^ \S/ v (. , l 



^SA VOL. XVII. 



I J y^ Published Monthly. 



[JULY.] No. 7. M^ 

Puffin & August, Proprietors. J^ 



FRANK: G. RUFFIN, Editor 



TH E 




DEVOTED TO 



AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE 



AND THE 



HOUSEHOLD ARTS. 




PRINTED AT RICHMOND, Va., 
BY MACFARLANE & FEKGUSSON. 

1857. 



iiiiwiihwii 




CONTENTS 



The Soil, (concluded,) 
To "Head" and Expel Rats.-A Remark- 
able Cow, 
Domestic Life in the Free States, 
A Chapter for Husbands. — Vinegar, 
The Culture of Domestic Animals, 
On the Culture of the Sweet Potato, 
Agricultural Antiquities of Virginia, 
Black Tooth in Hogs. — One Hundred 

Tons of Grass to the Acre, 
How to ,make a Sound Shingle Roof. — 
Mulching.— A Wheat or Corn Crop 
saved by Chickens, 
How to Raise and keep Irish Potatoes, - 
Labor Lost, - 

Mapes', Hildreth's and Rhodes' Super- 
phosphates, - 
Potatoes, - 

Re-planting Corn. ~ Disease in Peach 

Trees, 
Cutting Wheat— Sheep.— Colic in Horses 
Wheat Drill.— Benefits of Sawdust, 
How do the Nitrates of Soda and Potash 

produce their Fertilizing Effects, 
Steam Cultivation, 
Limestone Soils, 
Ploughing in Green Crops, - 
Small Farms vs. Large Farms, 
Characteristics of Overseers, 



397 
398 

399 



400 
401 

402 

403 
404 

405 
406 
407 



385 Indian Corn, Maize, 

! The Duck Trade, &c, 
391 1 Mapes' & Gibbs' Rotary Digger, 
392 I Barometers for Farmers. — Marking, 
395 ' High Farming in England, 
396 Clover as an Improver of Wheat, 
~ On Abandoning Tobacco Culture, 

Permanence of Improvement by Guano, 
A Reply to a Young Farmer's Request 
in the^June Number of the Planter, - 
Wheat among Jluta Bagas, - 
Good vs. Bad Breed of Hogs.— The Dis- 
ease amongst Hogs, 
The Wool-Clip of 1857, 
Recommendations to Overseers, 
Fine Wheat.— The Prospect for Wheat in 

Virginia, - 

Good Asparagus. — Kossuth. — Dr. Fitch's 
Report on the Insects of New York. — 
Pissant vs. Chinch Bug. — The Army 
Worm, - 

The Grass Caterpillar, 
Reform in Inspections of Tobacco, 
Put up Pickles for Markets, 
409 1 Something about New Fruits, 
410 Mignonette— Reseda Odorata, 

Something better than Sweetmeats, 
Pruning Evergreens. -«-My Pink and oth- 
er Pinks, 



- 408 



411 
412 
416 



417 
418 
419 

420 
421 
426 

427 
428 

429 
430 

431 
434 
435 

436 



437 
43s 
440 
442 
444 
445 
446 

447 



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TH E 




Devoted to Agriculture, Horticulture, and the Household Arts. 



Agriculture is 
— XenopJion. 


the nursing mother 


of the Arts 


. 1 Tillage and Pasturage an 
the State. — Sully. 


) the two 


breasts of 


FRANK. G. 


RUFFIN, 


Editor. 




F. G. RUFFIN & N. 


AUGUST 


Prop 


RS. 


Vol. XVII 




RICHMOND, 


VA., JULY, 1857. 




No. 


T. 



From the Cyclopedia of Agriculture. 
The Soil. 

CONCLUDED. 

A point of great practical importance 
is the state of division in which the con- 
stituent parts of soils are mixed together; 
and as chemical analysis gives no infor- 
mation in this respect, the necessity for 
submitting the soil to a mechanical exam- 
ination becomes apparent. Such an ex- 
amination enables us to ascertain whether 
its mechanical condition is such as to 
render its cultivation economical or ex- 
pensive, and at the same time allows us 
to recognize the nature of the stones 
which are found in the soil. An ac- 
quaintance with the composition of the 
stones affords a good criterion as to its 
probable state of productiveness, and in 
many cases suggests either the propriety 
of leaving the stones on the land or re 
moving them. 

In hot climates, or in dry seasons, the 
crops are often injured on account of the 
want of the necessary supply of moisture ; 
in many localities, indeed, cultivation 
would become impossible, if all soils .did 
not possess the property oi absorbing 
water, either in the form of vapours or in 
25 



the state of dew, from the atmosphere. 
This property, consequently, has a mate- 
rial influence upon the productive char- 
acters of soils, and contributes to explain 
the superiority of one soil over another, 
since different soils possess this property 
in a very unequal degree. Thus Sir Hum- 
phry Davy found, that when made per- 
fectly dry, 1000 lbs. of a 

Very fertile soil, from East Lothian gained in one 

'hour, IS lbs. 

Very fertile soil from Somersetshire, gained 

in one hour, 1-6 " 

Soil worth 25s. per acre,, from Mersca, in 

Essex, gained in one hour, 13 " 

Sandy soil, worth 28.s\ from Essex, gained 

in one hour, 11 ■* 

Coarse sand, worth only 15.?., gained in one 

hour, 8 " 

Soil of Bagshot Heath, gained in one hour, o " 

It thus appears that fertile soils possess 
this property in a very considerable de- 
gree, whereas a purely silicious soil ab- 
sorbs but a small amount of water on ex- 
posure to a moist atmosphere. We must 
not, however, estimate the comparative 
state of fertility of different soils by the 
amount of moisture which they are capa- 
ble of absorbing in a dry state from a 
moist atmosphere ; for peaty soils, which 
possess this property in a still higher de- 
gree than the best vegetable moulds, 



386 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



would then come under the description of 
highly fertile soils. 

Intimately connected with the preced- 
ing property, is the power of soils absorb- 
ing fertilizing gases from the atmosphere. 
Carbonic acid and ammonia, with which 
we are more especially concerned, and 
which both exist in small proportions in 
the atmosphere, are both absorbed by the 
various soils in very different degrees. 
Generally speaking, those soils which ab- 
sorb a larger amount of moisture from the 
air than others, are also the better absorb- 
ers for carbonic acid and ammonia. This 
property, though dependent in a great 
measure on the porosity or the state of 
division of the various constituent parts 
of the soil, is nevertheless still more in- 
timately connected with its chemical con- 
stitution,, as we shall presently show. 
Good clay-loams and arable soils, contain- 
ing a certain amount of vegetable and an- 
imal remains, possess it in a considerable 
degree ; on the contrary, very sandy soils 
scarcely absorb any appreciable quantity 
of the fertilizing gases which have just 
been mentioned. 

Another important property, which in- 
fluences the agricultural capabilities of 
soils, is their power of holding water. 
Some soils will drink in and retain a much 
larger proportion of rain falling upon 
them than others, before the rain perco- 
lates into the subsoil ; and it is evident 
that in dry climates this property must 
render a soil more valuable. Tn districts 
visited by frequent and heavy showers 
of rain, on the contrary, it is not desirable 
that a soil should possess this property in 
any large degree. Clay and peaty soils, 
it is well known, are capable of contain- 
ing a very much larger amount of water 
than sandy soils ; and as in the evapora- 
tion of the larger quantity of water con- 
tained in the former, a more considerable 
amount of heat is expended to change the 
water into vapour, we are taught at once 
the reason why clay soils are colder than 
sandy ones. If water is poured on 
weighed quantities of soils of different 
descriptions, a certain amount disappears 
in each instance ; and if the careful ad- 
dition of water is stopped when the first 
drop passes through the mass of the soils, 
and the latter are now weighed again, 
great differences will be found in the 
quantities of water which are contained 



in each sample of soil. Thus it has been 
found, that from 100 lbs. of dry soil, wa- 
ter will begin to drop, if it be a 

Quartz sand, when it has absorbed 25 lbs. 
Calcareous sand, " 29 " 

Loamy soil, " 40 il 

English chalk, " »45 " 

Clay-loam, " 50 " 

Pure clay, " 70 " 

Again, those soils which hold the larg- 
est amount of water, also retain it with 
the greatest pertinacity — another proper- 
ty which accounts partially for the dissimi- 
larity in the fertilizing characters of soils. 
Then again, in the relation of different 
soils to heat, we observe great differences. 
Thus, dark-colored soils will absorb a 
greater amount of heat from the sun's 
rays than light-colored ones ; but the lat- 
ter will retain the heat they have absorb- 
ed much longer than the former. If we 
further take into consideration the great 
differences in the firmness or adhesive 
power of various soils, their relative 
depth, position, and many other circum- 
stances, it will become apparent that 
many circumstances besides their chemi- 
cal composition exercise a more or less 
considerable influence on their natural 
productive power. 

The study of the characters of soils, 
it appears to us, has hitherto been prose- 
cuted too much in a one-sided direction. 
On the one hand, the mere existence of 
a certain number of chemical constitu- 
ents has been deemed sufficient to ac- 
count for all the agricultural peculiarities 
of soils ; and, on the other hand, their 
physical properties have been too much 
considered, independently of their chemi- 
cal composition. That an intimate con- 
nection exists between the physical pro- 
perties and the chemical composition of 
soils, we have already had occasion to re- 
mark, but unfortunately this relation has 
not always been recognized ; we have 
hitherto been too much in the habit of 
looking upon the soil as dead matter, 
and have, consequently, given but little 
attention to the various functions which 
the different constituents, in their various 
combinations, are calculated to perform 
in relation to vegetable life ; in short, we 
have too little endeavored to study the 
physiology of soils. It affords us, there- 
fore, particular pleasure to direct the 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



387 



attention of the agriculturist to a series 
of experiments, which have been lately 
undertaken by Professor ■ Way, with a 
view to unfold to us a property possessed 
by all soils, in a smaller or less degree, 
which, though it is of the greatest practi- 
cal importance, has been hitherto alto* 
gether left unnoticed. Professor Way's re- 
searches on the absorptive powers of 
soils for manure cannot be too highly ap- 
preciated by the theoretical as well as by 
the practical man, for the results to 
which they have led already are no less 
unexpected, and thus interesting, in a the- 
oretical point of view, than calculated to 
throw a new light on the inherent ferti- 
lizing properties of soils, the rational ap- 
plication of manures, the rotation of crops, 
and, in short, have a direct practical bear- 
ing on many agricultural operations. Al- 
though Professor Way is still occupied 
with the prosecution of this highly impor- 
tant subject, if will not be out of place 
to make a somewhat detailed reference 
to his investigations ; for the two papers 
which have appeared in the Journal of the 
Royal Agriculural Society, on the absorp- 
tive properties of soils, by the pen of 
Professor Way, have already led to the 
discovery of a hitherto unsuspected pro- 
perty, possessed by all fertile soils, and 
are fraught with results which cannot be 
too highly appreciated by the practical 
man. We have no hesitation to say that 
Professor Way's researches on this sub- 
ject embody by far the most important 
and practically useful results with which 
we have become acquainted within the 
past fifty years. 

Professor Way's investigations origin- 
ated in an observation of Mr. Thompson, 
of Kirby Hall, near York, who, in 1845, 
first observed, by direct experiments, that 
soils had the faculty of separating ammo- 
nia from its solutions. This observation, 
and an experiment made by Mr. Huxta- 
ble, in which this gentleman found that 
liquid manure, after the passage through 
a bed of an ordinary loamy soil, was de- 
prived of smell and discolorized, induced 
Mr. Way to institute a series of experi- 
mental researches on the powers of soils 
to absorb manuring substances, which 
have not only fully confirmed Mr. Thomp- 
son's previous observations, but which 
have also brought to light numerous 



[highly important additional facts, to which 
it is our duty now to allude. 

In numerous and varied experiments, 
Professor Way has shown that, when a 
comparatively weak solution of caustic 
ammonia is passed through a considera- 
ble quantity of soil, it invariably loses 
the ammonia, although, previous to filtra- 
tion, it exhibited decidedly the peculiar 
odour of that volatile alkali. When, 
however, stronger solutions of ammonia 
were filtered through soil, or when the 
proportion of the latter was greatly di- 
minished, only a portion of the ammonia 
was absorbed, and the remainder passed 
through the soil with the water. It thus 
is evident that the power of soils to ab- 
sorb ammonia has its limits ; and what 
these limits are Professor Way has deter- 
mined in several particular cases. Thus, 
1000 parts of a soil from the thin land of 
the Dorsetshire downs, was found to ab- 
sorb from a solution of caustic ammo- 
nia — 

In one experiment, 3-083 grains of ammonia. 

In a second experiment, 3-921 " 

In a third " 3-504 " 

In a fourth " 3438 " 

It will be observed that these quantities of 
absorbed ammonia vary to some extent 
in these experiments. The differences 
arise from the circumstance of solutions 
of different strength having been employ- 
ed in each experiment, Professor Way 
having found that the same soil absorbs, 
in different experiments, the same amount 
of ammonia and other compounds expe- 
rimented with, when solntions of equal 
strength are employed, but unlike quanti- 
ties, when solutions of different strength 
are made use of. 

In another soil which had a light-red 
colour, and was taken from Mr. Pusey's 
estate in Berkshire, the quantity of am- 
monia absorbed by 1000 grains amounted 
to 1-570 grains, thus showing that differ- 
ent soils possess this property in a very 
unequal degree. Numerous other expe- 
riments might be cited ; however, these 
examples will be quite sufficient to illus- 
trate the differences in the quantities of 
ammonia which are absorbed by soils of 
different descriptions ; and we pass on to 
observe that Professor Way not only 
found that soils had the power of sepa- 
rating ammonia from its solution, but also 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



potash, as well as other bases, and that 
indeed, the most important fertilizing ma- 
terials we're amenable to the law regulat- 
ing the absorption of ammonia. Thus, 
100 grains of clay, a sample of very te- 
nacious white clay, from the plastic clay 
formation, were found to absorb, from a 
solution of caustic potash containing 1 
per cent, of potash, 1-050 grains of pot- 
ash. In this instance, the alkaline solu- 
tion was not filtered through the soil, but 
merely left in contact with it in the cold 
for twelve hours. It therefore appears, 
as has been shown, likewise, in many 
other experiments, that the process of 
filtration is unessential for the display of 
this remarkable property, and that soils 
simply brought in contact with alkaline 
solutions, have the power of absorbing 
a certain proportion of the alkaline sub- 
stance. This absorption, moreover, was 
found to be very rapid, if not instantane- 
ous ; and it appears from this, that true 
chemical combinations are formed in all 
cases of absorption of this kind. 

Still more important than the facts re- 
specting the rapid absorption of free al- 
kalies by soils, is the observation made by 
the same indefatigable philosopher, that 
all cultivated soils possess likewise the 
power of separating the ammonia, pot- 
ash, and other alkaline substances from 
their combinations with various acids. 
Thus, when solutions of salts of ammo- 
nia, of potash, magnesia, &c, were pass- 
ed slowly through a laver of dry soils five 
or six inches deep, it was remarked that 
the clear liquid, after filtration, no longer 
contained any of the ammonia or other 
salts employed. The soluble alkaline 
salts were thus retained in some form or 
other in the soil, whilst the water in which 
they were dissolved previously was pass- 
ing through. A careful examination of 
the soil experimented upon, and of the 
water which had passed through it, and 
originally contained, in solution, a salt of 
ammonia or potash, &c, moreover, fur- 
nished the important result that the alka- 
line salt is not absorbed by the soil as 
such, but that the latter, indeed, has a 
decomposing power, which effects the 
resolution of the salt into its acids and 
alkaline base, which latter alone is retain- 
ed by the soil during Jthe process of fil- 
tration, or simply by shaking the salt-so- 
lution with a sufficient quantity of soil. 



If, for instance, a solution of sulphate oil 
ammonia, of moderate strength, is passed 



through a filtes-bed of soil, five to eighl 
inches deep, it will be found that the am-j 
monia alone of the sulphate of ammonia 
is retained, and the sulphuric acid, witli 
^hich the volatile alkali is combined, will 
then be found passing through with thd 
water, generally though not always id 
combination with lime. Or if the salt em- 
ployed in the experiment was nitrate o< 
ammonia, a similar change will be effect' 
ed by the contact of such a solution with 
the soil ; the ammonia alone will be ab; 
sorbed, and the nitric acid, with whicl 
it was previously combined, will be con 
taincd in the filtered liquid, in combina 
tion with lime. Other salts of ammonia 
as well as compounds of potash, magnesia 
&c, w T hen passed in solution through ; 
soil, are subject to the same law whicl 
determines the separation of ammoni; 
from its sulphate, and whatever the aci<. : 
may have been with which the alkalim 
substance was originally combined, ij 
every instance it will be found that th 
alkali alone is absorbed by the soil, whils 
the acid of the salt will pass through 
not in a free state, but united with lim 
or other basic constituent of the soil. B; 
the simple process of filtration, or b; 
mere contact of the soil with solutions o 
different alkaline salts, new compound 
are thus produced. That this remarka 
ble action is a true chemical decompc 
sition, is clearly proved by the fact tha 
the quantity of lime which, in combina 
tion with the acid of the ammoniacal salt 
passes into the filtered liquid, correspond 
exactly to that of ammonia removed fror 
it. Thus, when muriate of ammonia 
filtered through the soil, with which mos 
experiments were performed, the ammoni 
was removed, and a corresponding quan 
tity of lime, in combination with muriati 
acid, was detected in the filtered liquic 
Sulphate of potash parted with its potasl 
and sulphate of lime was produced ; ni 
trate of ammonia or potash, in the sam 
manner, gave rise to the formation c 
nitrate of lime; whilst ammonia and pot 
ash were retained by the soil in quant: 
ties corresponding to the lime acquired b 
the filtered liquid. 

Like the absorption of the free alka 
lies, that from the alkaline salt-solutio 
varies considerably in different soils ; an 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



389 



the extent of absorption is lilfewise af- 
fected by the strength of the solution 
employed. , 

A few examples may illustrate the ex- 
tent to which ordinary soils remove am- 
monia and potash from their combina- 
tions with 1 different acids : — 

1000 grains of a light-red soil, from 
Mr. Pusey's estate in Berkshire, which 
was found to absorb 1*570 grains of free 
ammonia per 1000 grains of soil, absorbed 
from muriate of ammonia 1-966 grains of 
ammonia. Another soil, 1000 grains of 
which were found to absorb 3-438 grains 
of free ammonia, likewise removed a 
larger quantity of ammonia from the mu- 
riate for 1000 grains absorbed ; from mu- 
riate of ammonia, 3-478 grains of ammo- 
nia, or nearly the same quantity as in 
the experiment with free ammonia. In 
this instance the absorptive power of the 
soil thus appears the same, .whether the 
ammonia be in a free state, or united to 
muriatic acid. 

1000 grains of subsoil clay from Corn- 
wall, (coloured red by oxide of iron,) ab- 
sorbed from muriate of ammonia -818 
grain of ammonia, or a much smaller 
quantity than that in the preceding expe- 
riment. 

1000 grains of white clay, from the 
plastic clay formation, absorbed from mu- 
riate of ammonia 2 847 grains of ammo- 
nia, and with a solution of the same salt, 
but of a different strength, 1000 grains of 
the clay were found to absorb 2-078 grains 
of ammonia. 

Digested with different solutions of ni- 
trate of potash, the same white clay ab- 
sorbed, 

In one experiment, 4-366 grains of potash. 
In a second " 4980 " 

In all these experiments, the acids of 
the salts employed were found, in the fil- 
tered solutions, in combination with lime, 
and it was, therefore, natural to suspect 
the carbonate of lime originally present 
in the soil to play an important function 
in the absorption of ammonia, potash, &c. ; 
but direct experiments w 7 ith carbonate of 
lime added to the soil, in order to ascer- 
tain if its power to absorb ammonia would 
be increased or not, have shown to Pro- 
cessor Way that carbonate of lime is not 
the agent to which the fixation of ammo- 
nia is due, and that its addition, conse- 



quently, does not augment the power of 
the soil to absorb ammonia or potash. 
Sufficient evidence, we think, is furnished 
in these experiments to show that the 
power of soils, of which we are speaking, 
is not the same as that exhibited by po- 
rous substances, that it is not due to mere 
surface attraction, and, in short, that it 
cannot be referred to any previously 
known physical property possessed by 
soils, but that it is a power sui generis. 
Not content, however, to have proved the 
existence of a hitherto unsuspected pow T er 
in soils, Professor Way endeavoured to 
find out the true cause of this remarkable 
action, and happily his labours in that di- 
rection, prosfcuted with most praisewor- 
thy zeal, perseverance, and talent, have 
been crowned with suecess. 

After having proved experimentally that 
the power of soils to absorb manuring sub- 
stances is not due either to the presence of 
sand, carbonate or silicate of lime, of 
oxide of iron, or alumina, neither can 
it be referred to the organic matter, 
in the soil, nor to the silicate of 
alumina, or pure clay, in the soil, Pro- 
fessor Way was fortunate .enough to dis- 
cover a new class of remarkable com* 
pounds which possesses the pow r er under 
discussion in a high degree. These com- 
pounds, in the language of the chemist, 
are called double silicates; and it is to their 
presence in all fertile soils that Professor 
Way refers the peculiar and hitherto un- 
known action described above, which all 
such soils exhibit in a smaller or less de- 
gree. Before proceeding further in our 
inquir}', it will be necessary to explain 
briefly what is meant by the term double 
silicates. When pure silicious sand or 
powdered quartz-rock, or flints, or any 
other variety of the substance which the 
chemist calls silica, or silicic acid, is 
fused at a high temperature with pot- 
ash, soda, lime, or magnesia, &c, it re- 
sults in each case in a chemical combina- 
tion between the silica and the substance 
w 7 ith which it has been fused. The com- 
binations thus produced are called sili- 
cates. Thus the compound of silica 
w r ith potash is a silicate, that of silica 
with soda is another, and silicate of lime, 
is a compound of silica with lime ; and as 
each of these compounds contains but 
one substance united to silica, they are 
distinguished from other similar com- 



390 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



pounds containing, in addition to silica, 
more than one other substance, by the 
name- of simple silicates. These com- 
pounds are characterized by a great ten- 
dency of uniting together amongst them- 
selves, and forming a new class of saline 
compounds — that of the double silicates. 
Thus silicate of alumina and silicate of 
lime frequently are found in nature united 
together to form one substance — a double 
silicate ; other double silicates are the 
compounds of silicate of soda and lime, 
or silicate of potash and alumina, &c. 
Several of the double silicates, containing, 
in addition to silicate of alumina, other 
bases, have lately been artificially pre- 
pared by Professor Way, wh% is of opin- 
ion that the absorption of ammonia by the 
soil from the atmosphere is dependent on 
the formation of a double silicate of alum- 
ina and ammonia, a compound which is 
always produced when any of the other 
double silicates, consisting of silicate of 
alumina and another base, is brought in 
contact with the carbonate of ammonia 
contained in the atmosphere. According 
to Professor Way, the compounds of sili- 
cate of alumina with soda, lime, mag- 
nesia, or potash, not only have the power 
to fix the ammonia in solution, but also 
the gaseous carbonate of ammonia of 
the atmosphere. The examination of 
several of these double silicates 
brought to light some important facts. 
Thus it has been shown that the double 
silicate of alumina and soda, when digest- 
ed with a solution of a lime salt, gives 
rise to a new compound, a double silicate, 
containing lime instead of soda. In this 
new compound,- the lime in its turn may 
be replaced by magnesia, and this base 
again by potash. The xdouble silicate 
of alumina and potash is finally deprived 
of its potash by ammonia, which entering 



double silicate of alumina and, ammonir 
but whenever a salt of ammonia in soli 
tion, and also the carbonate of ammoni 
in the atmosphere, comes in contact wit 
the soil containing any one of the othe 
double silicates, ammonia is invariably at 
sorbed, and the other base in combin; 
tion with silicate of alumina is seps 
rated. An especially careful provisio 
thus manifests itself, in the solicitude c 
the soil to prevent the loss of the mos> 
valuable .fertilizing constituent of mi 
nures ; and it is interesting to observe 
that the power of soils to retain fertilizin 
constituents, in so far as this is depen 
dent on the presence of double silicates 
is proportional to the relative importanc 
of the different fertilizing constituents 
Ammonia, as far as we know, is the mos 
valuable of all manuring substances 
potash follows next in importance ; am 
lime, which occurs in nature far mor 
abundantly than either ammonia or pot 
ash, is justly regarded as being of les 
consequence ; whilst soda appears to b' 
still less important in relation to the dif 
ferent vegetable processes, than eithe 
ammonia, potash, lime, or magnesia. 

Now, it is exceedingly interesting to ob 

serve the order in which -these differen 

bases replace each other in the doubh 

silicates. This order has been deter 

has i mined by Professor Way, as follows : — 

Soda, Lime, Magnesia, Potash, Ammonia, 



into combination with the 



sili- 



that is to say, in the double silicate o 
alumina and soda, the soda may be re 
placed by lime, magnesia, potash, or am 
monia, which is simply effected by bring- 
ing the soda double silicate in intimatt 
contact with any soluble salt of the bases 
named. The lime double silicate, again 
is decomposed b}' the bases which follow 
it in the list, but not by soda, which pre- 
cedes it, and we thus find that potash is 



cate of alumina, thus gives rise to the only turned out from its silicate by ammo 



formation of the double silicate of alumi- 
na ,and ammonia. It will be observed 
that there is a regular order of decom- 
position between the silicates of each 
base, and the ordinary salts of other bases; 
and it is especially important to remem- 
ber, that ammonia displaces all other 
bases from their union with silicate of 
alumina. Thus a salt of ammonia not 
only decomposes the double silicate of 
alumina and potash, giving rise to the 



nia, whilst of itself it is capable of dis- 
placing the less valuabe bases, soda, lime, 
and magnesia. In other words, for the pre- 
servation of ammonia four compounds are 
made answerable, for that of potash only 
three, and for soda, the least valuable, ap- 
parently no provision is taken by the soil! 
to prevent its free escape with the water 
draining through the soil. There are 
several points which have to be attended 
to in forming: correct views on the nature 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



391 



of these absorptive powers. In the first 
instance,' we must bear in mind, that the 
rule laid down in reference to the decompo- 
sition of the different double silicates, ap- 
plies only to the action of the salts of 
different bases on the silicates. For in- 
stance, a solution of muriate of ammonia, 
poured upon a soil containing the double 
silicate of alumina and lime, will give 
rise to the ammonia double silicate and 
the formation of muriate of lime ; but, 
on the other hand, the free alkaline base 
lime, will decompose the ammonia double 
silicate, and cause the evaporation of it 
in a gaseous form. Secondly, it is well to 
remember, that the action of heat destroys 
the absorptive properties of these double 
silicates altogether, and also changes their 
chemical properties materially. Thus the 
double silicate ot alumina and lime, after 
having been heated to redness, neither 
absorbs ammonia from the atmosphere, 
nor is decomposed by being brought in 
contact with a solution of an ammoniaca! 
salt. In the third place, it is necessary 
to state, that although the double silicates 
of alumina, with other bases, are nearly 
insoluble in water, yet they ate not en- 
tirely so. Moreover, we must not forget 
to observe, that they are not dissolved as 
such, but that water dissolves out of each 
a small quantity of the base with which 
the silicate of alumina is united. Thus 
Professor Way has shown that a gal- 
lon of water dissolves from the ammo- 
nia silicate about one grain of ammo- 
nia, or one part in 70,000, and water 
charged with carbonic acid 2 527 grains, 
or 2£ times the quantity dissolved by 
pure water. It was likewise observed 
that common salt increased the solubility 
of ammonia from its double silicate very 
considerably ; direct determinations hav- 
ing shown that 1000 grains of a solution 
of common salt, containing 1-97 per cent, 
of salt, dissolved 0-33 grain of ammonia, 
or at the rate of 23-1 grains in the gallon, 
which is twenty times as much as pure 
water, (Way.) It will be perceived, ac- 
cordingly, that notwithstanding the small 
solubility of the double silicates, the ne- 
cessary amount of fertilizing constituents 
which they contain, may be v furnished by 
them to the growing plants ; for not only 
are the soluble bases, such as potash and 
ammonia, gradually dissolved by much 
water from the double silicates, but -also 



saline compounds occurring in the soil or 
in the manure, promote their liberation to 
a considerable extent. 

We have given a somewhat detailed ac- 
count of Professor Way's researches, be- 
cause they are replete with interesting 
and practically useful information. Our 
limits do not allow us to enter into a dis- 
cussion of the practical inferences which 
have been drawn by the learned Profes- 
sor from his researches. But we cannot 
refrain to observe, that they go far to 
explain the differences in the natural 
productive powers of soils, and are calcu- 
lated to affect several agricultural prac- 
tices, especially the application of ma- 
nures to the land. To mention only one 
particular, they teach us the important 
fact that, in a practical point of view, it 
makes no difference whether we use the 
sulphate or muriate of ammonia, and that 
consequently the cheapest salt is the 
most preferable. For further particulars, 
we refer the reader to the 11th and 13th 
vols, of the Royal Agricultural Society's 
Journal, in which two papers on the ab- 
sorptive powers of soils, by Professor 
Way, will be found. [a. v. J 

To " Head" and Expel Rats. — A wri- 
ter in the Boston Cultivator recommends 
potash for this purpose. The rats trou- 
bled him very much. They appeared in 
great numbers, and were very troublesome, 
so that he felt justified in resorting to ex- 
treme measures to effect their expulsion. 
He pounded up potash and strewed it 
around their holes, and rubbed some under 
the boardes, and on the sides wmere they 
came through. The next night he heard 
a squealing among them, which he sup- 
posed from the caustic nature of the pot- 
ash that got among their hair or on their 
bare feet. They disappeared, and for a 
long time he was exempt from any farther 
annoyance. 



A Remarkable Cow. — A cow belong- 
ing to Mr. Lewis Cabell, of Amherst 
county, died a few days since, in whose 
womb was discovered one hundred and two 
young calves ! One of them was fully de- 
veloped — but the others, though perfectly 
shaped, were about the size of rats. This 
is a remarkable instance — but we are in- 
formed, on authority which we cannot dis- 
credit, that it is strictly and literally true. 



392 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



Domestic Life in the Free States. 
We copy the first of the following articles 
from the Prairie Farmer; the second from 
The Wool Grower's Reporter, published in 
Cleveland, Ohio, by whom it is extracted from 
Moor's Rural New Yorker. We hope we shall 
not be scalped for presuming to extract them 
for the perusal of slave drivers. We make no 
comments. 

farmers' wives. 

Their True Social Position — Women of the Rev- 
olution — English Country Ladies compared 
with American — Eoutinism of American 
Housewifery — Her Home Influences. 

[We have copied good articles entitled 
'* Farmers' Boys" and " Farmers' Girls," 
from Life Illustrated, and here find one 
which we regard good in the same paper. 
on Farmers' Wives. We cannot forego 
the pleasure of presenting it to our read- 
ers, believing it will assist in rendering 
the class referred to more contented, more 
efficient in real duties, and less inclined to 
yield to the idea that they are good for 
nothing."] 

In this country, the wife of the farmer 
stands at the head of society. She may 
not know it, but it is true as gospel. Da- 
ting back with the beginning of our social 
system, we find that she is at the bottom 
of all bold and brave enterprises that have 
made us great, and has sustained the bur- 
den and the heat of the whole day in our 
national undertaking. Because she has 
had the making of the men, training them 
from the gristle of boyhood. She has 
carried the whole fabric in her ow 7 n heart, 
since upon her have the heroes relied and 
to her approbation looked for their chief 
reward. The wives of the farmers were 
the women of the Revolution, of whom 
we cannot say enough in praise. Although 
it may be said they first projected pr 
gave shape to our revolutionary plans, yet 
without their aid we have to acknowledge 
that little or nothing could have been 
done. 

The wife, in the country, is the one and 
only being who makes the homestead 
beautiful. She invests it with an atmos- 
phere of love. She is the single magnet 
by which husband and children are at- 
tracted there. She can make all things 
lovely and bright, or she can create cloud- 
iness and gloom, put everybody in the 



sulks and make the whole household wish 
they lived anywhere but there. A woman 
can do as much as that anywhere, I know ; 
but in a country house she possesses pecu- 
liar power that elsewhere she has not. In 
the retirement of rural life it is not so 
easy to get away from a home that is 
notoriously unpleasant and uncomfortable ; 
but in the crowd and variety of a city it is 
a very different matter. 

Farmers wives, in our rural districts, are 
ihardly aware of their influence. They 
| underrate themselves practically, to begin 
with ; they run to one extreme, and think 
themselves of no consequence in the 
world ; and then they run to another and 
declare they are just as good as anybody. 
That is hardly in character. A little 
brush — the least particle in the world — of 
city influence, and they are all in a flus- 
ter. In an instant they are willing to for- 
get all the beauty, all the charming asso- 
ciations of their country home life, and 
grow crazy with envy of their city cou- 
sins' flounces and furbeloes. The calm, 
contemplative, really religious existence 
they enjoy in the heat of nature, they en- 
tirely undervalue and would gladly trade 
it off' for a tight of stony streets, the sound 
of rattling carts and the certainty of never 
again seeing the sun rise, and set. 

English country ladies have a fresh, ro- 
bust and hearty look. Ours, however, 
wear a different appearance. The coun- 
try ladies in America have a care-worn, 
anxious, responsible air, as if all the in- 
terests of the farm, its occupants and the 
town devolved solely on themselves. Half 
the time they are a good deal smarter than 
the men and take the business out of their 
hands. They can reckon you up the cost 
and value of a hog or a ' critter,' without 
even having access to the slate ; whereas 
their husbands would have to hunt up and 
study all the chalk-marks around the home- 
stead, in order to get at what they wanted. 
If the majority of our farmers are sud- 
denly asked what they will take for their 
new beef, they will turn and answer that 
they would not like to sell without first 
consulting ' mother' — meaning their wife. 
In this, and in other ways, the woman in 
the country becomes gradually unfemi- 
nine — loses a certain degree of that sweet- 
ness and freshness which so beautifully 
become the female character, mingles in 
with* the roughness, and hardness, and 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



593 



dirt, and drudgery of farm work and farm 
life, and, in the lapse of time, she uncon- 
sciously parts with some of those attrac- 
tive qualities in her nature that should 
everywhere be found in company with 
woman. . • 

But we are getting too much upon the 
ground of the essayist. It is our province, 
rather, to describe the life of the farmer's 
wife and companion, than to speculate or 
philosophize upon the character and re- 
sults of such a life. 

Well, then, most farmers wives are up 
last at night and the earliest up in the 
morning. And although no decent man, 
fit to call himself an American farmer, 
would permit his wife to rise first and 
make the fire on a winter's morning, yet 
she is thrifty and ambitious enough to be 
in the kitchen very soon after he is, bust- 
ling about the sink, the pots and kettles 
and the table, fixing things generally for 
breakfast preparations, and arranging for 
the progress of the day's work. You 
never catch her idle. She moves twice 
as quick as her husband, aqd gets through 
about twice as much business in the same 
time. 

Breakfast over, the day's operations be- 
gin. And it is not possible to tell what 
tkey will be from one day to another, ei- 
ther. Sometimes it is one thing, and then 
it is clear another. The milk is to scald, 
the butter is to churn, the dishes are to be 
washed ; in the season, young chickens 
are to be looked after ; the children must 
have their faces washed and be sent to 
school; the luncheon must be thought of 
for the workmen in the field ; dinner must 
be got into the pot ; the table is to be set 
again ; then it must be cleared off; then the 
sewing must be done ; or company rides 
up to the door ; and the little chicks come 
in again for a share of attention ; and the 
children hurry home as hungry as they 
can be from school; and the table must 
be set for tea ; and the cows must be 
milked as soon as they are got home ; and 
the work of the day must be freely talked 
over with husband, together with the plans 
for the next day, and the little ones are to 
be got off to bed ; and then night comes 
down for good upon all the household. 

This is the very quintessence of routine 
itself I know that women in the city can 
well make complaint on. the same score, 
but this isolated life in the country is rou- 



tine in the highest concentrated form. 
There is nothing in the world to break it. 
Unless the inward resources are ample, 
the life falls away in spite of youi'self 
into old, formal, dry, unmeaning practices, 
and not a gush of new feeling or fresh ex- 
perience enters in. 

Then in winter it seems harder still, for 
then the days are — oh! so long, short as 
they are at the commencement of the 
winter solstice ! There would then appear 
to be nothing to break the tiresome mo- 
notony. It is like the extensive fields of 
snow themselves, stretchingaway and away 
far as the eye can reach, and obliterating 
every trace of line, mark, boundary, or 
neighborhood. Well might wives of farm- 
ers keep long sticks hanging in their chim- 
ney corners these weary days v with pale 
sunshine, as they slowly pass. It would 
be a congenial occupation. 

The wintry mornings dawn late, with 
frosty, nipping airs, and too often leaden 
clouds lying in long, low bars along the 
horizon. The windows are covered with 
all sorts of devices in frost-work, and 
streaming breaths blow out from every 
open mouth. 

If a fresh snow has fallen during the 
night, the whole world sterns entirely 
hushed, and so buried up, that hardly does 
the slow snapping of the kindlings on the 
logs break the solemn silence of the time. 
Then whether the fingers ache with the 
cold or not, breakfast is to be prepared for 
the household, and very often with only a 
single pair of hands. The girls may help 
a little if they happen to be up ; but it is 
not always they are up. They have thor- 
oughly warmed their huge feather beds, 
and they do hate awfully to get out of 
them in the morning on the freezing, cold 
floor. And now and then the boys take a 
hand at chopping the mjnce-meat, per- 
haps, or help peal the smoking potatoes, 
with great checked aprons tied high up 
under their chins. 

It is nine o'clock, and ten o'clock, and 
even noon, before work gets fairly in mo- 
tion ; and then, when steams ascend and 
float all around the blackened ceiling of 
the kitchen, and the savors of stewed 
pumpkins rise from the ill-covered mouth 
of the great kettle, perhaps there are sua- 
sages to fill, or pork to pack away, or 
cheeses to make, or butter to churn, or 
some other such labor to be attended to, 



394 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



any one kind of which is enough to > re- 
quire all the energies of any heroic and 
courageous woman. 

How the women in our farm houses 
manage to get through even a tithe of it 
all is an impenetrable mystery. It cer- 
tainly requires quite as much generalship 
as would suffice for the taking of a city, or 
the administration of government on a 
grander scale. 

The " men folks' may be off at work 
in the woods, dragging logs and " chop- 
ping," it is true; but they know nothing 
of these multiform and ever multiplying 
cares and perplexities that are sown, thick 
as thistle-seeds, around the steps of the 
farmer's wife every day. Indeed, it is a 
great deal truer than anybody ever yet 
stopped to think it was, that if a farmer, 
naturally capable and thrifty himself, gets 
a slovenly, behindhand, incompetent wife, 
nothing under heaven will possibly save 
his farm from slowly, slowly cankering 
away under the application of mortgages. 

It is the wife that is the farmer's true 
support, after all. She makes or unmakes. 
It is nothing to the question that he man- 
ages to drive good bargains with his cattle, 
his horses, his muttons, or his field pro- 
ducts, unless she who sits at home, and 
weaves the web of his fortunes about the 
house, seconds him earnestly in every 
one of his plans and purposes ; he does 
but empty the water he draws into seives 
instead of buckets. Thus the farmer's 
wife stands first in importance in our agri- 
cultural affairs; and agriculture, as every 
one knows who pretends to know any- 
thing, is the basis and bottom of society. 

Then her influence over the family, the 
children, and the whole, is almost as auto- 
cratic, though in a very different way, as 
that of the Czar of Russia over all his 
subjects. She forms, moulds, colors, and 
directs everything. The }'oung character 
is in her hands altogether. She is the 
head and front of the family, whether by 
an assumed or a conceded authority. She 
is the heart of the household always, even 
if she does not happen to be' the head as 
well. She not only bakes and brews, but 
she trains boys and girls in those simple, 
and temperate, almost Spartan habits, that 
afterwards project themselves with the 
force of new individual powers upon the 
destinies of the outside world ! 

This is the province of the wife of the 



farmer — no more, and no less. It is not 
her lot to do nothing but make butter and 
cheese, or knit stockings and spin wool, 
away in the country solitudes; but all 
around her she is every day scattering the 
seed of a choice grain whose fruits are 
not for a day,- but are immortal. 

If she would but see to it for herself, 
what a difference would it not work in her 
lot! How fresh would be her resolution, 
how invigorated would her purposes be- 
come ! Instead of bewailing her fortune — 
such dismal and monotonous retirements — 
she would seem to herself to sit like a 
queen at the heart of the earth, fashion- 
ing the forces that are by-and-by certain 
to control the whole system. 

Drudgery — drudgery ! all the country 
wives constantly exclaim ; and we hardly 
wonder at it, either. Yet there is some- 
thing besides drudgery in it, to one who 
sets to work to exalt her occupation and 
ennoble herself. Life, we know, is made 
up of a good many little things; but even 
these may be lifted up by the soul of love 
and made glorious. But the husband is as 
much in fault as any one. He exacts ; he 
insists ; he lays on the burdens heavily ; 
he tyrannizes ; he is the dead weight 
upon the frail shoulders of woman. It is 
not to be denied or set aside — he shifts off 
too much of the labor upon her, making 
her the packhorse of the family establish- 
ment, the real beast of burden in all his 
domestic plans. Thence follow, naturally 
enough, low spirits, an overworked consti- 
tution, carelessness about the high ends and 
aims of life, and a gradual and almost total 
loss of the true spiritual faculty. 

These things should no longer be. They 
should be mended forthwith. The woman 
ought to stand everywhere for whatever is 
pure, noble, and holy, not less in the coun- 
try than iii the citj' ; nay, more so in those 
blessed, rural retreats, and amid those 
sweet and refreshing influences that God 
sends, like delicious fragrance, to purify 
the atmosphere in which the sou! is 
obliged for a time to dwell. Especially is 
it idle to talk disparagingly of the farmer's 
wife. Her city sister can show her silks 
and her long list of friends; but what are 
they all in the light of that sincere sim- 
plicity, that serene beauty of life, in which 
the country wife is privileged to dwell and 
rejoice all her days. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



395 



A Chapter for Husbands. 

Messrs Editors — I am, I suppose, a fault- 
finding, fretful sort of a body, disposed to 
ma[-ce a fuss, and not as -submissive and 
gentle as I ought to be; but somehow or 
other, I am not satisfied with the state of 
things in this world, and am not quite 
willing to wait for the better times in the 
world to come, and so I would fain take 
up a cudgel and pound Mr. Somebody or 
Mr. Everybody, hoping, amongst them 
all, to hit the right ones. You see it is 
the Mr.'s I am out with, but I don't mean 
you — not at all — but it's the other gentle- 
man ! 

We women, all over the country, are 
getting old so fast — so lean, lank, withered 
and worn, I am vexed about it and mor- 
tified too. What's the meaning of it? 
Now you men will work, hard, and yet 
look better, I declare, at forty or fifty, than 
ever; but we insignificant women fade, 
lose our teeth and bloom, and turn grey, 
and have to stuff with cotton, wear head 
dresses, Crinolines, &c, to make a sem- 
blance to a veritable woman. It's too bad, 
I say, and who's to blame ? 

You are very kind to us on board the 
cars, and give up your seat, and give us 
the best — very attentive and polite, and 
all that ; and you are willing too, to get 
us nice silk dresses, and splendid hats, 
with ribbons and feathers, and wait upon 
us to church, open and shut the gate, carry 
our books or baskets ! such gentlemen — 
such kindn'ess is really overwhelming! — 
The world can see all your goodness, and 
of course you are not to blame ! 

But then there is another side to this 
picture, and one T have seen too often, and 
see every day. You who never see be- 
neath the surface, and are too dignified to 
bother yourselves with trifles, — mere noth 
ings, I want to "speak in meeting," and 
let the easily humbugged multitude see 
behind the scenes. To find out what 
makes more than half the women prema- 
turely old, and cross, perhaps, is, they are 
overtaxed. You expect too much of them. 
You have your houses and affairs so ar- 
ranged that they are constantly on the 
alert to bring things around. An ambi- 
tious, sensitive woman is anxious to do all 
left for her. She wants her house in or- 
der, her children cared for, and her hus- 
band's meals in season, and clothes kept 
in readiness. And beside, wishes time to 



make or receive calls or visits, and be so- 
ciable. But how can all this be accom- 
plished with such miserable help as wo- 
men have had for years past ? And amidst 
all her endless cares two thirds of them 
have to contend with numberless difficul- 
ties, which their husbands might remove 
with very little trouble or expense, and 
that is what I want to scold about. You 
polite men do not keep your wives in 
wood — not half of you. You live in your 
great nice houses, and you want fires kept 
here and there, but you want her to cut it 
and bring it in, and put it on to burn ! 
You let her toil with an old leaky bucket 
or pump, till human patience is exhaust- 
ed ; and through your neglect and pro- 
crastination, you allow her to be fretted, 
worried, taxed, wearied, beyond all rea- 
son, day after day, and year after year! 
Meanwhile the buttons must be kept on, 
the rents sewed up, the garments made, 
the victuals cooked, the children pleased, 
the house clean and tidy — (good gracious, 
what don't you expect of us ?) — your 
friends entertained, &c, &c, ! Morning, 
noon, and evening, a woman's cares are 
never ended. 0, the endless minutia of 
a housekeeper's duties ! 

Now if you strong and youthful men 
would but do your duty, the roses would not 
leave our cheeks so fast. Take better care 
of us. Provide conveniences — give us 
plenty of wood and water handy for us. 
Be kind and speak gently to us, and don't 
grumble if 'the potatoes are not warm, 
when we have waited two hours for you, 
and give us a sweet kiss occasionally, and 
may be we should stay young and lovely. 

Ultra. 
Moor's Rural New Yorker. 



Vinegar. 

The juice of one bushel of sugar-beets, worth 
twenty-five cents, and which any farmer can 
raise with little cost, will make from five to six 
gallons of vinegar equal to the best elder wine. 
First wash and grate the beets, and express the 
juice in a cheese press, or in any other way 
which a little ingenuity can suggest, and put 
the liquor into a barrel, cover the bung with 
gauze and ,set it in the sun, and in fifteen or 
twenty days it will be fit for use. By this 
method the very best -of vinegar may be ob- 
tained without any great trouble, and I hope 
all who like good vinegar will try it. — Ohio 
Valley Farmer. 



396 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



The Culture of Domestic Animals. 

1. The question of breeding- in-and-in 
is one of very great importance. It is 
known how much diversity of opinion ex- 
ists in regard to it; with, I think, a gene- 
ral drift of public sentiment against it. 
What I have to say is the result of expe- 
rience and very careful consideration of 
all the facts and principles involved ; so 
far as 1 was possessed of them. Let it go 
as part of the means, by which others may 
make up a more reliable judgment. 

2. There are two kinds of in-and-in 
breeding, which are, in my opinion, to be 
carefully distinguished from each other. 
That which is up and down ; and that 
which is collateral. And then that which is 
collateral, is liable to produce very diffe- 
rent results, according as the relationship is 
complete, or only partial. And again, 
that which is up-and-down, is liable to 
produce very different results, whether it 
is direct and immediate, or whether a 
generation or two intervenes. I will add, 
that far more depends upon the particular 
race of animals under question, where 
this matter of in-and-in breeding is to be 
decided, than is generally supposed. 

3. A full brother and sister are just 
twice as much akin to each other, as ei- 
ther of them is, to either of its parents. 
They have the very same blood ; whereas, 
each of them has only one-half of the 
blood of each parent. The breeding of a 
full brother and sister together, is vhere- 
fore, twice as close in-breeding, as to breed 
either of them to either of their parents. 
The half-brother and sister, have exactly 
as much common blood, as the parent and 
issue ; and cousins in the first degree, 
precisely as much as the grand-parent and 
its grand issue. The great grand-sire, or 

D o o 

dam of an animal, has only one-eighth 
part of common blood with it; which is 
the same common blood as exists between 
cousins in the second degree. Many 
breeders would carefully avoid the former 
cross, while they would not think the 
common blood in the latter, worth consid- 
ering. 

4. It is at once curious and important to 
consider what an immense mixture of 
blood takes place in a few generations. An 
animal has one sire only ; in the second 
degree two ; in the third degree four ; in 
the fourth'degree eigl 
sixteen. Here are 



it ; in the fifth degree 
but five descents — 



the smallest number any one is content 
with, as proof of a pure pedigree. But 
in these five descents we have no less 
than 32 ancestors, male and female, wrjose 
blood is mingled in the veins of the single 
animal we are interested in. And if we 
will add a few more crosses, how rapid is 
the increase; in the sixth degree alone, 
thirty- two ancestors of both sexes;* in 
the seventh degree, sixty-four ancestors of 
both sexes ; in the eighth degree, one hun- 
dred and twenty-eight : in the ninth de- 
gree, two hundred and fifty-six; in the tenth 
degree, five hundred and twelve. That 
is, at this tenth degree, which you will see 
so pompously insisted on, in multitudes of 
pedigrees, our animal can count 1054 an- 
cestors ; with the most remote of whom, 
he has the 2128th part of common blood ! 
How is it possible for us to know any 
thing special of the personal peculiarities 
of the fiftieth part of these 1054 ances- 
tors ? How can we guess which one of 
them it may be, after which our animal 
has ' taken V Let us be modest ami rea- 
sonable about things involved in so much 
uncertainty, the moment we pass beyond 
great and general laws. 

5. We are to remember, however, that 
this widening and ascending process must 
not only have an end, but in its last half 
must exactly reverse its first half. Take 
a bull descended from the bull Hubback, 
or a stallion descended from the Godolphin 
Arabian ; the two ends of these pedigrees 
will terminate in th? points of -two cones, 
of which the bases are united in the mid- 
dle. You trace up to the widest number 
of ancestors ; then you narrow in, and 
concentrate at last upon the original pa- 
rent — say Hubback, or the Godolphin. 
Examine this carefully, and observe what 
an immensity of in-and-in work there was, 
in widening from the original starting 

3 DO 

point ; and then how much more, in nar- 
rowing back to our animal. Consider 
what a vast proportion of Durham cattle 
with pure pedigrees, trace back to Hub- 
back — what an immense mass of high 
bred horses, trace back to the Godolphin. 
These are but illustrations ; but they illus- 
trate facts and principles of the very high- 
est importance ; and these cases are used 
only because they are notorious and un- 
questionable. 

* This must refer to one sex only — either 
sire or dam. — Ed. Ohio Farmer. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



397 



6. You may cut off the ears and tails 
of ten thousand rams, and yet after that, 
every one of 'them will beget lambs, with 
full ears and long tails. But if a ram 
chances to be born without ears and with- 
out a tail, he is nearly certain to beget 
some lambs with these same peculiaiities. 
And these of his get, are still more certain 
to beget others with these peculiarities ; 
and the certainty increases with every gen- 
eration. At length, you establish that va- 
riety of sheep. Occasionally, a tail and 
ears may come forth ; just as occasionally, 
a black nose, in the Durham. It is in 
this manner that only congenital peculiar- 
ities are capable of being re-produced and 
perpetuated ; and it is perfectly obvious 
that the more thoroughly you adhere to 
such as have the peculiarity, the more 
certain you are to establish and perpetuate 
it. 

7. To a certain extent, therefore, all 
pure breeding is in-and-in breeding. If 
you step over a certain circle, within which 
all are of the same blood, you get back at 
one step, nearly to the point where some 
one started, perhaps a thousand years ago, 
with the primeval individual, with the ac- 
cidental natural peculiarity, which now 
marks such, or such a race. Inside of 
this circle, w T ithin which you must confine 
yourself, in all pure breeding, there are 
many other smaller circles, all of which 
become more intensely affiliated to certain 
purities, or certain peculiarities ; the in- 
nermost one of which, is the very closest 
in-and-in breeding. It is the very same 
principle which runs all through. The 
only real question is, as to the wisest 
method of its application. Pure breeding, 

the same 



blood. And in the next place, if thus 
produced from a father and a mother, that 
suited us — and if he or she also suits us — 
let us rest assured that we run no serious 
risk of being unsuited by pressing these 
suitable things a little further, watching as 
we go. The sire and dam of Renick, were 
full brother and sister; the closest possi- 
ble. If all is well, we have thus intensi- 
fied all the qualities we had obtained. 
Don't try it much quite so near; but don't 
fear. They say your stock will become 
barren. In more than thirty years, I never 
raised a barren cow, that was not a Free- 
Martin ; and I have a cow at present that 
brought me four fine calves, at two births, 
in less than one year, and raised them 
all. — Ohio Farmer. 

Agricola. 



and in-and-in breeding, are 
thing. 



From the Farmer and Planter. 

On the Culture of the Sweet Potato. 

Mr. Editor : — I have always felt disposed 
to impart any agricultural knowledge that I 
may have acquired from experience. I will 
now state my plan and practice for many years 
in . preparing land for, and planting potatoes. 
In the first place, I take a piece of land that is 
high and sandy, for I am like every other plan- 
ter, I prefer high and sandy land for potatoes, 
and the first year I lay it off 4 feet with a good 
shovel plow, and put 3 bushels of good com- 
post manure to eaeh task row. I put the ma- 
nure in the track furrow, and then run 2 fur- 
rows on it with a good shovel plow. On this 
riclge I plant cotton the first year ; the next 
year, as soon as it is time to plant potatoes, 
which, with me, is about the first week in 
April, I thrash all of the limbs from the cotton 
stalks/leaving the stalks standing. I then take 
a good shovel plow and run up on the beds 
close to the stalks on each side, and if those 2 
furrows do not plow up the stalks, I run one 
more on the top of the beds, which will invari- 
ably do the work, or loosen them so much that 
the hands can pull them up, which I make 
them do and burn them. As soon as I get all 
the stalks pulled up and burnt, I turn the plow 
back, and make as good a bed as I can with 
the plow, on the same bed that the cotton was 
planted, so that my potatoes will have the ben- 
efit of the manure that was put on the previ- 
ous year. I then open my seed bank, and let 
some cut and some plant, so as not to have the 



8. The experience of the most success- 
ful breeders in all countries, has continu- 
ally verified those results, which the fair 
theoretical analysis of the facts of the 
case establishes ; and incontestably proves 
the clamor against in-and-in breeding to 
be in effect tantamount to a clamor against 
all thorough breeding. 

In the first, place, let us rest satisfied 
that beyond a doubt, our animal is half- 1 potatoes too long out of the ground after they 
blooded of his father, and the other half a™ cut, (I never plant whole potatoes), I cut my 
of his mother; and therefore, let us be Potatoes from J to 2 inches long. One hand open 
r ,, . '• , ., ' it , ; holes, and one drops the potatoes, I open with the 

perfectly certain who they are, and what| int of the hoe l on t £ e bed abyut 12 Qr M 

they are ; tor half his blood is quite another I inches, which is plenty near enough to plant 
thing, from the thousandth part of his I potatoes, the hand droping the potatoes and 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



presses hard on them with the foot, and another 
hand covers them up, and as soon as the hand 
that is covering the potatoes gets through cov- 
ering, thej turn back and run the back of the 
hoe over the top of the bed, which smoothes 
the top. As soon as the potatoes are up, which 
is about the first week in May, I put my whole 
sweep plows in them, and run 2 furrows in 
each row, the plowman running up as near as 
he can get to the potatoes, the 2 furrows with 
the whole sweep plow shaves off whatever 
young grass may be on the side of the beds, 
and throws a very pretty clean list in the al- 
leys. I then put in the hoes and hoe only the 
top of the beds, and each good hoe hand hoes 
me 4 tasks for a day's work — that is the first 
plowing and first hoe work. As soon as I find 
they want work again, I put a good J shovel 
plow in them, and run 2 furrows next to the 
beds, and take out the middles with a whole 
sweeper plow. As soon as I get through with 
that plowing, I put the hoes in and haul up the 
ridges, and in hauling them up with the hoes, 
I cover up the vines* on the side of the beds — 
that is my second hoe work and ploughing. By 
the middle of July they will want the last 
working, and by that time the vines have 
run over the alleys. I then plow them by run- 
ning 3 furrows in the alleys very deep with a 
good shovel plow. I then put the hoes in them 
and haul them up, and in hauling up I cover the 
vines up on the side of the beds. If any per- 
son were to see them at that time, they would 
not suppose that the vines would not come out, 
but in about 2 weeks or more the vines on the 
side of the beds sprout out and soon cover the 
alleys again. I never dig my potatoes until the 
vines are killed perfectly dead by frost. As 
soon as the frost bite's the vines, I begin 
to dig them, and I begin by directing some 
hands to go ahead of the plows, and take 
all of the vines off the beds. I then take 
a 5 or 6 inch plow and plow the beds down, 
and make some hands follow the plows to 
pick up the potatoes as fast as they are 
plowed out of the beds. If the potatoes are 
very numerous, it takes 3 or 4 hands to pick 
up and keep up with the plow. _ I then carry 
them to the banks, or where I intend to bank 
them up, in baskets in a waggon, so as not to 
bruise them. I put just as many in a bank as 
will allowance the negroes and serve the house 
a week. I put a good deal of pine trash on 
the potatoes before the dirt is put on, and I 
bank up about half way, and leave out the top 
of the bank for a week or 10 days to allow 
whatever moisture may be in the potatoes. to 
escape before I close the bank up, and at the 
oxpiratirn of the week or 10 days, I close up 
the banks, except a good air hole on the south 
side, about 2 feet from the top, and put a piece 
of bark over the air hole to prevent the rain 
from getting in ; and until this year I have 
kept my potatoes all the winter and spring 

* A bad practice, we think. — En. 



without having many rotten ones in a bank. 
In 'this day of improvement in agriculture I 
look upon digging potatoes with the hoe as do- 
ing a very slow business, and as I can dig so 
fast with. the plow now-a-days, I plant very 
largely to the hand of potatoes, and sometimes 
pat hogs on a part of my crop, rather than dig 
them and feed them to the hogs. I would not 
pretend to say what a fine provision potatoes 
are, as every planter knows that, and will con- 
clude, Mr. Editor, by saying that I wish you 
success in the Farmer and Planter ; and also, 
that I believe in book farming. 

Mr. Editor, I send you this peace, and if you 
think it worth a place in the Farmer and Plan- 
ter, or that it may be of advantage to any one, 
you are at liberty to publish it. B. 0. 

Barnwell Dist, S. C, June 13, 1856. 



Agricultural Antiquities of Virginia. 

A correspondent applied to us some time 
ago to know if the Lupine, either white or yel- 
low, had ever been grown as a manure or for- 
age crop in Virginia. We wrote for informa- 
tion on this subject, and also on the history of 
the partridge pea, which we had heard, dis- 
trustfully, was an imported . plant, to a gentle- 
man whose head is a perfect storehouse of an- 
tiquities, and whose memory seems to be proof 
against the assaults of age. We hope to hear 
from him again, and are sure our readers will 
also after perusing the following. 

We can confirm, in our own experience, what 
he says of the feeding qualities of the partridge 
pea. Last year a neighbour whose land was 
not cultivated, gave us the partridge pea on 
condition we cut it green ; and we fed all our 
stock on it for more than a fortnight, just as 
one would soil with clover, and every thing 
improved on it. This year, having bought the 
same tract of land, we are persuing the same 
course, though the pea has diminished so much 
from last year's mowing as to afford much less 
feed. 

To F. G. PvUFFIN. 

In the year 1026, Robert Carter, who had re- 
sided sixteen years in the East Indies and four- 
teen years in the West Indies, who had pub- 
lished a treatise on the cultivation of cotton, 
wool, indigo, capada, rice, and other tropical 
plants, was invited by the Virginia company to 
accept a. grant of land, and remove to the colo- 
ny. We have uo positive evidence that he ac- 
cepted the oiler, but, we find a man of that 
name here soon after the date of the proposal 
made to him. Indigo was cultivated in Virgi- 
nia at an early period ; the remains of the 
"vats" for extricating the dye were seen at 
Curl's, in Henrico, thirty years ago, and a deed 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



199 



for a portion of the Wilton estate, refers to 
" the indigo vats." A stone trough, for evap- 
orating the dye, was at the spring on the Wil- 
ton estate, no*t many y:ars ago. Rice was cul- 
tivated at Curl's before and during the war of 
1770. Licorice Avas cultivated at Shirley, sixty- 
years ago. Cotton was cultivated before and 
after that period, but the process of ginning 
by two wooden rollers, turned by hand, was so 
tedious that it was abandoned for flax and 
hemp. 

Sainfoin, burnet and lucerne were cultivated 
by many farmers ; but all failed, as field crops. 
Sainfoin was light and of little value: so was 
burnet : lucerne was highly valued, but broom- 
straw, wire grass and partridge pea soon choked 
it out, when sown broadcast in drills, in bor- 
ders, in gardens, it was generally cultivated 
and highly valued. The partridge pea is indi- 
genous, and bears seed below, as well"as above 
ground : in rich land it yields an abundant and 
valuable crop, greedily eaten by all stock. In 
the year 1814, Col. Thos. M. Randolph of Edge 
Hill, sold from his Varina- estate, many tons of 
it at a high price. ' I have never heard that the 
lupine was cultivated in Virginia. Massie may 
have tried at Colle's, near Monticello, in Albe- 
marle ; he surely did not succeed. Mr. Jeffer- 
son tried many foreign plants; none of them 
save clover and lucerne, succeeded. Ribwort, 
or narrow-leafed plantain, was imported by 
Carter Braxton, and sown on his estate in King 
William ; it proved a pest, and is so consid- 
ered by all farmers. Clover was cultivated in 
" lots," more than sixty years ago. In the 
year 1795, two barrels •of plaster of Paris were 
sent from Philadelphia to D. M. Randolph, of 
Prey Isle, but were lost on the way. Marie 
was used in Virginia a hundred years ago and 
approved ; an old farmer in New Kent told me 
that he had tried and approved, but " the hill 
was too steep for the steers to pull it up, and 
he abandoned the use of it." Col. Archy Ca^v 
of Ampthill, in Chesterfield, imported horses, 
cattle, sheep and hogs, of the most approved 
breeds, and had them in great perfection when 
the British went to Ampthill, burnt his mill, 
filled with flour, and destroyed his stock. John 
Page of Rosewell, Gloucester, had imported 
stock of all kinds, as the inventory of his es- 
tate, recorded in the office of the old general 
court, will show. R. R. 

2d June, 1857. 



For the Southern Planter. 

Black Teeth in Hogs. 

A few days since, while reading a newspaper 
at a hotel in Washington City, I heard the 
words " black teeth i» hogs" used by one of 
two gentlemen conversing together, near where 
I sat. I stopped reading, and heard the other 
reply that he had practiced knocking out the 
black teeth in hogs for 30 or 40 years. There 
was something so strangely new in the idea that 
I asked the strange gentlemen to explain to 
me what they meant by black teeth in hogs, 
and what evil they did — how knocked out and 
where located ? I was told by them that in al- 
most every instance where a want of thrift was 
manifest in a grass-fed hog, that it would be 
found to be caused by a black tooth in the jaw 
of the hog, which seemed to protrude farther 
out than the rest, become loose and very sore, 
so as to prevent their shewing what caused the 
decline, and by taking a punch and punching 
it out they would get relieved at once. If the 
above be true, which I 'derived as above from 
plain, hard-sensed farmers in appearance, they 
are worthy of note. G. W. 

May 29, 1857. 



How to extract the essential oil from any flow- 
er. — Take any flowers you like, which stratify 
with common sea-salt in a clean earthen glazed 
pot. When thus filled to the top, cover it. well, 
and carry it to the cellar. Forty days after- 
wards put a erape over a pan, and empty the 
whole to strain the essence from the flowers by 
pressure. Bottle that essence and expose it *4 
or 5 weeks in the sun and dew of the evening 
to purify. One single drop of ^hat essence is 
enough to scent a whole quart of water. 



From the Scientific American. 
One Hundred Tons of Grass to the Acre. 

Messrs. Editors. — The statement you pub- 
lished, taken from an English paper, respecting 
the raising of one hundred tons of grass on a 
single acre of land pertaining to Lord Derby's 
estate, is undoubtedly correct, or very nearly 
so. I had the pleasure of visiting his Lord- 
ship's estate last summed, while on a tour of 
agricultural observation in England, and I am 
prepared to believe the statement. My visit 
was made about the first of June, and they had 
already secured two heavy crops of grass, and 
it is not improbable that four or five more were 
cut during the long and favorable season of last 
year. Four or five crops of the heavy, stout, 
Italian rye grass is not unusual ; and Mr. Me- 
chi, of the celebrated Triptree Farm, informed 
me that he had once grown seven during the 
summer. This grass grows with great rapidity 
in England when stimulated by the rich liquid 
nutriment so liberally and continuously applied. 

Our farmers have yet much to learn respect- 
ing the scientific cultivation of the soil. They 
have yet to learn how bountiful mother earth 
may be when properly dressed and cared for 
by the husbandman. It should be observed 
that the climate of England is much more fa- 
vorable for the growth of the grasses than our 
own, owing to its excessive humidity; but still, 
I do not know why several successive crops may 
not be produced here by the use of liquid man- 
uring, and by careful systematic culture. 

Jas. R. Nichols. 

Haverhill, Mass., May 1857. 



400 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



From the Michigan Farmer. 
How to make a Sound Shingle Roof. 

Mr. Editor: — As I have had something to 
do with the carpenter's trade, I thought that I 
would give some of my ideas about that kind 
of work. I have often noticed the roofs of 
buildings that had some holes through them. 
The question occurred to me to find out what 
the reason was that a hole should come in one 
place and not in another, and on examination 
I found the fault to be in the laying of the 
shingle, and that nine-tenths of the mechanics 
make the same mistake in laying shingles. I 
presume that some of my old friends will think 
that I am a little green to think of teaching 
them how to do as simple a piece of work as 
to lay a shingle, but perhaps I shall give them 
a new idea. I now ask any of them to ex- 
amine their roofs, and see if they cannot find 
some of the very places that I shall describe. 
I shalj commence to describe the bad places by 
taking four courses and numbering them. No. 
1 is five shingles long. The first and last 
shingle of the course are four inches wide ; 
the three middle shingles are eight inches wide. 
This will form the first course. The next course 
is 4 shingles 8 inches wide. These cover the same 
length and make No. 2. No. 3 is the same as 
No. 1, and No. 4 as No. 2. Now, many at the 
first sight will say we have a good roof and 
the joints well broke. But let us examine a 
little and see. The second course in the joint 
of the third course is but one thickness of 
shingle through to the roof-board, (and that, 
too, at the second space of the. shingle, as a 
shingle is usually divided into three spaces,) 
and in process of time the shingle will wear 
through and leave a^ hole through the roof, 
while the rest of the roof is good. 

I am aware that shingles are of varied 
widths, and do not come all in the form that 
I have shown ; but I take this way to show 
how to find the bad places. I shall now give 
uiy rule for laying shingles, and how to avoid 
such bad places in a roof, for they occur in 
most of roofs, if the workmen do not know 
how to avoid them. You must be careful not 
to make a joint directly over the joint of the 
second course below the one you are laying; 
or in other words, to break joints with the two 
last courses that you have lain. 

A. C. Briggs. 

Oceola, March, 1857. 

*-»-©-«►-*- 

Mulching. 
This is a term used by horticulturists for 
shading the ground around growing trees, 
shrubs, and plants. There are many plants so 
delicate in their structure, that they absolutely 
require mulching the first summer, to ensure 
their roots a firm hold in the ground. But as 
most of our summers are so dry and hot, there 
are few plants that are not benefitted by 
mulching. 



If the ground around fruit trees is cleaned 
of the weeds and grass, and mulched with 
leaves or straw, immediately after a rain, the 
tree will be invigorated, and a fine crop of 
fruit will be the reward. Roses that are wilt- 
ing, and showing a sickly bloom, will be re- 
vived, and bloom in beauty, by mulching when 
the ground is moist. The Dahlia, a plant that 
requires a great deal of moisture, will bloom in 
perfection until frost, if kept properly mulched 
throughout the summer. Now, when we re- 
commend mulching we do not mean a few 
leaves or straws placed immediately around 
the plant, but a coating so thick that the sun 
cannot penetrate through, and placed as far 
from the plant or tree, as the influence of the 
roots extend. Anything that will shade the 
ground : rock, brick or plank, will answer to 
mulch with ; but substances that in their de- 
composition will make a soil, are decidedly 
preferable. The native forests mulch them- 
selves, and we see how rank and vigorous they 
grow. We think, that unless the surface be 
kept constantly stirred around a tree or plant, 
the rajrs of the sun should never rest upon it. 
Those who look upon labour and effort as a 
great bug-bear, may get along without mulch- 
ing. But those who mulch properly, actually 
save time and labour, for when it is well done, 
the labour is done for the year, and the soil is 
all the time being enriched, as the plant grows 
and perfects itself. Therefore, we say to the 
orchardist, mulch around your fruit trees ; to 
the vine-grower, mulch around the grape vines ; 
to the gardener, mulch among the vegetables; 
to our fair lady florists, mulch among the j 
flowers, mulch — mulch — mulch. Never tire of 
mulching. — Soil of the South. 



For the Southern Planter. 

A Wheat or Corn Crop saved by Chickens. 

I was informed a few days ago by a gentle- 
man well known in this community, that a 
neighbour of his on discovering that the chinch 
bug had just entered his corn or wheat field at 
one particular point, determined at once to 
adopt a plan (suggested to him by a friend) 
for their destruction. Accordingly he had a 
number of chicken-coops, made just when the 
bugs had commenced depredating, into each of 
which he put a hen with a brood of sma.ll 
chickens ; and sat down to watch the result, 
which in a short time began to manifest a fa- 
vorable result. The chickens like bees or ants 
seemed to be unceasing in their labours of de- 
struction of the bugs, and in a few days he had 
the happiness to see that the number of bugs 
were greatly decreasing instead of increasing; 
and in one week's time could not find a bug — 
thus he saved his crop. If necessary I'll give: 
the names as reported to me. Farmers, try it < 

G. W. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



401 



[For the Southern Planter. 

How to Eaise and keep Irish Potatoes. 

Nomony Grove, ) 
Westm'd Co., Va., May 22, 1857. j 

Mr. Editor : 

In compliance with the request made in 
the May No. of the Southern Planter, for 
information in regard to the raising of 
Irish potatoes, I will give you my practice 
in the cultivation and keeping of that 
crop. I will here say that long or unrot- 
ted manures should never be applied to 
late potatoes, as the fermenting state of 
the manure will either kill or prevent the 
vegetation of the potatoes. The most 
successful plan I have ever tried has been 
on very poor land, which would not bring 
five bushels of corn per acre without 
manure. . 

It is my custom in March or April to 
fallow up the land designed for late pota- 
toes with a double horse plough, and 
should the grass commence growing, 
which it some times does, I replough in 
May or June, for the purpose of keeping 
the grass out of the land. I then harrow 
with a heavy harrow, and the first season 
I get after the twentieth of June, I usu- 
ally plant, but prefer planting after that 
time, as. the later they are planted the 
more abundant the crop, even as late as 
the first of August. 

I lay off the land in three foot rows, and 
bed it up in ridges, as is the custom with 
some, or the most of the. farmers with 
us, as we do for corn. I then split it as 
deep as can be done with a plough ; in the 
split bed I sow from two hundred and fifty 
to three hundred pounds of Peruvian 
guano per acre, drop the potatoes from 
ten to twelve inches apart and cover them 
with the plow by running a furrow on each 
side, leaving them covered from five to 
six inches deep in the earth. There is 
the secret why so many failures are made 
in getting potatoes to come up ; they are 
covered so shallow the heat of the sun 
causes them either to rot or perish. It is 
a hard matter to get a good stand of pota- 
toes late in the season when they are cut ; 
and the best plan I have ever tried with 
cut potatoes, is to cut them several days be- 
fore we wish to plant, roll them in plaster 
and spread them thin on the floor of a cel- 
lar, where they will be kept cool, and will 
lot injure for several weeks, until a season 
26 



shall come when they will be in readiness 
for planting. Last year the drought was 
so intense with us, we did not have rain 
enough to plant until the eighth of July, 
and then the land was not wet more than 
three or four inches. I prepared the land, 
cut and planted on the same day. We did 
not have any rain for a month after that, 
which caused a large portion of my pota- 
toes planted to rot, having been planted so 
soon after cutting, which they will always 
do unless there is a good rain soon after 
planting, or there is a sufficient amount of 
moisture in the earth to start the potatoes 
at once to growing. 

As it regards the keeping of potatoes I 
beg leave to differ with the contributor to 
the Planter. I think it is much easier to 
keep them than it is to raise them. There 
are but few things requisite to be observed 
in keeping them as well in Virginia as any 
where else. Dig them when the earth is 
dry, do not suffer them to remain long in 
the field after they become dry, put them 
in a dry warm cellar, or one where they 
will not be exposed to cold air. Keep the 
cellar dark, as light is injurious to the fla- 
vor of Irish potatoes, and as soon as freez- 
ing weather sets in, cover them sufficient- 
ly thick with straw to prevent freezing, 
and no one will have any cause of com- 
plaint about their potatoes not keeping in 
any part of Virginia which I have ever 
visited yet. If any one who may see this 
should not have suitable cellars, he may 
keep them, as I have known them kept, 
in hills in the field, by selecting a piece of 
ground where the water will not settle. — 
Pile the potatoes in a round hill as high as 
you can get them, then cover with straw, 
and on that pile the earth until there is a 
sufficient cover of earth and straw to keep 
the potatoes from freezing, and in the spring 
I have seen them taken out as fresh and as 
well flavoured as when put there. 

The potatoes I raised last year were as 
fine as I ever saw grown any where. I 
raised three different kinds, the Mercer, 
the Brimstone, and a large red variety 
brought a few years past from some of the 
West Indies. This last named potatoe'is 
is not of as good flavor as the Mercer, but 
the most productive kind I have ever seen. 
I weighed one which weighed something 
over three pounds, it was quite a curiosity 
for its shape. I have been in the habit of 
raising potatoes for the purpose of fatten- 



402 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



ingmypork. Boiled potatoes and hominy 
will fatten hogs much faster than corn, and 
they are the finest kind of food for milch 
cows, as good for them or better than any 
Ruta Baga turnips or Manzel Wortzel 
beets, though I prefer raising turnips for 
cows, as it is a more certain crop, and more 
turnips can be raised from the same land. 
I neglected to say how much work I gave 
my potatoes last year, I only gave them 
one working with the hoe, none with the 
plough; the season was so dry and the land 
so poor there was no grass or weeds to 
hurt. Could the farmer have any assur- 
ance of getting half the amount spoken of 
in the Planter as being paid by the citi- 
zens of the State for potatoes, you would 
soon see all of the Virginia markets glut- 
ted ; for one ton of guano would raise 
more potatoes than wheat, if the potatoes 
only brought twenty cents per bushel, and 
the land only produced two hundred bush- 
els per acre, with the application of three 
hundred pounds of guano to the acre. One 
ton of guano is, I believe, about the aver- 
age applied to ten acres of land in this 
section for wheat, and fifteen bushels per 
acre I know to be as large as our average 
yield of wheat from that quantity of guano, 
which, if it brought one dollar and fifty 
cents per bushel, would be $225. Now, 
one ton sown on land, at the jate of three 
hundred pounds per acre, would sow over 
six and two-third acres, which if it only 
produced two hundred bushels of potatoes 
per acre, would make over thirteen hun- 
dred bushels, which, at present prices, 
would pay better than anything else. 

For the Planter. 
Labor Lost. 

Millions of dollars are annually lost to 
the State of Virginia *by the misapplica- 
tion of labor. 

Let us, for the present, take into con- 
sideration the loss of time in making hills 
for tobacco and other crops. 

Suppose tert laborers on a plantation. 
If their labor be properly applied these 
ought to make twenty thousand hills and 
cultivate the same in tobacco — horn worms, 
suckering, and housing excepted ; and for 
these purposes help can be hired. But let 
us suppose 15,000 hills each ; then we 
have for the whole crop 150,000. For 
the old-fashioned way of dig, dig, dig, 200 



hills is a good day's work, whereas 1000 
hills can be as perfectly and as easily be 
made in the same time. To make 150,000 
hills in the old style, will consume 750 
days a 75 cents is $562 

New mode 150 days 112 



Gain or saving ten hands $450 

Or to each laborer $45 

I remember that more than 50 years 
past an old man, named Jack, prepared a 
piece of ordinary new land for tobalco by 
cutting deep and making very large hills. 
The result was a light crop for two years, 
and the land made and remaining poor to 
this day. One or two years after this I 
cultivated tobacco on land adjoining Jajck, 
coultered and hilled lightly, and made re- 
spectable crops for two years. Neither of 
us used manure, and as to a stimulant in 
that day it was not known in any region ; 
but I have no doubt if Jack had used a 
little guano or plaster on his crop soon 
after planting, that he would have grown a 
respectable crop. 

No new ground need be broken for to- 
bacco more than two inches deep : stiff 
clay excepted, which may be coultered 
deep to sink rains, but hoed shallow. 

About 22 years past I cleared a piese 
of rich, loose mountain land, had it pre- 
pared by making two or three cuts with 
the hoe at the proper distance for hills, and 
placing thereon four or five hoes of earth ; 
leaving the space between hills wholly 
untouched, till the ground required weed- 
ing. Each hand, big and little, made 
1000 hills the day, and the coultering oi 
the crop being a mere scratching, it was a 
light job. This piece of ground being 
rich, it was cultivated in tobacco three 
years in succession in the same mode, 
yielding good crops, and is now rich. 
Land which, by nature, is sufficiently 
porous to admit light and moisture needs 
no more culture than is required to de- 
stroy weeds and grasses. Nor should the 
roots of trees or bushes be ripped out o 
the ground, but should remain, for the pur 
pose of sinking rains and enriching the 
land. 

When I was a tobacco planter, my mode 
of preparing level or bottom land for to 
bacco, was to plough in winter to kil 
worms and pulverize the ground; harrow 
and plough with shovel in the spring, ridge 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



403 



or bed with one or two horse plough, (as 
necessity required,) when my plants were 
ready for planting, laying off hills by a 
regular step on the beds, and chopping 
and patting with the hoe between the foot- 
prints on which to plant. But if I were 
now engaged in such work, I would tie a 
piece of board, about the size of a hoe, to 
the sole of my foot, and thus go ahead 
with a long cane, requiring no hoe about it. 

For hill side, old land, I would plough 
and harrow as above, and when my plants 
called me, I would lay off rows horizon- 
tally with a side hill or shovel plough, 
turning the earth down, on which I would 
go ahead with staff and foot-board, as 
above recommended. 

No land which requires high bedding or 
hilling to keep tobacco from drowning, 
should be planted in tobacco, for it is a 
critical experiment ; better put such in 
grass to feed the poor cows. 

Do not understand from any remark 
above made, that I object to deep plough- 
ing of old clay lands for any crop ; for 
where ploughing is necessary, that is 
breaking fallow, I say plough deep. But 
let it be remembered that where the soil is 
deeply buried, some stimulant is necessa- 
ry to give an impetus to the plant, particu- 
larly tobacco, otherwise the young plant 
will suffer for nourishment before the 
roots do penetrate to the mould, thus be- 
come awarfish and never recover. A 
mixture of guano and plaster in equal 
quantities, append one tea spoonful to 
each plant a few days after planting, is 
perhaps the best stimulant for tobacco 
which is to be had. 

Now friend, I would ask, what do you 
dig up a hill for any crop for ? Permit me 
to answer for you; just to have the fun of 
digging it down again ; and thus killing 
time twice over. It is useless in the gene- 
ral to say any thing to old folks, for they 
have fixed principles ; but I being an old 
man, feel it a duty to give this command- 
ment to the young. . My sons I forbid your 
ever digging up a hill in which to plant 
any thing. The author of nature never 
intended the roots of any plant to be above 
ground, but in the ground ; therefore I 
say make a hole for planting rather than a 
hill. Do you make a hill for planting an 
apple or other scion ? Pshaw ! away with 
the hills ; it does seem to me that no 
man in his proper senses will, in this en- 



lightened day, make a hill in which to 
plant any thing, not even gowber pea. 

In closing I would just remark that 
many persons recommend manuring to- 
bacco ground with strong manure, and 
that broadcast. Such manuring produces 
strong coarse tobacco, equally offensive to 
both nose and mouth, and hardly palata- 
ble to a horn worm. And worse than 
this, as such tobacco now commands but a 
comparatively low 7 price, it is not palata- 
ble to the market. Better apply the ma- 
nure to some other crop ; or if you will 
have it for tobacco, then for this purpose 
have two lots, and let the manure and a 
crop of oats precede the tobacco. Sow the 
oats at least two bushels to the acre, and 
turn them under for manure when begin- 
ning to ripen; and the next year you will 
have large and fine tobacco, worth at least 
double of the coarse stinking stuff grown 
on dung. Don't be stingy with your seed, 
nor tempted to cut the oats. Act wisely, 
and you and your lands will all grow rich. 

If I had not read agricultural books, I 
would yet be an agricultural fool. Read 
Essays on agriculture my sons, and be 
wise in discriminating between right and 
wrong. Believing that no act or work of 
man is perfect, I have ever tried to find 
out a more perfect mode of business. He 
who finds out the better mode of doing 
any work, has the advantage start of others, 
and he who does not promulgate his 
knowledge for the benefit of others, is 
selfish, unfit for society, and is a rebel and 
foe to his country. 

LA DRUMMOND. 

June 1, 1857. 



Mapes', Hildretli's and Rhodes' Super- 
phosphates. 

Mr. Editor — Since forwarding you my 
article on the Superphosphates, I have re- 
ceived and examined several others, the 
result of which examination it may not be 
amiss to communicate to your readers, 
particularly as some of these manures are 
now advertised in the Planter. 

" Mapes' Nilrogenized Superphosphate of 
Lime" professes to be composed of equal 
amounts of his "improved superphos- 
phates" and dried blood, when in fact there 
is no dried blood in it. This can be seen 
by a mere casual inspection of the manure ; 
if there was blood in it, it would, when 



404 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



heated, give off the peculiar odor of ani- 
mal matter, and every particle of blood 
would swell up, and blacken in a way pe- 
culiar to animal matter and nothing else. 
An addition of one per cent, of dried blood 
to the " improved" is distinctly recognisa- 
ble when heated, and five per cent, causes* 
the whole mass to swell up, a thing that 
the " nitrogenized" will not do. 

Again, the " Improved" contained, ac- 
cording to the manufacturer's pamphlet, 
but 19 per cent, of phosphoric acid, which 
would of course be reduced to 9^ per cent, 
in the nitrogenized, whereas I find by 
analysis, that it contains full 20 per cent. 

The manure is made up of bone black, 
plaster, a little sulphate of ammonia, &c, 
>with an abundant supply of rich, fine gar- 
den mould or peatz matter, and marble dust. 

''Mapes' jYo. 1 Superphosphate of Lime" 
I have examined only so far as to ascer- 
tain that it is largely adulterated with car- 
bonate of lime and swamp muck, or some 
sort of peatz matter. 

■ Mapes' Potassi Phosphate' and { Mapes' 
Cotton and Tobacco Fertilizers" are pretty 
nearly one and the same thing, as it would 
take an exact analysis to discover more 
than a slight difference between them. 

They contain respectively 19^ and 18^ 
per cent, of bone phosphate of lime, the 
remainder, which is more than 30 per ct. 
of the whole, is composed almost entirely 
of Jersey Green Sand, (from which the 
manufacturer no doubt gets the name of 
potash phosphate) carbonate of lime and 
swamp muck, or some other peatz matter. 
The organic matter and water of the pot- 
ash phosphate amounts to 46 per ct., and 
this is almost destitute of ammonia. In 
the Cotton and Tobacco fertilizers they 
amount to 26 per cent. 

By careful washing the peatz matter can 
be separated from the lime, sand, &c, and 
when the latter mixture is treated with 
cold dilute muriatic acid, the lime, &c. are 
removed, leaving the green sand in its 
pristine purity. 

Bildreth's Superphosphate referred to in 
my first communication, is all that Prof. 
Johnson says of it : " It is composed main- 
ly of carbonate of lime, with a sprinkling 
of bone phosphate, charcoal, &c. 

" Rhodes' Superphosphate of Li?ne" con- 
tains 19^ per cent, of phosphoric acid, of 
which a little more than 5 per cent, is so- 
luble in water ; this would give 29£ per 



cent, of bone phosphate, and 7^ per cent, 
of soluble or superphosphate of lime. — 
This manure also contains carbonate of 
lime, as may be proved by pouring a small 
quantity of any strong acid upon a portion 
from which all matter soluble in water has 
been removed. 

William Gilham. 
V. M. L, March 20. 



For the Planter. 

Potatoes. 

In addition to the judicious remarks of 
Mr. Ruffin on the potatoe crop of Virginia, 
I beg leave to add a few words. 

I am now an old man, have resided in 
different localities and attitudes, and culti- 
vated potatoes for fifty years in different 
soils, I consider myself qualified to speak 
on this subject. 

Potatoes (I mean the round or Irish,)' 
grow to greatest perfection on black, loose 
land, and cool region. As to the proper 
kind to be planted, I say nothing; because 
different localities, and different tastes and 
purposes require different kinds. If the 
ground be friable and clear of grass and root 
weeds, all that is necessary is to dig a hole, 
drop and cover with the foot But for a large 
crop it is more expeditious to furrow with 
a plough, drop and cover with the same 
plough. To curtail expenses it is best in 
the culture of a large crop to use«both the 
plough and the hoe. On such land as 
above described, once ploughing and once 
hoeing will suffice ; more than two such 
workings would be surplus. Turf land 
should be ploughed early and properly 
harrowed, for the purpose of destroying 
the sods. Never make a hill for planting 
potatoes, nor indeed any thing else ; for 
they require all the moisture they can get, 
therefore should be planted below the 
surface. I never yet saw any land too 
rich for potatoes, for they are a gross 
feeder, and as the largest potatoes always 
sell highest, it is avisable to use manure in 
the hole or drill. On loose mountain 
ground, I would use guano and plaister ; 
on clay grounds I would plough down 
vegetable matter for creating mould. 1 
now reside in a potatoe region (the cold 
mountain of Amherst) — am eating pota- 
toes grown last year, and desire no better. 
By clearing the potatoe of earth, and 
keeping them in a cold place, they may 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



405 



be kept perfect till the new crop is ready 
for use. 

I will not eat a potatoe grown on clay 
land after they are half grown ; for they 
are indigestable to a weak stomach, and 
unhealthy for all. If I now resided in a 
warmer region, I would make my potatoe 
ground rich with vegetatable mould, and 
plant a small purple kind, called Mole. 
It is of excellent quality, very early, and 
when boiled, loses its colour. 

I never knew a good potatoe to grow on 
good wheat land, and never knew potatoes 
to fail when grown on good rye land. 
Perhaps in 3 more northern climate the re- 
sult may be different. For Irish potatoes 
the ground should be so friable as to be 
worked up by the foot, but for sweet po- 
tatoes clay grounds are best. 

The large and small potatoes should be 
separated. If the crop is large a seive 
should be. used for this purpose. The 
largest should be ate and sold, and the 
smaller planted without cutting. The 
sweet potatoe should not be cut either for 
the hot bed or the field, but planted by 
placing them longitudinal in furrows. A 
potatoe of good quality has a thin skin, 
therefore no necessity for peeling. Either 
kind is a good substitute for bread, either 
alone or mixed with meal. 

LA DRUMMOND. 

June 1, 1857. 



For the Southern Planter. 
Re-Planting Corn. 
Mr. Editor : 

This being my first year in Virginia, it 
would be inconsistent for me to attempt to 
teach others, especially in northemisms — 
but being somewhat an experimenter, and 
Ithe business of re-planting corn nearly 
jpast, — still fresh in mind, I will give my 
[experience up to this time. I now think 
|l covered most of my corn too deep. 
[Something like half of it come up ; and 
Ithere being quite a crust on the hill, I 
Jmade some miniature rake?, with three 
Ispikes for teeth to each one, a very light 
instrument, easily handled with one hand, 
passing through the field, we drew the 
crakes through all the hills that had not 
fpome up; in most of them the corn would 
Readily appear in a crimped state ; when 
It did not, we replanted; — my neighbors 
old me the crimped corn was no account, 



&c. ; but no difference is now percepti- 
ble, — the crimped corn is as good as any, 
and is of the first planting. But I am for 
another experiment : I am thinking to put 
nearly twice as much in each hill as I did 
this spring, and pass a horse and harrow 
lengthwise in each row, instead of cover- 
ing covering it with a hoe as this spring ; I 
hope in this manner to avoid the expense 
and trouble of replanting. 

While I am writing, I will say a word 
as to seed-corn ; I lately noticed, either in 
the Planter or Farmer, a word from some 
gentleman, going to show that no corn 
should be used for planting but the large 
grains from the butt of the ear ; the rea- 
sons he gave seemed very plausible ; but 
still I cannot subscribe to his theory. 
My theory is this — in order to get good, 
full, long ears of corn, we should plant 
corn from such ears, and plant all the corn 
from each ear used — the tip — the butt — 
the middle — the whole ; and the more 
ears of good size from one stalk, the 
better. It appears to me that a very con- 
siderable improvement can be made in the 
corn grown in this vicinity — that more 
corn can be obtained in proportion to the 
amount of stalk than we now get. At all 
events I am for trying it. I am encour- 
aged in this matter from my experience at 
the north, for I succeeded in getting larger 
corn, and more in proportion to the amount 
of stalk than any of my neighbors, who 
pursued the same course suggested by the 
gentleman whose remarks and theory I 
have alluded to. Whatever may be my 
success iu my experiments, I will inform 
my fellow citizens, who are equally inter- 
ested for the general good of our whole 
country, and especially for the South. 
THOMAS CHASE. 

Chesterfield, June 1857. 



Disease in Peach Trees. 

Bremo, Fluvanna County, > 
June 6, 1857. \ 

Mr. Ruffin — Having for several years 
past observed a disease in the peach tree of 
this part of the county, which has increased 
so rapidly as to threaten the ultimate de- 
struction of that once abundant and most 
delicious of all the fruits of our climate, I 
am induced to speak of it through the 
columns of the Planter. 

I have not seen it noticed in all my read- 



406 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



ing, in the form in which I have discover- 
ed it. Perhaps in your more extensive 
investigations, you may have become ac- 
quainted with it. 

It has occurred to me that it may possi- 
bly be the disease known at the North, 
under the name of the "Yellows," modi- 
fied here by difference of climate. 

The seat of the disease is found in the 
pith of the small branches of the tree, and 
is most apparent where these branching 
twigs united with the parent stock — by 
tearing one of them off the disease is at 
once exposed to view. The pith, which 
in a natural and healthy state, is always 
perfectly white and soft, will be found of 
various degrees of brown discoloration — 
sometimes almost black, and so hard as to 
resist the edge of a knife like sand or 
strong matter. 

The effect of this destruction of what 
may be called the spinal marrow of the 
fruit bearing twigs, is to dwarf their growth 
to less than half their natural size, and 
the leaves in like proportion, as well as 
the buds at their foot stalks for future fruit 
diminished also in the same degree. 

The consequence is the fruit is dwarfed. 

1 have known a Heath peach tree, what 
formerly bore fruit as large as a man's fist, 
of late bear a scanty crop of peaches not 
larger than an English walnut — and after 

2 or 3 years decline and die entirely. 
Sometimes the tree in the Summer the 

whole crop of leaves turning yellow. — 
This has induced me to conjecture that 
the disease may be a modification of the 
" Northern Yellows.'*' But most of our 
trees die in winter — especially during our 
two last unusually severe winters. It may 
be well to enquire of the Orchardists of 
the North whether "the Yellows" there 
is accompanied with the destruction of the 
pith as described above. 

I believe this fatal disease is produced 
by an insect which deposits its egg at the 
insertion of each bed in the embryo state 
on the water sprout ; but if so, the insect 
is so minute as to have escaped my detec- 
tion. Be it, however, what it may, unless 
some remedy shall be found out and soon 
applied, I am satisfied a few more years 
will leave us destitute of the luxury of the 
most delightful of all our fruits. 

I found this disease, this winter, rife in 
the peach trees of middle Alabama. 

JOHN H. COCKE. 



Cutting "Wheat.— Sheep. 
Hanover Co., June 4, 1857. 

Dear Planter — May I presume to give 
some advice in return for much I have re- 
ceived from the Planter. 

You advise to cut wheat in parellelo- 
grams, my experience condemns it. I 
prefer the square or circle as is produced 
by my process. One of the hands that 
understands the use of the cradle is placed 
at each corner, with a cradle by him, he 
binds his allotment in both directions, and 
when his corner needs it, he rounds it off 
with his scythe. You are entirely right 
about the rear delivery. I use Hussey's 
Reaper with six mules, three at a time, and 
have cut twenty-two acres per day. Af- 
the reaper comes "Dewey's Patent Glea- 
nor," which is the greatest implement I 
have seen for its cost, sold by H. M. Smith 
of Richmond. 

MY SHEEP AGAINST SOUTH DOWNS. 

I sheared my ram a few days ago and 
weighed his wool, and am almost afraid to 
risk my statement of the weight (but I 
got a witness); he is a native, and was 2 
years old, had not been sheared the 'first 
season for experiment, the fleece promising 
to be heavy; it was accurately weighed, 
bringing the scales down to the 22 pound 
notch, and not very coarse wool at that, 
much of it was thrown away that was fil- 
thy. Now would you not like to swap me 
a South Down for one of his lambs ? 
Yours, with regard, 

Thos. G. Turner. 



For the Southern Planter. 

Colic in Horses. 

Dear Planter — The following receipt from 
" Youatt" has been tried with great success by 
Mr. "George Earnest (proprietor of our omnibus 
line) in many cases of Colic. I have used it 
some two or three times with almost instanta- 
neous relief to the poor sufferer. I give it to 
you for publication, because I know many of 
your subscribers have no copy of " Youatt on 
the Horse." 

Take of chloride of lime, one tablespoonful. 
Put it into a pint bottle and fill up with tcarm 
water, and drench the horse — the best way for 
doing which is to raise his head Jn'gh and pour 
the drench down the nostril. This mode of 
drenching prevents strangling. The great dis- 
tention in flatulent colic is caused by a fermen- 
tation of the food, producing "usually or al- 
most invariably, a combination of hydrogen 
with some other gas." Hydrogen, has a strong 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



407 



affinity for Chlorine, and the result of giving 
chloride of lime is to produce a combination of 
the chlorine and hydrogen thus forming, and 
" setting free," muriatic acid which produces 
no injury to the horse. 

I generally add one tablespoonful of lauda- 
num to this drench. If this does no good it can 
do no harm. J. E. W. 



Wheat Drill. 

The following short letter will be as good as 
a volume to those who know the author. We 
can only say to those who do not that he is one 
of the best farmers and most reliable men in 
the State of Virginia. Mr. May's advertise- 
ment will be found in this number. 

I see in your May number an inquiry as to 
the best wheat drill with guano attachment. — 
The Bickford & Hoffman is the best drill jn use 
in this section of country. It is a cylinder 
drill which will deposit the grain more regu- 
larly than a slide drill. The guano attachment 
is better calculated to feed regularly. My 
neighbour, R. H. Dulaney, and many others 
have used them with entire satisfaction. They 
are sold by Wm. H. May in Alexandria, Va. 
Respectfully yours, &c. 

WILLIAM BENTON, 

Loudoun Co., Va. 



From the Maine Farmer. 

Benefits of Sawdust. 

Mr. Editor — I propose to give you some of 
my views of the benefit of sawdust for agricul- 
tural purposes, together with my method of ap- 
plying it. The first use I make of it is in bed- 
ding for my stock— such as cattle, horses and 
hogs— not forgetting even poor biddy's quar- 
ters. I am satisfied this is economy in more 
than one point : — first, it is so comfortable for 
the poor creatures to rest their weary limbs 
upon. Why, sir, it would do your heart good 
to see how comfortable and happy they look, 
lying there upon it chewing their cud : then, 
when you some to make your daily draft upon 
poor mooley for that indispensable requisite to 
give your coffee its delicious flavor, you can do 
it without being under the necessity of scrap- 
ing and digging through, or, with sponge and 
tub of water, washing off the accumulated 
filth, before you can find where she keeps her 
deposits of milk and cream. I think even you, 
Mr. Editor, will admit that it may be used for 
other purposes than making sawdust puddings. 

Second, it absorbs all the urine of the cattle, 
which is a very great item, as it adds at least 
100 per cent, to the yearly amount of manure, 
aside from the sawdust itself. This, with the 
manure, is all thrown into the cellar, where 
the hogs take charge and commence their ope- 
rations, which have thus far been to my entire 
satisfaction, their work being thorough ; for, 
with a sprinkling of corn, by way of encour- 



agement to them, it becomes well incorporated 
into a mass of excellent manure. There it re- 
mains until I want to put it into the ground — 
not on it, to dry up and evaporate and be car- 
ried off in the atmosphere, until my neighbor- 
ing farmer gets more than I retain for my own 
benefit — by plowing or cultivating it in as soon 
as practicable — for I think it bad husbandry to 
allow manure to lay exposed to the sun, wind 
and rain, either in the field or barnyard. 

Again, I think sawdust profitable to apply 
to all clayey soils, on account of its capacity of 
absorbing moisture in time of excessive rains, 
consequently preventing the clay from becom- 
ing so moist as to apparently form mortar, 
which, when it becomes dry, will be so hard 
that vegetation will find it difficult to subsist 
upon, much more to grow and flourish luxuri- • 
antly in, notwithstanding the soil otherwise 
might be in a condition from which under fa- 
vorable circumstances, the farmer might expect 
good crops. 

Again, sawdust well incorporated into clay 
soil serves to keep it loose and porous, so as to 
admit light and air, which are necessary to the 
growth of vegetation, as well as to early matu- 
rity, which is very esssential in this region. — 
Where the land upon side-hills is liable to be- 
come washed badly with rains, I am satisfied 
that a liberal application of sawdust will great- 
ly improve the condition of the soil, by pre- 
venting the rains from carrying away the best 
and finest portions as well as the most nutri- 
tious, by holding together the particles of soil, 
and allowing the water to pass through. You 
will see all the cavities upon the surface become 
filled, forming a sort of filter, through which 
the water will pass, leaving the fine soil upon 
the surface. 

Again, if it be a receiver — : which no one will 
doubt — it is also a retainer ; hence its value, 
by holding a supply of moisture to be appro- 
priated to vegetation in time of severe drouth. 
Every farmer knows that our hard clay soil, 
unless it has been subsoiled or trenched, is af- 
fected more by drouth than many other kinds, 
consequenly it may be more profitable to use 
sawdust on clay soil than on others, although I 
have no doubt that it may be beneficial on any 
soil. I have used sawdust to some extent for 
the above purposes the three past years, al- 
though I have to transport it five miles. This 
year I shall use, probably, more than I have 
during the two previous years. I intend ex- 
perimenting with it by preparing it with the 
salt and lime mixture so highly recommended 
by Professor Waring and others, and using it 
as above. I will communicate the result. 

Yours, c%c, A. Hoag. 

Gardiner, March 6, 1857. 



To Clean Kid Gloves. — Wash them in a mix- 
ture of equal quantities of ammonia and alco- 
hol. Then rub them dry. 



408 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



From the Country Gentleman. 

How do the Nitrates of Soda and Potash 

produce their Fertilizing Effects. 

The agricultural public has had several op- 
portunities, during the last two or three years, 
of becoming acquainted with the very remark- 
able effects which the nitrates above named 
usually produce upon vegetation generally, and 
more especially upon the growth of various 
grass and grain crops. So frequently have the 
nitrates, and especially the nitrate of soda, 
been used as fertilizers in the way of top dres- 
sings and otherwise, and so uniformly have 
very notable effects been produced, that it may 
be considered as a well established fact that the 
nitrates of soda and potash contribute very ma- 
terially to the luxuriance of vegetation in sev- 
eral classes of plants, among which grasses 
and cereals stand pre-eminent. 

"When a fact of this kind becomes well estab- 
lished, there are always minds whose propen- 
sities to investigate and philosophize lead them 
to endeavor to discover the mode in which the 
cause operates so as to produce the effects. 
Some have this propensity to investigate and 
discover the manner or steps in the process by 
which remarkable results are produced, so very 
strong, that they can give themselves no rest 
until this modus operandi, or mode of opera- 
tion as it is called, has been satisfactorily de- 
termined. This propensity to investigate into 
causes, modes of operation, and to seek expla- 
nations as to the how and the why of impor- 
tant events, has been implanted in our mental 
constitution for wise and good purposes ; and 
has often led to the discovery of first princi- 
ples of the utmost importance. 

Urged on by this intellectual curiosity, and 
by the hope of some fortunate discovery of a 
valuable principle or first truth in agriculture, 
a French chemist "not unknown to fame," M. 
Boussingault, has of late been making some 
experiments on the modus operandi of the ni- 
trates of soda and potash, when they act as 
fertilizers or promoters of a luxuriant vegeta- 
tion. The results of these experiments M. 
Boussingault has lately communicated to the 
Academy of Sciences in Paris, in full detail. 
This full detail of M. B.'s experiments and re- 
sults would prove tedious and uninteresting to 
the bulk of our readers ; but a highly abridged 
summary thereof may prove of interest and 
value, we trust, to not a few. With such a 
hope, we have endeavored to condense .the 
more interesting and instructive portions of M. 
Boussingault's paper into the few paragraphs 
which follow. He wished to determine how 
far their efficacy was owing to the alkalis which 
formed the base of these salts, all alkalis hav- 
ing some effect upon vegetation, and how far 
it was owing to the nitric acid with which the 
alkaline base was in combination. 

The only explanation of the useful effects of 
the nitrates on vegetation of which M. B. had | 



amy knowledge before commencing his experi- 
ment, was that of M. Kuhlman. That skilful 
chemist has arrived at the conclusion, that 
when the nitrates act as fertilizers, their nitro- 
gen, before being absorbed by the plant, is 
transformed most frequently into ammonia in 
the soil itself. To obtain the full value of the 
nitrates, according to this theory, these salts 
must be placed "under the deoxidating influ- 
ence of a putrid fermentation, of which the 
definite result will be the carbonate of ammo- 
nia." In regard to this theory, M. Bousingault 
remarks that it is to be regretted that M. Kuhl- 
man has not investigated whether organic 
matters in the progress of putrefaction do re- 
ally convert the nitric acid of the nitrates into 
ammonia. M. B. on this account, thought it 
proper to examine if the presence of putrefy- 
ing organic matters in the soil is indispensable 
for the nitrogen of the nitrates being assimila- 
ted by the plant, for if it should appear that 
assimilation takes place in their absence, we 
would be at liberty, as M. B. remarks to draw 
two conclusions: 1st. That it is not necessary 
that the nitrogen of the nitric acid be previ- 
ously converted into ammonia in the soil before 
becoming fit to be assimilated by the plant ; 
and 2nd. That in their effects on vegetation the 
nitrates do not act solely as salts by means of 
the base of potash or of soda. 

The process which M. Boussingault adopted 
consisted in making a plant grow in sand which 
had been rendered quite sterile by calcination, 
adding to it a known quantity of an alkaline 
nitrate and ashes. The watering was done 
with pure water ; and after the plant was fully 
developed, it was analyzed to ascertain the 
quantity of nitrate it had absorbed, while the 
amount of nitrate remaining in the soil was 
also determined. 

In the first experiment, two seeds of the sun- 
flower, weighing together 0.062 grammes,* 
were deposited on the 10th of May, 1855, in 
calcined sand, with which had been mixed 0.1 
gr. of alkaline ashes, and 1.0 gr. of washed 
ashes, and successively in the course of the ex- 
periment 1.11 gr. of the nitrate of potash. The 
sand was moistened at the commencement with 
pure water, and after germination with water 
saturated with carbonic acid. The plant grew 
in the open air, under a glass roof, which shel- 
tered it from the rain and the dew. Ou the 
19th of August one of the plants had obtained 
the height of 0.72 metres, f and carried nine 
fresh leaves and one floral bud, with some faded 
leaves at the lower part of the stem. The 
other sunflower was 0.50 metres in height 
(about 18 inches,) and had six fresh leaves of a 
beautiful green, and seven faded ones. The 
two plants after being dried, weighed 6.685 



* French gramme is equal to 15.4325 grains 
troy. 



f A metre is equal to 3.286 feet. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



409 



grammes, stem, leaves and roots included. 
Analysis of the plant and the soil gave the fol- 
lowing results : — 

Grames. 

Nitrogen in the plants, 0.1126 

do in the soil, 0.0452 

0.1578 

Nitrogen in 1.110 gr. of nitre, 0.1536 



do 



in 0.062 gr. of seed, 



0.0019 



0.1555 



Grain of nitrogen in plant and soil, 

after four months vegetation, 0.0023 

From the facts connected with this experi- 
ment, M. B. draws the following conclusions : — 
L The nitrogen of the nitrate absorbed* is as- 
similated by the plant. 2. For every equiva- 
lent of nitrogen assimilated, the sunflower re- 
ceives into its composition one equivalent of 
potash. 3. We find in the soil nearly the whole 
of the nitrate which the plant does not absorb. 
4. The action of the nitrate of potash, which 
is most decided from the very commencement 
of vegetation, manifests itself with the neces- 
sary addition of any putrefying organic matter. 
In order to judge better of the effects of 
nitre, M. R. performed another experiment, 
which consisted in placing on the 10th of May, 
1855, two seeds of the sunflower exactly in the 
conditions in which the seeds of the previous 
experiment had been placed. The only differ- 
ence was in withholding the nitrate of potash 
from the substances added to the calcined sand. 
The plants in this case grew very slowly, were 
throughout of a pale green color, and in June, 
when the other plants were 0.20 metres in 
height, these were only 0.06 and 0.08 m. The 
nitrogen obtained by the growth of these two 
plants in the open air for four months was only 
0.0033 gr. 

Similar experiments were also made with the 
nitrate of soda, which is the nitrate most in use 
at present for agricultural purposes. The re- 
suls were also similar. From both sets of ex- 
periments it seems highly probable, that the 
alkaline nitrates act on vegetation with as much 
readiness, and perhaps with more energy, than 
the salts of ammonia. The plants which lan- 
guished in soil without any addition of a ni- 
trate, flourished vigorously in the same soil 
when a nitrate was added — ag vigorously indeed 
as they did, in one experiment, in a highly ma- 
nured garden soil. The decomposition of car- 
bonic acid by the leaves of plants, or the ab- 
sorption of carbon into their composition, 
seems by these experiments, to be in some way 
dependent on, or subordinate to the previous 
absorption of some manure of a nitrogenous 
kind. 

One result of some importance arising from 
M. B.'s demonstration that the nitrates act fa- 
vorably on vegetation, by means of their ab- 
sorption, directly or without the concurrence 
of substances in a state of decay, is that we 
are thus furnished with an explanation of the 



influence, in part, of water used in irrigation" 
Though some water so used hns been found to 
contain scarcely a trace of ammonia, it con- 
tained nitrates ; and these contribute like am- 
monia — and more even than that — to the pro- 
duction of vegetable tissue, or the healthy 
growth of plants. To this solution of nitrates 
in some waters, may be owing, in some mea- 
sure, the fertility of irrigated meadows. 

In concluding this much abridged summary 
of the memoir submitted by M. Boussingault 
to the Academy of Sciences in Paris, we give 
his closing paragraph in his own words, thus 
translated : — " Notwithstanding the power 
with which a nitrate acts, we cannot accept it 
as a manure, as it only contains nitrogen and 
an alkali ; but in associating it with the phos- 
phate of lime, we obtain truly a compound pos- 
sessing the qualities of guano, with more per- 
manence in the nitrogen. In effect on the one 
hand, guano consists essentially of an intimate 
mixture of the salts of ammonia and the phos- 
phate of lime, in a state of nearly equal chem- 
ical divisions ; while, on the other hand, it fol- 
lows from the foregoing experiments that the 
alkaline nitrates act on plants in a manner 
similar to the salts of ammonia. In the coun- 
try I intend trying, in field cultivation, a mix- 
ture of nitrate of soda and phosphate of lime 
in chemical proportions. When these experi- 
ments are finished, I will communicate the re- 
sults to the Academy." 

These promised experiments are probably in 
progress during the present season. The re- 
sults we shall be pleased to see, and to commu- 
nicate to our readers. 



Steam Cultivation. 

The cultivation of the soil by the power of 
steam, instead of by animals, is a question 
which has forced itself upon the attention of 
our farmers in the Western States, where there 
are broad prairies and very large farms. This 
subject is one of great and growing import- 
ance, so much so that Mr. Bronson Murray, of 
Illinois, as set forth in previous numbers of the 
Scientific American, has advised his brother 
farmers to contribute and offer a reward of 
§50,000 for a practical steam plow that will 
prepare the soil more rapidly, even if the cost 
of plowing should be equally as great as by 
horses, the saving of time being the grand ob- 
ject where spring weather is of short duration. 
In hilly regions and for small farms the steam 
plow is out of the question ; it can never over- 
come the up hill work in the one case, nor be 
profitably used on small farms in the other. — 
But on large farms containing several hundred 
acres of comparatively level land — such farms 
as are very common in Indiana, Illinois, and 
other States — and where there is plenty of cheap 
fuel, we believe that steam plowing will yet 
become general. Looking at the question on 
all sides, we do not see a solitary objection 



410 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



worth a straw as to its practicability. There 
are many 'dolorous, doubting individuals, who 
will doubt its payability, or utility, but there 
have always been such persons, and the world 
will never be without^them ; but let them doubt 
as they may, the steam plow will yet be a suc- 
cessful reality, we believe. 

Some persons have inquired of us, "what 
are the difficulties in the way of steam plowing 
on the prairies," and a correspondent from Mo- 
bile asks, "is it the want of traction in the 
wheels of the locomotive plow V The latter 
can never prove a source of difficulty to its suc- 
cess : in fact, we clo not know that there is a 
single difficulty in the way but one, and that is 
the want of spirited persons to make experi- 
ments. If Mr. B. Murray, and the farmers of 
Illinois who are interested, would subscribe 
$50,000, and employ a competent and reliable 
engineer to build a steam plow for the purpose 
of experimenting, we believe this sum would 
be sufficient to test the question, find out all the 
difficulties, and make such alterations of ma- 
chinery as would overcome them, and at the 
same time leave enough of funds to build a 
steam plow as the final result, that would meet 
every reasonable demand. 

We are' not aware that a single experiment 
has ever been made with steam plowing in our 
country; it is far otherwise in England, where 
wealthy landlords have not spared expenses to 
bring about such a desirable system of cultiva- 
tion. Some very recent trials with steam plow- 
ing on Lord Hatlierton's estate in Staffordshire 
appear to have been very successful, according 
to the account of them in the London Engineer. 
An engine of eight horse power plowed eight 
acres in one day, and put it into far better or- 
der, and at less expense than could be done by 
the common plow and horses. The engine was 
portable, but was kept stationary in the field 
while the plow was drawn by an endless wire 
rope passing around a windlass, and over stan- 
dards. The whole cost of the engine, wind- 
lass, and apparatus was only £400 — about 
$2,000. This system of steam plowing is held 
to be the most economical ; it is asserted by its 



advocates that there is a great waste of power of lime has been removed by 



plow may be rendered successful, and the en- 
gine used (when not required for plowing) for 
threshing, grinding, corn-shelling, and various 
other purposes. It is certainly the most sim- 
ple plan, and simplicity is one of the, main 
points desirable in all agricultural machines. 

On a former occasion we directed attention 
to this subject, and we have returned to it again 
in order to incite farmers to plowing experi- 
ments, which may be conducted from this pe- 
riod up to the month of next November or De- 
cember. Parties interested in mechanical- im- 
provements relating to, agricultural machinery, 
consider it to be a question of vast importance, 
and exhort us not to let it sleep until it is com- 
pletely resolved. — Scientific American. 



Limestone Soils. 

[We are much indebted to Prof. Gilham of 
the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington, 
for the following, in explanation of a subject 
interesting to a great part of our readers, and 
throwing upon it some valuable light, that will 
be new to many of them. — Eds.] 

The remarks of a correspondent in one of 
the late numbers of the Country Gentleman, 
on the use of lime upon limestone soils, sug- 
gests the idea that a few remarks upon the ori- 
gin, composition, and peculiarities of these 
soils may not be uninteresting to some of your 
numerous readers. 

True limestone soils are such as rest upon, 
and owe their origin to beds of limestone, and 
in accounting for peculiarities in their compo- 
sition and properties, it is necessary to know 
by what process they are formed from the rock. 
Iu the formation of soils from sandstones, 
slates, &c, a comparatively small portion of 
the rock is removed by the action of air and 
water, by which the mass loses its coherence 
and falls apart, or the rock undergoes disinte- 
gration, forming beds of sand, clay or loam, 
which by well-known ameliorating causes, 
finally result in soils suited to cultivation. But 
in the formation of most limestone soils, the 
limestone yields only after all of its carbonate 

ling water 
in the locomotive plow to draw the weight of charged with carbonic acid; the soil which re- 



the engine over the field, all of which is econ 
omized in keeping the engine stationary, and 
the plow only moving. This is no doubt true ; 
it saves power, but requires a great amount of 
apparatus, ropes, belts, windlasses, turn tables, 
and standards, to carry it out, and only a small 
portion of a large field, (circumscribed in 
length by the endless drag rope) can be plowed 
at once. This, however, is not a serious objec- 



sults is composed therefore of nothing more 
than the substances which constituted the orig- 
inal impurities of the limestone. Many facts 
might be adduced in proof of this, one of which 
I mention. In railroad and other cuts made 
through limestone rocks, in' old limestone 
fences, and in weather-worn masses of lime- 
stone, the various stages of decomposition may 
frequently be traced, from perfect and unaltered 



tion, because a large field may thus be plowed limestone in one part of the rock, to fine clay 
acre'by acre as well as by taking in long and or loam, in which there is not a trace ofearbo- 



extensive landings at one continuous operation. 
We are extremely partial to the locomotive 
plow moving over the field and dragging a gang 
of plows at once — plowing up five or six fur- 



nate of lime left in those portions that have 
been long exposed to atmospheric influences. 

If this view of the origin of these soils bo 
true, it follows that they, although resting upon 



rows. With broad, flat wheels, such a steam \ close contact with limestone, are themselves 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



411 



destitute, or almost destitute of carbonate of 
lime, a fact which has been repeatedly veri- 
fied by the analysis of limestone soils. I have 
repeatedly tested such soils for carbonate of 
lime, and have invariably found, except when 
small pebbles of limestone were disseminated 
through the soil, that they contain no carbo- 
nate of lime, and that the lime which they con- 
tain in other forms of combination, such as the 
sulphate, phosphate, and silicate of lime, is 
frequently less than is to be found in soils 
which result from the disintegration of other 
rocks. 

When the limestones have such slight cohe- 
rence originally, that they disintegrate easily 
when exposed to frost, &c, this explanation 
does not apply; in such cases the rock breaks 
down to a sort of calcareous sand, yielding a 
soil which is highly calcareous. Such soils, 
however, are very rare in our country, the 
great mass of them having been formed from 
comparatively hard limestone, and in the man- 
ner explained above. 

But while most limestone soils are destitute 
of carbonate of lime, and frequently contain 
very little lime in any form, it is a well known 
fact that these soils are almost invariably well 
adapted to the growth of an important class of 
lime plants — the grasses. Indeed so constantly 
are the grasses associated with limestone soils, 
that it is only necessary to turn out a field for 
a year or two, to have it covered with a thick 
sod of nutritious grass, and fine pasture may 
be had almost any where, by clearing out un- 
dergrowth, &c, sufficiently to admit the rays 
of the sun. This peculiarity of these soils, is, 
I conceive, to be attributed to the presence of 
the limestones, rather than to any thing pecu- 
liar to the soils themselves. We know that all 
running water in limestone countries, is 
charged with carbonate of lime, which is de- 
rived from the rocks while in contact with 
them ; now I maintain that the same thing is 
true with regard to most of the water which 
finds its . way to the roots of plants growing 
upon limestone soils. The water after falling 
upon the soil sinks down through it to the rock, 
and being charged with more or less carbonic 
acid which it has absorbed from, the air and the 
soil, it takes up a small amount of carbonate 
of lime. Evaporation taking place at the sur- 
face of the soil, this water, with its charge of 
lime, rises by capillary attraction, comes in 
contact with the roots of plants, and yields to 
them its supplies of lime and other mineral 
food. 

If the above be the true explanation of the 
origin of the limestone soils, we can see no 
reason why the application of lime to them 
should not be attended with beneficial results. 
Indeed the principles of science teach, that 
while the application of lime to them may not 
be attended by such very marked results as 
sometimes attend .the application of lime, we 
certainly ought to look for the same benefits 



here, that ordinarily attend the application of 
lime to other soils'; and the fact that lime has 
been, and is now, applied to limestone soils 
with great success, ought not to excite any 
feeling of surprise. — Country Gentleman, 



Ploughing in Green Crops. 

Among the unsettled questions in regard to 
agricultural practice, is the effort of ploughing 
in green crops. Can land be improved in this 
way, and if so, what is the best mode? What 
crops are best for the purpose, and at what 
stage should they be turned in ? These are ques- 
tioas on which more light is wanted, and we 
shall feel obliged for any facts relating to them 
which our readers may communicate. 

Until experience convinced us to the contra- 
ry, we supposed that crops were most valuable 
for manuring the soil at the time of their great- 
est weight. Among the instances which tended 
to show the erroneousness of this supposition, 
the following may be mentioned : An acre of 
stout grass was measured off in a field, and on 
the 4th of July, the grass being in full blossom, 
it was rolled flat and then carefully ploughed 
in. On the adjoining portion of the field the 
grass was immediately cut and made into hay. 
The following spring the rest of the field was 
ploughed, the whole manured alike, and plant- 
ed to corn. The crop where the grass was 
ploughed in was inferior from the start, and 
continued so to the end — giving a less yield than 
the land which had the grass taken off v Oats 
followed with similar results, and grass, follow- 
ing the oats, was still poorest where the soil 
was manured (?) with the green crop. 

A case is recollected which is given in the 
Transactions of the Essex (Mass.) Agricultural 
Society. A heavy growth of green Indian corn 
was buried by cutting it and laying it in the 
furrows as the ground was ploughed. The ef- 
fect was to injure the following crops for seve- 
ral years. 

We have lately heard of more cases of the 
same kind. A correspondent of the New, Jersey 
Farmer says he " rolled and ploughed under 
about six acres of large oats, while in blossom 
and milky." Wheat followed, but he " did not 
perceive that the oat crop ploughed under had 
a beneficial effect on the growth of the wheat, 
anywhere." He tried another experiment the 
same year, which he relates as follows : 

" I ploughed under one acre of good oats, in 
another field, on a sandy loam, while in about 
the same state, as to ripeness. The land, as 
well as that adjoining, had been, a short time 
previously, covered with calcareous earth — 30 
loads to the acre. Immediately after plough- 
ing, sowed on two bushels of broom-corn seed, 
and then harrowed in. When the corn had at- 
tained a height of from three to six feet, and as 
thick as it could grow, I ploughed it under and 
sowed wheat. I cut the oats when ripe on all 
other parts of the field, and the land adjoining, 



412 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



where I turned under the oats and broom-corn, 
I left without any manure to test more fully 
the experiment. The wheat on the land where 
I took off the oat crop and applied no manure, 
was poor, but if any difference, that where the 
two green crops — oats and broom -corn — were 
turned under the wheat was poorer, nor have I 
perceived any benefit resulting from those green 
crops since, and I have had two crops of grass, 
two of corn, one of oats, and two of wheat, 
since I tried the experiment." 

Examples might be multiplied, but these are 
sufficient. To account for such results it has 
been suggested that the mass of green herbage 
produces acetic acid, which is injurious to grow- 
ing plants. It has also been suggested that 
alkalies, applied to the soil in connection with 
the green crops, would neutralize the acid or 
prevent its formation. Have any trials been 
made in reference to this point ? 

It has been conjectured that on limestone 
soils these acids would not be formed ; but the 
lime in such soils is in a state of carbon ate and 
is mild ; it only becomes alkaline or caustic by 
burning, and preserves that quality no longer 
than it is protected from air. It will be noticed 
that the New Jersey farmer, in one of the ex- 
periments above noticed, applied 30 loads of 
" calcareous earth" to the acre, with no appa- 
rent effect as regards the action of the green 
oats and broom corn. 

It is, perhaps, probable that clover may be 
less inclined to produce the acid before spoken 
of, than grass, oats, and Indian corn ; yet the 
effect alluded to are not altogether unknown 
where clover has been ploughed in. Farmers 
who are in the practice of turning in this crop, 
therefore, deem it best to allow it to mature and 
dry to a considerable degree, thus avoiding the 
consequences which the decomposition of a large 
quantity of sap is believed to produce. 

The advantages of turning in crops depend 
somewhat on the mechanical condition of the 
soil. Tenacious soils are rendered more friable 
by the admixture of vegetable matter. Light 
soils are already too light, and though they are 
deficient in organic matter, it is desirable to 
apply it in such form as will not increase their 
lightness. Even tenacious soils are sometimes 
made too loose for the wheat crop by ploughing 
in clover — wheat requiring a soil of considera- 
ble firmness. 

The effect of turning in crops, so far as re- 
lates to the improvement of the fertility of the 
soil, must depend something on the kind of crop 
used for this purpose. Some plants have the 
power of drawing more of their support from 
the air than others. Leguminous plants — clo- 
ver for example — have this power in a greater 
degree than the gramineous — as oats or any 
other kind of grain or grass. It is no loss sin- 
gular than fortunate, that the former contain 
nitrogen in a greater degree than the latter. 
The grains, not being able to obtain their sup- 
ply of nitrogen from the atmosphere, it must 



be contained in the soil to bring them to per" 
fection. Their growth and application to the 
soil cannot, therefore, increase the amount of 
nitrogen, The rapid destruction of this ele- 
ment, which is caused by grain crops, has been 
clearly proved by the experiments of Lawes.— 
But the result may be widely different in the 
production of crops which, like clover, peas, 
beans, &c, can draw more of their constituents 
from the atmosphere. — Boston Cultivator. 



From the New England Farmer. 

Small Farms vs. Large Farms. 

Much is said in praise of small farms, and 
much is said against large farms. Agricultu- 
ral writers seem to vie with each other in praise 
of the one, and denouncing tne other. I wish 
those writers would tell us what a small farm 
is, whether 10, 20, 30, 50, or 100 acres. 

It looks very nice on paper, to talk about a 
snug little cottage, a nice little garden, and a 
little farm, one or two cows and a horse, and no 
trouble of hired help. In practice it is a very 
different thing. I should like to see the first 
contented man who had to farm for a living in 
that situation.; the first one that did not want a 
little more land. 

If a man is going to gardening, and lives near 
a market, 5 or 10 acres will do, — but if a man 
is going to farming, let him have a farm from 
100 to 500 acres, one that he does not have to 
sell off his stock in a dry year, or buy the corn 
for his own bread. That is the case back in 
the country frequently with the small farmers. 
I will give you some of the inconveniences of 
small farming, as I have been, there, and know 
them well. 

You cannot keep a team, but must be depen- 
dent on your neighbors to do your ox work, and 
they will do it when they can attend to it, or 
when they have got theirs done. At many 
kinds of work, one hand works to great disad- 
vantage, such as haying, digging stones, laying 
heavy walls, plowing, &c. The buildings on a 
small farm must be nearly as costl}~as those on 
a large farm, to make you comfortable. The 
cost of a small farm is almost all buildings. 
But the worst of all is, you have nothing to sell, 
or nothing comparatively. I am not speaking 
of gardening, but of farming, of raising corn, 
potatoes, oats, wheat, rye, hay, dairy stock, &c. 
If 40 acres will support a family in a house 
worth 10 to $1500 dollars, then "80 acres will 
support 2 families, with the 10 per cent, inter- 
est on the cost of the buildings, and 160 acres 
will support 4 families with from 3 to 500 dol- 
lars, saving on interest and repairs on buildings 
yearly. 

Every other branch of business can be done 
best and cheapest on a large scale. Great fac- 
tories, great ships, great machine shops ; but 
little farms is the talk. I said I had been there. 
I commenced farming on a little farm about- 20 
acres, say G in mowing and tillage, 5 in wood- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



413 



land, and 7 or 8 in pasturing and brush. I 
was more plagued to carry on that than I am 
now with 2 or 300 acres. I could keep a horse 
and cow. I could not afford to have tools — no 
small farms can. It was borrow, borrow. Capt. 
i., can you let me have your cart to-day ? Dea. 
E., can you lend me your plow, your harrow, or 
something? No team, no tools; I was soon 
sick of that, and I bought more land. 

Give me a gocfd large farm, and then I can 
have every thing that a farmer wants, and have 
something to sell. Can buy a dozen head of 
cattle at any time, or sell 20, just as fancy or in- 
terest may dictate. I want an orehard that 
would cover a little farm all over. If it is pro- 
fitable to cultivate one acre, it is profitable to 
cultivate one hundred well. I know of no way 
that a man can make a little farm rich, but 
what could be adapted to a large farm. If there 
is, I wish your correspondent would point it 
out for the benefit of X. 

Hollis, N. H., 1857. 



Healthy Houses. 

Recent occurrences in Washington City prove 
the truth of an article we published two years 
ago, on "•Health and House-Hunting/' It is 
estimated that not less than a thousand persons 
had their health seriously impaired while at the 
National Hotel, in consequence of the drain- 
ings of the immense establishment having been 
prevented from passing off, allowing no escape 
for their destructive effluvia, except upwards 
through the building, first saturating the meats 
which were eaten, and. then the atmosphere 
which the guests were compelled to breathe 
every moment they were on the premises ; thus, 
at least, reported. 

There can be no doubt that millions of peo- 
ple die every year from similar causes, but be- 
ing less concentrated, the work is done in too 
gradual a manner to excite suspicion. In Bos 
ton, a number of years ago, very special pains 
were taken to keep the city in an unexception- 
al cleanly condition, to prevent the advent of 
cholera. 

Every privy, every back-yard, every gutter, 
was scrupulously examined, and the occupant 
of each house was enjoined to keep the kitchen 
and pantry scrupulously free from dirt and 
dampness. Yet, after all this precaution, the 
cholera did appear in one street with great ma- 
lignity, and a severe disappointment and dis- 
couragement was the result as to the efficacy of 
such sanitary measures. All was explained, 
however, when the visiting committee entered 
the cellar of an indicated house, aud there, in 
its darkest corner, was the festering mass of 
corruption — the house offal of a whole winter. 
With its removal, the epidemic ceased. 

As this May moving season is the time for 
changes, when many enter new purchased 
homes and all begin to ' improve' more or less, 
we crave a mature consideration of the sugges- 
tions made, believing as we do, that it concerns 



the health of many families. And on all who 
change their habitations, we urge the bestowal 
of a large, a very large share of attention, first 
of all, to the cellar ; remove every movable 
thing ; open every door and hatchway ; sweep 
it, yes, sweep it half a dozen times — floor, sides, 
ceiling ; then give a plentiful coating of white- 
wash, made with unleached lime, and in all 
other respects, attend to the suggestions made 
a year ago, for the obvious reason, that what- 
ever of filth is in the cellar, rises upwards and 
saturates the atmosphere of the whole building, 
not to kill you in a night, not to poison yeur 
system in so short a space as a few days, as at 
the National Hotel, in Washington City, but 
w T hich in its more insidious workings, saps by 
slow degrees the health of those who are dear- 
est to us, draining them of their vitality until 
none is left, and before we are aw r are, we find 
them a wreck, the mere shadow of w r hat they 
were a few years before, in spite of their living 
in unexceptionable (outside) brown stone build- 
ings, up town, in one of the best ventilated 
spots on the globe, with broad rolling rivers on 
either side, and an ocean at the foot, all owing 
to careless servants, their master setting the 
example, making the cellar the receptacle of 
all that is foul and filthy. There is more sound 
practical hygiene on this subject of healthy 
houses in the fourteenth chapter of Leviticus, 
from verse thirty-four, than in all the skulls of 
all the health commissioners and common coun- 
cils of all the cities of Christendom. — Journal 
of Health. 



From the Scientific-American. 
Syrups. 

Although these preparations are so little used 
in England, there is no reason why they should 
not become a regular article in the housekeep- 
er's store-room ; they are easy to prepare, and 
are very agreeable to the palate, also economi- 
cal, as they supersede the use of ardent spirits 
and wine. On the Continent it is a common 
practice to drink simple syrup (which is called 
eau sucree, but w r hich we term capillaire,) dilu- 
ted w T ith water to the taste of the drinker. 

Capillaire is made thus : — dissolve about two 
pounds of the best refined white sugar in one 
pint of water ; boil the mixture for five or ten 
minutes, then strain it through lawn, or a hair 
sieve ; when cold it is fit for use. 

Syrup of Cloves. — Proceed in the same way 
as for making capillaire, but with the sugar add 
thirty to forty cloves that have been broken or 
ground. 

All the syrups of spices, as cinnamon, nut- 
meg, ginger, &c, can be made in the same way. 

Syrups of Fruit. — These are prepared in a 
similar manner to capillaire, substituting the 
juices of the fruit in place of the ^vater ; in 
this way it is very easy to make syrup of oran- 
ges. Before the oranges are squeezed, to ex- 
press their juice, each orange should be well 



414 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



rubbed or grated with the lump sugar — by so 
doing the fine flavor of the rind is preserved. 
All these syrups are drunk by diluting them 
with water. About a wineglassful of syrup to 
a tumbler of water will be found to make a 
pleasant draught. 

Syrup of Coffee. — Take about an ounce of the 
finest coffee, ground, and a pint of cold water ; 
allow them to stand together for twelve hours 
or more, then strain, and add one pound and a 
half of sugar ; boil for one or two minutes, not 
longer, and again strain. 

Bgrup of Tea.— One pint of water, two pounds 
of sugar, an ounce of black tea ; boil together 
for five minutes, or rather less, and then strain. 
A wineglassful to half a pint of cold water 
makes very good cold tea. 

To Neutralise the Acid (or Sourness) in Fruit 
Pies and Puddings. — As the fruit season now 
advances, it is well worthy of notice that a 
large quantity of the free acid which exists in 
rhubarb, gooseberries, currants, and other 
fruits, may be judiciously corrected by the use 
of a small quantity of carbonate of soda, with- 
out in the least affecting their flavor, so long as 
too much soda is not added* To an ordinary 
sized pie or pudding, as much soda may be 
added as piled up will cover a shilling, or even 
twice such a quantity, if the fruit is very sour. 

If this little hint is attended to, many a sto- 
mach-ache will be prevented, and a vast quan- 
tity of sugar saved ; because, when the acid is 
neutralized by the soda, it will not require so 
much sugar to render the sour sweet. 

Septimus Piesse. 



during winter and spring. I do not consider 

the corn injured %n the least by the turnips, as 

thev grow principally after the corn is cut off. 

May 22, 1857. Simon. 



From the Germantown Telegraph. 

Turnips among Corn. 

Mr. Editor, — I wish to call the attention of 
my brother farmers to the fact that turnips can 
be grown among corn with very little trouble 
or expense. I have raised them for several 
years in the following manner : After the cul- 
tivator went through the corn the last time for 
the season, I followed that with the turnip seed, 
sowing broadcast ; a boy follows dragging a 
hand-rake, and it is done. Last year I used a 
drill with better success than broadcast. Two 
boys can keep up with the cultivator — one to 
pull, the other at the handles. Put one row of 
turnips between each row of corn. I of course 
am alluding to ground that will bring a good 
crop of corn ; in poor ground it is useless to 
put turnip seed or anything else among corn. 
I have tried several different kinds of turnips, 
and find the Yellow Aberdeen and White Nor- 
folk to produce the best. The latter I think is 
most productive. The seed can be procured at 
almost any of the seed stores in Philadelphia, 
at nne dojlar a pound, and a pound I think 
sufficient for a five acre field. It will most 
likely produce two or three hundred bushels. 
Now I consider the cost and trouble nothing in 
comparison to that amount of turnips to feed 



Fine Stock. — Among the treasures which 
Mr. Troye, the artist, brought from his recent 
exploration in Oriental countries, is a, veritable 
Arab mare. The animal, which was purchased 
for a stock importing company in Kentucky, 
"is now in this city. She is a. long, well-knit, 
shapely creature, of a greyish color, about the 
average size, with very large and muscular 
thighs, and a marvelous elasticity in every 
movement. Her value is estimated at $10,000. 
This is the second mare of the Desert which 
has been brought to this country. The first, 
also imported by this Kentucky company, came 
in by way of New Orleans. An Arab is ex- 
travagantly fond of such animals. He would 
almost as soon think of selling his own child as 
the fleet and pattent beast which has been rear- 
ed in his own tent, is his tireless companion in 
Desert Journeys, and his most productive 
source of income. The best stock in the world 
came from Arabia, and the importation of ori- 
ginal Arab mares to this country cannot fail to 
improve the American breed of horses. — N. Y. 
Journal of Commerce. 



The Duties of an Overseer. 

As I have been working in the harness as an 
overseer for some time, and as I anticipate 
quitting the profession for the purpose of going 
to Kansas to fight the infernal Abolitionists, if 
necessary, and if not, to try something that is 
more profitable than overseering, I have con- 
cluded to give my views to my brother over- 
seers upon the duties of an overseer, which 
they can take for what they are worth. 

It is here supposed that the overseer is not 
immediately under the employer's eye, but is 
left for days or weeks, and perhaps months, to 
the exercise of his own judgment in the man- 
agement of the plantation. To him we would 
say, bear in mind that you have engaged for a I 
stated sum of money, to devote your time and ) 
energies for an entire year to one object, to car- 
ry out the orders of your employer strictly and 
cheerfully, and to the best of your ability, and 
in all things to study his interest. This re- 
quires something more than your mere pres- 
ence upon the plantation, and that at such 
times as suits your own pleasure and conve- 
nience. On entering upon your duties inform 
yourself thoroughly of the condition of the 
plantation, negroes, stock, implements, fee., 
learn the views of your employer as to the gen- 
eral course of management he wishes pursued, 
and make up your mind to carry out those 
views fully as far as in your power. If any 
objections occur to you, state them distinctly, 
that they may be yielded to or overcome. En- 
deavor to take the same interest in everything 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



415 



upon the place as if.it were all your own, hav- 
ing been entrusted to you by another. Unless 
you feel thus, it is impossible to do your em- 
ployer justice. 

The health of the negroes under your charge 
is an important matter. Much of the usual 
sickness among them is the result of careless- 
ness' and mismanagement. Over-worked, or 
badly-cooked food, and night rambles, are all 
fruitful causes of disease. Well-cooked food, 
including plenty of vegetables, should be sup- 
plied to them at regular hours ; that the sick 
be cheered and encouraged, and some extra 
comforts allowed them, and the convalescent 
not exposed ; that pregnant women be particu- 
larly cared for, and in a great measure exemp- 
ted from labor, and certainly from exposure 
and undue exertion for some time before con- 
finement ; and that while nursing they be kept 
as near the nursery as possible, but at no time 
allowed to suckle their children when over- 
heated ; that the infant be nursed three times 
during the day, in addition to the morning and 
evening, until eight months old, when twice a 
day suffice ; that no whiskey be allowed upon 
the place at any time, or under any circum- 
stances ; but that they have whilst heated and 
at work plenty of good cool water ; that care 
may be taken to prevent the hands from carry- 
ing their baskets full of cotton on their heads — 
a most injurious practice — and, in short, by 
using such means for their comfort as every ju- 
dicious humane man will readily think of, you 
will find the amount of sickness greatly dimin- 
ished. 

Next to the negroes, the stock on the place 
will require your constant attention. It is a 
part of the duty in which overseers are gene: 
rally most careless. The horse and mule stock 
are first in importance ; unless these are kept 
in good order, it is impossible that the work 
can go on smoothly, or your crop be properly 
tended. Put your stables and lot in good order, 
and keep them under lock, and have them lit- 
tered and cleaned out at proper intervals ; to 
attend to sick or maimed animals — to see that 
the gears are always hung up in their proper 
place, kept in good order, and so on. It is an 
easy matter to keep horses or mules fat with a 
full and open corn-crib, and abundance of fod- 
der ; that overseer shows his good manage- 
ment, who can keep his team fat at the least 
expense of corn and fodder. Hogs are gene- 
rally sadly mismanaged. Too many are kept 
and kept badly. One good brood sow for every 
five hands on a place is amply sufficient ; in- 
deed, more pork will be cured from these than 
from a greater number. The implements and 
tools require a good deal of looking after. By 
keeping a memorandum of distribution of any 
set of tools, they will be much more "likely to 
be forthcoming at the end of each month. 
Axes, hoes, and other small tools, of which ev- 
ery hand has his own, should have his number 
marked upon it with a steel punch. The strict 



enforcement of one single rule will keep every- 
thing straight — " have a place for everything, 
and see that everything is in its place." 

Of the provision crops there is most com- 
monly enough made upon most plantations for 
their own supply. Rarely, however, is it saved 
without great and inexcusable waste, and fed 
out without still greater. And this, to their 
lasting shame be it said, is too often the case to 
a disgraceful extent, when an overseer feels 
satisfied that he will not remain another year 
upon the place. His conduct should be the 
very opposite of this. 

It is indispensable that you exercise judg- 
ment and consideration in the management 
of the negroes under your charge. Be firm, 
and at the same time gentle, in your control. 
Never display yourself before them in a pas- 
sion ; and even in inflicting the severest pun- 
ishment, do so in a mild, cool manner, and it 
will produce a tenfold effect. When you find 
it necessary to use the whip (and desirable as 
it would be to dispense with it entirely, it is 
necessary at times,) apply it slowly and delib- 
erately, and to the extent you are determined 
in your own mind to be needful before you be- 
gin. The indiscriminate, constant and exces- 
sive use of the whip is altogether unnecessary 
and inexcusable. When it can be done with- 
out a too great loss of time, the stocks offer a 
means of punishment greatly to be preferred. 
Never threaten a negro, but if you have occa- 
sion to punish, do it at once, or say nothing 
until ready to do so. A violent and passionate 
threat will often scare the best disposed negro 
to the woods. Always keep your word with 
them in punishments as well as rewards. 
Never forgive that in one that you would pun- 
ish in another, but treat all alike, showing no 
favoriteism. Never be induced by a course of 
good behavior on the part of the negroes to re- 
lax the strictness of your discipline ; but when 
you have, by judicious management, brought 
them to that state, keep them so by the same 
means. The only way to keep a negro honest 
is not to trust him. This seems a harsh asser- 
tion, but it is unfortunately too true. 

In conclusion, bear in mind that a fine crop 
consists, first, in an increase of the number, and 
a marked improvement in the condition and 
value of the negroes ; second, an abundance of 
provision of all sorts for man and beast, care- 
fully housed ; third, both summer and winter 
clothing made at home ; also leather tanned, 
and shoes and harness made, when practicable; 
fourth, an improvement in the productive qual- 
ities of the land, and in the general condition 
of the plantation ; fifth, the team and stock 
geuerally, with the farming implements and 
buildings in fine order at the close of the year: 
and young hogs more than enough for next 
year's killing ; then, as heavy a crop of cotton 
as could possibly be made under the circum- 
stances, sent to market in good season, and of 
prime quality. • 



416 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



The time has passed when the overseer was 
valued solely for the number of bales of cotton 
he had made, without reference to his other 
qualifications. — Farmer and Planter. 



Report of the Laurens Agricultural Society. 
Characteristics of Overseers. 

BY DR. J. A. METTS. 

Having been appointed to report to the 
Society, on the duties of overseers, I pro- 
ceed to do so. Planting is so much de- 
pendant on the capacity and action of the 
overseer or agent of the planter, that the 
topic would expand over a wide range, to 
treat it fully. 

The day is past when the overseer should 
only be regarded for the energy with 
which he can accomplish manual labor, 
with a gang of hands. He should be in- 
telligent and well informed upon all the 
routine of plantation duties ; in fact, should 
be fully able to take charge of every de- 
partment of the business upon the planta- 
tion to which his services are employed. 
He should be sober, industrious, and dis- 
posed to listen fully to the orders and sug- 
gestions of his employer. Whenever the 
employer gives an order, he should obey 
it, even if it did not coincide with his own 
notions. 

Overseers, very often set up for them- 
selves on plantations, and it is all " my 
crop," . " my mules'" "my stock," "my 
hands" with them, when out of sight of 
their employers. When we hear such ex- 
pressions fall from the lips of an overseer, 
we invariably think that it is time such 
men should become proprietors, and give 
up the business of overseeing. 

We do not object to a just pride and in- 
terest being felt by the overseer, in all 
things, but he. should confine himself to 
the legitimate sphere of his duties. To 
enumerate them will perhaps best subserve 
the purposes of this report. 

We will commence by remarking that 
the overseer should have a correct knowl- 
edge of the character, constitutional ca- 
pacity, habits, and general disposition of 
every slave he has under his charge. He 
should be able to tell how much labor he 
could perform with his gang, on any given 
day, or in any given time. He should 
know every animal on the place — the hor- 
ses and mules in the same manner as the 
negroes, and the other stock — by sight. 



He should keep a regular inventory of 
every cow, sheep and hog on the* place, 
and those should be counted every week, 
by him. Every tool and implement, every 
trace, pair of names, sets of harness, in 
like manner should be entered in his list, 
and he should see, at stated intervals, 
whether any are missing. Waggons, carts, 
and plows ; plow moulds, axes, spades, and 
shovels, all should be put down on the list, 
and kept in their places, and in good re- 
pair. This is legitimately the overseers 
duties, and he is not perfect in his calling, 
until he does these things properly and 
correctly. He should be able to keep 
all the accounts, as well as the sales of 
domestic produce of the plantation, as of 
the produce of the different fields. He 
should recollect that his time is not his 
own, but his employer's, and that it should 
not be spent in riding about to public gath- 
erings, when he has no particular business i 
at such places. To the absence of over- 
seers from their hands, may be attributed 
a great deal of the failure on plantations. 
The time which is idled away by the 
hands, all the bad work which is done in 
his absence, can never be remedied by 
pushing them on after he returns ; he 
should remember that every day has its 
own tasks toperflfrm. It is important that 
the overseer should be with the hands all 
the time they are at labor. He is the pro- 
per person to take in charge the young ne- 
groes, and teach them the methods of la- 
bor and the proper performance of their 
tasks. If they are properly trained, they 
will always be good hands, and if they are 
badly trained, they will always be indiffe- 
rent hands. The overseer should attend 
also, and with great strictness, to the moral 
deportment and habits of cleanliness upon 
the plantation. — Health and cleanliness go 
hand in hand, and filth and disease in like 
minner are linked together. 

Whenever the overseers of the land 
improve and fit themselves by education 
and information, to properly discharge all 
these duties, they will not be regarded as 
they usually are by their employers, as ' 
mere agents to do that work which they 
do not wish to do themselves. They con- 
trol the property of so many people under 
our planting system, that it is highly re- 
quisite that they should be enlightened 
and well informed. Whenever they are 
thus taught, it is right and proper they 



TIJE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



417 



should be made companions of by their 
employers — for I would have none that I 
could not fellowship with. 

By this course they will soon become 
gentlemen of good habits, and their tone 
of character vastly improved in every es- 
sential particular. — Farmer and Planter. 



From the Massachusetts Ploughman. 
Indian Corn, Maize. 

(ZEA MAYS.) 

In England the name corn is a general 
one,, applied to all kinds of grain ; but the 
vast amount of maize raised in this coun- 
try, has changed this general name almost 
completely into a specific one among us, 
and by corn we mean Indian corn alone. 
In Germany this word (korn) is applied to 
rye almost exclusively, and the name is 
applied in different countries to that cereal 
grain which is raised in the greatest quan- 
tities. 

Maize belongs to this great natural fam- 
ily of the. grasses or Graminece, among 
which it is distinguished for its beauty and 
luxuriant growth. It is an endogen or in- 
side grower, like most tropical plants, and 
its long waving leaves covering broad 
fields afford us a fine example of the pre- 
sent vegetation of the tropics. The flow T - 
ers are monoecious, that is, the pistils and 
stamen, grow upon different parts of the 
same plant. The tassels, the staminate 
or male flowers, bear the anthens filled 
with fitten, which is shed upon the silk, 
the pistillate or female flowers, each 
flower terminating at first in a rudimen- 
tary kernel. If the silk is destroyed by 
insects, or in any other way, before fertil- 
ization takes place, the kernels will not 
perfect, as also if the plant, from poverty 
of soil or any other reason, lacks vigor for 
their development. Thus most stalks ex- 
hibit one or more rudimentary ears which 
never come to perfection. The caryopsis, 
or kernel, is compressed by crowding into 

flattened shape, roundish when not 
crowded. The rows are always in pairs, 
from eight to twenty-four or more. When 
less than eight there is a vacancy on the 
sides of the cob. The pollen of one 
plant assists in fertilizing those that stand 
inear, hence stalks growing at the distance 
Df several rods from others, rarely produce 
perfect ears. 

While we allow wheat to retain the title 
27 



of "prince of cereals," it must be admit- 
ted, that in many respects, maize is more 
justly entitled to it. Scarcely excelled by 
the former for culinary uses, its produc- 
tiveness is so great that it far surpasses 
any other grain as food for animals, and 
in capacity to sustain a dense population. 
In America, with a congenial climate, it 
forms the basis of all successful husban- 
dry, and we shall be justified in devoting 
considerable space to it in our columns, 
though but little new can be said upon its 
culture. 

This was the only grain cultivated by 
the aborigines of this country, and of all 
the cereals best adapted to their uses. The 
different leading kinds were known to 
them and carefully kept distinct, for as 
they are not species but mere varieties, 
they readily mingle and los3 their pecu- 
liarities. Even with this rude husbandry 
it yielded fair crops, was easily gathered 
and preserved, and with the simplest pre- 
paration afforded grateful and nutritious 
food. Indeed we can hardly conceive 
how without it the country could have 
maintained even so scanty a population. 
But, useful as it was to them, it seems 
even more necessary to us. The hardy 
pioneer easily carries the seed for acres, 
and in less than three months he can en- 
joy the fruits of his labors, even where 
mills and other appliances of civilization 
are unknown. Its numerous 'varieties 
adapt it both to a temperate and a torrid 
clime, and in soil it allows of the greatest 
range. We are not surprised then, at the 
report of the census of 1850, of the 
amount of the* crop of 1849, and its rela- 
tive value compared with other great sta- 
ples. The total product for 1849 was 
592,141,230 bushels, being double the 
amount of all other grains, as wheat, rye, 
oats, buckwheat, barley, peas and beans, 
while in value it slightty exceeded the 
three leading articles of wheat, cotton and 
hay. The same census shows a gain at a 
rapid ratio upon the others in the amount 
produced. 

The average crop throughout the Union 
is shown to be 25 bushels, while Connec- 
ticut has the honor of giving the highest 
yield per acre, forty bushels. The ave- 
rage of Massachusetts is thirty-one, while 
Ohio gives thirty seven, some counties in 
the latter State averaging fifty bushels. 
The five States cf Ohio, Kentucky, Ten- 



418 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



nessee, Indiana and Illinois, produced over 
280,000,000 bushels, being one half the 
entire crop of the country. Most premium 
crops, as shown by the statistics of our 
agricultural'Societies, exceed one hundred 
bushels per acre, and there is little doubt 
b«ut that the cost per bushel of corn yield- 
ing one hundred bushels, is less than that 
of corn yielding less than forty, the ave- 
rage in this State. It is an interesting in- 
quiry why the average is so low, especi- 
ally in many States of reputed fertility. 
Ignorance, not only of the wants of this 
crop, but of the simplest principles of 
Vegetable physiology, with adherence to 
old and false practices conduce to this re- 
sult. As tolerable crops are sometimes 
realized even when sadly neglected, too 
many are satisfied and seek for no im- 
provements. 

VARIETIES. 

The greater number of varieties inclu- 
ding every shade of white, yellow, red or 
striped, and dark purple colors, all shapes 
of kernel and size of ear, resulting both 
from accident or soil and climate, now 
possesses a good degree of permanence, 
when planted separately, though they 
readily mix when planted together, and 
lose their peculiarities when transferred to 
an uneenial climate. 



The Buck Trade. 

Among other sources of wealth which 
have been developed by the establishment 
of a line of steamers between this port 
and New York, we have heretofore over- 
looked the traffic in wild. ducks, which 
gives employment to a large number of 
persons, and requires little or no capital to 
carry it on. How many are employed in 
the slaughter of the web-footed tribe, we 
are unable to say; but we will take for 
example the operations in this line as car- 
ried on by Edgar Burroughs, Esq., a i-ub- 
stantial and respectable farmer of Princess 
Anne, on Long Island, Back Bay, (which 
he has lately purchased,) from time imme- 
morial famous as the resort of wild ducks 
and geese. He has had twenty men em- 
ployed constantly since the commence- 
ment of the season, and up to the 30th of 
December they had consumed in their vo- 
cation twenty-three kegs of gunpowder, 
with shot in proportion. The ducks which 
they killed were brought to Norfolk once 



a week, and piled up in the warehouse of 
Kemp & Bushy, on Roanoke square, where. 
on every Wednesday, they were packed 
in barrels and shipped for New York by 
the steamship Jamestown. The number 
of barrels thus sent off weekly, have, up 
to this time, averaged from 15 to 25 bar- 
rels, and one week the number reached as 
high as 31. They consist of all the varie- 
ties of the duck species known in our lat- 
itude, such as canvas backs, red heads, 
mallard, black ducks, sprigtails, bullnecks, 
baldfaces, (or wigeons,) shovelers, &c, to 
which may be added a good proportion of 
wild geese. Yesterday being packing day, 
we were invited b}' our friend, Mr. Bur- 
roughs, to step in and see the display of 
game ; there was enough to fill 16 barrels, 
a considerable portion being canvas backs, 
which were uncommonly fine. Hereto- 
fore the season has been highly favorable 
for the success of these operations, as 
ducks will keep a long time in such cold 
weather as we have had, and will proba- 
bly continue to have through the season. 
We should be glad to obtain some further 
statistics respecting this new traffic ; such 
as the expenditure of ammunition, the 
whole number of barrels shipped in a sea- 
son, the number of ducks and geese con- 
tained in them, the number of persons em- 
ployed, the average price sold for per pair 
in the New York market, and the proba- 
ble amount netted to the enterprising indi- 
viduals who carry on the business. It 
would form a curious record, especially to 
those who remember when Norfolk was 
the only market that was supplied with 
game from the same quarter! — JVo?folk 
Herald. 



Cure for Hydrophobia. 

Receipt. — First dose, 1 oz. of elecampane 
root, boiled in 1 pint milk until reduced to a 
half pint. Second dose (to be taken two days 
after the first,) \\ oz. of elecampane root boiled 
in 1 pint of milk, boiled as the first. Third 
dose, the same as the second (to be taken two 
days after) ; in all three doses. 

The above was sent to the N. York Tribune- 
by J. W. Woolston, of Philadelphia, a"s a cure 
for the above terrible disease, and he states that 
he has known it to be perfectly successful in 
effecting a cure in twenty cases. — Scientific Arm 



The .living principle in plants makes power- 
ful efforts -to place (.heir lateral roots at a proper 
distance from the surface. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



410 



Mapes' & Gibbs' Rotary Bigger 

We are very glad to get the following report 
of the Beech Island Farmers' Club, which we 
extract from the Southern Cultivator. It is a 
favourite implement of Prof. Mapes, which does 
not seem to have progressed from ilie primaries, 
to use the technicality of that eminent profes- 
sor of Chemistry and Chilian Guano. 

Unlike the editor of the Southern Cultivator, 
we will express an opinion on this subject. — 
The report of the New York Committee is 
headed by "II. Meigs, chairman^ whose name 
we frequently see in The Working Farmer as 
chairman or something of the sort at those 
meetings of some agricultural club of New 
York city where Prof. Mapes is in the habit of 
promulgating his Progression of the primaries 
and other crudities. Who the others may be 
we do not know. But we do know that the re- 
port of the Beech Island Farmers' Club ema- 
nates from a class of men who are entitled to 
much higher credit, prima facie, than a simi- 
lar body from New York city under the auspi- 
ces of Prof. Mapes and H. Meigs, chairman. 
But we also know from other authority in New 
York city, which we are not at liberty to name, 
that the Rotary Digger is not held in high re- 
pute there by every body. 

The leading idea of this implement is not 
new : we have several times extracted articles 
into the Planter which discussed it. It origi- 
nated in the speculations as to the application 
of steam to ploughing ; some very ingenious 
persons contending, we think correctly, that as 
the niode of action of steam was rotary in all 
things else, so must it be in aration ; and that 
% true steam plough would be a rotating cylin- 
ler armed with projecting teeth, like, say, the 
;eeth of a cultivator, which should be forced 
nto the ground by the weight of the cylinder, 
md prized out by its forward motion as a spade 
s prized out by the spadesman, thus pulveriz- 
ng the earth more completely than the plough, 
md throwing the dirt behind, as a dog does in 
scratching ; whilst the baking of the ground, 
;ucli as a plough makes at the bottom of the 
urrow, would be altogether avoided. 

We mention this lest persons should discard 
he idea altogether from the ridiculous failure 
f our sugar-house professor. We beg them 
lot to do it, and assure them that if they do, 
hey would make as great a blunder as if they 



[should condemn Peruvian guano because the 
Chilian article had proved worthless. 

Those who are curious on this subject and 
will consult the pages of Talpa, or the Chroni- 
cles of a Clay Farm, a delightful little work 
which every farmer of literary taste should 
read, will there find it very pleasantly discuss- 
ed. 

Reports of Committees — 3fapes' and Gibbs' Ro- 
tary Digger. 
The undersigned, committee of the Beech 
Island Farmers' Club, appointed to test the 

Eerformances of. a "Mapes' & Gibbs' Rotary 
•igger," and "Washington Plow, No. 2," re- 
cently purchased by a member of this Club, re- 
port : That they have witnessed the perform- 
ances of these implements in a loamy clay soil 
in excellent order to exhibit them to the best 
advantage. 

From the cost of the Digger ($125 at the fac- 
tory in New York,) and from several notices of 
it in the Working Farmer, a journal conducted 
by Mr. Mapes, one of the inventors, and par- 
ticularly on account of an editorial article in 
the* July number of that journal, in which it 
was stated that, with a single yoke of oxen, 
this implement would completely pulverize the 
soil the width of two and a half double horse 
plow furrows (assumed to be at least 20, per- 
haps 30 inches) and 1G inches deep, the Com- 
mittee expected to see the most remarkable and 
efficient agricultural implement yet invented — 
one calculated to create a new era in farming. 

On examining it, they found that it was an 
attempt to combine the Subsoil Plow, the Roll- 
er and the Harrow in one. The Subsoil Plow 
which was attached to the beam in front, had a 
blade 7 inches wide at its greatest width, and 
from the bottom of the blade to the beam was 
15 inches. The Roller, which was immediate- 
ly in the rear of the subsoil plow, was 10 inches 
long and 14 in diameter. On each side of the 
roller were the diggers, small iron teeth 2J 
inches wide and G inches long. The Roller con- 
sisted of a succession of plates revolving each* 
on a journal of its own, and each digger or 
tooth did the same ; both the roller and diggers, 
however, revolving in the rear of the plow on a 
common axel. We tried this implement or ma- 
chine first with one j r oke of oxen, but finding 
they could not pull it when made to do its ut- 
most, another equally fine yoke was added, and 
the work was more than ample for both yokes. 
At its best, this machine subsoiled and rolled 
down (the land being in such condition that not 
a clod was made) a strip 7 inches wide, the 
centre of which was l2| inches deep, and the 
whole on an average of 10 inches. It could do 
no more. 

The Diggers at the sides entered the earth, 
making holes, on an average,. 4 inches deep, 
and scooping out at every 6 inches, a handful 



420 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



of earth. The entire width of subsoiled and 
scarified lanc\ was 18 inches, and a very thin 
coating of dead grass choked it up every 30 or 
40 yards. 

As good a Subsoil Plow as this can be placed 
on the plantation of any member of this Club 
for $6, and can be made to pulverize the earth 
as deep and as wide with two good mules. The 
Roller is of no appreciable value ; while the 
diggers, whose only possible use might be to 
pierce a clod occasionally, and which absorb at 
least one-half of the motive power, are simply 
a nuisance. 

The unanimous opinion of the committee is 
that the "Mapes' and Gibbs' Rotary Digger" 
is a gross imposition. The question was put 
and not one of the committee would consent to 
accept of it as a present. 

The "Washington Plow, No. 2," the cost of 
which was $10 at the factory, was next tried. 
It was found to be rather too much for one yoke 
of oxen, but two yokes carried it with ease, and' 
it cut and turned a furrow 12 inches deep and 
12 inches wide. For breaking up land and for 
hill-side ditching and surface drains, it is an 
excellent implement. While in the opinion of 
the Committee the "Digger" never can be im- 
proved into a machine of any economic value, 
they think it would- be a very great improve- 
ment to the latter valuable plow to make the 
beam 6 or 8 inches longer. All of which is 
respectfully submitted to the Club. 

R. Bradford, 

Chairman. 
S. Clark,. 
II. R. Cook, 
Jon. M. Miller, 
Geo. B. Mills, 
J. H. Lamar, 
T. W. Whatley, 
H. L. Mayson, 
Jan. 17, 1857. Committee. 

[Without expressing our own opinion on this 
subject, but merely for the purpose of showing 
how differently the same matter is regarded by 
different people, we append the following Re- 
port on this implement, from a number of gen- 
tlemen at the North, who also witnessed it in 
operation. — Eds. So. Cult.} 

Mapes' and Gibbs' Digging Machine. 
This implement the committee saw in use", and 
had every reason to be satisfied with its perfor- 
mance, as it leaves the soil in better tilth and 
to a greater depth, than can possibly be brought 
about by plowing, harrowing and rolling." — 
This machine may be worked by a pair of oxen 
or mules, and will disturb as much soil in two 
hours to a depth of sixteen inches, as can be 
disturbed in five hours by the same team with 
any plow to the depth of eight inches ; or, dif- 
ferently stated, it will disturb five acres to the 
cUjpth of sixteen inches, in the same time that 



(the same team can plow two acres to a depth of 
eight inches. The soil is left in a finely divid- 
ed state, and the machine may be so set that 
the surface will be turned to any required depth 
from one to twelve inches, while the lower por- 
tion is disturbed without being elevated or mix- 
ed with the surface-soil. 

H. Meigs, Chairman. 
John A. Bunting, 
• Thos. W. Field, 
A. 0. Moore, 
John V. Brower, 
R. L. Waterbury, m. d. 

C F. TUTTLE, 

A. S. Walcott, 
Wm. Raynold, 
S. Rlao-kwell, 
John M. Bixby, 
New York, Jan. 3, '57. Committee. 

Barometer for Farmers. — In one of his let- 
ters, Humboldt says that a barometer should be 
considered as necessary on a farm as a plow: 
but farmers generally prefer to trust in the 
moon and other exploded nonsense, rather than 
invest thirty dollars cash in a reliable instru- 
ment that would repay them tenfold. A sub- 
stitute, called Leoni's Prognosticator, is sold 
for ten dollars. It consists of a phial full of a 
clear liquid, in which swims a snowy substance; 
in fine weather that substance lies on the bot- 
tom, but before a storm it rises to the surface, 
with a tendency to the side opposite the quar- 
ter from which the storm is coming. The sub- 
stances used are kept secret. An ordinary ba- 
rometer indicates the densitj^of the atmosphere. 
Leoni's instrument evidently indicates its elec- 
tric state, and for that reason we are of opinion 
that it is a better instrument to prognosticate 
the weather. The following is a substitute that 
will not cost more than a shilling, and for 
aught we know it may be the identical thing 
itself. Dissolve some camphor in alcohol and 
throw into the solution some soda ; the cam- 
phor will be precipitated in snowy flakes ; col- j 
lect these by passing the mixture through a fil- 
ter, and put them in a phial with clear alcohol 
in which as much canphor as it would, take has 
been dissolved. Cork it, place it where it will 
not be disturbed, examine it every morning and 
nio-ht. 



Marking. — An English writer gives the fol- 
lowing: — Mark on either side of the jwse of the 
sheep, the initials of the owner's name, and on 
the opposite side any number by which he ma3 r 
choose to designate the particular sheep, by 
means of a small iron figure or letter about an 
inch long ; which being dipped in common oil 
colors, -mixed with turpentine to dry them 
more readily, is placed on the part described, 
and will continue until the next shearing 
season. The process is easy and will give the 
animal no pain ; the marks cannot be readily 
obliterated, which is not the case with tattooing 
or cauterizing — Wool Groiccr Reporter. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



421 



High Farming in England. 

The following chapter we take from the 
Rural Economy of England, Scotland, and 
Ireland, — a work of M. De Lavergne, a French 
gentleman, who, a few years ago, made an ag- 
ricultural tour in Great Britain, with a view 
to compare it with the agriculture of his own 
country. Though very little of what is con- 
tained in this chapter will possess a practical 
value to an American, it cannot fail to interest 
every enlightened reader. It will, we hope, 
induce some of them to purchase and read the 
hook. It gives the best picture we have seen 
of the farming of the best farmed country in 
the world. We have reduced the British cur- 
rency to our American standard, to save the 
reader the trouble of making calculations. 

Among the innovations in agriculture which 
the last crisis produced, by far the most impor- 
tant — thatwhich will remain as the most useful 
effect of that great disturbance — is the process 
of putting the land into good condition, known 
by the name of drainage. The draining away 
of superabundant water, especially upon stiff 
soils, has always been the chief difficulty in 
English agriculture. Hitherto .the means em- 
ployed for getting rid of it were imperfect. 
Now, however, the problem is completely solv- 
ed. " Take this flower-pot," said the Presi- 
dent of a meeting in France lately ; " what is 
the meaning of this small hole at the bottom ? 
— to renew the water. And why to renew the 
water? — because it gives life or death: life, 
when it is made only to pass through the bed 
of earth, for it leaves with the soil its produc- 
tive principles, and renders soluble the nutri- 
tive properties destined to nourish the plant; 
death, on the other hand, when it remains in 
the pot, for it soon becomes putrid, and rots 
the roots, and also prevents new water from 
penetrating." The theory of drainage is ex- 
actly described in this figure. 

The new invention consists in employing 
cylindrical tiles of burnt clay to carry off the 
water, instead of open ditches, or trenches 
filled with stones or faggots, — methods known 
even to the ancients. These tiles are several 
decimetres* long, and placed end to end at the 
bottom of trenches, which are then filled in 
with earth. It is difficult at first to under- 
stand, without having seen the effect of these 
tiles, how the water can get into them and so 
escape ; but as soon as one sees a drained field, 
not the smallest doubt of the fact can remain. 
The tiles perform the' office of the small hole 
always open at the bottom of the flower-pot. 



They attract the water, which comes to them 
from all parts, and carry it out either into 
drain-pits, or main-drains, where the inclination 
of the land admits of it. These tiles are often 
made by machinery, which renders their man- 
ufacture inexpensive. They are made of va- 
rious dimensions, and laid in the trenches at a 
greater or less depth, and more or less apart, 
according to the nature of the soil, and the 
quantity of water to be drained off. The to- 
tal cost for purchase and laying amounts to 
about £4 ($20) an acre. It is now generally 
considered that this outlay is money invested 
at 10 per cent., and the farmers scarcely ever 
refuse to add to their lease 5 per cent, per 
annum upon the proprietors' outlay for drain- 
ing. 

There is something magical in the effect of 
draining. Both meadow and arable lands are 
equally benefitted by it. In the meadows, 
marsh plants disappear ; the hay produced is 
at once more abundant and of better quality.* 
On the arable lands, even the most clayey, corn 
and roots shoot ^nore vigorously, and are 
healthier, and less seed is required for a larger 
crop. The climate itself gains sensibly by it. 
The health of the inhabitants is improved ; 
and in all parts where drainage has been vig- 
orously carried out, the mists of the fogy isle 
seem less thick and heavy. Drainage was 
thought of for the first time ten years ago, and 
a million of hectaresf at least are already 
drained ; everything promises that, in tec 
years hence, almost the whole of England will 
be so. It is as if the island were once more 
rising out of the sea. 

The second improvement, of a general kind, 
which will date from the last few years, is a 
large increase in the employment of machines, 
and particularly of steam. Previously to 1848, 
very few farmers possessed a steam-engine. 
Now, one may safely say that, in ten years 
hence, the exceptions will be those without 
them. Smoking chimneys are to be seen in 
all parts of the country. These steam-engines 
are used for thrashing corn, cutting fodder and 
roots, grinding cereals and oilcake. They are 
also employed to raise and distribute water, 
to churn butter, &c. Their heat is no less 
available than their power, and serves to pre- 
pare food both for men and cattle. Some mov- 
able steam-engines go from farm to farm like 
a labourer, to do heavy work. Small portable 



The decimetre equal to nearly four inches. 



"Experience has shown, for some time past, the 
danger of draining grass land in the drier parts of 
England. I mention this exceptional fact here, in 
order to put upon their guard those who are seek- 
ing to introduce drainage into France. One cannoj 
he too cautious where an agricultural innovotion is 
concerned. 

t A hectare is two and one-half English acres. 



•122 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



railways have been invented for conveying 
•manure to the fields, and carrying back the 
crops. Machines for mowing and tending hay, 
reaping, and digging, are now under trial. 
Some have even undertaken to plough by 
steam, and do not despair of success. The 
great desire at present is to find means for 
turnmg up the soil to a depth hitherto unheard 
of, in order to give greater vigour to the arable 
bed. Everywhere mechanical genius is mak- 
ing exertions to carry into agriculture the 
wonders it has elsewhere realized. 

These new processes are only new applica- 
tions of old principles ; but there is one which 
is at variance with all habits, and which en- 
counters more opposition. I have already re- 
marked how much the pasturage of cattle was 
held in repute by the English farmer. The 
new school does away with this mode of feed- 
ing, and introduces permanent stall-feeding 
[stabulation.) But this improved stabulation 
differs as much from the imperfect system prac- 
tised upon the Continent, as the cultivated pas- 
ture differs from the coarser-pastures of our poor 
districts. Nothing is bolder, more ingenious, 
more characteristic of the spirit of enterprize 
among the English than the present system of 
stabulation, such as has been first practised in 
clay districts by the inventors, and which tends 
to extend itself everywhere. 

Suppose a cattle-house, thoroughly aired» 
usually constructed of open planking, with 
mats of straw, which are raised or lowered at 
pleasure for the purpose of sheltering the ani- 
mals, in case of need, from the wind, sun, or 
rain. The cattle, usually of the short-horned 
Durham breed, are there shut up loose in 
boxes, where they remain till ready for the 
shambles. The flooring under them is pier, ed 
with holes, to allow their evacuations to fall 
into a trench below. Beside them is a stone 
trough, with abundance of water ; and others 
contain an unlimited quantity of food. This 
food is sometimes composed of chopped roots, 
bruised beans, crushed oilcake ; sometimes a 
mixture of chopped hay and straw and bruised 
barley ; the whole more or less boiled in large 
boilers, heated by the steam-engine, and fer- 
mented some hours in closed vats. This ex- 
traordinary food, the appearance of which 
confounds a French agriculturist, fattens the 
cattle with great rapidity. Milch cows even 
may be submitted to this seclusion. Examples 
of this stall-feeding are found even in the 
counties most renowned for their dairies, those 
of Cheshire and Gloucestershire. The animals 
are there fed on green meat, and the strictest 
attention is paid to ventilation, and having the 
sheds thoroughly lighted and clean, — warm in 
winter, and cool in summer, protected from 
variations in temperature, and from all that 
Blight disturb or annoy the cows, which there 
live in a constant state of ease and quiet, very 
favourable to the secretion of milk. 

The manure which accumulates in the trench 



is not mixed with any kind of litter; it has been 
thought much more profitable to make the cat- 
tle eat the straw. This manure is very rich, 
owing to the quantity of oily substances con- 
tained in the food of the animals, a portion of 
which is not assimilated by digestion, notwith- 
standing all the means used for that purpose. 
This manure is taken out every three months, 
when required for use. In the mean time, it 
is neither washed by rain nor dried by the sun, 
at is too often the case with the manure-heap 
exposed in the farm-yards. A light sprinkling 
of earth or other absorbent hinders or retards 
the disengagement of ammonia, and its conse- 
quent dissipation in the atmosphere. In en- 
tering these sheds, the absence of smell is re- 
markable. The manure in this way preserves 
all the fertilizing elements which escape else- 
where and poison the air, in place of fertiliz- 
ing the soil. Sometimes it is employed in a 
solid state for cereals, sometimes diluted with 
water, and applied in a liquid state to meadow 
land. 

Pigs, like oxen, are fed indoors, and upon 
perforated flooring : their food is similar. 
Sheep alone are still fed out of doors, but they 
also are immured as much as may be. No 
bad effect upon the health of one or other has 
yet been perceived from this strict confine- 
ment ; provided they enjoy constant pure air 
in their prison, and have the necessary space 
to move about — that is to say, a yard square 
for a sheep or a pig, and two to three yards 
square for a bullock — it is said that they thrive 
excellently. . Exercise in the open air, hith- 
erto considered necessary, is now looked upon 
as a loss, which shows itself by a diminution 
in weight. 

One cannot help feeling sorry to see these 
poor animals, whose congeners still cover the 
immense pastures of Great Britain, thus de- 
prived of their liberty, and prevented from 
moving about, and in thinking that the day 
may perhaps come when all the English cattle 
which now enjoy the green pastures will be 
shut up in melancholy cloisters, which they 
will leave only for the slaughter-house. These 
manufactories of meat, milk, and manure, where 
the living animal is absolutely treated as a ma- 
chine, have something about them revolting, like 
a butcher's stall ; and after a visit to one of these 
stalled prisons, where the process of making 
the staple food of the English is so grossly 
carried on, one takes a loathing at meat for 
several days. But the great voice of neces- 
sity speaks out. Every energy must be 
used to feed that population which unceas- 
ingly multiplies, and whose wants increase in 
a greater ratio than their numbers. The cost 
of producing meat must be lowered as much 
as possible, in order to obtain a profit with the 
new scale of prices. 

Adieu, then, to the pastoral scenes of which 
England was so proud, and which poetry and 
painting vied with each other to celebrate 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



421 



Two only chances- remain to them ; and these 
are. that some new discovery may be made for 
raising the produce of pasturage to the same 
height as that which stabulation now gives, or 
that further experience may show some detri- 
ment to the cattle from this confinement. Al- 
ready complaints are made about the quality 
of the meat so abundantly produced in this 
way ; it is said that the oilcake gives it a bad 
taste, and that the excess of fat on the Dur- 
ham cattle and Dishley sheep renders the meat 
neither very agreeable nor so nourishing. It 
is possible that this is an evil in the new sys- 
tem, and that pasturage, surpassed in quantity, 
maintains its position for the quality of its 
produce; it is possible, also, that some new 
disease may suddenly develop itself among 
these inert and unnaturally fattened races, and 
oblige a new infusion of more energetic blood. 
In any case we may depend upon this, that 
the old-fashioned pasturing will not be given 
up without a struggle ; if it is destined to dis- 
appear, it will be because of their -being no 
other alternative. The most likely result is 
the adoption of a mixed system, partaking of 
the advantages of both methods. * 

While by means of the improved pasture 
farmers succeeded in keeping at most one head 
of large cattle, or its equivalent to one hectare 
in cultivation, which was already much more 
than could be done in France, it is now main- 
tained that by stabulation they will be able to 
keep two, or even three, and so increase con- 
siderably the production of cereals. In that 
case, ali the land becomes arable ; and the 
Norfolk rotation may be applied over the whole 
extent of the property, in place of being con- 
fined to a half. Such are the changes which 
take place in things human ; agriculture is 
subject to them like all else. Hitherto it was 
the use of the pasture-land which, by increas- 
ing the number of cattle, and reducing the 
breadth of cereals, swelled the average return 
of the corn-land. Now the reduction or abo- 
lition of pasturage, while it further increases 
the number of cattle, supplies fresh means for 
increasing the fertility of the soil, and conse- 
quently the production of corn for human 
consumption. 

We have already noticed that, in the pres- 
ent state of things, a farm of 175 acres, taken 
in average condition, would have 75 in grass 
and natural pasture, 20 in roots and pulse 
crops, 20 in barley and oats, 40 in artificial 
grasses, and 20 in wheat. By the new system, 
pushed to its greatest extent, the natural mea- 



* We believe this last conjecture is that most likely 
to be realized. Box-feeding and soiling is not gaining 
so ii|pidly in favour as to cause us any anxiety, either 
as to the desertion of our pastures, or the comfort 
and health of our stock. — J. D. 



dows would disappear, and the 175 acres would 
be thus divided : 35 in roots or pulse crops, 
35 in barley and oats, 70 in artificial grasses, 
and 35 in wheat. The proportion of improv- 
ing crops to exhausting, which in the first 
case was 135 to 30, would in the second be 
only 105 to 70 ; but this difference, it is said, 
would be more than compensated by the ad- 
ditional quantity of manure, since, instead of 
feeding 70 head of cattle, 150 or their equiva- 
lent might be kept, and not an atom of manure 
would be lost. 

Can the extension of roots, pulse crops, and 
artificial grasses, at the expense of natural 
pasture, really give, as is affirmed, two or three 
times more food for cattle ? This question is 
already, in many respects, proved by facts. 
All these crops are improved together, and, 
with the aid of draining and machinery, car- 
ried to their maximum. The cultivation of 
turnips in drills, called the Northumberland 
system, nearly doubles their produce ; the 
rutabagas, or swedes, which are substituted 
for English turnips on clay lands, give a better 
result ; and a still larger increase is obtained 
from the artificial meadows since two new 
methods have been introduced for rendering 
vegetation more active : the first is the use of 
a particular kind of rye-grass, called Italian 
rye-grass ; the second is an improved method 
for distributing liquid manure. 

The Italian rye-grass is a plant remarkable 
for its rapid growth. It lasts only two years ; 
but under favourable circumstances it may be 
cut as niany as eight times in one season. The 
hay it gives is hard, but, consumed in the 
green state, it is excellent. It thrives even in 
the coldest districts, notwithstanding its name 
and origin ; and it is fast coming into general 
use, both in England and Scotland. If it real- 
izes the expectations formed of it, it would 
seem to be superior to lucerne. 

As to the mode of distributing the liquid 
manure, it is certainly the most original and 
curious part of the system. It was invented 
by Mr. Huxtable of Dorsetshire, the principal 
promoter of the new agricultural revolution. 
It is as follows : The evacuation of the cat- 
tle,- after falling into trenches running under 
the stalls, pass through pipes into a reservoir, 
where they are mixed with water and fertilizing 
substances ; from thence other pipes branch 
off underground to the extremities of the 
property. At distances of every fifty or sixty 
yards are placed vertical pipes rising from the 
conducting-pipe to the surface of the ground, 
the orifice of which is closed by a cap. When 
it is desired to manure a part of the land, the 
cap is removed from one of the vertical pipes, 
and a gutta-percha tube fitted on ; a pump put 
in motion by the steam-engine drives the liquid 
through the pipes, and the man who holds the 
movable tube waters around him as from a 
fire-engine. A man and a boy are able to ma- 
nure in this way five aci>es a-day. 



424 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



The expense of the pipes and pumps amount 
to about 30s. ($7 50) per acre, where earthen- 
ware pipes are employed, and <£4 ($20) whore 
they are made of cast iron. The construc- 
tion of reservoirs and setting up a steam-en- 
gine constitute a separate expense, and ought 
not to be included in the estimate, since both 
the one and the other are henceforth indis- 
pensable in every well-ordered farm. The lay- 
ing of the pipes becomes then an economy 
rather than an expense. The outlay for first 
cost and keeping up is very soon regained 
by the saving in manual labour and time, and 
the results obtained are splendid. Vegetation 
very quickly takes up the enriching properties 
thus divided and distributed in showers. The 
effect of the application is in some degree im- 
mediate ; and it may be constantly exhausted, 
since it can be constantly renewed. 

This ingenious invention is evidently des- 
tined to meet with the greatest success. Mr. 
Huxtable began upon sixty acres ; but now 
there are farms, particularly in x\yrshire, 
where these pipes extend over five hundred. 
It has the merit of being adapted to all sys- 
tems of cultivation, and may be the means 
even of preventing the doing away with pas- 
turage : it is capable of application in all 
climates, and may be carried on in hot coun- 
tries, where it would effect ^ much greater won- 
ders. It appears capable of a still wider ap- 
plication than drainage, and it can hardly be 
too strongly recommended to the attention of 
French farmers. 

Owing to this increased quantity of manure, 
enhanced still further by all the artificial ma- 
nures which the imagination has been able to 
discover, the return from cereals may be in- 
creased in the same proportion as animal pro- 
duction. Upon lands cultivated under the 
new methods, the average return amounts to 
forty-four* bushels per acre of wheat, fifty- 
five bushels per acre of barley, and sixty-six 
bushels per acre of oats : as the extent of 
wheat-sown land is at the same time much in- 
creased, the total production is more than 
doubled. These are not mere speculations, 
but facts realized in many parts of the United 
Kingdom. In every county there is one farm 
at least where some rich proprietor is not 
afraid to make these trials, and the body of 
farmers observe, study, and, according to the 
extent of their resources, copy what is suc- 
cessful. 

The whole of the system can only be ad- 
vantageously practised in the districts most 
favourable to the production of Cereals — that 
is to say, in the south-east, where the crisis 
told the most severely. In the west and north, 
cereals are being almost entirely given up, 
Division of labour thus makes a fresh step : 



Five and one-third bushels Virginia measure. 



the cultivation of cereals becomes extended 
upon the lands most adapted for them, and is 
diminished on those leapt favourable to their 
production. Upon the whole, it does not ap- 
pear that the proportion of corn-sown lands 
ought sensibly to change. In those districts 
where the attention of farmer's is being more 
and more directed to the feeding of cattle, the 
results obtained solely by means of stabula- 
tion and the use of liquid manure, if not bet- 
ter, are at least more certain. I will quote but 
one example — the farm of Cunning Park, in 
Ayrshire. This farm, which is only fifty acres 
in extent, was, previously to the crisis, in the 
average condition of England. The rent did 
not exceed 25s. ($6 25) per acre, and the gross 
produce £4 ($20) per acre ; now the gross 
produce reaches £24 ($120) per acre, and the 
net at least £8, ($40.) Nevertheless, Cunning 
Park produces only milk and butter ; but as 
a result of the new methods, it now supports 
forty-eight in place of ten cows, and each of 
these cows is much more productive. 

Such are the general features of the present 
agricultural revolution — high farming, as it 
is called. I must, however, point out one 
more circumstance which may serve still fur- 
ther to characterise the system — the war waged 
against hedges and game. 

When pasturage was the leading feature in 
English forming, large hedges had their use, 
but as stabulation increased that use dimin- 
ished ; they may, moreover, be replaced by low 
hedges or other enclosures. Farmers now find 
them only inconveniences ; they take up a 
great deal of room, their shade and their roots 
are both hurtful to the crops, and they give 
shelter to a host of birds, which devour the 
seed. The majority of proprietors are stiii 
opposed to their destruction ; first, because 
the prunings and thinnings of the hedgerow 
trees bring them in an income, and then be- 
cause these hedges contribute greatly to the 
beauty of the landscape. But some have al- 
ready cleared them away, and the rest will 
have to yield, at least to a certain extent ; for 
the public, impressed with the importance of 
the question, declares itself more and more 
every day in favour of the former. A similar 
fate is evidently reserved for the game, the in- 
crease of which has hitherto been favoured 
by the severity of the Game Laws, to the 
great injury, of crops. Opinion, so favourable 
in England* to large property, and at the same 
time so exacting with regard to it, begins to 
make it a matter of duty with landlords to 
sacrifice their pleasure to the new necessities 
of production. 

While assisting in this peaceable contest, the 
issue of which cannot be doubted, one cannot 
help feeling that abuses of the same nature 
were one cause of the French Revolution. In 
order to preserve themselves from the ravages 
of the seignioral hares and rabbits, our far- 
mers found no better method than to de- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



425 



molish the chateaus, and kill or drive out their 
proprietors. English farmers exhibS more 
patience and moderation, and they are no less 
successful in attaining their end without vio- 
lence. Their only weapon is the obstinate 
representation of their grievances. They qui- 
etly calculate how many acres of land are 
thrown out of cultivation by large hedges — 
how many hares it takes to consume the food 
of one sheep. It is a common frequent saying 
among them, that they are obliged to pay 
three rents — the first to the proprietor, the 
second to his hedges, and the third to his 
game. In some districts they have clubbed 
together to purchase the right of shooting, 
and have then set about exterminating the 
hares, which pays better than killing the land- 
lords. 

All these works of drainage, construction of 
buildings for stabulation, erection of steam-en- 
gines, &c, involve great outlays. The expense 
to the proprietor may bt» estimated at about 
£8 ($40) per acre, and that of the farmer £4, 
($20.) On the strong lands it must necessa- 
rily be more, but on the light much less. This 
fruitful outlay accomplished and well execu- 
ted, of course rents and profits rise beyond their 
former figure, and that even in places where 
they have been the least affected by the fall ; 
it also produces an adequate return upon the 
new capital put into the soil. The land will 
then produce at least one-third more of ali- 
mentary substances. The gross average pro- 
duction, which was equal before to £$ ($15) 
per acre, will then be £4, 10s., ($22 50,) 
while the average rent will probably rise to 
30s., ($7 50,) and the farmer's profit to 18s. 
($4 00) per acre. 

The only question is this, Are proprietors 
and farmers in a condition to furnish the re- 
quired capital? The question is one involv- 
ing no less an amount than four or five hun- 
dred millions sterling. For any other country 
than the United Kingdom such an undertaking 
would be impossible ; for her even it is an ar- 
duous one, but only arduous. The nation 
which, in the course of a quarter of a century, 
has spent £240,000,000 ($1,200,000,000) upon 
railways alone, may well employ twice that 
amount in renewing its agriculture. 
_ The Government felt the necessity for set- 
ting the example. In 1846, at the time when 
it was thought desirable to bring about lower 
prices, it allowed itself to depart from its es- 
tablished principle of non-interference with 
private enterprize, and proposed to the pro- 
prietors to lend them £3,000,000 ($15,000,000) 
for draining, to be secured on mortgage, re- 
deemable by payment of interest for twenty- 
two years at the rate of 6* per cent, per an- 
num— a principle very like" our General Land 
Loan Association (Societe general cle credit 
fonder.) This first loan having succeeded, 
Government made others, and a great number 
of proprietors in the three kingdoms have 



availed themselves of the advance. Private 
capital has followed the impulse. The suffer- 
ing proprietors who were possessed of personal 
property, or had securities upon which they 
could borrow, passed through the crisis 
with credit ; but those who were already em- 
barrassed,* struggled sorely. About a tenth of 
the English proprietors found themselves in 
this latter position, and for these, economists 
and agricultural authorities discovered no bet- 
ter remedy than to help them to the sale or 
division of their real property. 

To do this at the present day is a difficult 
and expensive proceeding, owing to the un- 
certainty of titles. A class of lawyers live by 
the examination of titles, and the confusion 
which there reigns. It was proposed to adopt 
a system of registration like ours, in order to 
regulate and facilitate transfers : the ideas 
promulgated upon this subject are of the radi- 
cal kind. They go the length of requiring 
that landed property should be transferred as 
easily as the funds or other movable property 
and demand no less than that a book should 
be opened for the registration of real property, 
legal extracts from which shall constitute ti- 
tles, and these to be transferrable by endors- 
ation. Everybody must admit that we are far 
from holding antiquated ideas upon the fixity 
of property, and those who propose this re- 
form are not visionaries, but serious writers, 
and justly respected. The subject is even 
under the consideration of Government. 

For the farmers, leases of twenty-one years 
are asked, which will allow them to make the 
necessary advances, with a certainty of reim- 
bursing themselves. At the same time it is 
proposed to do away with the farms of too 
limited extent where the tenants have not suf- 
ficient capital, and to effect a subdivision of 
the too large for the same reason. Those 
farmers who have not sufficient capital drop off 
like the involved proprietors ; such as remain 
close the ranks as in a combat, and in a short 
time all will disappear. 

All this, no doubt, constitutes an immense 
revolution. Agriculture changes from a natu- 
ral, and becomes more and more a manufactur- 
ing process ; each field will henceforth be 
a kind of machine, worked in every sense 
by the hand of man, pierced below by ail 
kinds of canals, some for carrying off wa- 
ter, others for bringing manure, and — who 
can tell ? — perhaps also to convey hot or cold 
air as required, for effecting the most rapid 
changes on its surface ; the steam-engine sends 
forth its columns of smoke over the green 
landscapes celebrated by Thompson. The pe- 
culiar charm of the English fields threatens to 
disappear with the green fields and hedges ; 



* The crisis alluded to was the repeal of the corn 
laws. 



426 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



the feudal character is weakened by the de- 
struction of the game ; parks themselves are 
attacked as depriving the plough of too much 
space. At the same time, property is under- 
going a change ; it is being divided, and in 
part passing into new hands ; while the far- 
mer, with long leases, becomes more and more 
enfranchized from the authority of his land- 
lord. 

■ There is involved in all this more than an 
agricultural question — the whole body of Eng- 
lish society is affected by it. It must not be 
supposed that the English make no revolu- 
tions ; on the contrary, they revolutionize to 
a great extent ; they are always at it, but in 
their own quiet way : thus they attempt only 
what is possible and really useful ; and one 
may be sure that at the close there will be 
complete satisfaction without the entire de- 
struction of the past. 

Clover as an Improver of Wheat. 
Gloucester Co., June 2, 1857. 
Editor of the Southern Planter : 

Dear Sir — I read with some surprise the 
opinions of some of our most distinguish- 
ed farmers, expressed at the Farmers' 
meeting at the Exchange Hotel in April 
last, on the use of clover as an improver 
for wheat. 

It has been my earnest endeavour ever 
since I commenced farming to get the hea- 
viest growth of clover I possibly could to 
turn under for wheat. I have succeeded 
occasionally on small fields in having a 
growth (after cutting off the first crop, 
which is always the heaviest) that I con- 
sidered about two tons to the acre, and 
have never failed to make (what we call) 
heavy crops of wheat whenever I have 
had this growth of clover to. turn under, 
say from 28 to 32 bushels to the acre. 

I have, however, failed to make half as 
much wheat on a lot on which the clover 
was allowed to mature, and upon which 
the stock were turned, and the land close- 
ly grazed before fallowing. 

I am the more forcibly struck with the 
singularity of the custom of turning stock 
on clover "as soon as they can get a bite," 
since I read the very able lecture of Mr. 
Nesbit, published in your May number, 
which I suppose was alluded to by Mr. 
Dulany in this meeting. The lands that 
these gentlemen make 42 bushels of wheat 
to the acre on, must be rich indeed, and 
must be kept up to this great state of fertili- 
ty by the application of other fertilizers 
than that of clover seed, for I can conceive 



of noj^enefit under the system of grazing 
" as soon as the stock can get a bite" (ex- 
cept from the application of the seed) 
either to the land 'or stock, and until the 
clover is partially matured. I have consid- 
ered it rather a disadvantage to most kinds 
of stock to put them on it, certainly of no 
great advantage to any kind. I have 
great respect for the opinions of these dis- 
tinguished gentlemen in any matter relat- 
ing to agriculture, and would like exceed- 
ingly well to be able to imitate them in 
making 42 bushels of wheat to the acre, 
but before I follow the example of turning 
stock on clover "as soon as they can get 
a bite," I would like to know if this has 
been their ?ystem any length of time, or 
if until within a few years past they have 
not given their lands a great deal of vege- 
table matter by turning under heavy cov- 
ers of wheat straw, as well as clover. 

Mr. D. says for Mr. S. that if he did 
not turn his cattle on the clover " as soon 
as they can get a bite, and graze as closely 
as possible," he would make no wheat. — 
Does he mean by this, that if he allowed 
the clover to grow and turned it under, 
his growth of wheat would be so rank that 
it would all fall down, or does he mean 
that he would not have growth enough to 
make a crop; if the former, I can imagine 
the clover turned under would be objec- 
tionable, but if the latter, I cannot con- 
ceive how the growth would be improved 
by allowing the clover to grow until the 
cattle could "get a bite." I suppose the 
former must be the case with them, and 
that the clover grows so luxuriantly that 
the}' are obliged to turn stock on it at this 
early stage to keep it under. Then I am 
at a loss to understand how they are bene- 
fited by the use of clover ; if the clover 
matures, the stock are benefited, and they 
make no wheat ; if it is kept under by the 
stock and not allowed to mature, I cannot 
think the stock are much benefited, but 
they make fine crops of wheat. What 
benefit have they derived from the clover. 
Will some of these gentlemen please tell 
us ? 

A word about our wheat crops in this 
section, and I will occupy no more of your 
valuable space. The appearance of the 
crop has varied much during the Spring, 
at one time, early, looking as if we could 
not make seed, then improving a little and 
then falling off again. At this time they 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



427 



are promising, and but for the army worm 
we should calculate on rather over an av- 
erage crop, but we have thousands of them 
and they have attacked the wheat at an 
earlier stage than I have ever known them 
before. What injury they will do it f can- 
not say, but I am afraid very great. They 
are in the corn too, and many persons are 
afraid they will have to plant over again. 
Very respectfully yours, 

Anti Early Grazing. 



[From the Papers of the Nottoway Farmers' 
. Club.] 

On Abandoning Tobacco Culture. 

The object of an agriculturist in this 
portion of Virginia, deeply imbued with 
the spirit of improvement, should be, to 
combine the greatest degree of ameliora- 
tion in his soil with such a rate of increa- 
sing profits as will, at no very distant day, 
reward him for his trouble, and, it may be, 
temporary losses. The common three- 
field system, accompanied with grazing, 
has not proved sufficiently restorative in 
its effects to entitle it to claim a place 
among the systems of improvement ; on 
the contrary, ample experience has as- 
signed it a place among those of deteriora- 
tion and impoverishment. The ring-fence 
system, with a three-field rotation, might 
be an improving one to the soil, but the 
pecuniary profits therefrom, if such be the 
case, are so equivocal or unsatisfactory, as 
to preclude it from the choice of one 
anxious to realize the benefits of an en- 
lightened zeal. The fourfield rotation, 
though more promising, has disadvantages 
connected with it which would cause it to 
yield, in my preference, to that of the 
five-field. To those then, who would adopt 
an ameliorating course of culture, mj^ re- 
commendation would be that of the five- 
field plan, accompanied, as it ordinarily is, 
by the clover fallow for wheat. 

But in order to push on the car of agri- 
cultural improvement at a pace more com- 
mensurate with our wants, and to effect 
more radical changes in our present modes 
of cultivation, more ardor and enthusiasm, 
more patriotic fortitude in risking some 
temporary or even eventual loss in the 
cause of common humanity are required 
among us than at present prevail. We 
want more bold innovators, like some 



whom we could mention, who, placed by 
fortune in circumstances of comfort and 
prosperity, and fearless of the risk of losing 
a few hundred dollars from year to year for 
the sake of testing the value of theories 
suggested by enlightened reason, and big 
with the promise of ultimate profit, shall 
step into the breach, and earn the grati- 
tude and praise of indebted millions, born 
and unborn, either by the triumph of suc- 
cessful enterprize, or the explosion of cap- 
tivating and hazardous errors. Cannot 
the Nottoway Club furnish some such ? 
There is that important question which 
probably agitates the minds of several of 
us, whether it would not be better, on the 
whole, for us to give up entirely the culti- 
vation of tobacco ? How are we to decide 
it satisfactorily, unless by experiment ? 
And can no one be found among us, (who 
has much doubt upon the subject,) willing 
to risk the chances of it may be an incon- 
siderable loss of income, to test the value 
of a change so full of promise to agricul- 
tural improvement ? If any one should 
want encouragement in making such an 
important change, let him reflect upon the 
high prices which he now has to give for 
articles which he might then raise for his 
own use or for sale.. If tobacco is selling 
high, are not corn, wheat and oats too? 
If he should want examples, let him turn to 
some of the brightest names upon agricul- 
tural record, and not very far distant from 
us, and he will find them. Let us look at 
the tide water country generally, and ask 
ourselves the question, why should they 
dispense with the culture of tobacco and 
we not? There was a very good reason 
for it before the South Side Railroad 
opened its channel for us to market; but 
now the case is very much altered, and by 
means of its facilities, Nottoway Court 
House is brought by computation to within 
a little over two miles to Petersburg. 
Now just suppose that our plantations 
were situated within say 10 miles of Pe- 
tersburg, what, then, might be the proba- 
ble practice of some or all of us in this 
matter? But again, suppose a plantation 
of 300 acres of arable land converted into a 
farm of 500 acres, upon which no tobacco 
is made, and let us form some estimate of 
the comparative profits resulting from 
them. Take first the plantation cultivated 
by 10 hands and divide into three fields 
and 3 tobacco lots. 



428 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



Plantation — 300 acres [in 3 fields and 3 lots.) 
Tobacco, 25 acres, $40 per acre $1000 00 

Corn, 75 acres, 300 bush, at 4 barrels 

per acre all used on plantation. 
"Wheat, 100 acres, field and tobacco 
lot at 10 bushels per acre, allow- 
ing $1 per bushel, and deducting- 
seed 100 bushels, 900 bushels, 900 00 



lh tons guano at $50, deducted 



1900 00 
375 00 



$1525 00 
Farm of 500 acres {in 5 fields) cultivated by 10 

hands. 
Corn, 100 acres, 5 barrels 

per acre, 500 bbls. 



Farm use, 



Wheat, 200 acres, 10 bush- 
els per acre, $1 per bush- 
el, deducting seed 200 
bushels, 1800, 



15 tons guano at $50 de- 
ducted, 



$120 for rent per year 200 
acres at 6 per cent, on 
$10. per acre, . 



300 



200 at $3 $600 00 



1800 00 



•2400 00 
750 00 



1650 00 



120 00 

1530 00 
1525 00 



In favor of farm 



$5 00 



Respectfully submitted by 

GEORGE FITZGERALD, 



Permanence of improvement by Guano. 

From the Payers of the Nottoway Farmer's 
■' Club. 
Not being aware until recently that the 
presiding officer was required to make any 
other report than an address at the end of 
his official year, I' flattered myself I should 
be saved the necessity of preparing one, 
and be exempt from a duty which I knew 
was incumbent upon every other member; 
I, therefore, in compliance with that re- 
quisition, wish to make a few observations 
on the effects of Guano ; as permanent 
and as lasting, I think, as any other fer- 
tilizer, even including our domestic ma- 
nures. In the fall of 1853, a corn field, 
from which was gathered one hundred 
and eighty three barrels, was seeded in 
wheat, and to everv bushel of wheat about 



one hundred and fifty pounds of guano 
was sowed, which produced a crop of 
wheat, much more in quantity than I could 
otherwise have expected. After removing 
the wheat from the field it was made a 
pasture and continued so until it was 
again planted in corn the past year. The 
cultivation was similar to the crop of 1853, 
and notwithstanding the great unfavora- 
bleness of the season and the extent of 
injury by the ravages of the chinch-bug 
which destroyed and seriously injured 
many acres of the corn, I am satisfied 
from the fine, luxuriant growth before it 
met with these disasters, that the field 
would have made a much larger and bet- 
ter crop than it did when it was in culti- 
vation before. As it was, it made of good 
merchantable corn a hundred and seventy 
nine barrels, being only four less, and in 
a very bad crop year as compared with 
the crop of 1853, which was favored with 
abundant rains whenever needed. The 
difference in the growth of last year's 
over the one that preceded it three years 
before, was very marked and perceptible, 
so much so, that several of .my neigh- 
bours made the inquiry if the corn then 
growing and looking so well had not been 
recently guanoed. It appears very obvi- 
ous that the product of the field would 
have been much more abundant had not 
the vegetation been kept under by pastu- 
rage. I have observed the same effects 
on other land on which guano has been 
applied when sown in wheat, three years 
before, and I am inclined to think its ac- 
tion in the improvement of the soil is as 
durable and permanent as any other ma- 
nure. Why should it not be so? And why 
should clover, or an}' - other of the grasses, 
not grow as luxuriantly after guano as any 
other means of improvement? If such is 
the fact, and I see no reason why it should 
not be, as chemistry informs us that guano 
returns to the land the phosphates and 
other constituents which the preceding 
growth had taken from it, does it not 
seem clear, that the farmer ma}' congratu- 
late himself on having at his control a 
powerful and speedy agent in the improve- 
ment of his farm and in making it almost 
at once far more productive. 



Powdered charcoal placed around rose-bush- 
es and other Dowers, has the effect of adding 
greatly to the richness of the flowers. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



429 



For the Southern Planter. 

A Reply to a Young Farmer's Request 
in the June Number of the Planter. 
My flattering prospect for wheat in Nov. 
last, and again in February last, has in no 
respect realized the expectations it was 
calculated to encourage. The indolent 
and slovenly farmers, together with the 
land-scratchers and land-killers, are cer- 
tainly the best off this season, for the sim- 
ple fact that they have risked nothing in 
the way of manure and extra labour. 
What I term the progressive farmers must, 
for the present, submit to the rejoicing of 
the fogy land-masters who, although they 
have no wheat, and no grass, or clover to 
hide the nakedness of mother earth, with 
an assumed air of comfort, rejoice that 
they purchased no guano, no phosphate of 
lime, no bone dust, no lime, no plaster last 
tail, but have their money in their pockets, 
which is for sale at — ■— per cent. 

The effect of the winter upon the wheat 
in this section, left it so feeble that the 
fly, in the early part of the spring, de- 
stroyed a large portion of it, and for the 
last three weeks the fly and joint-worm, 
and occasionally a helping hand from the 
chinch bugs, have been making sad havoc 
of the enfeebled wheat plants. The fail- 
ure is so general in the Valley that not 
more wheat can be saved than will be re- 
quired for seed and bread. If I had not 
used ten and a half tons of fertilizers, and 
400 bushels of compost, viz : lime, plas- 
ter, ashes and salt, I, most assuredly, 
should not have made my seed; and, as it 
is, may reap one thousand bushels, which 
is not more than one-fifth of a crop. My 
experience in subsoiling for wheat and 
corn is only of a few years duration, and 
the effect upon my judgment is such as to 
render me very much dissatisfied when- 
ever necessitated to plow for any crop 
without subsoiling. Two years since I 
plowed in June, July, August and Sep- 
tember several strips of ground varying 
from a. quarter to three quarters of an 

ere ; in a crop of 220 acres, the three 
quarters of an acre ploughed and subsoiled 
in June was decidedly the best wheat .1 
had, even better than where I used phos- 
phate of lime at the rate of 175 lbs per 
acre. Those portions subsoiled in August 
and September produced a very inferior 
crop; from this result I w r as induced to 



believe that plowing and subsoiling three 
months previous to seeding, would greatly 
improve the crop, and especially a dry, 
cold season, such as w 7 e have had in this 
section the two past years. 

As far as I subsoiled for corn last season, 
T certainly had a better crop than was 
grown any where in this section. Several 
applications have been made to know how 
to make compost, such as I used on my 
corn last spring. The miller who grinds 
my meal, says my corn, grown in 1856, 
is much better than any that comes to the 
mill. The portion not subsoiled, on which 
I used the same quantity of compost that 
I did the subsoiled portion, produced such 
inferior corn in every respect, that I could 
but give the subsoiling credit for the dif- 
ference. Every acre I have plowed the past 
spring, has been subsoiled deeperand better 
than ever with a plow of my own invention, 
which I fancy has advantages and recom- 
mendations not possessed by any I have 
seen. I also use cultivators with teeth 
made upon the same plan of the subsoil 
plow, whicli enables me to make my corn 
crop with two-thirds, or half the labour I 
formerly bestowed upon it. By this level 
cultivation I find I make more corn, and 
in a great measure guard against the inju- 
ries and effects of heavy rains ; and my 
corn ground is generally so mellow that a 
harrow is sufficient for seeding it with 
wheat. 1 will mention, in conclusion, that 
my letter to the Editor of the Planter last 
November, was a private letter, not in- 
tended on my part to be made public, but 
simply to let him know that the Valley 
was trying to produce wheat as well as 
Eastern Virginia. I cannot understand 
why it was this letter should have been 
published, and the receipt of a communi- 
cation on subsoiling Virginia lands ac- 
knowledged and promised a place eighteen 
months since in the Planter.* If this 
communication, or any heretofore pub- 
lished in the Planter, should in any re- 
spect benefit the cause of agriculture in 



■ c " We presumed the letter was intended for 
publication, and therefore published it. If let- 
ters are not marked private, or do not contain 
matter obviously private, we presume ourselves 
at liberty to publish it in whole or in part. 
The article referred to on subsoiling" we 
thought had been published. Ed. Southern 
Planter. 



430 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



Virginia, I should feel much gratified that 
my public efforts have caused one good re- 
sult. 

This communication, I fear, will not be 
as encouraging to my young brother 
farmer as his imagination has, no doubt, 
induced him to expect; but, as I have 
stated facts, I hope he will profit by them, 
and at a future day I shall hear from him 
through the Planter, with his real name 
attached to his communication. If his 
name is an ugly one, and lie does not like 
to see it in print, the Virginia Legislature 
•will, undoubtedly, permit him to change it 
to Sam or any other he may prefer. 

ISAAC IRVINE HITE. 

White Post P. 0., Clarke County, Va. 

June 17th, 1857. 



Wheat among Euta Bag-as. 

Mr. Editor. — In reading over the Jan- 
uary number of the Planter I observed an 
extract from the Germantown Telegraph, 
headed Rye among Ruta Bagas" — and a 
quaere from the Editor of the Planter, 
" what time was the rye sowed among 
Ruta Bagas." 

Now Sir, though I know nothing about 
the cultivation of Rye among Ruta Bagas, 
I have sowed wheat among them, and 
therefore, speak from experience. 

It is my practice, when I wish my tur- 
nip patch to remain in the same spot for 
more than one season, to sow wheat among 
them, turning in the wheat stubble the 
ensuing season along with all the manure 
I can procure, for another crop of wheat 
and turnips, (I speak of Ruta Bagas, I 
cultivate none others). 

I select some convenient spot, (not 
convenient, though, to the Shanghais, 
they are death to turnips), and cast on all 
the manure I can, which consists for the 
most part of such as has been collected 
about the stables since the^ spring; this 
manure, unrotted, or partially so, we 
spread very thickly over the land, and 
with two good, mules, or, if the land be 
hard, with three, we turn the furrow to the 
depth of about six inches, a boy the while 
following and drawing into the open fur- 
row all litter collected by the plough into 
heaps, and thus preventing its due opera- 
tion. 

This ploughing is done early in July, 
and the land permitted to remain undis- 



turbed until the 1st of August, when we 
put on a good irontootji drag pulled by 
two mules, and harrow thoroughly. The 
settling of the earth enables us to perform 
this operation without disturbing the litter ; 
which, being coarse when ploughed under, 
has now fermented, in consequence, we 
presume, of the moisture in the earth ; — 
the gasses arising having been absorbed 
and fixed in the soil render it fit to receive 
the seed. 

The next step to be taken, is to form a 
suitable ridge, which is done by throwing 
together two light furrows with a small 
plough, and dressing off with the hoe ; 
the land is then ready for the seed, which 
we. plant by hand, (tor we have tried the 
turnip-drill,) on the ridges at intervals of 
about eight inches, the ridges being two 
and a half feet apart ; we thin out and 
work usually twice with the hoe, and 
when about to sow the w 7 heat use the 
plough in order to get it in. 

By this method we raise at the rate of 
600 bushels per acre, and find them a 
great auxiliary in fattening our pork, and 
feeding sows and shoats during winter, by 
boiling say five bushels turnips with ^th 
bushel of corn meal, the whole thoroughly 
cooked and reduced to*a mush- The tops 
we use for the same purpose, beginning to 
cut them off the turnips while in the patch 
about the 1st October, and apprehend no 
injury to the root, provided the bud is not 
injured in cutting; two small boys are 
employed in making swill for the hogs and 
much corn saved thereby. 

You will perceive, that by this method, 
by the time we wish to sow the wheat, 
the turnips have for the most part been 
deprived of their tops, and thus we are 
enabled to put in the wheat with more fa- 
cility, which is done by running a small 
plough twice in each alley and throwing 
the furrow up to the turnips; thus we 
have two crops on the same land at once 
and obtain a good yield from each. 

On one occasion while sowing wheat 
among; my turnips, an old farmer passed, 
and with much surprise, enquired what I 
was doing, sowing wheat was the reply ; 
sowing wheat said he ? do you expect to 
make any? I have made, and expect to 
make again was the answer. He went 
his way, thinking no doubt there was some- 
thing new under the sun. 

Gloucester, Jan. 1857. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



431 



Good vs. Bad Breed of Hogs. 

Reader, did you ever see a shoat while 
rooting kick up every time he bored his 
nose into the ground, as if trying to stand 
on his head ? If so, don't buy him ; he 
will not prove a profitable feeder. We 
might call these a subsoil variety. 

Did you ever see a hog that would grab 
an ear of corn and run a quarter of a 
mile before he would stop to eat ? Tf so, 
beware. We will place them in the same 
category and for the sake of distinction 
w r e will call them Elm peelers. Did you 
ever see a tall, slab-slided, long-legged, 
razor-backed breed that were always hun- 
gry, and when opportunity required, would 
climb up to where the rails in the fence 
were some distance apart and then either 
slip through a crack or throw off a few 
rails and jump over ? If so, don't purchase 
unless you are a small farmer and can't 
possibly build corn cribbs. We might, 
perhaps, call these free soilers or else 
barn burners. 

Did you ever see a slim, dead alive kind 
"of thing that would get so poor as to be 
obliged, to trot before and canter behind 
when required to get up motion and still 
not die; its eyes both coming out at the 
same hole, or at least so near it that the 
hog appeared cross-eyed ? If so, let us 
pass the dismal picture, and simply 
call them old liners. All these breeds 
may be described as follows : Long ears, 
large, heavy heads, long and thick legs, 
a streak of lean underneath a thick, tough 
hide, with abundance of bristles, and in 
fine a great amount of offal of every de- 
scription. 

Such animals have no thriftiness, no 
capacity to fatten, and very little about 
them that is digestible after they are 
killed. 

Considering the number of hogs that 
are raised annually in the United States 
and especially as so many depend almost 
exclusively on the hog crop for the money 
they need, is it not wonderful that so few 
persons take pains to obtain the best va- 
rieties. Suppose you have to give $20 
or even $50 for a pair of pigs to begin 
with. Is this an insufferable obstacle ? I 
answer no. Doubtless you s may procure 
a good breed for less money, but let us 
look at the practical proof, on the score of 
economy and see how long it would take 
to pay at these figures. Suppose you 



have 100 hogs of the alligator or land 
pike breed which you sell at $5 per hun- 
dred. 150 lbs at twelve months old will 
be about all you can make them weigh. 
Here you have $7 50. 

Again, take 100 hogs of a good breed 
which will weigh at the same age and 
with less feed 250 lbs. Here you have 
$12 50, making a clear profit of $5, with- 
out taking into account the save in feed- 
ing, which would no doubt swell the pro- 
fits to a much larger amount. A hog that 
has to be kept more than one winter be- 
fore fattening will eat his hea^l off in all 
cases. Hence the most profitable kinds 
will be found in those hogs which attain 
the greatest weight (without extra atten- 
tion) in from 12 to 18 months. 

Pick for a hog with a small, clean head, 
rather small bone, body low to the ground, 
long and square : hams full and round ; 
disposition quiet and pleasant. Such a 
hog will always insure a good return. If 
you can come across such hogs, whether 
called Berkshire,, Woburn, Suffolk, Gra- 
zier or what not, get syme and try them. 
They will not disappoint you. 

A word to the wise is sufficient. * * * * 
Valley Farmer. 



From ike Ohio Farmer. 
The Disease amongst Hogs. 

Editor Ohio Fap„mer. — T send you 
the following notice of an epizootic which 
has been prevailing amongst the hogs in 
this section of the country. A portion 
of this notice was published in the Cin- 
cinnati Gazette, but as your paper is par- 
ticularly devoted to the agricultural inter- 
ests of our community, I send you a more 
minute description of this disease, and 
also some experiments which were not 
published in that paper. 

That a disease is extensively prevailing 
I among some of our domestic animals, is a 
fact worthy of attention and record, and 
the loss to our farming community, in a 
pecuniary point of view, makes this a 
subject worthy of investigation. From 
the large number of hogs that have died, 
and from the fact tha't epizootics frequently 
appear to be produced from the same gen- 
eral causes, which give rise to epidemics, 
and from the fact also that diseases of in- 
ferior animals have not received the atten- 
tion of physicians which they deserve, we 



432 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



have investigated this malady with much 
interest, and the facts elicited, we think, 
are curious and interesting. 

I have received information that this 
disease has prevailed in Ohio, Switzer- 
land, Ripley and Dearborn counties, Indi- 
ana, also along the valley of the Miami, in 
Montgomery, Butler, and Hamilton coun- 
ties, Ohio; also in Clinton county, and 
very severely at New Richmond. It has 
also prevailed in Kenton, Boone and Gal- 
latin counties, Kentucky, and large num- 
bers have died in the vicinity at Warsaw. 
We may farm some idea ot the number 
of hogs that have died from the losses at 
the following places : — Mr. Daniel Armel 
informs me that he has lost at Ingraham's 
distillery, from the 1st of August up to 
the 24th of October, 1,285. Mr. J. C. 
Jenkins writes from Petersburgh, Ky., that 
he has lost since the 18th of October, 2,- 
576, at the distillery in that town ; Mr. 
Pate has lost 500 at Rising Sun; Mr. 
Slumer, 500 at Covington ; Messrs. T. & 
J. W. Gaff, of Aurora, have lost since 
the 20th of June,t4,546 ; Mr. J. Bryns 
writes that at New Richmond, since the 
disease made its appearance, 10,435 have 
died, and Mr. Backman, of Aurora, has 
furnished me information of over 6,000 
that have died at other places. 

When, in addition to these numbers, we 
take into consideration the large numbers 
that have died along the valley of the 
Miami; also in the neighborhood of War- 
saw and East Bend, Ky., and on farms 
over the country — some of the farmers 
having lost nearly their whole stock — I 
think we may safely estimate the number! 
that have died within one hundred miles! 
of Cincinnati, since the disease made its; 
appearance, at not less than 60,000. The 
value of these would be $300,000, avera- 
ging five dollars each, and when fatted, 
after deducting ten per cent, for the usual 
loss, would probably have been woith over 
$650,000. 

The disease made its appearance at Au- 
rora about the 19th of June, and still con- 
tinues to prevail in Dearborn county. The 
first symptoms that can generally be dis- 
covered, the hog appears weak, his head 
droops, and frequently in a few hours alter 
these symptoms, diarrhoea commences, 
which has caused the disease to receive 
the name of " Hog Cholera." 

When the hogs were fed upon slop the 



discharges were generally yellow, but if 
fed upon corn and running at large, they 
were dark colored. There was frequently 
vomiting and sometimes bloody discharges 
w r ith apparent tenesmus resembling dysen- 
tery ; in other cases \here was cough and 
difficult breathing, showing the lungs to be 
principally affected. Sometimes there was 
inflammation of the throat, and the hog 
when caught could make no noise. In 
these cases, the tongue was generally very 
much swollen and inflamed; sometimes 
one or both legs were inflamed and swol- 
len, and the inflammation extended along 
the sides, or belly, of a deep red color, al- 
most precisely similar to a phlegmonous 
erysipelas. Some had large sores on their 
legs resembling carbuncles, others had 
gangrenous sores oh their sides or flanks 
from three to six inches in diameter ; 
some appeared delirious, others blind. 
These symptoms were combined in almost 
every possible variety : death took place 
in from one to five days. Out of a pen 
containing one hundred hogs fed upon : 
slop, thirty-three generally died, and it re- 
quired about eight weeks for the remain- 
der to recover from the disease. 

On opening the bodies, I found the ap- 
pearances as various as the symptoms were 
different ; I examined forty-seven hogs 
that had died of this disease, and scarcely 
found two that presented precisely the 
same appearance. In every instance there 
was evidence of a diffusive form of in- 
flammation that was not confined to any 
particular tissue. The skin was generally 
of a purple appearance, and in cutting 
through those parts which were most in- 
flamed, the cellular tissue was infiltrated 
with serum, and the skin was swollen. In 
nearly every case, the mucuous membrane 
of the stomach was more or less inflamed, 
presenting a bright red appearance, tumi- i; 
fied, and generally softened. Sometimes la 
there was an effusion of blood in the 
stomach, and this organ was frequently 
found distended with food. In all cases 
whete there had been diarrhoea or dysen- 
tery, the mucuous membrane of the large 
or small bowels presented evidence of in- 
flammation. Sometimes the bladder was 
inflamed, and occasionally contained an 
effusion of blood. The peritoneum, in 
eighteen cases, presented marks of in- 
flammation — there was effusion of bloody 
serum — and adhesions between the intes- 






THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



43^ 



tines arrd sides of the body. In three 
cases there was an effusion of blood into 
the peritoneal cavity. To give a detailed 
description of all the appearances presen- 
ted, would extend our notice of this dis- 
ease to a great length, and could afford in- 
terest only to a medical reader. Suffice 
it to say, that I found the liver, the lungs, 
the pleura, the peritoneum, the mucous 
membrane of the bronchia, the trachea, 
and larynx, all at different times bearing 
marks of inflammation ; frequently one or 
both lungs were engorged or hepatized, and 
adhering to the ribs. The lymphatic glands 
were generally inflamed or greatly conges- 
ted, resembling lumps of coagulated blood. 
These are some of the facts revealed by 
our dissections, which show this disease 
to produce a diffusive form of inflamma- 
tion, which attacks the skin, the cellular, 
serous, the mucous, and glandular tissues ; 
it spreads along these tissues very similar 
to the manner in which an erysipelas 
spreads a!ong the tissues in the human 
system— and, in some respects, resembles 
his disease. 

When this malady made its appearance 

it Aurora, it was supposed by many to be 

produced from the slop that the hogs were 

ed on at the distillery ; and we had many 

>pinions, and but few facts, to explain its 

•,ause. We suggested to Mr. J. W. Gaff, 

>ne of the owners of the distillery, that a 

;eries of experiments be tried, to prove 

low far these opinions were true, and to 

>btain more positive knowledge of this 

lisease. He readily agreed to our propo- 

ition, and by the aid of Mr. J. Backman, 

t has been most clearly proved that 

o far from the slop producing the disease, 

his malady is not so severe amongst hogs 

ed upon slop as those fed upon corn. We 

ave also proven the disease to be con- 

igious. We have also ascertained the 

bout latest period of the contagion to be 

hirteen days. We have also proved 

hat pens in which diseased hogs have 

een, will retain the infection, in warm 

r eather, for more than four days, and 

robably from ten to twenty, which is a 

vet of importance to those who have had 

le disease in their pens, and are buying 

Lock hogs ; and we have also ascertained 

le fact, that hogs have this disease but 

nee ; those that recover lose their sus- 

^ptibility to a second attack. 

28 



We have not seen a single instance of. 
a hog having this malady a second time. 
The hogs that have been in the pens over 
six months, have not generally been at- 
tacked with the disease. We account for 
this by considering that the disease pre- 
vails more or less in the pens- every year, 
and that these hogs have been under its 
influence ; but this year, from some pre- 
disposing cause, this malady has assumed 
a more malignant form and spread over 
the country. Some of our experiments 
were as follows : — Four young and healthy 
hogs were put into a pen in which four 
days previous diseased hogs had been ; 
these were fed on corn and water ; on the 
fourteenth day they were all unwell and 
one died, and in five days they were all 
dead. Ninety hogs that had been exposed 
to the disease were put into a pen by 
themselves and fed on corn and water, and 
sixty died. 

One hundred stock hogs were put into a 
pen by themselves and fed on corn and 
water, and for thirty days they continued 
well. They were then put into the pens 
with diseased hogs, and in fourteen days 
after, the disease made its appearance 
amongst them. We innoculated eight 
hogs with blood from the diseased paits of 
hogs that had died of this disease ; in 
fourteen days they were all unwell and 
one died, and nil died within a week of 
each other, with the exception of one, 
which recovered. Although this disease 
is so very infectuous to the hogs, I feel 
confident it cannot be communicated to 
the human system. I several times woun- 
ded myself while examining the diseased 
hogs, but the wounds readily healed, and 
there was no unusual inflammation, and 
the men that were constantly at work 
amongst these hogs, were not the least af- 
fected by this disease. 

In the treatment of this disease, it must 
be obvious, more can be done by preven- 
tion than medicine. The diseased hogs 
should be separated from the healthy, and 
when this disease is prevailing in a neigh- 
borhood, farmers should keep their hogs 
from running at large. We have been 
able to trace this disease most clearly, as 
it spread by contagion from farm to farm. 
Although this malady must occasionally 
have a spontaneous origin, yet when once 
produced, it spreads rapidly by contagion. 
Those who are feeding large numbers of 



434 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



hogs, if the disease has not been amongst 
them, might prevent its introduction by 
having a quarantine pen, in which the 
stock hogs should be kept fourteen or fif- 
teen days ; by that time it would be known 
whether they were diseased. Mr. Watts, 
who is feeding a large number of hogs at 
Patriot, informs me that he filled his pens 
in June, and has bought no hogs since ; 
this was before the disease made its ap- 
pearance, and he has not lost a hog with 
this disease. The introduction of this 
disease into the pens at Aurora, can be 
traced, most clearly, to a lot of hogs 
brought from Laughery, in Ripley county. 
These hogs had the disease which had 
spread to hogs on adjoining farms before 
they were brought to Aurora, and when 
brought to the pens some of these hogs 
died the next day, and they continued 
sick, and some died daily, until the disease 
was communicated from pen to pen. 

To destroy the infection in a pen, it 
should be well washed with a strong solu- 
tion of sulphate of iron, nitrate of lead, or 
sprinkled with chloride of lime. Hogs 
that have this disease should be fed upon 
slop. The average number of hogs tha.t 
die in the pens, and are fed upon slop, is 
from 33 to 55 per cent. ; the average num- 
ber fed upon corn, that die. is from 60 to 
15 per cent. The mucous membrane of 
the stomach, as we have mentioned, is 
nearly always inflamed, and the partially 
masticated corn, as I have found in the 
stomach, would be much more likely to 
increase the inflammation than the slop. 

Those who wish to try the medicine, 
might find laudanum and linseed oil bene- 
ficial, when there is diarrhoea or dysen- 
tery. Some of our farmers speak highly 
of a solution of soap, in which sulphur is 
mixed. 

When the lungs are diseased, bleeding 
will probably be beneficial. 

Mr. Rann, residing near Laughery, in 
Ripley county, informs me that he lost a 
large number of hogs with this disease 
last fall. He drove the remainder of his 
slock to Laughery creek, made them swim 
about in the water, fed them in the water, 
and that, after resorting to this treatment, 
the sick hogs rapidly recovered, and he 
lost no more. 

We consider this disease has not its 
exact representation among.^t the diseases 
to which the human system is subject, and 



consequently we know of no appropriate 
name to call it. From the inflammation 
ot the lymphatic glands ; the formation of 
sores, like carbuncles, and its contagious 
character, it in some respects resembles 
the plague, and I know of no better name 
to call it than the plague amongst the 
hogs. George Sutton. 

Aurora, Indiana. 



The Wool-Clip of 1857. 

Notwithstanding the reduction of the tariff 
on coarse wools, which is now taking effect, 
the prevalent opinion among the commer- 
cial circles appears to be that the range of 
prices for fine and fair staple wool will not fall 
from the prices of 1856. We trust this will 
be so, though we are not sufficiently conver- 
sant of the cause, nor of the course which the 
trade is taking, to judge for ourselves. Wool- 
len manufactures have been depressed, and 
much apparent relief has been felt, or antici- 
pated, in the free opening of all markets, and 
the benefits of free competition in the purchase 
of all but the finest wools. This feeling, will 
doubtless spur their activity and induce them 
to enter more largely into the manufacture of 
fine broadcloths, and thus become heavier pur- 
chasers of native wools. We append a letter 
upon the subject from one of the largest New 
England manufacturers : 

Boston, May 27, 1857. 

" Gentlemen: — Your favor of the 16th duly 
came to hand, and I beg briefly to reply to 
your questions. The business of manufactur- 
ing wool had proved so disastrous under the 
tariff of 1846, that not only sheep husbandry 
in this country had declined, but the importa- 
tion of raw wool from an average of 22,000,000 
pounds for many years had fallen to 14,000,000 
pounds a year. 

" The tariff act of this year gives to the 
American manufacturer the market for supply- 
ing all the fabrics made of wool except fine 
broadcloths, consequently a steady market for 
the wools of our country, and an improving 
and increasing sheep husbandry. It will re- 
quire at least one year for the manufacturers) 
to look about and regain the confidence of 
capitalists and men of substance to enable 
them to act. Few persons are aware how sadly 
depressed this important branch of industry is 
in this country, and how little confidence pre- 
vails as to our ability to compete with the 
cheap laborers and skill of Europeans. I have 
no doubt that within five years the duty on 
wool of all kinds will be abrogated at the re- 
quest of the mass of the wool-growers in this 
country. Fine German wools are essential in 
the manufacture of fine broadcloths ; the duty 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



435 



on both is 24 per cent. — on wools duty assessed 
at a fair valuation, on broadcloths at two-thirds 
the value. 

"The importation of the latter is engrossed 
entirely by foreigners, and such men as Wilson 
G. Hunt and J. M. Beebee, driven from the 
field. 

" The importations of wool costing under 20 
cents are considerable. At this port there have 
arrived and are on the way from the Mediter- 
ranean, 4,000,000 pounds ; from Buenos Ayres, 
1,000,000, and from Valpariso, 2,000,000. My 
impression is, there will be from 2,000,000 to 3,- 
000,000 in addition by the 1st of July. I have 
not the statistics of the imports into New York, 
but they are considerable. 

" This letter is longer than I intended, and I 
remain your obedient servant, 

SAM'L LAWRENCE. 

" Messrs. G. C. Colt & Sons, Buffalo, N. Y." 




THE SOUTHERN PLANTEE. 



RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 



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Subscribers are requested to remit the amount of 
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Li Subscribers remove, change their offices, or per- 
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as the law requires, when papers are not taken from 
their Offices bv Subscribers. 

RUFF1N & AUGUST, Proprietors. 



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



Recommendations to Overseers. 

Somehow or other July has come to be the 
month in which overseers are engaged, or get 
or give notice to quit at the end of the year. 
This is altogether wrong for several reasons; 
but as it is established we presume we cannot 
reform it, and shall not try. But we have a 
word to say in the matter of recommendations. 
It is a subject not without difficulties. This 
world is so given to lying, as the old song says, 
that if a man tells the whole truth, people al- 
ways suspect that there is something still con- 
cealed ; and so they afford the argument, but 
not the justification, to those who contend that 
as the whole truth conveys as false an impres- 
sion as a falsehood, that therefore you may 
suppress a part of the truth. The man who 
tells all about the horse he wishes to sell, is 
sure to depreciate him in the market ; and the 
man who tells all the faults of his overseer, is 
very apt to cut him out of business. He may 
be a capital manager, but with faults incident 
to his rearing, his calling, or to human nature 
generally ; and if those faults are frankly sta- 
ted, the suspicions of the farmer will exagge- 
rate their degree or extent ; thus candour may 
discredit a very worthy man. With this ob- 
stacle to a proper recommendation we can sym- 
pathize. But we cannot appreciate the other 
reasons that some persons have, which may be 
summed up in the common phrase of getting 
rid of a bad manager on the best terms possible 
from anticipation of carelessness, neglect, im- 
proper treatment of negroes and other harm 
that may result from maladministration on the 
part of a man who expects to leave your em- 
ployment. 

It is obvious how this mode of recommenda- 
tion, so common as to be almost universal, ope- 
rates to the injury of the parties by rendering 
it a matter of no interest to the overseer how he 
manages, as he is sure of " a character" when 
he leaves a place. The interest of the good 
overseers requires that they should discounte- 
nance the practice as injurious to them : the 



436 



THE SOUTHERN»PLANTER. 



interest of the farmer, that he should not do 
what must lower the grade of the class whose 
aid he seeks. 

We have known some persons to argue that a 
recommendation of a man should contain an enu- 
meration of all his good qualities, and be silent 
as to his defects. But this is deception, unless 
the silence as to his defects is expressly stated ; 
and we do not think any man has a moral right 
to frame a recommendation in that way. But if 
it be stated that you are silent as to defects, ex- 
cept very gross ones, which should be mentioned, 
it is perhaps as good a plan as any. Another, 
which we have known to be adopted, is to re- 
solve never either to give or demand a recom- 
mendation, and to have that understood. 

Many persons speak of the necessity of fre- 
quently changing an overseer as a disadvaa- 
tage. We doubt it- A man who has an agent 
that fully comprehends his wants and can car- 
ry out his plans, is apt to become careless in 
the administration of his own affairs; and the 
agent, not because he is an overseer, but be- 
cause he is a man, will be apt to presume upon 
the carelessness of his employer. It is then to 
the interest of both parties that there should 
be an occasional change. It keeps the farmer 
up to his business and the overseer up to the 

bit. 

It seems to be thought that injury will result 
from discharging an overseer during the crop 
season. We doubt that too. If it were more 
the custom it would not be so often necessary ; 
and if a bargain to that effect were made there 
would be no hardship in it. 

It might raise the wages of good overseers, 
but there is no objection to that. It would re- 
duce the wages of inferior managers, and that 
is desirable. 

We would be very glad to see several chan- 
ges in this whole matter, changes which 
would result not only to the benefit of the em- 
ployers,' but also to the overseers themselves, 
who, when really good, are most useful mem- 
bers of society. We know several men well, who 
are or have been overseers, that are as much 
respected where they are known as the "solid 
men of Boston." We would like to see that 
number increased, as there is great need of 
them ; nnd we believe nothing will conduce 
more towards this than an abolition of the per- 
nii lous practice of indiscriminate recommenda- 
tions. 



Fine Wheat. 

We inspected yesterday a sample of very fine 
wheat which was grown on the farm of Mr. 
Robert Eclmond, on his beautiful Chickahomi- 
ny estate, near this city, which farm, by the 
way, for its general good management, but es- 
pecially for the completeness of it's buildings, 
we would like to exhibit to every farmer in 
Virginia. 

The heads of this wheat are remarkably well 
filled, having, in some cases, five grains to the 
" Mesh," and an average- of some eighty or 
ninety to the head. The wheat, a mulatto — 
between red and white — grows with a strong, 
powerful straw, and ripens with the Poland. 
If it turns out well, we shall hear from it again. 



The Prospect for Wheat in Virginia. 

It is very hard to say from what we have 
heard whether the wheat crop of this year will 
reach the amount of the last, which was below 
the average. Winter killing in man}?' places, 
chinch bug in others, army worm in others, 
joint worm and fly in others, and a late harvest 
generally, which, even where it does not cause 
rust, will dry up the wheat before it is fully 
matured, one or more of these disasters nearly 
every where operate a diminution of the crop. 
On the other hand, the season for filling and 
ripening, except in its lateness, has been un- 
commonly fine, and the good lands, except 
where affected as above, promise unusually 
well. 

In the Valley we hear that the crop is mise- 
rable ; in upper Piedmont, from Loudoun to 
Nelson counties, generally bad ; in lower Pied- 
mont — that is from the head of tide to the tier 
of mountain counties, very unequal, but gene- 
rally inferior ; on Tidewater the good lands 
would have very superior crops but for the ar- 
my worm, and the inferior lands are very' bad- 
ly killed, to an estimate, in some cases, of four 
fifths of the crop. The Pamunkey and Mafctft- 
poni counties — Caroline, the upper part of 
Hanover, and King & Queen and King William 
arc badly hurt with fly, joint worm and winter 
kill. Powhatan and that region on the South- 
side are said to have joint worm to a serious 
extent. In Goochland and Fluvanna, as far as 
we learn, the crops are good In Brunswick 
andDinwiddie they are very good. On the whole 
we think we are authorized to say that the crop 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



437 



will not exceed what was made last year, and 
may possibly fall below it. But we wish it 
distinctly understood that we do not write with 
a view to force the market up. We give only 
such facts as we gather, and every one mukt 
make his own inferences. 



Good Asparagus. 

Mr. II. J. Smith, the owner of Kossuth, and 
of a fine market garden near this city, has sent 
us two bunches of asparagus that was really 
good. It was tender to the bottom, and half a do- 
zen stalks would be about as much as one would 
want. The largest stalks he had, and which he 
means to preserve for exhibition at the State 
Fair, were of the following dimensions : 

1 stalk 1S| inches long, 4| inches in circum- 
ference — weight 8| oz. 

4 stalks, including the above, weight 26| oz. 
9 " " « " 54Joz. 

When any other gardener beats this we shall 
put Mr. Smith up a notch or two higher. 



Kossuth. 

It will be seen in our advertising columns 
that this fine stallion, one of the best trotting 
horses in the world, and probably the stoutest, 
for his speed, of any in the United States, will 
make a fall season to a limited number of mares 
at his owner's stable near Richmond. 



Dr. Fitch's Report on the Insects of New 
York. 

We are very much indebted to the very able 
and courteous Secretary of the New York State 
Agricultural Society, Mr. B. P. Johnson, for a 
copy of the above work, which includes Dr. 
Fitch's first and second report on the noxious, 
beneficial and other insects of the State of New 
York. We have perused enough of it to satisfy 
us of its value as a contribution to the vast 
and important science of entomology. 

The repon is the result of an appropriation 
from the Legislature of the State. How long 
before Virginia, with her large and engrossing 
family of federal relations — the most of whom, 
by the way, seem not to reciprocate her atten- 
tions, will find time to undertake a similar en- 
terprize. 

By the way, Dr. Fitch seems to think, (see p. 
296,) that " commonly it is only a narrow strip 
on one side of afield which is seriously infected 



with chinch bug. In this he is mistaken. 
They fly in groups all over a field, and alight 
in spots, from which they extend in every di- 
rection. We have known them, in our own ex- 
perience, to come out of a piece of wheat 
grown on a ridge in a piece of low ground, 
attack the adjoining corn, and work into it 
twenty feet until they came to moist, but not 
wet land — the lowest and richest part of the 
low grounds penetrated by a small tide-ditch, — 
and then to rise and fly up across the inter- 
vening corn to the top of a hill some three 
hundred yards off, from which they spread in 

spots over all the adjoining upland. 

■*•»•»■* 

Pissant vs. Chinch Bug. 

The vilest of all insects, and most destruct- 
ive of all pests to wheat, oats, corn and grass, 
seems likely to meet its match at last. We 
have heard from two distinct sources, that the 
ants have been observed, in large numbers, 
feeding greedily on the chinch bugs. They 
seem to be generally disappearing ; from what 
cause we know not, except in the particu- 
lar cases we refer to. We have not had the 
pleasure of witnessing the execution of any of 
them by the ants, but we have no doubt of the 
facts detailed to us. The season has been a 
good one up to this time, but not wet enough to 
have exterminated them, as they seem to have 
been from some neighborhoods, where very re- 
cently they existed in such numbers that a per- 
son riding along the road had to keep his 
moutk shut to prevent them from flying down 
his throat. 



The Army Worm. 

This destructive worm, whose history and 
character, extracted from the Patent Office Re- 
port for the year 1855, will be found below, has 
appeared in unusual force, and over a very wide 
extent, within the last two or three weeks in cer- 
tain sections of the State. On the lower James 
River and the contiguous counties, in lower 
York River counties, and in the Northern 
Neck it has been particularly destructive. In 
the neighbourhood of Richmond also, and 
of Hanover Court House, it has done or is 
doing a good deal of damage. A friend from 
Westmoreland gives a sad account of its rava- 
ges in that region, and asks for a remedy. 

We proceed to give one that we found com- 
pletely effectual when practicable, and which 



438 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



it occurs to us we have state I before. It is 
nothing more than the employment of hogs to 
exterminate them. In the year 1844 about the 
last of May they appeared in countless myriads 
on the wheat field of Col. Thos. J. Randolph 
of Edge Hill in the county of Albemarle. Their 
course was pretty nearly due North, and they 
stripped the wheat of blades through the field. 
North of that field, and adjoining it, we had a 
pasture in which were many hogs and a few 
turkies. As the army worm entered the field 
they were eagerly devoured by the hogs, and 
the turkeys got what escaped the hogs. Both 
seemed to prefer them to any other food, and 
we do not think a single caterpillar crossed 
the field. The wheat crop though they had 
stripped it of leaves was a good one. They re- 
turned no more in our time, a period of some 
ten years. We have heard that the same plan 
has been partially tried in Henrico or Charles 
City and with success as far as it went. 

Another plan we have heard of has been 
tried by Mr. Blake, the steward of Mr. William 
Allen's Curies' Neck property. He dug a ditch 
along the line of the wheat field, ploughing it 
out to about a foot or somewhat more in depth 
and shovelling out the earth. The ditch was 
about a foot wide at bottom, and nine inches at 
the top, thus reversing the form of an ordinary 
ditch, which is sloped from the top to the 
bottom, whereas this was sloped from the bot- 
tom to the top. But this reversed slope was on 
the side next the corn or oats, the side next 
the wheat being perpendicular. In this bot- 
tom, at intervals of about twenty feet were 
pockets, sloped on all four sides from the bot- 
tom to the top, and of such dimensions as to 
admit an ordinary weeding hoe. Into this 
ditch the worms fell as they were attempting to 
cross and when collected in it and the pockets 
in sufficient numbers they were mashed by the 
hoes. In this way Mr. Blake says he killed 
them all, and has saved his corn crop, and 
perhaps his oats. The work took him about a 
week. 

Our friend, Mr. Wm. C. Tompkins, reports 
that he saved his crop of wheat on his farm in 
Chesterfield by sowing corn in a wide belt all 
around the wheat on which the worm fed until 
it grew to a chrysalis state. This may do very 
well when we know they are coming, but can- 
not, we should think, be of any general utility. 



Insects, particularly ants, as will be seen, eat 
a good many of them, and birds get numbers 
of them. Every man who was fool enough to 
shoot a crow has lost a friend in this emer- 
gency that would have been worth money to 
him. 

As soon as the worm reaches its full size it 
either dies or passes into the chrysalis or pupa 
state, and they will all most probably have 
reached this condition by or before the last of 
June : and it is probable that they will not 
return again for some years. 

The extent of their depredations cannot, of 
course, be known now ; but we apprehend that 
it will be considerable, though not as heavy as 
many persons seem to anticipate. At Shirley, 
Westover, and Curie's Neck, where they 
abounded to such extent that we are informed 
they had to be swept out of the houses, in some 
cases by persons constantly stationed at the 
doors with brooms and provided with hot water 
to scald them, the loss to the wheat is estimated 
at from a fourth to a third of the crop. As 
usual the poor crops have suffered most;, and 
in those cases the damage may be greater. 

The Grass Caterpillar. 

(Locusta ?) 

Another insect, (PI. VI. fig. 6,) which 
is often found in cotton fields, and mista- 
ken for the real cotton-calerpillar, is com- 
monly known by the trivial name of the 
" grass worm," or "caterpillar," owing to 
the circumstance of its most natural food 
consisting; of grass and weeds, although, 
when pressed by hunger, it will sometimes 
eat the leaf of the cotton-plant. 

These caterpillars were very numerous 
in the vicinity of Columbus, in Georgia, 
about the end of September and the be- 
ginning of October, 1854. They devour- 
ed grass, young grain, and almost every 
green thing which came in their path. 
Instances have been known in which, 
urged as they were by necessity and star- 
vation, they actually devoured stacks of 
fodder that were stored away for winter 
consumption. Deep ditches cut in the 
earth to stop them were immediately filled 
up by the multitudes which fell in and 
perished, while eager millions still rushed 
over the trembling and half-living bridge, 
formed by the bodies of their late com- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



439 



panions, bent on their missions of destruc- 
tion anil devastation. 

These caterpillars do no essential injury 
to the cotton, especially when weeds 
abound, as they content themselves with 
the grass growing between the rows; and, 
unless very numerous, they cannot be 
classed among those doing much harm to 
the general crop, and are mentioned here 
principally as having been so frequently 
mistaken for the real cotton-caterpillar. 
When pressed by necessity, however, as 
has already been stated, they will feed 
upon cotton leaves. I raised about thirty 
of them upon this food alone, merely as 
an experiment, and they grew and per- 
fected their transformations, although ap- 
pearing to prefer a grass diet if it could 
be obtained. When about to change, they 
formed cocoons of silk under stones or in 
the ground near the surface, interwoven 
with particles of earth, and came out per- 
fect moths from the 24th to the 30th of 
October; and, as these specimens were 
kept in a room without artificial heat, I 
conjectured that those in the open fields 
would appear about the same time. 

At a plantation in the vicinity of Co- 
lumbus, where the caterpillars were very 
numerous, and had already devoured all 
the grass on one side of a field, which 
was divided into two equal parts by a 
broad and sandy carriage road passing 
through the centre of it, the grass on the 
other side having been untouched, it was 
interesting to observe the operations of 
numerous colonies of ants that had form- 
ed their holes or nests in the road, and 
were lying, in wait for any unfortunate 
grass-worm, the natural desire of which 
for a fresh supply of food, should tempt 
it to cross this dangerous path. First, one 
ant more vigilant than the rest would rush 
to the attack; then another, and another, 
until the poor caterpillar, entirely covered 
by its pigmy foes, and completely ex- 
hausted in strength by its unavailing ef- 
forts to escape, was finally obliged to suc- 
cumb to superior numbers and die as qui- 
etly as possible, when the carcass was im- 
mediately carried ofT by the captors to 
their nests, or, when too heavy to be car- 
ried away at once, they fed upon it as it 
lay in the road. This warfare was carried 
on every day as long as the grass worms 
prevailed, and no doubt their numbers 



were diminished in this way to a conside- 
rable extent. 

The grass-caterpillars, when in confine- 
ment, very often kill and devour each 
other; and, .when one is maimed in the 
least, it stands a very poor chance for its 
life. Several intelligent planters state that 
when the grass and weeds are entirely de- 
voured, and no other vegetable food is to 
be found, they will attack each other and 
feed upon the still living and writhing bo- 
dies of their former companions. One 
grass-caterpillar, which was kept in con- 
finement, although furnished with an abun- 
dance of green food, actually appeared to 
prefer to feed upon other caterpillars, no 
matter of what kind, so long as their bo- 
dies were not defended by long, bristling 
hairs, or spines. 

The grass-caterpillar is from an inch and 
a half to an inch and three-quarters in 
length. A longitudinal light-brownish line 
runs down the centre, and two yellow 
lines along each side of the back, which 
is somewhat veined with black lines, and 
is of a dark color, marked with black 
spots, from each of which grows a short 
bristle, or hair. Below these yellow 
stripes, the sides are of a dark color, al- 
most black; beneath this, extends alight- 
colored line, in which the spiracles are 
placed ; the lower part of the body is of 
a dirty green, spotted with black ; the 
head is black, marked with two lines of a 
yellowish color, forming an angle on the 
top ; the body is somewhat hairy This 
caterpillar has six pectoral, eight ventral, 
and two anal feet. 

The above description applies only to 
the brightest-colored specimens of the 
grass- worm, as they vary much in color 
and markings, some of them being almost 
black, and showing indiscriminately their 
stripes, The chrysalis is brownish black, 
and is formed in a cocoon of silk under 
the ground, the sand and small pebbles 
being so interwoven with it as to cause 
the whole cocoon to appear like an ovoid 
ball of earth ; but it is never found webbed 
up in leaves, as is the case with the true 
cotton-caterpillar, already described. The 
moth measures about an inch and one-fifth 
across the wings when they are expanded; 
the upper wings are grey, slightly clouded 
with a darker color, and a lighter spot or 
ring is faintly seen in the centre ; the 
under-wings are of a yellowish-white, 



440 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



shaded with grey along the margin near 
the upper wings. 

Specimens of these caterpillars were 
brought to me when at Savannah, in Geor- 
gia, and they were suspected to have in- 
jured the rice in that vicinity in the month 
of June. Colonel Whitner, of Tallahas- 
see, in his interesting communication to 
this Office, speaks of the grass-caterpillar 
as having stripped fields of grass, in 1845, 
and also as attacking the corn, sugar-cane 
and upland rice. It has likewise been 
said that an insect similar, if not identical 
with the grass-caterpillar, destroys the 
leaves of the sweet potato. Thus it ap- 
pears to be almost omnivorous, and not 
choice in its selection of food, like the 
true cotton-caterpillar, which is believed 
to confine itself to the cotton-plant alone. 
Agricultural Report. 



Reform in Inspections of Tobacco. 

The merchants in Richmond, engaged in the 
sale of Tobacco, have held a meeting, and 
stated certain grievances and asked certain re- 
forms in the Inspections of Tobacco, as will 
be seen in the proceedings below. 

They have given us an additional argument 
against the whole law of Inspections, which 
we would use if we thought it worth while to 
take up again a subject which we have once 
treated at considerable length. But as we had 
the pleasure of ascertaining on that occasion 
that our remarks were received with consider- 
able indifference, we do not feel it our duty to 
renew them. As far as we can, however, we 
shall cheerfully co-operate with the merchants 
in this matter ; but we cannot help thinking, 
that if they had held this meeting some time 
ago, and had then co-operated with the Exe- 
cutive Committee of the Virginia State Agri- 
cultural Society in the reform they proposed, 
that the whole Inspections of Virginia, which 
are a mere mockery and a nuisance, so far, 
we mean, as inspection of quality is concerned, 
might, by this time, have been on a better 
footing, and some progress have been made 
towards a complete reform. 
Tobacco Inspections and Sales — Meeting of 
Merchants. 

A meeting of the Commission Merchants for 
the sale of Tobacco, was held on Saturday af- 
ternoon, Gth inst., in the office recently occu- 
pied by Preston & Enders, and was organized 



by calling T. James Deane to the chair, and ap~ 
pointed Henry C. Watkins, Secretary. The 
chair having explained the object of the meet- 
ing, Mr. B. M. Jones offered the following res- 
olution, which was adopted, viz : 

Resolved, That the Chairman appoint a Com- 
mittee of five Commission Merchants, to re- 
port to an adjourned meeting, to be held in 
this room on Saturday, the 13th inst., at 4 
o'clock, P. M., as to the best manner of re- 
moving the grievances under which the plant- 
ing interest is now labouring, in regard to the 
manner of storing, inspecting, and selling To- 
bacco — whereupon the chair announced the 
following gentlemen as said Committee, viz : 
C. R. Barksdale, D. P. Gooch, W. K. Martin, 
R. H. Dibrell, J. M. Sheppard, Jr., and, on 
motion, the Chairman was added ; and then, on 
motion, the meeting adjourned to meet again 
at 4 o'clock, on the 13th inst. 

At an adjourned meeting of the Commission 
Merchants of the city of Richmond, on the 
13th day of June, 1857, Mr. Deane took the 
chair, and Mr. Watkins being absent, W. H. 
Maddux was elected Secretary : 

It was then moved and carried, " That the 
Inspectors at the several Warehouses be in- 
vited to attend and participate in the proceed- 
ings ;" and Col. McDearmon of Shuckoe Ware- 
house having appeared, the Committee ap- 
pointed at a previous meeting for the purpose 
of investigating certain irregularities, on the 
part of the Tobacco Inspectors of the city of 
Richmond, growing out of the manner in 
which business has been conducted at the 
Warehouses under their charge, through their 
Chairman, Col. Barksdale, submitted the fol- 
lowing report, charges, and resolutions, which 
were adopted : 

Your Committee deprecate much the neces- 
sity which impels them as Commission Mer- 
chants to set forth any charges for the dere- 
liction of duty against these public officers, 
but in justice to themselves and the large 
planting interest represented, by the members 
of this meeting, they feel called upon to state 
fairly and candidly the grievances which afflict 
the Tobacco trade of the city, hoping thereby 
to lead to the adoption of better regulations, 
as it regards receiving and inspecting Tobacco. 
And here your Committee would take espe- 
cial pains to correct the impression on the 
minds of some, that this meeting, by its ac- 
tion, proposes to throw any obstacle whatever 
in the way of planters, who may choose to sell 
their produce through the agency of the In- 
spectors. They indignantly deny such a 
charge ; but they do affirm, that when Inspec- 
tors, by their acts, become Commission Mer- 
chants, by soliciting consignments, and making 
advances on same, they do violate the spirit, 
if not the letter, of the Inspection laws of the 
State ; that the Inspector was appointed to 
stand between the buyer and seller, and to de- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



441 



terrain e the character of the article inspected. 
How, then, can he be an impartial arbiter, 
when allowed to become the vender of the same 
article he inspects? Your Committee are 
clearly of opinion, that if the law were fairly 
construed, it would confer no such privilege, 
and the practice, in our opinion, should be 
discontinued. 

And further, the Commission Merchant is 
taxed a per centum upon every hogshead of 
Tobacco he sells, and the State derives no in- 
considerable revenue from this source ; but 
the Inspector, who is a Commission Merchant 
in. fact, by virtue of his office, is freed from 
such taxation, and may be termed the privi- 
leged Commission Merchant. Hence they be- 
lieve the evils of which they complain, and 
set forth in this report, arise chiefly from the 
clashing of interests of Inspectors with those 
of Commission Merchants ; and they believe 
a different state of things would soon be ex- 
perienced if those officers were confined alone 
to inspecting, and not selling Tobacco : they 
therefore charge, 

1st. That, in their opinion, the Warehouses, 
under proper management, might have been 
made to contain one-half more Tobacco than 
is now stored in them ; if "rydering" had been 
commenced a month earlier, which would have 
prevented the necessity of storing a large 
quantity of Tobacco in private Warehouses, 
at an additional cost of one dollar to one dol- 
lar and twenty-five cents per hogshead. 

2d. They charge that the Inspectors receive 
an J store Tobacco consigned to themselves, 
and a^the same time refuse to receive Tobacco 
sent to Commission Merchants, thereby com- 
pelling th m to store Tobacco in private Ware- 
houses at an additional expense, which dis- 
crimination they have no right under the law 
to make. This charge can be substantiated by 
the statements of Messrs. R, H. Dibrell, J. B. 
Duruy and Walter Martin. 

3d. They charge that in "listing'' Tobacco 
at Shockoe Warehouse, the Inspectors hava 
time and again, preferred the Tobacco sent to 
them for sale over that controlled by Commis- 
sion Merchants, and this is done by blank 
lines £t the head of the list book, for their own 
exclusive use, giving their Tobacco priority 
over Tobacco listed by Commission Merchants 
prior to theirs, which is a violation of a known 
and long standing custom in all the Ware- 
houses in this city. This charge can be sup- 
ported by Messrs. Fred. W. Hobson and D. II. 
Smith. 

Be it therefore, Resolved, 

1st. That the Inspectors be requested not to 
list any Tobacco sent to them for sale, nor to 
allow any Commission Merchant, or any one 
selling Tobacco, to list any Tobacco not in the 
Warehouse, or in the city. This resolution to 
take effect from the 1st day of August, 1857. 

2d. Resolved, That a Committee of five be 
appointed to select a room, and have it fitted 



up, to be used as a " Sales Room/' or Ex- 
change, for the public and private sale of To- 
bacco, and any other produce. 

3d. Resolved, That a Committee of five be 
appointed to wait on his Excellency, the Gov- 
ernor of Virginia, and request him to author- 
ize the Inspectors at the several public Ware- 
houses to inspect all the Tobacco stored at 
private Warehouses ; provided the laws of 
the State permit him to do so. 

Mr. S. R. Eggleston then moved, and the 
meeting adopted the following resolution : 

Resolved, That we, Commission Merchants 
of the city of Richmond, will write to our pat- 
rons throughout the State, arid urge upon 
them the importance of holding county meet- 
ings to instruct their delegates to the next 
General Asssmbly, to make such alterations in 
our "Inspection Laws," as are best calculated 
to remedy the evils complained of; and that 
a Committee of five be appointed to draft a 
petition to the " Farmers' Assembly/' at its 
next meeting, setting forth such reforms as 
they may deem necessary, and ask its co- 
operation in the effort to accomplish our ob- 
ject. 

A motion was made, and carried unani- 
mously, that the thanks of the meeting be 
tendered to Col. Adkins for the use of his 
rooms. 

A motion was made and carried, ordering 
the Secretary to prepare a copy of the pro- 
ceedings of the meeting for publication, and 
requesting the editors of the city to give it one 
or more insertions in their respective papers. 

Whereupon, the meeting adjourned. 

T. JAMES DEANE, Chairman. 

W. II. Maddux, Secretary. 

COMMITTEES: 

The Chairman has appointed the following 
Committees, in pursuance of resolutions adopt- 
ed by the Commission Merchants : 

1st. The Committee to' select and fit up a 
Sales Room — J. M. Shepard, Mr. Pannill, Geo. 
Gwathmey, and R. II. Dibrell. 

2d. The Committee to wait on his Excel- 
lency, the Governor— Mr. Read, D. P. Gouch, 
Peter MoKinney, G. W. Williams, and P. J. 
Archer. 

3d. The Committee to present a petition to 
the Farmers' Assembly — Messrs. S. R. Eg- 
gleston, W. H. Maddux, C R. Barksdale, T. 
J. Deane, and Walter K. Martin. 



To Preserve Flowers in Water. — 
Mix a little carbonate of soda with the 
water, and it will preserve flowers for a 
fortnight, but the water in flower-pots 
should be changed every day in summer 
or it will become offensive and unhealthy 
even if there is salt in them. 



442 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



lotttraltarat Jrjiarfmrat 



E. G. EGULTNG, Contributor. 



Put up Pickles for Markets. 

In previous numbers of the Planter, we 
have directed attention to several items of 
agricultural production in which northern 
farmers are skilled, and from which they de- 
rive large revenues, which are almost entirely 
neglected in Virginia and the South. The 
scope and purpose of these articles was to show 
our farmers how to make their farms more 
profitable, without largely adding to the ex- 
pense and trouble attending their cultivation. 
Such were our articles on orchard products 
and Irish potatoes, to which we again call the 
attention of the reader. 

Another item of profit to the North, which 
will claim our attention to-day, is that of put- 
ting up pickles for sale in the markets. This 
business is extensively conducted in Baltimore, 
Philadelphia and New York, and vast sums of 
money are carried out of this and every other 
Southern State, which might as well be re- 
tained at home. It is difficult to arrive at even 
a proximate estimate of the amount of the tax 
which the North thus levies on the South ; but 
a few facts which we have gleaned may at least 
enable our readers to form some idea on the 
subject. 

One of the smaller dealers in this city, to 
whom we applied for information, showed by 
his invoice book that his purchases last year 
amounted to ninety barrels, and in addition, 
some one thousand quart and one thousand 
pint jars of pickles. Another dealer, a family 
grocer, sells more than two hundred barrels of 
pickles and at least three thousand jars- 
There are, in the city altogether, about fifty 
persons who are engaged in the sale of pickles, 
many of whom sell more than double the quan- 
tity sold by either of the twain to whom we 
have already referred, so that we may safely 
put down the supply of pickles furnished to 
Richmond alone, at not less than two thousand 
barrels, and fifteen to twenty thousand jars, 
and when, to this estimate f; r the city, we add 
what arc sold in Petersburg, Norfolk, Ports- 
mouth, Alexandria, Lynchburg, Wheeling, «t \, 
&c, it will be seen that the aggregate is enor- 



mous, and that whatever the price at which 
they are purchased, the total amount paid for 
them is not a trifle. 

Be it much or little, more or less, every dol- 
lar finds its way into the pockets of Northern 
producers, and goes to swell the profits of 
Northern agriculture. A barrel of home-made 
pickles is nearly as rare in this market as a 
white crow. Not that we mean to intimate 
that no pickle's are make in this State. Far 
from it. Every housewife in the Common- 
wealth knows how to make pickles, and makes 
enough to supply her household and to minister 
to the gratification of her guests, but how 
many can be found who will put up pickles for 
sale in the markets. That is never considered, 
or if it be thought of now and then, it is 
speedily dismissed as not worth attention. 
So we have gone on year after year neglecting 
this opportunity of making money, and leaving 
it entirely to our Northern friends. Is this the 
wiser and better course ? 

We answer no, and we very much desire 
that our farmer friends shall answer no, like- 
wise. They might disagree with us if they 
could plead ignorance concerning the manner 
of pickling, but this they cannot truthfully 
do. So far from it, everybody knows that the 
pickle put up by our Virginia housewives 
surpass any made in the country; and wei 
think now of two ladies in Sussex and Hanover 
counties, whose pickles would speedily take the 
precedence of all others in the country if they 
were offered for sale in the market. And while 
we thus single out two farmers' wives, we do 
not mean to say that they make better pickle 
than any others in Virginia, but we would be 
understood to declare that there is no farmer's 
wife within the State who cannot make better 
pickles than those purchased by our dealers in 
the Northern cities. There is no lack of infor- 
mation among our people, but there is a sad 
lack of willingness to practice what they 
know. 

It would be obviously unnecessary to attempt 
to give directions to the persons described in 
the preceding paragraph, as to the mode of 
preparing pickle for the table, and therefore we 
shall not attempt to do so. It may aid our 
main purpose, however, to give some account 
of the way in which pickle are put up for 
shipment to market. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



443 



There are two methods pursued at the North. 
The first is to pack them in barrels, larger or 
smaller at pleasure, and the other is to put 
them in glass jars, which are then stopped 
tight with cork, and over the cork is put a thin 
sheet of lead as a wrapper. When the barrel 
is used,, a specific charge is made for the barrel 
in addition to the wholesale price for its con- 
tents, which specific charge is sufficient to cover 
the cost of the barrel. New barrels are not 
go good as those which have been used, unless 
precaution is had to prevent the pickles from 
3atching the flavour of the wood. Old barrels 
3an be bought in all our cities at moderate 
prices, so that there is no danger that any farmer 
will be troubled to get a supply whenever he 
wishes. Heretofore it was not so easy to pro- 
sure jars. None were made in the State, and 
even had our farmers desired to put up pickles 
for market, they would have been hindered by 
the necessity of sending North for a supply of 
jars. This hindrance no longer exists. Mr. 
Jacob S. Atlee of Richmond, the owner of the 
Grlass Works at Rocketts, in reply to an enqui- 
ry which vre made, writes : " I herewith give 
you a statement of the prices of pickle jars, 
from one quart to one gallon, per dozen, viz : 
Pint 44 cents, quart 63 cents, half-gallon $1 13 
cents, and gallon $1 63 cents." On this a de- 
duction of from 10 to 20 per cent is made to 
wholesale and cash purchasers. This gentle 
man, who is largely engaged in the manufac- 
ture of all kinds of glass ware, will supply 
promptly and faithfully, any and all orders 
with which he may be favoured. From this 
point by railroad, river and canal, these glass 
jars can be carried speedily and cheaply to 
vay and all parts of the State, and our farmers 
ire thus shown to be without excuse for longer 
neglecting the preparation of pickles for sale 
n the markets. 

It is proper that we add, that the best sizes 
for market are half-gallon, quarts and pints, as 
these command a more ready sale than gal- 
ons. 

It is usual at the North to pack in these jars 
various kinds of pickles, in some one kind, in 
iome another, and another will have all kinds- 
Thus, one jar shall contain cucumbers, another 
)nions, another snapps, another beets, another 
nelons, and another will contain cucumbers, 
mions, snapps, beets, melons, &c, &j., all 



together. The smaller the pickles are, the 
better we should say. After all, whether our 
farmers will adopt the advice which we offer 
or not, depends upon the question — can money 
be made by pickling — and that is just the 
point upon which we are least prepared to 
make answer. There must be money in it to 
our friends at the North, else they would give 
it up instanter, and if they can make money at 
it, we see no just reason why we cannot. • But 
we propose that each reader of the Planter 
shall settle this question for himself and her- 
self, with the aid of such data as we have been 
able to collect. 

The pickles purchased at the North are put 
up in large barrels, in small casks and in jars 
as before mentioned. The factory price for 
them is, for gallons per dozen, $9 ; for half gal- 
lons, $4 50, quarts $3, and pints $1 75. These 
are the prices which the Virginia dealer has to 
pay for them in jars at the North, where he 
buys large quantities, and then there is added 
to the cost to him, the charges of transporta- 
tion. Of course the retail price is considera- 
bly more. When the pickles are packed in 
barrels they are counted, when put in and sold 
at so much the hundred. Then the charge is 
from thirty-seven to seventy-five cents the hun- 
dred, A large barrel purchased in Baltimore 
cost $40, and $1 for the barrel, and the addi- 
tional charge is made for the barrel in every 
case. 

Then what say you friends — can you afford 
to make pickles to be supplied to our dealers 
here at these prices ? Ladies, what have you to 
say in this matter ? The ladies probably know 
more of the cost than their husbands do, and 
we desire to have them interested in this mat- 
ter. If it savour not too much of old fogy ism, 
we would inquire of our lady readers whether 
they cannot make money enough from pickles 
to buy their annual supply of dresses, bonnets 
and hoops. If they can, they will, beyond all 
question, for our farmers' wives are, in the 
general, thrifty and careful. 

There are good and sufficient reasons why 
these hints and suggestions should not be neg- 
lected. In addition to those more obvious 
considerations to which we have referred in 
this and former articles, there are others even 
more conclusive. And first we note, that if 
the advice here given is followed, in addition to 



444 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



increasing their own revenues, and retaining 
capital in the State, which now goes out of it, 
our farmers will be giving material aid to an 
enterprise which deserves to be fostered and en- 
couraged. The manufacture of glass ware in- 
troduced into the State, is an important and 
valuable addition to its manufactures, and if a 
large supply of pickle jars should be needed, 
our friend Atlee would be encouraged and 
prospered by that demand. Secondly, it would 
stimulate the demand for orchards of apple 
trees at least, as it would require a large sup- 
ply of vinegar to make pickle enough to supply 
the markets of our Virginia cities. And 
labtly, it would give employment to members 
of the farmers' family who cannot participate 
in the ruder and severer labours of agriculture, 
but could this be usefully and profitably em- 
ployed. This is the chief consideration. 
Every Southern farmer knows how much 
labour there is around him which he can- 
not employ in his ordinary cultivation, chil- 
dren, women and old men, whose pysical pow- 
ers are unequal to severer tasks of field labour, 
but who could plant, cultivate, gather and pre- 
pare for pickling all those things which are 
mostly used for that purpose. And many a 
rich spot of earth is now left to the weeds, 
which could be advantageously cultivated in 
various vegetables for pickling. But more 
than all, here the daughters of the household 
might find an employment easy of perform- 
ance, which would enable them to be useful, to 
be more than drones in the busy hive of life. 
Let more of those fair damsels complain that 
we thus mark out work for them, useful and 
profitable work. They are not asked to go out 
into the garden and defile their hands with the 
shovel and the hoe, but they may well preside 
ov r the pickling kettle, and will feel happier 
while thus usefully and honourably employed 
than they would be idling in the parlour, or 
sitting in slippers weeping over the fictitious 
woes of some child of the novel writer's fancy. 
The farmer's wife among us always has enough 
to occupy her if she does her whole duty, but it is 
too often the case that her daughters are mere 
idlers, with no serious occupation for hands or 
head. Both must be usefully and constantly 
occupied, or life will fail of its great end ; and 
we are always pleased when we are able to 
point young ladies to some useful and agreea- 
ble avocation for their hours of leisure. 



While they give due attention to reading 
needle work and music, may they not d 
something towards the prosperity of the famil; 
by putting up pickles for markets. 

Something about New Fruits. 

This is a subject of peculiar interest to us, am 
to all fruitgrowers, to which we desire to cab 
the attention, and about which we wish to secur 
the earnest co-operation of all the readers oi 
this paper, whether they aspire to the title o 
fruit growers or otherwise. Every man tin 
has a fruit tree upon his farm, whether it wa 
planted there by himself, or was found grow 
ing there when he entered into the possession 
can aid us in this matter, and may, while thu< 
helping us, confer a substantial benefit upo:' 
his immediate neighbours, and upon the com' 
munity at large. Surely no Virginia far me 
will be deaf to our call if he can, without seri 1 
ous inconvenience, be thus instrumental in th 
accomplishment of a public good. 

There are, beyond all question, in variou 
parts of the State, varieties of apples, peaches 
pears, &c, which are known and esteemei 
only within very narrow limits, which wouh 
be very highly prized if they could be intrd 
duced into a wider notice. Growing on farm 
in different counties of the State, there are! 
probably, apples not found in any of our nui| 
series, nor in the published catalogues of ou 
largest nursery men, which, in some or man; 
respects, are equal or superior to any of th 
varieties which are now known as standards' 
Within a few months we have met with severa' 
intelligent gentlemen who have mentioned ii 1 
our hearing, apples which they had seen, an< 
which they prized highly, which, from the de' 
scription given, are unlike any now offered fo 
sale by the regular fruit growers, and whicl 1 
deserve a place in every catalogue, if indeei 
they are as good as represented. 

It is in connection with these neAV varietie. 
of fruit of which orchardists at large knov 
nothing, that we want the aid of friends ir 
every section of the State. What we wisl 
them to do is very simple, and can be don< 
with but little trouble. It is, if there be upor 
their farms, or in the vicinity, any variety o 
fruit which seems to be spontaneous, to hav< 
just grown up there by accident, which differ: 1 
essentially from the well known and favourite 
varieties, and which has any valuable quality 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



445 



ther as to flavour or otherwise, we wish them 
i send us a specimen with such account of its 
•ig'n as they can avouch a description .of its 
3culiar qualities, of the soil in which it grows, 
ith such other particulars as may be worthy 
: mention. If it be preferred, however, in- 
ead of sending directly to the Planter office, 
snd to the Secretary of the State Agricultural 
3ciety, which will accomplish all that we have 
iview. 

There are many reasons why this request 

lould be heeded, two of which we will adduce. 

the first which we mention, is that it may be 

ie means of giving us some, and perhaps 

any excellent varieties of fruits, originated 

re in our own climate in addition to those 

ready known ; and secondly, it will enable us 

ascertain what varieties produce best in each 

ction of the State ; how one variety thrives 

st in the soil of Accomac, and another in the 

1 of Alleghany, and thus, nursery men, in 

ling orders sent them by farmers for fruit 

3es, will be able to send just those varieties 

st adapted to the soil of the localities where 

ey are to be planted. 

These two reasons are sufficient, as it seems 

us, to justify the request which we have 

ide of our readers. Suppose, by their com- 

iance, we should discover in some corner of 

ginia, where it is growing now unknown to 

me, such an apple as the Albemarle pippin, 

the new apple raised by M. McCue, such a 

ar as the Sickle, a superior peach, plum or 

erry. And why not ? The Sickle pear, was 

nd accidently when a full grown fruit pro- 

cing tree, and has now become an universal 

ourite with fruit growers all over the coun- 

Other favourite and famous pears have 

en discovered in like manner, and so of 

tny other of our standard fruits. What has 

is so often happened here in this State and 

ewhere, may very well happen here again, 

d there will be no contrcversy we imagine 

this point, that if a number of new and 

uable fruits should thus be discovered and 

roduced into general notice, it would be a 

sat public benefit. , 

[t is, however, the other object as connected 

:h the former on which we lay the chief 

ess. It is a fact well known to fruit growers 

t there is no fruit which will thrive equally 

ivery soil. Our peach produces excellently 

Surry County, which will do but poorly in 



Campbell, and so of others. While this is 
stubbornly true, still no nursery man in the 
fetate can speak with confidence as to which, 
or whether any of the varieties which he has 
for sale, will prosper well in this or that section. 
For the most part, they are varieties originated 
in other States, where perhaps both climate 
and soil differs materially from that of Vir- 
ginia, and it may chance that when they are 
planted here, they will deteriorate, and at all 
events no man can do more than guess at the 
result. All this uncertainty would be avoided 
on the happening of the event to which we 
have referred. Then the nursery man would 
have in his grounds whatever fruits had shown 
themselves peculiarly adapted to any par- 
ticular locality, and the buyer would know that 
the trees he was purchasing would thrive in 
his soil. 

The attainment of these desirable ends are, 
in our opinion, worth whatever effort .may be 
necessary to secure them, and we earnestly 
invite the assistance of all the readers of this 
journal. The season just approaches when the 
various fruits begin to ripen, and it will be an 
easy matter to pluck one or two specimens 
from any such tree as we have described herein, 
and send them with such a statement as can be 
made concerning them either to the Southern 
Planter office, or to the Secretary of the Agri- 
cultural Society. When received, we will ex- 
amine them and compare them carefully with 
the well known species now cultivated in our 
nurseries, and print such account of them as 
shall seem likely to interest and inform our 
readers. And if there shall be sent in any 
really fine fruits not now generally k,nown 
among fruit growers, we shall take such 
measures as will put them within the reach of 
every owner of an orchard in the State. 



Mignonette— Keseda Odorata. 

This fragrant weed, is a native of Egypt, 
and was introduced into European gardens, 
something more than a hundred years ago. 
It first found its way into the South of France, 
where it was welcomed by the name Migno- 
nette, which means " little darling." The 
name is peculiarly appropriate, and is now 
universally accepted. It has much the ap- 
pearance of a common weed, — its peculiar ex. 
cellence consisting in its powerful and peculiar- 



44G 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



ly delicious odor. It was introduced into- 
England in 1742, bnt it was not until the year 
1752, that it found its way into gardens gen- 
erally about London. 

Some persons object to the odor of Migno- 
nette, that it is too powerful. Perhaps it is 
for the house, but when its fragrance is cast 
upon the atmosphere, especially in the streets 
of a city, nothing could be more grateful. 

In its native climate, Mignonette, is an 
annual, and it naturally decays when it ripens 
its seed ; but it can be transformed into a per- 
rennial shrub, — dispensing its sweets at all 
seasons of the year, by a very simple process. 
It is as follows : Place a young plant in a 
garden pot, with a stick about eighteen inches 
in height by its side, to which the branches 
may be tied. As the plant grows up, strip the 
leaves and young branches from the lowest 
part of the stem, until a proper height of stem 
is obtained, which will become sufficiently 
hard and woody to stand the winter, by being 
placed in a green-house, or the window of a 
sitting-room, and it may be preserved for 
years, if air is given to it as the weather al- 
lows, so that the young branches do not be. 
come too delicate. Of course in this situation 
the plant will require to be watered. As soon 
as seed vessels begin to form, they should be 
cut off, which will cause the plant to throw 
out a fresh supply of blossoms, — but they 
should not be allowed to perfect their seeds, 
as that would weaken them very much, if it 
did not entirely destroy them, and that for a 
reason before stated. 

Of course it will be understood, that these 
directions are only to be followed with such 
plants as it may be desirable to make peren- 
nial. As to the others, they regularly mature 
their seed, which are either to be gathered for 
the next year's sowing, or allowed to drop 
from the plant into the soil. It very often 
happens, that the seed thus sown by the plant 
thrive better, and produce better, than those 
saved by the gardener. Still, seed should 
always be saved, for the seeds of the little dar. 
ling are very tender, and are certain to be very 
much injured, if not entirety destroyed by the 
cold of winter. 

Something better than Sweetmeats. 
Since the advent of the sealed cans for pre- 
serving various fruits and vegetables, our 



country friends have discovered that there ii 
something better than sweetmeats for the use d 
the table. All the summer and autumn fruits 
and many of the more valued products of th 
garden are now preserved, without sugar, an 
retain so much of their original flavour, thai 
one is disposed to think that there has been 
great change in the course of nature, when h 
eats in December or January milk and peaches 
or strawberries, apparently just gathered fror 
the vines, or tomatoes, as fresh as if they ha 
| only ripened the day before. The first tim 
that we were helped to a portion of peache 
preserved in one of these cans, we could nc 
imagine what legerdemain or magic had ad 
complished the impossibility of giving us ripi 
peaches in February ; and as our friend in 
waggish mood insisted that the fruits ha 
ripened that year, we mentally concluded tha 
the lamp of Aladdin had been found agair 
The secret was disclosed after awhile, and i 
was with no slight curiosity that we examine 
the can in which the fruit had been kept. 

All of our readers have, since that da} 
heard of and seen the self-sealing cans fo 
preserving fruits, etc. They are coming int 
very general use throughout the country, an* 
bid fair to supersede entirely those sugare* 
preparations which aforetime impaired th 
health of young and old, a consummation, ii 
our opinion, most devoutly to be wished. 

Our object, however, at this time, is not t 
descant upon the superiority of thus presen 
ing fruits, &c, so much as to urge our reader 
everywhere, to get a supply of cans in season 
and use them for the purpose for which the; 
were designed. The spring and summer fruit 
will soon be ripe, and as they last but a shor 
time, delay will defeat the intention of such a 
purpose and desire to preserve for the use o 
the family in winter. There is no need tha 
we urge this subject upon the attention o 
those who have once tried this method o 
keeping fruits for winter use. They are no 
likely to forego the gratification after having 
once enjoyed it. But to others, who have no 
as yet ventured upon this new-fangled inven 
tion, we can say, with the utmost confidence 
and sincerity, that they ought, by all means 
to procure cans, and put up a few, or manj 
as they find opportunity, of the fine fruits and 
vegetables, — either for use in their families. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



447 



or for sale in the market. On this last point, 
preserving fruits, &c, for sale,— we shall 
have something to say in the August Planter, 
by which time we shall procure data which is 
not now in possession. 



Priming Evergreens. 
In a work of some authority we find three 
rules for pruning evergreens which we have 
concluded to copy for the benefit of our readers, 
with the remark that any other season is more 
uitable for this work than that which many 
persons select, by which we mean the winter. 
Because they have more leisure then, they 
prune, although they are conscious of its im- 
>ropriety. But for the rules. 

1. In pruning evergreens, the lowest branches 
hould be the longest whatever the shape of the 
lead may be. 

2. No leaf should be cut through in pruning 
n evergreen. 

3. No cut ends should be seen on the bush 
:t tree. 

These three rules are supported by good and 
ufficient reasons which would satisfy the most 
teptical, if indeed there can be any skepti- 
ism about directions so obviously proper. It 
fiay be worth while to tell how, the last can be 
bserved as there may be novices to whom it 
my be useful. It is effected by beginning the 
ut on the opposite side to where you stand and 
Iways cutting with an upward stroke. Then 
ie, cut part will either face downwards or to- 
wards the centre of the plant, and if you cut 
lose to a lateral branch, to the bottom of a leaf 
;alk, at a few yards distance no person could 
$11 that your plant had been pruned at all. 



more beautiful early this morning while the dia- 
mond dew-drops sparkled in their petals, as the 
earliest rays of the sun fell upon the garden 



bed where they 



It was a small strip, 



My Pink and other Pinks. 

On the table as we write, is a small flower 
ise, containing twenty Pinks, whose fragrance 
srfumes the entire body of atmosphere in the 
>ora, while their extreme beauty charms the 
re of every person who enters. They are all 
)uble flowers, and about one-fourth the largest 
)wers of the kind we have ever seen, and no 
ro of them are of the same shade and colour. 
ne is the deepest crimson, and then the hue 

the flowers grows lighter and lighter, until 
3 arrive at a pure white, with the edges of the 
sives tipped with a red that is very near a pur- 
e. Altogether, they form a boquet of great 
sauty. 
Beautiful as they are here, they looked far 



perhaps two feet wide and twenty feet long, de- 
voted exclusively to pinks, of which there was 
a great variety, and at a distance one could 
scarce repress the fancy as the flowers swayed 
to and fro, to the motions of the zephyrs that 
they were gay plumaged butterflies sporting 
and playing in the breezes of morning. In- 
deed it was a charming sight, and we told our 
friend that it amply repaid us for our early 
rising and long walk to visit his garden, and 
we are quite sure that our lady readers would 
emulate the example of our friend if they could 
have stood, by our side this morning and look- 
ed on the beautiful flowers and inhaled the 
grateful odour which they flung upon the air. 

And this is the moral we would teach, in this 
notice of our friend's bed of pinks, that every 
person who has a flower garden at all, or who 
makes any pretence to cultivate flowers should 
have pinks, and should put them in one spot, 
with no other kind of flowers. Persons some- 
times cultivate pinks but scatter them here and 
there in small clusters over all the grounds, but 
if they wish to see them in their greatest per- 
fection and beauty, let them be planted all to- 
gether in one bed, as we have more than once 
advised with respect to all flowers. When the 
best varieties are originajly selected, and they 
are thus planted, when they come into full 
bloom, the entire bed will be covered with the 
flowers, almost hiding the green stems and the 
earth entirely from view. Such a bed of choice 
pinks^ cannot be surpassed by any of Flora's 
beautiful creations. 

Perhaps we are over partial to this flower, 
because it is associated with the sweetest and 
purest scenes of our childhood, before we knew 
what sorrow meant, or had tasted the bitter wa- 
ters of disappointment. In that far away pe- 
riod of the past, we wandered oft through the 
well kept grounds of a country home, our only 
companion a blue-eyed, fair-haired, little girl, 
whose sweet prattle was more precious to our 
childish affection, than any and all words of 
later years. They called her Pink, and per- 
haps for that reason, we used chiefly to fre- 
quent a portion of the grounds, where seated 
beneath the wide-spreading branches of a no- 
ble willow oak, we could look on a large bed of 



448 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



pinks and inhale their fragrance, while we talk- 
ed our puerile love talk, and fancied ourselves 
as happy and as true a pair of lovers as any. 
And so it is likely we were, for who can tell 
how pure and sincere are the loves of little 
childen. But a time came, when I sat beneath 
the oak, and the place by my side was unoccu- 
pied, for my Pink had wilted and faded with 
the other pinks, and looking over the bed above 
which no flowers waved, I could see beyond a 
little grassy hillock beneath which reposed the 
casket that once shrined the sweet pure spirit 
of my little friend. She went away with the 
angels, my sweet little Pink, she was too fair 
and pure for the gross earth to detain her long, 
and she was transplanted into the brighter re- 
gions of the skies, to bloom without decay ; 
and if I love the pinks of our gardens too well, 
it is, because I remember the fairest and most 
beautiful pink that ever bloomed, and how well 
she loved those beautiful and fragrant flowers. 

Life Illustrated is a first-class Pictoral 

Weekly Journal, devoted to Entertainment, Improve- 
ment, and Progress, designed to encourage a spirit of 
Hope, Manliness, Self Reliance, and Activity; to il- 
lustrate life in all its phases. A high-toned Pictoral 
Weekly Paper, which ought to he )ead by every fam- 
ily. Published at $2 a year, $ I for one-half a year, 
and to Clubs of Four, three months for One Dollar; 
Try it. Address . 

FOWLER AND WELLS, 
308 Broadway, New York. 

The Panama Star says : " Life Illustrated is one of 
the best papers published in the United States. We 
know of no more instructive and interesting publica 
lion for family reading. Young and old, parents and 
children, high and low, rich and poor, will find some- 
thing to suit them in its columns." 

July 1857— 3t 



LEND YOU A PIANO. 

•Wishing to convince purchasers of what we 
have known ourselves for 20 years past, to wit : 

That our Piano Fortes are really desirable, (good 
and cheap) we feel perfectly willing not only to send 
them on Trial to persons wishing: to purchase, but 
also to Lend them for a given time, to those who may 
prefer taking them in that way, in order that they may 
test what we have said of their qualify. 

No one wishing to purchase can doubt the prudence 
of this course, so far as they are concerned, or the 
liberality of it so far as we are concerned. 
E. P. NASH, 

July 1857. Petersburg, Va. 



LAND AND NEGROES 

FOR SALE. 

HAVING determined to relinquish farm- 
ing pursuits, I offer for sale, the Tract of Land, 
on which I now reside, containine upwards of 

900 ACRES. 

It is situated in Botetourt county, about three miles 
from Fincastle, on the road leading to Blacksburg, 
about 15 miles from Buchanan, on the James River 
and Kanawha Canal, and about 12 miies from Bon- 
sack's on the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad About 

500 ACRES 

are cleared ; the residue is finely timbered. The 
Tract is abundantly watered, there being upon it not 
less than a dozen constant Springs. There are about 

40 ACHES 

of Meadow, and as much more could very readilv be 
made. It is well calculated either for a Stock Farm 
or for the cultivation of Tobacco. The open Land is 
divided into 

TEN OR TWELVE FIELDS, 

with good fences, and is generalh in good heart. The 
Tract is susceptible of an advantageous division into 
at least two parcels, and it will he so divided if cir- 
cumstances should render it expedient. 

The improvement consists of a 
comfortable 

DWELLING HOUSE, 

containing five rooms, a good Kitchen - 
and other out houses; Cabins sufficient for the accom- 
modation of 30 or 40 Negroes ; a new Stable, Corn 
house, &c. 

I also wish to sell about 

35 LIKELY NEGROES, 

consisting of Men,. Women, and Children, and all 
young with onlv one exception. 

It is my desire to dispose of "this property privately, 
and persons wishing to purchase are requested to 
make immediate application ; but if a sale should not 
be effected before the 1st ot" September next, said pro- 
perty, together with all the Stock, comprising Horses, 
Cattle, Sheep and Hogs; Farming implements; 
Household and Kitchen Furniture, &e., &c, will on 
that day, be offered lor sale at public auction. 

Terms liberal, and will be made known to any one 
wishing to buy. 

THOMAS N. BURWELL. 

July 1857— 2t 





"Twenty-Five Cents" pays for that great 

and good Illustrated Familv Paper, LIFE ILLUS- 
TRATED— the best of all the Weeklies, 3 months 
'• on trial" for 25 cents. Send at once to 

FOWLER AND WELLS, 
308 Broadway, New York. 

Life Illustrated. — We base previously called 
attention to this excellent publication ; it is worth far; 
more to any family than any other literary paper. In- j 
stead of diminishing, it increases in interest with every 
issue, and we most cheerfully recommend it to the 
public as one of the best family newspapers in the 
country. — Southern Teacher. 

Julv 1857— 3t 



'•Dacotah 
New Yor 
ported by Mr. W 
Turner in Enfflai 



Superior North Devons. 

I will sell a few youn & BULLS which 
will be twelve months old this spring, 
and are now large enough for service. 
They are very promising-, and of the 
very best blood, having been sired by 
who was bred by Mr, Wain w right, of 
"l)aeOti:h" was by "May Boy," (im- 
from the celebrated herd of Mr. 
1,) and out of "Red Bud," who 
was by Imported '* Meganticock," and out of Impor- 
ted "Matchless." The mothers of these calves are 
also from imported stock. 

I shall also have some BULL CALVES dropped 
this spring, which I will sell, to be deliveied this Fall 
at the Exhibition of the Maryland State Agricultural 
Society. 

As mv herd is now increasing. I will also dispose 
of one or two COWS and HEIFER CALVES. For 
the character of my stock, reference can be made to 
the award of premiums annually made to them, evevy 
vear that they have been exhibited at our State Fairs. 
ODEN BOWIE, 
Buena Vista P. O., Pr. George's Co., Md. 
Julv 1857. 



^SOUTHERN PLANTER.-ADVEllTISING SHEET. 



W. W. DINGEE & CO., 

IE manufacturing for the present season 
ie and two horse Railway Powers and Thresh- 
Our powers are longer than formerly— the co-s 
pinions are chilled, which prevents them wear- 
ing band wheel goes on either side of the IW- 
e platform has a covering f inch borders, and 
wer is mounted on a pair of wheels for conve- 
: of moving Our Threshers are overshot the 

%»£ ntV vZ ? f ir ° n ? and wiM ,ast a Jife tirae ^ 
1 u . se - J , he l) oxes have self-oiling cups, which 
*e journals constantly oiled, thus pfeveTS 
? and consequent wear. The wheels and -ear 
horse power are oiled by a similar device The 
is driven by the main belt, and takes less than 
power used m the old method. The shaker 
3 fits on the power, and may be used for ma- 
reqmnng slow motion as a Corn Sheller or a 
butter. Our two-horse Machine, with 3 hands 
ble of threshmg 175 bushels of Wheat per daV 
)mp ete two-horse Machine will consfst of a 
30 ZVJTT' 29 inch cylinder thresher, a 
30 feet of India Rubber Belting, Fixtures for 
Clover fcecd, hooks for fastening the Thresher 
oor, a pan- of self-feeding oil cans for the pow- 
gen, oil can and covers (or oil cups. Price 
lehvered in Baltimore, With the one-hose 
e wdl be sent a 24 inch iron cylinder thresher ' 
the fixtures enumerated above. Price $125, 
d in Baltimore. Alt work warranted 
mher information, address W. W. DINGEE & 
>kk, Pa., and secure circular. 
)/ — 6t 



A DESIRABLE FARM FOR SALE, 

THE Subscriber offers for sale a desirable 
Farm in Cumberland County on Will.V R,W ♦ 

A%?W: h tL e lP OVO Ci "--;Nn, VV ;ltn!ains Slfi 
Acies, of which 135 are open, and 93 in woods Th*» 

The Improvements consist of a Dwelling iv.'.l, i 
rooms and 9 Porohe.s, Kitchen. Icehous s ?I£ ■ V 

CSS*"*? SUifiC ' e " t '° CUre 10 • 0I,0 Ponn^NegS, 

For further information apply to 

. . , N. AUGUST, 

Agricultural Registry Office 

May 57-tf N °- 153 * ,ai , n Str / e V, 

J Richmond, Va. 

S. McGRUMR 7 sTolsrS~~ 

COMMISSION MERCHANTS. ' 
RICHMOND, VA. 

sales— Cdni', Wheat, 
Aug. 56 — ly 



Pay particular attention 
*lour, Tobacco, &c. 



WHEAT FANS. 

le's Patent Grain Cleaner! 

SIXTEEN PREMIUMS!! 

Double Screening Separator has added 
of Premiums ihe first Premium at the Vir- 
jnculturul Fair, Richmond, Va.; also at Pe- 
and Fredericksburg Va., and Washington 
Wville, Tennessee. This Improved Fan 
"Jed Apr,! 20th 1852, and has blcon e verv 
wherever it is known, proving bv its utility in 
mj cleanmg all kinds of grain, to 
n 1 Cleaner now m use. Those in want of a>ood 
Id do well to call at Dovle's & Soiling's 
in Fredericksburg, Va.,and examine for them" 

Improved Fans will be furnished to anv 
un fiftv m.les of the Factory, and further bV 

attt r de g d n t e o ^ PwdMwta *»* ^, will be 
Z^____ DOYLE & SULL1NGER. 

for sale Seven Hundred and Thir- 

>d one-quarter {732*, acres of valuable tim- 
i, lying immediately on the Norfolk and Pe- 
ailroad m the county of Sussex. The whole 
MKmal growth of Pine and Oak, princhmlly 
jffers great inducements to Lumber geters 

b pSon^:r herpa,ticuiarsa ^ 1 "^ 

, WM. C. JONES, 
kurry Court-House P. Ov, Va. 

ishels Clay and SMnneyPeaTfbr 
Sale. 

f roTn iSl tl inS a SUPPlj had beSt ^ rw N 
THOS. BRANCH & SONS 

Petersburg. 



TWQuarter South Down RamTambs. 

K. H. Dulaney of Loudoun. We last veir \,Li! i 



S. T. WINSTON & CO., 

Sole Agents in Richmond, Va., for 



MANIPULATED GUANO, 

April 1857.— tf 



J. R. KEININGHAM, 

DEALER IN 

BOOKS & STATIONERY 

Ao. 226, Broad Street, Richmond, Va. * 

Bkn k°H£ 0Und \ n GVeiT VaHet ^ of «*yft and 
Jilank Books made out the best material it 
short .notice. Clerks of Courts and oSs wiU 
™L ™V° rd T thankf «% received, and exn 
|cuted ^vell and promptly, at strictly moderate 
P^!!l_ ',• June 1857— ly 

Reese's " Manipulated" Grua*oT 

For Tobacco. 

on T Tob^To n °iCuT USedv T lth "«**«& "««• 

S „<> >' , th tl,eo, '. v and experience show it to 

be peculiarly adapted to that plant " 

No inp , JOH ! N S - KEESE & CO., 
April 1857 ti ge Bui,din ff» Baltimore, Md. 









8 SOUTHERN PLANTER.-ADVERTISrNG SHEET 

Tujrir "ijefebvre's ScUoo 

- w ""-*- ■corner of Grace and Foushee Streets, RICHMOND, VA. 

The nest « 1 L«- -* ope. on the FTKST BAT OF OCTOBER 
and close on the First Day of July, 1858. „„,__. VTr . -d 

TERMS FOR THE SCHOLASTIC YEAR, 

- -V* - " ^ 9 qq v or twn lftsRona fof an hour) a wee 

For Board, - - ** 20 

For AV ashing, - 



6 
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, 

For Drawing, from Nature, 

For Painting in Water Colors, 

For Oil Painting, 

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



For Lights, 

For English Tuition, - 

For Modern Languages, (each,) m - 

For French, when studied exclusively ot 
the English branches, - 

For Music' on Piano, Harp, Guitar, Or- 
gan or Singing : 
For one lesson (of an hour) a week, 

A. Wrons of f '-^M^^^I^S: Kt n8 b Ri d 
aS^S, l-t Ret Itl S D. D., Rev. B. Gilders.eve. The Z 
of 'the Episcopal Chnrch in Virgmu^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 

HUBERT P. LEFEBVRE, A. M„ Principal 



Rev. H. S. Keppler, 
Kev. W. E. Webb, 
John P. Little, M. D 
E. A. Lewis, M. D. 
Eliodoro Camps, 



John A. Calyo, 
C. W. Thilow, 
W. F. Grabau, 
Mrs. M. F. Cary, 
Miss Mary Gordon, 



MAD'ELLE U VILLEMET, French Governess 
All letters to he directed to Hubert P. Lefebvre, Richmond, Va. 



Miss E. Bartlett, 
Mrs. M. Taylor, 
Mad'me M. Estvan, 
Mad'elle Lacy, 
Charles H. Roseen, | 



[July 



BLOOMFIELD ACADEMY 

Five miles West of the University of Virginia. 

W. WILLOUGHBY TEBBS, \ Principa i s . 
W LEROY BROWN, A. M., J 

The fourth session of this Academy, former- 
ly ilL.he^ 

"Tof JUNE The cm ie of 'instruction will em- 
F^ceevemWog required in a thorough preparat.on 

ttine^°Hi« M EH: Garnet,, Loyd's, Essex. 

juh 

GLENTJVAR SCHOOL. 

This isatW.lv echool for girls enti™ 1 ?"": 

uf ^ uf .rw°w»ir^.v^» 8 o».M r . ; J 

'>,.»•■ ,*£*# T. BLAIR. 0*- 

For r e r 1 1 > s , «Ve., i.ilv— 3t 

wood Depot. All.ema.le Co., Va. July 



WESTWOOD SCHOC 

Near Lynchburg, Va. 

Classical, Mathematical and Milit 

This School is designed to prepart 
Youths for College, and more especially tor t 
versity of Virginia. J 

The next session will commence on the is l 
DAY of SEPTEMBER and terminate on 1 
Friday of June, 1S58. , 

TERMS— For Board and Tuition $200 for .£ 
session. For particulars see catalogue. A(M 
Principal at Lynchburg. JNQ> H> wwa 

July '57-1 y 



Life Illustrated is an elegant tf 

eight beautiful page— a trifle larger than the 
ted London Neics—n perfect model of exc, 
size, shape, and sentiment, and *», altogefl 
the most sound and sensible ot livn pa. 
like it, women like it, boys like it, girls like 
folks like it, young folks like it, the ch.ldi 
and the rest" of the. folks eniCt kec}> hou 
LIFE ILLUSTRATED. No plantation 
without it. Only %-l a year, %1 'or halt a 
on trial three months ^^ A[ Addres 

30S Broadway, Ne 

LIFE ILLUSTRATED is marked by 

beautv,and we have no doubt it will be the 

of the kind published in New York.— cr 

Col ii in bus, Ga. 

We can commend it to the patron. 
It is tilled with excellent reading, well arr 
everything under an appropriate he 
Gazette. 



J