduced by 
M. Rousseau for the marked superiority of 
the mixed grain over some of the best and 
most noted varieties of wheat grown in 
Euiope; and though theoretical, they are 
not altogether without some analogy here. 
Every one has noticed where rye has been 
sown with wheat, how luxuriantly it groWs, 
and what long full well developed heads 



600 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



there are upon-each stool, and that in gen- 
eral they appear" larger, fuller, and better 
developed than those which are grown 
where a whole field is sown. 

We present the subject as one not .alto- 
gether unworthy of attention, and as sug- 
gestive of a practice which may turn out 
profitable, and remunerative, where our 
own wheats are employed to test its avail- 
ability in this climate, w T hi:h much resem- 
bles that of middle France in summer. 



Cuban Sugar Plantation. 

A correspondent of the Syracuse Cou- 
rier gives the following interesting account 
of one of the largest sugar plantations in 
Cuba : 

" This estate is very properly called the 
• Flor de Cubas,' (Flower of Cuba.) There 
are other estates as large and larger, but 
none that have such perfect machinery, 
and which have laid out so much money 
for that, and on buildings. There are 
about 1,000 acres of land, nearly three- 
quarters of which are under cultivation 
with sugar cane, the balance being devo- 
ted to grazing the plaintain fields. The 
product of this estate, of course, varies 
with different years ; thus, last year, ow- 
ing to the rains, they could not cut all 
their cane and it fell short, but its present 
average crop is 10,000 boxes and 1,000 
hogsheads of sugar, and its gross income 
at present prices will be from $3*20,000 to 
$350,000. Of this enormous sum about 
one-half is absorbed by interest on its debt 
and by its annual expenses. There are 
650 hands — 350 negroes and 250 Chinese. 
The rest are overseers, cartmen, coopers, 
engineers, etc. There are 80 ox carts for 
drawing the cane to the mill, and 600 oxen 
four being used to every cart, and they are 
relieved twice a day. There are many 
buildings in this village, for it is almost 
like one. Besides the sugar-house, there 
is the dwelling-houses for (he owner and 
for the overseers, the drying-houses, the 
hospital, the barracoons for the slaves and 
even a nursery for the children of the 
slaves. 

'"The sugar-house here is the principal 
•attraction, and it is an enormous affair. It 
is all one floor covered by a single roof, 
and its interior is somewhat similar to that 
of some of our large sugar refiners in New 



York. There are two large rolling mills 
for crushing the cane, each, with three 
rollers six feet long, and placed on the 
top of two, the cane feeding itself and 
passing under one and over the other two 
rollers, it comes out squeezed almost dry, 
and as flat as a 'sheet of paper, the juice 
runs down into troughs. These rollers. are 
set very close, within an eighth of an inch 
of each other, and the pressure is enor- 
mous. To drive these rollers there is an 
engine of fifty horse power. The juice is 
then carried by pumps to a set of fourteen 
kettles, where by steam it is condensed, 
and then it runs through a body of carbon 
or burnt bone in another set of cisterns ; 
it is then carried to a vacuum pan, where 
it is evaporated, then over a set of copper 
pipes for condensation, again through the 
charcoal for decoloring, then into another 
vacuum pan, where it is boiled to a crysta- 
iizing point. It is then carried off to ano- 
ther part of the building, and by copper 
ladles is emptied into the sugar moulds, 
holding about sixty pounds each, where in 
another day it is ready for claying. This 
process is only followed where it is inten- 
ded to make box sugar, which is always 
clayed, while that packed in hogsheads is 
called muscovado, and is packed into the 
casks in a green state, where it is then al- 
lowed to purge itself for fifteen or twenty 
days, and is then ready for shipment. 

"On this estate they make mostly clay- 
ed or box sugar, and the process of clay- 
ing is this : — T,he moulds containing the 
green sugar are placed on a long floor in 
a room holding from 800 to 1,000 moulds ; 
the point of the mould is below the level 
of the floor, which is made with square 
holes for their support; after the sugar 
has set in the moulds the plug at the bot- 
tom is taken out, and on the base or upper 
flat surface of the sugar is placed a quan- 
tity of black pasty clay, which has the 
property of distributing the water very 
equally through it. This clay is wet and 
the water filters slowly through the body 
of the sugar, carrying with it all color and 
leaving the base of the cone perfectly 
white. This process is repeated several 
times and the sugar is kept in this house . 
for about twenty days. It is then turned 
out of the moulds into large open, flat, 
wooden trays, and the different layers of 
strata of sugar are divided by a negro with 
a large cleaver into white, brown and yel- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



001 



*ow, that nearest the point is still colored 
with molasses and not very dry. These 
several classes are all kept by themselves, 
and the sugar is dried either by the sun or 
by ovens, and then packed into boxes 
holding about 400 pounds each. These 
are then nailed and strapped by pieces of 
green cow-hide in narrow strips, the boxes 
weighed, branded, and ready for transport 
to market." — Mercury. 



Sugar and the Sorghum. 
We have received from Dr. A. A. Hayes 
the following abstract of an interesting pa- 
per read by him on the above subject be- 
fore the Scientific Association at Montreal: 

So rapidly has chemical science pro- 
gressed of late, that the term "sugar" has 
now become a generic name for a class of 
bodies with the most marked diversities of 
sensible characters and composition. We 
have sugars which are slightly sweet, and 
some destitute of sweetness ; some are 
fermentable, others do not undergo this 
change ; some are fluid, more are solid. 

Adopting cane sugar as the most impor- 
tant kind from certain inherent qualities, 
we find its sources abundant, but not nu- 
merous. So far as observation has ex- 
tended, its production by a plant is defi- 
nite ; a change of locality, even when ac- 
companied by a marked change in the 
habit of the plant, does not alter essen- 
tially the nature of the sugar it produces. 
Thus the cane of Louisiana rarely matures 
and is an annual, while in the soil end cli- 
mate of Cuba, it enjoys a life of thirty, or 
even sixty years. The juice of our south- 
ern plant always contain? more soluble al- 
kaline and earthy salts than is found in the 
cane of Cuba, but its sugar is secreted as 
cane sugar. The juice of the sugar beet, 
of watermelons, and a large number of 
tropical fruits, the sap of the maple and 
date palm, afford cane sugar. In these 
juices and saps, when concentrated by de- 
siccation in the cells of the plants, it al- 
ways appears in regular, brilliant crystals, 
of a prismatic form, clear and colorless; 
distinctly indicating a vital force in the 
plant, separating it from other proximate 
principles and leaving it in its assigned 
place pure. 

The class of sugars next in importance 
includes, under the general term Glucose, 



a number of sugars having varied charac- 
ters, which should be separately grouped. 
Among them are the sugars of fruits, seeds 
and grasses ; those produced in the animal 
system, and the artificial sugars made from 
starch, grains and sawdust. The varieties 
of glucose are both solid and semi-fluid 
When solid the organic tendency to round- 
ed surfaces is generally seen. The semi- 
fluid forms often manifest a disposition to 
become solid on exposure to the air, and 
they then experience a molecular change, 
which produces crystals having new rela- 
tions to polarized light and different physi- 
cal and chemical characters. 

Individuals of the class are easily dis- 
tinguished from each other, and most 
clearly and remarkably from cane sugar. 
The plants producing the natural glucose 
sugars mature their cells as perfectly as 
those producing cane sugar, and the secre- 
tion can be found as distinctly isolated 
from other principles as cane sugar is, even 
when the glucose is semi-fluid. Hence we 
are able to determine by microscopal ob- 
servations, aided by chemical tests, the 
presence and kind of sugar in the tissues 
or sap, of a plant, often without incurring 
the risk of change of properties through 
the chemical means adopted for withdraw- 
ing the sugar. The Sorghum vulgar e t or 
sacharatum, belongs to the tribe including 
grasses. The unsuccessful attempts made 
to crystalize sugar from the juice of the 
Sorghum, produced in different climates of 
our country last year, indicated that it 
contained no cane sugar, or that the pres- 
ence of some detrimental matter in the 
expressed juice destroyed the crystalliza- 
ble character of cane sugar. My obser- 
vations commenced after I had obtained 
several specimens of the Sorghum, and 
have been continued on the semi-fluid su- 
gar, likewise from different parts of the 
United States, with uniform results. 

When a recent shaving of the partially 
dried pith of the matured stalks of the 
Sorghum is examined by the microscope, 
we observe the sugar cells filled with semi- 
fluid sugar. After exposure to air it is of- 
ten possible to distinguish some crystaline 
forms in the fluid sugar. These grains, 
after being washed, cease to present a 
clear crystalline character, and have the 
hardness and general appearance of dry 
fruit sugar. The most careful trials I could 
make failed in detecting cane sugar in any 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



samples of the Sorghum stalks, or in the 
samples of stalks, or in the samples of su- 
gar, including one made by Col. Peters in 
Georgia, prepared under the most careful 
management. I must therefore conclude, 
that the Sorghum cultivated in this coun- 
try does not secrete cane sugar or true su- 
gar : its saccharine matter being purely 
glucose in a semi-fluid form. 

Scientific American. 



Boussingault on the Alimentation of 
Plants. 

BY PROF. S. W. JOHNSON. 

The Presence of Nitric Acid in the Atmos- 
phere. — What the author says under this head 
it is unnecessary to translate in detail. By 
causing a current of air to pass for three months 
through a series of tubes filled with pieces of 
brick and pumice-stone moistened with solution 
of carbonate of potash, he was enabled to col- 
lect from the air, enough nitric acid for ready 
detection. That the nitric acid was not form- 
ed from the nitrogen and oxygen of the air, by 
the presence of an alkali, was proved by the 
fact that while there was considerable nitric 
acid in the first tube, there was but a trace of 
it in the second, and none at all in the last four 
tubes. Had there been a formation of nitric 
acid, it must have gone on equally well in all 
the tubes. The origin of this nitric acid, the 
author leaves unsettled. He thinks that al- 
though it may have been formed from ammo- 
nia by the oxydation of the latter, it is more 
probable that it exists mechanically suspended 
in the dust. of the atmosphere. That it exists 
there is not only shown by his experiments, 
but also by those of De Luca, who found it in 
air that had been deprived of all ammonia. 

It may be added that these observations, 
though very interesting, are substantially the 
same as those made by Liebig so long ago as 
1829, who found nitric acid combined with am- 
monia and lime in the water of 17 out of 77 
rain-storms. 

The Presence of Ammonia in the Atmosphere. 
This Boussingault demonstrated in the follow- 
ing manner: — He placed in a shallow glass 
vessel, having the same widths as the pots in 
which the helianthus was grown, 500 grrfris. of 
washed and ignited sand, mixed with 10 grras. 
of oxalic acid. The whole was protected from 
the rain and dew, and was maintained in a 
moist state. At the end of seven weeks, the 
oxalic acid had absorbed a sensible though 
small quantity of ammonia. 

These evidences that the atmosphere can fur- 
nish a small amount both of nitric acid and 
ammonia to vegetation directly, and without 
the intervention of rain or dew, are new and of 
considerable scientific interest. 



Influence of Assimilate Nitrogen on the De- 
velopment of the Vegetable Organism.— "The 
preceding experiments have proved that phos- 
phate of lime and the alkaline salts added to 
the soil do not sensibly contribute to the growth 
of vegetation, without the co-operation of some 
nitrogenous fertilizer. Under these circum- 
stances, the quantity of vegetable matter elab- 
orated, is scarcely more than is produced in a 
totally barren soil, in both cases the develop- 
me t being limited by the stores of aliment 
contained in the seed. When on the contrary, 
we associate with the phosphate and alkalies, a 
small quantity of nitre, we have the effects of the 
the most active manure. From these facts I be- 
lieve it may be concluded that the growth of a 
plant is subordinate to the previous absorption of 
an assimilable nitrogenous substance, of which 
it is possible to measure the effects. This is at 
least what I have attempted. With this object 
in view, I have made another series of experi- 
ments on the growth of the helianthus,- in 
which I used the same washed and calcined 
sand, mixed with phosphate of lime and salts 
of potash, as was employed in my former trials,, 
and to this I added different quantities of ni- 
trate of soda. Four pots were filled with the 
prepared soil, and in each of them was sown 
two seeds of the helianthus, weighing 0.110 
grm. 

The vegetation continued fifty days. The 
water used on the plants was free from ammo- 
nia, and contained one quarter its bulk in car- 
bonic acid. 

The plants grew in the open air, sheltered 
from rain and dew. 

The soil of pot No. 1 received no nitrate, 
do do 2 0.02 grm. 

do do 3 0.04 do 

do do 4 0.16 do 

During the experiment the plants remained 
vigorous, and the foliage had a healthy green 
color. 

The following is a statement of the yield 
and condition of the plants in each trial. 

Length Width Weigh! 
H'ght hug. leaf. long. leaf. dri. pln'r. 
grm 



No. 1 without 








nitrate, 9.0 


3.7 


1.5 


0.507 


No. 2, 0.02 gms. 11.2 


5.4 


2.0 


0.830 


No. 3, 0.04 " 11.5 


6.8 


2.8 


1.240 


No. 4, 0.16 " 22.5 


9.1 


3.7 


3.390 



Subtracting the weight of the seeds from 
that of the dried plants, we find that the amount 
of organic matter elaborated during the period 
of vegetation, was as follows : 

No. 1, which received no assimilable 

nitrogen, - - - 0.390 gm. 

No. 2, do do 0.0033 0.727 gm. 

No. 3, do do 0.0066 gm 1.130 gm. 

No. 4, do do 0.0264 gm 3.280 gm. 

The influence of the assimilable nitrogen is 
manifest, and it is not without astonishment 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



603 



that we perceive from the result of Exp. 2 that 
the introduction of only three milligrammes of 
nitrogen into the soil of the pots has sufficed 
for doubling the organic matter of the helian- 
thus. 

The helianthus grown in the soil of Exp. 1, 
to which no nitrate was added, was found by 
analysis to contain 

Nitrogen, - - - 0.0053 gm. 

In the seed the nitrogen was - 0.0033 gm. 



Nitrate added. 
Exp. 2, 0.02 gm. 
Exp. 3, 0.04 gm. 
Exp. 4, 0.16 gm. 



Nitrogen acquired in 50 days, 0.0020 gm 

In case of the plants grown with the aid of 
nitrate of soda, the following results were ob- 
tained : 

Nitrogen in the 
nitrate and in Nitrogen in 
the seed. the produce. 

0.0066 gm. 0.0062 gin. 
0.0100 gm. 0.0097 gm. 
0.0297 gm. 0.0251 gm. 
In each of the last three trials, the nitrate of 
soda was found in t.e soil after the conclusion 
of the Exp. In. Nos. 2 and 3, the quantity of 
very minute ; in No. 4 the quantity remaining 
was 0.0049 gm. In each case where nitrate of 
soda was added, the produce contained no more 
nitrogen than might have been derived from 
that substance. 

What is peculiarly striking in the result of 
the second series of experiments, is not merely 
that a nitrogenous body introduced into the soil 
greatly promotes vegetable growth, but that the 
minutest quantity of assimilable nitrogen pro- 
duces a decided effect. 

This becomes more obvious when we com- 
pare the amounts of carbon fixed during each 
of these trials. 









a ® t» 


h 1 
c"3 


ount 
ic a- 
lpos- 
ours 




c S? 


a <x> 


s * 


©:-« 


a a a^3 




o © 

% 


Nitroge 
ed in 
nitrat 


Organic 
ter for 
in 50 d 


Carbon 
tained i 
matter. 


Mean ai 
of carbo 
cid deco 
ed in 24 




gm. 


gm. 


gm. 


gm. 


cub. cent. 


Exp. 1, 


0.0033 


0.0000 


0.397 


0.159 


5.3 


Exp. 2, 


0.0033 


0.0033 


0.720 


0.288 


10.6 


Exp. 3, 


0.0033 


0.0066 


1.130 


0.452 


17.2 


Exp. 4, 0.0033 


0.0264 


3.280 


1.312 


40.5 



The author says in recapitulation, that from 
these experiments it results : 

" 1st. That the phosphates, earthy and alka- 
line salts which are indispensable to the consti- 
tution of plants, nevertheless exert no action 
on vegetation, except when they are united to 
matters capable of supplying assimilable nitro- 
gen. 

"2d. That the supplies of assimilable nitro 
gen which the atmosphere is able to furnish, 
are too small to determine an abundant and 
rapid vegetable production, in the absence of 
nitrogenous manures. 



u 3d. That nitrate of soda associated with 
phosphate of lime and silicate of potash, forms 
a perfect fertilizer, since the helianthus grows 
as well in a totally barren soil, with help of 
this mixture, as it does in a rich garden soil 
that is strongly manured in the ordinary man- 
ner." 

He adds in conclusion ; " It is certainly re- 
markable to see a plant run through all the 
stages of vegetable life, from germination to 
maturity, — in a word, attain its normal devel- 
opment, when its roots are fixed in a washed 
and burned sand, containing, instead of decom- 
posing organic remains, salts of great purity 
and of definite composition, such as nitrate of 
potash, phosphate of lime, and silicate of pot- 
ash. It is remarkable to see it under these cir- 
cumstances, fed only by mineral matters, aug- 
ment in size and weight, by fixing carbon from 
carbonic acids, and hydrogen and oxygen from 
water, and from these and the nitrogen of ni- 
tric acid, elaborating albumen, caseine, &c. — 
i. e., the nitrogenous principles of milk, of 
blood and of muscular fibre. In fact there is 
probably moro analogy than we are apt to sup- 
pose, between the alimentation of a plant thds 
grown and that of vegetation aided by stable 
manure, for the latter in a suitable porous soil 
rapidly decomposes, and as the final products 
of its decay yieid identically the substances 
which have been employed as fertilizers in the 
foregoing experiments/' 

Remarks by the Translator. — I have thought 
a perusal of these researches by Boussingauit, 
a man whose devotion of wealth, genius, and 
life to the study of agricultural chemistry and 
physiology has greatly enriched the science and 
the art of husbandry, would be of interest to 
the readers of the Co. Gent., for several reasons. 
In the first place they illustrate the method by 
which we are to arrive at a knowledge of the 
conditions of vegetable growth, and the influ- 
ence of fertilizers, or of other circumstances on 
the development of plants. Again, they re- 
veal some new truths, or rather enable us to 
view old truths in a broader and fuller light, 
and in this respect form a valuable contribu- 
tion to agricultural science. Finally, they may 
serve to excite the reader to a more extended 
study of the subject of vegetable nutrition, a 
subject which lies at the foundation of agricul- 
tural production. 

Twenty years ago, nobody, neither farmer 
nor philosopher, knew what was the function 
or value of ammonia, or of nitric acid, or of 
the phosphates, as aids to vegetable production. 
Since that period, it is no exaggeration to say, 
that a flood of light has been poured upon these 
topics. Now we do know that these bodies are 
all indispensable to the growth of plants, and 
we are able to comprehend, in some good de- 
gree, the reasons of their value. It is to in- 
vestigations of the kind that have just been laid 
before the readers of the Co. Gent., that we owe 
this advancement. It is easy for any one who 



604 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



has begun to master agricultural science in its 
present state of development, to see that what 
has been accomplished is but the entrance to a 
vast and fruitful field of research, wherein even 
now may be seen luxuriant harvests 6f truth 
nodding for the reapers. Alas, our country, 
which it would seem unites every requisite for 
making a successful husbandry of these golden 
stores of intellectual and material wealth, has 
hardly gleaned the first ripe ear. England, 
Germany, and France, monopolize these treas- 
ures. Have'nt we energy, genius and culture 
enough to equip a few laborers for. bhe noble 
eaterprise of laying open to the world these 
graneries of knowledge? Have'nt we wealth 
that is ready to be devoted to sustaining their 
slow and toilsome efforts ? What is the matter, 
that with all our enterprise and reputed keen- 
ness in foreseeing every event that promises 
profit, we allow the slow old world to keep out 
of sight ahead of us on this track, that assur- 
edly leads to the most honorable glory, and the 
substantial reward of increased national wealth? 
It is a fact that we don't appreciate the possi- 
bility and the advantages of improvement in 
the most vital parts of agriculture? What 
sums are we not willing to expend in invent- 
ing, testing and using machines for reaping our 
grain — but who would be rich for possessing 
all we have devoted to acquiring a certain know- 
ledge of the means of raising the standard of 
agricultural production to its highest limit ? 

But our time is coming. The spirit of mod- 
ern science is too congenial with the temper of 
cur nation that we long continue to stand aloof 
from it. Let us be early aroused ! — Countri 
Gentleman. 



Wheat turning to Chess. 

The doctrine of transmutation, of species has 
been entertained, more or less, for a long time. 
Within a century, a writer on natural history, 
of considerable distinction, made an elaborate 
argument to show that man sprung, originally, 
from an oyster — having progressed from the 
low life of that animal up through the interme- 
diate races to the ape, and thence, by an easy 
metamorphosis, casting off the supernumerary 
member, and becoming forever the lord of cre- 
ation. This idea is not wholly given up, even 
in this enlightened age, as its " vestiges" are 
still presented in a form which captivates the 
credulous. 

But in general, the belief in transmutation 
seems to have uudergonc such a modification 
that its application is confined to plan's. The 
most popular notion of this kind which prevails 
in this country, is the turning of wheat into 
chess. It is held that the purest and best wheat 
may be planted — that it may germinate, grow, 
and form a plant — but that the occurrence of j 
certain casualties — as sudden freezing and 
thawing while the ground is wet — will, by some 
mysterious process, transmute the plant into a! 



widely-different species. A similar belief pre- 
vails, less extensively, in regard to the change 
of barley into oats. 

The advocates of the transmutation of wheat 
into chess have been repeatedly called on to 
demonstrate the alleged change, and as an in- 
ducement for them to do this, premiums have 
actually been offered. The first of these, of 
which we have any recollection, was offered by 
David Thomas, now cf Union Springs, Cayuge 
county, N. Y., through the Genessee Farmer. 
more than twenty years ago. Various claims 
were made under this offer — the cases^ present- 
ed being generally those of the apparent growtl. 
of wheat and chess in the same head, which, or 
critical examination, were found to amount t( 
nothing, as to the point at issue — the chess be- 
ing merely entangled with the wheat. 

A late revival of the transmutation contro 
versy, induced Benj. Hodge, Esq., of Buffalo 
N. Y., to offer a premium of $100 to any on< 
who should prove that wheat had turned t< 
chess — the premium to be awarded under th< 
supervision of a Committee appointed by th 
New York State Agricultural Society. Tlffl 
premium has been claimed by Samuel David 
son, of Greece, Monroe county, N. York. Th 
Society appointed as a Committee, Prof. Dewen 
and L. B. Langworthy, of Rochester, J. J 
Thomas, of Union Springs and Col. B. P. John 
son, the Secretary of the Society. They hav 
had a meeting, and the result of the examina 
tion is thus described by Mr. Thomas in th 
Countri/ Genlleman. We would suggest tha 
there was not sufficient precaution used in re 
gard to the chess seeds not being in the soil 
The soil should have heen subjected to such 
degree of heat as would have destroyed all v< 
getable life, before the seed was sown. 

" The experiment to prove transmutation 
was the following : — A quantity of earth wa 
passed through a fine sieve, to separate all ches; 
seeds. It was placed in a pan, and severa 1 
heads of wheat planted in it. When the whe& 
came up, it was subjected to all the hard treat 
ment that usually produces winter-killing, viz 
flooding with water, and alternately free/in 
and thawing for several times. Late in th 
spring, the whole contents of the pan were ri 
moved and set out in open ground. When th 
plants of wheat threw out their heads, ther 
appeared chess heads also. This mass of whea 
and chess plants was brought in and place 
before the Committee. Stalks of chess wer 
siiown, the roots of which were found to pr( 
ceed directly from the planted heads of wheal 
which yet remained entire, and in some in star 
ces they were found to issue from the half-d- 
cayed grains of wheat themselves. This w; 
looked upon as conclusive. 

"The roots were taken by the Committe 
and first soaked in water and afterwards genti 
washed, by moving them backwards and foi 
wards slowly through it. They were then cart 
Fully examined by microscopes. The roots i 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



605 



he chess were now perceived to issue, not from 
lear the end of the grain of wheat, as is usual 
n sprouting, but from the side, and in fact from 
ilmost any part. Further examination showed 
hat they merely passed through crevices in the 
lecayed wheat grains, and they were separated 
rom the grains without tearing, being merely 
n contact, without any adhesion or connec- 
ion. Some of the more minute chess fibres 
jvere observed by an achromatic microscope, to 
extend over the inner surface of the bran, 
.vhere they had goue in search of the nourish- 
ncnt (which is known to abound just within 
he bran), in the same way that grape roots 
lave been observed to spread over the surface 
)f a rich decaying bone. But they easily sep- 
irated, and had no connection with the grain, 
ft was satisfactorily proved that the chess plant 
jould not have come from these grains, by the 
'act that the same single stalk of chess was 
hus connected with five or six different grains, 
.vhich could no more have originated it, than 
ive or six cows could have one calf. The ex- 
imination, therefore, did not prove anything in 
avor of transmutation ; and as there were 
nany possible ways in which the chess might 
lave become scattered on the soil, the whole 
experiment was admitted by all parties to be 
nconclusive." — Boston Cultivator. 



barley, with no benefit that I could discover. 
But drilling possesses one advantage, and that 
not a small one, the seed is all covered with uni- 
formity and all grows, whereas in sowing 
broadcast it does not, especially in dry weather. 

C. C. Wilson. 
Newfane, Niagara Co., N. Y- 



From the Genesee Farmer. 

Drilling in Wheat. 

Messrs. Editors. — In your article on the 
cultivation of the wheat in the August number 
if the Farmer, you state that, in your opinion, 
here is not much advantage in sowing wheat 
;vith a drill unless for the purpose of hoeing, 
ind wish the opinion of farmers upon the sub- 
ject. 

Having had some experience in sowing wheat 
with a drill, I will give you my opinion founded 
m that experience. I have used a drill in 
sowing wheat upon a hard, stony soil, also 
apon a light sandy and loamy soil, and could 
see no difference in the yie!4 of that which was 
drilled in or that sown broadcast. 

Four years ago this fall, I sowed one half of 
a seven acre field broadcast, and the other half 
was sown with a drill. A portion of that 
which was drilled in, I harrowed across the 
fridges, for the purpose of levelling them down, 
as the advocates of the drill system claim, as 

3 of its advantages, that the washing down 
of the ridges around the roots of the plants 
answers the purpose of hoeing, and also pre- 
vents winter killing ; but 1 could see no differ- 
ence either in the looks of the crop ivhile growing, 
or when harvested. 

Some seasons, upon some soils, wheat sown 
with a drill would be better than that sown 
broadcast, and the next year, perhaps, that 
own broadcast would be the best, it all appear- 
ng to depend on the condition of the soil and 
season. I have also used the drill in sowing 



Location as it Effects Temperature and 
Vegetation. 

The influence of location on temperature, 
and on the successful cultivation of fruit, is a 
subject well worthy the attention of ail horti- 
cu.turists, and especially of those about to set 
out orchards. Unfortunate^, however, we 
have few well established principles to guide us, 
and such as we have are so affected by circum- 
stances, as to lead to different results in differ- 
ent localities. We need more extended and 
definite observations, and our main olject in 
writing this article, is to call out the experi- 
ence of our readers. * 

In a comparatively level county, such as a 
portion of Western New York, the principal 
object is to guard against the injurious in- 
fluence of the severe winds from the west and 
north-west. A situation where a belt of woods, 
or a hill, which breakes the force of these 
winds is desirable ; and when such a situation 
cannot be obtained, artificial shelter may fre- 
quently be provided with great benefit, by 
planting a hedge of American arbor-vitaj, or a 
belt of rapid growing deciduous and evergreen 
trees, such as the European Larch, Lombardy 
and Balsam Poplar, Soft Maple, Abele, and 
Norway Spruce. 

In a hilly district, and where the late spring 
fyosts are to be feared, a southern and eastern 
exposure should be avoided, as it is desirable to 
keep the buds from storting till all danger from 
frosts is past. Low land, too, must be avoided, 
from the fact that it is subject to greater varia- 
tion in temperature than the hill side— being 
warmer in day time, and colder at night. In 
such situations, too, the wood is but imperfect- 
ly matured before its growth is checked by 
early frosts in the fall. It is well known that 
a slight frost in the fall, frequently cuts down 
Indian corn growing in the valley, while that 
higher up the hill escapes. This may be 
owing to two causes : the increased succulence 
of vegetation, and the decreased temperature 
in the valley. That the air is colder in the 
valley during a still frosty night, than higher 
up the hill, is well known. Thomas, iu his 
American Fruit Culturist, says: " In the winter 
of 1845-6, when the cold, on a clear night, 
sunk the thermometer several degrees below 
zero, after the peach buds had been swelled by 
a few warm days, trees which stood on a hill 
thirty feet higher than the neighboring creek 
valley, lost nine-tenths of their blossoms, 
while on another hill sixty feet high, nine- 
tenths escaped. The lake of cold air which 



606 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



covered the top of the smaller hill, did not 
reach the summit of the larger." The same 
author mentions several cases going to prove 
the' importance of elevated sites. 

In the beginning of March, of the present 
year, some experiments were made in the 
garden of the Horticultural Society (Turham 
Green, London), for the purpose of determin- 
ing the lowest temperature experienced during 
the night, at various elevations, between the 
surface and 36 feet above it. Upon a perpen- 
dicular pole, five accurate self-registering ther- 
mometers were fixed at six feet distances, and 
a sixth was placed ou the ground. Every 
morning the state of these thermometers was 
carefully noted — and we extract the result 
from the Gardener's Chronicle — fur a few days 
in April and May, when vegetation was be- 
coming active, and when all tender crops was 
most sensible of low temperature. 



1 
Thermome- Feet. 


Feet. 


Feet. 


Feet. 


Above the sur- 


ters at 





12 


24 


30 


face. 


April 12 


30° 


33|° 


35° 


35° 




15 


24 


27 


28 


28. 




16 


25 


27^ 


29 


30 




17 


27 


30 


32 


32 




21 


31 


35 


38 


37 




24 


24 


26 


28 


28 




" 29 


23 


26 


37 


27 




May 3 


26 


31 


32 


32 




4 


31 


33 


34 






5 23 


27 


28 






6 


27 


32 


33 






" 7 


25 


29 


30 


30 




8 


28 


29^ 


31 


31 




18 


37 


40 


m 


42 





It will be seen that in the spring of the year, 
when frosts are so injurious, the temperature 
at the surface of the ground, during the night, 
is on the average 3}° colder than at 12 feet 
above the ground, and nearly 5° colder than 
at 24 feet. Above 24 feet there is a little in- 
crease in temperature. On the 6th of May, 
the temperature at 12 feet from the ground, 
was just at the freezing point, while at the 
surface it was 5° below. " An immense differ- 
ence," says Professor Lindlcy, " when we con- 
sider how sensitive plants are to even small 
variations of temperature, especially when 
they are growing fast in the spring. 

These observations are confirmed, in a prac- 
tical way, by a correspondent of the Gardener's 
Chronicle, who states that the blossoms of pear 
trees, in the lowest part of his orchard, were 
destroyed by foggy frost to the extent of 30 
per cent., at ten feet from the'surface ; about 
50 per cent, at 20 feet from the surface, and 
uninjured at 30 feet. This spring, the frosts 
were of the same description (foggy), and the 
result, as tested by examination of the ground, 
as it rose from the brook, showed that the 



damage diminished gradually — the lowest . 
being the most injured. The ground was 
divided, for this comparison, into belts, by 
contour or level lines, following the inequali- 
ties of the surface, each 5 feet above the other. 
Hessel and Beurre Diel pears had all their 
blossoms destroyed in the valley, but set a por- j' 
tion of their fruit 70 feet higher up the hill, j 
The damage to the gooseberry and currant 
crops were also far the greatest on the low 
ground, and diminished gradually with the 
ascent. 

In this country, and in England, it is well 
known that fruit escapes spring frosts on the 
topmost boughs of a tree, while it perishes on 
the lower, and hitherto the fact has been 
accounted for on the supposition that the buds 
on the lower branches were started earlier by 
the reflected heat from the ground, while those 
orj the upper branches being in a cooler tem- 
perature, remained dormant, and, consequent- 
ly, escaped injury from frost. We still think 
this idea, to a certain extent, correct. Qote- 
let's observations at Brussells, show that at 
o'clock in the morning, during the spring, the 
temperature at the surface of the ground was 
35°, and at 10 feet elevation it was between 
2° and 3° lower. We should certainly expect 
that, during the sunny days, the temperature 
near the surface would be, from reflection of ' 
the sun's rays, much higher than at ten or 
twenty feet above, and had Quetelet's observa- 
been made at noon, instead of 9 a. m., they 
would probably have shown even a still greater 
increase of temperature between the surface 
and 10 feet elevation. 

We may conclude, therefore, that the buds on 
the lower branches of trees are not onl}- more 
liable to be started by the heat reflected from 
the ground, during sunny days, but are also 
exposed to a lower temperature during frosty 
nights. The observations in the garden of the 
Horticultural Society, were made on a level 
surface. Had it been a side hill, the result 
may have been different, for it can hardly be 
doubted that the air, as it becomes cooled and 
heavier by contact with the earth, would roll 
down to a lower level, while warm air, rushing 
in to fill the place, would keep up the night 
temperature of an orchard so situated. — Gene- 
see Farmer. 



The Chinese Sugar Cane. 
Great quantities of this species of sugar 
cane have been planted, and under the infiu- 
ence of the' recent growing weather, the cane 
is rapidly advancing towards maturity. The 
question whether the product is crystalizable 
still remains open — a fact which seems strong- 
ly to argue that it is not practically, as were it 
otherwise, some of the sugar would have been 
exhibited in a dry state long ere this. A sugar- 
refining house in Philadelphia lately examined 
a sample of the syrup, but in their report, 
which is published as favorable to the claims 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



GO. 



of the Sorgho, they say that their investigation 
has been but qualitative, and merely to ascer- 
tain whether there was any crystalizable sugar 
contained therein. To this purpose they sub- 
jected it to the low power of a microscope, 
which revealed regularly formed rhombohsedric 
crystals of cane sugar. This leaves us still 
nearly as much in the dark as ever. — Scien- 
tific American. 



Railroads. 

The condition of the railroad interest through- 
out the country is one which has begun to 
exercise much attention, from the magnitude 
of the sums involved, and the great influence 
which the works exercise over almost ali other 
property and branches of industry. The vast 
extent of land, of maximum fertility, belong- 
ing to the United . States, and the influx of 
labour seeking to operate, have made the 
means of communication a matter of first 
necessity, while the capital to construct those 
works has not been very abundant. It has 
therefore been the case that a little capital has 
been made to go as far as possible. The com- 
munication, or the "development of resources/' 
was the primary object, and was to be attained 
even at the sacrifice of the subscribed capital 
as an investment. Cheap roads have ueen 
built therefore, and the work done by the roads 
has been rated at too low a figure, that is to 
say, cheap and prompt communication has 
continued to be the main object, while borrow- 
ing money to increase the means of the road 
has been mainly depended upon to support 
them.* That the object sought has been at- 
tained — viz : the development of the resources 
of the country— is self-evident from the fact 
that the roads have been built. There has 
been expended in railroads in the United 
States nearly $1,000,000,000 (one thousand 
million dollars), or a sum nearly equal to one- 
third the British National Debt, and this in- 
credible sum has been furnished almost en- 
tirely at home — hardly 5 per cent, of the 
amount has come from abroad. In other 
words, in the last six years, $600,000,000 of 
American capital has been sunk in railways, 
in competition with the demand for capital for 
all other purposes, and at this moment capital 
is in more abundant supply and at cheaper 
rates than before this great outlay commenced. 
At this moment, in the Atlantic States, capital 
is cheaper than either in England or Europe. 
This remarkable fact furnishes conclusive evi- 
dence that the railroads have fulfilled their 
mission — that they have " developed the re- 
source ■* of the country," and for the coming 
year their capacities will be taxed to the utmost 
to deliver the immense quantities of produce 
which result from a great breadth of culture 4 
and a most prolific yield. It is probable thai 
on the lines of many railroads, particularly of 
the West, that the value of harvests made 



available this "year by the action of railroads, 
will equal the whole cost of the line over 
which it passes, without counting the improved 
value imparted to real estate. If the capital 
supplied by good harvests this year was com- 
pared with that of the last (good as it was), it 
would be found probably to give an excess 
equal to one-third the whole cost of railroads 
during the past six years. Amidst this great 
prosperity the value of the railroads that have 
been instrumental in producing it has been de- 
pressed, because the interests of the several 
companies have been made subservient to col- 
lateral interests. In other words, the work has 
been done too cheap in all cases, and stock-job- 
bing influences have crept into the manage- 
ment of many companies, while all prices of 
commodities have risen under the stimulous of 
newty-discovered gold. Railroad fare have, if 
not declined, at least not risen. Labor, fuel, 
oil, materials, have all advanced to swell the 
expenses, while charges have been stationary. 
The difficulty of maintaining dividends has 
been greater, and the cost of completing car- 
ried far above the estimates. The Illinois 
Central, as an instance, purchased all its iron 
for less than one-half what it could be furnished 
for now. Those roads which were not so fortu- 
nate, have had to pay better prices. These 
growing difficulties have been taken advantage 
of by man} 7 parties to depreciate the value of 
that description of property for their own 
benefit, and the cupidity of bondholders, or the 
creditor class, has in many cases been excited 
by the hope of foreclosing and crowding out 
the stockholders. This large class of proprie- 
tors, representing probably over $400,000,000, 
have in some cases began to move in their own 
behalf, and there is no reason why works which 
have so powerfully contributed to the national 
prosperity, and which are so indispensable to 
its continuance, should not be in themselves 
prosperous. If the expenses have been too 
great and the fares too low, the time has come 
when — taking advantage of the abundance of 
general wealth — the latter should be placed at 
a remunerating rate, one sufficient to cover all 
expenses, and the former pruned away and re- 
duced to a minimum which will again admit of 
a modification of fares. The New Jersey Rail- 
road charges and obtains a rate which pays 
well. If other railroads abandon the spirit of 
rivalry and pursue a similar course, the local 
traffic of most of the roads will pay a profit. 

The capital that many years since was in- 
vested in banks, under the pretence of " de- 
veloping the resources of the country/' was 
mostly losfc, because it was loaned to specula- 
tors in the produce- of the West, and swallowed 
up. in transportation and land operations, soon 
ceasing to act. The capital put into railroads 
has not been lost or misapplied, but is now 
actively performing its task in transporting in- 
dustrial products. — United States Economist. 



608 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



Agricultural Machinery and its Kesnlts. 

Six years since, in Ohio, there were very few 
agricultural machines — now there are an im- 
mense number. The effect of machines in 
doing the work of men it is hardly possible to 
estimate. 

A mower with two horses, two men, and a 
boy, must accomplish the work of at least 
twelve men. If so, it must save the labor of 
five men at least. Now, we know of one 
county which has three hundred and fifty 
mowers and reapers, and they must save the 
labor of about 1600 men ! In the State at 
large, there must be about eight thousand of 
these machines, thus saving the labor of 40,000 
able-bodied men. Supposing that they are em- 
ployed only tAvo months in the year, for harvest 
only, they will save, in money paid for labor, 
about $2,500,000 per annum. The interest on 
their cost will be about $70,000 only ; so that 
there will be a net absolute gain on them of 
more than two millions per annum. If we 
look to the prairie States, the saving will be 
much greater. In the United States at large, 
probably the labor of 3,000,000 able-bodied 
men is saved during two months in the year. 
This is equal in money to twenty millions of 
dollars per annum. This saving, too, is made 
in the last five years. But the saving of 
money is by no means the most part of the 
saving. The economy of labor is, in our 
modern civilization, of the highest value, with- 
out reference to the money of the market 
value. We have already referred, as our 
readers will remember, to the tendencies of our 
present civilization towards centralization in 
cities and towns. This is really, and without 
theory, drawing large portions of our rural or 
country population to the towns. This is di- 
minishing the agricultural laborers while it in- 
creases the towns. The consequence is that, 
both in America and Europe, the relative pro- 
portion of cultivators is continually diminished. 
If we suppose this process to go on like a 
mathematical series, without arrest, the conse- 
quence would be ultimate starvation ; but, of 
course, the preliminary symptoms of such a 
calamity would be sufficient to drive many 
from tbe cities to the country, and thus change 
the current. Still, we must regard the inven- 
tion and success of this agricultural machinery 
as a providential interference to avert for a 
time the alternative of starving in cities or re- 
turning to the country. — Railroad Record. 



bare ground, as it is when cutting a swath of 
grass, if not absolutely greater ! But the ex- 
planation of the paradox is by no means so dif- 
ficult after all. The bar to which the knives 
are attached is driven at a speed that gives it a 
great momentum, which must be overcome as 
each vibration is changed from right to left and 
from left to right. The power required to effect 
this rapid jerk must be sufficient first to bring 
the knives to a high speed, and then to a full 
stop, before commencing an equally rapid mo- 
tion in an opposite direction — in other words 
by the frequent change in the direction of this 
motion, the momentum which usually aids the 
working of a machine here becomes a double 
obstacle ; no sooner is a high point reached, 
than it must all be overcome, and a new one 
created. Now if the force requisite for cutting 
grass is just enough to overcome the momen- 
tum of the knives, when the vibration changes 
from one way to the other, no further expendi- 
ture of power is requisite to stop them — and 
the draft of the machine is neither more nor 
less than when no grass was cut. If, on the 
other hand, the ease with which the cutting is 
performed is such that the operation does not 
deprive the knives of all their momentum, *a 
portion of it only will be overcome, and the 
horses will then have actually less labor to be 
cutting than not! — Country Gentleman. 



How it May be Easier for a Machine to 
Work Than to Do Nothing;. 

It has been slightly puzzling to some to un- 
derstand the results shown by the dynamome- 
ter in respect to the draft of several mowing 
machines, principally those of cam construc- 
tion. In these, the draft of some is proved to 
be as great when the machine is drawn over the 



Interesting to Farmers — Thomas R. 
Joynes, jr., writing to the commission of 
patents from Accomac Court-House, Va., 
states that he sowed in the spring of 1854 
some alfalfa seed in part of a square 
of his garden for seed. In the summer 
of 1855, after saving seed, he had it cut 
spaded up, and the ground raked clean. 
The few roots left in the ground soon 
sprang up, and now it is as thick as need be 
notwithstanding that he endeavored again 
to eradicate it last spring. He thinks it a 
valuable grass, of rapid growth, hardy and 
luxuriant. All sorts of stocks are fond of 
it. Last year he planted some French 
beans, but has not eaten any yet, except 
<he green pods. These beans matured so 
early that, after gathering the first crop, 
he tried the experiment of replanting 
some of the beans, which did well, matu- 
ring before frost. Thus, the same seed 
produced two crops on the same ground. 
He also tried last year the Japan pea, 
which is a handsome, rich-looking pea, and 
an abundant producer, but he does not 
like it as an edible. He had also tried the 
i Oregon pea, but pronounces the champion 
pea of England superior lo all others. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



009 



From the Irish Farmers' Gazette. 

The Meat Manufacture. 

The conversion of vegetable substances into 
the structure of animals is one of the most 
interesting, and certainly not the least impor- 
tant, of those regular and gradual manufactur- 
ing operations in which the agriculturist is en- 
gaged. It is, to a certain extent, the finishing 
point of all his labours— the ultimate design of 
all the mental and manual agencies which are 
called into action by the daily requirements of 
his very intricate vocation. For this "end he 
studies the nature of the soil upon which he 
operates, the means which are best calculated 
to increase its productiveness the plants which 
he grows, and the cultivation suitable for each 
variety ; the distinguishing properties of the 
different breeds and varieties of our domestic 
animals, and their adaptation to the particular 
circumstances in which it is intended to place 
them ; the house accommodation requisite for 
their use, and the most economical modes in 
which their food may be prepared and con- 
sumed. 

It must be owned, however, that, in common 
with nearly every department of practical 
agriculture, the rearing and fattening of our 
domestic animals are too often looked upon as 
being something of which every one naturally 
possesses a sufficient amount of intuitive know- 
ledge to enable them at once, and under any 
circumstances, to become proficient, without 
I the formality of previous study, or that ac- 
quaintance with the subject which in any other 
profession would be considered indispensable 
in order to ensure even a probability of success. 
To this cause we may trace most of the failures 
which we meet with, the imperfect state in 
Kwhich what ought to be the finished article is 
) frequently offered for sale, and the consequent 
(i disappointment as to results we often hear ex- 
pressed. So far from being easily understood, 
■the Nutrition of Animals is, perhaps, the most 
[complicated department which exists in agri- 
cultural science; one in which inquirers as to 
"the why and wherefore" are, as yet, only 
l groping their way; requiring to be much fur- 
Ither investigated before practice and science 
lean be considered as fully united. A sufficient 
[(amount of research, however," has been made 
|[ into this subject to enable us to understand the 
I rationale of our business, and, in some degree, 
I to prevent that waste which must arise from 
■ the indiscriminate use of those substances 
I which we employ as the food of animals, with- 
lout reference to their fitness for the purposes 
| which we intend them to serve, and also the 
nature of those agencies which exert an in- 
fluence, whether favourable or the reverse, on 
39 



the full development of the nutritive powers of 
those substances. 

In building up the structure of an animal, 
it is necessary to bear in mind that the ele- 
ments of which the food is composed are of 
two different classes ; first, those containing 
nitrogen, which enters into the composition of 
bones, hair, horn, wool, skin, blood, muscle 
or flesh ; and, secondly, those in which nitro- 
gen does not exist, and which are destined to 
support respiration and animal heat, and also 
to produce fat. 

All the elements which produce the flesh and 
fat of animals are found to be gathered together 
in their food, and ready to be converted to their 
several uses without undergoing any material 
change. In vegetable bodies we have vegeta- 
ble albumen, gluten, and casein, which are 
identical with flesh, the curd of milk, and the 
blood. The phosphates, common salt, &c, 
which exist largely in the bones, muscles, 
blood, and milk of animals, exist also in plants ; 
whilst the starch, gum, sugar, and oils which 
constitute fat, and are the elements of respi- 
ration, are likewise found, ready formed, in 
vegetables. The proportions, however, in which 
these exist vary in different classes of plants, 
and hence the different results which we ex- 
perience from the use of different kinds of 
food. Growing animals require a different 
dietary from those* which are fattening for the 
butcher, in order to effect the results which we 
are desirous of producing. Thus, in the for- 
mer, we wish to build up the bony structure, 
and to insure a full muscular development ; 
whilst in the case of the animal preparing for 
the butcher, we must draw largely not only on 
the flesh-producing elements of food, but also 
on the non-nitrogenous or fat-forming classes. 
There must, however, at all times be a proper 
mixture of the elements of nutrition and of 
respiration, otherwise there will be a failure. 
If an animal is fed exclusively on one descrip- 
tion of food, one, for example, which contains 
merely the elements of nutrition— that is to 
say, if the food only produces flesli — the ani- 
mal so fed would, gradually sink and die, in 
consequence of the absence of those elements 
which are necessary for maintaining the tempe- 
rature of the body and the production of fat. 
In like manner, an animal cannot exist on non- 
nitrogenized food, such as starch, gum or sugar, 
which consists merely of the elements of respi- 
ration, without any of the flesh-forming princi- 
ples. 

The following table exhibits the elements — 
first, of nutrition, as existing in plants, and in 
.the flesh, blood, skin, wool, hair, and horn of 
animals ; and, next, the elements of fat and 
respiration. The similarity which exists in 
the composition of the substances in each class 
shows the close affinity they bear to each other. 
In the composition of fat, indeed, there is a 
considerable difference in some respects from 
that of starch, gum, and sugar ; the cause of 



610 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



which is, that whilst the three last-named sub- 1 that they do so, their primary operation being 
stances — starch, gum, and sugar— do promote to support respiration and animal heat. They 
the production of fat, it is only when in excess jail agree, however, in not containing nitrogen: 









Element 


s of Nutrition. 






Elements of Fat a 


nd 










Respiration. 






5 


'o 

rfi 

O 


03 










,. 




B3 


3 


1. 


100 parts of 


2& 

155 


< 

o 

3 


<v 

3 

o3 


O 


o 
jo 


02 


o 




c 


o 


CO 

o 


t*-< 

o 




i "S3 g 


(0 
be 
















S 


o 




bp 




0) 


o 


O) 




















GO 




l > 


> 


t> 






















Oarbon 


54.2 


59.99 


54.138 


51.83 


51.96 


50.99 


50.65'51.53 


51.99! 


78.996 


44.250 


12.682 


40.01 


Hydrogen 


7.5 


6.87 


7.156 


7.57 


7.25 


7.07 


7.03 


6.69 


6.72 


11.700 


6.674 


6.374 


6.73 


Nitrogen 


13.9 


15.66 


15.672 


15.01 


15.07 


18.72 


17.71 


17.94 


17.28 : 


— 


— 


— 


— 


Oxygen 


24.4 


22.48 


23.034 


21.37 


21.30 


23.22 


24.61 


23.84 


24.01 ! 


9.304 


49.076 


50.944 


53.27 



The composition of bones is nearly identical 
with that of skin, &c. 

One of the most common practical errors 
which we meet with, in the care of animals, is 
the total absence of, or insufficient shelter al- 
lowed to them. It is an error, because it in- 
volves a waste of food. This will be seen when 
we consider what respiration implies, and the 
effects which it produces. 

In respiration, or the act of breathing, the 
animal inhales and exhales the atmospheric 
air. The air drawn in, or inhaled, if dry, con- 
sists nearly of * 

Nitrogen .... 79.16 
Oxygen . . . 20.80 

Carbonic acid . . . 0.04 

100. 

After the air has passed through the lungs, it 

then consists of 

Nitrogen . . . 79.16 
Oxygen : . . 16.84 to 12 
Carbonic acid . . 4.00 to 8 



100. 

The amount of carbonic acid, therefore, is 
much greater after the air has passed through 
the lungs than what it was when first inhaled. 
" On an average, the natural proportion of 
carbonic acid in the air is found to be in- 
creased one hundred times after it is ex- 
pelled by breathing from the lungs." — (John- 
ston.) Whence, then, is this excess of carbon 
derived? It must evidently be from some 
other source than the atmospheric air. 

Carbonic acid is formed by the union of car- 
bon and oxygen, in the proportion of one part 
of the former with two parts of the latter. 
Water is a compound of eight parts of oxygen 
and one part of hydrogen. Starch, gum, and 
sugar, therefore, consists almost wholly of car- 
bon and water. The oxygen of the air in- 
haled, combining with the carbon contained in 
the starch and sugar existing in the food of 
the animal, produces carbonic acid, which is 
expelled from the lungs in breathing; and the 



union of the oxygen with the hydrogen of the 
food, in like manner, produces water, the ex- 
cess of which passes off in the urine, in a 
vapour exhaled in respiration, which is visible 
at a low temperature, and in the perspiration. 
The reason is evident, therefore, why the 
amount of carbonic acid in the air is so much 
greater after it has passed through the lungs 
than what it was previous to being inhaled. 

But this, consumption of carbon in the pro- 
cess of respiration is precisely similar to what 
takes place in combustion. A union takes 
place of the carbon and oxygen of the sub- 
stance which is being burnt, and their disper- 
sion is accompanied by the production of heat, 
from the consumption of carbon, therefore, 
which takes place in respiration, heat is evolved 
and diffused throughout the body, and thus the 
starch, gum, and sugar of the food produces 
that degree of temperature which is necessary 
for the life of the animal. When, therefore, 
the animal is exposed to a lower temperature 
than the natural heat of the body, a larger 
quantity of the elements of respiration are re- 
quired to maintain the necessary degree of 
heat; and hence, animals which are exposed 
consume more food with less profitable results 
in the production of fat than those which are 
kept in a temperature at least not less than the 
natural heat of the body. In the former case, 
owing to the deficient supply of the elements 
of respiration, caused by an insufficiency olj 
suitable food, or their more rapid consumption 
or dispersion in consequence of the coldness 
or low temperature of the surrounding atmos- 
phere, there is no excess of these elements — 
nothing to spare towards the production of fat. 
and if the substance of the animal does nol 
actually waste from the strong combustioEJ 
which is going on in the system, it at least re 
mains stationary. Warmth, therefore, is equi 
valent to an increase of food, inasmuch as i 
prevents unnecessary waste of the elements o 
respiration and fat. 

To those who have always been accustomcc 
to the sleek, fine coats of carefully-tend« 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



Gil 



cattle, the shaggy winter covering of the Kyloe j 
appears grotesque, and more ornamental than 
useful ; but they overlook the fact that this 
shaggy covering is an economiser of food, and 
that by means of additional warmth which it 
affords, the scanty food which the Kyloe pro- 
cures during the winter in its natural state, 
and which would be insufficient of itself to 
sustain the animal — that is, to evolve a suf- 
ficient amount of heat to enable the animal to 
undergo the rigour of the winter — becomes 
equal to the purpose, in consequence of this 
covering. There is a less demand on the com- 
bustible materials stored up in the food, and 
thus the shaggy covering becomes essential 
to the existence of the animal. 

Insufficient house accommodation is a serious 
loss to the owner of cattle, entailing as it does 
an extra expenditure of food without an equi- 
valent return ; but how much greater is the 
loss in the case of those whose cattle are ex- 
posed during the entire winter without any 
shelter beyond that which is afforded by a 
hedge ? When we see cattle on a cold winter's day 
"Mourn in corners where the fence 

Screens them,. and seem half petrified to sleep 

In unrecumbent sadness," 

we see a waste of material going on, which is 
nearly as absurd as if the owner would wil- 
fully undertake the office of the incendiary, 
and set fire to his hay-ricks. All cattle ought 
to be put, on the approach of winter, either 
into properly-constructed houses or covered 
yards, where their food will be expended in 
promoting their growth and development, and 
not wasted in meeting the extra demand for 
animal-heat-producing material which exposure 
creates. 

But there is in the construction of cattle ac- 
commodation one important essential to be at- 
tended to, namely, perfect ventilation, com- 
bined with an entire absence of cold currents 
of air. 

We have alluded to the change which takes 
place after the air has passed through the 
lungs, by which the amount of carbonic acid 
becomes greater than when first inhaled. If 
there is no means of escape provided, the car- 
bonic acid will accumulate to such an extent as 
to be most prejudicial to the animals, breath- 
ing an atmosphere which is saturated with it. 
It is, in fact, a deadly poison ; and when we 
bear this in mind, we can have little difficulty 
in tracing to their true source many of those 
inflammatory diseases to which cattle confined 
in ill-ventilated houses are subject, and the 
origin of which often appears so very mysteri- 
ous. A man consumes about a gallon of air 
per minute. "A horse," according to Bous- 
singault, " throws off daily forty-five pounds 
of carbon in the form of carbonic acid gas ; 
and in the case of the cow, four-ninths of the 
carbon contained in the daily food is consumed 
during the process of respiration." (Voelcker.) 
This shows us how very soon the air in a 



closely shut-up stable or cow-house becomes 
vitiated, and rendered utterly unfit to support 
life in a healthy state. If, therefore, it is 
necessary to prevent unnecessary waste of food 
by providing proper shelter, it is no less requi- 
site to the healthy condition of the animals 
that the air which they breathe shall always 
be kept in a state of purity. Ample space 
should be secured over the heads of the ani- 
mals, and hay-lofts and other obstructions to a 
free circulation of air ought never to be per- 
mitted. Ventilators should be inserted in the 
apex of the roof to permit the heated exhaled 
air to escape, and means taken to secure a con- 
stant supply of fresh air from beneath, without 
creating a thorough draft, the effect of which 
would be to check the perspiration, and thus 
lay the foundation for catarrh and other dis- 
eases. 

The exercise which an animal takes causes a 
corresponding amount of waste of food. By 
exercise the respirations are not only rendered 
more frequent, but are also increased in force ; 
hence there is a greater consumption of car- 
bon — that is, of starch and sugar, the elements 
of respiration and fat — and, consequently, the 
animal requires a larger amount of food to en- 
able it to fatten ; or if this is withheld, it be- 
comes wasted or leaner. It is well known that 
fattening animals become more rapidly fat 
when kept perfectly quiet, and free from every- 
thing which excites their attention and renders 
them restless. The growing animal, indeed, 
requires a certain amount of exercise in order 
to promote muscular development and strength 
of constitution. If sufficient exercise is pre- 
vented in this case, the 3 7 oung animal will- no 
doubt accumulate fat freely, but his constitu- 
tion will be enfeebled ; and if the same treat- 
ment is pursued through several successive 
generations, whilst the animals will gradually 
acquire a greater aptitude to fatten at an early 
age, they will also become less to be relied 
upon for breeding purposes. Growing and 
breeding animals should, therefore, be always 
permitted a sufficient amount of exercise to 
secure a healthy system, whilst those which are 
fattening for the butcher must be kept quiet 
and undisturbed. 

We have observed that there must be a pro- 
per mixture of the flesh-forming elements 
along with those of respiration and fat, to form 
perfect food. We find this mixture to be par- 
ticularly the case in milk, the first description 
of food upon which the young animal subsists. 
It contains, 1st, casein or curd, which is pre- 
cisely the same as the jilrln or lean part of 
the flesh ; 2nd, fat in the shape of .butter ; 3rd, 
sugar, which is required in the process of respi- 
ration ; and 4th, certain, substances which are 
converted into the earthy part of the bones and 
the saline matter of the blood. The saline or 
earthy portion of milk consists of the phos- 
phates of lime, magnesia, and iron, chloride of 
potassium, and common salt. In its ordinary 



61! 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



state the milk of the cow consists of about 4} 
per cent, of casein or flesh-forming matter ; 3 
per cent, of butter, oil, or fat ; 5 per cent, of 
sugar ; \ per cent, of saline matter ; and 87 
per cent, of water. Everything, therefore, 
which is required to promote the development 
of the growing animal is contained in the milk, 
blended together in proportions suited for the 
purpose. "We now proceed to give in detail 
the composition of the various articles em- 
ployed as the food of animals, the practical 
bearings of which will be afterwards illus- 
trated. 

The average composition of beans, peas, 
tares, and lentils, so closely approximate to 
each other, that it is needless giving their con- 
stituents in separate detail. From the follow- 
ing analytical statement of the composition of 
field beans we learn the value of this class of 
feeding stuffs: — 

Nitrogcnised or flesh-forming constituents 23.3 
Non-nitrogenous substances, being the 

elements of respiration and fat — 

1. Starch, sugar, fat, &c. . . 48.5 

2. Woody fibre .... 10.0 
Ash (bone materials) . . . 3.4 
Water . . . . . . 14.8 

100.0 

The amount of oil, or ready-prepared fat, 

contained in beans, &c , is small compared with 

other feeding stuffs, being only about 2 per 

cent. 

The amounf of nutritious matter yielded 
by the produce of an acre (statute) of beans, 
taking the crop at thirty bushels, is as fol- 
lows : — 



Nitrogenous or flesh-forming matter 
Elements of fat and respiration — 

Starch, sugar, fat, &c. 

Woody fibre .... 
Mineral matter (bone materials, &c.) 
Water 



i. per acre. 
460 

970 
198 

07 
285 

1980 ' 
The straw of beans and peas is also rich in 
flesh and fat-forming constituents. For ex- 
ample : — 



Flesh-Forming matters 

Non-nitragcnized substances 

Mineral matters, bone materials, &c 
Water ' 




We shall afterward see that bean and pea 
straw contains a much larger proportion of 
nitrogenous matter, the elements of nutrition 
or flesh-forming substance, than the straw of 
any of the cereals. 

Although wheat flour is never used as the 
food of domestic animals, we shall refer to its 
composition, chiefly for the purpose of compari- 



son with other articles. Wheat flour, there- 
fore, consists of 
Flesh-forming substances {gluten and 

albumen) ..... 14. G 

Elements of respiration and fat, &c. : — 
Starch .... 59.7 

Gum and sugar . . 7.2 

Oil .... 1.2 

Woody fibre ... 1.7 



Ash 
Water 



69.8 

1.6 

14.0 



100.0 
Bran is richer than flour in oil or fat, con- 
taining 5 \ per cent., whilst flour only contains 
from 1 to 2 per cent. The flesh- forming con- 
stituents of bran are also nearly equal to those 
in flour. 

Wheat straw contains — , 

Flesh-forming substances . 1.79 

Respiratory and fatty matters 31.06 
Woody fibre . . . 45.45 
Ash .... . 7.47 

Water .... 14.23 



100.00 
Barley, in its natural state is seldom used in 
feeding animals ; but when ground into meal, 
or boiled and given in connection with other 
feeding stuffs, it is a valuable, and, in several 
parts of the country, a rather extensively used 
article of food. The amount of oil contained 
in barley is very small, being only about one- 
half per cent., whilst the entire amount of non- 
nitrogenous matters, fitted for the support of 
respiration and the production of fat, is about* 
69} per cent., of which starch, gum, and sugar 
form 55 per cent. An average crop of bar- 
ley — say 36 bushels, or 1,872 lbs. per statute 
acre — will yield 243J lbs. of flesh-forming or 
nitrogenous matter in the grain, and 62 lbs. in 
the straw ; 1,301 fibs, of the elements of respi- 
ration and fat in the grain, and 2,987 lbs. in 
the straw ; 602 lbs. of inorganic matter, or 
ash, in the grain, and 191 lbs. in the straw ; 
and 262 lbs. of water in the grain, and 398 lbs. 
in the straw. At one time it was considered 
that by the conversion of barley into malt it 
became more valuable as an article of food for 
animals, but this opinion has been proved to 
be wrong, and it has been found that by simply 
steeping the barley from thirty to forty hours, 
it becomes a more valuable article of cattle 
diet than either malt or dry barley. Brewers' 
grains, and distillery refuse, or the liquid 
which remains after the spirit has been drawn 
off, arc much used as cattle food, especially by 
j dairymen. These are rich in phosphates, which 
I produce milk. The proportion of water is of 
j course large, being about 76 per cent, in the 
grains, whilst the organic part amounts to 23 
per cent. The thin part of the liquid is about 
half the nutritive value of its weight of ordi- 
nary turnips ; and the thicker, or sedimentary 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



01: 



portion, is fully equal to its weight of the 
average composition of turnips. 

Oats are more extensively used than any of 
the other cereals as an article of cattle-food. 
The composition of this grain shows that it 
contains a large amount of the flesh or muscle- 
forming substances, and also 6 per cent, of oil. 
Consequently, its value for feeding purposes is 
easily understood. The nutritive value of oats, 
however, is by no means regular, some varie- 
ties being one-third more nutritious than other 
kinds. Taking the average composition, we 
find that oats in the natural state contain 13 
per cent, of nitrogenised or flesh-forming princi- 
ples ; 69 per cent, of substances which support 
respiration and produce fat ; 3 per cent, of in- 
organic matter, bone earth, &e. ; and 12 per 
cent, of water. The analyses of ripe oat-straw 
do not show any material difference from the 
straw of the cereals, but when not fully ripe 
the per-centage of nitrogenised or flesh-forming 
constituents has been ascertained by Dr. Voelc- 
ker to be much greater than in the fully ripened 
straw, which explains the value of oat-straw 
as fodder when cut whilst partially green. A 
similar result was observed 'in analyzing ripe 
oats and oats cut green. Oats ought always to 
be bruised before being given to animals, -;s in 
this state the food is not only more thoroughly 
masticated, but is also much less liable to pro- 
duce inflammation, which we often find to arise 
from the over liberal or inconsiderate use of 
the whole grain. In the form of meal it is 
but seldom used as cattle food: but when 



to 67£ per cent. ; woody fibre, 5 per cent.: ash 
11 per cent. ; and w r ater, 15 per cent. 



We have .now arrived at an important and 
interesting branch of our subject, namely, the 
amount of nutrition contained in the different 
varieties of grasses. Until recently, our know- 
ledge of the nutritive qualities of the grasses 
was imperfect, and based chiefly on speculative 
opinions rather than ascertained facts. But 
we have now to thank Professors Way, Ander- 
son, and Voelcker, for having investigated the 
subject, at least to a certain extent; and al- 
though there. still remains in this respect a 
wide field for the exercise of "the detective 
functions" of analytical chemistry, still we 
have clearer data to guide us, in the results of 
the analyses conducted by the eminent men 
we have named. 

There are many causes which influence the 
nutritive value of hay, and even of the grasses 
in a fresh state. The period at which the 
grasses are cut, whether before flowering, when 
in flower, or when dead ripe, influences the 
nutritive qualities to a very considerable ex- 
tent. Thus, of two samples of red clover, one 
of which was cut when beginning to flower, 
and the second in fourteen days after, when in 
full flower, the latter contained nearly 10 per 
cent, less of nutritive substances and 11 per 
cent, more indigestible woody fibre than the 
former. This proves to us that the longer that 
clover is allowed to remain uncut, after it is in 



ground into meal, the more thoroughly it is flower, its nutritive properties become rapidly 



sifted the more nutritious it becomes. This is 
the reverse of what occurs in the case of flour, 
because a large proportion of the flesh-forming 
and fat-producing substances contained in 
wheat is removed in the bran. Pine oatmeal 
contains nearly double the amount of nitro- 
genised matter found in fine flour ; the propor- 
tion in the former being 15 to 17 per cent., 
whilst in the latter it amounts to from 9 to 10 
per cent. The use of oatmeal is, therefore, 
more favourable to the production of muscle 
than flour. 

Rye is generally used as cattle food in this 
country in a gre.en state. It resembles wheat 
in its composition more than either of the other 
cereals, and is inferior to barley for feeding 
purposes. It only contains about one per cent. 
of oil or fatty matter; CO per cent of starch 
and sugar ; 14 per cent, of flesh-forming sub- 
stances ; 10£ per cent, of husk or woody fibre; 
If per cent, of ash ; and 13 per cent, of water. 

Although Indian corn is not grown in the 
British islands, its use for feeding purposes has 
3ecome much extended of late years. It con- 
ains a larger per-centage of oil than oats — be- 
ng as much as 8 to 9 per cent., and is, there- 
? ore, a valuable auxiliai-y in the fattening of 
)ur domestic animals. The flesh-forming con- 
tinents of Indian corn amount to llj per 
ient. ; the heat and fat-producing substances 



deteriorated, the starch and other elements of 
respiration and fat becoming changed into 
woody fibre. Again, exposure to continued 
rain lessens the nutritive value of hay, inas- 
much as the juices are thereby washed out, 
and it is only the insoluble constituents which 
remain. Heating or fermentation also acts 
injuriously, because by means of it the nitro- 
genised part, or the flesh-forming constituents, 
are not only rendered less soluble, but, if the 
fermentation is allow r ed to proceed to a con- 
siderable extent, these become destroyed — are 
changed, in fact, into other compounds, amongst 
which are vinegar and ammonia. Grasses also, 
when grown on different descriptions of soils, 
will often present opposite results, when their 
nutritive qualities are tested by analysis. Thus 
the analyses of dry clovers, grown in Scotland, 
made by Dr. Anderson, showed an average 
amount of flesh-forming substances to be 14.40 
per cent. ; whilst Drs. Voelcker and Way, on 
clovers grown in England, showed an average 
by the former chemist of 19.44 per cent., and 
by the latter of 19.31 per cent., being five per 
cent, greater than the results of Dr. Ander- 
son's analyses. There must, therefore, have 
been certain causes which influenced the man- 
ner in which ^the nutritive substance of the 
different clovers were accumulated in the 
plants — causes which were, perhaps, chief- 



614 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



ly derivable from the peculiarities of the 
soil in which the different clovers were grown. 
Taking Dr. Voelcker's analysis as our guide, 
we find that in the natural state red clover 
contains 80.040 per cent, of water, 3.606 per 
cent, of flesh-forming substances," 13.784 per 
cent, of heat and fat-producing substances, and 
1.970 per cent, of inorganic matters or ash. 
Alsike clover contained in the natural state 
76.670 per cent, of water, 4.825 per cent, of 
flesh-forming matters, 16.445 heat and fat pro- 
ducing substances, and 2.060 per cent, of ash. 
Lueern contained 73.41 per cent, of water, 
4.40 per cent, of flesh forming matters, 19. li 
per cent, of heat and fat-producing substances, 
and 3.08 per cent, of ash. Dr. Anderson states 
the composition of clover-hay to be as follows : 
Moisture, 16.84 per cent. ; flesh-forming sub- 
stances, 13.52 percent. ; non-nitrogenised mat- 
ters — the elements of respiration and fat — 
r 64.43 per cent.; mineral matters or ash, 5.51 
p3r cent. Dr. Voelcker gives the mean of 25 
analyses of common meadow hay, which shows 
fiat, on an average, this description of food 
contains 14.61 per cent, of water, 8.44 per 
cent, of flesh-forming constituents, 43.63 per 
cent, of the elements of respiration and fat, 
27.16 per cent, of woody fibre, and 6.16 per 
cent, of ash. Meadow hay of superior quality, 
analyzed by Dr. Wolff, contained 10.69 per 
C3nt. of flesh-forming matters ; whilst inferior 
meadow-hay analyzed by Dr. Anderson, con- 
tained, when fresh, 6.16 per cent., and after 
being kept for a year, only four per cent, of 
the same substances. 

If we take some of the ordinary grasses 
when made into hay, and assuming, which is 
the fact, that hay on an average contains 14.3 
per cent, of water, we find that the composition 
of Italian rye-grass consists of 8.66 per cent, 
of flesh-forming substances, 52.36 of the ele- 
ments of respiration and fat, 16.94 per cent, 
of woody fibre, 7.66 per cent, of inorganic 
matter or ash. Perennial rye-grass contains 

10.16 per cent, of flesh-forming matters, 38.93 
per cent, of heat and fit-producing substances, 

30.17 per cent, of woody fibre, and 6.46 per 
cent, of ash. Italian rye-grass is, therefore, 
more valuable than perennial rye-grass. Timo- 
thy, or meadow cat's-tail grass, contains 9.74 
per cent, of flesh-forming matters, 48.77 per 
cent, of heat and fat-producing substance, 22.68 
per cent, of woody fibre, and 4.53 per cent, of 
ash. The composition of timothy also shows 
it to be a valuable grass. Holcus lanatus, soft 
meadow grass, contains 9.87 per cent, of flesh- 
forming substances, 36.69 per cent, of heat and 
/at-producing matters, 33.69 per cent, of woody 
/fibre, and 5.46 per cent, of ash. This grass is 

of inferior value. The hay of grass grown on 
watered meadows is very nutritious, more so 
than that produced on land which has not been 
Irrigated. It contains 22.21 per cent, of flesh- 
forming matters, 5.60 percent, of ready-formed 
fat (whereas the highest proportion in the 



grasses we have already named is 3.04 per 
cent.), 27.47 per cent, of respiratory princi- 
ples, 21.55 per cent, of woody fibre, and 9.03 
per cent, of ash. Dr. Voelcker accounts for 
this superiority of these grasses by supposing 
that it is partly due to the disappearance of 
inferior grasses from irrigated meadows, and 
" perhaps also to the circumstances that the 
grass on such meadows is always cut earlier 
than on ordinary meadows." 

Whatever defects exists in our knowledge of 
the composition of the various grasses, there 
is one well ascertained fact, namely, that if we 
wish to possess the largest possible amount of 
nutritious matters in our hay, whether clover 
or meadow hay, we must cut the grasses early — 
that is, not later than when beginning to flower ; 
because that with every day which passes after 
the grasses have reached that particular stage, 
there is a loss in the amount of their nutritive 
principles, until at last we find, on their be- 
coming fully ripe, they are only one-half the 
value they were when beginning to flower. In 
order to see that this fact is either unknown to, 
or unheeded by farmers in general, we have 
only to look at any of our hay fields in the 
month of July, when it will be seen that the 
largest proportion of the grasses are allowed 
to remain uncut until their nutritive qualities 
have become wasted, or converted into indi- 
gestible matter. It is in such points as this 
that we learn to appeciate the value of scien- 
tific research when brought to bear upon the 
practice of agriculture ; when the mere practi- 
cal man, hesitajting between two opinions, and 
uncertain which course he ought to adopt, finds 
a sudden and bright light thrown upon his 
course by the minute investigations of the 
scientific explorer. If we argue upon or sup- 
port our arguments by mere generalities, we 
shall invaribly find ourselves disappointed in 
our expectations of impressing our views, how- 
ever correct they may be, on the minds of 
those whom we are desirous of influencing ; 
but once show them proof of the correctness of 
the views expressed, and conviction is at onc^e 
driven home with irresistible force. This is 
the manner, indeed, in which the union of 
" practice with science" takes place. Practice 
states the fact, and science demonstrates the 
reasons which constitute it a fact. Unite them 
and they are irresistible; separate them, and 
the course of each is wavering, uncertain, and 
liable to error. 



The Agricultural Fair for Washington county 
Virginia, commences at Abingdon on the 20th 
proximo. 



The Chicago Journal mentions, among other 
luxuries now enjoyed by the people of that 
city, luscious strawberries from Minnesota. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



015 



Arabian Horses in Kentucky. 

A new Importation — Their Pedigree and Train- 
ing — Color — Size — Power of Endurance. 

Tn our report of the proceedings of the 
celebration of the Fourth, at Lexington, 
we made a brief allusion to the Arabian 
horses imported by N. Keene Richards, 
Esq., of Georgetown, Ky. There are many 
of our readers whose interest in horses is 
such that they will read with pleasure some 
further statemeut about these Arabians. 

Mr. Richards visited Morocco, past 
through the interior of Algeria to Tunis, 
thence to Egypt, thence through Ara- 
bia Petrea and the Desert, East of Da- 
mascus, as far as Palmyra. On this, his 
first visit to the East, he selected two 
stallions, Mokhladi and Massoud, and a 
gray mare, the first mentioned bred by the 
Tarabina tribe in Arabia Petrea, and the 
two latter by the Anayza tribe. He 
brought them home safely to Kentucky, and 
finding his expectations concerning them 
were "realized, he commenced making 
preparation for another trip to the East, 
determined to spare no trouble nor ex- 
pense in procuring the best blood, as well 
as the finest formed horses in the desert. 

Mr. Layard has expressed the opinion 
that no Arab of the best blood has been 
brought to England. Mr. Richards knew 
this and, the great difficulty that has 
always been experienced in securing the 
best. After two years spent in investi- 
gation as to the best means of procuring 
the best blood in the Desert, he matured 
his plans and started again to the East, ac- 
compained by Mr. Troye, an artist, who 
has furnished some admirable drawings of 
the horses bought — and by his cousin, Mr. 
Keene, with a Syrian, who attended him 
on his first journey, and knew much about 
the horses of the East. This Syrian 
suddenly died, and the party delayed 
seven months in Damascus, while Mr. 
Keene acquired the Arabic language, and 
informed himself as to the best way of get- 
ting to that tribe of Bedouins in Arabia 
possessing the type of horses they were 
seeking. They entered the Desert, and 
the result of their expedition was the 
purchase of a horse of superior form and 
blood from one of the Sbiks of the tribe, 
but afterwards exchanged by giving heavy 
boot for a better, called Sacklowie. Be- 
sides this, Mr. Richards obtained a colt, 



supposed to be the best young horse in the 
Anayza tribe ; a gray colt, a mare and two 
dromedaries. All of these horses were 
brought safely home, so that Mr. Richards 
has now on his farm, near Georgetown, 
five Arab stallions and three mares. His 
object is not to breed pure Arabians, but 
cross this Arab stock w r ith Kentucky 
thorough breeds. Three stallions to which 
Mr. Richards specially invites the atten- 
tion of horse fanciers are Makhladi, Mas- 
soud and Sacklovil. The first is a gray, 
14 hands 1 inch high, a horse from the 
Tarabine tribe of Bedouins ; the second is 
a chesnut, 15 hands high, bred by the An- 
ayza tribe of Bedouins; the third is a ma- 
hogany bay, 15 hands, and bred by the An- 
ayza tribe. The colts of the first and 
second took the prize last fall at Lexington 
in the ring of thorough breds under one 
year. 

The size of these horses may excite re- 
mark. Mr. Richards states that there are 
not fifty pure bred horses in the Desert 
over fifteen hands high. Layard only 
saw one mare over fifteen hands. Not 
one of the Arabs from w r hose loins sprung 
the English thorough breds, w r as over fif- 
teen hands. Yet the progeny of these 
horses are of good size, and able to pack 
heavy weights through four mile heats. — 
St. Louis Republican. July 20. 



From the New England Farmer. 

Prejudice against Agricultural Peri- 
odicals. 

" The learned is happy nature to explore ; 
The fool is happy that he knows no more." 

Strange as it may appear, there are yet 
a large number of farmers in the country, 
who rely for any further addition to their 
stock of professional information upon 
their own experience, or mere accidental 
hearsay. They are possessed with a spite 
against agricultural newspapers : or they 
cherish an incorrigible prejudice against 
printed matter! And this feeling is only 
equalled by their credulity towards the 
dicta of their neighbors, They seem to 
believe that the publishers of such works 
only wish to get their money and deceive 
them ; and if some of them should happen 
to see some of their own real or fancied 
discoveries in print, they might be tempt- 
ed to doubt their truth ! Agricultural facts 
with them, it would appear, can be spoken, 



CIO 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



but not written ! Really, many of them 
would disbelieve the printed Bible, had not 
their parents instilled its truth into them 
with religious awe ! 

Reading an agricultural paper in the 
cars a few days since-, one of the above 
class of farmers looked over my shoulder, 
and very deliberately said, 

" Take a good deal of money to carry 
all them notions out." 

"Yes," said I, "but we must use our 
judgment, and consult our means and cir- 
cumstances." 

"My wife could never make anything 
out of them receipts," he added. 

"Ah, but suppose your wife's method 
of cooking should get into the papers, 
what then ?" 

"Now, do you really believe all you 
read about potato-rot, fancy manures, bug- 
killing, &c?" inquired my friend, seem- 
ingly anticipatiug my reply. 

"No, perhaps not half; but it may be 
worthy of consideration ; can you believe 
half what you hear, and are you not some- 
times deceived in your own experiments?" 

Speaking also with a friend about the 
curculio, he expressed the belief that the 
mischief was done in the flower. 

"Why," said I, "that can't be so, for 
we can see the puncture on the surface of 
of the young fruit." 

" But did you ever see a curculio ?" 

"Yes, I have, and suppose I might see 
more if I should attempt to trap them ?" 

" Well, I never did, as much as I have 
examined plum trees ; it's newspaper story, 
I reckon." 

"No, friend," said I, "it's the story of 
the tree itself, and by further experience, 
you'll find it to be so." 

" Well, when I see a curculio on the 
fruit I'll believe it," said he, with an air of 
confidence. 

Now here is an agricultural skeptic. He 
is disposed to doubt everything until it is 
made evident to his senses. Like a com- 
mon animal, what he sees he'll believe, 
and is really guilty of a simple deduction 
of logic. " Seeing is believing." 

If you go and lean over the pen of some 
veteran porker, and disturb his " balmy 
sleep" by a poke with a stick, he will get 
up and give you the grunt of recognition. 
If you inform him that the " bears are out," 
or some enemy in the field against him, he 
remains perfectly indifferent to the infor- 



mation, and can only believe it when he 
sees them. How little removed are some 
men from " His most Imperfect Majesty," 
the porker ! 

That there is a vast deal of knowledge 
lost to mankind from a want of a ready 
communication, every reflecting mind 
must perceive. A fact in science presen- 
ted to a neighbor, will very probably spread 
to a considerable extent ; but uttered by the 
press, it will never be lost to millions. — 
And even the promulgation of mere opin- 
ions, not well supported by facts, cannot do 
much harm, and may do no little good ; for 
many ideas are fruitful of a better progeny, 
as, by operating upon variously-constitu- 
ted intelligent minds, something practical 
and useful is the result. 

In regard to agricultural periodicals, like 
all other works of science, they do not 
always publish the truth ; in fact, they do 
not pretend to, because it may not be 
known. But let the man without error 
" cast the first stone." Have we no tra- 
ditionary falsehoods among us — no old, 
hoary-headed dalysions which live upon 
ignoran ce and which scientific publications 
are endeavoring to exterminate. Agricul- 
tural periodicals aim to reflect or dissemi- 
nate the most accurate and economical 
modes extant of producing food. And 
this they really do, although that informa- 
tion is not always correct. Those individ- 
uals then, who are disposed to decry such 
works, or the men who conduct them, 
should vouchsafe to let some of their own 
light from under a bushel shine upon them, 
for the sake of humanity and their own- 
vocation ; and if it is really light, they 
will gain the proper credit, and the journals 
will be more generally esteemed, d. w l. 

West Medford, July, 1857. 



Early Planting. 

No matter how early you plant or sow 
onions, beets, carrots, parsnips, cabbages, 
lettuces, radishes, cauliflowers, &c., jn the 
open ground. Even committed to the 
earth late in autumn, it is well. Cold 
weather will not hurt the seeds, and spring 
frost will not destroy the plants. They 
may be sown as soon as the frost is out of 
the ground, or even before that, on the sur- 
face directly, on the disappearance of the 
snow. The seeds will be ready to vegetate 
with the first warmth of spring. Unless, 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



617 



however, they are Wanted for very early 
use, it is as well to wait till the ground is 
settled and the soil will crumble freely on 
being dug up. But do not plant beans, 
cucumbers, melons, squashes, corn, or any- 
thing of this sort before the season is suit- 
ably advanced, and the soil has become 
warm enough to give the seeds a genial re- 
ception. Many err in this respect, they 
think, by very early planting, to secure 
such vegetables and fruit correspondingly 
sooner ; on the contrary, cold and chilly 
weather stints and dwarfs them in their 
infancy, and they never fully recover such 
an unfriendly shock. Plants that, under 
the influence of the proper warmth, start 
vigorously, will retain their advantage 
through the seasons. He patient, there- 
fore, and wait till dame Nature tells you 
when it is safest to plant. 

The first operations in the garden should 
be devoted to making the hot bed, to the 
clearing off the old haulm and foul stuff, 
uncovering protected roots, pruning cur- 
rant and gooseberry bushes and other 
shrubbery before the buds swell, digging 
the grass out from amongst roots — for this 
should not be allowed to have its nests 
there for spreading into the adjacent 
grounds, — scattering salt under plum trees, 
quince bushes, gooseberries and asparagus, 
and repairing the fences, arbors, walks, 
&c. There is enough to do in this respect, 
which by too many is apt to be neglected. 
Maine Farmer. 



Statistics of English, and French Agri- 
culture. 

Some interesting statistics have been 
given by M. R. de la Trehonnais. In 
England, out of 50,000,000 acres cultiva- 
ted, 10,000,000 are sown to wheat or other 
cereal crops, while in France 50,000,000 
were cultivated for that purpose. The av- 
erage growth of wheat per acre in England 
is 4 quarters, and in France only 1 3-5 
quarters ; while the produce of English 
land is about £3 4s. per acre, and that of 
France £1 12 per acre. The number of 

heep grown in each country is about 34,- 
300,000, and the wool produced about 60,- 
300 tons ; but owing to the difference in 
the acreage, there is something less than 
1 1-2 sheep per acre in England, and only 
ibout one-third of a sheep per acre in 
Prance. In France there are annually 

laughtered 4,000,000 of cattle, the averae 



weight of eadi being 2 cwt. ; while in 
England there is not half the number 
slaughtered, but the average weight is 5 
cwt. — Boston Cultivator. 



From the Richmond Enquirer. 

Super-phosphates of Lime. 

Messrs. Editors: In the May and July 
numbers of the Southern Planter I called 
the attention of the farmers of Virginia 
to the various super-phosphates of lime 
which are offered for their purchase in the 
Baltimore and Richmond markets. In the 
last of these articles a few words were 
said in relation to the composition of 
Rhodes' super-phosphate of lime man- 
ufactured in Baltimore. The manufacturer 
saw fit to reply to what was said in relation 
to his manure, through the columns of the 
Enquirer and Southern Planter, by charg- 
ing me with ignorance of my profession. — 
Anticipating, when 1 undertook the anal- 
sis of these manures, that I should be fa- 
vored with a few attacks of this kind, I 
was not surprised at the appearance of the 
article, and at first did not think it neces- 
sary to notice it at all ; but since it has 
been copied into a number of papers, and 
has received a much more extensive circu- 
lation than the article which called it forth, 
I think it due to myself that I should say 
a few words in rejoinder. 

On submitting Rhodes super-phosphate 
analysis, I found that it contained 19^ per 
cent of phosphoric acid, which calculated 
as bone phosphate of lime, would be 
equivalent to about 40^ per cent of bone 
phosphate of lime ; of this a little more 
than five per cent was soluble in water, 
which, calculated as super-phosphate, 
would give about seven and a quarter per 
cent of soluble or super-phosphate of lime in 
the manure. I also found that after all 
soluble matter had been removed, effer- 
vescence took place whenever any strong 
acid was poured upon it ; and I affirm that, 
having tested it, the gas given off was car- 
bonic acid. NoWj since the evolution of 
carbonic acid, under such circumstances, 
necessarily implies the presence of an in- 
soluble carbonate, I charged the manufac- 
turer with adulteration. It is true that the 
original bone dust or bone black, out of 
which the manure is made, does contain 
more or less carbonate of lime ; but if 
the super-phosphate is properly prepared, 



618 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



whether by this or that receipt, the pre- 
sence oj the carbonate of lime in the man- 
ufactured article is an impossibility — the 
sulphuric acid would remove all traces of 
carbonic acid, and leave a manure which 
could not be made to effervesce by the ac- 
tion of any other acid. 

Mr. Rhodes, forgetting, I suppose, that 
the carbonates can be detected, even if pre- 
sent in super-phosphates, denies the pre- 
sence of carbonate of lime in his manure, 
in the following words : H Now, on this, we 
join issue with Prof. Gilham and say that 
the existence of soluble or superphosphate 
of lime and carbonate of lime, is a chemi- 
cal impossibility; it never has existed, 
never can exist, and never will exist in 
the same preparation ; the presence of the 
one necessarily excludes the presence of the 
other." 

" For this we have the authority of the 
leading chemists of the day," &c. 

In answer to this, I can only say, that 
having found both these substances in 
Rhodes' super-phosphate, I must insist 
upon their being there, in spite of the 
" authority of the best chemists of the 
day," and leave the manufacturer to ex- 
plain how they came there. That they 
can both be present in the same mixture 
is certain, and it requires no lengthy argu- 
ment to show why they may be so The 
super-phosphate of lime, when first pre- 
pared by the action of sulphuric acid upon 
bone dust, is generally a stiff past}' mass, 
of such a consistence, that if the car- 
bonate of lime is added to it, complete 
re-action between the two would seldom 
take place, for the simple reason that it 
is impossible for the free acid in the manure 
to come into that intimate contact with the 
carbonate which is necessary to the entire 
removal of one or the other. But if the 
manure were allowed to dry up before the 
carbonate was added to it, no re-action 
whatever could take place between them. 

The presence of the carbonate of lime 
in a super-phosphate is a proof that there 
is something wrong about the article. — 
One of two things must have taken place ; 
an additional quantity of bone dust or 
bone black (both of which contains carbo- 
nate of lime) must have been used after 
the preparation of the manure, or the car- 
bonate itself has been used. The addi- 
tion of the latter could be nothing less 
than a gross fraud, while the use of the 



(former, although not so objectionable, is 

I nevertheless an outrage upon the farmer; 

'for he is made to pay for this added bone 

dust at the rate of from twelve to eighteen 

dollars a ton more than he would have to 

pay for it if he bought it elsewhere. 

The manufacturer states that there can 
be no mistake in his manure, as it is pre- 
pared from a formula given him by Dr. 
Higgins, State chemist of Maryland. I 
have seen Dr. Higgins' analysis of the 
manure, which only proves that Mr. Rhodes 
can make a very pure article, and I have 
no hesitation in saying that had he stuck . 
to his formula, he never would have heard 
from me, except in terms of commenda- 
tion. , Yours, trulv, 

WILLIAM GILHAM. 
Va. M. Institute, Sept. 7, 1857. 



The Agriculture of Ohio. 

The following article from the commercial 
editor of the Cincinnati Gazette, contains some 
interesting agricultural statistics, as well as 
clever illustrations of the results and prospects 
of Western agriculture, which we consider 
worthy of record in this department of the 
Merchants' Magazine : — 

Talk as we may about the improvements ofj 
mankind, there is but one trade or business by 
which men live. Without that, men must die — 
if they had the intellect of an angel and the 
mines of California. In its prosperity the man' 
who never owned an acre or raised a blade of 
grass is as much interested as if he owned 
thousands of acres. Agriculture was the first 
and will be the last trade of man, and all im- 
provements in it are of vital importance to the 
whole community. If it were to fail to the ex- 
tent of one-half its products — much more the 
whole — gold would be worthless, professions 
useless, and life would perish. Such, in the 
early ages of the world, was the condition of 
many nations, and in very recent years (as in 
1847-8) several nations of Europe have ap- 
proached the same catastrophe, and been saved 
by the vast increase in the powers of locomo-j 
tion, which have enabled the famine districts to 
obtain supplies from distant quarters. This 
subject, therefore, demands to be brought more 
distinctly to the notice of commercial cities— 
they are most of all interested in it t> Lspc 
daily is this so since the average price.-", in 
Cincinnati and New York, of the staple uti 
clcs of food have risen full fifty yer cent in the 
last ten years. 

It will be noted, as a very important fact in 
this connection, that this rise has taken place 
while facilities of communication with the mosi 
distant producing regions have been greatly in 
creased. It is evident, then, that the rise has 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



619 



not taken place merely because the great mar- 
kets are more accessible, for that would only 
enable the producers to accumulate greater 
supplies at the markets, and thus bring down 
the prices. Nor is it in consequence of an 
European demand, for though that is increased, 
the whole export is small in comparison with 
the production. Our largest export is of flour 
and wheat, except cotton, and yet these are re- 
latively the cheapest articles in market. The 
true principle of the rise in prices we have 
stated in former discussions of this subject. It 
is simply that the increase of productions is not 
equal to the increase of consumers. This may 
have two causes — natural or artificial. The 
failure of the crops might occasion it, but, in 
fact, it is the least obvious cause at work. For 
though in 1854 we had a partial failure of the 
corn crop, yet we have had three good wheat 
crops, and the general harvests have been near 
an average. 

If we look, however, into the statistics 
(which we have now tolerably accurate) of pro- 
duction and population in England, France, 
Germany, and the United States, we shall find 
a more uniform and persistent cause at work 
to produce precisely such results. This is the 
present high and unnatural stimulus given to 
artificial life. This is the result of great im- 
provement in the arts ; but it has its reaction- 
ary evils. It stimulates the increase of civic, 
or town population, in a ratio much, greater 
than that of agricultural. It stimulates also 
immigration, both in Europe and America, to 
such an extent that the loss of one year's crop, 
on the vast moving population, is a very seri- 
ous loss to production. Let us take, for exam- 
ple, the immigration from Ohio — a valley State, 
and a comparatively new State. We have at 
once some very curious and rather startling re- 
sults. We know only the number of immi- 
grants who had moved from Ohio, and were 
alive in 1850. Here is a table of that immi- 
gration to the Western States only : — 

Pr. ct.of 

To Number, popul'n. 

Indiana 120,193 12 

Illinois 64,219 8 

Iowa 30,713 16 

Michigan 14,677 4 

Wisconsin 11,402 3 

Missouri 12,737 2 

Aggregate 253,941 

This was the number of immigrants from 
Ohio to the West, who were alive in 1850, and 
we may fairly assume the whole number to 
have been double that. Since 1850 the immi- 
gration from Ohio has been larger than ever. 
Iowa has more than double the people from 
Ohio who are set down above. At present the 
tide is towards Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and 
Kansas. The whole number of persons immi- 
grated West from Ohio cannot be less than five 
hundred thousand. In the last ten years the 



immigrant movement of the United States ha s 
equaled six millions. While this fills up new 
States, makes towns and cities, and enlarges 
ths sphere of enterprise, it each year takes a 
large number of laborers from the labors of 
the field. The railroads have taken off four 
hundred thousand able-bodied men from other 
employments, both in making and running the 
roads. 

We have given enough of illustration to show 
how the powerful stimulus given to artificial 
life has relatively diminished agricultural re- 
sults, and how impossible it is that there should 
be cheapness for articles in which the demand 
is constantly' pressed against the limits of sup- 
ply. In Ohio this has not been more the case 
than in all the States, but in a great agricultu- 
ral State the results are more manifestly de- 
duceable from the true causes. Ohio is actu- 
ally increasing in population, notwithstanding 
the great drain on her resources. The births 
and the immigration greatly overbalance her 
losses, especially in the towns ; but while this 
is a fact, our agriculture has sensibly felt the 
influence of the causes we have mentioned. 
Our consuming population has increased faster 
than our producers. We have had some bad 
crops. To show our relative production, we 
give the following table of the wheat and corn 
crops during a succession of years, most of 
them derived from the assessor's tables : — 
In t Wheat. Corn. 

1849 bushels. 14,487,351 59,078,655 

1850 29,952,225 60,308.608 

1851 25,309,225 61,171/282 

1852 22,962,774 58,165,517 

1853 17,118,311 73,436,000 

The above may be taken as presenting a fair 
average, for no one of them was an extraordi- 
nary year, except that in 1849 the wheat crop 
was greatly injured by the rust. This table 
gives us the following averages : — 

Wheat bushels. 21,864,100 

Corn 62,432,000 

The corn crop of 1857 probably fell below 
fifty millions, while that of 1855 reached nearly 
eighty millions. This was the greatest contrast 
in any crop of corn we have ever known. 

In regard to the agriculture of Ohio, it is 
certain that the crops of wheat, wool, and hogs 
have all fallen off in the last three or four 
years ; but the crops of corn and hay continue 
to increase. The acres of arable land have in- 
creased, and the total money value of crops has 
increased, but it is not to be doubted, that 
the general production of crops have de- 
decreased relatively to the increase of popula- 
tion. We export immense quantities of wheat, 
beef, pork, and corn, but not so much as we 
should do if young farmers cultivated their 
own fields instead of immigrating either to 
cities or to new territories. The rage for land 
speculation has injured all but the very new 
States. It is easy to show, that the frontier 
States have grown very rapidly. This is true, 



G20 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



but they have grown b}' heavy drafts on the 
agricultural population of the other States. 
Luckily the government has proved such a 
spendthrift that good lands at a low price can- 
not be had much longer. 

There is another check to immigration which 
is rapidly coming. This is that, as prices rise, 
the land'of the Middle or Valley States will be 
much the cheapest, relativety. There is more 
speculation to be had in Ohio lands, at present 
prices, than in those of Iowa. In Ohio there 
is more facility of access to all markets, North, 
South, East, and West, than to be found in any 
other State. The result is that immigration 
from this State will soon cease, and its farming 
lands be sought for the profits of cultivation. 
At this time a larger certain income, on a given 
amount of capital, can be realized here on 
farming than any other occupation. Hence 
we anticipate that it will be more extensively 
pursued hereafter as a regular and scientific 
vocation. — Hunt's MercJmnts' Maqazinc. 



The Crops of the West in 1857. 
The Cincinnati Gazette has the following 
estimates of the crop of 1857, compared with 
the production of 1849, in the nine great grain- 
growing States of the West. The Gazette 
says the estimates are based on sound data 
in relation to increase of population and 
ratios of production, and on the assumption 
that the crop of this year will be a full average. 
Of course, Providential circumstances may mar 
this flattering prospect ; but with continuance 
of weather favorable for ripening the wheat in 
the higher latitudes, and with a late fall, in 
which corn will have time to mature, those 
figures seem to be as nearly right as any that 
can now be made — 

Wheat. Estimate. 

Crop of 1849. Crop of 1857. 

Ohio, 14,500,000 20.000,000 

Indiana, 6,200,000 10,000,000 

Illinois, 9,500,000 16,000,000 

Kentu cky, 2,200,000 5,000,000 

Tennessee, 1,650,0000 3,000,000 

Michigan, 5,000,000 6,000,000 

Wisconsin, 4,200,000 5,000,000 

Missouri, 3,000,000 5,000.000 

Iowa, 1,500,000 3,000^000 



Ohio, bush's. 

Indiana, 

Illinois, 

Kentucky, 

Tennessee, 

Michigan, 

Wisconsin, 

Missouri, 

Iowa, 

Total. 



Corn. 

Crop of 1849. 

59,100,000 

53,000,000 

57,650,000 

■ 58,700,000 

52,200,000 

5,600,000 

2,000,000 

36,200,000 

8,700,000 



Corn. 
Crop of 1857. 

85,000,000 
65,000,000 
75,000,000 
65,000,000 
60,000,000 
10,000,000 
8,000,000 
55,000,000 
20,000,000 



332,450,000 443,000,000 



This is an increase of 33 per cent., or about the 
same with the population. Of this great cereal 
crop fully one-half goes into surplus, partly in 
bulk, partly as pork, lard, whisky, cattle. 
There will be a greater surplus in 1857 than in 
1850, by full 60,000,000 bushels, which is 
equivalent to an increase of thirty millions of 
dollars. There will be half the same increase 
on wheat, and one-fourth as much on oats. 
The advance in hay, which is already much of 
it gathered, will be full fifteen millions more, 
j which chiefly appears in the weight of cattle, 
horses, &c. In addition to all these considera- 
tions, we must remember that the crop of 1856 
fell below that of 1849 very much If our hypo- 
thesis of a full average crop should turn out 
true, we think the surplusses of the West will 
be from eighty to a hundred millions of dol- 
lars better than in 1856. There is a full de- 
mand for these, and our railroads furnish a 
cheap and ready outlet to all markets. — Hunts 
Merchants Magazine. 



Aggregate. 47,550,000 73,000,000 

This shows an advance of 55 per cent ; on the 
production of 1849. The increase of popula- 
tion is about 35 per cent; so we have allowed 
a large margin for more favorable crope. 
Looking to the consumption of Indian corn 
bread, the consumption of wheat for flour and 
seed in these States will not exceed 45,000,000, 
bushels, so that there will be, assuming an aver- 
age crop, 28,000,000 of bushels for exportation. 
This is probably double the amount which 
went out of the northwest to the Atlantic 
coast. 



For the Southern Planter. 

Criticism on the Action of Commission 
Merchants in regard to the Inspectors. 

Mr. Editor : — The July number of the 
Southern Planter came to the Post Office for 
me on the last day of the month. And as you 
should reasonabty suppose, from my receiving 
it at so late a date, when the next number was 
so nearly due, I hurried to read it ; in which I 
found many things of interest and of practical 
importance. But you must bear with me in 
saying, I was not a little surprised to find the 
Editor of the Southern Planter favouring a 
scheme, which in my humble opinion has for 
its object, the indirect forcing of the Tobacco 
sales out of the hands of the Tobacco planters, 
and placing them in the hands of the Commis- 
sion Merchants. 

With many of the Commission Merchants of 
Richmond, I am personally acquainted. In 
my opinion they are gentlemen, and my per- 
sonal friends ; and I am unwilling to b. n lieve 
that they mean what their language purports 
in their report. And I hope they will bear 
with me in what I shall say about their report, 
charge, and resolutions, published upon the 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



621 



140th and 41st pages of the July number of 
;he Southern Planter. For I am free to con- 
fess that I have not mind enough to under- 
stand them otherwise. In their report they 
;ay : " And here your Committee would take 
especial pains to correct the impression on the 
ninds of some, that this meeting, by its action, 
)roposes to throw any obstacle whatever in the 
vay of planters, who may choose to sell their 
jroduce through the agency of the Inspector: 
Chey indignantly deny such a charge. " Here 
s a positive declaration, saying, they propose 
;o throw no obstacle between the planter and 
he Inspector in the sale of his Tobacco. I 
should be delighted if I could make this decla- 
•ation harmonize with what is farther said: 
)r, what is farther said, and which we shall 
lotice in its place, to harmonize with this ; 
5 but they do affirm, that when Inspectors, by 
heir acts, become Commission Merchants/' 
notice how it is to be done; the charge is,) 
' by soliciting consignments and making ad- 
vances on same." One would suppose, sir, 
ihat this charge was made to establish their 
)eing Commission Merchants. But it appears 
rom their own words, that they become both 
Commission Merchants and Violators of the 
I Inspection laws :" ''That the Inspector was 
ippointed to stand between the buyer and 
seller, and to determine the character of the 
irticle inspected. How, then, can he be an 
mpartial arbiter, when allowed to become the 
'ender of the same article he inspects?" This 
anguage expresses as clearly to my mind as 
he light of the noon-day's sun, that the " Com- 
nittce" think the Inspector should not sell the 
>lanter's Tobacco for him. 

And the natural consequence then will be, 
he business must go into other hands. Very 
>robably, and most probably, into the hands 
>f the Commission Merchants. But stronger, 
till : " Your Committee are clearly of opinion, 
hat if the law were fairly construed, it would 
onfer no such privilege, and the practice, in 
'.ur opinion, should be discontinued." From 
his quotation, you see, sir, that the '" Commit- 
ee" of " Commission Merchants," by their 
'opinion," deprives the Inspector of the privi- 
ige of selling the planter's Tobacco for him, 
ven at the planter's request. Why? Because 
hey think the "law," if " fairly construed," 
jrclids it, and in their " opinion" it " should 
discontinued." Abandon the practice of 
elling Tobacco by public sale at the Ware- 
louses, and what will be the consequence? 
n my " opinion," the whole sales must, as an 
aevitable consequence, sooner or later, go into 
be hands of the Commission Merchants. And 
len every planter will be ground with the 
harge of "2J per centum," whether he is 
rilling or not, for this will be the best he can 
len, and under those circumstances, do. 
'lanters ! will you submit to this ? If you 
ave the physical ability to make and manage 
)bacco for market ; have you net intelligence 



and independence enough to say, how it shall 
be sold, and who shall do it. I take the re- 
sponsibility of saying you have. Then let us 
see to it. Whilst we hold the right to do our 
selling ourselves, if we choose, let us hold on 
to that right. "And further, the Commission 
Merchant is taxed a per centum upon every 
hogshead of tobacco he sells, and the State de- 
rives no inconsiderable revenue from this 
source ; but the Inspector, who is a Commis- 
sion Merchant in fact, by virtue- of his office, 
is freed from such taxation, and maybe termed 

the PRIVILEGED COMMISSION MERCHANT." Here, 

sir, is language, at least as unmistakable as 
the moon's light, with all the stars of the ce- 
lestial world shining around her, upon a bright, 
clear night. 

They say the " Commission Merchant is 
taxed upon every hogshead he sells," and 
the " State derives no inconsiderable reve- 
nue from this source," and the " Inspector" be- 
ing " the PRIVILEGED COMMISSION MERCHANT," 

is not taxed. Consequently, the State gets no 
revenue from their sales. It seems to me, sir, 
that the object of the " Committee," in the use 
of this language, must be, to call the attention 
of the Legislature of Virginia, particularly to 
the subject; and enlist their favour in its be- 
half, by using the tempting idea of raising 
revenue to the " State," by preventing the 

" PRIVILEGED COMMISSION MERCHANT" fl'Om Sell- 
ing the planter's tobacco for him ; and there- 
by force the planter by, and through necessit} 7 , 
to employ the tax-paying " Commission Mer- 
chant" to sell it for him, that the " State" may' 
receive revenue from such sale. 

Just here, I would most respectfully say, if 
the planter is taxed to raise " revenue" for the 
wants of the " State," tax his property, and 
not deprive him of the privilege of selling or 
having his tobacco sold, in any honourable way 
he may choose. Now, sir, if the legislature of 
Virginia think it unlawful find improper for 

the " PRIVILEGED COMMISSION MERCHANT" to Cry 

and sell the planters' tobacco for them, which 
I cannot "believe," I suggest that the legisla- 
ture of Virginia establish in each Ware-House 
in the State, a regular auction desk, at which 
the planters may have their tobacco sold ; and 
appoint an Auctioneer, whose duty it shall be 
to cry and sell every planter's tobacco, who 
wishes it sold in that way ; and cause him to 
be paid for said services out of the proceeds of 
such sales, say 50 cents per hogshead ; thereby 
leaving the planter under no other necessity 
to employ a Commission Merchant to sell his 
crop, than his own free choice. Proceeding, 
they say : " Hence they believe the evils of 
which they complain and set forth in this re- 
port, arise chiefly from the clashing of inter- 
ests of Inspectors with those of Commission 
Merchants." Now, sir, one of the " evils" of 
which they complain is, if the planter gets the 
Inspector to sell his tobacco for him, the 
"State" suffers loss, by receiving no " reve- 



622 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



nue" from such sale. And another great 
" evil" is, " the clashing of interests" between 
them and the Inspectors. My dear sir, the 
planters, where and when their interests and 
rights are involved, claim the right to " be- 
lieve" and have "opinions" too. And some 
planters "believe" this " clashing of interests" 
to be, mainly, this : If the planter gets the In- 
spector to cry and sell his hogshead of tobacco 
for him, he has only to pay for crying it. 
When, if he gets the Commission Merchant to 
sell it for him, he has to pay from $2| to $8], 
as the gross amount of money may be, which 
the hogshead brings, at "2-£ per centum." The 
planter seeing proper to employ the Inspector 
to cry and sell for him, the Commission Mer- 
chant sustains a loss to the amount of the 
above sums, and the "State" receives no "rev- 
enue." I know a man who says he has an ex- 
perience of 40 years standing in selling to- 
bacco in Richmond, and he has never had but 
one crop sold by a Commission Merchant du- 
ring the time ; and in that sale he was only 
benefited to'the loss of "2J per centum" upon 
every hogshead" — the Commission Merchant 
employing the Inspector to cry and sell it for 
him. lam decidedly of the "opinion" that, 
if the planter should of necessity drop either, 
as his salesman, the Inspector or the Commis- 
sion Merchant, he should drop the latter. But 
I advocate no such thing, I am in favour of 
both. 

But let both Jcnoiv, they are the servants of 
the planters, and not their masters, as either 
would be, the other being "discontinued." 
They close their report, by saying: "And 
they believe a different state of things would 
soon be experienced if those officers were con- 
lined alone to inspecting, and not selling to- 
bacco." I ask in all candour, if any language 
could be used, which could be more expressive 
than this is, that the " Committee" would, if 
they had the control of the matter, confine the 
Inspector "to inspecting and not selling to- 
bacco." And why? Because, without a sub- 
stitute, as I, and very many others, " believe," 
the whole sales would soon fall into their 
hands, and their treasury would be increased 
to the tune of " 1\ per centum. I do not 
charge the " Committee" with designing or 
purposing this thing; but it is clear to my 
mind, that this is a rational inference, and that 
this will be the inevitable result. Planters ! 
keep your eyes open. It is much easier to pre- 
vent this " evil," than it will be to correct it, 
after it is allowed to be inflicted. Let what is 
said above of the " Committee's Report," suf- 
fice for the present. They make three charges. 
All /have to say of them is, they are "evils," 
and should be, by the proper authorities, cor- 
rected. 

Next in turn, comes their resolutions. There 
are three of them. The first and third I fully 
endorse ; but the second I am opposed to. Not 
because I " believe" they have not the right to 



do so; but because I am jealous of the inju- 
rious consequences which I fear will arise from 
it, to the planters' interest. The resolution 
reads thus : "Resolved, That a Committee oft 
five be appointed to select a room, and have it 
fitted up, to be used as a ' Sale Room/ or ex- 
change, for the public and private sale of to- 
bacco, and other produce." This being done< 
and practiced, what will be the probable con- 



sequence 



? I] 



humble 



opinion, sir, it 



will be to indirectly drive, or force, or entice 
all the tobacco sales into their hands. And I 
" believe" it may be done in this way. We all 
know, sir, who have any knowledge of the to- 
bacco sales, that large consignments of good 
crops of tobacco are made to the Commission 
Merchants; and 'they have the exclusive con- 
trol of the samples. They may select a lot of 
good crops for every day's sale, at their " Sale 
Room ;" and the Merchants, knowing whal 
crops and what tobacco will be offered for sal 
at their " Sale Room," and not knowing whal 
sort or kind will be opened at the Ware- 
Houses, will, as a matter of course, attend 
their sales ; (for I " believe" they get veri 
nice bargains out of many of them very often ;' 
and the planters who sell at the Ware-Houses 
will be left with but few buyers to attend thei] 
sales. And the consequence will be, the plan- 
ter must employ the " Commission Merchant'-' 
to sell for him, in order to give his crop a fail 
chance in the market, as he will naturally con- 
clude. This being accomplished, the deed \i 
done ; the dye is cast. A tax of " 2£ per cen 
turn" is no longer voluntary, but is made obli 
gatory. And perhaps, who knows — men are 
but men — they may after a while, hold anothei 
"Meeting," and appoint another "Committee,' 
who may think their work is too laborious 
they don't make money quite fast enough ; th« 
business being over supplied by numbers, ant 
they ought to have "5 per centum," as charged 
in various Southern markets for selling pro 
duce, and they pass that resolution. Wha 
would be the consequence? I will not no\» 
undertake to answer. The planters and far 
mers alone can hold these things in check 
They yet have the power. Planters and far 
mers will you keep it? 

Lastly, is their resolution, offered by Mr 
Eggleston : " Resolved, That we, Commission 
Merchants of the City of Richmond, will writ< 
to our patrons throughout the State, and urg< 
upon them the importance of holding count} 
meetings to instruct their delegates in the nex 
General Assembly, to make such alterations ii 
our " Inspection Laws," as are best calculate^ 
to remedy the evils complained of." To this 1 
would only say, if the "Inspection Laws" ar< 
defective, I advocate their correction, and hold 
ing those "County Meetings" for that purpose 
But I would most earnestly recommond t< 
those " County Meetings" the importance o 
extending their deliberations a little further 
and taking; into consideration their own loss oi 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



G23 



;ain, by their employing Commission Mer- 
hants to sell their crops of tobacco for them, 
nstead of their doing it themselves. Gentle- 
nen, whilst yoa are holding those meetings, 
xamine into the matter tliorouglily, and delib- 
rate well, to see if you are not paying, or giv- 
ng those agents more money than would pay 
he salaries of every minister of the Gospel, 
,nd build every needed Church in the State of 
Virginia, for work, which you might, could, 
houkl and ought to do yourselves: And then 
lave left a heavy surplus to use in supporting 
he Missionary cause, &c, &c. I forbear say- 
ng anything more upon the subject ; unless, 
he events of the future make it necessary. 
I remain, 

Yr. humble ser't, 

A Planter. 
Aug. 10th, 1857. 
Richmond Enquirer and Whig please copy. 



lortiraltural Jepartmrat. 



E. G. EGGEL1NG, Contributor. 

iSPAEAGUS-HOW TO MAKE BEBS-- 
P I A N T I N G-CULTIVATION-OUT- 
TING, &c. &c. 

At the solicitation of several correspondents, 
vho have requested information on this subject, 
ve purpose to give directions for making as- 
)aragus beds, for planting the roots and the 
general process of cultivation. And we take 
>ccasion to repeat here, that we shall be glad. 
o receive letters of inquiry from any of the 
mtrons of the Planter, on any subject con- 
nected with the culture of flowers, fruits or 
egetables, and will, through this medium 
*ive such replies to their queries as shall seem 
o us judicious. If we received such letters 
nore f equently, we should be better enabled 
o cater for the readers of our contributions. 

The best time for planting asparagus is the 
pring — about the last of February, or the 1st 
f March, and it may be planted any time up to 
he 1st of April. It is some times planted in 
he fall, in the month of November ; but our pre- 
ference is as before stated, and for this reason: 
Che roots are tender and spongy, and in taking 
hem up, however carefully it may be done, they 
re likely to be broken, and bruised, and as they 
ie dormant through the winter, those broken 
ind bruised parts are almost sure to rot, and 
hus the root is materially injured. Whereas, 
vhen the roots are taken up in the spring, only 
i few days elapse after the planting before 



they begin to grow, and the broken and 
bruised parts are speedily healed. 

For the asparagus bed, select a piece of 
ground which is not troubled with surface 
water, or springs, but which is dry and of a 
sandy loam. The first thing to be done, is to 
go, carefully, over the whole space and remove 
from it all weeds and grasses which are propa- 
gated from the roots. We instance wild 
onions, wire grass, nut grass and the like. 
All these are to be taken out with the spade 
and hand, and so taken that none of the 
roots should be left ; and when cleansed 
of all such roots, carry these away and 
burn them, as if they be left lying near, they 
will take root once more and soon infest 
the ground as before. The two grasses named 
especially, will ruin any asparagus bed in the 
world, as a friend, living near us, who failed to 
free the ground entirely of wire grass, has 
learned to his sorrow. 

This having been done, the ground is now 
ready for the next step, which is trenching. 
In effecting this, follow these directions. Lay 
out the whole of the surface which is to com- 
pose the bed, into sections four feet wide. 
Supposing then that your bed lies east and 
west, begin with the first section on the east, 
and dig out the soil to the depth of twenty-five 
inches, removing the soil as it is dug just be- 
yond the last section on the west of the bed, 
and depositing it there in a pile for after use. 
This will leave the first section a mere hole 
four feet wide, two feet deep, and as long as you 
choose to make it. Into this hole or trench, 
now put manure, (good stable manure is the 
best,) to the depth of eight or ten inches, .and 
then proceed to dig the second section to the 
depth of ten or twelve inches, and throw the 
the soil so removed into the trench made by 
digging out the first section. Mix the soil 
then thoroughly with the manures previously 
thrown into the trench, and when this has been 
done, dig out the soil from the second section 
twelve inches wide, making the depth twenty- 
five inches, and throw the soil thus removed,, 
upon the top of the first section. This will 
leave the second section a mere hole or trench, 
of the same dimensions that the first was 
awhile ago. Now put manure in this, as be- 
fore directed for the "first, and then dig the soil 
from the third to fill up the second, and so con- 
tinue until you come to the last section, in the 



624 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



extreme west of the bed. To fill up this, use 
the earth which was taken out of the first sec- 
tion, incorporating it with manure as before 
directed. When the whole bed has been thus 
thoroughly trenched, cover over the whole sur- 
face of the bed with manure to the depth of 
four to six inches, and work this manure well 
into the soil to a depth of twelve inches. 
Throughout the whole of this process, as well 
when priming the lower part of the bed as the 
upper, be careful to break every clod, however 
small, and to pulverize the soil, so that it may 
be made as light and pliable as possible. 

There is another method of preparing aspara- 
gus beds in Virginia, consisting in merely dig- 
ging manure trenches and filling them with 
manure, but while it is less laborious and 
costly in the beginning, is not really true 
economy either of labour or money. Such 
beds last but a short time, and produce an in- 
ferior quality of asparagus. A bed made ac- 
cording to the directions which we have given, 
will be good f >v four, twelve and twenty years, 
and will grow asparagus of a superior quality ; 
and it must be remembered that all this care in 
the preparation of the bed is rendered necessa- 
ry by the fact that a large part of the ground 
can never be reached again after the roots are 
planted to furnish it with manure, and the 
quality of the asparagus depends almost 
entirely upon the richness or poverty of the 
land. A piece of ground eight feet wide ar,d 
one hundred and fifty long, which will plant 
two rows or roots, one hundred roots to the 
row, will furnish an ample supply of aspara- 
gus for a family of eight or ten persons, in the 
drye'st seasons, and in wet seasons, will furnish 
more than they consume. Indeed, a bed thus 
prepared will never be dry, whatever the 
•season. 

Having thus trenched our ground, it is now 
ready for the planting, and we assume the di- 
mensions above stated, ?'. e., eight feet wide 
and one hundred and fifty feet long. Run a 
line down the centre of the trenched ground, 
which will give us two beds, each four feet 
wide, in each of which beds we shall plant one 
hundred asparagus roots in the following man- 
ner. With a garden line, divide each of these 
beds through the middle,.which will leave a 
space of two feet between the two rows of 
asparagus. With a spade now go along the 
line which is stretched down the centre of each 



bed and dig perpendicularly down, opening a 
trench twelve inches deep, and making the 
trench something like the furrows of a mill- 
stone. The roots are to be planted eighteen 
inches apart in the rows, which will give us, in 
the bed we are making, one hundred roots to 
each bed. Put the roots up against the per- 
pendicular side of the trench and spread out' 
the fibrous roots in fan shape. The crown or 
top of the asparagus root should be buried six 
inches below the surface of the bed ; and care 
should be had to place them all equally deep. 
As you put in the roots, and spread them out 
as directed, press a little earth up to them with 
your hand, and afterwards cover them with the 
soil. 

Asparagus roots are bought very cheaply 
now, costing only from fifty cents to one dollar 
per hundred, and we would therefore advise all 
persons to purchase a few more than they 
need, so that they may use only such as are 
fiirst-rate. Reject all such as are small, and 
such as were bruised or mashed either in 
taking them up or their subsequent transplan- 
tation. We advise the planting of roots one 
year old, though persons often plant two years 
old roots. The former are preferable, because 
they recover more readily from any hurt re- 
ceived in their removal. . Persons can readily 
supply themselves with asparagus roots from 
any of our gardens and nurseries; but we would 
advise all persons who wish to cultivate this 
delicious vegetable, to sow the seed themselves. 
It is attended with but little trouble or ex- 
pense. Either in the spring or fall, as may be 
most convenient, sow the seeds in drills about 
two inches deep, and in one year after the 
seeds germinate, the roots are ready to be 
transplanted to the asparagus beds. 

The plants which we left awhile ago, six 
inches below the surface, will appear above 
sometime in the month of May, but are weakly, 
and delicate, and require to be kept constantly 
clear of weeds throughout their growing season. 
This will bring us on to the fall after the 
roots were planted, when we have to make up 
the beds. This we will do by using soil 
and manure in equal proportions, and where 
the soil was not sand}'", originally, a little sand 
may be worked into the beds with advantage. 
The beds are now to be raised from four to six 
inches, which will make them from ten to 
twelve inches above the crown of the root as it 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



G25 



•tood when it was planted. To effect this, I 
;ake the soil out of the space which was left 
jetween the two rows of roots. We left a 
pace of five feet it will be remembered ; now 
ay off midway of this space, an alley or walk 
Eighteen inches wide, from which the soil may 
)e removed to the depth of four or five 
nches. This will leave between each border of 
,his alley, and each asparagus row, a space of 
if teen inches. The soil removed from the alley 
s to be thrown upon the top of the two beds, 
md added to it manure to the depth of two or 
hree . inches, and when the soil and manure 
las been well mixed together, rake over neatly 
he entire bed. 

At each end of the rows, at the time of 
Wanting, put down a stout stake, in a line 
vith the rows of asparagus to serve as a guide 
n future operations, when the precise locality 
>f the roots cannot otherwise be known. The 
eds are not to be made up until the tops of 
he asparagus have been killed by the frost, nor 
mtil these tops have been cut off with a knife, 
loe, or cutting blade. 

After the beds have been made up as direct- 
d, the asparagus will- be very much improved 
>y giving them a top-dressing of salt. Cora- 
non alum or fish salt is the kind to be used, 
t will dissolve through the winter and find its 
ay to the roots and feed them, prevents the 
rowth of weeds and promotes the moisture of 
he beds. 

The next spring, say about the last of Feb- 
uary, or the first of March, the surface of the 
ground should be slightly stirred with an 
sparagus fork. This is all the work needed 
t this time. At this season, the first after the 
oots were planted, only a few of the stalks 
hould be cut, and these, only the stronger, 
eaving the weaker to grow up. Be careful, in 
utting the stalks not to go too deep, so as to 
njure the plant. Supposing' the root to be 
welve inches below the surface, the stalk 
hould be taken not more than six or eight 
nches long. 

The grasses hereintofore described, include 
11 the cultivation which asparagus requires. 
Ivery fall and spring the beds are to be stirred, 
nd in the fall manure is to be given them 
reely, and any earth which may 'have washed 
rom the top of the beds is to be thrown back 
ipon them. Keep the beds clear of weeds 
hrough the summer and that will suffice. 
. 40 



A PLAIN TALK ABOUT SEED. 

The preservation of seed, is a subject of 
much more importance to the agricultural and 
horticultural community, than is generally sup- 
posed by the mass of our people. The amount 
of money which is paid annually for garden 
and grass seeds, by the farmers and gardeners 
of this State, is astounding to one who has not 
given it much consideration. Large sums are 
drawn from the State every year by houses in 
Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York, which 
could easily be kept at home if those who are 
engaged in the cultivation of the soil would 
only be careful to save seeds to supply home 
consumption. Instead of doing this, (as they 
easily could,) every season our gardeners are 
compelled to resort to the seed-stores in our 
cities to supply themselves with seeds ; and 
those which they purchase have been procured 
of dealers in one of the cities before mentioned, 
and raised on Maryland, Pennsylvania, or New 
York farms. 

The season before the last a friend wrote to 
us to buy for him a half gallon of water-mellon 
seeds ; and though we made diligent inquiry, 
we could not obtain that quantity in Richmond, 
raised within the borders of the State, and had 
to take seeds obtained from other quarters. 
And this too where there are hundreds of acres 
of ground in water-mellons every year, in a 
circle of twenty miles, about the city of Rich- 
mond. This incident will serve to illustrate 
the neglect of our cultivators to save seeds for 
their own planting, and to supply the home 
market. 

But even where the neglect does not extend 
so far, in communities where each cultivator 
endeavours to save enough seed to plant his 
own crop, there are errors in practice which 
need to be corrected. Chief among these, and 
the only one which we notice, is the habit of 
saving seed from any plant-house, inferior 
in quality it may be. Either from a mistaken 
idea of economy, or from a culpable negli- 
gence, many persons select for family con" 
sumption the choice vegetables, or send to 
market the better wheat, corn, oats, and to- 
bacco, and keep for seeding purposes those 
which are inferior, and which would, therefore, 
bring a less sum if exposed for sale. The per- 
nicious consequences of this course has been 
aptly illustrated in the fate which befel the 



626 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



turnip crop some years ago, in some quarters. 
It dwindled away ; the roots, year by year, 
" grew small by degrees and beautifully less," 
until they were scarce worth cultivation. Men 
wondered at the result, but it was soon ascer- 
tained that it was owing solely to the inferi- 
ority of the seed. Farmers would sow turnip 
seed, eat all the choice roots, or feed them to 
cattle, cut the tops in the Spring for salad, and 
then save seed for Autumn planting from the 
poor dwarfed roots which they could neither 
eat nor feed to cattle. The deterioration of the 
crop was natural, and all that was needed to 
restore it to its pristine excellence, was the 
procurement of suitable seed. 

With all the lights of experience before them, 
there are too many cultivators of the soil who 
take but little account of the character of the 
seed which they plant or sow, and still less of 
the quality of the plants from which they gather 
their seeds. How many there are, who send 
the best wheat to market and^ save an inferior 
article for seed. How many there are, who 
plant inferior corn instead of choosing that 
which grew most thrifty and produced the 
finest ears. And yet it is singular that these 
same men are well convinced that to have fine 
hogs, sheep, cows, and horses, they must secure 
breed animals of the best blood. As certainly 
must farmers have choice seeds, if they ex- 
pect to raise choice crops. 

A true regard for the quality of his crops, 
should induce the farmer to select with much 
care and circumspection, at the time of their 
ripening, the seeds which he designs to plant 
#he ensuing season. At the harvesting, if there 
be one piece of wheat superior in all respects 
to all that he has grown, let him cut and stack 
that with care, to be threshed and cleaned and 
put away for the next sowing. So with the 
corn, when that is gathered in, let him choose 
that which has grown best and have the finest 
shoots, and matured earliest, and put it away 
for the next year's planting. And thus let him 
deal with all the grains which he cultivates. 
To secure choice tobacco seeds, lie should select 
the finest, largest and most thrifty plants, and 
tend them carefully, that nothing may hinder 
their complete development. 

Descending from these great staples, we urge 
a like attention to the character of the seed in 
all garden vegetables, and esculent roots and 



edible beans and berries. To have superiJ 
lettuce and cabbage seeds, pick out the fine 
specimens of such and gather your seeds i 
them ; and so of all others. In the pea trib 
the vines from which you would gather yoi 
seed, select those which mature first, let the 
ripen and gather them for seeds, instead • 
gathering the first fruits for the table or ma 
ket, and the later product of the vines for yoi 
seed room. And in selecting potatoes, choo 
such as are on healthy, vigorous vines, tal 
them up with care and store them aw T ay uni 
the next planting season. 

By such close, continued and persevering a 
tention to the character of the seeds which yc 
scatter in the soil, you will gain somethir 
more than the lost seed. It must infalliab. 
improve the character of the product itsel 
Some years ago we purchased at various time 
from a gentleman living then in North Car 
lina, his crop of corn, and it surpassed in tl 
size and weight of the grain anything we hi 
ever seen. So fine was it, indeed, that v 
gave it a new name, and distributed sma 
parcels of it to some of our agricultural friend 
who professed to be hugely pleased, not on! 
with the samples we gave them, but also wii 
the product on their own farms. It was supj 
rior, they assured us, to any variety of India 
corn they had ever seen. Yet, as we learne. 
from our friend, it was a variety of corn whic 
these farmers had cultivated all their lives, arJ 
its superiority to their ordinary crops was o\ 
ing solely to the fact that the gentleman of whoi, 
we purchased it, was careful to select for plan 
ing, every year, only the fine and large ear, 
grown upon vigourous and healthy stalks. 

The result thus attained in the culture < 
Indian corn, is much more certain to follov 
where similar care is bestowed upon the sole 
tion of seed, in the cultivation of other pr< 
ducts of our farms and gardens. We kno- 
that many of our most valued, esculent root 
in i heir natural state, are scarcely fit to ea 
and will hardly tempt the palates of haa 
starved citttle. They owe their excellence t 
the care and skill of enlightened cultivation 
and most of them depreciate rapidly and bfc 
come comparatively worthless in a few years 
if allowed to seed themselves. Must not alik 
depreciation ensue whenever the farmer o 
gardener neglects the selection of the bea 
seeds for planting purposes. Indeed, will no 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



627 



ie deterioration be much more rapid where 

te best seeds are taken away and only the 

ore worthless tfsed for planting, than if the 

hole product of the plant were allowed to 

11 upon the soil, as would be the case if the 

ant was growing wild in the fields. 

But we are even more concerned with another 

ew of this question. We are truly solicitous 

at everything which is needed upon a well 

anaged, well conducted farm, should be sup- 

ied by our own producers ; and we can think 

' no just reason why our Virginia seed stores 

ould be compelled to seek their supplies of 

feds in markets outside of our borders. There 

>uld be none, we know, if our counsels could 

fluence the conduct of the gardeners and 

mers in the State. There would be no need 

look beyond our borders for seed, if our peo- 

would once get the habit of saving good 

d — the best seed. At present our seed 

alers seek their supplies from large seed 

alers North, because these men have a char. 

er to sustain which would be destroyed by 

ling indifferent seeds, and our farmers, on 

contrary, are notoriously indifferent to the 

ility of the seed which they save either for 

ir own planting, or for sale in the market. 

w why may not all this be reversed, and the 

needed to supply our home markets 

sed here on our own soil, and the profits of 

t culture retained in the pockets of our own 

ducers ? Can any man furnish us with a 

d and sufficient reason for the continuance 

ihe present absurd and ridiculous state of 

irs ? We want a reason, and will be obliged 

ny gentleman who will supply our need. 

"ntil it is furnished, we must continue at 

rvals, as we have opportunity, to urge this 

iect upon the farmers and gardeners of Vir- 

a. We have chosen to do so now because 

just the season when a hint can be ren- 

sd useful to such as are willing to reform 

re they have been in the wrong. May we not 

E that these suggestions will not fall upon 

dull as the coTd ear of death, but that they 

incite reflections which may lead to wise 

lusions, to be carried out in practice. 

part, at least, is done ; our duty fully 

Drmed ; and whether those to whom we 

ess ourselves shall hear, or fail to heed 

warnings, we shall alike hold ourselves 

Ived from all censure. 



THE NEXT FAIR. 

The Executive Committee of the State Agri- 
cultural Society has already announced the 
lists of premiums and the period for the hold- 
ing of the next annual exhibition, under the 
auspices of the Society. The next exhibition 
will be held at the fair grounds in this city, on 
the 27th of October, and present indications 
promise that the exhibition will surpass in in- 
terest, either of those which' have been previ- 
ously held. Communications already received 
at the Society's rooms in this city, speak of an 
unusually interesting and varied exhibition of 
stock, imported and native, and from the notes 
of preparation, which meet us from various 
quarters, we doubt not there will be a great 
gathering, not only of the fat things of the 
land, but of the honest yeomanry of the coun- 
try, and of their stout lads and bonny 
lassies. 

So may it be. We look forward with increas- 
ing interest, year after year, to these annual 
convocations of the farmers of Virginia,- and 
have been particularly pleased with the disap- 
pointment experienced by those croakei*3 who 
predicted at the outset, that after a year or so, 
the interest in these exhibitions would abate, 
and that the grounds would present a beggarly 
account of empty stalls and unoccupied acres. 
Year after year these birds of ill-omen have., 
reaped only disappointment, and still they 
croak as bravely as if their predictions had 
never been falsified by the event. 

At the previous exhibitions, our Virginia 
cultivators have done well, have acted nobly, 
but they can do better this year, if they will. 
Creditable to all parties as our annual fairs 
have been, that which is to follow can be made 
more honorable to Virginia Agriculture, and 
Agriculturists. And that, too, by the adoption 
of a very simple rule of conduct — one which 
we venture to recommend to the adoption of 
all to whom these presents shall come. That 
is, learn to think of these-annual fairs, and es- 
pecially of that which is now so nearly at our 
doors, as something in which you have a direct 
personal interest — such an interest as you have 
in the neat appearance of your dwelling, or in 
the behaviour of your boys and girls when 
they are away from your elbow, out in so- 
ciety. 

Such is in truth, the interest which each 



G28 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



producer in the State has in these annual exhi- 
bitions, whether he has been accustomed to re- 
gard himself as sustaining this relation to them 
or not. He cannot but be identified with them. 
These fairs have attracted, and will continue 
to attract, crowds of spectators, not only citi- 
zens of Virginia, but of other States, North 
and South. Such strangers looking upon the 
products of the soil placed on exhibition, will 
form from such an inspection an opinion of the 
spirit of the agricultural community, and a 
judgment of the value of the lands on which 
those products were raised. Thus through the 
two avenues of pride and cupidity, these exhi- 
bitions appeal for the warm and zealous sup- 
port of every man engaged in tilling the soil 
in Virginia. 

Thus far our people have not been insensible 
to these appeals, or slow to meet the obligations 
devolved upon them, by reason of their rela- 
tions to agriculture, nor have we any fear that 
they will be lacking upon this occasion. It is 
not from a doubt of the success of the next 
fair that we write these lines, but merely with 
the hope of aiding to render it more successful 
than cither of its predecessors. That is the 
mark at which we aim, a higher excellence, a 
more brilliant success. It can be attained, it 
ought to be achieved. Do you ask how this 
can be? We will tell you. Let every farmer, 
and every farmer's wife, and every farmer's 
daughter, and every farmer's son, resolve now 
to do something to make the next fair more 
-successful than either of the former ones have 
been. This is the first step, the determination 
to succeed, and then we will consider what it is 
in your power to do. You can do a great deal 
in this behalf, much more than you have 
deemed possible, much more than you are per- 
haps willing to do. You can attend the fair 
in person, to see for yourself, what Virginia 
farmers raise, and to learn how they raise all 
these things. This you must, by no meaus, 
omit. Your presence is indispensable to the suc- 
cess of the fair, and we cannot, by any means, 
excuse your failure to attend. We want you, 
and we must have you, so don't shake your 
head dubiously, but just make up your mind 
at once, that you will be on hand at the exhi- 
bition of 1857. Then this other thing you can 
do, you can bring with you " the gude wife," 
and daughter Betsey, and that brave bov, Tom, 



of whom you are so justly proud. Whaj : 
that you say, it will cost too much, and you v 
a poor man, and cannot afford the expen^ 
Pshaw, man, consider that this demand j 
your purse is made only once a year, and tl 
really it will be money well expended, so | 
as Tom and Betsey are concerned, as it will] 
a part of education which no school-marm. j 
master can give them, and will go far to att; 
them to the State which gave them birth, ij 
to the air which first they breathed. Bn 
Betsey, do good soul ; we want her sparkl 
eyes and rosy, healthy cheeks, brighter tl 
the roses of June, and sweeter than violet:] 
dawn. Bring Betsey, who we doubt not "j 
compound the cost of the trip wijh you, | 
taking one gown less the ensuing season, oi| 
re-trimming last winter's bonnet to save 
the expense of buying her a new one. 

But there is something yet which you 
do : That is, you can put aside something 
bring down with you, or to be sent in adva 
of your coming, to be exhibited upon 
grounds of the Society. Perhaps you hav< 
unusually fine colt, a well grown, finely for 
heifer, a sow that is hard to beat, a pig i 
exhibits extraordinary growth, a rooster ol 
gantic size, or a pullet of peculiarly beauj 
plumage. It may be something else ; a ] 
of splendid potatoes, a bushel of monster 
nips, a cabbage of brodignagian proporti| 
an ear of corn unusually large and long, a sj 
of corn of enormous height, and bearir, 
dozen ears or less, an apple, or peach, or I 
or plum, of peculiar richness of flavour- 
word, you have something on your farm 
your garden, which interests your own m 
bring it along, for rest assured it will int 
other minds as well, and that somebodyj 
see it at the fair, who will esteem it the gj 
est curiosity on exhibition. 

And sure the farmer's wife and Betsey 
help us here ! Where is the store of pii 
and preserves, the home-made cloth, the 
knit socks and stockings, the labork 
achieved bed-quilt and counterpane, the w 
bread, the more dainty cake, the rich cheese 
golden plate of butter, the stores of the 
house and bee-hive, and a thousand 
things, we cannot so much as mention, 
such and all of these, a place is arranged 
reserved, and the humblest contribution ft 



THE SOUTHEKN PLANTER. 



)29 



ock, will be as gladly received as the fattest 
:, or the fastest horse. 

Now then, all hands to the rescue, and let 
ere be no . sluggards, or indifferent ones, 
aong the Virginia cultivators. Especially do 
3 call upon the gardeners, florists, nursery- 
en, and fruit growers, to have their stocks 
d products well represented at the next fair, 
fc the last there was some falling off in this 
partment. This must not occur again. Bring 
) the golden fruitage of your orchards, the 
ipetite-provoking products of your gardens, 
od friends, and let all who attend the ensu- 
g fair see what great things you have done 
iring the year. Let us have next time, not 
erely a creditable exhibition, but a grand 
air, such an one as will please us to remem- 
r to the latest period of our lives. We can 
ve it, we must. From now until the day ap- 
inted for the opening of the exhibition, let 
ch and all, do what they can to make the 
ir a brilliant success. 



RAPES, AND HOW TO CULTIVATE 
THEM. 

As the culture of the grape in this country 
s begun to attract considerable attention of 
be years, we have thought that a few plain 
rections for the proper cultivation of the vine 
)uld not be amiss. In Virginia but litte has 
en done, comparatively, in this direction ; 
e grape culture, in this State, having been 
nfined almost exclusively to the raising of a 
W vines to supply grapes for the table. A 
tie wine is made every year near this city, 
t the quantity is barely worth mention. In 
her States, as in Pennsylvania and Ohio, 
uch more has been done in the way of mak- 
wine, and the efforts of Longworth and 
ihfuss have done much to excite an interest 
the culture of the vine, with a view to wine 
iking. 

The variety of the grape chiefly used in this 
untry is the Catawba. It is a native of the 
joining State of North Carolina, and suits 
r climate better than any other, except Nor- 
i's Seedling, which was originated by the 
e Dr. Norton, on his farm in Henrico county, 
ar the city of Richmond. 
As it is somewhat difficult to procure at all 
nes a supply of young vines, we propose to 
re such directions as will enable any person 



to raise their own supplies. "VVe have before 
intimated it as our opinion that Fall pruning 
is better for all our native grapes than Spring 
pruning, although the books on the subject say 
otherwise. We once agreed with the books, 
but experience and observation have induced 
us to change that opinion. But whether the 
vines are pruned at the one season or the other, 
they can be propagated by making cuttings of 
the wood pruned off, but with better success 
where the- wood was taken off in the Fall of 
the year. 

Where the vines are pruned in the Fall, the 
wood should be cut into pieces with four or 
five eyes, or buds, to each. These pieces are 
then to be put in a dry place, and entirely 
covered up with earth, three or four inches 
deep. They should not be laid flat, however, 
but in a slanting manner. About the first of 
March, of the next Spring, make a trench fif- 
teen or eighteen inches deep, and put in the 
trench old, well-rotted manure and sand. Take 
the cuttings and set them in this trench from 
six to eight inches apart, and buried so as to 
leave just one eye, or bud, above the ground. 
Bury them now perpendicularly, and make the 
earth firm around them, and take care or you 
will be likely to put the cuttings upside down, 
as they are as thick at one end as they are at 
the other generally. » 

The best place to make such a grape nursery, 
is where you can secure a sandy soil, which is 
at the same time moist. The cuttings will not 
thrive well in a dry soil, and prosper better al- 
ways in a sandy soil. 

The cuttings can remain thus for one or two 
years, when they can be removed to the vine- 
yard, or other place, where they are intended 
to be permanently located. 

When only a dozen or so vines are to be 
planted, to supply the table with grapes, per- 
sons may dig holes, three feet deep and four 
feet wide, in every direction, fill up the hole 
with manure, lime and bone dust, and mix 
them thoroughly with the soil. When bone 
dust cannot be obtained, any old bones lying 
about, if thrown into the bottom of the hole, 
will prove decidedly beneficial. The cuttings 
should now be taken up carefully with all their 
roots attached, and planted in these holes, tak- 
ing care to spread the roots out horizontally. 

The chief expense attending the culture of 



G30 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



the vine, is the providing a proper trellis, or 
frame, for them to run on. Where a few are 
crown, a fence, or wall of brick or stone, will 
furnish a sufficient support, and arbours and 
summer-houses can be beautifully covered with 
grape vines. One of the prettiest ■ sights we 
have ever seen, is a summer-house on Ihe farm 
of a friend living in Henrico, which he uses as 
a dining-room in pleasant weather. As you 
sit at the table hundreds of clusters of grapes 
hang above you, while the foliage affords a 
complete protection from the burning rays of 
the sun. 

For a vineyard, we advise that cedar, or 
locust posts, be put down, in a straight row, 
about eight feet apart, and upon these garden 
rails be securely fastened, about three feet 
apart, just as in making a garden fence, and 
having the fence, or trellis, about six feet above 
ground. Then on the rails fasten, perpen- 
dicularly, strips two inches wide, and say from 
five to eight inches apart, which will give a 
strong, substantial frame. This is far superior 
to the old framework, because it enables the 
cultivator to tie each branch of the vine by 
itself, and to spread it out fan fashion, so that 
air and sunshine can readily find access to 
every part of the plant. 

The vine is also propagated by layers, and 
some varieties can be propagated in no other 
way. The Norton Seedling is such a variety. 

The method of propagating roses by layers, 
was very fully described by us in an article in 
the September Planter, and to that description 
we refer our readers. The process there de- 
scribed for roses is equally applicable to vines. 

This is all which we prepared to say of the 
grape culture at this time. We are not un- 
mindful of our promise, made last Spring, to 
describe the process of pruning and training 
grape vines, and we shall yet fulfil that promise. 
At present we are deterred from making such 
an attempt by the consciousness that without 
illustrative cuts, we cannot make ourselves 
clearly understood. We shall try to procure 
such aids at some future day, and will then 
present our views in cxtcnso, to the readers of 
the Planter. 



An impertinent fellow wants to know if you 
ever sat down to tea, where skimmed milk was 
on the table, without being asked, "do you take 
cream?" 



Mignonette. 

The volant sweets of the trailing Mignonette, 
The odors vague that haunt the year's decay. 
Charles Tennyson. 
$ 
This well-known flower, of all dispensers i 
perfume, is most cultivated, and most welcorr.i 
to such a cognomen as the Parisians hande 
over to the English with the seeds : Mign 
nette, (" little darling/') though its real nami 
Reseda odorata, is more acceptable to the n; 
turalist, (from the Latin, resedo, to appeas 
given from its supposed virtue in allaying ii. 
flamation,) as it suggests to him its rank il 
Linnaeus' artificial classification in the grer 
medical family, Polyandria, — where it is tl 
companion, not only of many things beautifu 
but of hellebore, and tea, and mighty opium 
(Poppy,) whose narcotic properties penetral 
stealthily to that awful line which divides c 
unites the body and the soul — lulling the fa 
ulties to those oblivions whose nature baffle 
human physiology. 

Mignonette, cultivated the earth over almoi 
as an annual, (it is said one London seedsma 
sells a ton and a half seeds yearly,) is reall 
in its native barbarity on the sandy shore, 1 
hardy shrub, — and called Tree Mignonette, ii 
mentioned to us as an African curiosity, whe 
nothing in its nature or habits prevents it her 
from growing shrubby and tall, but neglect t 
furnish it common warmth and protection dun 
ing its first two winters. To obtain trees, th! 
hardiest plants are chosen from those whos^ 
seed are sown in April, and set separate i:! 
pots, and the blossom buds cut off as fast a| 
they appear. In autumn fresh soil is requireel 
of course loam and sand, and placed in a warrl 



room, and trimmed to a miniature tree — a 
but the top branches removed. With dail 
watering it will continue growing, and b 
spring the stem grows woody. The sid 
branches and blossoms are removed till th 
third year, when the bark is formed, and i 
may be suffered to flower, and will continue fc 
blossom with uncommon fragrance during 
many summers 

Repeated sowings will keep it blooming ai|; 
an annual throughout the year, for it knowi 
no season. If self-sown seeds are dug unde: 
the ground in September, they are mos 
healthy, and bloom early and through June 
Sown in February, they will produce verj 
early flowers also. Sown in April in opei 
ground, they flower from July to November 
and for winter flowering they must be sowr 
in July, in open borders, or in pots the last o' 
August. From three to eight may be left in i 
pot. When they are to be kept back, the pots 
are placed for warmth in sawdust or ashes 
and placed, with clothes spread over them, in 
dark rcllars. The}- would struggle after light 
if a little were admitted, and take weakly, ill 
shapes. The darkness will etiolate them, but 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



631 



i few days of exposure to the sunlight -will 
•etint them, and a blanched plant produces a 
leasing effect in contrast with those of nat- 
lral colour. The seeds are always good, and 
)lentiful, and cheap. 



Flowering Bulbs. 

The beginning of October is a good time for 

danting hardy bulbs. Perhaps it would be as 

rell to remind your readers of it ; and at the 

ame time it will not be out of place to de- 

cribe some of the tender sorts, which require 

ifting in the autumn and housing through the 

inter. Persons wishing to have fine beds of 

lips, hyacinths, crocuses, &c, for blooming 

ext year, should plant the bulbs this month. 

hey will, I think, find ample directions for 

eir culture in the previous numbers of the 

armer. During the last two months there 

as been a good display of Gladiolii, Tigridias, 

apan Lilies, &c, and the two last mentioned 

pecies are in flower now. 

The Gladiolii, or Sword Lilies, as they are 

ommonly called, are magnificent flowering 

ulbs, and are but very little known. They 

liould be planted in early spring, and will 

loom in August, — a time when flowers are 

arce, and for this quality alone, not taking 

to account the lasting quality and gaudy 

lours of the flower, they should be in every 

arden. They should be planted in rows two 

et apart, and about eight or nine inches from 

lb to bulb, in well pulverized soil, in which 

as been incorporated a good quantity of well 

)tted stable dung. The following varieties 

ill be found to be particularly fine : Psittaci- 

us, greeuish yellow and red ; Cardinalis, 

arlet and white ; Fioribunda, rose-shaded ; 

ormosissimus, bright scarlet ; Gandavensis, 

ange scarlet, and yellow ; Ramosus, bright 

nk. The bulb should be taken up when the 

liage has decayed, and put in some open 

ace till quite dry, and then stored in the 

Duse where they will be free from frost or 

imp, or you will be sure to lose them. 

The Tigridia, or tiger flower, too, is but very 

tie known, although it should be in every 

rden. They are constantly in flower from 

e beginning of July till the last of Septem- 

r, and a bed of them in flower produces a 

illiant effect. They should be planted in 

ay, in rows one foot apart, and about six 

ches apart in the rows. There are two va- 

sties : T. pavonia, scarlet, spotted with jel- 

, — and T. conchiflora, buff or yellow, spot- 

d with crimson ; and they both* deserve a 

ace in every well regulated garden. The 

lbs should be treated in the same manner as 

rected for the Gladiolus. 

There is also the Amaryllis, a charming 

j. A. Formosissima is a beautiful dark 

lvet crimson colour, and A. Johnsonii is 

her lighter in colour, with a dull white or 



greenish stripe down the centre of each 'petal. 
The bulb should be planted in the same man- 
ner as the tiger flower, and should be covered 
about two inches. 

All these bulbs should be planted in May, 
and taken up as soon as the foliage has decay- 
ed, and stored away in a warm dry place for 
the winter. All of them can be procured at 
the leading nurseries, and I would advise every 
one who has a garden, and has not got them, 
to procure them in time for early planting 
next spring. Yours, &c, 

Sept. 11, 1856. W. T. G. 

Exchange. 



To Measure Hay in Mows. 

The editor of the New Jersey Farmer 
says that he has proved the following rule 
for finding the number of tons of hay in 
a given bulk : 

" Take a mow of 12 or 15 feet in depth, 
and which has been filled with hay, as it 
was drawn from the field, and has been 
lying till Spring, and measure the length, 
breadth and height in feet : multiply them 
to get the cubical contents. For instance, 
the length 20 feet, breadth 40 feet, and 
height 16 feet, 20 times 4G makes 800, 
multiplied by 16, equal to 12,800 cubic 
feet, which, being divided by 700, the 
number of feet that make a ton of 2,000 
pounds, will give 18 tons, two hundred 
lbs. The top of a mow, say about one 
third, we rate at 800 feet to the ton, the 
middle 700 feet, and the bottom of the 
mow at 600, so the whole bulk would ave- 
rage 700 feet, if the mow is 13 or 15 feet 
deep, but if only five or six feet deep count 
800 feet for a ton, and so according with 
otheii bulks." 



Great Yield of Tobacco and Wheat. 

Dr. J. A. Flippo, of Caroline county, 
Va., made last year, on six acres, sixteen 
hundred and seventy pounds of tobacco 
per acre ; sold it for $266 per acre, and 
has made this year, on the same six acres, 
twenty-eight bushels of wheat, measured, 
to the acre. If the wheat be sold at $1.50 
it will furnish the astonishing result of 
$308 per acre in twelve months, or the 
snug little income of $1,848 from 6 acres 
of land ! Mr. Richard Collawn, residing 
some six miles from Port Royal, Caroline 
county, Va., raised the last season seventy 
bushels of wheat on a lot of ground con- 
taining an acre and a half. Mr. C. ap- 
plied 75 pounds of guano to the lot. 



632 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



From the U. S. Economist. 

Grain Trade— Large Corn Demand. 

The idea has been entertained that because 
the crops of Europe and England are very large 
this year, that, therefore, the large crops of the 
United States will find but a "meagre market. 
This view, we think, is erroneous, for the rea- 
son that since the Engligh famine of 1847, the 
United States grain trade ha's been an estab- 



lished one. In years of good harvest European 
wants take all our surplus, and in years of bad 
harvest we have not hitherto been able to sup- 
ply them with enough to affect prices there, 
while our over-exports have carried prices so < 
high as to compel our own consumers to pay; 
famine prices. The following, showing the 
imports and exports of each country for a se-j 
ries of years, is from the official tables of each; 
country : 



Import 


and Export of 


Wheat into and from France and the United States, and Import of 


Wheat and 






Wheat Flour into Great Rritain. 








f Great Britain. * 

Imports. 




-J7 


. 


, United States. — 1 

Exports. 




Imports. 


Ex] 


ports. 




Flour. 


Wheat. 


Wheat. 


Wheat. 


Flour. 


Wheat. 


Flour. 


Year. 


cwt. 


bush; 


bush. 


bush. 


cwt. 


bush. 


bbls. 


1841.. 


. ... 1,263.126 


19,278,032 


3,754,982 


5,077,233 








1842.. 


1,130,754 


21,777,440 


4,514,543 


6.462,949 








1843.. 


. . . . 436.878 


7,520,990 


9,093,692 


3.488.212 




311.685 


841 A 


1844. . 


. . . . 980,645 


8,792.616 


5,172,060 


5.768,207 




558.917 


1.438,07?! 


1845.. 


945,864 


6,973,680 


6,900,238 


3.654,585 : 


404,438 


389,716 


1,195,23(1 


1846.. 


. . . . 3,198,876 


11,460,725 


16,624,422 


3,467,833 


577,326 


1,613,795 


2,2S9,47f| 


1847.. 


. . . . 6,329,058 


21,251,232 


28,754,658 


4,154,427 


' 803,710 


4,399.951 


4,382.49(1 


1848.. 


. ... 1,765,475 


20,752,104 


3,494.199 


3,576,546 


1,207,684 


2,034,704 


2.119.08! 


1849.. 


3,349,830 


32.763,024 


1,364,217 


5,002,152 


1,876,126 


1,527,534 


2.108.01;: 


1850.. 


. . . . 3,855,059 


30,036,744 


2,772,081 


6,919.398 


3.128,794 


608,661 


1,385,44! 


1851.. 


. . . . 5,314.414 


30,496,072 


2,003,943 


6,327,735 


3,525,388' 


1,026.725 


2,202,33^1 


1852*. . 


3,889,583 


25,551,136 


4,126,640 


4,014.105 


2,149,408 


2,694,540 


2,799,33!' 


1853. . 


4,646,400 


35,595,512 


10,103,107 


2,101,206 




3.890.141 


2,920,91!; 


1854. . 


3,646,505 


26,448,816 


18,972,988 


1,053,132 




6.036,665 


4,022.38i 


1855.. 


. . . . 1,904,224 


21,342,608 


12,165,022 


822,256 




798,844 


1,204,511 


1856 . 


3.970.100 


32,582,664 


28,769,732 


572.168 




8,104,877 


3,510,621 


1857.. 


1,065,648 


10,193,592 


12,473,644 


212,080 




11,000,000 


2,100.0M 



It is here to be observed that the wants of 
England and France are annually increasing — 
that the imports of both for 1856 were greater 
than for the famine years of 1847-8. The ex- 
ports of the United States have also continued 
to increase. We may now take a table of the 
average annual prices of wheat in England 
and France : 

Official Annual Averages of Wheat in Sterlings 
per Quarter. v 

U. States 

Flo'r.bl. 

% c 

4 51 

5 18 
5 95 
G 22 
5 35 

5 00 

4 77 

6 04 

5 00 

7 88 
10 10 

8 05 

7 50 

This table of prices gives, in connection with 
the above table of the (juantitics of wheat 
moved, the fact that the largest quantities of 
wheat which the United States can spare in bad 





Great 












Britain. 


France. 


Prussia 




S. d. 


s. 


d. 


s. 


d. 


1845 


50 10 


45 


10 


34 


8 


1846 


54 8 


55 


9 


46 


3 


1847 


69 6 


67 


4 


59 





1848 


50 6 


38 


7 


33 


6 


1849 


44 3 


35 


7 


32 


7 


1850 


39 5 


33 


2 


31 


6 


1851 


38 6 


34 


8 


33 


5 


1852 


39 10 


41 


4 


38 


7 


1853 


45 7 


53 


9 


45 


9 


1854 


72 5 


73 


4 






1855 


71 10 


72 


8 






1856 


73 


71 


2 






1857 


55 


56 


8 







harvests is not sufficient to keep down price 
there, although the export raises them here.- 
The largest export of wheat from the U. State 
was in the fiscal year 1854, and it reache* 
about 28,000,000 bushels. In that year Franc) 
and England imported 56,000,000 bushels, ani 
paid $150,000,000 for it. England paid for he 
share at the rate of 72s. per quarter, or $2 2 
per bushel. The whole surplus of the Unite 
States could export none, because althoug 
prices were equally as high almost as in th 
previous year, they were higher here, throug 
the exhaustion of stocks and smaller harvest* 
In 1856 the crops were better here, and theei 
port was resumed. In the year now commend 
ing the crops are very large and can be afforc 
ed at loAver rates — transportation and freightl 
are very cheap. The comparative prices anj 
freights in New York, Sept. 1857, and Septt 
1846 and 1847, are as follows : 



1846. 
1847. 
1857. 



Price 

Flour 

Per bbl. 

, $5 00 
, 5 62 
, 5 10 



, — Freight — 
Flour. Graii 



3 
2 6 

1 3 



10 

11 
6 



Wheat i 

Liverpoo 

s. d 

51 | 
71 
59 1C 



It will be observed at this moment the ma 
ket is better for shipping flour from New Yor 
than in 1846. In that year the wheat crop Wf 
good, but it was the potato failure that cause 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



633 



a greater demand for grain, and induced the 
large shipments of Indian corn. The export 
of corn from New York alone, for the year end- 
ing August 1847, was 10,000,000 bushels, and 
from New Orleans 5,136,330 bushels. The to- 
tal export of corn in that year was 15,326,000 
bushels. The state of affairs now threatens to 
be the same. A Liverpool report, August 29, 
states as follows : 

Liverpool, Friday. 

With continuance of brilliant weather the 
Northern harvest progresses rapidly, .and the 
reports received daily unite in expressions of 
favorable results as to the grain crops ; but 
they are at the same time unanimous in speak- 
ing very unfavorable of potatoes ; this impor- 
tant esculent is going extensively into disease, 
and it may not be unsafe to say, that at present 
a fair comparison to the disastrous year of 1846 
will bear contemplation. What the effect may 
be upon the value of breadstuffs remains to be 
seen. 

At the date of the failure of the potato crop 
of Ireland in 1846, that root was the chief de- 
pendence of thousands who had no other re- 
source. They had no means of buying corn to 
supplant it. The charity of the United States 
and England came to their relief. England 
contracted a debt of £8,000,000 ($40,000,000) 
to relieve Ireland, and Indian corn was with 
great exertion introduced, and the people taught 
to grind, cook and eat it, but the next census, 
showing an actual decline of 1,600,000 in the 
population, proved how inadequate were the 
means and quantities used. Since then the 
general condition of the people has improved, 
and corn has become a regular article of food. 
hi 1856 the United States sent thither 7,000,- 
000 bushels. If now the potato crop again 
fails, the people have more means to buy, while 
the supply of corn here is known to be im- 
mense. Some Western farmers sell it standing 
at 15c. the bushel. Another fact is to be borne 
in mind that the exports hence in 1846 were 
limited by the means of transportation. It 
cost in that year $1.25 to carry a barrel of flour 
from Buffalo to New York, and $2 to carry it 
from New York to Liverpool. 8s. 6d. sterling- 
was paid for a barrel of flour from New York 
to Liverpool in February 1847, and 25d. or 50c 
for a bushel of grain. One of the great com- 
plaints now is the dearth of freights and the 
decay of shipping. Anything like the grain 
demand of 1846-7 will double their values. It 
will be remembered that in that year the tariff 
of 1846 came into operation amidst the greatest 
depression in the shipping interest. The own- 
er of the fine ship Henry Clay, then on the 
stocks, went round offering her for sale at a 
sacrifice, under the influence of depression. — 
The fact turned out that she cleared her wliole 
cost hi her two first voyages! 

The interior transportation that is now un- 
der depression did not then exist^but is now 
ready to pour any quantity of grain from every 



section to the seabord. While the quantity of 
the coarse grains of Europe may be deficient, 
the supplies are here abundantly cheap, and 
the means of transportation adequate. 

British Corn Trade. 

Another Aveek's fine weather has secured a 
good deal of Corn in Ireland, <md a fair portion 
for Scotland and the Northern counties, where 
harvest operations have been rapidly proceed- 
ing, as well as in Northern Europe. In the 
South, also, some rain having fallen, there ^s 
much less fear for the crop of Maize; but the 
disease in late Potatoes is more complained of 
both in Great Britain and Ireland ; where it is 
said to have rapidly spread since the heavy 
thunder-storms. This will require a large im- 
portation of Indian Corn ; and should Europe 
be deficient, there is little fear that America 
will be ready to meet the demand. All reports 
now agree that there is generally, throughout 
the world, a very fine crop of Wheat. The 
condition and quality of this will make it very 
suitable for speculative purposes, should rates 
still further decline. Still a good many parcels 
of home-growth, are not thoroughly dry. For- 
eign advices are without any important change. 
The general superiority of the new samples, 
in many places, has occasioned a good demand, 
and checked the tendency to decline. But as 
supplies increase, the fall experienced here is 
likely to produce a change in the principal 
shipping ports. Since last harvest there has 
not been so serious a decline as during the past 
week. The best samples of new have fallen 
5s. to 8s. per qr., though country markets con- 
siderably vary, according to supplies ; and 
growers in some places have resisted the down- 
ward movement. The stock of old is consid- 
ered very low, both in England and foreign 
qualities, and as an early and large draught is 
made on the new crop, and we must for some 
time be dependent on English supplies, a few 
short markets would produce reaction, though 
the prospect of high rates has .again become 
remote. 

FOREIGN CORN TRADE. 

The Paris Flour market has slightly declined, 
viz., to the extent of about 1 franc per 157 
kilos, or about 8d. per sack English. The 
mean price at La Caisse was 66f. 74c. per 157 
kilos. (43s. per 280 lbs. English), and at La 
Halle 65f. 88c. (42s. 6d. per sack). Little was 
passing in Wheat, Lorraine was quoted 35f. 
50c. to 36f. (54s. 2d. a 55s. per qr) ; Sarthe and 
Saumur 37f. per 120 kilos. (56s. 6d. per qr.) 
Rye was scarce, and in demand at 20f. per. 115 
kilos. New Barley, 20f. per 100 kilos ; Brit- 
tany Oats 3 If. per 150 kilos. The country 
Wheat markets have presented more the ap- 
pearance of settlement, the variations generally 
being unimportant; but Sable was If. 50c. (3s. 
4d. per qr.) higher. Gallordon and Villedieu 
being If. cheaper (about 2s. 3d. per qr.) At 
Havre there was a great calm, and expectation 



G34 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



of lower prices, the environs quoting 2s. 3d. to 
4s. 6d. less money, with abundant suppliez. At 
Bordeaux sellers were numerous, and some de- 
cline (about Is. per qr.) took place. Marseilles 
was very dull. Large supplies of Odessa and 
Danubian Rye and Maize were noted; the for- 
mer being quoted 18f. 25c. per 117 kilos., and 
the latter 21c. per ICO litres. 

The Belgian markets were generally calm, 
with some decline, new red Wheat being of- 
fered at Antwerp, at 25f. per 80 kilos. (57s. 3d. 
per qr.), without attracting attention. Rye 
also Mas dull, and only little doing in Barley. 

In Holland the heat has been great, with oc- 
casional showers ; the tendency of prices was 
downwards, and business limited. Red Sile- 
sian Wheat was offering at 56s. in vain. Rye 
was Is. per. qr. cheaper. New winter Barley 
had sold at 31s. 3d. per qr. At Rotterdam and 
Maestrecht prices were unaltered. 

Hambro' quotations for new Saale 62 lbs. per 
bush. Wheat were 58s. 6d. ; heavy marks 
60s. 6d. New Saale Barley 40s. to 41s. 6d. ; 
Chevalier, 43s. 6d. to 45s. ; for Danish 40 lbs. 
Oats 24s. per qr. 

The harvest was proceeding very favorably 
in the neighborhood of Rostock; prices for the 
new crop of Wheat were unsettled, but it was 
expected that 63 lbs new Wheat would com- 
mence at 50s. per qr. 

The Danzic harvest was concluded with a 
fine crop of Wheat with Rye, of good weight ; 
the former, 62 to 63 lbs. per bush., was quoted 
60s. to 62s. 6d. Some new weighed 64 to 65 
lbs. per bush. 

Stettin had also finished its gatherings most 
satisfactorily. Quotations for September deliv- 
ery were 51s. per qr. for 61 J lbs. Wheat, and 
50s. for October : new 62 lbs. white had 58s. 
refused, 60s. being demanded. The quotations 
atMemel for 60s. to 62 lbs. Wheat were 54s. 
to 57s. per qr. 

The Wheat markets in Switzerland and Ba- 
varia have fallen from Is. to 5s. per qr. 

Frequent rains have fallen at Berlin, where 
the high temperature remained. Offers in 
Wheat and Rye were more plentiful, and prices 
declining for all grain, Peas excepted. 

At Stockholm, Wheat was quoted 40s. 6d. to 
62s. per qr. : only heavy Rye was in request, 
at 30s. 9d.. to 32s. Cd. ; Barley, 30s. to 32s. 3d. 

Business at Petersburg was very dull in 
grain, Cubanka Wheat being "quoted 55s. 6<L, 
and Saxonska 54s. 6d. per qr. 

A good deal of rain had lately fallen at Riga, 
but it was still very warm. Business was very 
quiet, and prices of Wheat quite uncertain. — 
In Russian Oats, however, about 33,000 qrs. 
were placed for next May delivery at 16s. to 
16s. 2d. per qr. with buyers. 

Advices from Odessa say that the favorable 
progress of the harvest, together with discour- 
agement by foreign accounts, had brought 
business to a perfect calm, though 41s. 6d. to 



43s. 6d. per qr. was demanded for new Ghirka 
Wheat. First quality soft old was quoted 34s. 
9d. to 37s. per qr., and the lowest 25s. 6d. ; 
fine hard 32s. 6d. to 34s. 9d. About 1,400 qrs. 
Rye had been placed at 21s. 3d. per qr. ; since 
which, prices had reached 22s. to 23s., 12,000 
qrs. having changed hands. Maize was quoted 
15s. to 15s. lOd. Oats were firm, 2,100 qrs. 
being placed at 13s. 6d. to 13s. lOd. per. qr. — 
Linseed maintained its value. The scarcity of 
vessels had improved rates, 9s. 6d. being paid 
for Marseilles. — Mark Lane Express. 



New York Markets. 

Flour and Meal. — State and Western Flour, 
since Friday last, has been in brisk request for 
export, the East and home trade, and with a 
small supply in store, very light receipts, an 
easier feeling in money matters, and favorable 
advices from Europe via the Persia, prices 
have reacted, and 30@,40c. of the decline of 
last week has been recovered. This improve- 
ment is mainly on the Common and Medium 
qualities, though on all grades prices have ad- 
vanced, though not proportionately. The stock 
of all kinds is very much reduced, particularly 
the ordinary and fair qualities. Of the better 
kinds the stock is not large, though rather in 
excess of the present requirements. Exporters 
have taken advantage of the present low 
figures, and the shipments to Great Britain 
during the week have reached 22,500 bbls., but 
at the close the firmness of holders rather 
checked the shipping inquiry, and importers 
were not buying as freely. Our market closes 
steadily with a buoyant feeling, and a fair busi- 
ness doing for the East and the local trade. • 
The sales of Western Canal for the week sum 
up 47,300 bbls., closing with an upward ten- 
dency, at $5.55@,5.60 for Superfine State ; §5 
70@5.85 for extra do. ; $5.40(^5.55 for Super- 
fine Indiana, Michigan, &c. ; $5-.75@6.25 for 
common to good extra Ohio ; ^6.25(^7.75 for 
good to choice do. ; $6.20@,8 for St. Louis 
brands ; and $7@,8 for extra Genesee. 

Canadian Flour has been much more active 
the past week, and with limited receipts, and a 
small supply in store, holders have been able 
to realize an advance of 15@20c. on the low 
grades, and 5@10 on the better qualities. The 
sales include 3200 bbls., closing buoyant at $5 
45@5.65 for superfine, and $6.60@7.15 for 
extra brands. 

Southern Flour has also been in improved re- ' 
quest, at rather better prices. The arrivals,- 
though fair, are not excessive, but about equal 
to the requirements. The demand for good 
family brands has been very fair, and have 
commanded very full and satisfactory prices; 
All grades nearly have met vrith a good sale, 
in part for the provinces. Sales 9,000 bbls., 
closing firmly at $5.60(^,6.00 for mixed to good 
brands Baltimore, Alexandria, Georgetown, 
and Fredericksburg, and 6.20@7.50 for favor- 
ite fancy and extra brands. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 635 

Exports of Flour from New York to foreign ports for the week ending Sept. 17th, 1857, 
compared with the corresponding week of last year: 

1856. . 1857. 



Bbls. 


Value. 


4,243 


$31,870 


25 


210 


7,978 


52,049 


1,825 


13,000 


900 


6,750 


150 


1,200 


3,172 


28,040 


434 


2,604 


290 


2,267 


714 


5,548 


2,000 


15,025 


500 


3,750 


1,707 


10,450 


181 


889 



To— Bbls. Value. Bbls. Value. 

Liverpool, 4,243 $31,870 1,300 $7,259 

Africa, 

British N. A. Colonies, 7,978 52,049 5,024 28,458 

British West Indies, 1,825 13,000 3,269 20,060 

French West Indies, 900 6,750 361 2,300 

New Grenada, 150 1,200 505 2,578 

Brazil, 3,172 28,040 1,900 17,100 

British Guiana, 
Venezula, 
Dutch West Indies, 

Barcelona, 2,000 15,025 5,998 39,175 

Malaga, 
Bristol, 
Glasgow, 
Gottenburg, 
Cuba, 

Porto Rico, 
Hayti, 



— 





50 
300 
150 
730 


326 
2,175 
1,076 

5,840 


24,121 

1327,492 


175,652 
10,910,137 


19,587 
685,197 


126,347 
4,776,765 



Total, 
Previously, 

Since January 1st., 1351,613 11,085,789 704,784 4,903,112 

Export of Breadstuffs from New York to foreign ports for the week ending September 17th, 
1857, compared with the corresponding week last year : 

1856. 1857. 



Corn Meal. 
British N. A. Colonies, 
British West Indies, 
Dutch West Indies, 
French West Indies, 


Bbls. 
300 
800 
377 
143 


Value. 
$1,131 

2,200 
1.456 

'588 


Bbls. 
95 
84 


Value. 
456 

208 


Total, 
Previously, 


1,613 

52,282 


5,375 
203,596 


179 
34,934 


664 
150,458 


Since January 1st., 
Rye Flour. 
British West Indies. 


53,895 


208,971 


35,113 
31 


151,122 
158 


Total, 
Previously, 





31 

1,825 


158 
10,775 



Since January 1st., 1,856 10,933 

Grain. — For export the demand for Wheat] per bushel, and the tendency is still upwards. 
since Friday last, has been large at advanced I At the close to-day, the export inquiry was 
prices, but for milling the inquiry has been brisk, and millers were more in the market 



only moderate, as millers are rather cautious 
about buying just now, preferring to wait until 
the market is better supplied, when they 
expect to buy more advantageously. The quan- 
tity of wheat arriving is fair for the season, but 
the sjiipping business of the week has drawn 
most of it from market, so that there is no ac- 
cumulation. Prices, as compared with those 
current last week, show a rise of full 4@6c. 



than at any other time during the week. The 
sales for the week in the aggregate amount to 
to 248,050 bushels, including 36,000 bushels 
White Southern at $1.27@1.50, inferior, at the 
inside price, most of the sales commencing at 
$1.40; 26,300 Red Southern, $1.22@1.35 ; 
2,000 Mixed do., $1.38 ; 21,900 damaged Red 
and White Southern, 95c@1.30; 3,000 White 
Missouri, $1.55, (handsome ;) 8,000 White In- 



63 G 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



diana, $1.32*@1.38 ; 25,000 Red do., W.2Q@1 
30, 1,350 Amber color, St. Louis $1.42 : 15,800 
White Kentucky, $1.35@1.50; 12,200 White 
Michigan, $1.22@1.38; 27,500 Red Winter 
Illinois, $1.25@1.30 ; 11,000 Mixed Michigan, 
$1.15@1.20 ; 6,500 White Ohio, $1.35@1.40 ; 
27,500 Red Ohio, $1.23@1.27£, including some 
White Michigan, at $1.31 ; and 36,000 bushels 
to-day, closing at $1.40(fi)1.54for good to prime 
White Southern; $1.30@,1.40 for Red do. ; $1 
30 for Red Indiana and Illinois ; $1.26@1.28 
for Red Ohio ; $1.30 for White do. ; and $1 for 
inferior Chicago Spring. For Rye the market 
has been dull, and with a better supply prices 
are lower. 10,500 bushels Northern sold, 
closing at 80@82c. Barley, with a larger sup- 
ply and a limited inquiry, is lower, and still j 
tends downward. Sales, 20,000 bushels, part, ' 



California and Canadian, at 89c@$l, closing at 
91c. for good. Barley Malt is still in small 
supply, and in the absence of sales, nominal. 
Oats are considerably lower and dull at the re- 
duction. Sales of State closing at 50@52c. ; 
and Western 51@53c. ; Jersey, 40@48c ; and 
Southern 36@40c. The market for corn has 
improved materially since our last, under a 
good export and Eastern demand, light arrivals, 
favorable advices from Europe, and a dimin- 
ishing stock. Prices are full 10c. higher. 
The sales reach 147,000 bushels, closing at 80} 
81c. for Western Mixed, and 83@85c. for 
Southern Yellow. Other kinds are nominal. 
Canadian Peas are dull and nominal at95c@$l. 
Black Eyed peas are in light request, but 
steady, at $3.50 <p bag. White Beans have de- 
clined, with Sales at $1.7501.87}. 



Exports of Wheat from New York to foreign ports for the week ending September 17th, 
1857, compared with the corresponding week of last year : 



1856. 



1857. 



Buslr. 


Value. 


Bush. 


Value. 


87,987 


$142,295 


79,828 


$120,199 


2,059 


3,100 


- 





16,490 


25,046 


1.384 


2,006 


1,500 


2,400 








16,863 


26,256 








129 


200 








13,196 


22,433 








. 





1,500 


2,207 





■ 


4,117 


6,214 


138,144 


221,730 


86,829 


130.626 


4,460,936 


7,342,809 


1,453,822 


2,291,505 


4,599,080 


7,564,539 


1,540,651 


2,422.131 



To— ' 
Liverpool, 
London, 
Glasgow, 

British West Indies, 
Antwerp, 
Cadiz, 
Malaga, 
Havre, 
Barcelona, 

Total. 
Previously, 

Since January 1st. 

Exports of Corn from New York to foreign ports for the week ending September 17th, 185" 
compared with the corresponding week of last year : 



1856. 



1857. 



To— 


Bush. 


Value. 


Liverpool, 


111,277 


$74,342 


British N. A. Colonies, 


400 • 


318 


British West Indies, 


1,750 


1,234 


Mexico, 


2,101 


1,623 


Dutch West Indies, 


500 


350 


French West Indies, 


800 


720 


Glasgow, 


2,134 


1.900 


Bremen, 


3;24S 


2,766 


Lisbon, 


8,439 


5,600 


Total. 


130,619 


88.855 


Previously, 


2,960,360 


2,158,002 



Bush. 

28,915 
949 



Value. 

$25,431 

764 



Since January 1st., 



,091,009 



2,246,853 



29,864 
1,784,319 

1,814,183 



26.195 
1,330,963 

1,357,158 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



G37 




THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 



TERMS AND CONDITIONS. 

Two Dollars and Fifty Cents per annum, or Two 
Dollars only, if paid in Advance. 

Subscriptions may begin with any Number, but it 
is desirable that they should be made to the end of a 
volume. 

Subscribers who do not give express notice to the 
contrary on or before the expiration of their yearly 
Subscription, will be considered as wishing to con- 
tinue the same ; and the paper will be sent accord- 
ingly. 

No paper will be discontinued until all arrearages 
are paid, except at our option. 

Subscribers are requested to remit the amount of 
their Subscription as soon as the same shall become 
due. 

If Subscribers neglect refusorto et ake their papers 
from the Office or place to which they are sent, they 
will be held responsible until they settle their account 
and give notice to discontinue. 

If Subscribers remove, change their offices, or per- 
mit their paper to be sent to an office that has been 
discontinued, without directing a change of their pa- 
per, and the paper is sent to the former direction, the}' 
will be held responsible. 

All Payments to the Southern Planter will be ac 
knowledged in the first paper issued after the same 
shall have been received. 

All money remitted to us will be considered at our 
risk only when the letter containing the same shall 
have been legistered. This rule is adopted not for our 
protection, but for that of our correspondents; and we 
wish it distinctly understood that we take the risk 
only when this condition is complied with. 

It is indispensably necessary that subscribers re- 
mitting their Subscription, should name the Office to 
which their papers are sent; and those ordering a 
change should say from what to what post office they 
wish the alteration made. A strict observance of this 
rule will save much time to us and lose none to them 
besides insuring attention to their wishes. 

Postmasters are requested to notify us in writing- 
as the law requires, when papers are not taken from 
their Offices by Subscribers. 

RUFFIN & AUGUST, Proprietors. 



The late Win. Maghee of Petersburg*. 

We have been unable to obtain any lists of 
the collections which this gentleman made for 
us. Will gentlemen who paid him be kind 
enough to send us in copies of their receipts 
that we may enter them on our books. 

Mr. J. B. WATKINS not an AGENT for 
THE PLANTER. 

We are very sorry to be compelled to dis- 
credit any one, but sometimes it is unavoidable. 
Mr. J. B. Watkins applied to us in July 1856 
to be appointed agent for collecting and receiv- 
ing subscriptions to the Southern Planter. We 
declined the request. Since then several gentle- 
men to whom we have sent accounts have as- 
sured us that they have paid our agent, Mr. 
Watkins, and have his receipt. We have only 
to say that we never had, and never thought of 
having, such an agent, and that we regret ex- 
tremely having to publish such a notice. 

We do not feel that we are bound to relin- 
quish our claim on those who have thus paid, 
because it was done in the face of a notice, in 
the July No. of the Planter for 1856, p. 224, 
that we had no agents. 



Office : No. 153, Corner Main and Twelfth Streets. 



HAED TIMES. 

We would beg leave respectfully to inform 
the subscribers to this paper that for the last 
two months we have not received money enough 
from subscribers to pay the printer. We hope 
our friends will bear at least a part of the ex- 
pense and forward their dues at once. 



Errata. — In the September number of the 
Planter, p. 533, in the article on Wheat Drills, 
read "manufactured in Winchester, Va , by 
Charles W. Coontz," instead of "manufactured 
in Richmond, Va." 



A Braining Plough. 

We are glad to see from the following that 
Mr. A. P. Routt of Somersett, Orange county, 
has invented a draining plough, which is, we 
presume, the kind, of implement we have for 
sometime been urging on the attention of in- 
ventors and implement makers. We hope it 
will be examined at the Fair by those in want 
of such an implement, as are many more than 
will think themselves so at first. 

[Ed. Sou. Planter. 

Many are trying to make a fortune by inven- 
tions alone, but a majority fails. True econo- 
my always has industry combined with inge- 
nuity. Mr. A. P. Routt of Somersett, Orange 
county, is quite deserving for his ingenuity and 
perseverance. He has invented and obtained 
a patent for a drain plough, which deserves no- 
tice, the most perfect and simple implement of 
the kind ever invented. Opening, striking off 
and rolling the furrow complete as it goes. He 



638 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



intends having one at the Fair. I hope those 
having rest land to seed this fall will take no- 
tice of it. ROLL ON. 



New kind of Wheat. 

Accompanying the following letter, which we 
publish as giving a satisfactory account of the 
samples, sent, we received a package of seve- 
ral kinds of wheat from our friend, Mr. 
Robertson. We are much obliged to him* for 
the samples. The Spring wheats are at 
our office for the inspection of the farming 
public. The other sample which he calls 
the thick stem, we shall sow. We submitted 
it to one of our millers, who thinks it is what 
is known about Lynchburg as the Walker 
wheat. It is there very highly esteemed, and 
is said by some to be as good for flour as white 
wheat, though it will not be so classed in this 
market; and no reel wheat will be. It is a 
wheat, if our informant is not mistaken, which 
is grown above Lynchburg — beyond the Ridge. 

Amherst County, Sept. 15, 1857. 
F. G. Ruffin, Esq., Richmond. 

Bear Sir — I send you a sample of wheat 
hitherto unknown in this region. If a new va- 
riety, it is in many respects a valuable one ; 
but 'of nearly thirty varieties experimented 
with by me during the last thirty years, I have 
found none to equal this in hardiness. I might 
almost say, that it is frost and fly proof. It 
branches to such a degree that one bushel per 
acre is equal to 1J bushels Blue Stem, and the 
yield much greater. Its most striking peculi- 
arity is, that it does not tumble as other wheats. 
This I attribute to the extreme thickness of the 
straw. The sample sent was taken from a spot 
on which I had failed to raise good wheat of 
any other kind, owing to its tumbling and rust- 
ing. The quality of the grain was much in- 
jured by chinch bugs. 

I send you samples of three varieties of 
Spring wheat. This, also, has been much in- 
jured by chinch bug. 

I consider its culture more profitable in every 
respect than oats. I have been cultivating 'it 
three years, and am satisfied I can raise wheat 
of better quality than that produced in the 
North-west. Though the sample I send you 
has been injured by chinch bug, yet it is better 
than the seed I received from the North. It 
seems to me that this wheat would be most ad- 
mirably adapted to the high mountain regions 
of our State, where winter wheat is liable to 
be killed. Very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant," 
A. F. ROBERTSON. 



On Threshers and Cleaners. 

The following article is from the pen of one 
of the most practical men we know. We are 
so satisfied on this point as to endorse fully all 
he says. 

Mr. Editor: — The threshing season is just 
lover with us — some using the old-fashioned 
thresher alone — some the thresher and separa- 
j tor, and some the thresher and cleaner. Every 
[one who has used the latter in our region 
'spurns the idea of relapsing into the use of the 
J simple thresher. The great saving of labour, 
'saving of wheat, and reducing the former pain- 
ful and disagreeable process, to one of ease and 
pleasure, are the points of preference in the 
use of the cleaner. All you have to do to con- 
vince yourself of it is to try one — say one of 
W. Fishback's, of Stanardsville, Va. — such as 
he has been making for the last two years. — 
We were quite charmed and thoroughly satis- 
fied at first with Pitts' thresher, of wide spread 
reputation, but when we came to see Fishback's 
machine do the same work with ease, with six 
horses, that Pitts' does with eight, doing about 
their best, we were totally surprised and pleas- 
ed — surprised that Pitts' could be excelled at 
all, and pleased, as Virginians should be, that 
it could be done by a Virginia machinist. It 
is due Mr. Fishback and to our brother farmers 
to say that, in our estimation, his thresher and 
cleaner stands in the front rank — alone. 

I would like to enumerate some of the points 
of improvement in our modern machines as es- 
pecially exemplified in Fishback's — let one or 
two suffice. In the old mr chines the concave 
being close, conducted the wheat, straw and 
chaff in a body, entirely through, to be dis- 
charged together on the floor, or separator. It 
mattered not if the grain were hulled out by 
the first or last blow of the spikes. In the 
rush and crowd of wheat among the spikes of 
concave and cylinder the motion of the latter 
was materially interferred with, and many 
grains cracked and shivered. The concave in 
Fishback's machines is made with as many 
openings of a half or three-quarters of an inch 
diameter as the strength of the material will 
allow, and in threshing, the wheat grains es- 
cape through their opening almost the instant 
they are hulled out and perhaps rarely got a 
second blow from a spike — thus not only sav- 
ing in cracked wheat, but unloading the cylin- 
der to a great extent, and lessening the power 
necessary to drive the machine. 

In all the old machines the power to drive 
separators, shakers and fans is taken from the 
highest point of motion of the cylinder and 
ground down-to a proper point for these uses. 
Fishback effects a great saving of power by 
taking his power from a low point of motion, 
and thence by the simplest possible means, ef- 
fecting these ends. I would detail farther, but 
these random remarks are already sufficiently 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



639 



long. Mr. F., I learn, will have one of his 

machines on exhibition at our State Fair this 
fail, when the farmers may see and judge what 
jl say. N. 

Orange County, Va. 



For the Southern Planter. 

Varieties of Seeds of Curious and Bare 
Plants, and of Common Plants for Dis- 
tribution at the State Fair. 

Many of those who will attend our next Ag- 
ricultural Fair, may, by the performance of a 
small service, add much to the interest and 
utility of the exhibition. The service proposed 
s, that every person who has seeds of curious 
and rare plants, or varieties of peculiar quali- 
ties or value of common crop plants — shall 
bring or send such small quantity of each as it 
may be convenient to spare and to transmit, 
for gratuitous distribution. Such seeds label- 
led, should be placed together, and with the 
T egetable productions, be exhibited through 
the earlier days of the Fair — and on the last 
day only, be permitted to be taken aw r ay, in 
very small shares, by any persons desirous to 
cultivate the plants. It will add much to the 
benefit of the course suggested, if to every such 
rariety of ordinary crop seeds, (as of corn, 
wheat, peas, &c.) or of garden vegetables, a 
joncise description shall be appended, stating 
he peculiar quality for which the kind is val- 
led or is remarkable. This procedure is more 
3specially desirable, as to every good variety of 
3eas, suitable for field culture in Virginia. Of 
his family of plants, there are numerous vari- 
ties, each one perhaps possessing some partic- 
dar quality which, if known, would render 
t especially useful in some localities — and 
vhich peculiar qualities are not known, except 
n other and very limited localities. 

We understand that Edmund Ruffin, Esq., 
he President of the Society, is preparing to 
ontribute to this object a good many varieties 
f peas which he noAV possesses, some of them 
ery valuable, and also some nine or ten heads 
f as many of the best varieties of the African 
mphee or Sugar Millet, a plant analogous to 
he Chinese Sugar Cane, and which has been 
itely introduced into South Carolina by Mr. 
ieonard Wray of England. 



i Beme&y wanted for Cholera in Sucks 
and Chickens. 

August 24th, 1857. 

Mr. Editor — I again appeal to the Planter 
»r a remedy for fowls that die with a disease 
ke those that are fed on salt dough, or acci- 
jjtatally get salt water. lost 40 ducks 

three days. I lost about as many hens and 



chickens that I have seen, and miss some that 
I have not seen. 

If it is any kind of weed or grass they eat, 
I shouH think the Thomsonians can tell, so as 
to enable us to be on the defensive. 



A Singular Fact. 

A stock raiser of Fayette county, Ky., 
lost eight colts one season, fjur of them 
thorough-breds, and four of them common 
scrub stock. He amputated the legs of all 
of them, and boiled off the flesh, cleaning 
the bones thoroughly, to learn by exami- 
nation, what difference, in respect of bone, 
there was between pure blooded and com- 
mon ones. On taking the bones of the 
thorough-breds, and holding them up to 
the light, he noticed that they were almost 
transparent, as much so as white corn. — 
He tried the same experiment with the 
bones of the inferior stock. They were 
opaque, and transmitted light no more than 
buffalo horn. He then tested the bones 
by weight, and found the thorough-bred 
by far the heavier, showing their superior 
substance and solidity. They were hard 
and dense as ivory. 



Sales of Land in Highland County, Va. 

Three hundred and five and a quarter 
acres of land, without improvements, in 
Highland county, Va., belonging to An- 
drew K. Sitlington, were sold on the 9th 
inst., to William Hevener, at $45 50 per 
acre. Three hundred and six and a half 
acres of the land belonging to John Sit- 



lington were sold to Geo. W. Hull at 
per acre ; there were some improvements 
on this tract. Three hundred and thirty- 
six acres belonging to the same, without 
improvements, sold to Robert Sitlington 
at $40 10 per acre. One negro man, 38 
years of age, sold for $1,132. These sales 
were equivalent to cash, the purchase mo- 
ney bearing interest from date of sale, at 
six, eighteen and thirty months. 



Prairie Wind Flour Mills. 

A new improved wind flour mill has been 
invented in Illinois by Snow & Co., of Dixon, 
of that State. Several have been erected and 
in operation. Each mill has two run of four 
feet stones, and each run grinds ten or twelve 
bushels of corn or wheat an hour. It is esti- 
mated that the wind is of sufficient power to 
operate them nine months in the year. 



640 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



HYACIIfTHS, TULIPS, DOUBLE 
DAHLIAS, &c. 

The subscribers offer this season a more ex- 
tensive assortment than usual of DUTCH BULBOUS 
ROOTS, imported from the best Flower Nurseries of 
Europe, in the finest condition, and all first class bulbs, 
embracing every desirable variety of 
DOUBLE AND SINGLE HYACINTHS, adapted 

for house or out door flowering;. 
EARLY AND LATE DOUBLE AND SINGLE 

TULIPS, of every shade and hue. 
POLYANTHUS NARCISSUS. 
ROMAN NARCISSUS for early winter blooming. 
SINGLE NARCISSUS. 
DOUBLE AND SINGLE IONQUILLES. 
CROCUS of all sorts, including some very fine new 

named seedling varieties. 
CROWN IMPERIALS. 
FRITILL ARIAS. 
GLADIOLUS. 
IRIS. 
IXIAS. 
LILIES. 
ARUMS. 
COLCH1CUMS. 

With numerous other sorts of approved tested value. 

Catalogues of the above, with descriptions and di- 
rections lor planting and managing, will be mailed to 
applicants enclosing a stamp. 

Hyacinth Glasses, Fancy Crocus Pots, fyc. 

J. M. THORBURN & CO., 
Seedsmen, &c, 15 John Street, 
Oct It- New York. 



SAUL'S NURSERY, 

WASHINGTON CITY, I>. C. 

Fruit Trees, Evergreens, Dutch 
Bulbous Roots, &c 

The proprietor respectfully calls the atten- 
tion of Nurserymen, Planters, &c, to the following 
nursery stock, which are remarkably fine this season, 
and low in price : 
20,000 DWARF PEAR S,choicest varieties, 

native and European, those best suited to the Quince 

stock — very fine trees. 
15,000 PEACH TREES,— standard kinds,— 

splendid trees, Apples, Apricots, Cherries, Plums, 

Quinces, Grape Vines, Strawberries, Raspberries, 

Blackberries, &c. 
20,000 CURRANTS, Red and White Dutch, 

Red and White Grape, Victoria, Black Naples, &c, 

strong plain. 

20,000 GOOSEBERRIES— the large English 

varieties — strong. 

500,000 NORWAY SPRUCE, 4 to 6 and G 

to y inches, transplanted, stocky and well-rooted. 

20,000 CHINESE ARROli-VIlVE, two year 

seedlings. 
15,000 SILVER MAPLE SEEDLINGS. 

DUTCH BULBOUS ROOTS. 

An extensive collection — received direct from Hol- 
land about the middle of September, and from houses 
with which I am acquainted. 

GARDEN AND FLOWER SEEDS 

in great variety, with all articles pertaining to the nur- 
sery and seed trade, of best quality and cheap. 

Catalogues can be had on application. 

JOHN SAUL, 

Oct 57. Washington City, D. C. 



HEALTH OR SICKNESS? 

CHOOSE BETWEEN THEM. 




mMi±,iJe 



HOLLOWAY'S PiLLS. 

The blood furnishes the material of every 
bone, muscle, gland and fibre in the human frame. 
When pure, it secures health to every organ; when 
corrupt, it necessarily produces disease. HOLLO- 
WAY'S PILLS operate directly upon the elements 
of the stream of life, neutralizing the principle of dis- 
ease, and thus radically curing the malady, whether 
located in the nerves, the stomach, the liver, the bow-j 
els, the muscles, the skin, the brain, or any other parti 
of tha system. 

Used Throughout the World! 

HOLLOWAY'S PILLS are equally efficacious in 
complaints common to the whole human race, and in| 
disorders peculiar to certain climates and localities. 

General Weakness — Nervous Complaints. 

When all stimulants fail, the renovating and bracing 
properties of these Pills give firmness to the shaking 
nerves and enfeebled muscles of the victim of general! 
debility. 

Delicate Females. 

All irregularities and ailments incident to the deli- " 
cate and sensitive organs of the sex are removed oif- 
prevented by a lew doses of these mild but infallible 
alteratives. No mother who regards her own or hei 
children's health should fail to have them within hei 
reach. . 



CAUTION! 

None are genuine unless the words " Hollo way, Nev f 1 
Yorlc and London" are discernible as a Water-mart h 
in every leaf the book of directions around each potoi I 
box ; the same may be plainly seen by holding tin B 
leaf to the light. A handsome reward will be giver I 
to any one rendering such information as may lead t< I 
the detection of any party or parties counterfeiting tin P 
medicines or vending the same, knowing them to bt W 
spurious. 

Ij*T Sold at the Manufactory of Prof. Hollow a* ™ 
80 Maiden Lane, New York, and by all respec'tabb {* 
Druggists and Dealers in Medicine throughout the U 
States and the civilized world, in boxes at 25 cents 
6:2£ cents, and $1 each. 

13^ There is a considerable saving by taking th 
larger size. 

N. B. — Directions for the guidance of patients ii 
every disorder are affixed to each box. Oct 57 



b 



N. A. STURDIVANT, 

Attorney at Law and Notary Public. 



% 



Practices in all the Courts held in and fo 
the City of Richmond, and Chesterfield and Hanove 
Counties. 

£3P Office— Corner Bank and 11th Streets, oppc V 
site Goddin's Hall, RICHMOND, VA. 

October 1857. 



SOUTHERN PLANTER.— ADVERTISING SHEET. 



SOUTHERN FEMALE INSTITUTE, 

RICHMOND, VA. 

'he Principals of the Southern Female Institute, with this announcement of its 8th Session, 
ler their thanks to the public for the liberal and increasing patronage they have received at its hands. 
s this Institution had its origin in individual enterprise, and has been fostered neither by aid from the State 
by denominational influence, it is with pride that they point to the appended list of patrons, believing as 
do that it evinces the estimation in which their labours in the cause of female education are held by men 
minence and high character. , 

he Principals are Virginians, and were educated in Virginia. They selected teaching as a Profession, and 
=1 devoted themselves earnestly to it for a number of years in their native State. Relying upon the sup- 
of the Southern people, they established, six years ago, this Institution, Southern in every feature, and 
II its teachings. No expense has been spared to make it worthy of patronage, and they hope to be'sup- 
ed in the effort to make the South independent of Northern schools and teachers. 

he Boarding Department will hereafter be under the immediate and sole control of D. Lee Powell who has 
n a large new house on the south east corner of 1st and Franklin Streets, for the purpose of accommo- 
g a number of young ladies as Boarders. 

ie Principals are determined that the opportunities offered for acquiring a thorough knowledge of the 
ch and other Modern Languages in (heir School, shall be equal to those of any institution in the coun- 
One or more Parisian ladies will reside in the family of Mr. Powell, who will be required to converse 
tually in French with the Boarders. 
e most experienced and accomplished teachers-of music, vocal and instrumental, in the city will be em- 
ed. and every effort "will be made to secure improvement in this valuable accomplishment. It will be 
luty of one of the teachers to see that the music scholars practice regularly and properly. 

TERMS. 

rd for 9 mos., washing and lights extra, $200 1 Preparatory Department, - - $10 

ic on Piano, Harp or Guitar at Professors' Modern Languages in classes, each, - 20 

arjies, Tuition in English, - - 50 ( Drawing and Painting, each, from $20 to 50 

of Piano per month. 

e beg leave io refer to the following list of patrons who have now or have had daughters in the Institution. 
s Excellency, Henry A. Wise, Governor of Virginia. Lieut. M. F. Maury, Nat. Observatory, N. 

rley 'Pucker, Thomas Green, Rev. D. S. Doggett, Washington, D. C. Dr. Beverley R. Welford, 

Morson, Esq., Conwav Robinson, James Lyons, Joseph R. Anderson, P. R. Grattan, Rev. Charles H. 
1. Rev. Geo. Woodbridge, Hon. A. R. Holladay, Col. Geo. W. Muntord, Charles Ellett,Jr., Charles Gen. 
Lewis D. Crenshaw, Win. R. Hill, Capt, Charles Dinnnock, S.J. Rutherfbord, Richmond, Va. Col. 

Powell, Loudoun co. Va. Rev. P Slaughter, Warrentpn. R. E. Scott, Esq,., P. St. George Cocke, 
hatan co. Va. Richard Baylor, Essex. Win. H. Clark, J. R. Edmunds, Halifax. Mrs. I. R. Harrison, 

Brandon, Va. Hon. Geo. H. Lee, Clarksburg, Va. Thomas B. Barton, Esq., Thomas F. Knox, Win. 
t hite, Fredericksburg, Va. Dr. A. Mason, Falmouth. Dr. Win. Cochrane, Middlebitrg, Loudoun, Va. 
H. A. Buttolph, Trenton, New Jersey. 

mt further information, apply to the Principals: D. LEE POWELL. 

chmond, Aug. 1857. — tf R. J. MORRISON. 

AGRICULTURAL REGISTRY AND EXCHANGE OFFICE, 

the sale and purchase of Lands, Negroes, Horses, Stock of every description, Agricultu 
ral Implements, Patent Rights, Produce, Fertilizers, &c. 

undersigned, in consequence of repeated applications, the advice and suggestion of friends, and his 
■tunhies of seeing the great necessity for, and the xreat advantage to be derived by the Farmers and 

of Virginia and North Carolina in having a well organized medium of communication for the above 
<es, has determined to open at the Office of the Soutnern Planter, in this city, books for the registration 
} above subjects, both for those wishing to sell as well as those having to purchase, 
rough the medium of such an agency persons who * ish to buy or sell anything, Overseers looking for 
ions and those wishing to employ tbem, can have access to the Register, i>r. at once thrown into co na- 
tation with the oppo* .e party, and thus be enabled to effect a speedy sale, purchase, or negotiation at 
.11 cost. 

mil uniform registration fee will be charged in all cases, to be paid in advance. If advertisements 
rdercd, the money for the cost thereof must accompany the order. 

loderate commission charged on consignments or purchases. N. AUGUST, 

hmond, March 1857. 153 Main Street. 

THIRD ANNUAL EXHIBITION 

OF THE 

SEABOARD AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, 

11 be hold at the Fair Grounds, near the City of Norfolk, on the 10th, lltli, 12th & 13th 
nl>er next. 

ensive preparations are be'ng made to render this exhi ution one of the most attractive and interest- 
■ held south of the Potomac. 

various Railroad and Steam I oat lines leading to this City will convey stock and articles for exhibi- 
ce of charge, and ample accommodations will be provided for the comfortable entertainment of visi- 
- the Fair. Bv order of the Executive Committee. 

K~ It C. F. ANDERSON, SeSy. 



SOUTHERN PLANTER— ADVERTISING SHEET. 



^k/Eir* Liefebvre's Schoo 

L Corner of Grace and Foushee Streets, RICHMOND, VA. 

The next Session of this Institution will open on the FIRST DAY OF OCTOBER, 

and close on the First Day of July, 1858. 

TERMS FOR THE SCHOLASTIC YEAR, 



For Board, - - - $200 

Fur Washing, - - 20 

For Lights, - 

For English Tuition, 

For Modern Languages, (each,) 

For French, Avhen studied exclusively of 

the English branches, 
For Latin, - 

For Music on Piano, Harp, Guitar, Or- 
gan or Singing : 

For one lesson (of an hour) a week, 



40 

20 

40 

20 



40 



For two lessons (of an hour) a week, 
For three lessons (of an hour) a week, 
For four lessons (of an hour) a week, 

For the use of Piano, 

"For Drawing, from Models, 
J For Drawing, from Nature, 

For Painting in "Water Colors, 

For Oil Painting, 

Primary Department — for Children un- 
der 11 years of age, 



REFERENCES: 

The Patrons of the School. — Right Rev. Bishop Meade, Right Rev. Bishop Johns, Right'. 
Bishop Elliott of Georgia, Right Rev. Bishop Cobbs of Alabama, Rev. Moses I). Hoac 
D., Rev. Charles II. Read, D. D., Rev. T. V. Mo re, *). D., Rev. B. Gildersleve. The Cli 
of the Episcopal Church in Virginia. 

P. LEFEBVRE, A. M,, Principal. 



HUBERT 

Rev." H. S. Keppler, 
William G. Williams, a. : 
John P. Little, M. D. 
R. A. Lewis, M. D. 
Eliodoro Camps, 

MAD'ELLE L, VILLEMET, French Governess. 

All letters to be directed to Hubert P. Lefebvre, Richmond. Va. 



John A. Calyo, 
Q. W. Thilow, 
% F. Grabau, 
Mrs. A. E. J. Gibson, 
Miss Mary Gordon, 



Miss E. Bartlett, 
Mrs. M. Taylor, 
Mad'me 31. E^tVan, 
Mad'elle L 
Charles II. Roseen, 



[July '57-1 



Pure Blood Short Horns for Sale. ] &> H. Meade.) ' <t. r. b^ 

I have for sale 3 or 4 pure blood Short Horn} Graduate ^'^elph.a College of Pharmaej 
Bull?, one year old, hy "Norfolk," the winner of the 3MIEAD3E2 & BAKSR, 

first premiums as the best Bull of any kitid at the; ... . _., . . n _. 

Fairs of the Union Agricultural Society at Fetershurgj Apothecaries, GiiemiStS & Pharmaceiltl 
and of the Virginia State Agricubural Socien at Rich i 
iniinil, Fall of 1855. F^r pedigree "f 'JggBfolk," see! 
American Herd Book, No. 755. and Southern Planter.'' 
for February, 1856. D. B. SANDERS, 

May 57* " JacksMn's FeriV, Wythe Co. Va. j 



Saddles, Harness, &c. 

I manufacture a superior 



COLL A R . • 

which I warrant not to chafe or gall. I 
niwavE on ham! a good* assortment of all articles tn 
my line, which I will sell, wholesale or retail, as cheap 
as thev can he procured anwvbere. North or South. 
CHARLES I. BALDWIN, 
Franklin St., 2d square above Old Market. 
Sept — ly 

SAMUEL S. C0TTKELL, 
Saddle and Harness Manufacturer, 

Wholesale and Retail, 
A'o.^18 Main Sf., RICHMOND, VA. 



t 18G, N. W. Cor^r of Main and H 

iliagonally opposite the Fanners and Virginia Bi 

and just above the new Custom House.-! 

. \ feiCHM^iND, \ IRCINIA. 

^ Offer t» Fawners, Physicians and Families, I 

; and pprjtt-f/// fresh stock of Poire Drugs, Chejp 

and M. -divines ; Surgical Instruments; Spieesj 

,1 ported Hiiflirs : Chewing and Smoking Toltii 

j Fancy Articles, Perfumery, Soaps, Brushes, &j 

Iave as good icruTs as any o her House in the Co una 

Sept. 1^)57 — ly 



Plans and Detailed Drawing} 

Prepared, and the. construction of all kinds of hi 
ings superintended l>v 
ALBERT I,. WEST, 

ARCHITECT <(• MEASURER, 

11 th St., between Main and Bank, Richmond, J 
September 1856. 



R. 0. IIASKINS, 




Having received the first premium. Ship Chandler, Grocer and CM 

at the la.r oi the \ irffinia Mechanics mission Merchant, 



Institute, in 1854, and a Silver Medal at the 
Fair of tin- same Institute in 1855, (.eels confident lie 
ran please all persons in want of auv article in bis 
ne. Marck 1857— ly 



In bis |ar»e new building, 
Wharf, Kocketts, 
Sep i 1856 — ly 



in from of ihe Sieainu 
B ('II MOM), VA. i