f ^ - C>- C ■ c ^^^y^^ 



) 



^5 



VOL. XVII. [SEPTEMBER] 



No. 9. , 



PlJBLrSHKD Moi^THLY. RlJFFm ife AuGUST, PROPRIETORS 



FEANK: G. RUFFIN, Editor 




DEVOTED TO 



AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE, 



AND THE 



HOUSEHOLD AKTS. 



PRINTED AT RICHMOND, Ya., 
BY MACFARLANE & FERGUSSON. 

1857. 



CONTENTS 



The Murrain, or Cattle Plague, 

Corns in Horses, 

How to Select Flour, 

Amount of Roots from Clover and Grasses, 

Fattening Hogs, - - - 

Fire Proof Ladies' Dresses, 

Milk, 

Economy of Bee-Keeping, 
The Sexes—The Prolificacy of Short- 
horns, Color, &c., 
Agricultural Biscussioii at Ridgway — 

Wheat Seeding, &c., - 
Lightning Rods, Corn Crushers and Corn 

Planters, 

Wheat Drills.— Agricultural Professor- 
ship at the University.— Dumpling on 
the Tobacco Crop, - - - 

Smut in Wheat, - - - - 

How to Prevent a Horse from Biting Down 
Corn.— De Burg's and Rhodes' Super- 
phosphates, - - - - 
Fine Yield of Wheat in Accomac— La- 
bor Lost, - - - - 
Small Horses, 
Feeding Mowing Lands, 
The Potato Fly, - - - - 



513 I Influence of the Scion upon the Stock, 
517 ' Farming in Connecticut, 



520 
521 
521 



Rearing Beef Cattle.— Exports of Bread- 
stuffs from U. S. to Great Britain and 
Ireland, 



541 
542 



- 543 



522 Wolf Teeth in Horses.— Lametiess from 
i Contracted Heels.— Cure for Bots in 
Horses, &c., - 

Farmers' Assembly and State Agricultu- 
ral Society.— Meadows, 

Seymour's Broadcaster, - 

U. S. Agricultural Society.— Magnum Bo- 
num Plums.— Professor Gilham's Lec- 
ture to the Farmers of Powhatan, - 

Vinegar, - 

The Rose, - - ' 

Cabbage and Lettuce for Spring, 

Kale and Turnips for Salad.— A Problem 
for Farmers to Solve.— Fifch Annual 
Exhibition of the Virginia State Agri- 
cultural Society, - ■ ■ 

Drills with Guano Attachments, &c. 

Deep"and Shallow, Relative Terms.— the 

" Cholera among Hogs, - - " 

Rhodes' Superphosphate.— How to iliX- 

tract the Essential Oil.- 



523 
524 

528 

- 529 

- 531 



533 
535 



536 



537 

538 
539 
540 i 



-Is it So? 



544 

535 
537 



538 I 
550 I 
551 
558 



559 
562 
564 

565 

566 



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Devoted to Agricultia^e, Ilorticultiire, and the Iloicsehold Arts. 



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



FRANK. G. RUFFIN, Editor. 



F. G. RUFFIN & N. AUGUST, Prop'es. 



Vol. XYII. 



RICHMOND, VA., SEPTEMBER, 1857. 



No. 9. 



The Murrain, or Cattle Plague. 
A correspondent of the London "Times," 
at Vienna, has treated this now important 
subject in a very able manner, classifying 
the symptoms of the three different mur- 
rains which he describes, and treatins: of 
them at some length, in order that those 
Veterinary Surgeons who have never had 
an opportunity (tf seeing cattle which were 
affected with either of them, may be able 
to distinguish one disease from the other. 
This is followed by another communication, 
in which he points out the mode of treat- 
ment adopted in Austria: 

SYMPTOMS OF DISEASE. 

There are three complaints which, on 
the Continent, are popularly called 'Vieh- 
seuche," (cattle plagues.) The first is a 
catarrhal affection of the lungs; the second, 
a pulmonary complaint with typhoid symp- 
toms ; and the third, highly contagious ty- 
phus {typhus bovum confagiosus.) In let- 
ters which have appeared in the "Times," 
Mr. Redcliffe speaks of the pulmonary 
complaint Mnth typhoid symptoms ; Mr. 
Gamgee, of the contagious typhus, which 



33 



is the real cattle-plague, (Rinderpest,) or 
miwTain of the Steppe; and Dr. Greenhow, 
of the "lung disease," which may mean 
either the simple catarrhal affection of the 
lungs, or the pulmonary complaint with 
typhoid symptoms. As it is doubtful which: 
of the three murrains is now raging in 
those countries from which cattle, hides, 
&c., have recently been exported to En- 
gland, the distinctive symptoms of all three 
will now be described. 

The principal symptoms of simple catar- 
rhal affections of the lungs are — first, 
shivering, at the commencement of the 
malady ; second, sadness and prostration 
of strength ; third, the pulse is quicker 
than usual, and there is fever; fourth, the 
skin feels dry; fifth, the cough, which is 
at first dry and hollow, and comes by fits 
and starts. After a lapse of four or five 
days the cough gets "looser" and there is 
a discharge of phlegm ; a rattling noise is 
heard when the anim.al draws its breath,., 
and a frothy mucous escapes from its 
nostrils, when it allows its head to droop. 
It is only under unfavorable circumstances, 
such as immoderate excitement, a naturally 
bad constitution, or injudicious treatment, 
that the catarrhal inflammation of the liings 
ends fatally, but a chronic secretion of 
phlegm and asthmatic cough often remain. 



)14 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



tor a considerable time after the animal is 
convalescent. 

The "lung disease," combined with ty- 
phus, may be divided into three periods. 
The symptoms of the first period, during 
which there is no fever, are — sadness and 
prostration of strength ; secondly, drooping 
head and pendulous ears ; thircMy, eyes 
fixed, without loss eitiier of lustre or of 
color, (in vigorous animals the eyes are 
often red and fiery, but dry ;) fourthly, the 
skin of the nostrils pale, and the inside of 
the mouth "slimy;" fifth, temperature of 
the body low, with horns, ears and feet 
cool ; sixth, the skin dry and tense 
(stretched,) the hair lustreless, .rough, and 
bristly, and erected along the spine ; 
seventh, breathing difficult. The first 
/period sometimes lasts a fortnight or three 
weeks ; the second, or feverish period 
lasts three or four days. The symptoms 
are those above described, with feverish 
movements. The diseased animal has fits 
of shivering, considerable exacerbation in 
the evening, and remission of fever to- 
wards the middle of the day. After the 
cold, or aguish fits, are over, the reaction 
is much less violent than in other inflam- 
matory complaints. Each paroxysm of 
fever is accompanied by an acceleration of 
the respiration, which is audible, and often 
accompanied by a moaning sound. The 
weakness and exhaustion of the animal 
are very great ; the temperature of the 
ears, horns and legs, changes continually — 
now warm and now cold ; the skin is dry 
and rough, and looks as if dust were strewn 
on it; the hair is erect, and the eyes, 
which are opened wide, are projecting, 
dry, shining, and fixed. The p,upil is dila- 
ted. The nttstrils are covered with a 
slimy secretion, which the sufi'eiing animal 
removes with its tongue ; the teeth are 
loose; the loins are so sensitive that the 
pressure of the hand cannot be borne 
without shrinking, and the pain in the 
chest increases. The animal lies down 
but seldom, and when it does so, it is on 
the side on which the lung is affected, if 
both lungs are diseased, the animal rests on 
its breast-bone, with its legs under its 
body, and its head and neck stretched out. 
The alvine secretion is often either entirely 
suppressed, or very scanty. The urine is 
dark in color, and pungent in smell. — 
During the third period, which commonly 
ends in death, the uneasiness and agitation 



of the animal are extreme. It continually 
changes its position, and draws back from 
the crib to the length of its tether. The 
eyes sink and become glazed, and the lids 
fall, as if the animal were about to sleep. 
The horns, ears, and nose are cold ; the 
mouth is filled with offensive phlegm and 
saliva, and an ill-colored secretion flows 
from the nostrils. The animal gnashes its 
teeth, which are loose and shaky, the hair 
becomes more and more bristly, and the 
emaciation is rapid. At this period of 
the disease, the pulse is often above one 
hundred a minute. 

The real cattle plague, or, as it is called 
in Austria, the "Loser Durre," has four 
periods. During the first period, which 
begins about five days after the infection 
has been taken, the following symptoms 
are observable: 

1. The animal is generally languid, its 
movements are heavy, its gait is tottering, 
and it is less sensible than usual to outward 
impressions; in other cases, it bellows and 
beats the ground with its hoofs, and is unu- 
sually unruly and vicious. 

2. The appetite is often much greater 
than usual, but after the animal has swal- 
lowed its food, it appears inattentive to what 
is passing around it, and hangs its head 
and ears. 

3. When the animal rises from the earth, 
it does not stretch itself, as healthy animals 
usually do, and instead of sinking its back, 
it arches it. 

4. The eye has more lustre than usual, 
and its vessels are slightly reddened. 

5. Tremulous movements are perceptible 
in the skin, and the hair on some parts of 
it becomes rough. 

6. After the fourth or fifth day the 
animal coughs at intervals, and often 
groans. 

7. The animal licks its chops less than 
usual. 

8. No strong pressure with the hand can 
be borne, and the back immediately sinks 
if the loins are squeezed. 

9. The "droppings" are drier and les? 
furrowed than is usual. 

On the eighth day after the infection the 
plague is regularly declared. The symp- 
toms are : — 

1. Aguish paroxysms, and often a twitch- 
ing of the whole skin. 

2. Bristling of the hair. 



THE SOUTHEEN PLANTER. 



5L' 



3. Trembling* of the limbs, and particu- 
larly of the hind quarters. 

4. During the paroxysm the animal is 
generally very uneasy: it stamps, holds up 
its head, and shakes it continually. The 
vigorous cattle are very violent in their 
movements, have a wild eye, snort and bel- 
low, and devour their food greedil}'. The 
weak and aged beasts, which are less wild 
and unruly, shake their heads and grind 
their teeth. 

5. The roots of the horns and the hano-in^; 
ears are sometimes very hot, and sometimes 
cool. 

6. The chops and muzzle are dry, the 



interior of the mouth is of a light red and 

hot," the gums swollen and 

and the incisors somewhat loose. 

spots of a deep 

the loins in- 



"steammg 

spongy 

The gums have frequently 

red. 

7. The sensitiveness of 
creases. 

8. The skin is extremely tense. 

9. The pulsation is accelerated. 

10. A single (not continuous) violent, 
hollow, and convulsive cough, which is 
totally different from any other. 

11. The ruminatiou is incomplete and 
interrupted. 

12. The alvine excretion is scanty, 
dark — sometimes almost black, parched 
and deep furrowed. The discharge takes 
place very frequently. 

13. The tail is either extended in a hori- 
zontal line, or used to strike the side of the 
animal, w^bich continually looks round to 
its hind quarters. 

14. The urine is of a high red color. 

15. It is frequently the case that air 
bladders can be felt under the skin on the 
back and loins. 

16. The fever increases in the evening, 
and becomes less violent in the morning. 

17. The milk in cows diminishes, and in 
some cases is altogether dried up. 

During the third period, which begins 
on the ninth or tenth day from the infec- 
iion, all the above-mentioned symptoms in- 
crease in violence. The animal is exces- 
sively weak and sad, stands at a distance 
from the crib, and hangs its head almost 
down to the ground. If the lungs are 
much affected it lies down a great deal, 
but if not it remains on its legs. The ema- 
ciation is extreme. The e3^es begin to run, 
and a clear white viscous fluid flows from 
the nose. By degrees the tears thicken 



and form a crust, which half covers thf 
eye, the discharge from the nose become*; 
cloudy and "glandery," the tongue is flac- 
cid, and the breath has a peculiar and al- 
most putrid smell. The rumination ceaser; 
entirely. The alvine secretions are now 
watery, and are ejected, or rather squirted 
out, with violence. The animal sufFerf; 
greatly from tenesmus. If there is no di- 
arrhea, which is sometimes the case, the 
hind part of the body is greatly swollen. 
On the thirteenth or fourteenth day, when 
the complaint has reached the highesi 
pitch, the fourth period begins. The ani- 
mal can hardly keep on its legs ; a thick 
ash gray fluid runs from its glazed eyes, ti 
corrosive secretion escapes from its nose, 
a thick phlegm fills its mouth, and the pu- 
trid exhalation becomes almost unbearable. 
The skin of the mouth and the gums is 
dried up, " and the tallow-like skin of the 
animal peels off in great flakes." The se- 
rous and even bloody alvine secretion is 
discharged almost without interruption ; 
the head of the suffering animal is contin- 
ually twisted round to its hind quarters. 
Death generally ensues on or about the 
seventeenth day after the infection. 

TREATMENT OF THE DISEASE. 

On the outbreak of "catarrhal affection 
of the lungs," those medicines which tend 
to reduce inflammation or the activity of 
the vital power are always employed in 
Austria. The ailing animals must be kept 
at home, in a warm, airy, clean stall, and 
an electuary, with small doses of salt and 
gentain or wormwood, be adrninistereo! 
three or four times a day. The backs of 
the animals must be washed with warn^ 
water, and rubbed dry, with wisps of straw. 
The food must be some greenmeat, easy of 
digestion, or good hay; the drink some 
mucilaginious fluid which has been allowe<^ 
to stand in a warm place. 

As soon as the alvine discharge has be- 
come more plentiful, and the .respiration 
freer, the quantity of salt must be dimin- 
ished, and elecampane powder, fennel, sul- 
phur, and a few drops of oil of turpentine, 
be added to the lectuary. The turpentine 

' acts on the kidneys and increases the se- 
cretion of urine. Good hay, with oatmeal, 
and now and then a dose of the above- 
mentioned medicine, must be given for a 
few days after the catarrhal affection of the 

I lungs has ceased. If there is any tenden- 



ol\) 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



cj to putrid catarrhal fever, care must be 
taken to prevent too great an accumulation 
of food in the stomach, the digestion 'must 
be aided, and the skin excited to action. 

The sick animal must be fed with scald 
ed hay, potatoes, horse chesnuts, and dosed 
with aromatic and balsamic medicines, 
combined v/ith camphor. If the inflamma- 
tion is very severe and the breathing great- 
ly oppressed, blood may be taken in mod- 
erate quantities, and mild purgatives given. 
At the outbreak of malignant and catarrhal 
lever, and, more particularly, if there is a 
determination of blood to the head, bleed- 
ing in the neck is absolutel}'- necessary. 
Poultices made of common salt, and vine- 
gar, and clay, may be applied to the head 
and neck, and the whole body washed with 
vinegar and strong lye. If there is obsti- 
nate constipation, ejections of salt or soap 
must be given. 

The internal remedies employed are, 
several doses of saltpetre — each consisting 
of half an ounce — w^hich must be given 
every two or three hours> If doses, each 
consisting of two or three ounces of salt, 
with half a drachm of tartar emetic, are 
subsequently administered, a marked im- 
provement will generally take place in two 
or three days. If, however, the malady 
makes further progress — and the animal 
loses strength rapidly — tonic remedies must 
be employed, and particularly, the sweet 
spirits of nitre (spirit, nitri. dulc.) If there 
is a great looseness, columbo root, with 
opium, and small doses of rhubarb must be 
given. 

If any typhoid symptoms should be ob- 
served, camphor and balsamic medicines 
may be tried; "but if malignant catarrhal 
affection of the lungs is in its third stage 
hardly one animal out of ten can be saved." 
In the first stage of the complaint the flesh 
of the animal is innocuous ; at the begin- 
ning of the second, the sale of the meat 
is not prohibited, but no one is allowed to 
kill and sell the flesh of cattle, which have 
reached the third stage of the malady. 
The medical police of this country does 
not consider the disease known as "ma- 
lignant catarrhal affections of the lungs," 
as contagious. 

The "lung disease," combined Avith ty- 
phus, is not only a more fatal complaint 
than that above jnentioned, but it is some- 
times contagious. '•'If," says a learned 
and skillful veterinary professor, "the 



lung disease, combined with typhus is to 
be cured, it must be attacked while the 
animal has its full strength and vio^or." 

If the patient, being of robust constitu- 
tion, and of middle age, has, at the begin- 
ning of the malady, a violent and dry 
cough, and fiery and inflamed eyes, from 
five to eight pounds of blood must be ta- 
ken without loss of time. If the violence 
of the symptoms does not abate, the vene- 
section may be repeated, but proper atten- 
tion must be paid to the constitution, and 
the age of the animal. 

In all cases a mixture of turpentine, 
laurel oil, and cantharides powder must be 
rubbed in behind and below the shoulder- 
blades, and a seton, which has been anoint- 
ed with the salve in question, must be 
passed through the shoulders — (withers is 
probably meant.) 

M. Fey recommends that the whole of 
the back, beginning from the neck,^ should 
be rubbed with an ointment, composed of 
turpentine oil and laurel oil, of each an 
ounce and a half, and of strong spirits of 
sal-ammoniac, spirits of camphor, and 
powdered Spanish flies, of each half an 
ounce. Before the salve is applied the 
whole body should be well brushed or 
rubbed for half an hour. To clear the 
bowels, clysters composed of three or four 
ounces of common salt and camomile-tea 
should be given every two or three hours. 
Mashes, with saltpetre, sal-ammoniac, and 
flowers of sulphur with them, may also be 
given. 

Some years ago a M. Merk asserted that 
a decoction of hemlock was a specific 
against the complaint, but the Vienna phy- 
sicians and veterinary surgeons of the pres- 
ent day do not appear to be of the same 
opinion. If the complaint is in the second 
stage, camphor, valerian, asafffitida, sul- 
phur, and sulphuret of potash must be 
used. 

Should an improvement take place less 
powerful medicines must gradually be sub- 
stituted for those last mentioned, ff, on 
the contrary, such unfavorable symptoms 
as difficult respiration, violent cough, in- 
creasing emaciation, &.c., continue for some 
time, the best thing that the agriculturist 
or grazier can do is to go to no further ex- 
pense, either for medicine or food. The 
sanitary measures taken by the medical 
police in this disease are the following: — 
The herd or farm is strictly examined, and 



THE SOUTIIERV PLANTER. 



517 



all those animals that cough are put on the 
sick list, and mu^t be kept apart. 

As the "lung disease" is believed to be 
contagious, not only the herd in which it 
prevails but also the men who tend it are 
kept from communication with the sur- 
rounding farms, hamlets, &c. Instead of 
being driven out to graze, the cattle are 
fed on the premises, and it has been ob- 
served that a change from green to dry 
food always produces a good effect on the 
animals which are still healthy. The sick 
cattle h.ave their own attendants, who are 
not allowed to go near the other stalls, and 
a healthy animal is never allowed to drink 
out of a pail which has been used by one 
that is unwell. The carcasses of the cattle 
which die must be buried in a very deep 
pit with the straw on which they had lain. 
If the cattle are skinned, the skins are for 
a time to be put into a lime pit. 

If the disease assumes a very malignant 
form in any place, a cordon is drawn round 
it, which is not raised until six weeks from 
the time of the last death. The stalls or 
stables in which cattle have been kept are 
always scrupulously scoured, the various 
implements cleaned with strong ley, and 
the cribs, mangers, &c., washed with a 
solution of chloride of lime. Some time 
must elapse before the convalescent ani- 
mals can safely be allowed to join their 
fellows. 

Of the treatment of the real murrain, or 
cattle plague, (/?iWer/)e,9/) there is nothing 
more to be said than that the best and most 
ecbnomical method is to knock every ani- 
mal on the head as soon as he is attacked 
by it. The Loser Durre, as it is here call- 
ed, has invariably been brought into the 
country by cattle coming from Podolia, 
Bes.sarabia, or the Danubian Principali- 
ties, and we continually read that the im- 
portation of beasts from those provinces is 
prohibited. 

As soon as it is known that the plague 
is raging on the other side of the frontier 
a cordon is drawn which is not raised until 
the disease has entirely ceased. If this 
government finds it necessary to have a 
number of beasts killed in order to put an 
end to a contagious disease, the proprietor 
receives £5 a head from the State ; but the 
sum is so ridiculously small that many sick 
cattle are driven away and sold to the next 
best butcher, before the authorities are 



aware that the murrian has made its ap- 
pearance. 

If a butcher, on killing an animal, finds 
it to be diseased, and does not inform the 
police of the fact, he is liable to be fined 
i64 for each offence. If he announces his 
discovery he only receives i5 as an in- 
demnification for his loss. The loser, or 
third stomach, of the cattle which die of 
the real or steppe murrian is invariably dis- 
eased. On the outside it is generally cov- 
ered with livid spots, and in the inside is 
found ruminated food, not in a pulpy mass 
as it ought to be, but in the form of a dry, 
dark-green, coarse pow^der, which is piess- 
ed in between the "leaves" of the "loser."* 
The fourth stomach is always either highly 
inflamed or gangrenous. 

During the Russo-Turkish war in 1827 
and 1828, Russian herds driven into Silesia 
brought the murrain with them, which car- 
ried off 30,000 head of cattle in Hungary, 
12,000 in Gallicia, and 9,000 in Moravia. 
According to a very moderate estimate 
made by M. Faust, the steppe murrian 
had, at the end of the last century, carried 
off 28,000,000 head of cattle in Germany. 

* The compound word " loser durre " means 
"dryness of the lo.'-er," or third stomach. 



From the London " Field, tlie Country Gentleman's 
P^ewppaper." 

Corns in Horses. 

There are few ailments that lame more 
or cause more acute pain to the horse 
than do corns, if not properly treated, and 
few that are more easily alleviated if 
scientifically set about. Corns, I quite be- 
lieve, are a disease incident to some horses, 
as I am quite convinced they are to some 
persons. Skillful chiropodists will so far 
alleviate their effects, that a man may walk 
and feel no inconvenience from them : this 
in no way proves that he cures them — his 
skill may prevent any inconvenience being 
felt for weeks, or months, but the disease 
continues, and in time, less or more, its 
effects will be found to continue. It is a 
received axiom that pressure produces 
corns. I do not conceive it quite amounts 
to this : the germ of the disease is there, 
and pressure produces lameness: bufl am 
very much inclined to doubt whether 
pressure would produce a bona fide corn in 
a perfectly healthy foot; it would certainly 



518 



THE SOUTHEEN PLANTER. 



produce a bruise; but if a corn was not in- 
herent in the foot, I feel clear that so soon 
as such bruise wa*s found and cured, it 
would be, like a bruise of any sort, cured 
radically. If the same improper pressure 
was applied, of course the foot would be 
again bruised, again to be cured ; and af- 
terwards shoe the horse fairly and well, 
we should find no more of the temporary 
ailment. 

Let us now^ consider of what leading 
characters the foot of the horse consists. 
There will be found to be wall, or crust, 
the side (covering) the sensible part of the 
foot, the frog, and the bars. Now these 
bars join the foot crust of the foot at the 
heel, and form an acute angle there, from 
whence they run to the narrow point or 
termination of the frog. It must be quite 
cl«ar to any one that any sensible part of 
the foot confined, I may say jammed in, 
by an acute angle formed by the two dif- 
ferent parts, that the foot must more or 
less undergo the pressure spoken of; and 
it is in this angle between the bars and wall 
of the foot that corns are inherent, or the 
bruises I have spoken of are found to 
exist. It may be asked, and very reasona- 
bly, as the horse's foot is formed the same 
on the inside as the out, and the shoe 
formed the same or nearly so at both heels, 
how happens it that a corn on the outside 
is a circumstance of very rare occurrence? 
The only reason I can surmise is that, from 
soine natural cause, he treads heavier on 
the inside "than the out; and, supposing 
my idea to be correct, we have not found 
out any mode to prevent this. Having 
stated the nature of corns, to the best of 
my experience, observation, and anatomi- 
cal knowledge of the foot, I will state 
other causes that produce pressure bes des 
the being confined in the corner spoken of 
between the bars and the crust: this is 
pressure from the upper surface — viz: the 
sole. This, as may be at once apparent, 
produces the same effect or result as does 
the accumulation of hardened yubstance 
that from time to time thickens on our corn, 
if we are unfortunate en«)ugh to have one. 
Most persons are more or less quite ac- 
quainted .with the pain it creates. It is 
the same with the horse. It would be 
well for him if we could at once and as 
efTectually relieve him as we can ourselves; 
but, unfortunately, common blacksmiths do 
not do tliis, or even set about itin the rio-ht 



way to effectually produce the wished ef- 
fect. Many persons have remarked that a 
horse with corns will frequently, I will say 
generally, go firm and sound for some days, 
more or less, after being shod. The fact 
is, the cause of lameness has been for a 
brief time removed, that is the corn has been 
relieved of pressure. Smiths are apt enough 
to slice away at the frog. They have 
learned from practice and observation that 
the upper coat for a certain thickness is 
perfectly insensible^ and have ascertained 
by practice also how far they may, in the 
generality of cases, go before they ap- 
proach the sensible part. I never found a 
smith, who thus acted, who could give a 
more sensible reason for his cuttings than 
that "it kept the frog in shape and looked 
neat," when the new^ shod foot was looked 
at. With deference to these gentry, I beg 
to say it never fell to my lot to see a frog 
grow out of proper shape, except in a state 
of disease. I have seen in a common 
smith's pent-house half a dozen curs wait- 
ing for the cuttings from horses' frogs, of 
which they are inordinately fond. They 
might wait long enough at Mr. Field's, of 
Oxford street, before they got a chance of 
a "bonne bouche." The closely paring a 
horse's healthy frog is tantamount to tak- 
ino; a man's comfortable walkino; shoes off* 
and turning him on a newly m.acadamised 
road in a paii- of dancing pumps. 

They have heard that the bars are in- 
tended to "spread the hocks." They were 
intended for no such thing, but were placed 
there to support the crust and retain the 
foot in its natural and healthy shape ; what 
shape it may contract from acute disease 
is another matter. They are not content 
to take away as much of the wall, the sole, 
and the bars, as to place them in the same 
relative position as regards each other as 
they were before, but will pare down the 
sole, leaving the bars standing up a perfect 
ridge each side of the horse's frog — I sup- 
pose from thinking they are better judges 
of proportion than is or was Nature, who 
formed the foot. If we send a horse to an 
inferior smith; apd the servant tells him 
the horse has corns, he usuall}^ begins by 
lowering the wall or crust, whether it wants 
it or not ; he then holds it necessary to 
take away a certain part of the insensible 
sole, whether there is any overgrowth or 
not. He then comes to the frog, which he 
works away at till its appearance pleases 



I 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



51<' 



him; then comes the rasp, to bring if 
possible the foot to a certain shape. If 
naturally a spread or wide one, the rasp 
travels along the out and inner side — the 
workman, with a knowing look, regarding 
it till he has probably weakened the crust 
so far as to render it a matter of serious 
difficulty and risk to find hold for the nails. 
This done he sets to work to find the corn. 
For this purpose a small drawing-knife, 
called "a scratcher," is brought into re- 
quisition ; with this (I can find no better 
term) he digs away where practice has 
taught him the corn is to be expected — 
namely, the inside heel between the crust 
and the bar. I should mention that, prior 
to such anatomical search, in most cases he 
sets the foot on the ground, and, comino- in 
front, probably says to the servant, with a 
self-satisfied air, "There! his foot looks a 
very different thing to what it did when 
you brought him." But to return to the 
searching. After considerable digo;ing in 
the corner, and the whole superstructure 
of sole being removed, the corn is come at. 
and, as it sometimes happens, the sensible 
part of the foot is come at also. 

The smith is satisfied with the shape to 
which his paring and rasping has brought 
the foot, and having discovered the latent 
corn, or, at all events, bruise, we must 
suppose he would have been equally satis- 
fied with his work had he taken a mule- 
footed horse in hand, and, by dint of paring 
away the toes and front part of the foot, 
had brought it somewhat into the shape of 
a well formed one. But to the work in 
hand. 

Having removed all direct top pressure 
he commences fitting on the shoe ; the 
pain is partially removed, that is, so far as 
super-pressure is concerned; but there re- 
mains lateral pressure. This, at first, may 
hot much effect the horse, and he goes 
sound, or comparatively so, for a time. 
But mark the inevitable result — he has so 
weakened the superstratum of insensible 
sole, while groping for the corn, that he 
has deprived the foot of any power of re- 
sisting the close approach of the wall of 
the foot and the bars ; he has, in fact, 
counteracted the intent of nature, which 
originally was, that each part might have 
the power of performing its appointed 
function. The consequence is, from the 
want of the accustomed support the pres- 
sure of the shoe at the heel in a few days 



will bend the weakened wall on which it 
rests inwards, and the shoe finally bears on 
the corn, and lameness returns with all its 
pristine grievance. It is true, there are 
some horses, the crust of whose foot is so 
strong, that, though you diminish inside 
support, is strong enough to support the 
shoe, keeping it from pressure on the ail- 
ing part. Where such is the case the horse 
may go in an ordinary shoe ; but where the 
crust is thin, itwnll not bear the abstraction 
of the inw^ard support, and a strapped or 
bar shoe will be necessary. We know- 
that in a general way the undue lowering 
of the heels is objectionable. So are corns. 
It therefore merges into this, whether it is 
better to low^er the crust and cut away the 
bars and heels in a corresponding degree 
to the quantum of sole we remove, or to 
leave the horse half a cripple — for I con- 
sider that in many cases we are left but to 
choose between the two alternatives. 

The difference between a strapped shoe 
and a bar one, is, the latter is somewhat 
rounded at the heel, the former may be 
made all but square, in point of fact, they 
are pretty much the same, the great 
merit of both being that they pass over the 
frog, to which the iron part that connects 
the heels may in the centre be flattened ; 
and to this flat centre may be affixed a 
piece of shoe-sole leather on the part on 
which the frog bears, thus giving the shoe 
a bearing on the frog that greatly lessens 
that on the heels, and effectually prevents 
a pressure on the corn, and likewise saves 
it from hurt or exposure to casualties. It 
must be quite clear to any one, that a horse 
with a sore corn, if he comes on a project- 
ing, sharp, and very hard substance, must 
drop from sheer pain. Whether he falls 
or not will depend partly on his gameness 
and resolution, and partly on the quickness 
with which he brings the sound leg (if he 
has one) to the relief of the afflicted one. 
If both feet are afflicted the necessit}^ of 
strapped or bar shoes becomes apparent. 

There are many persons who, from pre- 
judice object much to either; they think 
they have a tendency to contract the foot, 
and say, pertinently enough, "How can a 
horse's foot expand with a piece of iron 
run across the heels that would prevent it 
doing so?" This would be all very well 
if it was a correct representation of the 
case ; but persons must bear in mind that, 
though the heels of an iron shoe cannot 



520 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



expand, whether it be a common made one 
or a bar shoe, the horse's foot can. It may 
be objected, and frequently is, — how can 
the foot expand when confined to the shoe 
by nails? I quite admit the side crust 
cannot ; but let any one look at a properly 
shod foot, they will find the nailing and 
nail holes cease long ere the heels begin. 
Again, let any one remove a shoe of any 
kind after it has been worn three weeks or 
a month, they will find by the polish and 
marks on the heels of the shoe that those 
of the horse have had ample space and 
liberty to expand, if disposed to do so. 
Contracted heels and feet arise from va- 
rious causes, chiefly, I should say, from 
internal disease ; but I conceive it to be 
rarely the case, that a really healthy foot 
becomes a contracted one from the effects 
of shoeing alone. 

There is another circumstance connected 
with the shoeing of the horse that proba- 
bly has never attracted the notice or thought 
of the casual ob-erver. Let us shoe a 
yearling for the first time; he naturally 
feels awkward in his shoes, from various 
causes, but also from one that strikes but 
few of US. He has been accustomed to 
feel his foot, toe, sides, heels and frog, 
bearing equally on the ground. Now, by 
our mode of shoeing, and the form of the 
shoe, we deprive him of (say) one-fifth of 
the support his foot has been accustomed 
to feel ; in fact, by the formation of the 
shoe we deprive him of support to the 
frog at all. From this he would feel prob- 
ably no inconvenience if immediately led 
into a soft meadow, where the shoe could 
bury itself deep enough in the yielding 
surface to enable the frog to get its accus- 
tomed support. This is why hunters and 
race horses do not suffer from our mode of 
shoeing. Their principal and severest work 
is done on soft ground, and this neutralizes 
what would otherwise be the dire effects 
of taking all support from the frog. Set 
the foot on the smooth surface of a well 
made high road, you would perceive, as the 
shoe could make no impression, the vast 
amount of support of which we deprive the 
leg of the horse. The frog is an important 
part of the foot — an elastic cushion placed 
at the heel, to take off the concussion that 
would be otherwise thrown on the sheath 
of the back sinews — in fact, on the sinews 
themselves and all the surrounding parts 
of the back part of the leg. Much has 



been said on the subject of "concussions 
and hard roads." Persons are apt to think 
the onl}'' concussion to be feared is that 
which affects the foot of the horse on hard 
roads ; this, I admit, is bad enough, but 
that which arises as regards the back sinews 
having no support, is infinitely more to be 
dreaded ; and I think I am right in saying, 
that if I had a horse engaged in a gallop 
match against time, on a hard road, like 
the one performed some years back on the 
Brighton road, he should most unquestion- 
ably do it with strapped shoes, well padded 
with leather for the frog to rest upon ; and 
I am quite sure all horses used on hard 
roads would go better in such shoes than 
in those in general use. Fortunately for 
horses, usual road work is not severe 
enough or fast enough to render change in 
the mode of shoeing necessary for sound 
horses — and many persons are so influ- 
enced by appearances, that rather than use 
a somewhat unusual shoe, they will use a 
cripple, that might be made to go with ease 
to himself and safety to his employer by 
judicious shoeing. If a man, not conver- 
sant with such matters himself, has a horse 
thus situated, let him send him to a first 
rate veterinarian, with permission to shoe 
him as /i?5 judgment directs; he may then 
depend on it, all that can w'ill be done to 
remedy the ai ment. 

Harry Hieover. 



How to Select Flour. 

1. Look at its color ; if it is white, 
with a slightly yellowish or straw-colored 
tint, buy it. If it is very white, with a 
blueish cast, or with black specks in it, re- 
fuse it. 2. Examine its adhesiveness; 
wet and knead a little of it between the fin- 
gers ; if it works dry and elastic, it is 
good ; it it works soft and sticky, it is poor. 
Flour made from spring wheat is likely to 
be sticky 3. Throw a little lump of dry 
flour against a dry, smooth, perpendicular 
surface ; if it adheres in a lump, the flour 
has life in it; if it falls like powder, it is 
bad. 4. Squeeze some of the flour in 
your hand ; if it retains the shape given it 
by the pressure, that, too, is a good sign. 

Flour that will stand all these tests it is 
safe to buy. These modes are given by old 
flour dealers, and we make no apology for 
pnnting them, as they pejtain to a matter 
that concerns everybody, namely, the 
quality of the " staff of life." 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



521 



Amount of Hoots from Clover and Grasses. 
That the roots of plants left in the soil 
serve to enrich it, there can be no doubt. 
It has been estimated that the roots left in 
an old pasture or meadow field, are equal 
to four times the weight of that year's hay 
crop. In other words, if a ton and a half 
of hay had been reaped, six tons of dry 
vegetable matter remain in the soil in the 
form of roots. This estimate is deduced 



from a series of experiments made by 
Hlubek, in the agricultural garden at Lay- 
bach. The grasses he experimented on 
were sewn in beds of equal size (180 sq. 
feet), and mown on the fourth year after 
sowing, just as they were coming into 
flower. The roots were then carefully ta- 
ken up, washed and dried. The results of 
some of these trials were as follows : 



KIND OF GRASS. 


PRODUCE IN 
GRASS AND HAY. 


PRODUCE IN 
ROOTS. 


Weight 
of dry 
Roots to 


■ '■')''■ ■ 


Grass. 
lbs. 
124 

90 
90 

202 
50 

106 

120 


Hay. 

lbs. 
36 
30 
25 
67 
17 
35 

60 


Fresh. 


Dry. 


100 lbs. 
of Hay. 


1. Fesiuca elatior — Tall Fescue grass, 

2. Festuca on7?«— Sheep's Fescue grass, 

3. Pkleum pratense — Timothy grass, 

4. Dactylis Glomerata— Rough Cock's-foot, 

5. Lolium 29ere?2?ie— Perennial Rye-grass, 

6. Alopecurus pratensis — Meadow Fox-tail, 

7. Triticum repens — Creeping Couch or Quick- 

en grass, - 

8. Poa annua — Annual Meadow-grass, 

9. Bromus mollis and racemosus — Soft and 

Smooth Brome grass, 

10. Anthoxantlmm odoratum — Sweet-scented 

Vernal grass, 


lbs. 
56 

56 


lbs. 

22 

80 

17 

221 

50 

24 

70 


lbs. 
61 

266 
60 
33 

300 

70 

116 
HI 

105 

93 



A mixture of white clover, of ribwort, 
of hoary plantain, and of couch-grass, in 
an old pasture field, gave 400 lbs of dry 
roots to 100 lbs. of hay ; and in a clover- 
field, at the end of the second year, the 
fresh roots were equal to one-third of the 
whole weight of green clover obtained at 
three cuttings — one in the first, and two 
in the second year — while in the dr}"^ state 
there were 56 lbs. of dry roots to every 
100 lbs. of clover hay which had been car- 
ried off. 

The Sheep's Fescue and the Perennial 
Rye-grass, beside the dead roots which 
detach themselves from time to time, leave, 
at the end of the fourth yeai, a weight of 
living roots in the soil equal to three times 
the produce of that year in hay. If we 
take the mean of all the above grasses as 
an average of what we may fairly expect 
in a grass field, then the amount of living 
roots left in the soil when a four-years-old 
grass field is plowed up, will be equal to 
one-sixth more than the weight of that 
year's crop. 

In the case of clover, at the end of the 
second year, the quantity of dry vegetable 



matter left in the form of roots, is equal to 
upwards of one-half the weight of the 
whole hay which the clover has yielded. 
We do not know of any experiments that 
prove it, but we have little doubt that the 
annual increase of clover roots, after the 
second year, is far less than in the first 
and second years, and that there is little 
gained by lettinor land lie down with clo- 
ver more than two years. 

As a general rule, whatever increases 
the foliage of a plant, increases the roots 
also ; and hence it is that an application of 
plaster to cover, even though all the clover 
is removed from the soil, proves beneficial 
to the following grain crop from the in- 
creased quantity of roots left to decay in 
the soil. — Genesee Farmer. 



From the Wool Grower and Stock Register. 

Fattening Hogs. 

We are indebted to Mr. Moselev Dun- 
ham, of Clay, N. Y., for the following 
statement of an experiment made by him 
in fattening hogs — showing the monthly 
gain in weight, expense of feeding, &-c. — 
The statement (which was furnished to the 



522 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



Directors of the Onondago County Agri- 
cultural Society at its recent Fair,) is a 
very interesting and suggestive one to far- 
mers. It proves the correctness of the 
assertion of H. T. B., in our last number, 
that "in this region of country we cannot 
afford to feed co7'n to hogs unless it is 
ground and boiled with pumpkins, a})ples, 
or sortie vegetables, and then only in the 
winter, or to harden the pork just before 
killing." Had Mr. D. fed his hogs the 
first six weeks on refuse apples, pumpkins, 
and the remainder of the three months on 
corn, the result would probably have been 
more profitable and satisfactory. 

Experiment on tlie Projit of Fattening Hogs on 
Corn in the Ear. 

Sept. 1st, 1848, shut up six hogs to fatten, 
and weighed them once a month until they ' 
were slaughtered. 

lbs. 
No. 1, one year and 6 months old weighed 350 
No. 2, " " " 322 

No. 3, sow raised pigs, thin in flesh, " 234 
No. 4, pig five months old, " 98 

No. 5, pig," " 86 

No. 6, pig, " 44 



Whole weight, 



1,134 



Live weight. Dressed. Gain. Shrinkage 

Ihs. lbs. lbs. lbs. 

No. 1 weighed 562 474 58 88 

No. 2 " 482 404 42 78 

No. 3 " 464 378 58 86 

No. 4 " 246 192 40 54 

No. 5 " 246 190 46 56 

No. 6 " 128 102 18 26 

Total, 2,128 1,740 272 388 

Shrunk in dressing 38 lbs. less than one-fifth. 

Worth of the hogs when shut up, Sep- 
tember 1st, was three cents per lb. $34 02 

Worth of the 182 bushels corn fed 

them, at 2 shillings a bushel, is 45 50 

Worth of the pork after being dress- 
ed, at $5 a hundred, is 87 00 
Which leaves a balance of $7 48 for feeding 

corn. 

The above rates are what the store hogs, 
corn and pork were worth when fatted, Nov'r 
30th, 1848. 

Should you take the prices as they 
were last season, the store hogs at 
6 cents per pound would come to $68 04 

The corn at 3 shillings per bushel 

would come to 68 25 



No. 2 


" 


390— 


No. 3 




318— 


No. 4 




154— 


No. 5 




144— 


No. 6 




76— 



During the month fed the hogs all together 
58 bushels yellow corn. 

October 1st, weighed them again, and found 
their weight and gain as follows : 

lbs. lbs. 

No. 1 weighed 438 — gain in one month 88 

-- - --- .. u eg 

84 
56 
58 
32 

Whole w'ght 1,520 Gain, 386 

Fed them 68 bushels ears white corn. Nov. 
1st, weighed again as follows : 

lbs. lbs. 

No. 1 weighed 504 — gain in one month 66 

No. 2 " 440— " " " 50 

No. 3 " 396— " " " 78 

No. 4 " 206— '' " " 52 

No. 5 " 200— " " " 56 

No. 6 " 110— " ." " 34 



Whole w'ght 1,856 Gain, 336 

Fed them 56 bushels ears yellow corn during 
the last 29 days. Nov'ber 30th, weii^hcd and 
killed. 



Worth of the hogs and corn would be $136 29 
Worth of the pork at $8 per hundred 139 20 

Which would leave $2 91 for feeding the 
corn ; or in other words, $2 91 more than the 

store hogs and corn would come to. 

I certify the above to be a correct statement 
made by me. 

MOSELEY DUNHAM. 
Cla7j, N. Y., Sept. 1856. 

. ■<<»>>■ 

Fire Proof Ladies' Dresses. 

Within a very short time two young ladies 
have been burnt to death, owiug to their 
light muslin dresses catching fire from a 
lucifer match — one in London, the other in 
Colchester. It ought to be generally 
known that all ladies' light dresses may 
be made fire-proof at a mere nominal cost, 
by steeping them, or the linen oi- cotton 
used in making them, in a diluted solution 
of chloride of zinc. We have seen the 
very finest cambric so prepared held in 
the flame of a candle, and charred to dust, 
without the least flame ; and we have 
been informed that since Clara Webster, a 
dancer, was burnt to death from her 
clothes catching fire on the stage, the 
muslin dresses of all the dancers at the 
best theatres are made fire-proof. Our 
manufacturers should take the hint. — 
Medical Times. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



523 



From the New England Farmer. 

Milk. 

K [^Translated from the French.^ 

ORDINARY MILK THE MILK OF SPAYED 

COWS. 

Notwithstanding the important place 
milk occupies as an article of diet, noth- 
ing is more common than milk of poor 
quality. The conditions under which milk 
is produced, explain the rareness of good 
milk. 

If we examine the milk of a certain 
number of cows in the country, we find 
united, 1st, the milk of cows that calved 
10, 15, 20 or 30 days previous. (1.) 2d, 
the milk of cows in heat, and essentially 
prejudicial to health. 3d, the milk of cows 
with calf. (2.) 4th, and as an exception, 
a small quantity of good milk, that is, milk 
from covins that calved 5 or 6 weeks pre- 
vious, and which are neither in heat nor 
in a state of gestation. It is therefore 
seen that milk is in most part of mediocre 
quality, or of a nature unfavorable in re- 
spect to hygiene; and yet this milk fur- 
nished by farmers, surpasses by far, the 
milk from cows kept in stables in the city. 

The condition under which cows in city 
stables are kept, produces another cause, 
grave, serious, which greatly adds to the 
poor quality of milk above designated ; we 
mean pulmonary consumption, by which 
a large number of cows are attacked. — 
Has it not been stated, in fact, by veteii- 
nary physicians, that one-half, at least, of 
the cows kept in stables in Paris, are 
phthisical. 

Is it not evident (that such milk is not 
only deprived of its nutritive qualities, but 
is very injurious to health? And the wa- 
ter, which in the retail is added to this 
milk, assuredly does not redeem the origi- 
nal vices. 

In regard to the alterations in milk aris- 
ing from the manner in which the cows 
producing it are kept, it is difficult to esti- 
mate them, otherwise than by their taste. 
As to milk diluted with water, consumers 
can easily prove this fraud. A first means 
consists in the employment of a small in- 
strument, simple, and of small cost, called 
galactometer or milk weigher. Plunged 
into the milk, it indicates exactiv, by its 
divisions, the quantity of water which has 
been added, whether a quarter, or a third, 
or a half; for it is not rare that milk is di- 



luted in the latter proportion ! Or a cer- 
tain quantity of milk may be left to remain 
for six or eight hours in a cylindrical glass 
vas-i, called a guage, or in an ordinary 
glass. After this lapse of time, the cream 
which has risen to the surface, and which 
is distinguished by its color, reveals by its 
thickness, and still more by the resistance 
it presents on touching it, the butter qual- 
ity of the milk, that is, its richness in the 
principles proper for the extraction of but- 
ter. 

In the establishment we have founded 
in Paris under the name of " Dock modcle 
de la vie a bon marche,^^ (3.) the trade in 
milk has extended considerably. Although 
the Dock delivers to consumers milk which 
is obtained from the country only, who 
rejects the milk which turns in the op na- 
tion ot boiling, it is often complained that 
the milk bought of the Dock has turned. 
We will take this opportunity to observe, 

That the best and purest milk will turn 
under the influence of a change of tem- 
perature, improper care, and the employ- 
ment of an improper pan or vase, etc. (4.) 

That the administration of the Dock 
might prevent the decomposition, acciden- 
tal moreover, of its milk, by adding water 
or the bicarbonate of soda. 

But this establishment, limiting itself to 
selling pure milk, leaves it to the con>.u- 
mer to add these articles. 

As it is in bad spiiil to indicate an evil 
without pointing out the remedy ; find 
having proved the poor and often bad 
quality of ordinary milk, we are happy to 
speak of milk of an excellent quality, 
which is yet unknown to consumers, and 
of which the Dock modcle de la vie a bon 
marche has the honor of popularizing the 
use. 

THE MILK OF SPAYED COWS. 

This milk is produced from cows which, 
after the fifth or sixth ge.^tatioT, and five 
or six ,veeks after calving, undergo an op- 
eration which consists in the ablation of 
the ovaries, thus rendering the cows 
henceforth incapable of reproduction. (5.) 
From this time, as happens in regard to 
I the ox, the animal changes in nature, and 
its milk which we have named, milk of 
spayed {lait de beuvonnes) is free from all 
perturbations. The spayed cows does not 
umlergo those disturbances arising from 
being in heat, from gestation and parturi- 



524 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



tion ; she is free from those causes which 
produce such evil effects in the quality of 
milk. 

In this new condition of the cow, her 
milk becomes regulated, and — which is 
important to the farmer — lactation is main- 
tained in full quantity for a year at least, 
and is prolongt d, diminishing in quantity 
but increasing in quality, two and even 
three years, when she is not too old and 
is properly kept. When lactation has 
ceased, the cow, which has, by a quiet and 
reposed life, become considerably increas- 
ed in flesh, may be delivered to the butch- 
er in perfect condition, and the meat is su- 
perior to that of ordinary cows. By gen- 
eralizing the spaying of cows after the 
fifth or sixth gestation, there would be in- 
troduced into common use, milk of an ir- 
reproachable quality. 

The milk of spayed cows give more 
cream than ordinary milk; it is also rich- 
er in caseum, which constitiites, a fact 
generally unknown, the most nourishing 
part of milk. Hence, the superior quali- 
ty of the milk. The butter extracted di- 
rectly from the milk, is delicious in taste. 
It testifies to the amount and richness of 
the caseum it contains. Thi-* milk offers 
precious resources for the artificial nurs- 
ing of infants ; it might be asserted that 
they will be better nourished. For the 
nourishment of infants, who give it the 
preference over other milk, (6.) we do not 
doubt that the milk of spayed cows will 
be principally used. 

Such is the milk which the Dock de la 
vie a hon marche now introduces for con- 
sumption. 

This milk, the production of which for 
a long time yet will be far from meeting 
the wants of those who appreciate its ex- 
cellent qualitiee, sells for a higher piice 
than ordinary milk. For it is necessary 
to pay a hi2:her pri»*e to the farmer either 
to overcome by the advantage ofTered 
them, the resistance which routine always 
opposes to the best discoveries, or to com- 
pensate for the risk of mortality which the 
cow undergoes in the operation of spay- 
ing. 

If, as we doubt not, the milk of spayed 
cows takes the place in domestic economy 
it should occupy, the Bock is assured ot 
satisfying gradually the exigencies of the ' 



it is causing to be made from the present 
time. Delamarre, 

Proprietoi' of the Dock modele 

de la vie a bon marche. 

NOTES TO THE ARTICLE ON MILK. 

1. It is known that cows' milk is not 
good for domestic use till a month or five 
weeks after calving; and it is well known 
that farmers put away their calves eight 
or ten days after birth. 

2. This milk generally predominates, 
as it is common to milk into the sixth and 
even into the seventh month of gestation. 

3. Rue de Croissant Jfo. 44, Paris. 

4. One precaution we would recom- 
mend ; that is, to avoid placing the milk 
over a blazing fire, but to submit it to the 
action of a mild fire. 

5. The spaying of cows was known in 
remote antiquity. In modern t*mes the 
practice of this operation with the design 
of increasing the quality of the milk of 
cows dates back but about twenty-five 
years. It was applied with advantage in 
the production of milk, in 1830, by Mr. 
Winn, of Natchez, Mississippi, U. S- 
]\Ir. Winn and his successors proceeded 
by the cesarian operation, which present- 
ed serious difficulties, and was often fol- 
lowed by the death of the animal. At the 
present time, by a proceeding recently dis- 
covered, a skilful veterinary surgeon, M. 
Charlier, executes this operation without 
an external incision and renders the chan- 
ces of mortality much less. 

6. All persons who are in the habit of 
tasting milk, readily recognize the milk ot 
spayed cows by it;^ more unctuous and 
sweeter taste. 



Economy of Bee-Keeping. 

We never had a bee- hive in our lives[: 

but the following article from the Ohio 

Cultivator looks more like sense than 

anything on the subject we ever saw, 

Ed. Sou. Planter. 

We believe 'that F. G. Gary knows a 
th.ing or two about Bees, and that what- 
ever he may think about Terra Culture, 
does not in the least affect his orthodoxy 
on this point. The first time we ever met 



Mr. Carey, he was carrying a curious, 

book-shaped bee hive in his arms, and il 

consumption, by the numerous operations 'any body could have succeeded with the 



THE SOUTHEEN PLANTER. 



525 



patent, new-fangled, accommodation, dou- 
ble-action hives, by which bees have been 
humbug<^ed, Mr. C. could have done it. 
We quote the following from a series of 
papers written by Mr. Carey for the Cin- 
cinnatus, which we believe is a fair state- 
ment of the case for the open country as 
far south as the line of Southern Ohio. 
For the region north and east of us, we 
know the question of its economy is not 
applicable, while we believe the hive and 
feeding remarks are of universal applica- 
tion. — Ed. Ohio Cultivator. 



The inquiry is often made, can not bees 
be made profitable? We answer unequi- 



BEE FEEDING. 

Will not bee feeding supply this defect? 
We reply that so far as making honey for 
the market is concerned, never. 

Honey is a vegetable secretion — and not 
a secretion of the bee — which appears 
generally abundant upon blooming flowers, 
and is gathered by the bee through its 
proboscis, is swallowed, and on the return 
to the hive, is disgorged from the mouth 
into the cells. The portion collected by 
each is of course small, and yet the amount 
daily collected by a strong swarm in the 
midst of the working season, is surprising. 
In an hour's time, it is estimated that three 
thousand bees will go and return, in a 
vocally in the negative, in this locality j^^'^'"'^°^^^?^^^^" ^^^^"^^'^'^- And a small 



And for the simple reason, that the time 
of gathering honey is so short. Under 
the most favorable circumstances, and 
during the best seasons, it does not exceed 
six weeks, being from the first or middle 
of May to the middle or last of June. 
When the fruit blosso^ms, locust, white 
clover and poplar are gone, the bee season 
is over. And if there is a failure of the 
fruit, and the season from July onward is 
dry, it will require all they store during 
those six weeks, to give them a fall and 
winter supply, and many .will perish of 
starvation, unless fed during September ; 
and bees, during most seasons, will not 
hold (heir own, after the first of July, in 
Southern Ohio. Where the buckwheat is 
grov;n in abundance, they will improve 
some upon it, but in this latitude, the buck- 
wheat blossom is without much sacharine 
matter, on account of the heat during the 
season that it is in flower. In neighbour- 
hoods where the Linden tree flourishes, 
(commonly termed Ba.^swood,) the season 
will thereby be lengthened some two 
weeks, and in such localities, with this ad- 
ditional supply, bee keeping will bg far 
more successful and profitable. Judge 
Fishback, of Batavia, is the most success- 
ful and extensive bee keeper in Southern 
Ohio, and it is chiefly owing to the fact of 
the abundance of this tree in his locality; 
not that he does not unite superior skill, 
and long experience, to render his efforts 
the more eminently successful, which is 
also the case. The great desideratum to 
bee keeping is bee pasture, ample and 
continued ; give us this, and you may 
have your patent hives, and bee palaces. 



swarm of six thousand bees, have been 
known to construct four thousand cells in 
six days, and to fill many of them during 
the same period. We have known three 
large pieces of comb, consisting of seve- 
ral thousand cells, constructed during a 
single night, after a new swarm had been 
hived, and the queen had in the mean- 
time performed her work of depositing 
eggs in many of them. 

It is surprising what results they will 
accomplish in a brief space, when all the 
circumstances favor their operations. We 
once had over one thousund pounds of 
honey stored by twenty-eight young 
swarms in a period of five weeks. This 
was no common season. Honey, then, 
being a vegetable product, and not a se- 
cretion of the bee, its properties depend 
entirely on the nature of the plants from 
which it is collected. One kind is of the 
finest flavor, delicious to the taste, pure 
and transparent; another is entirely of a 
different consistency, dark, greenisli, tena- 
cious or bitter ; and a third has been 
known to produce deleteriouseffects, which 
were almost fatal to human life ; and often 
even that which is apparently wholesome 
to some, is injurious to others. Dioscori- 
des, Pliny, and various ancient authors, 
speak of lioney in the East being danger- 
ous in certain years ; and Zenophon re- 
lates, that when the army of ten thousand, 
approached Trebisond, the soldiers having 
partaken copiously of honey found in the 
neighborhood, were afflicted like persons 
inebriated ; several of whom became furi- 
ous, and seemed as if in the agonies of 
death. Hence, if man furnish the supply 



526 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTEE. 



in the form of sugar and water, you se- 
cure the same product in return, with the 
water diminished it may be in quantity, 
which will sometimes be found crystalized 
in the combs, and then of course you have 
not syrup but sugar. 

We once knew a bee-keeper who man- 
ufactured large quanfities of what he was 
pleased to call honey, and sold it in the 
market for honey, made from the offal and 
scrapings of sugar casks, gathered from 
the wholesale groceries of the city, which 
— though after skimming and straining — 
must be a savory beverage to be retailed 
at twenty-tive cents per pound as honey. 
Upon this subject, as upon other parts of 
this business, we are posted. We were 
met a few years since by a Yankee pedlar 
from Vermont, who had an extraordinary 
hive, with which he promised to do w^on- 
ders. It was denominated Arza Gilmore's 
Patent, and proposed when it should be 
properly constructed, to confederate nu- 
merous swarms, into one grand republic : 
something like our States, united in one 
government. It was so arranged as that 
at any time you could strengthen the weak, 
and at all times make the strong stronger. 
By feeding such a community you cowld 
greatly increase the product of the bees, 
and manufacture just such an article as 
you wanted. It was regarded as a great 
secret, and was invaluable to the man that 
would purchase the same. The secret ran 
as follows, (for it is now out, and full in- 
demnity has been had for it.) Take one 
pan Cuba honey, one part sugar, (white 
or brown, according to the quality of honey 
you would manufacture,) add two parts 
water, making four proportionals, simmer 
them together skim, and feed while tepid, 
and you will secure in return seventy-five 
per cent, good honey, a most delicious ar- 
ticle, equal to the nectar of flowers, espe- 
cially if you lieed loaf sugar. The state- 
ment ran further, we have secured one 
thousand pounds of such honey, worth 
from twenty-five to thirty-five cents per 
pound, in one season. Great discovery ! 

Names of Bank Piesidents and Cabinet 
officers, stood conspicuous as vouchers, and 
citeil as authority, appended to most flat- 
tering certificates signed and sealed by the 
Printer ; for we saw no trace of their ori- 
ginals. 

Tlie result was as might be expected, 
the agent pocketed the money, and the 



I gullible public paid the forfeit; and before 
I all his arrangement for his community 
!(not like, but something similar to Robert 
Dale Owens among men) were completed, 
some two or three hundred dollars, accord- 
ing to the taste and means of the purchas- 
er, would be absorbed. This is the last 
and greatest swindle in the bee business 
we have seen. The agent informed us, 
that he sold in one year in this single State 
:0f Ohio, sevenly-five thousand rights. 
We make a discount of one-half for its 
I being something of a Black Crow Story; 
I then, at five dollars a right, which was but 
[ half his price, it would amount to over one 
^hundred and eighty thousand dollars — a 
profitable business still ! 

The last we heard of this agent, he was 
doing a land office business in the State of 
Michigan. He may with the tide west 
ward have reached Iowa, or Wisconsin by 
this time. liut further; this w^hole pro 
cess of making honey was complete ; if 
you wanted to make your honey fragrant, 
and give it a fine aroma, add to your feed 
a little vanilla or ro. e, or strawberry es- 
sence to suit the taste. This is no fancy 
sketch, but a simple detail of what has 
been palmed off, as profitable, on the sub- 
iject of bee-feeding. There is a valuable 
] lesson connected with it all, to the skilful 
I Apiarian. There is economy in feeding 
your bees in July, August and September, 
on cheap feed, prepared as recommended 
by the hero alluded to. You thus prepare 
your weak swarms for winter, removing 
also your stored honey, you can supply its 
pi ice to your strong swarms, -if needed, 
with a less expensive article. They should 
be fed again a little in the Spring, while 
it IS yet too cold for the bees to leave the 
hive. It greatly encourages and strength- 
ens them. The feeding must be done with 
care in the Fall ; least you induce a spirit 
of plumler among the bees. 

What of patent hives ? Will not some 
of our patent hives greatly aid in making 
this business profitable ? It will make it 
profitable to the mechanic. We have ti ied 
some sixteen diiferent patterns about with 
equal success, varying just in proportion 
to their departures from simplicity ; the 
simplest being uniformly the best; and we 
now frankly say, we believe the old straw 
hive or hollow log is as good as any of 
them, 
glass 



with but a single exception. The 
in the rear of most of our patent 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



hives enables us to discover more readily 
the condition of a hive. Perhaps more 
has been said and written upon patent bee 
hives of late years, than on any improve- 
ment in agriculture, and certainly to as 



hives full of bees, honey and comb, be- 
come a perfect web in one week without 
her presence. 

The destruction of what was regarded 
as a fine hive, has been witnessed by ev- 



little purpose. And after all that has been ery Apiarian, while one less prosperous 



done in England, France and America, 
the bee is more successfully cultivated, 
and finer honey produced in Poland, by 
persons who never saw a book on the sub- 
ject, or heard of a patent hive, or know 
the difference between a queen or*drone, 
or the offices they perform, than where all 
the experiments to the end of the chapter 
have been tried ; the excellence of the 
honey, its quantity and quality, depending 
more on the season, and the quantity and 
quality of flowers which abound in the re- 
gion, than in the form which the hive takes, 
or the artificial management bestowed. — 
As to the bes' form for hives, or the most 
approved kinds, what has already been! kept up. 



in appearance, standing beside it, has suc- 
cessfully resisted all encroachments. — 
Plence a hive of bees without a queen, or 
eggs in a state out of which to form one, 
is effectually dead. And like a dead car- 
cass, about which the eagles or buzzards 
are gathered, will soon be removed by 
these cormorants (the moths) which nature 
has provided. Queenless hives are thB 
ones first attacked by robbers, and no ef- 
forts will resist long their ingress And 
when they are attacked, the besieged soon 
join the besiegers, and assist in removing 
the plunder. Alter which, often a general 
belligerent and mobocratic state will be 



said will subserve the purpose of a lon^ 
story. 

WHAT ABOUT THE MOTH ? 

Tn regard to the nature, instincts, and 
habits of this destructive little insect, and 
the preventing of its ravages, a book might 
be written, and several have been written. 



Patent hives often lead to this very 
state of things, in the following way: 
They are generally made of the same size 
and after the ssrae pattern throughout, 
painted alike, set on a bench of the sare 
height, about the same, distance apart. 
The young queens are often in this Vv^ay 
misled. Alighting at the v/rong place, not 



But it will be our aim to shorten the story, knowing their own hive, they are at once 

Patent hives instead of preventing, have seized and destroyed. The loss of the 

generally accelerated their ravages, and hive is then inevitable. Many hives are 

proved to be miller palaces, furnishing | doubtless ruined in this way. As we see 



good places for the deposit and develop- the old queen leads the swarm, leaving the 



ment of their egg-. Such is the case v.^ith 
Rich, Reynolds, Arza Gilmore and others 
we might name. • The old rough board 
box hive, full of cracks and crannies, have 
resisted the ravages of the bee moth often 
longer than the most beautifully construc- 
ted patent hive standing along side. 

OUR THEORY ABOUT THE BEE MOTH. 

A hive of bees of ordinary strength, with 
the presence of a good healthy queen, will 
resist, of themselves, all encroachments 
from these depredators ; while any quan- 
tit}'^ of bees, without such presence, will 
fall an easy prey to their ravages. When 
a queen such as described is present, all 
is activity ; every bee is on duty, guard- 
ing the entrance, destroying the eggs of 
this insect, or performing some important 
office. We have placed a queen in a hive 



young queen generally in the cell, yet 
unhatched, always unfertilized. She em- 
erges on this errand, and, losing her way, 
is destroyed, and before another one can 
be reared, the hive is in ruins. Hence, 
the old swarm is generally the one most 
in danger — the one destroyed. To guard 
against this catastrophe, the hives should 
be placed farther apart in the apiary, or 
painted in front with different colors, or 
set with their openings alternated. In- 
deed, these fine hives and fine apiaries 
have generally proved unsuccessul ; better 
set your hives promiscuously about the 
yard, than to be too tenacious about uni- 
formity, setting them so closely together. 

HOW TO PREVENT THE MILLER ? 

Lit your effort be to discover the con- 
dition of your hive, and if you find it 



full of miller eggs and worms, and have queenless, which you can easily discover 
seen it restored to health. We have seen, by their movements, either restore one, or 



528 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



take the honey at once. The bees them- 
selves raust be their own protectois ; you 
can do nothing to prevent such destruc- 
tion ; and after the laying season is prin- 
cipally over, if you would prove our the- 
ory, take away your queens, and one short 
week will convince you of its truth. — 
There are miller eggs enough about any j 
hive, at any time to destroy it in two 
weeks without a queen. You may assist I 
them if you please ; you will do it, when- [ 
ever you see the egg, the miller, or the i 
worm; but all will be in vain to prevent] 
their ravages, if your hive is queenless. 

WOULD YOU KEEP BEES ? 

If you love their society, and are wil- 
ling to take part of your pay in witnessing 
their interesting and curious operations' — 
if you love natural history and entomolo- 
gical science, by all means. If, like Bruin, 
you are captivated only by their sweets, 
or would enter uj)on the work to make 
money, it is by no means advisable. You 
had better give fifty cents a pound for 
your honey, and as to money-making, go 
West, and make or break, as many are 
doing on a more magnificent scale. And 
yet I would advise every man who has 
five acres of ground, and who, as before 
stated, is at all curious, to keep a few 
swarms of bees, an observing hive or two ; 
and some years he will derive a rich ma- 
terial product in delicious sweets, and by 
the material and immaterial products com- 
bined, be amply rewarded for his labors. 

The Sexes— The Prolificacy of Short- 
horns, Color, &c. 

THE SEXES. 

Editor Olilo Farmer: — The statistics of breeil- 
ing Shorthorns, by " Philo Agricola," in your 
last number, is interesting, in showing that 
they are a prolific race of cattle, and that the 
sex cannot be pre-detennined by the art or will 
of the breeder ; and in furtlier proof of this, 
allow me to give a little of my own experience 
in these matters. 

In 183i, I had a cow, bred by my father, 
which had then, and afterwards, sixteen male 
calves, and but one female, the last of her pro- 
duce. 

In 183—, I used a bull upwards of a year, 
whose offspring, from a mixed lot of cows, 
were nine-tenths males. He was discarded on 
that account, and, I learned afterward, bis 
former owner put him off for the same reason. 
Now, in the ease of both these animals, was it 
not constitutional with them to produce the sex 



they did, without an3^ extraneous controlling 
influence? There could have been no other 
agency to cause the result in either of these 
(not singular) cases. 

Again, the produce of two heifers, purcha- 
sed by myself, at the sale of the Ohio Compa- 
ny's importations, in 183G, numberjng about 
twenty-one head, were, I believe, all females 
but two ; the last calves of each, being males. 
Could the art of man have changed the sex in 
these animals so disposed to bring forth but 
one sex ? 

SnORTHORNS THE MOST PROLIFIC. 

That the Shorthorns are the most prolific 
race of cattle we have, I have no d(mbt. A 
few instances of fast breeding in my own stock, 
are given below. 

In 1837 or '38, I had a Shorthorn heifer un- 
der three years old, that had three calves at one 
time ; but they and the dam were lost from 
want of timely attention. 

The cow Daisy, Vol. 3, " A. H. B." up to 
nine years and five months old, had ten calves, 
within six years, five months and eight days ; 
one pair of twins and one single calf, coming 
within ten months and -eighteen days. 

Calm 2., " Vol. 2," had her fourth calf, at 
four years, seven months, and twenty-eight 
days old, all single calves. 

Calm "id., a calf of the above, had three 
calves, at four years and eight months old. 

I do not claim it as a merit in these prolific 
breeders ; on the contrary, their produce would 
be better, if fewer in number ; but it shows 
early maturity. 

PREJUDICE AGAINST WHITE COLOR. 

The unfounded prejudice against the white 
color in Shorthorns, so deplored by your able 
correspondent, "Philo Agricola,'^ and others, 
is fast declining in Ohio. Five years ago, it 
was ditficult to sell a white one, and many yet 
prefer any other color. But they too must 
soon see the absurdity of rejecting animals of 
the true color, of the purest blood of the race. 

HAIlDinOOD. 

The notion of some, that the whites are not 
so hardy as the deeper color, is also erroneous, 
in my opinion. White, in a scrub, they might 
rightly reject, as it is foreign to their true color, 
and is more often found with defective consti- 
tution, and consequently, less hardy, as well in 
summer as in winter, than the red and white, 
prevailing color of the common breed. 

In a lot of twenty yearling heifers, which I 
wintered in an open field, the last severe win- 
ter, were two, pure white, thorough bred 
heifers, Avhich were, in the spring, in better 
condition than any of the hardiest grades of 
other colors, in the same lot with them. 

The opposers of white Shorthorns would do 
well to keep in mind, tliat to find the true and 
purest blood in any breed, they should look for 
tlie prevailing colors. PICKAWAY. 

\Ohio Farmer. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



529 



witliout f.ushing,'^ and makes fine crops. Uses 
generally about 150 pounds guano, but even 
v.'here but 100 pounds were used, the crop is a 
good one. He thinks the dvill saves 50 per 
cent, in guano — cannot say that there is any 
very great saving of labor, or that drilled wiieat 
is less liable to be vrinter-kiiled. He uses 3 or 
4 horses to the drill. 

Tried an experiment in cross-drilling, apply- 
ing a double quantity of both -wheat and 
guano ; 13 busliels of wheat and 300 pounds 
guano ; but did not think the crop better than 
the single-drilled wheat on same land. Mr. 
Wm. W. Minor remarked that he had found an 
increase of crops with every increase of guano. 
lie had applied as much as 175 pounds. 

Br. Wm. G. Carr, has never used the drill 
himself, but from his observation of its use by 
his neighbors, is highly pleased with it. His 
practice is not to flush corn land, but to reduce 
the uneven surface with harrows, or 3 horse 
cultivators (his corn having been cultivated 
with mouldboard plows). Sows guano and wheat 
broadcast, and puts in with cultivators. On 
low grounds he seeds on 40 feet beds and ap- 
plies guano only in the water furrows. 

3Ir. R. W. N. Noland, prefers the drill-culture 
for the reasons : 1st : That the seed is deposi- 
ted at a proper and uniform depth: Secondly, 
the guano is brought in immediate contact with 
the roots of the plant: Thirdly, it saves labor, 
seed and guano ; and lastly, drilled wheat is 
less liable to be winter-killed — which fact is 
due partly to the deep ploughing, and, in some 
measure, no doubt, to the uneven surface left. by 
the drill, receiving greater warmth from the 
sun's rays during the winter. He has never 
seen wheat winter-killed where -properly drill- 
ed with guano, even upon red, puffy lands, 
which arc so liable to suffer from tliis cause 
under other circumstances. In broadcasting, 
he prefers rolling the seed in guano, but is 
careful to avoid letting it remain for any length 
of time unseeded, lest the germinating powers 
of the seed be destro3'ed. On one occasion he 
had a small quantity of seed, thus rolled, left 
over from the day^s seeding, which was sown 
early in the morning; this failed to come up, 
while the previous day's seeding came up well. 
^ A(r. Wm. W. Gilmer, has not tried the drill 
himself, but from his observation of his neigh- 
bors' crops, is inclined to the opinion, thp.t 



For the Planter. 

Agricultural Discussion at Ridgway — 

Wheat Seeding, &c. 

A meeting of the Albemarle Hole and Cor- 
ner Club, No. 1, was held at Ridgway (the 
residence of Franklin Minor, Esq.,) on Satur- 
day, July 18th. Among the invited guests 
were the members of Club, No. 2, Edmund 
Ruffin, Sr., of Hanover, Lieut. Matthew L. 
Maury, U. S. N., Hon. Wm. C. Preston, S. 
C, and B. Johnson Barbour of Orange. The 
Club rode over the farm, inspected and dis- 
cussed its management. From the discussion 
I learned that the farm consists of rather less 
than 1000 acres — about 180 of which are 
very fertile low grounds, and much of the high 
land has been under good management for 
many years. The hands worked are 13 in 
number, and the crops very line. 200 acres of 
wdieat was variously estimated at from 3500 to 
4000 bushels ; 130 acres of corn is supposed 
will make from 1200 to 1500 barrels, which with 
130,000 tobacco hills, constitute the principal 
cultivated products of the farm ; but the in- 
come will be considerably increased by 200 
head of killing hogs, 50 cattle and 100 sheep 
grazed. The general management of the farm 
was highly commended. The President of the 
Club then announced the question for discus- 
sion. "The seeding and general management 
of the lolieat crop," and called upon 

Mr. Win. W. Minor, who expressed a deci- 
ded preference for drill culture over broadcast- 
ing — not that he thought there was any saving 
of seed by the drill, as was often asserted, but 
that the wheat was better covered, and grew 
off better, and that there was a very great saving 
in guano. lie considered lUO lbs. guano used 
by the drill as equal to 200 broadcast. He 
also thought the drill saved labor, and that the 
wheat thus sowed vras less liable to be winter- 
killed — had tried the drill on fallow, corn and to- 
baccoland. On corn land (cultivated as his was, 
with the mould-board plows) he levelled the 
land with a three-horse cultivator and drilled 
without flushing. He seeds about acres per 
da^ to the drill, and thinks it probable more 
could be done. Where there is much grass or 
corn stubble, has tv.^o boys to follow the drill. 

Thinks U bushels too little seed. Uses Bick- ^^^^cre the season ]s7good one,\ind the whea't 
ford & Huffman's drill, and while there iS|not winter-killed, the broadcasting succeeds 
some slight defect m the guano attachment, j better than drilling. The drill, however, saves 
which interferes ^ with its work m damp j labor and guano, and he shall use it in future, 
weather,— thinks It the best drill he has seen. j/,.. jy,,^^ jj, SouihoU, has had but little es- 
Mr. Franklm Minor, also prefers Bickford & | perience in the use of the drill, and this with 
Huffman's Drill, and thinks it almost a perfect I yervinferiorimnlements; such as are mentioned 
implement. Used it on a portion of his\]jy Mr. Noland.^ He-differs with his neighbor, 
land which was very poor and badly broken— j/}.. Gilmer, and thinks his observation at 
an old broom-sedge fallow — so rough that the 

tussocks of broom straw piled up before the ; ' ' ~~ 

drill, and made a good crop. Sowed broad- wJlV^V"ff attention to this important fact. 
.\ J i. i.^- 1 xi 1 T 11, >V here the laud does not need Ugh bcddmer, flush ii». 

cast he does not think the land would have! ,-. e. re-plou?hing with two or three horses" 
brought wheat at all. Drills his corn land * ry to it. Eu. Southern Planter. 
34 



an mjn- 



530 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



fault. In the present crop, 3Ir. G. sovred 
broadcast on onp side of a fence, applying 200 
lbs. guano. He, Mr. S., drilled his crop on the 
other side with only 150 pounds, and finds his 
crop superior to that of his nei,i^hbor. The 
land is about of equal fertility, and the variety 
of wheat the same. 

Mr. B. Johnson Barhour's 'mind w^as not 
fully made up as to the advantages of the two 
modes of seeding. He states that Mr. Jere- 
miah Morion had come to the conclu^-ion that 
in applying guano, it was best to use one half 
the quantity to be applied with the drill, and 
sow the other half broadcast; the first to stimu- 
late the young plant in the early stages of its 
growth, and .the latter application to supply its 
wants after the roots have spread themselves 
through the soil. The drills Mr, B. had used 
were ineflScient. He could not speak as to the 
advantages of the drilling system in wheat, 
but vras sati.^'fied that it greatly improves the 
stand of timothy. Where he had used the 
guano drill on thin land, the stand of timothy 
was very fine. At first it was confined to the 
drill rows, but has now spread over the whole 
surface, and is a perfect sod. The length of 
the timothy heads, where thus seeded, was re- 
markable. He thinks drill husbandry peculiar- 
ly adapted to light, puffy lands. At this point 
an interesting conversation sprung up as to the 
effect of guano upon the stand of clover in 
which the prevailing opinion seemed to be, that 
guano rendered the clover crop more uncertain, 
and various opinions as to the cause were ex- 
pressed. Major Wm. S. JDabnej/, though^ the 
clover was killed out by the very heavy growth 
of wheat induced by the guano. Mr. is/ola7id 
believed that the application of guano stimula- 
ted the germination of all the clover seed, and 
that when an accident befel it, the whole crop 
was lost, whereas without guano there was a 
succession of crops, two or three of which 
might be destroyed, and yet enough remain to 
seed the land. 

Mr. F. Minor, thought the failure of clover 
duo to the unfavorable seasons of late years; 
and that it had failed alike upon guanoed and 
unguanoed land. 

Mr Rives being called upon by the President, 
stated that ho had used Bickf )rd &. Huffman's 
drill, and was well pleased with it. It requires 
careful preparation of the land. He was not 
satisfied but on very rich land tl)e broadcast 
sowing will not produce the heavier crop. His 
drill had two rows of tubes. Upon being 
asked if this possessed any advantages over 
the single row-drill, Mr. Rives n])pealed to Mr. 
Corser (the vendor of these drills) who said if 
the land broke very cloddy, the double rowed 
was preferable, otherwise vice versa. 

Mr. Edmund Jhiffln, <S'y., did not suppose that 
he could say any thing on this subject that 
could interest or instruct the farmers here 
present. In his own region, and to farmers of 
the low country, the case might bo different. 



But the improvements which he deemed most 
important there, would here be inapplicable or 
impossible. For examples, the calcareous ma- 
nures, so valuable and essential in the tide- 
water region, — the pea crop for manuring, and 
preparing for wheat, which he deemed next in 
importance to the use of calcareous manures. 
There was, however, one other thing that he 
would describe as being availal^le in this 
region— the use of the pegged roller in patting 
in wheat, and even this was the less applicable 
on this hilly surface than in his level country. 
The implement he used was simply an oak 
cylinder, as large as he could get, stuck with 
pegs 4 inches in length and 2 inches thick, 4^- 
inches' apart in the row, and the rows 4 inches 
apart. A very great improvement upon this 
implement would be to have a hollow cylinder 
in two sections (turning upon a common axle) 
with a diameter as large as a cart wheel, an i 
hooped with cart tire. The increased diameter 
Avould lessen the draught. But even the rough 
instrument he used did its work most effectual- 
ly. The idea was an Englisfi one, that the 
harder wheat land is tramped the better. If 
the land be fresh flushed, or rain threatens, he 
sows the land in advance, and runs the roller 
half-lapping. By attaching a brush behind the 
roller, any grains that are left uncovered are 
swept into the holes made by the pegs and the 
operation of seeding is as perfect as can 1)6 
done by any other means, save the drill, and 
over this it has the advantage of compressing 
the seed bed. If the land has been plowed 
long enough to form a crust, he runs 
the roller before seeding, and nine-tenths 
of the seed fall into the peg holes and 
are covered by the next rolling. In cloddy 
land this rolling is, of course, very beneficial, 
lie sows about 5 pecks of seed per acre. He 
does not approve of the practice of pickling or 
soaking seed in salt and water, as he thinks 
the germinating powers impaired. To pre- 
serve his seed wheat, Mr. R., c^s soon as the 
seed is threshed and in the houSe, adds caustic 
lime — 3 bushels lime to 100 bushels wheat. 
If it be shell lime, or stone lime in small 
lumps, he does not have it slaked. Since 
adopting this practice the smut has aln^.)st 
disappeared. At the request of the President, 
Mr. R. gave his opinion of the value of the pea 
crop as a manure. Without assenting to the 
(^pinion that it was entirely unfit for tliis 
region, Mr. R. was inclined to think that it 
was not as well adapted to this country as his 
own. His land was flat, but not alluvial; it 
embraced almost every variety', from clay to the 
lightest sand, and had all been marled. As 
earl}' as 1839 he was impressed with the value 
of the pea crop, and had published in the Far- 
mers' Register a scries of articles on rotation 
of cro])s and the value of green manures. He 
had used the pea as an improver for several 
years, but depending upon buying, ho failed to 
get seed, and for a time abandoned the crop, 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



531 



but not from any doubt of its value. In 1844 
he again commenced its use, on a small scale at 
firstj'^but increasing until 1H48, when he had a 
whole field in peas. Since then he has continu- 
ed to sow a field every year. 

He tried sowing peas with corn, but failed in 
consequence of planting his corn too thick for 
the peas to grow. He is unable to give any ac- 
curate experiments, but will state that all who 
have tried the pea fallow in his country are 
pleased with it, and the amount sowed is in- 
creasing. If Mr. R. could sow his whole crop 
in a week he would commence June 1st ; but 
as it is, he begins the middle of May. He has 
increased the quantity -of seed sowr\ from 3 
pecks to 1^- bushels. He advises thin sowing 
for seed and thick for manure. He cuts off his 
corn with high stubble, and turns this' in for 
peas in the spring. "He covers' the peas with a 
harrow, or by shallow plowing. 

Mr. Noland remarked that, in the experi- 
ment he made, he turned in the peas as he 
fallowed the land, and had found the peas to 
come up well. Mr. RuJffin said he preferred to 
put them in shallov>'. In September ho turns 
in the crop with large plows, and aims to cover 
the vine as perfectly as possible ; but even when 
not turned under he considers the vine very 
fertilizing. He does not think its value im- 
paired by being frosted. He thinks the effect, 
of the pea vine, like that of lime, is rather to 
increase the yield of wheat than the growth of 
straw. He mentioned an experiment of his 
son, which showed an increase of 20 per cent. 
in grain, while there was no apparent increase 
of straw. The black pea is only preferable to 
to the red in its earlier maturity where seed is 
an object. Mr., R. has never tried guano — 
marl and the pea renders it unnecessary. 
Plaster had no effect upon his land, because 
the peculiar marl he used contained gypsum. 

3Ir. Noland mentioned several experiments 
that had been made in this county with the 
pea crop, all of which failed to show any bene- 
ficial effect from the vine. 

Mr. W?n,. W. Minor had tried corn as a green 
lay and found fine effect from it. 
• Mr. Rvffin stated that it was dangerous to 
turn hogs upon the pea crop unless they were 
to be killed that fall. Stock hogs foi on peas 
are apt to die the following summer. Peas 
grown on Indian banks (banks of oyster shells) 
are very injurious to stock. 

Here a desultory conversation sprung up, in 
the course of which the practice pursued by 
Mr. Minor of first putting his wheat in 
'dozens,^ and then hand-stacking, was criticised 
as a waste . of labor and resulting in loss of 
wheat from shattering. Major Babney thought 
there was no loss from shattering when the 
hand-stacking was done in the morning, while 
the due was upon the wheat. Mr. Gilmer 
thought it best to shock it at once in large 
shocks, and let it stand until ready to thresh. 
To this Mr. Bvffia objected, on account of 



the danger of shocking green wheat. He had 
tried an experiment which proved the injury 
done by shocking gi-een, and would prefer to 
let it dry out in the shief even if it had to lie 24 
hours to do so. Mr. Noland thought wheat 
would keep well in dozens if properly capped. 

The President called upon the Hon. Wm. C. 
Pre&ion, who said he knew but little upon the 
subject under discussion, as in his State they 
raised little or no wheat, and used but litth; 
manure except cotton seed. Cotton and rice 
were the great staples of his State, and they 
paid no attention to any thing else. He was 
sure that South Carolina could raise her own 
corn and wheat if her people would turn their 
attention to it. During the war of 1812, Cam- 
den flour stood second to that of Virginia ; novr 
there was none made. He expressed his grati- 
fication in finding the Virginia people so 
deeply interested in an improved agriculture. 
South Carolina had an Agricultural Society in 
a flourishing condition ; and their fair last 
fail was highly creditable. 

Lieuf. Maury remarked that the first Agricul- 
tural Society in the Union Avas in S. C, the se- 
cond in Pennsylvania. He spoke at length of 
the importance to the farmer of some system ol' 
organization by which he could inform himself, 
not only in regard to the production of the 
staple crops of his cwn country, but that of all 
other countries competing with him in the 
markets of the world. He thought the result 
might be brought about through the instrumen- 
tality of x\gricultural Societies. There wa.s 
now such a society in nearly every State and 
Territory in the Union, and also a United 
States Society. He thought each society 
should organize a statistical committee with a 
member in each county, who would report to 
the Chairman monthly the condition of the 
staple crops of his country. These the Chair- 
man could digest; and publish periodically his 
estimate of each crop. He had just published 
a letter upon the subject, and Avas glad to hoar 
that a movement had already been made in Vir- 
"\nv,\ to this end. 



Lightning Eods, Corn Cnishers and 
Corn Planters. 

Nelson, Aug. 20th, 1857. 
Dear Planter : 

" Fro bono pubilco,''^ I conclude to enclose 
you a very courteous response of Professor 
Smith of the University of Virginia, to a com- 
munication of mine. It is upon the subject of 
lightning rods, and speaks for itself. The 
whole land is stuck up with rods bought of 
itinerant (Yankee) pedlars, which stand till 
they are out of sight, if that long, and will 
serve you worse if they do. If you think 
your readers would be benefited by the publi- 
cation of the Professor's note, publish it — 
otherwise return it to me. 

Whilst my pen is in hand, I will, for the 



532 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



benefit of the same public, give my experience 
with corn planters, and corn and cob cast iron 
crushers. Last winter I bought a " magic corn 
and cob crusher/' of Messrs. Baldwin, Card- 
well & Co., of your city, and it, in a day 
or two crushed only — itself. I fixed it carefully 
and gave it not as much v/ork as the manufac- 
turers claim it can do. Messrs. Baldwin & 
Co. acted gentlemanly, and sent me another, 
which done no better. They are made of, ap- 
parently, inferior metal, and are cast too thin, 
at least mine were. 

How other mills may do I can't say, but of 
these the Lord deliver me. 

You recommended last spring various corn 
planters. I bought one of E. Whitman & Co.'s 
of the same gentlemen ; and it is no humbug, not 
a bit of it — does all it professes, and well, with, 
'to me, one unimportant exception, to wit : It 
does not drop corn under 30 inches, although 
its card says it does 18 and 24 with the smaller 
pinions ; I used the smaller altogether, drop- 
ping about 33 inches, and left two stalks in the 
hill, with rows four feet apart, which is about 
right for my land noio. 

Our growing crops, in this county, are 
generally good — the tobacco grows slow some 
ihow. We are quite seasonably. 

Respectfully, M. 

University of Va., July Gth, 1857. 
Ml/ Bear Sir: 

I owe you a sincere apology for having post- 
poned so long a reply to your letter, with every 
disposition to answer it immediately. The 
thronging duties incident to the approaching 
oiose of the session, added to infirm health, 
were, in pp.rt, the occasion of a delay which, I 
trust, they will excuse. 

Since the memorable identification of light- 
ning and electricity, by Franklin, and the con- 
sequent introduction of lightning rods, the 
theory and construction of the latter have 
been the result of a simple application of the 
ascertained laws of electrical action. Without 
entering into detail, it may be sufficient to 
state, briefly, that the ofiice of a lightning rod 
is two fold. First and chiefly, to neutralize, bi/ 
iC silent but certain process, the electricity oj the 
charged cloud above it, and secondly', in the 
cjyent of a disruptive discharge or ligthning- 
*troke, which will occur when the preceding 
action is incomplete, to invite the charge to Itself 
and convey it harmless to the earth. In view of 
this statement, I may say just at this point, 
that while a sufficient number of the small 
rods, such as are put up by the travelling 
workmen, of whom you speak, would satisfac- 
to'rily perform the first function adverted to, it 
would be dangerous to rely upon them, in case 
»jf a disruptive discharge. The whole charge 
»f electricity, selecting some one of the rods, 
would, on account of tlie inadequate size of the 
conductor, be doubtless diverted in part, to the 



adjacent building, I would therefore recom- 
mend that in the event of your employing seve- 
ral of the small rods, (and you ought not to b« 
contented with one), they be put in metalic 
connection with each other. Should you desire 
to use but one rod, you must attend to the fol- 
lowing conditions : 

1. The best ordinary material for the rod is 
copper ; iron will answer. 

2. If iron be used, the rod should not be less 
than 1 inch in diameter. Its form is immateri- 
al. The cylindrical is preferable for strength. 

3. Let the rod project from the highest point 
of your building as far upward as may be con- 
sistent with its stability. Do not rely upon it« 
protecting more than a space included in a 
cone, whose vertex is at the summit of the rod, 
and the radius of whose base is from one to one 
and a half times the height of the rod. 

4. Let the rod terminate upwardly in one, 
or several points. These should be protected 
from oxydation, and should therefore be mad« 
of, or Coated with, some metal not liable to be 
tarnished by exposure to the air — they are fre- 
quently gilt. Platinum points are excellent ; 
I have known zinc points to be used ; they are 
far inferior to the foregoing, but are better than 
mere iron terminations. 

5. Let the connections of the several por- 
tions of the rod, should it not consist of a singl* 
piece, be as perfect as possible. 

6. Let the rod at the bottom be bent away 
from the foundation of the house, and penetrate 
the ground until it reaches moist earth, or a re- 
servoir of water, so that its connection witk 
the earth shall be unquestionable. 

7. If there be a metalic roof, or gutters, or 
other isolated masses of metal upon the house, 
let them be united to the rod by metalic con- 
nections. 

It might be well to paint the rod to avoid its 
rusting. It is not requisite to use a conduct- 
ing pigment, as some extremely cautioui 
people do. Nor is any importance to be at- 
tached to the absurd attempts frequently made 
to insulate the rod by interposing a ring of 
glass between it and the clasps which hold itt« 
the building. Electricity, which has tensioft 
enough to dart across the space separating the 
earth and the cloud, would scarcely be arrested 
by half an inch of glass. The best security is 
to make the rod o/" suMcient dimensions to oiFer 
a ready passage to the largest discharge which i« 
likely to occur. 

1 have here briefly mentioned such impor- 
tant facts and requisites as occur to me now. 
By complying with the conditions I have stated, 
it appears to me that a man may feel, to say 
the least, as secure in his dwelling during a 
thunder shower, as when he commits himself t6 
a stage-coach for a day's journey. 

Should you desire to pursue this subject 
further, let me recommend to you Arago's ad- 
mirable essay on " Thunder." I might also 
refer you to Guy Lussac's report to the French 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



53i 



Academy on lightning-conductors, and to some 
letters on the same subject in the published 
works of Franklin. 

Begging you to excuse this hastily written 
Bote, I am your obedient servant, 

FRANCIS H. SMITH. 



For the Planter. 

Wheat BriUs. 
Frederick Co., Va., July 27th, 1857. 
Editor of Planter : 

Bear Sir: — In reply to the inquiry of Dr. H. 
H. of Nansemond Co., respecting wheat drills, I 
can inform him that these are manufiictured in 
Richmond, Va., by Charles W. Coontz, wheat 
drills equal in all respects to the Rockford and 
Huffman drill, or any other wheat drill made in 
America. They are built substantially on the 
plan of the Rockford and Huffman drill, with 
several improvements, and a guano attachment 
superior to any other in use. 

They cost from $15 to $25 less than the R. 
and H. drill ; are fully warranted in every par- 
ticular, and can be relied on as a good article. 

Virginia farmers should patronize Virginia 
mechanics and machinists, and not buy agricul- 
tural implements from the North when as good 
can be had at home. Mr. Coontz is a young, 
enterprising, and industrious mtechanic, and is 
worthy of the patronage of Virginians. I am 
not able to state the price of his drills ; but I 
think his largest size drill costs about $100 
with attachment complete. I presume Mr. C 
can supply all orders, and will ship his drills 
to any point indicated, free of charge. 

A VALLEY FARMER, 



who will give $1000, or one of two hundred 
who will give $500. As yet, I have seen no re- 
sponse to this noble challenge. I have been 
waiting for it — and still I hope for it. 

Meanwhile I will keep the ball rolling by 
accepting that part of the challenge whicli 
comes hindmost. I hate to be hindmost — and 
never am in working my crops — but in money 
matters I can't help it, for I am poor. But I 
will be one of any number who will give $500 
to this good cause. It is an honour to be in 
this race, even though among the hindmost. 
Would to God I had the wealth to lead the 
row. 

I have been thinking that we farmers of 
limited means could afford to be liberal in this 
work if we could offer a certain sum to be 
paid part each year, with interest on the part 
unpaid. I would venture to take up the second 
part of the challenge on those terms. I be- 
lieve, if the Society would appoint some noble 
and distinguished man, who has time, talents' 
and zeal, and send him among the farmers to 
get money on some plan of this kind, that the 
farmers would give the needed sum in less than 
one year. What a proud title would it be to 
reach posterity by, " the man who raised money 
enough to educate the farmers " Whose shall 
it be? BIG LICK. 



For the Southern Planter. 

Agricultural Professorship at the Uni- 
versity. 

Much has been heard of late about a profes- 
sorship of Agriculture at the University of 
Virginia. We are told that one Professor aided 
by the present professors, can make a full school 
of Agriculture. Perhaps it is so : but I have 
found out, in my farming experience, that car- 
riage-horses don't draw well with plow-horses, 
and vice versa. If we want an Agricultural 
School, we had best have our own regular team 
of professors, and not look for help from those 
whose regular work is not our work. 

A writer in your paper, whose good sense is 
equalled only by his modesty and liberality, 
has seen this, and proposed to avoid the diffi- 
culty by raising $100,000, and having at the 
University of Virginia, a full six-horse team 
of our own. Now that is my idea exactly. 
The thing is to get the money. 

The public spirited write/ alluded to above 
(whose name should be given to the pul)lic, 
that we may teach our children to revere it) 
proposes to be one of twenty who will give 
15000 for this purpose ; or one of a hundred 



For the Planter. 

Dumpling on the Tobacco Crop. 

A great doctor* once gave a receipt for 
dressing and using cucunnbers, in about 
these words: "Pare them nicely, slice 
them thin, put on plenty of salt, pepper 
and vinegar, and then, — give them to 
the pigs." 

My receipt for cultivating tobacco is 
like this, only more so. I say, don't cul- 
tivate it all. 

Tobacco is the unfriendliest of all crops 
to the improvement of a farm. It is a 
complete monopolist of manure. The to- 
bacco-lots get every particle from the sta- 
ble and barn-yard, except the few loads 
that the planter's wife begs for her garden. 
The very wood-land is often robbed of its 
dead leaves, and top-soil, to fatten the to- 
bacco ground. The whole tract is impov- 
erished, starved, cheated of its aliments, 
to pamper the favorite crop. The wheat's 
only chance for benefit from the manure, 
is, when it is sown upon tobacco land. — 
Then, it has the j)et's leavings. 

The planter's attention, too, is all taken 
up by his tobacco. Even if he does not 
sit up with it of nights, (as they say an 

* Doctor Fothergill. 



534 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



acquaintance of mine, and his wife, us^ed 
to do,) his thoughts, and the cares of his 
overseer and hands, are so filled with it, 
that other crops are neglected ; particular- 
ly the many third and fourth-rate crops, 
such as hay, turnips, potatoes, beets, and 
pumpkins ; and milch cows, pork, mutton, 
beef, milk, butter, honey, fruits, &.C., that 
bring so much comfort and profit. It is as 
much as he can do to sow and harvest his 
wheat, and to plant, weed hastily, and ga- 
ther his corn; for the months from March 
to January, are spent in preparing and 
nursing plant-beds, hoeing and hilling to- 
bacco ground, planting and re-planting, 
watering, suckering, weeding, priming, 
topping, worming, cutting, scaffolding, 
housing, hanging, firing, striking down, 
stripping, tying and prizing; with con- 
stant anxieties and watchfulness all the 
time, to profit by or to guard against the 
weather and accidents. 

Tobacco hills do away horizontal plow- 
ing entirely; and makes washing rains do 
their worst. The fine chopping of the 
ground, and its not being rolled (as wheat 
or oat ground ought to be) makes it wash 
the more. As to clover and plaster, or 
compost-heaps, and lime, I hardly know a 
tobacco maker who uses them at all. — 
Slovenly farming of all sorts, bad fences, 
gates swaggering on the ground and latch- 
ed with fence rails,' shabby, comfortless 
dwellings, rickety barns and stables, fields 
all in gullies and galls, except one or two 
pampered tobacco lots — commonly attend 
that crop. 

As a tobacco plantation is worth less and 
less every year, the planter is, in fact, 
continually turning his cafjiinl into income : 
he is ripping the goose. He, and his wife 
and daughter, do not think of this, but 
suppose what he gets for his tobacco to be 
fair income; and they spend accordingly. 
They do not even take the average of his 
j)rices ; but if he happens one year in five 
to get ten, or twenty dollars a hundred, 
they take that as the measure of his in- 
come ; and the carriage, piano, gold 
watches, and finery, and expenses of all 
sorts, are squared by it. So he grows 
poorer and poorer, whether he gets high 
prices or low : only his poverty comes 
faster if they are generally low, but now 
and then high. Tlie market for that arti- 
cle is so subject to caprice, and specula- 
tion — its ups and downs are so uncertain — 



that I do not know any planter who al- 
ways gets a good price. California and 
Australia, jusj now, are making gold and 
silver so cheap, that tobacco, like almost 
every thing else, seems to be very high. — 
But a hogshead of it buys no more flour, 
oats, or corn, or sugar, — commands no 
more labor — than it did ten years ago. — 
It is still as much of a lottery as ever; 
and every body knows how seldom any 
one is bettered by drawing a prize in a 
lottery. 

Some close-fisted tobacco makers do 
continue to keep down their spendings, 
and save their money ; laying it out iu 
land or negroes, or lending it. But these 
do not enjoy life as they ought ; and for- 
get the great truth, that the safest invest- 
ment of moTbey earned, is in solidly im- 
proving land they already own. And 
there is no improvement so solid, as Jat- 
fenwg the soil. 

Tobacco, I agree, prepares the ground 
very well for wheat; especially new 
ground, just cleared; leaving plenty of 
aliment for it, if no washing rains have 
come, and if you have taken off only one 
crop of tobacco. M(>reover — if you sow 
clover on the wheat, and use the clover 
two or three years as a fertilizer, — per- 
haps you will not lose by the tobacco, if 
you get a good price for it. All the men 
that stand up for tobacco as not an ex- 
hausting crop, refer to that mode of man- 
agement; rest their plea upon five ifs, and 
a perhaps. But how many planters prac- 
tise that mode ? Not three in my county, 
that I know of. And among the ten or 
fifteen thousand tobacco growers of Vir- 
ginia, probably not three hundred practise 
it. We may therefore set it down as not 
generally practicable, or advisable. 

I have heard, that the farmer who, of 
all living men, has done the most for ag- 
riculture in Virginia, lets no tobacco grow 
upon his land ; considering it the deadly 
foe to good farming; and to thrifty hus- 
bandry. 

The efl^ect of that crop upon the whole 
country, has been like its efiTects upon the 
fortunes of individual cultivators. No 
part of Virginia ever went to ruin so fast 
or so far, as the tobacco growing part. In 
our colonial times, when 60,000 hogsheads 
used to be made, tobacco was the great 
crop of the tide-water country, apd of 
many midland counties. Everywhere it 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



535 



was followed by worn-out lands, and piney 
old fields. 

Deer grew plenty ag^ain, in the oldest set- 
tled counties. At this day, desolation has 
spread most through the tobacco planting 
regions. In Brunswick, and other South- 
side counties, I am told, there are many 
large tracts worn-out, with good houses on 
them, left unsold by their owners, who 
have moved oif to the West with their ne- 
groes. I own that corn, and bad plowing 
— a mere scratching, right up and dowm 
hill — w^ith merciless grazing, helped the 
wearing out : but tobacco, the great mo- 
ther of ill-thrift, w^as the main cause of all. 

My wife, Dorothy, (who looks over all 
m}^ writirg, to correct the spelling and put 
stops), says I must touch on the filth of 
chewing and smoking. She is dreadfully 
put out. by the spitting on her floor and 
carpet, and the stink of tobacco smoke in 
our dining-room — which is our parlor. — 
People that consider themselves gentlemen, 
quire forget their gentlem<anhood while 
smoking or chewing. A Methodist preach- 
er lately spit a torrent of ambier upon my 
floor. And a Presbyterian preacher, smok- 
ing by our breakfast table, squirted sj)ittle 
upon Dorothy's tea-kettle that was near 
the fire; and just missed the tea-pot. — 
Two law^yers, who had invited me to their 
houses lately, lighted cigars and smoked 
them, as we sat after supper; without a 
word of apology or leave asking to me; 
though I had a bad cough, which the 
smoke made worse. The country bucks, 
as they sit in the gallery at meeting, do not 
scruple to spit ])uddles, which run down 
the sloping floor, and drop on the ladies' 
bonnets below. My new hat once got into 
one of these puddles, and was half-spoil- 
ed. Smoking in court-houses, stages, and 
some railroad cars, is now a thing of course. 
Dorothy and I think, that these breaches 
of |)oliteness caused b}^ tobacco, add heav- 
ily to the objections against it; and that 
all good citizens ought to quit using, and 
quit tending it, as fast as possible. 

As' to preachers who chew or smoke, we 
never go to hear one of them if we can 
help it ; and I don't believe either of us 
could i)ossibly be converted by the preach- 
ing of one addicted to such nastiness. — 
But no doubt, the souls of an old fogy far- 
mer and his wife, are trifles to such a 
preacher, compared with his quid, or cigar. 

To heighten the folly of that practice, 



it never is begun but by a considerable 
struggle. Every chewer or smoker finds 
tobacco disgusting to his taste at first ; and 
not till after several trials, and being sick- 
ened once at least, is he reconciled to it. 
By degrees, habit produces fondness — as 
it would for assafoetida, or Jamestown 
w^eed. 

The prevalent use of this unwholesome 
plant, is the strangest custom in the histo- 
ry of mankind. Its absurdity is thus shewn 
by Doctor Rush : 

" Were it possible for a being who had 
resided on our globe, to visit the inhabi- 
tants of another planet, where Reason 
governed, and to tell them that a vile 
weed was in general use among us, which 
afforded no nourishment — that it was cul- 
tivated with immense care, and was an 
important article of commerce — that the 
want of it produced real misery to its lo- 
vers — that its taste was extremely nau- 
seous — that its use was attended by a con- 
siderable loss of time and property; — the 
account would be thought incredible ; and 
the author would probably be excluded 
from society, for telling so unlikely a^ sto- 

A people among whom such a folly pre- 
vails, have no right to lauo-h at Mormon- 
ism, Romanism, Boohdism, Paganism, or 
any other ism, no matter how ridiculous. 
"The force of folly can no farther go." 
John Dumpling. 



For the Planter. 

Smut in Wheat. 
New Glasgow, Amherst Co. 
July 26, 1857. 

Mr. Editor — I noticed sometim.e ago a 
communication to the Southern Planter 
from Mr. Devenport, of Jefferson count}', 
on the subject of wheat ; stating, from his 
observations, cairied on for twenty-five 
years, the cause of smut to be a little 
black bug, which pierces each grain of 
wheat in every smutted head just where 
the shuck divides over the grain. 

Having had smut in my wheat the same 
year, I noticed this communication of Mr. 
Devenport's, and anticipating it again, as 
I was compelled to sow smutted wheat, 
I determined to observe for myself wheth- 
er or not this was so. Accordingly when 
the w'heat began to shoot out from the 
boot, I commenced makina^ my observa- 
tions ; but came to very difi^erent conclu- 



536 



THE SOUTHERN PLxiNTER 



sions from those of Mr. D. For I found 
that the smut head comes out of the boot 
smutted, and that the bug only punctures 
the smut grains after it has come to full 
maturity, nor do they puncture every 
grain, or indeed every head. My opin- 
ion is, that the bug has nothing to do with 
the production of smut. But when wheat 
is smutted Irom other causes, this bug 
punctures the grain and deposites an egg 
in it, v;hich in time hatclies out and feeds 
upon the smut. In confirmation of this 
opinion, a gentleman in this county told 
me that another gentleman of this count}^ 
and of his acquaintance, had some years 
since a field of wheat so badly affected 
with the smut, as to be perfectly useless 
for bread ; it remained in the stack for a 
year or more. When he got scarce of horse 
feed, he thought that he would thresh out 
the smutted wheat for his horses ; but 
when he came to thresh it, he found it 
perfectly free from smut. 

May not the larva of the little black 
bug have eaten it up ? 

The average crop of wheat in this coun- 
ty is a very small one, the winter, or ra- 
ther severe spring, chinch bug and joint 
worm have done their work with us as 
they have done in other places. 

Our oat and corn crops are very promi- 
sing. I remain, sir, yours. 

Very respectfully. 

W. M. H. 



For the Planter. 

How to Prevent a Horse from Biting 
Down Corn. 

Buckingham County, Aug. 8, '57. 
Mr. Editor — The question of great im- 
portance as a time-saving question natu- 
rally arises in the mind of every- reflect- 
ing farmer, "What shall we do in order 
that we may prevent our mules and horses 
from nipping our corn while we are j>low- 
ing it." Some will suggest muzzles, but 
you must recollect that some labour must 
be incurred to make these muzzles. Now 
it is my purpose, in these few lines, to 
suggest to your consideration a very effec- 
tive and simple remedy (so simple that 
anyone may try it who feels so disposed.) 
In travelling along through a field of corn, 
a few days since, on my way to a protrac- 
ted meeting, in company with a iriend of 
mine, my horse manifested continually a 



great desire to nip off the corn, which was 
situated on eitlier side of the road. I call- 
ed the attention of my friend to the fact, 
and remarked that it was a very bad trait 
in his character. He, in reply, said, that 
he could be very easily broken from it. I 
remarked at the same time that it was 
something singular that my horse should 
wish to nip the corn so badly, while on 
the other hand his noticed it, (though he 
had every chance in his power to have 
bitten it) no more than if it had been so 
much tobacco. He answered in reply 
that he happened to be in the field one 
day, when one of his father's hands hitch- 
ed up a horse, which bit off the corn very 
greedily; and that he remarked to the 
negro that he had belter put a muzzle 
upon that horse, but the fellow said nay, 
sir, but just let her bite off a stalk of corn, 
and I will cure her evil propensity for bit- 
ing it off. Well, in a few minutes the 
horse bit off a stalk, and the negro walked 
up to her very deliberately, taking with 
him a huge clod of dirt, which he crum- 
bled into powder, and held it in her mouth 
some little time ; and says my friend, al- 
though that horse has been worked ever 
since without any muzzle on, yet she has 
never from that day till the present time 
bitten off, or attempted to bite off a stalk 
of corn. I give this, as my friend (who is 
a highly respectable man, and also a strict 
member of the church) gave it to me, with 
the utmost confidence as to the truth of 
what he said, as he is a man whose verac- 
ity on all matters cannot be impugned 
even for a moment. 

Respectfully, 

Tuus Amicus. 



For the Planter. 

De Burg's and Rhodes' Superphosphates. 
Having used " De Burg's Superphos- 
phate of Lime" to some extent, I will give 
you my experience of it, which I cannot 
say is the most favorable. I used this so 
called fertilizer on wheat last fall, at the 
rate of two hundred and twenty-five lbs. 
per acre. The superphosphate being al- 
ways in fine condition for sowing, (which 
[ consider its most valuable quality,) that 
quantity seemed large, as it blackened the 
freshly plowed land so as to be visible for 
some distance. It was harrow^ed in w^ith 
the grain. The wheat came up well and 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



537 



presented a fine appearance in the fall ; 
stood the winter very well, and grew off 
prettily in the spring, but when harvest 
came, " Oh ! what a falling off was there." 
The crop was not near so good as a crop 
of wheat grown on the same field three 
years ago, and without any manure; since 
that time the land has been unquestiona- 
bly improving. The difference is about 
what might have been expected under the 
circumstances, if no manure had been 
used on the last crop, as the former was 
seeded on fallow land, and the latter after 
corn. Some portion of this crop was in- 
jured by chinch bug ; that, of course, I do 
not include in my comparison of the two 
crops. I say this that it may not be sup- 
posed that the crop was cut short by the 
ravages of any insect. This leaves abso- 
lutely nothing for which to thank De 
Burg's Superphosphate. My candid opin- 
ion is, that more benefit may be derived 
from 200 lbs. of wood ashes and 25 lbs. 
of guano, and it would certainly be cheap- 
er. The analysis speaks well. The fact 
is, that one article is sent to the chemist 
for analysis, and another to the farmer. I 
have also used Rhodes' Superphosphate of 
Lime on Irish potatoes, for which it comes 
recommended, and I believe it to be worth 
about one- fifth of its weight in Peruvian 
Guano. When it falls to that rate, per- 
haps I may try a little more of it. I 
think farmers had better buy Guano at the 
present exhorbitant price than to be sold 
themselves at a very cheap one. 
Very respectfully, 

Anti-Humbug. 
Henrico, Aug. 5, 1857. 



11-11 acre ; about ^^ bushels per acre ! — 
without guano, too ! 

Our wheat this year is first rate, and 
yields remarkably well, as I learn from 
some who have threshed. The army worm 
frightened us a good deal, but seems to 
have done but little damage to the wheat. 
We have also made a large crop of oats, 
though generally sown late. Corn, though 
backward, is good. 

Respectfully yours, 

T. R. JoYNES, Jr. 



For the Plante 

Fine Yield of Wheat in Accomac. 

ACCOMAC CoURT-HoUSE, Va., 

July 21, 1857. 
Mr. Editor — I have just received a note 
from a friend, in which he states that a 
neighbour of his, from 15 pecks of wheat, 
sown on 5 acres, has measured up 147^ 
bushels cle^ wheat, and thinks, if he had 
gleaned, he would have got 10 to 12 bush- 
els more. Pretty fair, you may think, for 
old Accomac — the quondam reputed land 
of sandhills — but it is not quite equal to 
the crop raised here some years ago — 
which was published in the So. Planter — 
over 60 bushels from 1 bushel sown on 



For the Planter. 

Labor Lost. 

My Sons: — When last I wrote you, I 
forbid your making up a hill for tobacco 
or any thing else ; and now 1 write to for- 
bid your hilling up any vegetable, except 
such as pioduce the edible beneath the 
surface. Indeed I am almost ready to 
forbid this, but more anon. Does wheat, 
or oats, or hemp, require hilling? Does 
nature hill up a tree or anything else ? 
No — well, then, why would you pursue an 
unnatuial course? Surely if a tree does 
not require hilling up to make it stand and 
thrive, a plant of corn does not. If a 
plant of corn requires a hill six inches 
high, then how high should a hill be made 
around a tree? pshaw, away with the thing, 
calculation and all, it is labor lost. Na- 
ture places the roots of plants at a proper 
depth in the earth, and just about the time 
the rootlets have pushed their Way to the 
centre between the rows, and at the time 
the plant is demanding the greatest amount 
of nourishmf?nt, you drag the soil away 
from the wanted spot and place it around 
the stalk ; thus doing all manner of mis- 
chief, 1st by depriving the plant of its 
wanted food. 2nd exposing the spongioles 
to the sun and air, 3rd, labor lost. 

Perhaps one may say the stalk should 
be hilled to prevent its blowing down. 
Well, now, if six inches will be a help, then 
certainly two feet will be better. I know 
that six inches of earth about a stalk of 
corn will not prevent it from being blown 
down by winds, but am persuaded that 
two feet would. Will you try it ? I will 
admit that hilling apotatoe in clay grounds 
may be right, but for this purpose better 
apply straw shavings or mold. So of 
beets, carrots, Stc. ; but if the ground is 

vegetable 



adapted to the growth of the 



538 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



and yet is it wont to grow above ground, 
do let it have its way, it is right. 

Putting a hill to any vegetable which 
produces an edible above ground is cer- 
tainly wrong, Indian corn perhaps excep- 
ted. About the time that corn is in tassel, 
it is inclin(!d to put out roots above ground 
called stools. These are intended by the 
author of, nature, not only as additi(jnal 
feeders, but as props, if wet weather oc- 
cur at the time above referred to, then the 
stools come forth and penetrate the earth ; 
but if wet weather is wanting, then a hoe 
full of earth might answer in its stead ; 
but the plough in the general does this 
work. 

li is true, that it is frequently proper to 
call art to the assistance of nature, but a 
barbarous art is no art at all. Perhaps 
one may sa}^ reason should come in lieu ; 
but beware of false reasoning ; for the 
mind of man is imperfect, as is evident 
from our frequent disagreement. Perhaps 
one may say experience should be the 
guide ; to which I reply yes, but remem- 
ber that experience is imperfect too. 

My sons, put your brains ahead of your 
feet and hands, otherwise you are traveling 
and working in the dark ; and as in the 
dark you cannot strike a lick aright, so 
consequently all is labor lost. 

ZA DRUMMOND. 

July 1857. 

From the Valley Farmer. 

Small Horses. 

Messrs. Editors. — In the August No. 
of the Farmer^ I find an article copied 
from another paper, in which it is men- 
tioned that small horses are preferable to 
large ones ; and I regret to see that you 
endorse the correctness of the writer by 
saying: "Every day's experience is teach- 
ing us that small horses are best." But 
for whom } For the farmers I presume is 
meant, because your excellent monthly is 
devoted to the farmers' business and far- 
mers' interests. But I be^ leave to dis- 
sent from* this conclusion. " Every day's 



experience" has been teaching 
mers the very reverse of this, 
quence is, that larsa horses 
prices and 



large horses bring 
are in large demand 



many tar- 
A conse- 
large 
in most, 



I atn pleased* 



if not all the older States, 
to find that the demand for 
increasing in this section 
prices are quite large enough for the buyer 



large horses is 
of ours. The 



I agree with you that " quality is the 
thmg in horses," and the reason why large 
horses are so frequently in bad repute 
with us of the West, is that our large hor- 
ses, for the most part, are the rough, 
coarse, overgrown individuals of a small 
race. They are of an "unnatural growth" 
— they are "clumsy" and are "liable to 
stumble and be lean." All this is agreed 
to as concerns them. But there are spe- 
•cies of horses, large in size, compact in 
forms, of handsome figure, good travelers, 
strong, durable, (both as to labor and to 
age), and not, as a race, liable to any one 
of the objections just quoted. 

Who has not heard of the famous' 
" Conestoga horse," of Pennsylvania? 
Who ever saw six of these fine fellows 
harnessed to the huge wagons that fur- 
nished means of transportation from the 
seaboard westward, before railroads came 
in fashion — and did not feel something 
like a glow of pleasure and admiration? 
What practical farmer ever saw the huge 
furrows traced by a span of such, and did 
not have an "abiding faith" that "seed 
time" would be followed by an "abun- 
dant harvest?' Who ever owned a pair 
and having " swapped" for a pair of 
small horses, that did not rue his bargain 
the first time (and ever after) he tried to 
haul a heavy load ? Not many, I opine. 

I maintain that small horses, on good 
farms, are little short of a nuisance ! Let 
me not be misunderstood In speaking of 
small horses, I mean all horses under fif- 
teen hands in height. Medium sized, with 
me, are from fifteen to sixteen hands — 
large horses, sixteen and upwards. 

It requires a sufficiently heavy draught, 
for two large horses to cut a sward twelve 
inches wide and eight inches deep in the 
furrow. Horses of medium size can ac- 
complish the task only by severe, if not 
extraordinary labor. Small horses cannot 
do it at all. 

Now, no good farmer plows less than 
eight inches in depth. Many go even 
deeper — ten and twelve inches, when the 
soil V. ill permit. To attain this with small 
horses, a plow team must consist of three, 
or even four such. What then is gained ? 
In the aggregate, there is more capital in- 
vested, more feed required, more lame- 
ness, more accidents, more labor in man- 
agement, more expense of harness. 
\ But suppose your plow team, as ordina- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



539 



rify. to consist of two, what follows ? You 
plow shallow from necessity — say three, 
four, or five inches at most. What then? 
A heavy rain cuts your fields into gutters, 
or drowns out your crop ! A drought par- 
ches it up! You , are sure only of one 
thing — a small crop, let the season be what 
it may. 

With large horses you can plow deep, if 
you will. A furrow eight or ten inches 
deep absorbs the whole of an ordinary 
shower, or succession of showers. Your 
fields are not disfigured with deep gullies. 
The moisture is garneied up, to be dis- 
tributed when the drought sets it. Your 
crops are not parched. Your heavy ears 
of corn; while your neighbor, whose "ex- 
perience teaches that small horses are 
be«t," complains of the lightness of his. 
Does not " every day's experience" prove 
the truthfulness of this ? 

Figures, it is said, won't lie. Let them, 
then, decide which class of horses will 
pay best in the draught. A pair of large 
horses will haul daily, to our river landing, 
foriy bushels of wheat; medium sized, 
thirfy-iwo ; small ones, tweridy-five. These 
are fairly estimated loads. We pay seven 
cents per bushel for haulmg. A team may 
work, say 200 days in a year. What is 
the result of our figuring ? In a year we 
would haul : 
AVith large horses 8000 bus. at 7c. $560 

" medium " 6400 " " 448 

" small " 5000 " " 350 

Making a difference of $210 between the 
value of the labor of a pair of la?-ge and 
a pair of small horses, in one year. 

In the ordinary labors of a farm the dif- 
ference is still greater ; because, in addi- 
tion to the less amount of labor performed, 
there is an equal if not greater loss, grow- 
ing out of the manner in which it is per- 
formed — in deficient crops, &c. 

In addition to this, there is another, and 
evident objection to small horses. A large 
number of them are vicious in temper, 
tricky in babit and •' false" in harness. 
Every one has observed this — many at 
thS expense of toil and temper, neither 
agreeable nor profitable. On the contrary, 
large horses, of a large species, are mostly 
docile, easy to break to service, and sel- 
dom or never baulky, unless the fault is 
in the driver. 

I do not believe there is any material 
difference in the duration of the different 



classes of horses, or in their liability to 
accident or disease. Only a few day's 
since, the writer saw a fine lookino^ ffeld- 
ing, standing seventeen hands in height, 
having been in the possession of his pres- 
ent owner for twenty-three years. The 
same gentleman has another of the same 
stock, one year his junior. These two 
make an excellent plow team at the pres- 
ent day. And there are several others in 
ihe vicinity, of about the same ages. Un- 
fortunately, I think, the prejudices existing 
against large horses, twenty years ago in 
this country, drove their sires out of ser- 
vice, or we might have had many more 
such. 

Our county fairs, however, are destined 
to work. a revolution in this matter. All 
other things being equal, I have noticed 
that our judges of stock almost invariably 
award the premiums to the stock excelling 
in size. I doubt not that this too, will 
soon become the judgment of all experi- 
enced; practical farmers. 

Paynesville, Mo. J. M. 

We are glad to publish the above article 
on Horses. In principle we believ(^ it in 
the main correct. If the qualify is in a 
horse, the larger the better. If a coin is 
gold, the larger the better. But the thing 
is to find gold in large quantities. What 
we asserted was, that what is true of men 
is generally true of horses and all other 
animals — that the largest specimens of a 
species generally lack compactness, firm- 
ness of texture, harmony of make, and 
consequently strength and power of endu- 
rance. For heavy hauling, of course 
weight is necessary. For all the purpo- 
ses for which horses are used, the com- 
pact, firm-made, moderate sized, will be 
found most useful ; but most useful only 
because of their quality — not because of 
their smaller size. But we must remem- 
ber the old adage, " valuable goods are 
put up in small parcels." Gold is seldom 
found in mountain boldres. * 



Feeding; Mowing Lands. 
This is a subject of much practical im- 
portance. To feed or not to feed is the 
question. How shall we. settle it ? Some 
persons regard it as already settled that a 
blade of grass should not be cropped by 
any animal from a field which has been 
mowed the same season, and is to be mow- 



540 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



ed the next. This is a point in their a^^ri- 1 
cultural creed, as unchangeable as any 
one of the laws of the Medes and Per- 
sians. But the spirit of free inquiry, now 
generally participated in, emboldens men 
to ask a reason for statements to which 
they are required to yield belief. On 
what, then, rests the dogma that mowing 
grounds should never be fed ? It wi!l be 
said, probably, that the productive power 
of the land for grass is lessened by feed- 
ing. Suppose we concede this. What 
does it })rove ? The bare fact has no re- 
lation to the farmer's practice. The real 
question is, whether the after-feed is worth 
more to be consumed by stock, or to be 
left to rot on the ground. It is plain that 
no universal rule can be laid down in such 
a case ; it must be di^cided according to 
the necessities or advantages of the far- 
mer — he must determine whether the 
value of the meat or milk the grass will 
produce will over-balance the loss to the 
ground by ieeding it off. 

But to proceed a little further on the 
assumed basis that the feeding of the 
ground is injurious — What is the farmer 
to do with his animals ? They must live 
somewhere, and if they are injurious to 
the land, what is gained by keeping them 
in pastures ? Do they not injure the 
ground there as much as they would in 
mowing fields? With tiie same kind of 
ground and the same kinds of herbage, 
there is no reason why they should not. 
If there is a scarcity of feed in the j)as- 
tures, and the animals are confined to 
them, they may be forced to graze more 
closely than is favorable to the vigor of 
the plants; if, on the other hand, the 
range could be enlarged, the necessity for 
close-feeding, anywhere, would be obvia- 
ted. 

We have thus far recognised, formally, 
the proposition that the grazing of mowing 
grounds is always injurious to the future 
crops. Has ihis been proved? We do 
not think it has. We admit that stock 
may injure some grounds — those, for in- 
stance, which are so wet and soft that 
they are poached by the hoof. But we 
have no right to infer from this that graz- 
ing is injurious to all grounds. We admit 
tliat land may be grazed too closely, but 
it does not follow that grazing to a certain 
extent would be injurious. Can any one 
point to an experiment, where mowing 



land in a proper state of dryness has been 
lairly divided, a part left for years without 
being fed in autumn, and the other part 
fed to a moderate degree ? We are not 
apprised of any experiment of this kind ; 
but a correspondent of the Maine Farmer 
gives the result of his experience, as bear- 
ing on this subject which, although not to 
be taken as demonstrative evidence, agrees 
with the experience and observation of 
many others. He says : 

" Twenty years ago, I purchased an old, 
and somewhat worn-out field, near my 
farm. I had supposed, and the theory was 
generally believed in the neighborhood, 
that mowing land would not only hold its 
own, but would gradually improve, by 
merely being kept from feeding. In ac- 
cordance with this view, I suffered not a 
hoof to touch the soil. The result proved 
I was sadly mistaken. On entering the 
next hay season, what was my surprise to 
find the old fog still visible, with the spires 
of grass hardly near enough to be called 
neighbors, which rendered it nearly impos- 
sible to mow what grass the-re was. Still 
I was not satisfied, but held on to my 
opinion another year, and still another, 
with yet more unprofitable results. I then 
thought it time to adopt some other meth- 
od, and my subsequent experience goes to 
prove, to my satisfaction, that feeding, to 
a certain extent, even to short feeding, 
when the ground is in a proper state, that 
is, when not too soft, is not only not hurt- 
ful, but is really beneficial." — Boston Cul- 
tivator, 



The Potato Fly. 

A writer in the College Journal of Med- 
ical Science, published in Cincinnati, calls 
the attention of his brethren to the medi- 
cal uses of the potato fly, several species 
of which are found in the United States, 
and which are said to be equal if not su- 
perior to the Spanish fly, for raising blis- 
ters. It is stated that although the Can- 
tharis vittata or potato fly has been adop- 
ted by the United States Pharmacopoeia as 
official, and has been used to some extent 
for many years, it has not attracted the 
attention either in a theraputic or com- 
mercial point of view which its value de- 
serves. Large sums are annually sent 
abroad for the Spanish fly, which might 
better find pockets among our own peo- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



541 



pie, who thereby would not only turn an 
honest penny, but at the same time rid 
their farms of a destructive pest. The 
extent of the market for this medical 
agent, may be inferred from the fact that 
nearly ten tons of cantliaris are imported 
annually into England. 

The caniharis vitiaia, or potato fly, being 
from five to six tenths of an inch in length. 
It belongs to the beetle family, and its 
wing cases are black, with a longitudinal 
stripe along the centre, of a yellow color; 
the margin is also yellow. The head is a 
light red color with dark spots on the top, 
the feelers are black, the thorax black with 
three yellow longitudinal lines ; and the 
abdomen and legs, which are also black, 
are covered with a fine ash-colored down. 
Dr. Harris says this species of potato fly 
often appears in great numbers in the Mid- 
dle and Western States, and does much 
mischief in potato fields and gardens, eat- 
ing up the leaves of many other species 
of plants besides the potato. It is one of 
the insects to which the production of the 
potato rot has been ascribed. It is com- 
paratively rare in New England, but there 
are two or three other species of blistering 
beetles common here, which are often 
confounded under the common name of 
potato flies, and it is still more remarkable 
that Ihey are collected for medical use, 
and are sold by the name of caniharis vit- 
tata, without a suspicion of their being 
distinct from each other. The potato flies 
are easily collected by shaking them off in 
a tin vessel. A large tin pan is all the 
implement that is needed. To kill them, 
pour over them some scalding water and 
dry them in the sun. 

[Spirit of Agr'l Press. 

■ < • o » » 

Influence of the Scion npon the Stock. 

No point in vegetable physiology is of 
greater interest to gardeners than the in- 
fluence, if any, of the scion upon its 
stock ; or vice versa. It is a common be- 
lief that when the graft of one pear is 
worked upon the stock of another, neither 
is the graft influenced by the stock nor the 
stock by the graft. When a peach is 
budded on a plum the plum-blood seems 
not to be mingled wath that of the peach, 
nor the peach blood with that of the plum. 
The peach is a peach and nothing less ; 
the plum is a plum and nothing more. 

Is this true ? or are we here, as in so 



many other cases, led astray by our blind- 
ness and inability to see what really ex- 
ists. Perhaps so. 

There is a green jasmine and a varie- 
gated jasmine. Apart, the* green is 
always green Budded with the variega- 
ted sort the whole system of the green sort 
is tainted, as it were, and breaks out into 
variegations. There is no conceivable 
explanation of this indispensable fact, 
except that the quality inducing variega- 
tion has been communicated by the one 
to the other. It is a true case of vegeta- 
ble inoculation, using the word in its 
medical sense. Nor, indeed, can it be 
otherwise when we consider the facility 
with which the fluids of plants are trans- 
ferred from one part to another. We may 
suppose that variegation is produced by 
some virus, or constitutional peculiarity, 
whatever it is, is certainly communica- 
ble. 

A short memorandum by Purser, in 
last Week's Chronicle, has led to these re- 
marks. Everybody knows that what is 
called the purple Laburnum, or Cytisus 
Adami, is a laburnum that sometimes pro- 
duces yellow flowers, sometimes purple 
ones, and sometimes bunches of the dirty 
yellow color that would be artificially 
formed by mixing purple and yellow on a 
pallet. In Mr. Purser's case the purple 
Cytisus (Cytisus purpureus,) was grafted 
on the common laburnum. Widely differ- 
ent as the species are, the one takes 
readily on the other. As soon as the 
union is eff'ected the sap of the first begins 
to mingle with that of the second, and iu 
a year or tw^o the laburnum produces out 
of its own substance tufts of mere Cytisus 
purpureus, or bunches of flowers un- 
changed indeed in size and form, but com- 
pletely altered in color. 

Here then are two notorious cases, the 
history of each perfectly ascertained : in 
one case the sap of a variegated commu- 
nicates the variegation to a green plant ; 
in the other case the sap of a totally dis- 
tinct species communicates to another not 
merely color, but form, size, and every 
other specific attribute. If then, in the 
two cases before us, such striking changes 
are producible, we are fully justified in as- 
suming that similar changes, greater or 
less, will inevitably attend the union of any 
other two plants. W^e must regard such 
changes as resulting from some constant 



542 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



law, although we may continually fail to 
perceive its presence. 

This being the case, one of the most 
important of all inquiries in horticulture 
is the extent to which the diffusion and 
blending of the qualities of graft and 
stock realiy go. Not that the subject has 
been hitherto overlooked, but because we 
have as yet no such precise evidence as is 
demanded in a question of this degree of 
importance, gardeners are apt to think 
that any stock upon which a graft will 
take is sufficient for this purpose. No 
greater error could be committed; it has 
been pointed out in our columns on former 
occasions ; but the practice of disregard- 
ing the stock prevails extensively, and no 
series of experiments, carefully continued 
and conscientiously recorded, has as yet 
been brought to bear upon it. 

In the Theory and practice of Horticul- 
ture, (p. 356) the subject has, indeed, 
been introduced, and some evidence upon 
it collected, as will appear from the fol- 
lowing extract : 

" Since the quality of fruit is thus 
affected by the stock, it seems allowable to 



delicate ; the quince was much more 
tender and less gritty. 

Is there no one in this country with the 
necessary leisure and address to verily 
thesestatements, which at present stand un- 
confirmed although uncoiitradicted. Sure- 
ly, considering how much hybridizing has 
done for us, the question now proposed, 
which is second to nothing in importance, 
can hardly fail to meet with ihe same 
zealous and skilful examination. — Gard. 
Chron. 



Farming' iii Connecticut. 

It will be seen by the following table of Cen- 
sus of 1840 and 1850, that farming in this 
State is not in a very prosperous condition. — 
There is a vast deal of industry and economy 
practiced by CouDecticut farmers, but nature 
has been sparing of her blessings on much of 
the land in this State. In a pecuniary point of 
view, could one-third of her farmers transplant 
themselves to the fertile soil in this State, and 
practice the same economy and industry, they 
would find themselves enjoying, in the course 
of a series of years, a very respectable compe- 
tency. Such is the poverty of a considerable 
part of the soil of the "nutmeg State," it is 

infer that the goodness of cultivated fruits | ^^.^Pf^^^^-'^^, for its occupants to"look forAvard 
. 1 , . Ill +u • u • -F I With any degree ot assurance to anythinn; but 

IS deteriorated, by their being uniformly I ^j^^ l^^^^^g^«.^,^,gj^ ^-^^^ ^ The fnter- 

worked upon stocks whose truit is worth- val of the Connecticut river is equal to the soil 



less ; for example, the almond or th 
austere plum can only injure the peaches 
they are made to bear, the crab, the 
apple, and so on. On the other hand, if 
trees of excellent quality were used for 
stocks they ought to improve the fruit of 
the scion that is worked upon them. Some 
German writers, proceeding upon such 
reasoning as this, recommend gardeners 
to practice the art of ' ennobling ' fruit trees 
by taking the best varieties for stocks in- 
stead of the worst; and they assert that, 
by such means, the excellence of fruit is 
greatly increased. Trefez is represented 
by Meyer, as translated in Taylor's Maga- 
zine, to have made known as long ago as 
1803, several instances of ennobling, from 
which it appears that apple trees twice 
ennobled, bore fruit of distinguished ex- 
cellence ; currants and gooseberries im- 
proved after one ennobling, and much 
more so after the operation had' been re- 
peated three or four t:mes. An apricot is 
said to have been worked on a Green 
Gage plum, and a quince upon the Au- 
tumn Bergamot pear ; the apricot became 
as juicy as the Green Gage, and far more 



in any state and pays a good profit to those who 
improve it. Connecticut can boast of many 
pretty villages which would be an honor to any 
State, every shingle is in its place, every blind 
in its proper position, and the whole house well 
painted, with all the surroundings kept nice 
and tidy — every chip and bit of rubbisli picked 
up, all necessary materials packed away. — 
That linish to every thing which is so apparent 
there, is yet to be introduced into our State. 

See what the Census says : 

Between 1840 and 1850, there was a decrease 
In horses, asses and mules, from 

34,650 to 20,928 
In neat cattle, from 238,050 to 212,075 

In sheep, from 403,462 to 174,181 

In swine, from 131,1)61 to 76,472 

In wheat, from 87,009 to 41,762 bushels 
In rye, from 737,424 to 600,893 " 

In oats, from 1,453,262 to 1,258,738 . " 
In potatoes, from 3,414,238 to 2,689,805 " 
In buckwheat, " 303,043 to 229,297 " 
In corn there was an increase from 

1,500,441 to 1,935,045 " 
And in hay, from 426,704 to 516,130 tons. 

The ITomeskad truly remarks: " These ta- 
bles may n(;t be entirely accurate or reliable, 
yet, making every allowance required, the gen- 
eral results are unmistakable. In animals and 
stock of every kind, raised or supported upon 



THE SOUTHER-N PLANTER. 



243 



the soil, tliere was a laraentubl<^ decrease. And 
the general deterioration of the soil is most 
correctly shown by the diminished quantity of 
rye, oats and buckwheat, for these are the prin- 
cipal crops which are sown without manure, — 
At the same time there was an increase in hay, 
owing mainly to the seasoja, and a very great 
increase in Indian corn, owing partly to this 
cause, and partly to the influence of agricultu- 
ral societies ; for one of the first results every- 
where, of their influence, has been an increase 
in that great staple." — Agricultural Press. 



Eeariiig Beef Cattle. 

In looking over a recent report of the 
New York Cattle market, the number of 
beeves sold on the great sale day for one 
week was 2,579 against 3; 195 for the week 
previous which is 1,022 head less than the 
average per week for the year 1856. In 
addition to these there were sold the same 
week 712 veal calves, with lambs and 
swine to increase the whole number of 
head sold in one week to 11,260. Of the 
number of beeves reported for this week 
996 were from the State of. Illinois, and 
680 from Ohio, besides a considerable 
number from Indiana and Iowa. This en- 
tire lot was sold at prices ranging from 10-| 
to 12 cents per pound. What the advance 
is upon these prices at the retail market 
we do not know, but presume that the re- 
tail price is not far from 10 to 15 cents per 
pound. In the week following, ending! 
April 15th, there were sold in the same 
market 3,384 head of beef cattle, and in- 
cluding calves, sheep and swine, the num- 
ber was extended to 15,776 Of the beef 
cattle there were 935 from Illinois, 796 
from Ohio, and 368 were from Indiana. — 
At these rates we do not know how a far- 
mer can better dispose of his grass, corn- 
stalks and grain than to convert them into 
beef. Stock raising is one of the most 
pleasant, as well as profitable branches of 
farming. It requires less toil, while at the 
same time the feed that is consumed upon 
the farm, and the r«?turns made to the soil 
in the form of manure, is a nratter of the 
first importance to the farmer. In selling 
hay and grain from the farm, there is a 
constant drain upon the soil, that without 
the best management will lead to ultimate 
sterility, while if the crops w^ere consum- 
ed upon the farm, the improvement result- 
ing therefrom to the soil, would, in some 
instances, equal the interest upon the value 
of the land. With a little care in the 



preparation of the food, calves can be 
raised with a small proportion of milk. — 
Valley Farmer. 



From the Richmond Whig. 

Exports of Breadstuffs from U. S. to Great 
Britain and Ireland. Inspections of Flour 
in Richmond for ike last three years. 

The exports of breadstuffs from the U. 
States to Great Britain and Ireland, this 
season, thus far, have been as follows : 

1855-6. 1856-7. 

Flour, barrels, 1,134,731 842,051 

Wheat, bushels, 4,644,587 7,241,115 

Corn, do 6,380,884 4,600,228 

And to the continent — 



649,241 412,857 

2,250,312 2,808,867 

246,965 524,375 

1,755,873 216,162 



Flour, barrels, 
AVheat, bushels, 
Corn, do 
Rye, do 

The inspections of flour in Richm.ond 
during the quarter ending to-day (June 
30th,) and the corresponding periods of the 
three preceding years, were as follows. — 
The falling off, as compared with the same 
quarter of 1856, is 33,447 packages, but 
the quantity inspected exceeds the average 
of the three preceding years (57,035.) 

1<n54 1855. 1856. 1857. 

Family, bbls 958 512 656 275 

Extra, " 1,723 1,608 2,346 2,522 

Superfine, bbls 44,450 10,686 66,856 48,165 

" hlf. bbls 2,321 252 2,522 3,045 

Fine, bbls. 2,701 1,490 5,973 1,287 

Middlings, bbls 5,072 1,538 11,073 6,527 

Condemu'd, " 2,308 691 6,660 818 



6«,373 16,646 96,086 62,639 

The following is a comparative state- 
ment of the inspections of flour in this 
city during the year ending to-day, and 
the three preceding years, ending June 
30th. The increase for 1856-7 would 
have been much larger but for the pro- 
tracted interruption of the navigation of 
the canal last winter, and recently : 




Famii}', bbls. 
Extra, " 
Superfine, bbls 

do hif " 
Fine, bbls. 
Middl'gs, bbls. 
Condemned " 

Total p'kgs, 450,515.351,041406,402 504,851 



544 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



"Wolf Teeth in Horses. 

I have had occasion to examine some 
20 or 30 horses that had the Wolf Tooth, 
or more properly the blind tooth, and have 
always saved the eyes of the horse, if the 
tooth was knocked out in time. I have 
repeatedly found that the eye was most 
affected on the side on which the largest 
tooth w^as. The last case I saw was a 
valuable mare of my own. She has a 
clear hazel eye, of the medium size. 1 
found her about eightetm months since 
with both eyes closed. Upon examination, 
I found the wolf teeth. I knocked them 
out, and in five da^^s her eyes were per- 
fectly well, and have been so since. 

The wolf tooth is situated in front of 
the jaw teeth, and is best knocked out by 
placing a piece of hai;d w'ood about an 
inch wide, twor.eighths thick, and one foot 
long. Place the end of the wood against 
the tooth from the opposite side of the 
mouth to the tooth, and stiike it a smart 
blow with a hammer, and it will be dis- 
placed. It is often the case that the horse 
has only one wolf tooth and only one eye 
affected. A Subscriber 

in Spirit of the Times. 



Lameness from Contracted Heels. 

A farmer of Niagara county. New York, 
states some important facts in relation to 
the proper and improper w^ay of shoeing 
Horses. He says: 

"About six months since I adopted a 
plan for the cure of this complaint, which 
has been so successful in three cases, that 
I am disposed to communicate it. My 
opinion is, that nine-tenths of the founder- 
ed horses are made so by the shoer. For 
a number of years my horses were shod 
by one man, who fitted his shoes very 
carefully — opened the heels handsomely, 
by trimming the frog and the heel of the 
hoof, and thinned the sole nicely, taking 
off all appearance of bars — making the 
shoe nearly straight from the ball of the 
foot to tlie heel. First, one horse became 
lame in one foot, then in the other ; soon 
another one began to be lame, and in spite 
of all our experiments, the third one was 
beginning to show the effects of this shoe- 
ing, when I changed the practice. Now 
the two latter are perfectlj' sound, and the 
first one, that had become so bad that it 
Avas painful to drive her even upon a walk, 



is so much improved that she feeds and 
acts like a different animal. Now for the 
plan. 

" Pare the foot pretty close ; thin the 
sole in front of the bars, but cut no more 
off the bars than that the shoe may not 
press upon them ; fit the shoe to the 
shape of the foot, making it come fairly 
under the heel of the hoof and as wide as 
you can have it and ge,i the nails in. Do 
not open the heels — at any rate cut noth- 
ing from the frog, whether ragged or not ; 
if you choose you may take a very little 
from the heel of the hoof where it comes 
in contact with the frog, but the practice 
is questionable. I think the bars and the 
frog are intended to keep the heels apart ; 
therefore, save all the strength you can in 
the former and do not disqualify the latter 
from accomplishing its object by putting 
it away so that it cannot come in contact 
with the heels. Now cultivate the growth 
of the frog by applying daily either soap 
and tar boiled together, or soft soap, or 
urine, which I think best of all. Take up 
the foot, clean it out carefully, and make 
your application to the sole of the foot, 
the frosr and the heel. Standing in mud 
of blue clay for a few hours every day, is 
excellent. 



Cure for Bots in Horses — Drew's 
Rural Intelligencer says, an intelligent 
gentleman of our acquaintance, who has 
for years been largely concerned in the 
management of horses, called at the Rural 
office a few weeks ago, to say that he 
knew, by experience, of a remedy for bots 
in horses, which is sure to expel them from 
any one of the race afflicted with those 
dangerous insects, the medicine is nothing 
more or less than common fish pickle, that 
from mackeral is perhaps best; one com- 
mon junk bottle full will generally dislodge 
the "varmints" — sometimes a second one 
may be necessary. To use his own 
words, this is a perfect cure — no mistake. 
Some persons mistake the belly ache for 
bots. The latter may be known by the 
horse drawing down his tail, and giving it 
a peculiar motion. There is no such ap- 
pearance in cases of mere bellyache. 



While the cultivation of the soil enga- 
ges your attention, do not neglect the cul- 
tivation of your mind. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



535 




THE SOUTHERN PLANTEE. 



RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 



TERMS AND CONDITIONS. 

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Dollars o/////, if" paid in Advance. 

Subscriptions may be<rin with any Number, but it 
is desirnb/e that they shouUl be made to the end of a 
volume. 

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

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

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

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

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

All Payments to the Southern Planter will be ac 
knowledged in the first paper issued after the same 
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All money remitted to us will be considered at our 
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have been legistered. This rule is adopted not for our 
protection, but for that of our correspondents; and we 
wisli it dislinctl}' understood that we take the risk 
only when this condition is complied with. 

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

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

RUFFiN & AUGUST, Proprietors. 



bers, and in such towns or cities as are entitlt d 
to hold separate elections. The interests con> 
mitted to this body by the constitution of the 
Society, are too momentous not to excite its 
members to a due anxiety in regard to the 
election of suitable persons from among them- 
selves to be invested with the honourable and 
responsible trust, of representing their charac- 
ter and interests in that Assembly. The only 
fear is that through mere inadvertence the 
subject may be overlooked or forgotten, and 
therefore their attention is called to the subject 
at this time, by way of remembrance. This 
Assembly will meet on the fir.st day of the 
next Annual Exhibition of the Society — 
namely, the 27th of October. With respect to 
what that Exhibition shall be, it is too early 
to speak Avith confidence. Preparatioiis are 
making by the Executive Committee, with an 
amplitude of provision which implies an un- 
wavering faith on their part, that it- will not 
fall short of the best of its predecessors, bi^t 
after all, the success of our Fairs must always 
depend upon the Farmers themselves, as the 
means which are necessary to determine their 
character are in their own hands. Let thei-^i 
supply the persoiiel and materiel of the occa- 
sion in a manner worthy of her children, and 
Virginia, the "blessed mother of us all,'' will 
be proud to acknowledge that our fifth annual 
exhibition is worthy of herself. 



Office : No. 153, Corner Main and'Twelfth Street; 



Farmers' Assembly and State Agricul- 
tural Fair. 
The time for the choice of delegates to the Far- 
mers' Assembly of the Virginia State Agricul- 
tural Society is at hand. Elections are to be 
held throughout the State, — under the super- 
vision of Commissioners appointed for the pur- 
pose — on the first day of the September term of 
the County or Corporation Courts in every 

county in which there are any resident mem- 
35 



Meadows. 

A subscriber from Hiliborough, North Caro 
lina, requested us some time ago, to say som.e- 
thing " on the preparation of meadow land, 
and the best kind of seed for low .ground, and 
for meadow ditches, blind ditches, &c." 

We have intentionally delayed an answer 
until the time for such things approached, that It 
might be convenient for our friend to refer to 
it if he should esteem the answer worth con- 
sideration, just when the time came ; and that 
it might meet the eyes of other persons who 
designed making meadows. Most people pre- 
fer to prepare them in September, and, when 
they do not propose to seed grass along with 
grain, to sow their grass seed in the same 
month. This latter practice we think wrong, 
and we shall state the wherefore in the course 
of this article. 

Our correspondent's questions are pret^ 
wide, and knowing nothing of his land, and its 



536 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



peculiar adaptability to peculiar grasses, we 
shall be compelled to give a general answer, 
leaving it to his discretion to appropriate such 
part thereof as may seem proper to himself. 

And, First, Shall a man have a meadow at 
all ? It is generally taken for granted he 
should, and nearly every agricultural paper 



profit is the prime oljject of farming, the pro- 
priety of raising hay, either for food or for 
sale, is one which depends on a good many 
things that bare statistics make no mention of. 
So much for hay. But if grass be the object 
the question is very different, as few of us 
have enough of that article, which is not less 



urges its readers to grow grass. We do not, necessary to teams than to cattle, sheep, and 
by any means, think it of such universal neces- 1 ^ogs ; and without which insufficiency none but 
sityor even expediency, but a matter in thep'egions approaching the tropics have kept up 
sound discretion of the farmer, in view of his ,tlie fertility of land under constant cropping. 



crops, his stock, his land, and his markets. 

It is true, that last spring and in the early 
summer, a large district of Virginia drew its 
supplies of hay from the North ; and North 
Carolina Avas, in part, supplied from the same 
source. Such hay was in many instances no 
bettea than wheat straw, not as good as lolieat 
chaff, and was known to be an inferior article 
when sent here, as the inspection of any New 
York piice current will convince him who exam- 
ines it. It was discreditable to the farmers of 
the districts indicated to be thus forced to pay 
tribute, where we already pay too much, and 
to be compelled to pay a high price for an 
inferior article ; but the discredit lay in not 
taking care of the provender they had, not in 
the failure to raise provender of a different de- 
scription. True, they had chinch bug to con- 
tend with, which reduced their supplies ; but 
equally true, they had learned to waste those 
supplies, and in many cases rotted the material 
they should have carefully preserved. Here, 
near Richmond, we have known experienced 
farmers to rot their chaff, and feed clover ha}'' 
to mules, when it was $20 to $25 per ton in the 
market, whilst we, following the practice which 
we learned in another region, have kept hard- 
worked teams in fair order without a spire of 
hay or of pulled fodder. Nor is hay necessary 
even to fatten stock. The beef w^e formerly 
sold, and which always commanded fair, and, 
in some cases, very high prices, was produced 
without hay ; and if any bullock of ours ever 
got a wisp he stole it. 

The Yankee who sells us hay, prides himself 
on the fact as an evidence of his superiority in 
agriculture, forgetting that he can raise neither 
tobacco, wheat, rice or cotton, that and the 
profit of a hay crop on the average of lands is 
inferior tP all of these, and not to be named by 
the side of some of them. So Ions; then as 



J The preparation of ordinary lands for 
meadow is a very simple thing. If the land is 
wet, dry it ; if from any cause that cannot be 
done, and a crop of wheat may yet be taken 
from it, crop it in corn and keep it clean, 
then sow wheat after the corn, not earlier than 
the middle of October ; and later if you are not 
afraid to risk the winter-killing of the wheat. 
After the wheat is harrowed, the moment after 
if you can, whilst the ground is still fresh 
from the harrowing, sow your grass seed, and 
cover them with a bush ; the shallower they are 
put in the better. 

On land that cannot be drained, sow what we 
call herds grass, and the Yankees red top and 
the Botanists, agostis vulgaris. If the land is 
too wet to be cropped as above, sow two crops 
of oats in succession to cleanse the land — it 
Avill not impoverish it — and sow the red top 
with the second crop, and do it as soon as the 
returning warm weather will permit you to 
trust the oats to the ground. 

If the land be still too wet for oats, and yet 
fit for grass, though we can hardly suppose 
that, plough it in the fixll and bed it high ; 
plough it again in spring to kill the sprouting 
seeds of weeds, reversing the beds the fall 
ploughing made ; repeat'-'the operation with 
single plows or light cultivators as the succes- 
sive crops of weeds or marsh grasses spring 
up, and before they seed, and sow the land in 
September. Sow of herds grp,ss a peck to the 
acre — the seed is cheap. 

If the low ground be of a different char- 
acter, (drier, whether naturally or artificially), 
and in a good state of fertility, then sow it in 
wheat with or without a preceding crop of 
corn as your judguieut dictates ; and with the 
wheat sow two gallons of timothy per acre, 
brushing it in with a bush after the Avhcat as 
directed for herdsgrass. In the spring, if the 
land will produce clover, sow it on the timothy 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



53- 



at the rate of a gallon per acre. It will pro- 
tect the timothy from the hot sun the first year; 
will give a good crop of its own hay the next ; 
and will then yield to the timothy, which is, by 
that time, ready to take possession of the land. 

On good low grounds this is sufficient to give 
a good stand of timothy. 

Some persons advocate sowing the timothy 
by itself. We do not. The same labour of 
preparation will answer for both crops, and 
the crop of wheat will be vforth more than the 
crop of ha}^ — the shade too of the wheat in 
early summer will do more to protect the 
timothy thaq the increased drought upon the 
soil will do it harm. 

We recommend the latest period of wheat 
sowing for the accompanying crop of timothy ; 
and for two reason : 1st, Young timothy is 
very sensitive to heat, and indifferent to cold. 
If a drought occurs in the latter part of October, 
as it frequently does, the timothy is apt to be 
killed ; whereas it is very hard to freeze it out 
of the ground in any weather, and it will grow 
from the merest rootlet that is fixed in the soil, 
as wheat is often observed to do. 2d, If the 
fall is moist, and the land good, it is very apt 
to interfere with the growth of the wheat, 
which it injures in filling, impedes the reaping, 
and renders it more difficult to dry out the 
shocks or dozens. 

Timothy ought not to be grazed hard until 
the sod becomes well formed ; it pulls up too 
easily. But after that it may be grazed profita- 
bly to itself and animals as soon as it gets a 
good growth of aftermath. Indeed, we have 
known two lots of timothy sod to be rooted 
over by little pigs in early winter, and if there 
was any change in the grass afterwards, it was 
for the better. But we do not recommend the 
plan. 

We advised the seeding of clover with timo- 
thy ; but it was for a specific purpose, and not 
for the sake of a mixture of grasses. For 
hay, we do not approve such mixtures. Except 
clover and orchard grass, the others seed at 
different times, and cannot therefore be proper- 
ly mowed together. 

We have said nothing here about sowing 
orchard grass, which we esteem very highly, 
because the seed are very high, and because if 
it is not mowed at the proper time, it becomes 
hard and sticky, and is not then relished by 



cattle either as grass or hay. But for early 
and late grazing, especially for ewes in the 
early spring, nothing can beat it. 

A great deal of trash has been published 
about the preparation of meadow land, espe- 
cially as to the quantity and kinds of manure 
to be applied ; and ashes and various composts 
have been directed. Ver}^ few farmers have 
those articles in abundance, and fewer still can 
buy them. Ashes are certainly very valuable 
on some, perhaps most soils, though we have 
seen them fail in a great measure when used 
without composting. But where they are 
valuable, they should be applied to a crop that 
pays. If hay pays, why then give them to the 
hay ; otherwise keep them for a crop that does. 

For ditch banks, which our correspondent 
asks about, and for the margins of spring 
branches and other streams in meadows, we 
prefer the red top, which is emphatically a wet 
land grass. But in all such cases let the bank 
be well sloped back. Never have a perpen- 
dicular ditch, least of all with the excavated 
earth forming a mound on each bank, except 
the ditch is intended to keep a stream from 
overflowing, and not merely to conduct ordina- 
ry currents. Graded properly, and sowed in 
the above grass, a turf is now formed, and the 
water course becomes a handsome object in the 
field. 



Seymour's Broadcaster. 

We try to be very particular in what we re- 
commend, for every false recommendation recoils 
upon him who makes it. AVe thought, when 
we recommended Seymour's Broadcaster, that 
we were doing a service to the farmers. AYe 
rather doubt now if we did, and beg leave to 
make a statement of our trial with the machine. 
The first we sowed with it was oats, and it 
worked admirably. Then it v:as we recom- 
mended it. The next crop was wheat — earl}- 
purple straw, a small-grained variety. It did 
well here too, except that it would not sow less 
than one and a half bushels per acre, and re- 
fused to obey the thumb-screw at a smaller 
gage. Then we wrote to Mr. Seymour about 
it, and he said it could be easily altered. Last 
Fall we tried it in wheat again, and it would 
not do at all ; and we estimate that we lost half 
the cost of the machine on two beds of wheat 
by its failure. We wrote again to Mr. Sey- 



)38 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



mour, who replied that he was coming " South/* 
and would call and see us. He has not done 
so ; and we, without wishing him any harm, 
feel bound to say that the particular machine 
we use, made by him, will not do the work he 
said it would ; and we hear a good deal of 
complaint of other machines, some, and per- 
jiaps most of them, but 'not all, made by his 
agents. We know two that it was impossible 
to use. 

At the same time it is fair to state that we 
have known one of them for four or five years, 
which has answered, and continues to answer, 
remarkably well ; and that we have the word 
'of a gentleman, entitled to the fullest credit 
Tfor the assertion, that he has known one to 
work perfectly well for twenty years. This 
would seem to show that Mr. Seymour has not 
>done justice to those who trusted him here. 

It is also fair to state that the grain drill, 
which he got us to operate for him here, is a 
very good one, as far as we can judge. 

This puts all the facts we know before our 
subscribers, and makes amends, as far as the 
wish can, for an error of ours, by which we 
fear some gentlemen have lost money. 



"O". S. Agricultural Society. 

TTe have received several circulars soliciting 
a notice of the above Society. We now give 
it and very "briefly. We are sorry to say that 
we consider The United States Agricultural 
Society the greatest Agricultural humbug in 
the United States, except the Agricultural De- 
partment of the Patent Office. 

We are happy to say that we do not know 
ten, I nor five, members of that Society in Vir- 
ginia. 

We have.ELO particular wish to say what we 
have Siiid.; but as a notice has been so fre- 
quently solicited, it is but candid to state our 
real opinion. 



Magnum Bonum Plums. 

The specimen of the above fruit alluded to 
by our correspondent below, were really very 
supei-ior. They haCd been slightly mashed in 
sending, and the flavour was somewhat im- 
paired thereby, and tlie weight a little lighten- 
ed. Still they weighed 2|- ounces each, and 
vrere in dimensions as follows: 

No. 1, C] y, 5} inches. No. 2, Cyl y, 5^ 



They were nearly as large as a hen egg. We 
hope both amateurs and nursery men will avail 
themselves of the liberal offer of our corres- 
pondent. Ed. Southern Planter. 

Pleasant Gap, Pittsylvania County, ? 
Virginia, Aug. 3d, 1857 ^ 
Messrs. Editors of the SoutJiern Planter : 

Agreeably to a request I saw in the Planter, 
that if any of your subscribers had any thing 
in the way cf extra fruits, they should send 
you a specimen, I have sent you two magnum 
bonum plums that we in this section consider 
extra fruit. I have ten bearing trees and have 
grafted and given away five hundred in the 
last five years in this neighborhood, and will 
be pleased to furnish any person, that wants 
with any amount of twigs to graft, they may 
wish. They may be sent by mail, and any one 
wishing them, that will pay the postage, can 
have any amount they may wish gratis. I will 
pack them carefully, and forward them any 
time from December till May. 

Yours, Very Respectfully, 
THOMAS W. WALTON. 



PROFESSOR GILHAM'S LECTURE TO THE 
FARMERS OF POWHATAN. 

We extract the following account of the late 
Agricultural festival in Powhatan from the 
columns of the Richmond Whig. 

In honouring Major Gilham for his gratuit- 
ous labours in Agriculture, the farmers of Pow- 
hatan honour themselves, and in thus encour- 
aging gentlemen of scientific attainments and 
pursuits to devote a portion of their times to 
investigations, such as now engage Major 
Gilham, they set an example which may 
well be followed by other counties in the 
State. AVe doubt there are several Pro- 
fessors in our several Colleges who could 
spend a portion of their time in this manner, 
and would gladly do so if invited. 

Major Gilham is no doubt well remembered 
for his examination of the different artificial 
manures which are now put upon the market. 
It could only have been from the best motives 
that he took upon himself the obloquy, which 
he must hrve expected to encounter in expo- 
sing the frauds which are perpetrated by some 
of these manure vendors on the ignorant or 
the credulous. 

A highly interesting Agricultural Festival came 
off at Powhatan Court-house on Thursday, in 
honor of Maj. Wm. Gilham, Professor of Chemis- 
try in the Virginia Military Institute. Major Gil- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



53:^ 



ham, it appears, was invited by some of the farm- 
ers of Powhatan to visit that county, make an 
analysis of the soil, and give them the result of 
his experiments and observations in a public 
address. In a spirit of great liberality and dis- 
interestedness, he undertook the task he was 
solicited to perform, and for the past month or six 
weeks, he has been travelling through the county, 
and making a chemical examination of the soil, 
and upon the conclusion of his labors, which were 
discharged without requiring or expecting a cent's 
compensation, he was appropriately and generously 
tendered a public dinner by tlie hospitable and in- 
telligent farmers of Powhatan, as an evidence of 
their gratitude and their high personal respect and 
esteem. This entertainment, as we have said, came 
off at Powhatan Court-house, on Thursday — on 
which occasion a large collection of the farmers 
of the county assembled, and were treated to the 
able and interesting address, which we have the 
pleasure of spreading before our readers this 
morning. 

The occasion in question was a truly interesting 
and delightful one, and is the harbinger, we trust, 
of similar ones in every county in the State. 
Judge Nash presided, and the speaker w-as intro- 
duced to the audience by that liberal, enlightened 
and whole-souled agriculturist, Philip St. George 
Cocke, Esq. After the delivery of Major Gilham's 
address was concluded, numerous othei brief and 
appropriate speeches were made by gentlemen 
present. Among the number who spoke were 
Charles Carter Lee, William C. Scott, Col. H. L. 
Hopkins, William Old, Jr., John F. Lay, Dan. G. 
Hatcher, J. Ravenscroft Jones, of Brunswick, and 
several others. All of these gentlemen acquitted 
themselves in handsome style, and gave great 
pleasure and satisfaction to the audience. Mr.. 
Old dwelt forcibly upon the vast and peculiar 
agricultural resources of the South, contending, 
that in the Southern States were alone produced 
articles of consumption which could be produced 
in no other quarter of the globe, and that, as a 
consequence, the manufacturing and commercial 
prosperity of the world was dependent upon the 
products of Southern labor. Mr. Scott's remarks 
were mainly a tribute to the character, the intelli- 
gence, the manliness, the independence, the high 
worth of Southern farmers and agriculturists as a 
class. He maintained, that whatever might be 
said about the deterioration of Southern soil, and 
the imperfect system which prevailed in its culti- 
vation, the men who owned and tilled it were men 
in the highest and the truest sense of the word, 
and could possibly suffer no disparagement in corn- 
pa ison with those oi' any country on earth. Mr, 



l^ee's address consisted of an i^npromptu outburst 
of genuine wit, humor, anecdote and song, and 
was received with hearty demonstrations of grati- 
fication and applause. The remarks of several 
other gentlemen, were, likewise, exceedingly felic- 
itous and appropriate, and evinced the interest 
and zeal felt by the farmers of Powhatan in the 
advancement of their noble and generous occupa- 
tion. 

We have neither the tpace no'r the leisure to 
make other than a general and cursory allusion to 
the incidents of this interesting occasion. Suifice 
it to say, that it was one which reflected credit 
alike upon the learned and scientific gentleman it 
was specially designed to honor, and upon the 
kindness, hospitality, and devotion to the great 
interests of agriculture of the intelligent and libe- 
ral minded farmers of Powhatan. The table was 
supplied with the very best, and every thing pass- 
ed off in the most pleasant and agreeable manner. 
We express the hope that the farmers of other 
counties will imitate the example of their friends 
and co-laborers of Powhatan, and thus stimulate 
themselves for the great work of continued im- 
provement and progress which lies before them. 

We conclude by giving place to the following- 
sentiment — one among numerous others which was 
offered on the occasion, as it contains a high and 
well-deserved tribute to a couple of the most emi- 
nent and enterprising farmers in the State : 

"Agriculture— The foster-dam of all other oc- 
cupations and professions : All honor to a Ruffin 
and a Cocke for their noble efforts to dignify it, as 
the highest calling of man." 

CORRESPONDENCE. 

Powhatan C. H., ) 
Aug. 6, 1857. \ 

Prof. Wm. Gilham, 

Dear Sir: — As a committee appointed 
by the farmers of Powhatan, at a meeting 
held at the Courthouse this da}^ it affords 
us great pleasure to inform you that, imme- 
diately after the delivery of your very in- 
teresting and able address upon the subject 
of ag.iculture and the soils of their county, 
they unanimously resolved to tender you 
their thanks, and to solicit a copy of it for 
publication. 

Allow us to express the hope that you 
will still further gratify them bycom.plying 
with the wishes of the meeting as above 
stated. 

H. L. HOPKINS, 
WM. W. MICHAUX, 
HILARY HARRIS, 
DAN. G. HATCHER, 



540 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



Powhatan C. H. > 
Aug. 6, 1857. \ 
Gentlemen: — The lecture delivered to 
you to-day, was written for delivery to as 
many as felt disposed to meet me at the 
Court-bouse to-day, and without any design 
or expectation of its publication; I cannot, 
however, refuse a request couched in such 
flattering terms, and therefore place the 
manuscript, with all its imperfections, at 
your service. 

I am, gentlemen, 
Your obd't servant, 

WM. GILHAM. 
To Messrs. Hopkins, Michaux, Harris 
and Hatcher — Committee. 

Gentlemen: — After spending a few 
weeks in your midst for the purpose of 
making something of an agricultural sur- 
vey, an undertaking suggested by your 
countryman, Col. Phjip St. George Cocke, 
who is ever foremost in every enterprise 
which has for its object the advancement 
of agriculture, I appear before you to-day, 
at the instance of a committee of the farm- 
ers of the county, as a lecturer on scientific 
agriculture. As I came among you to 
make your soils my study, it seems to me 
that I could not better occupy the time on 
the present occasion than b}'- directing your 
attention to those processes by which the 
barren rock is made to yield a soil suited 
to all the wants of man ; how in obedience 
to the operation of a few simple laws, fer- 
tility of the soil not only results, but pro- 
vision is made for its restoration, aft(;r it 
has been destroyed, through man's cupidity 
or ignorance; and what principles should, 
in my estimation, govern you in your ef- 
forts to improve your soils. 

AH scientific men of the present day, 
who have given the subject due attention, 
agree in referring the origin of soils to the 
disintegration or breaking down of rock, 
and by far the greater portion of them, to 
the disintegration of the rocks which im- 
mediately underlies them. That most soils 
are furmed in this wa}^, would almost seem 
to be a self-evident proposition, but as this 
announcement is no doubt new to many of 
you, I propose to direct your attention to a 
few examples, so that those who desire it, 
may verify the truth of the assertion, by 
their own observation. It is found that 
certain characteristics of soil invariably 
attend certain geological formations; thus 



in a limestone region, such as our valley, 
we meet with soils of a peculiar texture, 
and specially adapted to certain crops ; 
over sandstones we invariably find light 
sandy soils, — while over a region of pure 
granite we meet with cold and generally 
light colored clay soils, of a most unpromis- 
ing character. In the valley the soils rest- 
ing upon limestone are productive, and 
susceptible of a high degree of improve- 
ment ; clover is grown without difiiculty; 
while the finer grasses, as soon as the fields 
are turned out, cover the soils to the tops 
of the highest hills. The limestones are 
bounded on the east and west by white 
sandstones, — which cover large areas in 
many places, and on these rest soils which 
it would be almost as impossible to im- 
prove, as the land upon the seashore. In 
your own county, there are certain charac- 
teristics common to all the soils resting 
upon what are popularly known, as the 
granite rocks ; but in the lower part of the 
county bordering upon Chesterfield, where 
the soils rest upon entirely different rocks, 
we find them very different, they are 
lighter, and not susceptible of the same 
degree of improvement that the soils in 
the other portions of the county are. 

But this is not all ; a careful examination 
of railroad cuts, of cuts for common roads, 
or even of the gullies on the road side, or 
in old fields, supplies us with abundant 
evidence of the foundation of soils from 
the rock which underlie them, for then we 
can trace the gradual transitions, and all 
the gradations from the hard rock to the 
fertile soil. Atone point a particular ledge 
of rock yields a white clay, near it another 
may fall down to sand, another may break 
down to a tenacious red clay, while it is 
not unfrequent to meet with a cut which 
preserves all the lamination and stratifica- 
tion of the original rock, and seems at a 
short distance to be the rock unaltered, 
when in fact it is completely decomposed, 
leaving soft lamina of differently colored 
clay and sand, which only require mixing 
to resemble the ordinary subsoils of the 
county in every particular. 

Again, you are all, no doubt, familiar 
with the fact that, there are certain rocks 
to be found in numerous places in the 
county which if left upon the land, soon 
melt away as it were in the soil, and become 
part and parcel of it, changing its color 
and texture in the places where they laid, 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



541 



and not unfrequently proving to be a posi- 
tive benefit to it. 

The agencies which effect the decompo- 
sition and disintegration of rocks, thereby 
producing soils, are the elements of the 
air, water and frost; at one time the carbonic 
acid of the air attacks some particular con- 
stituent of the rock, and thus commences 
the work, which is afterw^ards carried on 
by water and frost ; at another the oxygen 
of the air is the active agent, while in many 
other instances both are engaged in the 
work, one attacking one substance the 
other another. Sometimes some particular 
substance becomes more or less soluble 
and is removed by running water, leaving 
the soil to be formed mainly from the re- 
maining substances, while at other times 
a simple disintegration or falling apart takes 
place. Some minerals are impervious to 
water, and can only be acted on externally, 
while others possess whatis called cleavage, 
and split in certain directions, permitting 
the access of water, and the elements of 
the air to the interior, whereby the action, 
whether chemical or mechanical, is hast- 
ened. On every particular mineral which 
composes the rock, the decomposing and 
disintegrating action is peculiar, and it be- 
comes a matter of importance to be able 
to distinguish the minerals which compose 
the rocks of any particular region, and to 
follow the changes which take place in the 
metamorphose of the rock into soil, if we 
expect to derive any practical advantage 
from a stud}^ of the relations subsisting 
between them. 

This will appear more clearly, after I 
have illustrated it by a few^ examples. 

The limestones of the Valley are com- 
posed of lime, or more properly of car- 
bonate of lime, a compound of lime and 
the gas carbonic acid, with clay, and mag- 
nesia, together with minute quantities of 
all the other mineral substance necessary 
to a fertile soil. Pure w^ater has no effect 
upon these soils, but water which contains 
the carbonic acid gas which it has absorbed 
from the air, has the power of dissolving 
out the carbonate of lime, or pure limestone, 
leaving the clay and the other constituents 
to form the soil. This explains the fact 
that in limestone countries the w^ater is 
always hard, that is highly charged with 
lime, and why it is that so many soils 
resting upon limestones, contain as little 
lime as soils resting upon various other 



rocks. Many sandstones, on the contrary, 
'are reduced to soil by simple disintegration, 
or the falling apart of its particles. Com.- 
mon Slates were, when formed, deposites 
of fine clay or mud, which having been 
washed off from dry land, were carried by 
running streams into the ocean ; in process 
of time they became hardened, and in the 
changes of the earth's surface became dry 
land a second time. These rocks when long 
exposed to the influence of the air, are 
reduced to soils which necessarily bear a 
very close resemblance to the original ma- 
terials of which they were composed. 
They are generally very fine grained, close 
clay soils, very retentive of manures, but 
hard to cultivate. Some of them if properly 
managed, are unsurpassed in fertilityi — 
Common granite is composed of the three 
minerals, quartz or flint, felspar and mica 
or isinglass, the name by which you all 
know it; and although granite is one of 
the hardest rocks, it crumbles to soil by 
long exposure. In this instance the felspar, 
which is composed of silica, alumina and 
potash, or to be less technical, of clay and 
potash, is decomposed ; the carbonic acid 
of the air attacks the potash forming with 
it the carbonate of potash the same sub- 
stance as common pearl ash. This sub- 
stance is soluble in water and is removed 
as fast as formed, leaving the clay. The 
quartz and mica remain unchanged, and 
in the process of reducing the rock to soil, 
one is reduced or broken up to sand, the 
other to small scales w^hich are diffused 
through the soil. Soils formed from such 
rocks are generally cold and sterile clays, 
deficient in several necessary mineral con- 
stituents, and susceptible of every limited 
improvement. But should the mineral 
hornblende take the place of mica, the 
rock thereby becoming that known as 
syenite, or should the rock be composed of 
all four of these minerals, viz: quartz, 
felspar, mica and hornblende, which is not 
unfrequently the case, then we have in the 
rock such an assemblage of minerals, that 
where the decomposition is effected, we 
have all the mineral elements of fertility 
in the soil. 

These examples, without going into 
lengthy details are sufficient to show how 
dependent soils are upon the rocks which 
underlie them, and how necessary it is to 
know something of the geological features 
of any particular district, if we would ex- 



541 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



pect fully to appreciate the soils of that 
district. 

Alluvial soils, such as the James river 
low grounds, are deposites from running 
streams, and are composed entirely of ma- 
terial that has been carried from the wash- 
ings of the highlands bordering the streams 
higher up ; what I have said in relation to 
the connection between the soil and its 
associate rocks, is not, of course, applica- 
ble to them. 

We all know, hovv'ever, that a soil, no 
inaiter how formed, or what mineral sub- 
stances it contains, cannot be fertile with- 
out an appreciable, but variable proportion 
of organic, or animal, or vegetable matter ; 
that the organic is just as necessary as the 
mineral matter, and that no amount of the 
latter can replace the former, or make up 
for its absence. We may learn a useful 
lesson by following the process by which 
nature makes provision for the presence of 
organic, in the present instance, of vege- 
table matter, in ail soils, and how provision 
is also made for its continuance. 

The disintegrated rock containing no 
organic matter is sterile, yet it is not abso- 
lutely so, something vegetable will grow 
upon it ; but since the soil is destitute of 
organic matter, the organic food of these 
plants, that is, that portion which is to 
form the vegetable portion of the plant 
must be derived exclusively from the air. 
The first growth must, therefore, be pecu- 
liar, and very limited in extent. By the 
death and decay of this first race of plants, 
or by the dropping of the leaves, a small 
deposit of vegetable matter is made in the 
soil ; or the plant becomes the agent by 
which a transfer of material, valuable, and 
even necessary to vegetation, is made 
from the air to- the soil. This process goes 
on from year to year; each year larger 
additions are made to the soil than on the 
preceding, and each year its productive- 
ness is increased. Perennial plants, such 
as shrubs and trees, take root and grow, 
whose roots, penetrating far into the sub- 
soil, bring up fertilizing m.atter fVom it, a 
part of which is deposited in the plant, 
while a large portion is carried into the 
leaves, which they, in their fall, deposit in 
the surface soil. Thus, the native forest, 
while it clothes the land in beauty, also 
draws supplies of organic or vegetable 
fertilizing matter from the air, and of min- 
eral fertilizing niatter from the subsoil, a 



large part of both of which are given to 
the surface soil, in the annual top dressing 
of leaves, dead branches, &c., thereby 
gradually fitting it for all the wants of 
agriculture. Thus, too, do we see, that in 
proportion as the soil becomes more pro- 
ductive, does the air become more lavish 
of her gifts ; the naked and sterile field 
calls in vain for aid from the overspreading 
air, while the soil of the forest, in pro- 
ducing a prolific vegetation at the expense 
of the air, is only acquiring the means for 
producing one yet more prolific. 

But this beautiful natural process is not 
confined to soils that are just forming; we 
see, that after^ every successive crop, 
shrubs, weeds or grasses spring up almost as 
soon as the crop is removed; and it is a 
fact well known to you all, that the strength 
of the soil will have a material influence 
upon th-e character of the vegetation. — 
And when the soil, by long continued, and 
injudicious cultivation, is worn out, and no 
longer capable of producing crops, it (if 
turned out) puts a growth, which, in the 
course of time, restores it measurably, if 
not entirely, to its original fertility. This 
process of restoration is going on every 
where, and no where more extensively 
than in this county; the thousands of acres 
of old-field pines growing up every where 
around you, show at once how grossly the 
laws of nature were violated by the orig- 
inal proprietors of the soil, and their suc- 
cessors, and how a kind Providence is re- 
storing it to you, and at the same time 
pointing you to the means by which you 
may profitably cultivate and improve it. 

Having said this much in relation to the 
general origin of soils, I propose now to 
direct your attention to the processes by 
which your own soils have been formed, 
and what conclusions can fairly be drawn 
from a careful observation of them. In 
order, however, that you may the better 
understand what I shall have to say in rela- 
tion to them, it will first be necessary to oc- 
cupy a short time in giving you something 
of an outline of the geological feature.s of 
the county, and call your attention to the 
principal minerals composing the rocks. 

The rocks which compose that portion 
of the earth's surface which is accessible 
to man, are divided by geologists into two 
great classes, the .stratified dnid the unstrati- 
fied. The sliatified rocks are, as their 
name implies, composed of successive 



THE SOUTHEKN PLANTER. 



543 



layers or strata, of varying thicknesses, the 
layers being separated by smooth surfaces, 
which are parallel, or nearly parallel to 
each other. The unstratified rocks, on the 
contrary, are composed of masses, some of 
which are of enormous extent, in which 
nothing like stratification is observable.- — 
They sometimes occur overspreading the 
stratified rocks as the lavas of our day 
overspread the rocks of all ages, at others 
they occur underlieing them, while at 
others tKey occur as immense walls or 
dykes, or in veins, filling up fissures that 
have been made in them. The stratified 
rocks are universally admitted to have 
been deposited as regular layers of mud, 
sand, clay, marl, and sometimes gravel, 
under water, generally the water of the 
ocean, the material composing them hav- 
ing been formed from rocks of an older 
date, which constituted the continents then 
existing, and which were worn down and 
washed away by rains, See, just as they 
are in our day. 

These layers, in process of time, and 
through the instrumentality of various 
agents; whose operation I have no time to 
dwell upon or explain, became solid rock, 
and, through the agency of the internal 
heat of the globe, whose reality and pow- 
erful influence is proven by the existence 
of 300 volcanoes, and the occurrence of 
numerous extinct ones, were raised out of 
the water, and became dry land. The un- 
stratified rocks can be shown to have had 
their origin in eruptions of melted matter 
from the interior of the earth, just as lava 
is erupted at the present day ; that thqy, 
no matter where they are now found, were 
once in a state of fusion, by the internal 
heat of the globe, and were forced into 
their present positions while in that condi- 
tion. From what has been said, it must 
be apparent that the various rocks, both 
stratified and unstratified, which compose 
the present surface of the earth, were 
formed at different times, and under differ- 
ent circumstances — it is the province of the 
geologist to classify the different forma- 
tions into which they may be divided in a 
regular chronological order. Now, in 
classifying the rocks from the top of the 
Blue Ridge to the falls of the large rivers, 
as at Richmond, or to the head of the tide, 
it is found that the whole area, including, 
of course, this county, excepting certain 
very limited portions, is composed of rocks 



of a very ancient date, in fact, the very 
oldest of the stratified rocks. These rocks 
while they differ very materially from each 
other in various portions of this extensive 
district, are all destitute of any traces of 
the animals and plants whose remains are 
found in such numbers in the other stratified 
rocks ; they are, moreover, highly crystal- 
line in their structure, which is a proof of 
the fact, that at some time subsequent to 
their deposition, they were subjected to 
viqlent and long continued heat, by which 
the chemical affinities at play were so in- 
creased as to cause the formation of nume- 
rous distinct minerals, and at the same 
time to obliterate all traces of organized 
beings, provided there were any embedded 
in them when they were first formed. — 
These rocks, from the fact that they have 
been thus altered by internal heat, are 
said to be metamorphie, or altered rocks, 
and from the circumstance of their be- 
lono-ino- to the most ancient class of strati- 
fied rocks, are also called thejonW/r?/ strat- 
ified. 

As 1 have before remarked, these rocks 
contain numerous minerals ; but the most 
abundant and commonly occurring are 
quartz, felspar, mica, hornblende and talc. 
Quartz is well known under the name of 
flint; this mineral is more abundant than 
all the others put together; it is well known 
to you all, and requires no explanation from 
me. 

Felspar is a white or flesh colored min- 
eral, which is not so hard as quartz, and 
which always breaks in particular direc- 
tions, in consequence of its having the 
property known as cleavage. This mineral 
is composed of silica, the same as quartz 
or flint, alumina, the active principle and 
base of clay and potash, with minute por- 
tions of some other bodies. 

Mica is the mineral known among you 
as isinglass, it is very soft, and occurs in 
elastic scales, of every size from the most 
minute particles to plates two or three feet 
across. This is composed of pretty nearly 
the same substances as felspar, w^ith the 
addition of a little oxide of iron ; and, 
although it may be split into scales of ex- 
ceeding thinness, the elements of the air 
have but little effect upon it. 

Hornblende usually occurs as a tough, 
dark colored, and even black mineral, not 
quite so hard as felspar ; it is composed of 
silica, alumina, the basis of clay, lime, 



544 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



magnesia and the oxide of iron, together 
with minute portions of such other sub- 
stances as are usually found in soils. Talc 
is a soft mineral, of a light green color, 
generally, and greasy feel ; but as it does 
not occur in the county to my knowledge, 
further description is unnecessary. 

Now, the different combinations of these 
minerals, taken two and three, and some- 
times four together, constitute the great 
mass of the rocks of Eastern Virginia, as 
far down as the head of tide. A combina- 
tion of quartz, felspar and mica constitute 
the rock known as gneiss, but which gen- 
erally goes under the name of granite, 
from the fact that true granite, which is 
an unstratified rock, is composed of the 
same minerals as gneiss, and can only be 
distinguished from it by its total absence of 
stratification. Combinations of quartz and 
mica yield mica slates ; of quartz and horn- 
blende hornblende slates; of quartz and talc, 
talcose slates. These various rocks frequent- 
ly run into each other by insensible grada- 
tions, giving rise to numerous varieties. 

The rocks found in this county, above 
the coal region bordering on Chesterfield, 
are gneiss, mica slate, and hornblende slate 
in all their varieties, together with occa- 
sional masses or dykes of an unstratified 
rock, known as trap rock, and Avhich is 
composed of the minerals felspar and horn- 
blende. 

Among the gneiss rocks it is no uncom- 
mon thing to find the four minerals, quartz, 
felspar, mica and hornblende, making a 
hornblendie gneiss; sometimes the mica 
disappears altogether, while at others both 
felspar and mica are wanting, leaving a 
true hornblende slate. These rocks are 
usually interstratified with each other, so 
that no one of them is ever found to cover 
any very large area alone, but in every 
locality we find more or less of them all, 
a fact which will be found to be of impor- 
tance w^hen we come to consider the soils 
of the county. 

I have already adverted to the formation 
of soil from granite ; now since granite 
and gneiss are the same chemically, the 
remarks made in reference to granite are 
equally applicable to gneiss. A soil which 
results from the decomposition of pure 
gneiss or mica slate, is necessarily more or 
less barren, the rock does not contain all 
the necessary elements of fertility, or if it 
docs, numbers of them are in such small 



1 



quantity as to forbid the idea of lasting 
fertility. But if to the minerals already 
present in these soils, we add hornblende, 
we then have such a combination that fer- 
tility in the soil which results from their 
decomposition is a necessary consequence. 

Everywhere that I have been in the 
county, and I have ridden over it in 
several directions, wherever f find the 
rocks, whether in the surface soil, in the 
bottom of creeks, on the hill ^jde, or at 
the bottom of gullies on the roadside, I 
find that the rocks contain this truly con- 
servative mineral; and when T cannot dis- 
cover the rocks for its covering of earth, I 
can trace its former presence, in the deep 
red color, which in its decomposition, it 
imparts to the subsoil clays of the county. 
I conclude, therefore, that while they dif- 
fer in different sections, resulting from 
differences in the proportions of the min- 
erals present in the rocks, and from other 
modifying causes, the soils of this county 
were all, or nearly all, originally fertile, 
and some of them as much so as any to be 
found in Eastern Virginia. Nay more, I 
conclude that worn out as thousands of 
acres of your surface soils now are, 5^our 
subsoils contain almost inexhaustible stores 
of fertilizing matter, which has only to be 
brought into the suaface soil to restore to 
them the fertility of which they have been 
robbed by the impoverishing system of cal- 
tivation which so long prevailed. 

But let us look a little more clearly at 
the process by w^hich your soils have been 
formed, and to some of their physical 
characteristics. The universal prevalence 
of quartz over the other minerals gives 
rise to soils in which santl is the leading 
constituent; whenever the rock is of coarse 
texture, that is composed of large crystals, ^ 
the quartz, instead of all falling down to 
sand, fills the soil with gravel, or strews it 
over with masses of flint. The felspar, 
under the prolonged action of the carbonic 
acid of the air, is entirely decomposed, 
yielding clay containing more or less potash. 
It sometimes happens that a ledge of gneiss 
is composed mainly of felspar, and when 
that is the case, the subsoil, so long as it 
remains undisturbed, is white; examples 
of streaks of white clay in the gullies, in 
old fields, or on the roadsides, are not un- 
common, and whenever they are carefully 
examined, the felspatic gneiss is sure to be 
near. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



545 



Nearly all of the jhornblende that I have 
seen in the county is of a deep black color; 
in its decomposition the protoxide of iron, 
which imparts the black color to the mineral, 
absorbs oxygen from the air, and becomes 
of a deep red color, which it communicates 
to the clays with which it is associated ; 
while particles of the lime, magnesia and 
other elements of fertility, present in the 
minerel, fall down in the forming soil, and 
contribute largely to its fertility. The sur- 
face soils are lighter and more sandy than 
the subsoils, for the obvious reasons that 
the former contain more or less vegetable 
matter, and that the constant tendency of 
rain is to remove the clay from its exceed- 
ing fineness, much more rapidly than the 
sand. You have in almost all cases such 
a combination of sand and clay as to give 
you a soil sufficiently light for the cultiva- 
tion of fine tobacco and corn, while they 
are at the same time stiff enough for wheat, 
and retentive of manures, without there 
being so much clay as to make them puffy, 
or your subsoils so close as to be impervi- 
ous to water. 

That there are now, and ever have been, 
material differences in the fertility of the 
soils in different parts of the county, or 
different parts of the same plantation, I 
am free to admit. Differences in the rela- 
tive proportion of the minerals constituting 
the rocks from whence these soils were 
derived, would be one cause of difference, 
another would be found in position, whether 
on a hill or in a valley, and another in the 
different ways in which the soils are ex- 
posed to the sun. The valleys receive the 
waste from the hills, and, other things be- 
ing equal, the effect is to transfer the very 
finest and best of the highlands to the 
plains. But I am not prepared to admit 
that these causes, or these and various 
others combined, are sufficient, except in a 
few favored localities, to produce such dif- 
ferences in fertility as the present con- 
dition of the county would seem to indi- 
cate, or as most of you, gentlemen, think. 
Looking at the present productiveness of 
the soils of different plantations, the odds 
is greatly against the idea of original 
equality of fertility, when one field produces 
a crop of 30 bushels of wheat to the acre 
and another but 5, without the crop having 
been injured by joint-worm or chinch-bug, 
the proposition would seem to be prepos- 
terous in the extreme. But when I see 



them both underlaid by the very same 
rocks, and the same character of subsoil ; 
when I find both having the same sort of 
exposure, and in fact all the conditions 
pretty nearly the same ; and when I find 
that ten or fifteen years ago both were in 
the same condition, but that since that 
time one has been in the hands of a man 
who has studied his soil and went manfully 
to work to improve it, while the other is 
managed by one who still practices the ex- 
hausting system practiced by his fore- 
fathers, I conclude that the present very- 
great differences in the productiveness of 
the two soils results from no material dif- 
ference in them originally, but from radical 
differences in the modes of cultivation. 

The thousands and tens of thousands of 
acres of old-field pine now standing all 
over the county, not to mention the thou- 
sands that have been cleared up and 
brought into successful cultivation, attest 
the fact, that, by the system of cultivation 
adopted by the early settlers of the county, 
and continued in too many places up to 
the present time, its soils have been im- 
poverished to the last extreme ; so much 
so, that it is almost impossible to bring 
ourselves to believe that they ever were 
very fertile, or that they can ever again be 
restored to fertility. Be assured, however, 
that both propositions are true, and that 
every one who sets about it understanding- 
ly, and with a determination to test the 
question, must eventually succeed in re- 
storing his soil ; and unless he is unneces- 
sarily lavsih in the means, he will find 
that the increased productiveness of his soil, 
from year to year, will yield him an ample 
return for the capital and labor expended 
in the process. 

But before discussing the means by 
which you may, in my estimation, bring 
up your soils to a proper standard of fer- 
tility, let us look for a few moments at the 
practice by which, in nine cases out of ten, 
I they were brought to their present condi- 
I tion, or one far worse. When a piece of 
land was cleared it was almost invariably, 
: and for manifold reasons, put in tobacco; 
! the following year it went into tobacco, 
I and so continued as long as it would bring 
I a crop, and then it went into corn, from 
I year to year, until so worn out and full of 
j gulls and gullies as to be utterly unfit for 
j profitable cultivation, finally it was turned 
; out to grow up in pines. In the meantime 



546 



THE SOUTHEEN PLANTEE. 



another tobacco patch, and then another 
is cleared, each to be in turn treated like 
the first one, until the whole plantation, 
with the probable exception of a. small 
portion necessarily reserved for rails and 
fire wood, is brought into the same condi- 
tion. Another piocess equall}^ exhausting, 
was sometimes resorted to; the plantation 
was cleared, one field selected as the ''to- 
bacco lot,''^ to which was applied, from year 
to year, all the manure, straw, litter, &c., 
that could be collected from the other por- 
tions of the farm, until the whole, except- 
ing perhaps this one field, was bi'ought to a 
state of utter sterility. During all this 
time the cultivation was of the most super- 
ficial character ; some four or five inches 
only of soil was plowed up, the conse- 
quence was, besides a more rapid impov- 
erishment of the land, that in hard rains 
the wash was ver}^ great, and in dry weather 
the crops suffered severely : No manure 
ever went upon the land, and no time was 
given it to clothe itself with anything cal- 
culated to restore it partially, or save it 
from the uninterrupted washing of the 
winter rains; on the contrary the scourging 
system went on without interruption. — 
With such a system in full force is it to be 
wondered at, that your soils were impover- 
ished and abandoned ? that the county 
should be full of men ready to sell their 
lands, and none to buy? that the descend- 
ants of the original owners of the land 
should find themselves poor? that they 
should seek their fortunes in the South and 
West where the lands are still fresh ? and 
that the spectacle of mouldering and de- 
serted homesteads should present itself so 
frequently to the eye of the passerby even 
now ? All these evils, and more, are the 
direct result of this system, and sooner or 
later must come upon the inhabitants of any 
country in which such an agricultural 
practice prevails, no matter what are the 
inherent qualities of its soils. With the 
rank growth of tobacco, producing a con- 
stant and heavy drain upon the land for 
both organic and mineral food, and the 
constant stirring of the soil, necessary to 
the profitable cultivation of this crop, while 
the decomposition of the orgainic matter 
in the former undergoes rapid decomposi- 
tion, the vegetable matter originally present 
is rapidly dissipated, while heavy drafts 
are also being made upon the inorganic 
constituents ; so that there never being any 



return of either made to the soil,' sterility 
necessarily follows, and the land is aban- 
doned. But as soon as it is abandoned a new 
process commences, the same that I de- 
scribed in speaking of the manner in which 
virgin soils accumulate vegetable matter. 

Weeds and the poorer grasses spring up 
and paj-tially cover the ground, followed by 
young pines ; and from that time the soil 
is on the improve. The pine sends down 
its roots into the subsoil for supplies of in- 
organic, or mineral food, and its leaves and 
branches are spread out in the air for its 
supplies of organic food ; and although the 
removal of the growth after many years 
standing, would take many thousands of 
pounds of both organic and inorganic fer- 
tilizing matter, yet the annual top dressing 
of leaves, small branches, &c., will have 
had the effect to increase its productive- 
ness from year to j^ear. Or if I may so 
express myself, nature's process is, to grow 
the crop, and yet make such an application 
of fertilizing matter as to enable the soil 
to increase its yield in the succeeding one. 

The question is often asked why the soil, 
when turned out, puts up in pines, and not 
in the original growth of the forest; a sim- 
ple comparison of the ash of the pine with 
that of the oak, hickory, or walnut, will 
explain it; the soil in its impoverished 
condition is incapable of supplying the 
inorganic food necessary to the growth of 
these trees, while the pine requiring little, 
as is shown by the small quantity of its 
ash, is sustained without difficulty. If 
however the growth of pine after long 
standing, by which the soil is partially, or 
entirely restored, is removed, and a third 
growth is allowed to take its place, that 
will be the same as the original forest 
growth. 

Having said this much in relation to the 
manner in which your soils were brought 
to their present condition, we are now pre- 
pared to consider the means by which you 
are to continue the cultivation of those 
already cleared, or bring into cultivation 
the many acres now in pines, and at the 
same time bring th^m up to a proper stand- 
ard of fertility. How you are to make the 
cultivation of the soil bring j'-ou in ample 
returns for the labor expended, and the 
capital invested, and at the same time 
make the land go steadily on in increasing 
productiveness. When we consider by 
what slow processes the soil was originally 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



547 



formed, and that in itsQjrestoration, we im- 
pose the condition that it shall at the same 
time produce enough to pay a good in- 
terest upon the labor and capital employed, 
we should expect the process to be slow, 
and slow it is. If, however, a proper sys- 
tem of cultivation is commenced, improve- 
ment will certainly commence with it; and 
if the system is persevered in, a fertility 
surpassing the original fertility of the land 
will surely follow ; and this I say without 
reference to particular localities. When- 
ever and wherever your efforts at improve- 
ment take the rig^ht direction, you will find 
the soil responding to the call, whether it 
be on the rivers, on the creeks, or on the 
ridge between them. 

The system that I would recommend, 
may be summed up in a few words, the 
liberal and judicious use fo manures, deep 
cultivation, and a proper rotation of crops. 

The use of manures when they can be 
had, is to be recomniended under almost 
all circumstances, but with your soils, 
which from the process of cropping to 
which they have been subjected in times 
past, are so universally deficient in organic 
or vegetable matter, it would be next to an 
impossibility to make any valuable, per- 
manent improvement without manure of 
some sort. If left to themselves this de- 
ficiency of organic matter would be gradu- 
ally made up, in the manner already 
pointed out; but if put into cultivation, 
and more especially in the cultivation of 
tobacco and corn, the organic now present 
will be rapidly dissipated, unless some 
means is adopted for making direct appli- 
cations of animal or vegetable manures, 
or both, or you imitate nature and grow 
peas, clover, &c., to be turned into the 
soil. Such crops are particularly valuable 
m restoring the land to fertility, and in 
carrying it to a point even beyond its ori- 
ginal productiveness, from the fact, that 
in their growth they draw by far the largest 
portion of their organic or their vegetable 
food from the air, while the roots descend- 
ing deep into the soil, and even the sub- 
soil, bring up valuable mineral food ; so 
that when the whole is turned in, the sur- 
face soil receives from it very much more 
of both mineral and vegetable matter than 
it gave. ' 

The necessit}^ for abundant supplies of 
organic matter in the soil is two fold ; 
first, all cultivated plants derive their or-, 



ganic food, that portion of their sustenance 
which goes to form the true vegetable or 
combustible portion of the plant, partly 
from the air and partly from the soil, — and 
therefore, the soil must be in a condition 
to supply its portion, by being itself sup- 
plied with decaying organic matter. It is 
a singular fact in connection with this mat- 
ter, that although the air supplies by far 
the largest portion of the vegetable food of 
plants, it is supplied in exact proportion to 
the capacity of the soil to discharge its 
proper functions. If the soil is abundantly 
supplied with organic matter, by which it 
perfectly performs its part, the air not only 
responds to the call of the soil but, it is 
ready, and where the latter is properly 
managed, does give back to it more than 
was taken away; but if the soil is deficient 
in organic matter, the air, although forever 
hovering over it, and loaded down with 
organic food, steadil}- refuses to yield its 
stores, and vegetation languishes. Second, 
the organic matter in the soil performs an 
important part in these changes which are 
constantly going on in the soil, and by 
which its elements are brought into a con- 
dition such that the}^ may enter the plant, 
and minister to its wants. I do not design 
going into any details in relation to the 
various ofBces performed by the organic 
matter of the soil in this connection, but 
will content mysidf with referring to a sin- 
gle one. The soil is so constituted, and 
wisely so, that most of those substances 
which are necessary to vegetation, are in- 
soluble in pure water, so that so long as 
they are acted upon by water alone no part 
of them can enter into the circulation of 
plants. Water, however, which contains 
carbonic acid, is a powerful solvent, and 
is capable of taking up in solution small 
quantities of the mineral elements of the 
soil; its capacity in this respect is deter- 
mined by the quantity of the gas which it 
contains. Now rain in falling through the 
air absorbs a small quantity of this gas, 
and thus a certain solvent power is given 
to it ; but if the soil contains a full supply 
of vegetable matter, and the air has free 
access to it, carbonic acid is constantly 
given off in its decomposition ; this being 
absorbed by the water in the soil, keeps it 
constantly in a condition to enter into the 
circulation of plants charged with every 
necessary mineral element. 

The manures that I would recommend 



548 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



to your special consideration are such as 
can be produced upon the farm, guano, 
plaster, and the green crops, such as peas 
and clover, which if properly managed are 
as cheap as they are valuable. Every 
particle of straw, cornstalks, tobacco stalks, 
barn yard litter, stable manure, and what- 
ever else that can be gotten from the 
plantation, either vegetable or antmal, 
should be taken back upon the land. lam 
satisfied from what I have seen, that it is a 
mistake to keep anything in the way of straw 
cornstalks, &c., until you have to haul out 
more water than manure, or until just be- 
fore 3'ou plow your land, for then your 
teams are wanted for something else, and 
can illy be spared for such a purpose ; the 
true principle is, to get it upon the land at 
any time that you most conveniently can, 
and let it remain there as a top dressing 
until you put the land in cultivation. 

Guano is justly regarded as a manure of 
very great value ; and nowhere does it 
seem to produce moue beneficial effects 
than in this county. The process by 
which your soils were brought to their 
present condition, would suggest the idea, 
that in their improvement no manure would 
be more valuable than this, if used proper- 
ly. The long continued cropping in to- 
bacco and corn, necessarily removes all or- 
ganic matter, while those mineral substan- 
ces which are in the soil in the smallest 
quantity, would also disappear. Now, am- 
monia, which is essential to all vegetation, 
is supplied by the organic matter of the 
soil,, so that when the latter disappears the 
former must be wanting; among the min- 
eral matters the phosphates are generally 
present in smaller proportion than anything 
else, and yet, all crops require more or less 
of them, while the grain crops remove 
more of them than any other. Guano is a 
manure composed mainly of these two 
substances, ammonia and the phosphates, 
and evidently supplies a special deficiency 
in your soils. But whilst I would most 
unhesitatingly recommend the liberal use 
of guano in connection with other manures 
and more especially, in connection with 
the green manures, such as clover, I would 
also warn you against an exclusive reliance 
upon it. A moment's reflection will con- 
vince any one, that although the effect of 
the guano may not be confined to the first 
crop, the continued use of guano, without 
other means of improvement, such as the 



growth of clover, and a rotation of crops, 
must, sooner or later, prove injurious, 
rather than beneficial to the land. The 
increased crops consequent upon the use 
of the manure, causes the draw upon the 
land for all the elements composing them, 
to be much heavier than before, while the 
continued application of the guano gives 
back the ammonia and the phosphates 
only. 

I have already said sufficient to demon- 
strate the great importance of the green 
crops, as a means of permanently improv- 
ing land, or as manures ^the growth of 
these, taken in connection with the rota- 
tion of crops, is of the utmost consequence. 
What more I have to say in relation to 
them I reserve until I come to speak of the 
rotation. 

There are several important considera- 
tions which call for deep cultivation, or 
deep ploughing, in connection with the 
other means to be resorted to in the im- 
provement of your lands. 1st. The sur- 
face soils are, forvarious reasons, much 
lighter, generally, than the subsoils, or 
the soil which is to be found between 
the bottom of an ordinary five or six 
inch furrow, and a depth of ten or 
twelve inches. By turning this up and 
mixing it, as you do in cultivation, with 
the lighter soil, you generally improve its 
mechanical condition and color, a>nd its 
power of retaining manures is materially 
increased. 2d. In deepening the soil in 
every case we increase the capacity of the 
land, for as the roots penetrate farther we 
give our crops a much larger quantity of 
material to draw from ; but in your soils 
which have been impoverished on the sur- 
face only, and whose sub-soil still contain 
so much that is valuable, common sense 
would point to deep ploughing as an all 
important aid to impi-ovement. od. By 
deep ploughing the capacitj' of the land to 
receive and retp.in moisture is very much 
increased ; the deeper the soil is, the long- 
er will the rain fall upon it before it begins 
to run off, or the land to wash, and when 
the dry weather comes, the deep ploughed 
land, for the reason that it contains the 
most moisture, and that the roots may pen- 
etrate further, resists the drought the best. 

The necessity of a judicious rotation of 
crops in every case where permanent im- 
provement is desired, is so generally con- 
ceded, that I need scarcely consume much 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



549 



time in urging its claims upon you. It is 
sufficient to say, that sound theory, and 
the best practice of the most enlightened 
agriculturists everywhere alike demonstrate 
its necessit}^ By a rotation the land may 
be constantly covered ; the draw upon the 
soil for the different mineral elements 
which are necessary to vegetation will be 
more nearly equalized ; the manuring and 
cultivation necessary to the successful cul- 
tivation of one crop is oftentimes, and I 
may say, is generally the very best prepa- 
for a different one, and which may profita- 
bly succeed it; and what is of equal im- 
portance, we are enabled to cultivate these 
ameliorative crops, such as clover, which, 
by the time the rotation is completed, have 
returned to the soil a large part of what has 
been taken away in the other crops. 

The rotation must, of course, be deter- 
mined in a very great degree by the crops 
which are most profitable, and best 
adapted to the soil. Your round of crops 
consist of tabacco, wheat, corn, oats and 
peas ; in the adoption of a rotation, two 
systems present themselves, the three 
fields and the five field systems. 

If you adopt the first, you have corn 
and tobacco the first year ; you all know 
that the tobacco lot must have a heavy 
covering of straw, stable manure and gu- 
ano, and that the corn will respond to al- 
most any application that may be made to 
it. These crops leave the land in the best 
possible condition for wheat and clover ; 
while the manure which was applied to 
one or both, not having been exhausted in 
these crops, will make the wheat crop, 
followed by a good stand of clover* more 
certain. A judicious use of guano on the 
wheat crop is to be recommended although 
there, undoubtedly, are many fields in the 
county, that will, after a heavy manuring 
for tobacco, bring fine crops of wheat and 
clover without anything more. 

This system, however, cannot, in the 
nature of things, be so improving as the 
five field rotation, in which we have two 

reen crops, and three other crops, in five 
years. The rotation is as follow^s : 1st, 

::orn and tobacco, to be treated as before ; 

2d, wheat; 3d, clover; 4th, the clover 

allowed for wheat, or wheat and oats; and 

5th, clover. 
If now, in carrying out this system, the 

obacco ground, instead of being taken 

Tom the best of the field, is made to occu- 



py different parts of it at different times, 
so that, in process of time, the whole 
plantation will have been in tobacco, and 
the system of manuring highly for this 
crop is carried out, I can see no reasonable 
limit to the improvement of your soils. 
The peculiar adaptation of the soils of the 
county to the growth of tobacco, and the 
price which it brings in the market, point 
at once toils extensive cultivation. More- 
over, its cultivation is the very best means 
of keeping down those pests which inter- 
fere so materially with the cultivation of 
the other crops ; and its nature being en- 
tirely different from the other crops, it be- 
comes a valuable crop in a rotation. These 
facts, coupled with the fact that, of the 
heavy dose of manure necessary to the 
tobacco, and which is much more than paid 
for in that crop, a large part is still in the 
soil, ready to aid a succeeding crop, point 
to this crop as a means of affording you 
powerful aid in the onward march of im- 
provement, instead of its being, as it cer- 
tainly has been in time past, and under a 
different system, the most fruitful of im- 
poverishment. 

But I do not wish to be understood as re- 
commending any new and untried system 
of improvement for your lands, based upon 
the theoretical views that my visit here 
have given rise to ; on the contrary, I wish 
to proclaim to all, that what I am now ur- 
ging upon you, has been successfully put' 
in practice in various parts of the county, 
and with very great success. Numbers of 
gentlemen, in different parts of it, have 
discovered that thei?- soils, when treated in 
the way recommended above, improve, and 
some of them rapidly, and the impression 
is becoming general, that some worn out 
plantations are, after all, very good land. 
Now, what each particular farmer has seen 
in regard to his own soil, I think I see for 
the whole county, and I firmly beheve 
that there is scarcely a single farm within 
your borders, that cannot be made, if man- 
aged as the gentlemen above referred to, 
have managed theirs, as productive as the 
best high lands of the county now are. 

I take the liberty, in this connection, of 
mentioning a few facts that have come to 
my knov\ ledge during my stay in the 
county, facts which demonstrate, beyond 
all question, the general capacity of its 
soils for improvement. About 12 years 
ago, a gentleman owning a worn-out farm 



550 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



determined that he would test the question 
as to whether it could be improved ; his 
land, or at least the portion I refer to, then 
brought him five bushels of wheat to the 
acre, on a fallow. Deep ploughing, the 
use of manures, and a rotation were com- 
menced, and have been persevered in up 
to the present time. The land commenced 
to improve immediately, and has gone on 
uninterruptedly up to the present time. — 
This year it yielded a crop of 30 bushels 
of wheat to the acre, or six times the 3'ield 
12 years ago, and it has on it now a beauti- 
ful stand of young clover. The gentleman 
who has effected this assures me that the 
soil has invariably more than paid for the 
cost of manure, labor, &c., in the increased 
crop. Adjoining this farm is one which 
is at this time almost run down, but which 
must have been originally just such land; 
the marks of their original equality are 
unmistakeable, and yet, to see the differ- 
ence in their present capacities, we should 
feel disposed to regard the thing as an im- 
possibility. 

Another gentleman gave me the history 
of a field which this year brought from 25 
to 30 bushels of wheat to the acre, in 
1842, when he commenced to improve it. 
the most that could be gotten from it was 
2^ barrels of corn and five bushels of 
wheat. A rail fence divides this planta- 
tion from one that will not now produce 
more than 2| barrels of corn or 5 bushels 
of wheat, and yet the soils were once the 
same. In another part of the county I 
saw a beautiful crop of wheat on a piece of 
land that two or three years ago was in 
old-field pines, and at one end of it the 
pines are still standing, giving that portion 
of the field as uninviting a look as any 
that I would wish to see. The fij-st crop 
on this land, after the removal of the pines 
and a heavy manuring, was tobacco; the 
second was the wheat I saw, without any 
manure. Another field had been in the 
possession of the present owner for 30 
years, and in all that time he had never 
cultivated it, because he considered it too 
poor for cultivation; he cleared off the 
pines at last, however, manured it well, 
got a crop of tobacco, a crop of wheat 
without any more manure, and a stand of 
clover. I cannot speak of my own knowl- 
edge with regard to the tobacco or wheat, 
but I can say in regard to the clover, that 
I have never seen finer on the best lands 



of the Valley. I might present you with 
numerous other examples, but I forbear de- 
taining you longer with the recital of such 
details. I have seen that in every part of 
the county, when an honest effort, based 
upon correct principles, has been made, the 
land has shown a capacity for improve- 
ment, arid as rapid improvement as general- 
ly takes place in any soils that have been 
run-down by long and improvident culti- 
vation ; it is not, therefore, surprising that I 
should believe inplicitly that all will be 
found equally improveable, or that I should 
urge you to the adoption of a system of 
improvement which has proved so success- 
ful hitherto. 

In conclusion, let me remind you, gen- 
tlemen, that Powhatan is but a small por- 
tion of the Old Dominion; that there are 
thousands of acres in every county which 
want improvement as much as yours do; 
that Virginia must ever be an agricultural 
State ; that although still morally and in- 
tellectually the first in the Union, it can- 
not be denied that she has fallen behind 
some of her sister States in physical ad- 
vancement; that to prosper with them her 
abandoned and impoverished acres must 
be reclaimed, and her sons must cease to 
desert her; and that if we w^ould be true 
to ourselves and to her, we must each and 
every one of us strive to restore our soils 
to their original fertility. 

I would do violence to my feelings did 
I fail to express my thanks for the many 
acts of courtesy, kindness and hospitality 
which I have received at your hands during 
my brief sojourn among you ; or to say 
that I would gladly serve you in my poor 
way, if it were only to show you that I 
appreciatehem. 



Vinegar. — The juice of one bushel of 
gugar-beetp, is worth twenty-five cents, and 
which any farmer can raise with little cost, 
will make from 5 to 6 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 littlo 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 obtained without 
any great trouble, and I hope ail who like good 
vinegar will try it. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



551 



lortinilturnl Itparimmt. 



E. G. EGGIilNG, Contributor. 

The Eose. 

Its Admitted Superiority — Whence Obtain- 
ed — The Process by which new varieties 

ARE originated — CLASSIFICATION of RoseS, 

with tj^pes of each class — Requisites of a 
GOOD Rose — A list of such recommended — 
The soil best suited to the culture of roses. 
How the ground should be prepared. Of 
Planting. Cultivation. Pruning. How 
Roses are propagated. Cuttings, Layers, 
Budding, Root-Grafting and Root-Cuttings, 
&c., &c. 

The Rose, by universal consent the Q.ueen 
of the fxowers, the emblem of beauty and the 
pride of the garden, has been in all ages and 
almost among all peoples, an universal favour- 
ite ; and poets of all times and tongues have 
made it the theme of their lays. It was well 
known among the ancients, by whom it was 
esteemed as an emblem of silence, whence the 
saying, sub rosa, as applied to confidential 
communications; and it was adopted as the 
emblem of silence, because the first rose ever 
seen was given by the God of Love to Harpo- 
crates, the God of Silence, to engage him not to 
divulge the amours of Venus. It has been 
made the symbol of various and opposite senti- 
ments at different periods. Piety decorated the 
temple of religion with roses ; love expressed 
its tenderness in wreaths of roses; mirth 
revelled adorned with a crown of roses ; grief 
strewed its blooms upon the grave, and 
luxury spread its leaves for a fragrant couch. 
Many are the stories of its birth, told in prose 
md verse, of which the following, concerning 
;he moss rose, by a German poet, may serve as 
I specimen : 

The Angel of the flowers one day 
Beneath a rose-tree sleeping lay, 
That spirit to whose charge is given 
To bathe young buds in dews of heaven. 
Awaking from his light repose 
The Angel whispered to the rose — 
" ! fondest object of my care 
Still fairest found where all is fair, 
For the sweet shade thou giv'st to me, 
Ask what thou wilt 'tis granted thee." 
Then said the rose with deepened glow — 
"On me another grace bestow." 
The spirit paused in silent thought, — 
What grace was there that flower had not? 
36 



'Twas but a moment, — o'er the rose 
A veil of moss the Angel throws : 
And robed in Nature's simplest weed 
Can there a flower that rose exceed? 

The rose richly deserves the high estimation 
in which it has always been held, for certainly 
there is no flower which in all respects chal- 
lenges so fully the admiration of every lover 
of the beautiful. Considered in respect of 
form, colour and fragrance, the three qualities 
by which every flower is to be judged, and the 
rose stands like Saul, towering above all its 
fellows. 

A very few varieties of the rose are indige- 
nous to this country, the sweet briar and prairie 
rose being examples ; but the large majority of 
our roses have been introduced into this coun- 
try from France, Belgium and England. Laf- 
fay and Vibert, in France, and Rivers, in Eng- 
land, originated the most of our fine roses ; and 
quite recently, a few roses have been produced 
in the United States. While, however, the 
most of our fine roses have been introduced 
from abroad, there is no soil, or climate, in the 
world, better adapted to the cultivation of this 
flower than that of Virginia. For years past, 
we have been accustomed to send plants to 
New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore, and the 
florists there have always regarded the year's 
product with unconcealable wonder and delight. 
The plant, in one season here, will grow nearly 
double as much as it will in New York. 
Nearly every variety, even the choicest, can be 
cultivated here in the open grounds, and they 
stand our winters well, except when they are 
unusually severe, as the last two have been. 
There is no reason why we should not here 
originate fine new varieties, except that we live 
too fast in this country to take time for the ex- 
periment. In order that any of our readers 
who may feel inclined, may try to originate 
new varieties, we will describe the process by 
which they are obtained. 

Select one of the finest, ever blooming varie- 
ties in your garden, with which to make the 
experiment, and from that gather in the Fall 
of the year, when they ripen, the seeds con- 
tained in what is popularly known as the rose- 
apple. This apple is not to be gathered until 
it is quite ripe, which is never until it loses all 
its green colour ; and then it is to be buried in 
a pot of sand, until about the last of the next 
ensuing. February, when the apple is to be 



552 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



opened and the seeds planted in boxes, about 
six inches deep, filled with light, mellow, woods 
earth, and the seeds to be put about half an 
inch below the surface. Place the box then in 
a hot bed, and keep the soil in the boxes con- 
stantly moist with water until the seeds germi- 
nate and the young plants appear. At this 
early stage of their growth, the young plants 
ought to be guarded from exposure to the hot 
rays of the sun, as they are now very tender. 
The plants may remain in the boxes until the 
ensuing summer, when they are to be planted 
io the open ground and allowed to stand until 
they come to flower. It may chance then, that 
out of a thousand plants, one worth preserv- 
ing and propogating may be obtained, and it 
may equally as well happen that of ten thou- 
sand plants, not one will exhibit characteris- 
tics to entitle it to regard. This uncertainty 
of result, is the true reason why so few private 
persons have attempted the experiment, which 
is likely to fail in a thousand trials, while the 
next may reward the labours of the cultivator 
with a flower of surpassing beauty. That such 
experiments have succeeded, witness the Cloth 
of Gold, a seedling of the La Marque, which 
was thus obtained, and which deservedly ranks 
high in public estimation. 

By this process the varieties of the rose have 
been greatly increased, until they have be- 
come almost innumerable, there being known 
to us some fifteen or sixteen hundred varieties 
of the plants. They have been classed into 
distinct families, but even that mode of classi- 
fication has become difficult, owing to the pro- 
duction of new seedlings, which would not 
come strictly within the description of any one 
family, but partake, in a measure, of the char- 
acteristics of several. Such an instance we 
have in Giant des Battaillas, which is classed 
with Pvemontant roses, while it partakes largely 
of the character of the Bourbon. 

First we would give as the most general 
classification, Annuals and Perennials, of 
which the old Burgund}', and the old mosses, 
are specimens of the first, and the vv'hole family 
of teas specimens of the latter. 

Among the Annuals there arc four or five 
families, which, vrith the exception of the 
•mos3e3, have gone out of cultivation of late 
years. They are the old garden roses, Ayr- 
shire, Prairie Rose, the Messes, etc., etc. 

The Perennials consist of some nine fami- 



lies, known by the titles respectively of Re- 
montant, Hybrid Perpetual, Tea, Bourbon, 
Bengal or Chinese, Musk, Noisette, Burr or 
Mycrophylla and Lawrencia, which are again 
sub-divided into three classes, dwarfs, pillar 
and running roses. As types of the Remont- 
ant roses, we may mention La Reine, and 
Prince Albert; and all of this class are very 
fragrant, very hardy, standing our severest 
winters ; bloom very profusely early in the 
Spring, have a few scattering flowers through 
the Summer, and are in full bloom again 
in the Fall. They are robust and strong 
growers, and all these qualities make this a 
most desirable family. As types of the Hybrid 
Perpetual, we mention Julia Krudner, and 
Prudence Roeser, but few of this class are in 
cultivation, because they are shy bloomers. As 
types of the Rosa Odorata, or Tea rose, we 
mention Triomphe du Luxembourg, and De- 
voniensis, or as popularly called in Virginia, 
Laurel rose. These roses are very profuse 
bloomers, and are, in every respect, most de- 
sirable, and until within a few years past have 
stood our climate well ; for the last two winters, 
however, the}^ have been killed wherever they 
were entirely unprotected. A few pine bushea 
placed around them, will afibrd sufficient pro- 
tection from the cold of our severest winters. 
As types of the Bourbon, we mention, Her- 
mosa, and Queen of the Bourbons. This group 
of roses is one of the finest of all the families 
of the queen of the garden. They bear flowers 
in immense clusters from May to November — • 
may in truth be said to be blooming always. 
While, however, they are prized for their 
blooming qualities, some of them are deficient 
in fragrance, and, therefore, loss esteemed than 
others. They are perfectl}'- hardy in this lati- 
tude. As types of the Bengal or Chinese class, 
we mention Agrippina, and Bougere. Per- 
haps no rose has been more universally culti 
vated and distributed than this ; the most oi 
the class arc fragrant, and all of them profuse 
bloomers. As types of the Musk rose, which 
includes but few varieties, we mention Old 
White Musk Ckistre and Princess of Nassau 
Few as are the varieties, they are very uni 
versally known ; and under good cultivation 
they will produce bunches of flowers by hun 
drcds. They derive their name from thcii 
peculiar odour, which enables the least ex- 
perienced to detect them. As types of th( 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



553 



Noisette family, we mention Aimee Vibert and 
Solfatare. This class originated in Charleston, 
S. C, about 1815, under the skilful manage 
ment of Mr. Noisette, a Frenchman, whose 
name they bear. The varieties of this class 
usually bloom in clusters of five or six flowers, 
and include as well plants which grow from six 
to eight inches in a season, and those which 
grow from eight to ten feet in the same space 
of time. We have at our porch a Cloth of 
Gold, which rose belongs to this class, which 
has already made a straight shoot from the 
root this season, which is now eight feet high 
and half an inch thick, and it will doubtless 
grow several feet more before the end of the 
season. Some varieties are very hardy and 
others quite tender. Of the hardy varieties, 
we mention Aimee Vibert, Fellenberg and La 
Biche ; and of the other, La Marque, Cloth of 
Gold and Solfatare. These last named have 
always stood our winters until the last two, 
which it will be remembered were* unusually 
severe, and they are doubtless hardy enough to 
bear our ordinary winters. As types of the 
Burr or Mycrophylla rose, we mention, Mycro- 
phylla Rubra, or dark red, and Mj^crophyila 
Odorata, Alba. This class comprises but four 
varieties, the other two being Mycrophylla 
Violuce, and Maria Leonida. They are of Chi- 
nese origin ; they bloom very prettily, in clus- 
ters, on second year's wood, on the small side 
branches. The Laurencia group, includes but 
few varieties, of which only one, the Lauren- 
cia Flora, pleno, is much cultivates! in Vir- 
ginia, and that is sometimes called Picayune. 
The flowers are very small, and very numerous. 
This class is of Chinese origin, and by some 
florists is classed with the Rosa Indica, or Ben- 
gal family; but we do not think that a proper 
classification, and hence we have accounted it 
an independent group. 

This summary includes all the perpetual 
roses, except, perhaps, one or two varieties of 
the Moss Rose, which give promise of being 
pepetual. There is a well-know moss rose, 
which has always borne the name of white 
perpetual, a title it by no means deserves, as it 
has never,. that we know, bloomed more than 
once ; and persons who judge its character by 
its name are likely to be deceived. Besides 
which, it has no quality beyond its colour to 
recommend it, as the flower is general!}^ im- 



perfect and ragged. A moss rose, a crimson, 
called General Drouout, has bloomed twice in 
our grounds this season ; and we saw some 
moss roses in Philadelphia, in June, which 
were forming buds a second time this season ; 
and we were informed by Mr. Buist, that they 
bloomed like the Remontant. We procured 
specimens and shall test their quality, and ad- 
vise our readers of the result. 

Every year new varieties of the rose are 
introduced into this country, but for the most 
part they do not deserve cultivation. The list 
of fine roses is already so large, and the speci- 
mens of each class so superior, that it is not 
easy to add to the catalogue others equal to 
those which we already have ; and we should 
never choose an inferior rose because it was 
new, to the neglect of an older but superior 
variety. A good rose, in our judgment, should 
possess these qualities: be hardy, a strong 
grower, profuse bloomer, bear flowers of fine 
^liape, colour and fragrance. Such a rose is 
Giant des Battailles, which possesses all these 
qualities in as high degree as any with which 
we are acquainted. There may be roses, and 
undoubtedly are such, which possess only a part 
of these characteristics, and which may well 
suit those who have green houses in which they 
may be kept through the winter. Such, for 
instance, are Lutea, or Yellow Tea, and Madame 
Des Prez. These are very choice varieties, 
but they lack the quality of hardiness, and- 
cannot, therefore, be cultivated in the open 
grounds, which is, in our opinion, a fatal ob- 
jection to them, and to all similar roses. 

The number of roses which measures up to 
our standard, is large enough to puzzle any 
person in making a selection, who is not very 
familiar with the several varieties of each 
class ; and, for the benefit of such individuals, 
we propose to make a list of roses, which we 
can safely recommend to Virginia cultivators. 
Of the Bengal, or Chinese, we would choose. 
Agrippina, a brilliant crimson : Cels, a blush ; 
Alba, a large white daily ; and Lady Vv^arren- 
DER, a large white rose. 

Among the teas, Adam, a large delicate 
pink ; Arch Duchess Isaeelle, pure white ; 
Caroline, bright rosy pink ; Clara Sylyain, 
pure white ; Devoniensis, large creamy yel- 
low, — very fragrant; Flavescsns, old yellow 
tea; La Sylpiiide, large rosy buif; Lyonnais^.. 



554 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



large bright rose ; Princess Maria, rosy pink ; 
Safrano, buff yellow ; Strombrio, white pink ; 
and Triumph de Luxembourg, a large purplish 
rose. 

Among the Noisette roses, Aimee Vibert, 
pure white ; Chromatella, or Cloth of Gold ; 
Fellenburg, brilliant red ; Jaune Desprez, rosy 
buff; La Pactole, pale yellow; Ophire, yel- 
low, — tinged with red ; and Solfatare, large 
yellow. 

Among the Bourbons, Acidalie, rose white ; 
Angelina, bright rose ; Bossuet, dark carmine ; 
Due De Chartres, rosy pink ; Dupetit Thouars, 
dark crimson ; Souvenir De Malmaison, pink ; 
Henry Clay, large carmine ; Hermosa, pale 
rose ; Leveson Gower, very large purplish 
rose ; Monthly Cabbage, deep rose ; Mrs. 
Bosanquet, waxy blush ; and Queen of the 
Bourbons, fawn coloured. 

Among the Remontant, Barron Prevost, very 
large, bright rose ; Countesse Duchatel, bril- 
liant rosy carmine ; La Reine, large rose ; 
Giant des Battailles, scarlet crimson ; Leon 
des Combats, bright scarlet ; Madame Laffays, 
dark rosy crimson ; Prince Albert, crimson ; 
Rivers, large crimson ; Reine, de La Guillo- 
tierre, violet crimson ; Youlande D'Arragon, 
rosy blush ; Marguerite D'Anjou, pale rose ; 
.Queen Victoria, or White La Reine, very large 
blush white ; and Sydonia, bright pink. 

Among the Hybrid Perpetuals, Julia Krud- 
Tier, slight blush ; and Prudence Roesier, 
scarlet. 

Among the Musk, White Musk Cluster, and 
Princess of Nassau. 

Among the Mycrophylla, the specimens be- 
fore mentioned as types of the class. 

This list of fifty three roses cannot be sur- 
passed, and those who wish a large variety, 
cannot do better than to purchase these. By 
far the larger number of persons, however, 
are content to have a smaller collection of 
roses ; and for the convenience of such, we 
will give a dozen of the choicest varieties, i. e 
— Agrippina, Clara Sylvain, La Sylphide, Sa- 
frano, La Pactole, Hermosa, Souvenir de Mal- 
maison, Bourbon Queen, White Daily, Barron 
Prevost, Giant des Battailles, and Leon des 
Combats. 

The best climbing roses, are, La Marque, 
Solfatare, Cloth of Gold, Ophir, White My- 
crophylla, andJ-^abrador. 



The soil best adapted to the culture of the 
rose, is a deep rich, sandy loam ; but no soil is 
actually unsuitable, which is rich enough, ex- 
cept perhaps a low, wet, marshy soil. It may 
be remarked, however, that, in general, no 
soil is rich enough for the rose, — the very 
best requiring to be manured, in order to pro- 
duce them in the highest perfection. Nor is 
any new, green manure, stable, or other, pro- 
per to be used ; but it should be six or twelve 
months old, and thoroughly decomposed. Old, 
well-rotted stable manure is better than any 
other; pounded charcoal, and bone dust are 
also good ; and where the soil is stiff clay, 
sand may be advantageously worked into it. 
By the use of these, and similar appliances^ 
any soil may be made to grow the rose well 
— bearing in mind always, that, do your 
utmost, and you cannot make the ground too 
rich. 

The successful culture of the rose depends, 
in a large measure, upon the manner in which 
ground is gotten ready for the planting. It is 
much the habit in this State, to dig a hole in 
a hard piece of ground, and stick a rose there, 
just as if it was thought the plant could thrive 
without the facilities for drinking in moisture 
from the soil. It were as rational to plant it 
in a cast-iron pot, and expect it to flourish. 
Supposing that the land has been sufficiently 
enriched, the next step is to break it from fif- 
teen to eighteen inches deep with a spade, tak- 
ing pains that the soil is thrown from the spade 
to crush gjl the clods, so as to make the land as 
light and friable as possible. Where the roses 
are to be planted in the midst of a grass plat, 
or other hard spot, always break up and en- 
rich with manure a space of three or four feet 
around the plant, or it will not do much. We 
cannot lay too much stress on these points, 
nor can our readers give them over-much 
attention. 

In considering the planting of roses, we 
have first to speak of the proper season. For 
Mosses, Hybrid Perpetual, and Remontant 
roses, the fall is the best season, say between 
the first and fifteenth of November. The tea, 
Bourbon and Bengal, or Chinese roses, should 
be planted in the spring, say between the 
twentieth of March and first of April. Those 
which are planted in the fall, are usually 
merely removed from one part of the grounds 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



555 



to another, while those planted in spring, are 
planted from pots. Whether one kind or an- 
other is planted, and .whether at one or the 
other season, it is to be noted, that roses loill 
not thrive if planted in a shady sitnaiion. If 
put in such situations, they grow spindling, 
produce leaves luxuriantly, while the crop of 
flowers is ismall, and of a very inferior quality. 
Roses need to be where they will freely receive 
the dews of heaven, and the genial rays of the 
Bun, or they will but poorly develope their 
beauties. 

Trees are usually planted just so deep as 
they stood in the nursery, but roses should be 
planted from four to six inches deeper, for 
several reasons. One is, that all the wood 
thus buried will form roots, and so add to the 
vigour of the plant, as well as the strength of 
the shoots which came up from the roots. 
And another advantage, is in the fact, that 
where this is done, should the rose be injured 
by the frosts of winter, which:occasionally hap- 
pens with the Teas and E^igals, and even 
should the entire top be killed, shoots will 
put up from the roots, and so form another 

plant. 

The best way to plant roses, is to plant them 
in clumps, — each distinct family to itself, as 
all the members of a fam;ly grow nearly of 
a size, and thus are not likely to overtop each 
other. Where this cannot be dode, and where 
the roses are put upon a border, in a straight 
line, put the Remontant, which are the 
stronger, on the back row, then next, those 
which are nearest them in height, — and so on 
down to the dwarfs. If planted in a circle, 
plant the strongest growers in the middle, 
and graduate them as before, placing the 
dwarfs on the outer edge of the circle. Where 
the grounds are extensive, plant in each clus- 
ter roses of one colour ; here a cluster of 
white roses, there a cluster of scarlet, there a 
cluster of yellow, then a cluster of blush, &c., 
&c. Some persons prefer mixed colours, but 
we are decidedly of opinion, that the other is 
preferable, and so we think all our readers 
would agree, if they had seen with us a bed 
of Giant des Battailles, or a bed of White 
Chinese, than which nothing could be more 
strikingly beautiful. 

Concerning the distance to be observed in 
planting roses, we have to observe, that 



the Remontant, Hybrid Perpetuals, and the 
stronger growers among the Bourbons, may 
be put three feet apart, and all others two 
feet apart. But it is to be observed that these 
directions are given with the understanding, 
that the ground is to be devoted solely to rosee 
— and where these directions are followed, 
and judicious culture and pruning presisted in, 
but a few years will elapse, before the earth 
will be entirely covered, with a mass of foli- 
age and flowers. 

When the rose is first planted, it is of 
course small, and it is desirable to force its 
growth, at least for the weaker and smaller 
varieties, which may be done by simply re- 
moving all the buds as they appear, for one 
season. This throws all the vigour of the 
plant into the formation of wood, — much of 
which would otherwise be consumed in the 
formation of the flower, — and will vastly en- 
hance its growth. In the removal of these 
buds, a sharp instrument, as a pair of scissors, 
or a sharp knife, should be used. 

It is a very common practice, which one sees 
every fall in Virginia, to heap manure round 
about the rose bushes, where it lies all the 
winter, and until the ensuing spring, when it is 
removed, and the ground worked up. A more 
erroneous and hurtful proceeding could hardly 
be indulged. The effect of it, is to keep the 
plant through the winter heated to an unnat. 
ural and hurtful degree and when the earth 
is stirred in the spring, the plant is checked 
and chilled, and so presently it groM^s sickly, 
and becomes jnfested with little green lice, and 
other insects, which mar its beauty, and in- 
jure it seriously. A better way to treat roses 
is that which all good cultivators pursue, which 
is simply, where anything is done, to place a 
covering of dry oak leaves about the roots, to 
protect them from the frosts, and for the ten- 
derer varieties, to stand around them a few 
pine or cedar bushes, — sharpening the ends, 
and sticking them firmly into the soil. This 
is not done, however, until the flowers and 
leaves are killed by the earlier frosts. 

In working the ground about the rose 
bushes, we usually delay it until about the 
middle of April, until all fear of frost is 
gone. Where the ground is stirred earlier in 
the season than this, the roses are liable to 
sufi'er from late frosts, which strike through 



556 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



the loosened soil, and attack the roots. When 
the proper period then arrives, spread on the 
surface good old manure, to a depth of t-yro or 
three inches, and then work it into the soil 
with an asparagus fork, — and then heey them 
free from weeds at all times, which will be a 
sufl&cient cultivation, except that part of the 
cultivation which is included in the term 
pruning. 

The pruning required by roses, is different 
for the two classes of dwarfs and running 
roses, each of which processes we will en- 
deavour to describe. And first, of the prun- 
ing required by dwarfs. 

The precise object of this pruning, is to ex- 
cite growth, and promote the production and 
improvement of the bloom. Hence, in prun- 
ing, the first rule to be observed, is to remove 
all that part of the wood which if allowed to 
remain would yield only leaves. That includes, 
in roses of this class, all wood which is more 
than one year old. The flowers are produced 
only on the wood of the previous year's 
growth. But even this should be pruned, so 
as to leave from two to six eyes on each 
shoot according as the shoot is weaker or 
stronger. 

In regard to the pruning of running roses, 
proceed somewhat differently. Cut off all the 
wood two years old ; and remove all the 
weaker shoots one year old ; but leave the 
stronger shoots of last year's growth un- 
touched. In tying these to a frame, wall, &c., 
they should be spread out in fan-shape when 
possible, like grape vines, and not be tied, 
two or more shoots together, as is often 
done. 

No particular date can be specified for this 
pruning, except that it should not be done 
earlier than the first of April, the general 
rule being, prune your roses when the buds be- 
gin to swell. This rule, however, is not with- 
out exceptions. Sometimes the buds begin to 
swell as early as February, and when this 
happens, the roses should not be pruned, — be- 
cause, if they are, and a frost comes there- 
after, it puts them back. 

There are five methods by which roses are 
propagated, — by cuttings, or, as sometimes/ 
termed, slips, by layers, by budding, by root- 
grafting, and by root-cuttings. 

To propagate by cuttings, about the first of 



September, take a small tender branch, from 
which the flowers have just dropped, and cut 
off a piece five or six inches long. It must 
be severed just below the eye, where the leaves 
are attached to the stem, and cut square with 
a very sharp knife. A piece of this size will 
have five or six leaves on it, all of which are 
to be removed, except the two upper ones. 
Then take a box, four or six inches deep, and 
fill it with a compost, half clean sharp sand, 
such as is found in the bed of streams, and 
half fine-sifted woods earth, mixed thoroughly 
together. After the compost is filled in, it 
should be beaten or pounded until it is firm 
and solid. Then make a hole in the earth, 
put in the cutting, about which the earth is to 
be firmly packed, burying the cutting about 
three inches, after which cover it with a glass 
jar, tumbler, or bell-glass, and keep it well 
moistened with water, and keep the box at all 
times in a shady place, where the sun cannot 
reach it. In the course of six weeks, or two 
months, they W;i;£i' strike root freely, if at all ; 
and they are to be kept in this box under 
cover, until the following spring. The box 
should be kept in a green-house, pot or frame, 
— or some sheltered localit}'-, where the ground 
does not freeze. In the spring they may be 
transferred to the open ground, by taking 
them up carefully with all their roots, and so 
much of the soil as may adhere to the roots. 
This mode answers well with Tea, Bourbon, 
and Chinese roses. 

The next mode, — that by layers, — is suita- 
ble for any kind of roses, and is the simplest 
method of all. Take a branch, or shoot, not 
less than twelve inches long, and strip off 
all the leaves except four or five at the top 
of the shoot. About midway the shoot, and 
immediately below the bud, where the leaves 
joined the shoot, make a cut into the shoot 
with a knife, about half way through, then 
slide the knife upward, splitting the wood 
through the middle an inch and a half or two 
inches, above the cut first made. Withdraw 
the Icnifc, beu,d the shoot down until the part 
Avhero this incision was made touches the 
earth. Just there remove the earth to a 
depth of three or four inches, and plac^ 
in the hole thus made the part of the shoot 
which was cut, — and, to keep it in place, fas- 
ten it in that position with a wooden hook or 
fork, then cover with earth, and leave it until, 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



557 



the ensuing spring. Roots will grow out from 
the cut, and the next spring, remove the earth, 
and sever from the old plant, making your cut 
just . below the -point at which the roots 
formed, and plant it out, — which should be 
done very early in the season. 

The process of propogation from root cut- 
tings is applicable only to Moss roses, and the 
old conimon annual roses, such as Burgundy. 
In the fall of the year, go to any strong, 
healthy plants, and remove the earth from 
about them, and cut off a portion of the roots 
with a sharp knife, — being careful, however, 
not to remove so much of the roots as to in- 
jure the plant. Tie them in a bundle and 
bury them. Early in the spring of the year, 
take these roots and divide them into pieces, 
four to six inches long ; having first prepared 
a drill, deep and rich, to receive them. Bury 
the root cutting about four inches, and keep 
the earth on the top of the drill fine and soft, 
so that the young shoots, which are very ten- 
der, may easily make their way through the 
soil to the surface. The shoots will put up 
sometime in April or May. This is the only 
way that the Yellow Harrisonia can be suc- 
cessfully propogated. 

Any kind of rose may be propagated by 
budding — a process simple enough in perform- 
ance, but exceedingly difficult to describe, 
without the aid of explanatory plates, a re- 
mark indeed applicable to every such descrip- 
tion which may be attempted. The operation 
must be performed while the shoot, in which 
the bud is to be placed, is green and growing, 
— that is, while the sap is up, so that the bark 
will part easily from the stem ; as the whole 
operation consists in putting the bud of a fine 
rose under the bark of some common hardy 
variety, when the juices of the plant close up 
the wound, and the bud groAvs off and forms 
the future plant. 

The operation is thus performed : Select a 
thrifty, growing shoot of any common rose, 
and with a very sharp knife make a cut across 
the shoot, cutting through the bark and no 
deeper. Then split the bark open with a 
downward cut of the knife, say to the distance 
of an inch or a little more, and with the point 
of the knife, loosen the bark from the wood, 
so as to make an opening for the bud. Then 
take the branch from which the bud is to be 



selected, and beginning about half an inch be- 
low the bud, and on the other side of the 
branch, cut into the wood, pass the knife on 
through the wood behind the bud, bringing it 
out half an inch above the bud. This vvill 
give you the bud attached to a thin piece of 
the rose branch. Then, with a very sharj) 
knife, shave away this wood behind the bud 
until it is gotten very thin, when it is all pre- 
pared to be inserted in the opening in the 
bark of the shoot on which you propose to 
bud. Now take the bud and, beginning at the 
top of the opening in the bark, carefully slip 
it home under the bark of the shoot, which 
will completely cover and hide the woody part 
of the bud, and leave only the bud itself ex- 
posed. Wrap around the place cotton twine, 
or other suitable string, to keep the bark to- 
gether, and the operation is complete, — only 
care must be had not to put the twine upon 
the bud itself, which should be left exposed. 
In three or four weeks, the string ought to be 
removed. The bud lies dormant, or nearly 
so, during the winter, but grows off vigorously 
with the advent of spring ; and then the old 
stock is to be cut off just above the bud, and 
whatever shoots or branches shoAV themselves 
below the bud, should be carefully removed, 
so as to throw all the vigour of the plant into 
the growth of the bud, which will form the 
future plant. As before intimated, roses may 
be thus budded at any time while they are 
green and growing, — but it is usually done 
late in the summer, or early in the fall. The 
best time to bud is immediately after a rain ; 
but it may be done even in dry weather, if, so 
so soon as the budding is completed, water ig 
given to the plant freely, so as to start the bud 
at once. Thus it is that we take a bud from 
a fine rose, put it on a common stock, and con- 
vert the worthless stock into a choice and valu- 
able variety. 

The process of root-grafting, which is an- 
other method by which roses are propagated, 
is even more difficult to describe, though 
equally simple in practice. In the fall of the 
year, after the plants have stopped growing, 
select the roots on which you wish to graft, 
tie them in a bundle, and bury them until the 
ensuing spring. In February or March follow- 
ing is the time for making the grafts. Cut 
the roots into pieces three or four inches long ; 



558 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



and it must be observed, that to succeed, you 
must have roots which are well supplied with 
fibrous roots. A naked piece of the root 
without fibers will not answer. A piece of 
the branch of the rose which 3'ou wish to 
propagate, must be taken about three inches 
long, which has a bud on it, and as nearly the 
size of the root on which it is to be grafted as 
you can get it. Then, with a sharp knife, cut 
one end of the root to the shape of a wedge, 
making the cut smooth e and even, and about 
three quarters of an inch long ; and prepare 
the piece of rose wood, which is to be grafted 
on the root in the same manner, so th'at the 
two will fit closely together. Then about mid- 
way the wedge-shaped cut on both piece , 
make a slit with the knife, so that the two 
may be joined together, and then carefully 
unite them at the point where the slit was 
made, — and if it be properly done, they will 
hold together, because the one is fastened into 
the other. But the most material point is, to 
put the pieces together, so that the bark of the 
root, and the bark of the wood on one side, 
shall be even, or, as a carpenter would express 
it, flush. If this is neglected, the pieces will 
not unite, and on this the whole success of the 
operation depends. Then wrap cotton twine 
closely around the graft, and plant as you 
would another rose, — taking care, however, 
to bury the entire graft below the surface, 
leaving say two inches of the wood above 
ground. When it is desirable to perform the 
operation very nicely, the gaaft may be cov- 
ered with wax to exclude dampness. 

We had thought to conclude this article 
with an account of the method by which rose- 
water and attar of roses is obtained from rose 
leaves, but we are warned by the space already 
consumed, that it is time to bring these sug- 
gestions to a close. It may even seem to some 
that we have chosen the wrong season for this 
article ; but we have been induced to write 
about the rose now rather than another time, 
because many of the finer roses are now in 
bloom, and our descriptions can therefore be 
verified by personal inspection, and because 
the season is just opening which is best for 
planting several of the finer roses. Time was, 
when the better roses sold at prices which put 
them beyond the reach of all, sare the rich ; 
that is no longer the fact, — the highest price 



charged for a rose now being only fifty cents. 
In 1844, we sold in this city, at auction, at 
Davenport, Allen & Co.'s warehouse, the 
Prince Albert rose, for five dollars the plant ; 
whereas the same rose can now be purchased 
for thirty-seven cents. Thus are the fairest 
gifts of Flora brought within the reach of the 
humblest cottager, and no person need deny 
himself or herself the pleasure of cultivating a 
choice collection of roses. Their beauty of 
form and colour, and the exquisite fragrance 
which they fling upon the passing winds, will 
amply repay the outlay of their purchase, and 
all the toil of their cultivation. The}'- give 
grace and beauty to the homesteads of the 
land, and as one of our truest English poets 
has expressed it, point our thoughts heaven- 
ward, and stand about us ever, 

" Emblems of our own blest resurrection — 
Tokens of the bright and better land." 



Cabbage and Lettuce for Spring. 

About the fifteenth of this month is the 
proper time to sow cabbage seed, to make early 
Spring cabbage. If sown then, the plants will 
be large enough for transplantation about the 
first of November. In planting these they are 
to be put deeper, than is usual, with plants 
which are set out in the Spring of the year. — 
The bud should be buried about an inch below 
the surface, and the soil in which it is planted 
should be as rich as it is possible to have it. — 
The proper kinds are Early York, Large York, 
Ox Heart and Flat Dutch. 

It will be observed that the cabbages thus 
planted, if they survive the winter, come much 
earlier in the Spring than if they would if not 
planted now. These will mature at least a 
month earlier, than such as are planted in the 
Spring, either in the open ground or in a hot 
bed. The object in burying the bud is to pro- 
tect it from cold, so that even should the outer 
leaves be killed by the winter's frosts, the plant 
will still develope from the bud thus protected 
from the cold. All persons who Avant very ear- 
ly cabbage should pursue this plan. 

This is also the proper time to sow lettuce 
seed for the Spring crop. Either the Brown 
Dutch or Royal Cabbage may be sown. They 
should be planted out about the same time as 
directed for cabbage, in a sheltered border 
which is very rich, and should be placed about 
twelve inches apart every way. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



559 



Kale and Turnips for Salad. 

This is the proper season to sow kale and tur- 
nips for winter salad. They should be sown broad 
cast, and if the weather becomes very severe, 
they should be covered with pine branches or 
something of the sort to protect them. A few 
Spinach seed may be sown with these others, 
and will do well. 



A Problem for Farmers to Solve. 

A gentleman in my immediate vicinity last 
year, planted a portion of his land in peas, 
which was cultivated in the usual mode ; im- 
mediately adjoining, above and below, he had 
a luxuriant pea-fallow. At seeding wheat 
time the cultivated pea vines were drawn up 
and removed from the land, and the peas on 
the fallow turned under, the thin portions of 
land had equal quantities of guano applied, 
and wheat sown thereon. On the 23d of May 
last, I was invited to inspect the wheat 
sown, and to my un))ounded astonishment, 
found that on the cultivated pea-lot standing 
three feet in height, whilst that immediately 
adjoining on the pea-fallow only eighteen 
inches — to-day (the 20th of June) it is reaped, 
and it is the opinion of the owner, as well as 
myself, that the cultivated lot will yield twice 
the amount of the fallow lots. 

RICHARD ROUZEE. 

Essex County, Ya., Jujie 29ih, 1857. 

[American Farmer. 



FIFTH ANNUAL EXHIBITION 

OF THE 

Virginia State Agricultural Society. 
OFFICERS FOR 1857. 

President, 
EDMUND RUFFIN, Sen. 
Vice- Presidents, 
John R. Edmunds, 

WiLLOUGHBY NeWTON, 

Lewis E. Harvie, 
Thomas L. Preston, 
William M. Tate, 
William Townes, 
G. S. Meem, 
William Massie. 

Executive Committee. 
William Boulware. 
William H. Richardson, 
Jeremiah Morton, 
r. h. dulany, 
James B. Newman, 
William C, Knight, 
Hugh M. Nelson, 
William M. Radford, 
William G. Crenshaw, 
f. g. ruffin. 



Secretary and Treasurer. 
Chas. B. Williams. 



Chief Marshal, 
CAPT. CHAS. DIMMOCK. 



ORDEE OF ARRANGEMENTS, 

Tuesday, OcroBER 27th, 

1. The grounds will be opened for the ad- 
mission of Officers, Judges and Members, with 
their families, only, at 9 o'clock, A. M. 

2. At the same hour the Judges will assem- 
ble at the Chief Marshal's tent, and register 
their names. They will then repair to their 
designated rendezvous to complete their organ- 
ization. Those Committees of which there 
shall be in attendance not less than three mem- 
bers, will be considered as organized for busi- 
ness. The organization of others having a less 
number present, will be completed by new ap- 
pointments to Idc made by any member of the 
Executive Committee who may be notified of 
the existence of vacancies to be filled. 

3. Books of Entries, and Form Books, in 
which to record their Awards, will be placed in 
the "hands of each of the Committees at their 
organization, who shall thereupon proceed im- 
mediately to the discharge of their duties, ex- 
cept as to the Judges on horses, whose duties will 
he postponed until the next day. 

Wednesday, October 28Tn. 

1. The grounds will be opened to the public 
at 9 o'clock. 

2. Members shall have free admittance on 
exhibiting either a certificate of life member- 
ship, the badge prescribed by the Executive 
Committee to designate life members, or a re- 
ceipt for payment of the contribution for the 
current year. 

3. Tickets of admission, (at 25 cents each,) 
will be obtained at the ticket offices, near the 
entrance gates. 

4. The Judges on Horses will proceed to 
the discharge of their duties. Each class pro- 
ceeding agreeably to the order in which they 
shall be called for by the Chief Marshal. 

Thursday, October 29th. 

1. The Fair grounds will continue open to 
the public through the da3^ 

2. The ploughing match will take place at 
10 o'clock, A. M. 

3. The Annual Address will be delivered at 
night. 

Friday, October 30th. 

At 10 o'clock, A. M., the reports of the 
Judges will be read from the stand, announcing 



560 



THE SOUTHEKN PLANTEE. 



the names of thesuccessfal competitors for the 
Premiums of the Society. 

INSTRUCTIONS TO THE JUDGES. 

1. The Judges are requested to report them- 
selves on Tuesday morning, at 9 o'clock, to the 
Chief Marshal at his tent on the grounds. 

2. The Committees of Judges under Branch 
II. of the Schedule, viz; "Essays and other 
Written Communications," are requested to 
meet in Richmond on Friday, the 23rd of Oc- 
tober, preceding the exhibition, in order to al- 
low themselves full time to make careful exam- 
ination of the communications to be referred to 
them. 

3. The Judges are requested to observe par- 
ticularly and to conform strictly to the general 
rules and regulations adopted by the Executive 
Committee, as v^^ell as to the " Special Rules," 
interspersed through the Schedule of Pre- 
miums. 

4. Should any thing be exhibited to the 
Judges which they shall deem worthy of spe- 
cial attention, and for which no premium has 
been offered, they will furnish a certificate in 
the form printed and furnished for that pur- 
pose, which the Assistant or Clerk of the de- 
partment will present, together with the article, 
to the Committee on Discretionary Premiums. 

5. Lwe Stock. — The Judges will be expec- 
ted, in making their decisions, to have regard 
to the symmetry, early maturity, size and gen- 
eral characteristics of the breeds to which they 
belong. They will make the proper allowan- 
ces for age, feeding and other circumstances af- 
fecting the character of the animal. They are 
particularly required not to give encourage- 
ment to over-fed animals for breeding purposes. 

Animals fed for the shambles shall not com- 
pete for premiums, except in their proper class. 

Judges will report not only the animals en- 
titled to premiums, but also those next in merit 
in each class, to meet the contingency of any 
objection which may arise to the awards. Any 
animals which, in the opinicm of the Judges, 
deserve a special commendation, they are re- 
quested to report to the Executive Committee. 

6. The Committee on Discretionary Premi- 
ums will consider such subjects only as are 
brought regularly before them by certificates as 
prescribed in article 4th of these instructions. 

Form of certificate to be presented to tlic 
Committee on Discretionary Premiums, agree- 
ably to the 4th article of the instructions to the 
Judges. 



Mr. 



on 



has exhibited to the Judges 



for which no premium has been 
offered. Thoy deem it worth}^ of the attention 



of the Committee on Discretionary Premiums, 
and recommend it accordingly. 

, Chairman. 



RULES AND REGULATIONS. 

"^^ While every effort will be made to se- 
cure the examination and proper notice of every 
article on exhibition, the Executive Committee 
will not be responsible to any Exhibitor that 
his articles will be examined by the- Judges, 
who neglects or fails to comply with the re- 
quirements of the following Rules and Regula- 
tions, as justice requires that they shall in all 
cases first receive attention who have compiled 
strictly with the regidations prescribed hy the So- 
ciety. 

1. The exhibition by a Life Member, of his. 
certificate or a badge, to be furnished him gra- 
tuitously ; or by an Annual Member, of a re- 
ceipt for the payment of his contribution for 
the current year, shall serve to admit them re- 
spectively to the exhibitions on the Fair Grounds 
during the continuance thereof, together with 
their wives, daughters, and sons under twenty- 
one years of age. 

All other persons will pay 25 cents for a 
ticket, for each time of admittance, to be sur- 
rendered at the gate on entering the grounds. 
i 2, Exhibitors at the Fair — who may not be 
members of the Society — must become such, or 
else will be required to pay an entrance fee of 
three dollars to entitle them to the privileges 
of exhibition and admittance to the grounds. 

3. All who intend to become exhibitors are 
earnestly requested to forward to the Secretary 
at Richmond, at least ten days before the exhi- 
bition, lists and descriptions of the animals or 
articles intended to be exhibited, in order that 
timely provision may be made for the arrange- 
ment and accommodation of all such articles 
and animals. 

4. All animals or articles intended for ex- 
hibition, will be registered at the Secretary's 
office, up to the close of the day on Friday, the 
23rd of October, and thereafter at the business 
offices on the show grounds until the close of 
the day on Monday, the 26th. 

Duplicate cards, descriptive of the animal or 
article entered, will be issued, one of Avhich 
will be attached to, or placed near the subject 
of exliibition — the other be retained by the ex- 
lilbitor until the close of the exhibition, and 
then, if for live stock or poultry, shall be re- 
turned to the Forage Master, who shall, upon 
receiving payment for grain furnished, grant 
him a permit to withdraw the same from the 
grounds, or if for anj- other article, then to be 
returned to the Assistant having charge of the 
department to whii'.h the article belongs, who 
shall thereupon allow the same to be withdrawn 
from the grounds. 

5. Nothing will be allowed a place on the 
grounds which shall not have been previously 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



561 



registered, nor will an}'' animal or article be re- 
ceived later than 9 o'clock on Tuesday morning, 
the 27th of October. 

6. No animal or article entered for exhibi- 
tion can be taken away before the close of the 
Fair, except by permission of the President, to 
be granted only for such special cause assigned 
as he may deem sufficient to justify a suspen- 
sion of this rule. No premium will be paid on 
any articles or ammals removed in violation 
of it. 

7. On Tuesday, the first day of the Exhibi- 
tion, none but members of the Society and their 
families will be admitted, that the Judges may 
not be incommoded by a crowd whilst viewing 
the subjects of exhibition. 

8. On and after Wednesday, 9 o'clock, A. 
M., the public will be admitted to the grounds. 

9. Agricultural Societies of other States, 
and. sister Societies within this State, are invi- 
ted to send delegates to the Fair. Such dele- 
gates will be admitted free. 

10. The Executive Committee will take eve- 
ry precaution fot the safe keeping of articles 
exhibited, but will not be responsible for loss 
or damage that may occur during the Fair, un- 
less such loss occur clearly from want of due 
care on the part of the Society's agents. Ex- 
hibitors are, therefore, requested to give atten- 
tion to their articles. 

11. The Chief Marshall will call the Judges 
at 9 o'clock on Tuesday morning and direct 
them to the rendezvous provided for the depart- 
ments to which they belong, where they will 
be furnished with the printed lists of premiums, 
(one to each committee, when organized,) with 
the books of entries of animals or articles in 
their departments, and also with olank books 
in which to register th^ir awards. The Judges 
will then be conducted by the Assistant Mar- 
shals to their respective departments of the 
exhibition. 

12. The Marshal and his aids shall give par- 
ticular attention to the proper arrangement of 
all articles exhibited in their respective depart- 
ments ; point out the articles or animals to the 
Judges, and otherwise facilitate their examina- 
tion. 

13. AH productions of the soil placed in 
competition for premiums, must have been cul- 
tivated and grown by the competitors, unless it 
is claimed that it is a new product or a new and 
valuable variety of one already cultivated. 

14. Hay and straw will be furnished, with- 
out charge, for all animals entered for premi- 
ums, and grain will be provided on the grounds, 
to be supplied to exhibitors at cost and expen- 
ses. 

15. No person will be allowed to interfere 
vnth the Judges whilst examining and compar- 
ing animals and articles submitted for their ad- 
judication, Any competitor so doing, Avith in- 



tent to influence the decision of the Judges, 
shall be excluded from receiving a premium. 
Competitors will, nevertheless, be at liberty to 
communicate freely to the Judges any infor- 
mation which they may think proper to ask for. 



STANDING RULES IN REGARD TO PRE- 
MIUMS. 

1. As required by the Constitution- of the 
Virginia State Agricultural Society, the premi- 
ums to be awarded " shall be, in all cases, such 
as are likely to benefit agriculture, horticulture, 
or the auxiliary mining and mechanic arts/' 

2.. The decisions of the Judges of awards, 
as to the merits of subjects will be respected as 
final in every exercise of their legitimate au- 
thority. But any awards made contrary to the 
requirements of the rules for directing and re- 
stricting premiums, claimants, or awards, will 
be disregarded or reversed by the Executive 
Committee. 

3. No subject, (whether animal, implement, 
writing, or other,) for which a premium or 
honor is offered shall be deemed entitled to 
either, though being the best, or the second 
best, of all of the kind offered, unless such ar- 
ticle is deemed by the Judges of sufiicient merit 
to deserve such rewards. 

4. An}^ animal, machine, or utensil, which 
shall have had a premium awarded to it once, 
as being the best of its kind exhibited, shall 
not thereby be debarred from claiming and ob- 
taining the like distinction, so long as the par- 
ticular subject shall still be deemed the best at 
subsequent exhibitions of the Society. But in 
such cases, after two premiums, in different 
years, may have been awarded to the same sub- 
ject, any subsequent honor to the same shall be 
a testimonial only of its continned superiority. 
Such testimonial being in lieu of the first pre- 
mium it will of course be withheld from any 
other competitor. No other subject except the 
above named shall obtain a premium* more 
than once. 

5. The kind of admissible testimony in the 
case of farming, crops, experiments, &c., can- 
not be described in advance. The committees 
for examining claims for premiums on subjects 
of this class, must judge of the value of the 
testimony offered, as well as of the value of the 
claim in other respects. As no other witness 
is usually available in such cases, the claimant 
must testify in his own case, unless he has ob- 
tained and prefers to ofi'er the testimony of 
others also. 

6. No one subject shall receive two premi- 
ums, by the awards of difi'erent committees of 
Judges, at the same Fair — unless when one of. 
the premiums Avas offered expressly as addi- 
tional. 

7. All written communications (unless re- 
ports of experiments not then completed,) must 



562 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



be 8ent in to the Secretary of the Executive 
Committee at least two weeks before the annual 
meeting and Fair of the Societ3^ 

8. All articles offered for premiums, other 
than communications in writing, if not on the 
ground on the day preceding the day for the 
first action of the Judges, m^j be passed over. 
All reports of the awards of Judges, to be valid, 
must be delivered to the Executive Committee, 
for examination, by the afternoon preceding the 
day for announcing the awards of premiums. 

9. When two subjects, of the same kind, 
presented for premiums, are deemed by the 
Judges ot equal merit, and also of such high 
degree that to either, if alone, the premium 
would be awarded, in such case, the award 
must be to divide the first and second premiums 
equally between the two competitors, or in case 
there shall have been no second premium offer- 
ed, then to divide the first only in like propor- 
tion. 

10. In all cases the parties entitled to pre- 
miums inay receive them, according to their 
own election, either in money or its equivalent 
in silver plate, bearing an inscription represent- 
ing the particular subject for which the same 
shall have been awarded. Provided that no 
such inscribed plate shall be given, in lieu of 
money, if the premium is of less value than 
ten dollars. 

11. If the premiums awarded at any annu- 
al Fair, shall not be claimed before the close of 
the Fair next succeeding the one at which the 
award was made, the amount will be deemed 
to have been surrendered to the Society, and 
payment will be withheld accordingly. 

12. No refreshments in food or liquors, shall 
be furnished on the Fair Grounds, or elsewhere, 
at the expense of the Society; nor any grain or 
provender be provided except for the animals 
entered for premiums under the general regu- 
lations in such cases. 

13. In every case of stock entered for pre- 
miums, the owner must be the exhibitor thereof. 

14. Stock may be sold at auction at and af- 
ter 4 o'clock, P. M., during the three last days 
of the exhibition, but shall not be removed 
from the grounds until the close of the fair, 
except by special permission obtained from the 
President, agreeably to article Gth of the Rules 
and Regulations. 



Drills with Guano Attachment, &c. 
HoLKHAM, Near Woodville Depot, 
Albemarle Co. Va., July 22, 1857. 
To the Editors of the American Farmer: 

Your esteenaed favor asking for a com- 
munication detailing my experience on 
the subject of wheat drills, guano, &.c., 
reached me in due time, but an unusually 
large wheat and hay harvest, together 



with the warm weather, has delayed my 
response. 

The very high price of Peruvian Guano, 
the fact that more than one-third applied 
broadcast, (by accurate analysis) is not 
taken up by the wheat crop, coupled with 
the belief founded on several most satis- 
factory and conclusive experiments, that 
it is not a permanent improver of the soil, 
induced me to seek for some other mode 
of application, requiring less, and therefore 
more remunerative. The Drill with guano 
attachment, naturally occurred to me as a 
great labor, as well as a guano saving ma- 
chine, provided one could be found to per- 
form w'hat was promised, of sufficient 
strength and durability, and not too compli- 
cated. Most flattering accounts, certifi- 
cates, &c., were to be seen in the various 
publications — but afterlearning the opinions 
of some of the most practical and enlight- 
ened agriculturalists of Virginia and Mary- 
land, who had seen and used different 
varieties of the drill, I was induced to or- 
der one of Bickford and Huffman's, of 
Macedon, New York, for myself, and also 
for some of my neighbors. 

Several varieties have been tried in this 
neighborhood, all of which performed so 
unsatisfactorily that the small number not 
returned, if not abondoned altogether, will 
be but little used, and nearly all the above 
farmers have ordered Bickford & Huffman's 
Drill. That this is far superior to all 
others, I am perfectly satisfied, and this 
opinion is fully substantiated, by all who 
have used it, within my knowledge, inde- 
pendent of numerous certificates of agri- 
culturists, whose reputation, skill and 
practical knowledge places them above 
the suspicion of either intentional or 
unintentional deception — about 3-5ths of 
my wheat crop was put in with the 
Drill, the balance with large cultiva- 
tors — and immediately contiguous in dif- 
ferent portions of the field, the drilled 
wheat was several days earlier maturing, 
decidedly superior to the broadcast, and 
will make from \ to ^ more, in some places 
double. As this may appear extravagant; 
it may be proper for me to mention that 
the attention of several of our most intel- 
ligent farmers was called to this marked 
difference, who concurred with me in the 
above opinion, and several at once deter- 
mined to procure B. & H.'s Drills. 

I applied Reese's Manipulated Guano, 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



563 



Mexican and Columbian Guano, also De 
Burg's 'Super Phosphate of Lime, all ex- 
cept the first, mixed in different propor- 
tions with Peruvian Guano, and while all 
will doubtless benefit the soil and after 
crops, the character of the wheat seemed 
almost entirely dependent on the quantity 
of Peruvian Guano applied — the result of 
w^hich experiment was anything but pleasant 
to me, smarting under the high price of 
Peruvian Guano, which has become almost 
indispensable to wheat growers in Virginia 
and Maryland. Though not precisely ac- 
curate, I generally applied with the drill 
from eigh'ty to one hundred and twenty-five 
pound:^ Peruvian Guano, mixed in different 
proportions with Phosphatic Guano, Super 
Phosphate Lime, &c., — broadcast from one 
hundred and seventy-five to two hundred 
pounds of same mixture. On my latest 
seeding of about thirty-five bushels, sowed 
last of October, and the first week of No- 
vember, applied with the Drill a larger 
quantity of Peruvian guano, with a small 
amount of plaster — the effect was palpa- 
ble to everyone whose attention was called 
to it. 

The attachment will distribute Peruvian 
Guano, with sufficient regularity, if dry 
enough to weigh not more than 57 pounds 
to the bushel, after being pulverized. If 
heavier, and of course damper, Columbian 
Guano or plaster should be added, the 
quantity dependent on its condition. 

The condition of the guano affecting so 
much the distribution of it, the practiced 
eye is the best guage or regulator, and the 
openings through which it passes must be 
enlarged or decreased accordingly. The 
drill sows very accurately wheat which is 
perfectly- clean, as it should always be for 
seeding. 

Excepting a small portion of my latest 
seeding with the drill, where I sowed 1^ 
bushel, I sowed only one bushel to the 
acre, and I will make several hundred 
bushels more than I have ever made here- 
tofore. This last was considerably thicker 
and more luxuriant than broadcast do. ad- 
joining 1^ bushel to the acre. 

While I have always been an advocate 
of what some considered rather thin seed- 
ing, 1^ bushel to the acre will I think, 
generally answer best — a smaller quantity 
might, some seasons, prove too thin — and 
much more, unless a remarkably fertile soil, 
would probably be dwarfish and sedgy. 



Several persons who had used other drills, 
in different portions of the Piedmont region, 
predicted that my wheat would prove to 
be too thin ; that they had found it neces- 
sary to sow a good deal more with the drill 
than broadcast. This was easily accounted 
for — their drills operating imperfectly, not 
sowing much more than half the quantity 
indicated. 

As to the labor saved, I had a grass seed 
sower attached behind, which sowed clean 
timothy seed beautifully, and a man, small 
boy to drive, and three horses to it, ac- 
complished more than five men, seven 
horses and two large cultivators, requiring 
each thiee horses, the other being neces- 
sary to mark off the lands for the seeds- 
man — the additional men being necessary 
to sow the wheat, guano and grass seed. 

The inference from the above is, that 
no one should purchase a drill unless he 
anticipates giving a good deal of his at- 
tention or his overseer's to the management 
of it — so ve'ry m.inute a quantity of guano 
passing through orifices so small, a feather, 
straw, &c., may obstruct its regular distri- 
bution; hence, the practised eye is con- 
stantly needed to detect any stoppage or 
irregularity. 

A correct estimate of the labor, guano 
and wheat saved, will place in the strongest 
light the superior advantages of the drill. 
The improvements in Bickford & Huff- 
man's Drill, suggested by Mr. Goldsborough 
in his valuable communication in the July 
No. of the Farmer will, I trust, be adopted 
by them ; and with all due deference I 
will suggest that they should have the 
spindle in the axle-tree made larger, espe- 
cially for rough, rolling land, — a farmer in 
this neighborhood was compelled to send 
his to a shop to have it straightened, and 
it was bent sufficiently in my drill to cause 
the iron covering protecting the cog-wheels 
to strike and cut the spoke, and very soon 
to be broken. 

Having written the above rather hur- 
riedly, and perhaps not with that perspicuity 
so desirable in the discussion, of such sub- 
jects, I will give, in short, the conclusions 
which I have arrived at : — 

That at the present prices of Peruvian 
Guano, it is extremely hazardous to apply 
the quantity necessary to be sown broad- 
cast. That Peruvian Guano, even at 
present prices, is worth more than all other 
fertilizers for wheat, and from 100 to 125 



564 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER!. 



lbs. applied with the drill will make a bet- 
ter crop than 175 to 200 lbs. broadcast. 
That a large amount of labor is saved when 
absolutely required for taking care of to- 
bacco, corn and fodder. And finally, that 
a peck of wheat in every acre, may be 
saved by the drill w^ithout any detriment 
whatever to the product. With kind re- 
gard, I am most 

Truly Jtnd faithfully yours, 

Jno. R. Woods. 

P. S. — As there are doubtless many 
who believe that Peruvian Guano is a per- 
manent improver of the soil, it will proba- 
bly be not unacceptable to your numerous 
readers, to detail the experiments which 
convinced me that this opinion was erro- 
neous, at least to a great extent. Several 
years since I applied .guano to a small 
square of our best chocolate soil, at the rate 
of about 2000 pounds to the acre, which was 
thoroughly spaded and raked in, so as to 
bring about a perfect admixture of it at 
least 12 inches deep — to another square of 
thin red soil, in the same field about 700 
Dounds. The wheat on first square was 
very indifferent, a good deal destroyed by 
the excess of guano; a heavy crop of weeds 
sprung up but no clover ; sowed it next 
spring and it took well. On th*e second 
square the wheat was considerably better 
than immediately contiguous, where from 
175 to 200 pounds were applied, making 
one half again as much. But the clover 
and several crops since grown on both 
squares have been no better than on adja- 
cent soil. 

HoLKHAM, Albemarle, Va. > 

oTuly 23d; 1857. 5 

To the Editors of theAmencan Farmer : 

Gentlemen : — You will observe that 
Mr. Goldsborough and myself agree in our 
views as to the advantages of the drill, 
compared with broadcast culture, differing 
only as to the benefits to the wheat crop 
from the application of Phosphatic Guano. 

After enclosing my letter yesterday, it 
occurred to me, it would be desirable that; 
r should explain the cause of this apparent ; 
discrepancy. I 

Re.siding as Mr. Goldsborough does on 
the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the soil 
differing so much from ours, the prepara- 1 
tions of lime, especially the phosphates, | 
may produce a great effect on the wheat 



and other crops; while our soil, containing 
already a large per centage of lime", 2 per 
cent, according to the analysis of Professor 
Wm. B. Rogers, does not need its applica- 
tion as other soils more deficient. 

The astonishing results in lower or tide 
water Virginia from the use of marl, 
oyster shell lime, &c., (not used here at 
all, within my knowledge, for their imme- 
diate effect on the wheat crop,) will illus- 
trate fully the idea which I wish to convey. 
The farmer who can afford to look more to 
the ultimate improvement of his soil than 
to the crop, might use a mixture of Peru- 
vian and Phosphatic Guano; and- here let 
me advise all farmers to do all of the mani- 
pulating which guano may require, on their 
own premises. Without any knowedge of 
the parties preparing Manipulated Guano, 
the temptations to practice frauds by dis- 
honest persons are very great, and the 
charge for manipulating is too great also. 
Reese's Manipulated Guano sells in Rich- 
mond for $53* per ton of 3,000 pounds; 
^ ton of Peruvian and ^ do. Mexican A. 
A. can be bought by the small quantity at 
$43. The farmer can use his barn floor 
on a rainy day, thoroughly mix the two, 
and with one of the best of the different 
varieties of horse mills, grind it as fine as 
he chooses — the amount saved will soon 
pay for the mill, and what is exceedingly 
important, he knows precisely what the 
mixture is composed of. 

I stated that I did not consider Peruvian 
Guano a permanent improver of the soil, 
except to a very limited extent, and there- 
fore advised its application with the drill 
a« more remunerative. 

The increased growth of clover is but 
a small compensation for the large amount 
of guano not accounted for in the crop of 
wheat when applied broadcast at the usual 
i-ate — 200 pounds to the acre. 
In much haste, 

I am truly and faithfully yours, 
Jno. R. Woods. 



A Cure. — It is said that inflammatory 
rheumatism can be cured by the following 
simple method which we extract from a 
medical publication: — Half an ounce of 
pulverized saltpetre put in half a pint of 
sweet oil. Bathe the parts affected, and ^ 
a sound cure will immediately follow. 

[*Tlio price in Baltimnre is only $48, for >^ Peruvian and 
>; Phosphatic Guaao.— JSd. Far.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



565 



From the Boston Cultivator. [ 

Deep and Skailow, Relative Terms. 

Messrs. Editors — In advocating what he 
calls deep tillage, Woodward, the patentee 
of the harrow bearing his name, thus ex- 
presses hinnself : " In traveling much oyer 
the country with my patent, I have dis- 
covered, to my surprise, a great want of 
agricultural spirit, and it has astonished 
me to find that nineteen farmers out of 
twenty are averse to deep plowing ; their 
average depth being four inches, and in 
man}^ places not so much, the reason as- 
signed being, a fear to bring the clay to 
the surface ; but I would ask, would it not 
be wiser to cover the good soil with the 
clay from the substratum, and thus protect 
it from the heat of the sun ? In my opin- 
ion, I would say, plow six inches deep, or 
no clay. " So there, our spirited friends 
deems six inches deep-plowing, while oth- 
ers of the same schools give it as their 
conviction, that a foot in any soil is not 
sufficient if more can be obtained ! while 
their gratitude to friend Woodward is due, 
for helping them to a new argument for 
their deep-sea culture, namely, " it is wiser 
to cover the good soil with the clay from 
the substratum, and thus protect it from 
the heat of the sun" — quite a novel and 
refreshing phase ; and, of course, the 
deeper the covering of clay, the more 
effectual the protection ! But to show that 
deep and shallow are merely relative 
term.s, allow me to state the following fact, 
that came immediately under my ovv^n ob- 
servation. 

A relation of mine in England, who 
dwelt in the city and there carried on the 
businesses of tanner, currier and leather- 
seller, malster, coal-merchant and rectifier 
of spirit under a government license, 
finding a want of recreation, purchased a 
farm of 200 acres withins two miles of the 
city, where, by the superintendence of a 
most intelligent bailiff or steward, he was 
accustomed to grow wheat of so fine a 
quality that every bushel of it was bought 
up at double the market price as seed for 
sowing, bearing, at the same time, the 
name of " Tanner.s Wheat," and being 
proverbial for beauty of sample and free- 
dom from weeds of every description, 
unapproachable. These things had gone 
on well, when one day he saw in a 
]>ublication of Arthur Young, that no one 



plowed deep enough ; the quantity of crop 
depending on the depth to which the land 
w^as plowed, and which might thus be aug- 
mented to almost any extent ; so he or- 
dered the steward to plough deeper, en- 
quiring to what depth he now penetrated? 
and on being told, " to the staple of the 
soil, five inches, " instructed him to go an 
extra three inches for the present, when 
the man replied, " then you will ruin the 
land to eternity, filling it with millions up- 
on millions of weeds, spoil the crop of 
wheat and ruin its charactor in the market, 
without ever again harvesting, as hereto- 
fore, a crop from 38 to 40 bushels per acre, 
and sometimes more ! " But Arthur Young 
prevailed, and the prophecy was fulfilled to 
the letter, the crop of red-wed — poppies 
— that sprung up covering the whole field 
with one carpet, seen, admired and rid- 
iculed for miles and miles around, to the 
owner's deepest chagrin and mortification, 
the crop of wheat being no longer fit for 
seed, and hardly for bread : the only way 
partially to remedy the evil, being to turn 
down the stubble to the ruinous depth to 
v/hich it had been broken up, cultivate 
green crops in succession, and leave well- 
enough alone. B. G. 



The Cholera among Hogs. 

The Buffalo Republic, referring to the 
malady that has prevailed among hogs in 
the Ohio Valley, says : 

The same malady appears to have pre- 
vailed extensively in the adjoining States. 
In Western New York, especially, w^e 
learn it has been very fatal, but is now 
over. In conversation with one of the 
most extensive dealers in the neighbor- 
hood, a day or two since, he informs us 
that about six weeks ago he lost about 
four hundred in a very short space of 
time. A distiller in Jordan, during the 
month of September, lost fourteen hun- 
dred, which cost him in addition over 
$1,000 to have them buried. In Roches- 
ter, at all the principal points, and even 
among the farmers, the mortality has ex- 
ceeded anything ever before heard of. 
A butcher in this 6ity, not long since, 
purchased five hundred dollars worth of 
fat hogs, but they died so rapidly on his 
hands, that he scarcely realized $75 dol- 
lars on his investment. 

In this quarter the disease appears to 



566 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



have been confined to no particular class 
of hogs but to have prevailed indis- 
criminately among " all sexes, age and 
condition" — corn-fed, still-fed and grass- 
fed, have fared alike. The fattest, how- 
ever, seem to have been more suscep- 
tible than others. When first attacked, 
the hog was noticed to fall rapidly away. 
Soon the skin about the neck and ears 
assumed a purplish hue, and generally in 
about an hour the hog was dead, after 
which the whole carcase became purple. 
The lungs, liver and kidneys, on examin- 
ation, were found to be like sponge in 
appearance, but nothing like the symp- 
toms of cholera has been noticed in this 
vicinity. In the neighborhood of Cincin- 
nati, it is said that the disease appears to 
have assumed the form of erysipelas in 
the throat. 

All efforts at finding a remedy which 
should prove the least effectual in staying 
the ravages of the epidemic have thus far 
failed. In this quarter, however, the dis- 
ease appears to have ceased its ravages 
some four or five weekes ago ; but it is not 
improbable that it will return again anoth- 
er season, and in the meantime its origin 
and progress should be investigated. 
Whether the subject is of sufficient im- 
portance to call for legislative interference 
in legulating the sale of it we shall not at- 
tempt to decide* We presume every per 
son will consult with his own taste in pork 
in this respect. 

Frovi the JEiiquirer. 
Baltimore, July 27, 1857. 
Frank G. Ruffin, Esq., 

Editor Southern Planter. 

Dear Sir — In the July No. of the 
Southern Planter, is an article on super- 
Phosphates, by Prof. Gilfiam,- of the Vir- 
ginia Military Institute, in which, amongst 
others, the " Rhodes' " Super-Phosphate 
is assailed. 

As the formula for making this was 
furnished by our State Chemist, Dr. 
Higgins, there is no mistake in if, and any 
impurity or defect in the compound must 
rest with the manufacturers.^ 

It would have been proper, had Prof. 
Gilham, in attacking the Rhodes, Super- 
phosphate, have not stated a chemical im- 
posibilit}'', for us to have gone into an ela- 
borate defence of it, and published the 



analysis of Dr Higgins & Bickell, of the 
manufactured article. 

This defence Prof. Gilham has saved us 
from, for he states he finds *' 7^ per cent, 
of soluble or super-phosphate of lime." 
and that it " also contains carbonate of 
lime." Now, on this, we join issue with 
Prof. Gilham and say, that the existence 
of soluble or super-phospate of lime and 
carbonate of lime, is a chemical impossi- 
bility ; it never has existed, never can ex- 
ist and never will exist in the same prepar- 
ation ; the presence of the one nessarily ex-^ 
eludes the presence of the other. 

For this we have the authority of the 
leading chemists of the day, and we ask 
Prof. Gilham to again examine the Rhodesl 
super-phosphate and correct his chemis- 
try. 

In this connection we would boldly but 
respectfully remark, the Rhodes' super- 
of lime contains more soluble phosphoric 
acid than any other article manufactured, 
and having made extensive arrangements 
to meet the increasing demand, would re- 
fer Virginia farmers to our agent in Rich- 
mond, Messrs. Schaer, Kohler & Co., and 
at Petersburg, Messrs. Venable & Morton, 
who at all times have supplies on hand. 

By inserting the above in the next num- 
ber of your useful Journal, you will great- 
ly oblige. 

Yours, truly, 

B. M. RHODES & CO. 



How TO Extract the Essential Oil. — Take 
any flower you like, which stratify with com- 
mon 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 afterwards 
put a crape 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 8ino;le drop of that essence is 
enough to scent a whole quart of water. 



Is it so 1 — Eggs, which are now so abun- 
dant, can, it is said, be better preserved 
in corn meal than in any other preparation 
yet known Lay them with the small end 
down, and if undisturbed they will be as 
good at the end of the year as when 
packed. 

Reply. — it may answer. So will Lime 
water or anythig else that will close pores 
of the shell. 



LIST OP PAYMENTS 

From May 21 . 

Ul|>er8ons who have made payments early enough to be entered, and whose names do not ap 
ir in the following receipt list, are requested to give immediate notice of the omission, in order 
t the correction may be made in the next issue : 



Vloody, April 1858 $ 

) Groseclose, 15 Feb 58 
R C Mason, Feb 58 
ac F Hite, April 1858 
A Hairston, " 
OS Green, " 

W P Braxton, Jan 58 
N K Foster, 15 Feb 58 
dge Moncure, Jan 1858 
C L Moncure, jr. Jan 58 
s Lyons, " 

P Strange, " 

s M Hite, 
s Hart, 1860 

los G Bumpass, 15 Mar 58 
Ison Winfree, Jan 58 
s L Saunders, May 58 
) Kent, Sr, Jan 1858 
: J V Hobson, Jan 1858 
J Wheeler, Jan 57 
iter Burruss, April 58 
jodrich Wilson, Mar 58 
m A Warren, Jan 58 
W Ford, 

Branch, " 

m Eddins, March 58 
L Cason, Jan 1858 
M Harris, " 
LS A Walker, Oct 1858 
^m Fariss, May 1858 
:rs F T Harvey, Apr 60 
IS H Burgess, Oct 58 
eo W Turner, Jan 58 
S Jones, " 

H K Taylor, " 
Walke, Apr 58 
r S Maupin, Jan 1858 
enry Quarles, " 
Dhn S Hobson, " 
Dhn Poe, " 

I T Withers, 
' B Hamlin, " 

■ Heptenstall, Jan 1860 
ohn Currie, Mar 58 
as Chandler, July 1857 
!ol W W Brown, Apr 58 
ere Morton, 15 Mar 60 
)r J P Mettauer, Dec 57 
C R Taylor, Jan 1858 
)r H C Worsham, Jan 58 
!^ Wortham, " 

O Perkins, '' 

: Shirley, 

OS S Perkins, Mar 60 
Claybrook, Jan 60 
udge Thos Ruffin, Jan 60 
^ H Harrison, July 57 
V H Harris, Apr 60 
)r W Gwatiimev, Jan 58 
I W Ashton, 



C Leigh, Jan 1858 $1 

Dr John Butler, Apr 68 2 

S B Atwill, " 2 

W Appleberry, jr. Jan 58 2 

W Benton, Oct 58 5 

Maj Jas Paxton, July 57 2 

D B Stigle, May 57 1 

J H Evans, Dec 57 1 

Col P W Meredith, Jan 58 1 

J T Baughan, » 2 

J G Powell, " 2 

S S Greshara, " 1 

John H Lee, " 3 

W M BoMae, July 57 2 

H B White, Jan 59 5 

Nevitt & Snowden, June 58 2 

Dr C P Hartwell, Jan 58 2 

W W Harris, " 2 

SPByrd, " 2 

R S Selden, 

J R Bryan, July 58 

Peyton Rice, June 58 

John T Gayle. Jan 1858 

F G Bridges, " 

H C France, " 

Geo W Key, 

C A Hundley, Jan 59 

Z Drummond, Jan 58 

Thos Betterton, Mar 58 

R Colston, Oct 58 

Wm Waller, Apr 58 

A G Ware, Jan 58 

W F Hobbs, Jan 59 

W F Lewis, " 

Ro Anderson, Jan 58 

E Knight, " 

B B Douglas, July 59 

H Mackey, Jan 58 

Rev REG Adams, Mar 58 2 

Chas Middleton, Jan 58 2 

Dr W R Nelson, " 

N Sowell, 

A B Duncan, Apr 58 

H H Roberts, Jan 1858 

Wm S Carter, Jan 59 

W W Michaux, Oct 63 

E Gerst, March 58 

John E Hughes, 15 Dec 57 

Ro H Richardson, 15 Ma 58 

Wm Houchens, Jan 58 

L A Crenshaw, 

W Leitch, April 58 

R Green, Jan 58 

G Breant, Jan 1860 

Thomas Thurman, Jan 58 

R Harvey, 

J O Massie, " 

C C Hightower, 

T L Page, 

Saml Fairar, 



58 



00 J Johnson, Jan 185S 

00 W M Shepherd, '' 

00 Wm C Gilmore, Jiilv 58 

00 E Porter, July 57 

00 W Patrick, April 60 

00 Dr H Curtis, Jan 58 

45 John Aklridge, Oct 57 

00 F D Wheelwright, Jan 

00 R W Flournoy, 

OOJE Harris, 

50 Dr T A Field, Jan 60 

83 TH Oliver, Jan 1858 

25 E A Coleman, " 

50 Josh Miller, Apr 58 

00 W P Shepherd, Jan 58 

00 Isaac Rose, " 

OODr R C Randolph. Oct 57 

00 B Winston, Apr 59 

00 W H Decourcy, 15 Mar 60 

00 Maj Geo Wilson, July 60 

00 Geo W Whitmore 

00 Z Johnston, 

00 H B Jones, 

00 J J McBride, 

00 G W Houston, 

00 Saml Willson, 

00 J Willson, 

00 A B Anderson, Jan 58 

00 A Dill, 

00 Philip Edge, April 58 

00 W M Connelly, Jan 58 

45JDMakeley, 

50 Dr J B Kirby, April 58 

00 Chas Ellett, jr, Jan 58 

00 W D Mansfield, " 

00 Jas Chandler, July 58 

00 Col Wm Hay ward, Jan 58 

50 Jos Horner, " 

OOThos R Hollvdav, 

00 R G Harrell," 

OOOC Fowler, 

50 A C Pago, July 58 

00 Dr J L Burruss, Jan 58 

75 E J Bates, 15 Dec 57 

00 Dr Wm Fuqua, Jan 58 

OOED Hundley, 

00 J W Allen, July 58 

00 J D Ligon, Mar 58 

00 Saml Williams, June 58 

00 S J Cabell, Jan 59 

00 S W Ficklin, April 58 

00 A J Matthews. Julv 58 

00 Wm MMiller, Jan 58 

00 R S Voss, July 58 

00 John Colgin, Jan 58 

00 John Walker, Mar 60 

00 N A Holman, Nov 57 

00 L M King, Apr 58 

00 J S Cowan. Oct 57 

OO'S King, 



3 33 
2 00 
2 00 
2 00 
5 00 
2 00 

1 00 

2 00 

1 58 

2 33 
5 00 

1 00 

2 33 
2 00 

2 00 

3 00 
2 00 
5 00 
5 00 
5 00 



Jan 58 5 83 



1 33 

2 50 
2 00 
2 50 

50 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
33 
00 
00 
00 
2 00 
2 25 

1 00 

2 00 
2 75 
2 00 
2 00 
2 00 
5 00 
2 00 
5 00 
2 00 
5 00 
2 00 
5 00 
2 00 
2 50 
2 00 
2 00 



HAMPTON MALE ANP FE MALE ACADEMY. 

xjsrs'X'.utreTeH.s. 

JOHN B CARY, ,A M., Principal, and Instructor in Ancient Laiiguaget, Mathematicc. &c 
JOPIN B. WILSON, A. B., M. J)., A?si;;tan» Instructor in Ancient Langua{.;e.;: and Matho 
inati^'.^. 

, Instructor in Modern Languages, Musif and Drawing. 

Miss EMILY A. CLEVELAND, Instructress in Female Department. 
JAMES MASSENBURG, Jr., Instructor in Military Tactics. 
The exercises of this School begin on the First Monday in October, and close on the last Friday- 
in July. 

TERMS — Per session (payable semi-annually, in advance.^ 
Board (Lights extra) and Tuition in Ancient Languages, Mathematics. &c. 

(any or all,) - - - - - ' - .^220 00 

Modern Languages, each, (extra) - - - - - 15 OU 

Music, with use of Instrument, (extra) .... 50 qq 

Drawing, (extra,) - - - - - - 15 00 

Matriculation and Library Fee, (extra.) - - - - 2 00 

For the character of the School, reference is made to the following testimonials: 

Virginia Military Institute, May 29, 1857. 
I take pleasure in recommending to public favor the Hampton Academy, under charge of J. B. 
Gary, Esq. My estimate of this Academy, and of the ability and fidelity of Mr.^Cary, is founded 
lapon the character of the material which he has sent to this Institution. All of those young gen- 
tlemen who have entered the Institute from the Hampton Academy, have shown that they have 
been faithfully taught. Francis H. Smith. Sup't. 

The member? of the Faculty of William & Mary College take pleasure in stating, for the infor- 
mation of all interested, that the Hampton Academy, as conducted by John B. Cary, Esq., is, ii 
their opinion, an Institution of high rardv, and well worthy of public patronage. This opinion is 
based on the general reputation of the School, the well known qualifications of its accomplished 
Principal, and on the scholarship of its pupils. Benj. S. Ewell, 

Silas Totten, M. J. Smead, 

H. A. Washington, , Thos. T. L. Snead. 

Williamsburg^ June 2, 1857. 

Of his associates, the Principal begs leave to say, that two of them, Miss Cleveland and Mr. 
Massenburg, are well known to the friends of the School to be proficients in their respective depart- 
ments. Dr. Wilson is a graduate in five schools of the University of Virginia, and is strongly re- 
commended besides, by Senators Hunter (in whose family he taught for two years) and Mason, 
Judge Parker of Winchester, and others. The vacancy in the Department of Modern Languages, 
&c., will be filled before the 1st October, by one whom he Avili guarantee to be thoroughly competent 
in those branches. 

For Catalogue, or further information, address the Principal, Hampton, Va. [It 

GUANO DIKECT FROM PATAGONIA. 

Referring to our advertisement in the August number of the Southern Planter, we have now the, 
pleasure of inforining the Farmers that after making some chemical tests here of the Guano there- 
in referred to, and having unquestionable proofs of its being genuine Patagonia Guano, we secu- 
red the cargo of the Maiy Francis. She came on directly to our poit without breaking bulk, and 
we are now having the Guano bagged at our wharf. It is the only cargo of Patagonia Guano ii 
the United States, so far as we can ascertain, and of it there are only 350 tons, nearly half of 
which is already sold, mostly to those who have used Patagonia Guano several years ago — all of 
whom, so far as we can learn, were j)leased with the results, both on the crop of grain and the 
succeeding grass and clover. 

Our own opinion is based on the experience of those who have used, Patagonia Guano hereto- 
fore, among whom M'e name N. W. Harris, Esq., of Louisa ; Richard Sampson, of Goochland ; 
W. G. Crenshaw, Richmond ; W. C. Scott, Orange ; Dr. W. L. Wight, Goochland. 

From the chemical tests of this cargo, we are very favourably impressed with its value, and 
have great hopes that alone, it will have a fine eflect ; but as it has only a limited quantity of 
ammonia, which of all other fertilizers gives promptly the greatest growth of straw, it is not expect- 
ed that it will at once shew such an effect as Peruvian Guano, yet we think the Soluble Phosphate 
of Lime will increase the quantity of grain very materially. Our W. G. Crenshaw therefore in- 
tends to combine it with Peruvian Guano in^qual qjumtitios, and wc would advise its general u; 
in this way; at the same time we want all to use a portion of it alone, and we hope accurate ex- 
l)oriments will be mad(; and reported to us, that we may be prepared with sui)plies for the next 
crop, provided, as wc have now every reason to hope, the result will be satisfactory. 

We think, therefore, that each farmer will consult his interest by making a portion of his pur 
fhases this fall of the Patagonian Guano. Price $40 per ton of 2.000 pounds, delivered at the" 
Depots or Boats. CRENSHAW & CO., 

Commission Merchants artd Grocers, Richmond,. Va. 

J8^^ We also solicit orders for genuine No. 1 Peruvian Guano, direct from the Agents, and the 
A \ Al,>\i,Tin (lirn-t from [tn])r)rti'rs. Wc iilwnys fnryiisli nt \\\o loM-f>st prifos.