: *L^ 





*£m . 



■Wh l| 
[MARCH.] No. 3. Tfg \\ 

'fl 

Luffin ife August, Pkopiuetohs. J^ 



FRANK: G. RUFFIN, Editor 



TH E 




DEVOTED TO 



AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE, 



AND THE 



HOUSEHOLD ARTS. 




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

1858. 




CONTENTS. 



Chinese Sugar Cane, - - 129 
Lime Applied in Small Quantities to the 

Red Lands of Madison County, - 131 

Uanvassback Ducks, - - 132 

Height of Colts, - - 133 

Clover Frozen out. — Vermin on Poultry, 134 

Paper Money, - - "- 135 

A Curious Question, - - 13G 
Reported Damage to the Corn Crop of the 

West. — Tobacco Analysis, - J 37 
The Veterinarian, - - 138 
Butter-Making and Butter, - - 139 
Increased Fertility of Land, - 141 
Hog Cholera, - - - 142 
How to Raise Turkeys, - - 143 
Great Trees.— The Rhododendron Maxi- 
mum. — Extraordinary Tobacco Bed, - 144 
Ornithological Sketches, No. 2, - 145 
Coal Ashes.— Tribute to the Planter, - 147 
Papers Communicated by the Nottowav 

Club, - - - 148 to 151 

Mules and Mule-Breeding, - - 151 

The Loves of the Birds, - - 158 
The Flight of Birds.— How to Make a 

Sound Shingle Roof, - - 159 

Cure of Itch in Half an Hour, - 1G0 
The Sheep-Shearing Machine. — Window 

Gardening, - - - 160 
The Chemist in the Laundry Washing, - 161 
Papers of the North Carolina State Agri- 
cultural Society, - - 161 
Application of Fertilizers, - - 164 
Proper Mode of Gearing Horses. — Geld- 



ings vs. Brood Mares for Farm Work, 

Graining and Grazing Cattle, 

Raising Hogs. — Fine Sheep. — Best Age 

' for Transplanting Fruit Trees, 

Excusatory. — An Important Amendment 
in the Law of Enclosures, 

Report to the Farmers' Assembly on the 
Law of Enclosures, 

Fine Stallions. — Fencing and Stock Run- 
ning at Large, 

Does Guano " Stimulate the Soil V 

Large Hogs, - 

A Good Gate, - 

Shall Apple Trees* be Manured, or shall 
they be Checked, to make them Produc- 
tive? 

Very Expensive, and, to Me, Useless Ma- 
nure, ... 

Orchard Grass, - 

Blue-Grass Sod for Wheat. — Lime as a 
Fertilizer, - 

Soil Analysis — A Reply to the Article en- 
titled u Fertilizers for Fruit Trees, 

Harrowing Wheat. — Very Valuable In- 
formation Concerning- — Largest Yield 
of Corn on Record, 

Hedges — Osage Orange, 

Rhubarb — Its Culture and Uses, 

Continuation of the Garden Calendar 
from Last Month, 

Pickles for Market, 

How to Treat Peach Trees, - 






105 

106 

167 

168 

170 

174 
175 

176 
177 

178 

179 

ISO 

181 



I 



182 



184: 

185 

188 

189 
190 
191 



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tion. 

IMPORTED HAVELOCK. 

HAVELOCK, four years old this Spring, is a 
dark mahogany bay, witli black legs, without a wbite 
hair, of great muscular po^er, symmetry of form and 
superior action. He was got by Imported Scriving- 
ton, his dam by Retrieva, ?. dam by Grand Turk, g. g. 
dam and g. g. g. dam all Cleveland bay mares. 

For pedigree of Scrivington, see advertisement of 
Mr. R. H. Dulany of Loudoun. 

Havelock will be let to a limited number of mares 
at my residence, at $40* the season, which can be dis- 
charged by>the pavment of $30 before the 1st day of 
July. Insurance $50. Groom fee 50 cents. The sea- 
son commences the 1st of March and expires the 15th 
of July. Mares, however, put by the season, if not 
with foal, can be put any time during the year by the 
payment of an additional sum of $10. 

Mares kept at the usual rates. 

JOHN R, WOODS, 
Near Ivy Depot, Albemarle Co., Va. 

P. S.— In consequence of Havelock's being thrown 
back so much from his voyage over, I cannot allow 
him to serve but a very small number of mares. I 
have, however, instructed Mr. Thomas Belts, to pro- 
cure for me "NAPIER," the best Cleveland bay stal- 
lion — the winner of fifteen prizes. He will ar.ke in 
April, accompanied by one of the most experienced 
grooms in England, and will make a part of a season, 
the price of which shall not exceed $35. 

I mention this that all who may be disappointed in 
getting the services of Havelock. may have a chance 
by waiting /he arrival Of " Napier;' 

March 1833 



TH E 




Devoted to Agriculture, Horticulture, and the Household Arts. 



Agriculture is the nursing mother 
— Xenophon. 


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


''RANK. G. RUFFIN, 


Editor. 




F. G. RUFFIN & N. 


AUGUST 


Prop 


RS 


fOL. XVIII. 


RICHMOND, 


VA., MARCH, 1858. 




NO. 


3. 



1 



For the Southern Planter. 

Chinese Sugar Cane. 

Weston, Westmoreland Co., Va, 
Nomomj Grove P. O., Jan. 21, 1858, 

Mr. Editor: — Supposing there are many 
vhose curiosity would be gratified by a state- 
ment of the result of the experiment which I 
ried last season in the culture of the Chinese 
Sugar Cane, I will now proceed to give as ac- 
:urate an account of it as my memory will 
)ermit. 

The first seed I planted the last of March; 
hey were nearly one month in getting up. I 
tnly planted a small quantity at that time. On 
he 7th and 8th days of May, I planted about 
bur acres in cane, in rows four feet one way 
md the hills about eighteen inches the other. 
tVhen the plants got some four or five inches 
ligh it was then thinned out to three stalks to 
he hill, then cultivated exactly as Indian corn ; 
ts average height was about twelve feet. It 
jommenced ripening early in August, or the 
:eed commenced turning black. The cost of 
eed, fertilizers and cultivation, was fifty-one 
lollars. I kept an accurate account of all the 
ime and labour employed up to the maturity 
)f the cane ; but I was so situated when grind-* 
ng and boiling the syrup, that I could not 
:eep an accurate account of expenses from the 
oss of time occasioned by not having a siiita- 
)le mill, or one that was not liable to break 
svery day. 

I was under the necessity to plan my own 
nill, and have it built. The first one was 
9 



made for the cylinders to revolve horizontally, 
by attaching it to an eight horse power, which 
I found would not answer. I then tore it apart 
and constructed one to work with vertical 
cylinders, with a sweep at top for levers. With 
this mill I could express about sixty gallons of 
juice per hour. It was the latter part of Sep- 
tember before I started this mill ; there was 
some part of it either wearing out or giving 
aw r ay nearly every day, for nearly two weeks. 
I however succeeded in getting the defective' 
part made strong, and then I had but little 
trouble except for want of hands to strip the 
fodder, cut the seed, and get the cane to the 
mill. As I had to be seeding my wheat at the 
same timp, I had to rely principally on hired 
hands. I found that the riper the cane, the 
richer the juice was in saccharine matter. The 
first syrup, early in the season, required about 
seven gallons of juice to make one gallon of 
syrup. About this time we had a severe, kil- 
ling frost and freeze. The latter part of Octo- 
ber, five gallons of juice made one of syrup. 
I found the cane contained fully one pint of 
juice per stalk, taking the stalks just as they 
came. 

I am satisfied there can be from two to three 
hundred gallons of good syrup raised per acre,, 
with a good mill that will extract the juice well. 
I do not think that I saved more than one half 
as much as could have been made if I had 
been properly fixed in time. I however made 
five hundred gallons of syrup. There was a 
considerable quantity wasted, which I let the 
stock, horses, mules,, liogs^ and, cattle, feed on, 



130 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



and I found they were remarkably fond of it ; 
and as a fattening food, I do not think the cane 
has its equal. I believe one acre planted in 
Chinese Sugar Cane, for feeding purposes for 
stock of all kinds, except sheep, (I know not 
whether they will eat it or not,) is worth fully 
four times as much as anything else which can 
be raised on the same land. 

One of my neighbours, who raised a lot of it ] 
the past year, thinks it far more valuable for 
feeding purposes than I have stated above. He | 
thinks the product of one acre worth about as j 
much as twenty in corn ; as stock consumes every ' 
particle including the stalk, which in Indian , 
conj is of no value whatever, while the stalk of 
the cane is more nutritious, if possible, than 
corn itself. From an estimate I made, I think 
I made about sixty bushels of seed per acre. 
This is only supposition, as I have not yet strip- 
ped the seed from the heads, and shall not be 
able to state how much I did make, as a con- 
siderable quantity was consumed by the work 
oxen engaged about the lot. Every chance 
they could get they would find their way to the 
scaffolds where the seed were placed to dry, 
and would eat as long as they could, and I 
never saw stock fatten faster than they did. 
In the making of the syrup I used lime water 
-for clarifying the juice, first straining it to get 
rid of all sediments. At first I boiled it very 
slow until all of the green scum ceased rising, 
and gradually increased the boiling process 
until the syrup would hang from the edge of a 
•skimmer — made of sheet iron — at least one 
inch below. There is no danger of burning it 
if the kettles are kept full. I found the broader 
the kettles the better they were for the purpose. 
I had six kettles in two arches, in rows, three 
■in each. As the juice would boil away, I 
would fill the kettle nearest the chimney out of 
the next one to it, and transfer from the other 
kettle the contents of the next, and the empty 
one I would fill again with fresh juice, thus 
keeping it filled up until the syrup was finished. 
I think, with ten hands, I can take the cane 
from the fields, strip it of fodder and seed, 
grind and boil one hundred gallons of good 
syrup per day. It will require a pair of horses 
or mules for the mill, and a yoke of oxen to 
haul the cane. The last barrel of syrup I 
made I did not strip the fodder from the cane, 
but run it through the mill as it was, only cut- 
ting off the seed. That syrup was darker than 
the°other, though I believe that was caused by 
the cane being frosted, as we had a freeze about 
two weeks previous to its grinding. I made a 
small quantity in a bell-metal kettle; the 
syrup made in it was about the colour of honey, 
that made in iron the colour of Orleans mo- 
classes. 

I found my pen hogs improved much faster 
after I had commenced giving them cane, after 
I had passed it through "the mill, than they had 
any time previous. 

t used eighteen dollars and forty cents worth 



of guano, De Burg's and Reese's manipulate 
guano, on the lot; the fertilizers costing fou 
dollars and sixty cents per acre ; the cul j 
tivation four dollars and seventy-one cent 
per acre; and the seed, which it took to plan) 
the lot, three dollars and forty-four cents pe i 
acre. I could discover but little difference be) 
tween the different kinds of fertilizers used.' 
think there was rather the largest growth fror 
the guano. 

I have no doubt the lot would have raise 
one or two more stalks to the hill, as I saw n 
difference in the size of stalks where there wa 
but one, and where there were three. It ism 
intention to have some of the seed ground, an 
try what kind of bread they will make. If th 
flour or meal should be as good for the pui 
poses of bread, it will be a much safer crop t 
rely on than Indian corn, as neither of the e? 
tremes of excessive wet or dry affects it lik| 
corn. 

I will now, in the last and least importar 
quality which it possesses, inform you of a| 
experiment made with the juice, by havin 
some of it distilled. I found that it took abov. 
twelve gallons of juice to make one gallon of- 
I suppose I must call it brandy, as it resemble 
peach brandy more than any other spirits 
have ever seen. Though it has its peculia 
flavor, it is the strongest spirits I ever saw. 

Owing to my unprepared condition for th 
manufacture of the syrup, I could form no a 
curate account of expenses per gallon as prev 
ously alluded to, but think ten cents per gallo 
will cover expenses of saving, grinding, boi 
ing, fuel, &c. I did not attempt to mat 
sugar, my principle object was to test its valu 
for syrup. There are different opinions in regal 
to it. Many prefer it to New Orleans m< 
lasses, while there are others who prefer th 
Orleans : but there is no doubt it is a goo 
article, and after more experience has bee 
gained, there will be but little molasses brougl 
to the country. 

There was sugar made in this county froi 
the cane last Fall, by Mr. B. Walker, of a 
excellent quality; also some by Dr. B. ] 
Brown ; so there is no doubt about its crj-sta 
lizing, but to what extent none of us yet knov 
I examined last night a small quantity of juk 
which I put away for the purpose of seeing 
it would turn to vinegar. It appears as if 
will be as good vinegar as any made froi 
cider ; though I cannot speak positively aboi 
it, as the barrel has been stopped tight. Tl 
syrup possesses one quality which no other m 
lasses possesses, it has a tendency to constipa 
the bowels, rather than otherwise. There we; 
several coloured children of my family wl 
had suffered severely with Summer disease, an 
nothing would make a permanent cure unt 
they got as much of the syrup as they were di 
posed to cat. After that I heard nothing mo: 
of the disease. Yours truly, 

W. W. BROWN. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



131 



Lime Applied in Small Quantities to the 
Red Lands of Madison County. 

We are much indebted to the author for the 
following answer to a letter we had written 
him, asking information in regard to the appli- 
cation of lime to wheat in small quantities. The 
information he gives is very valuable* Will he 
be kind enough this spring to make an experi- 
ment of lime without the addition of plaster. 
It will go far to verify the accuracy of his con- 
clusions. — Ed. Southern Planter. 

Madison County, Jan. 23d, 1858. 

Dear Sir : — Yours of December last came to 
hand after some three weeks delay, requesting 
me to inform you of the results of my experi- 
ments with lime on wheac according to the plan 
suggested in the Southern Planter. I will now 
endeavour to give you the effects of my experi- 
ments; although I have not seen the plan re- 
ferred to. In this, our section of the country, 
the wheat crop had become almost an entire 
failure from the effects of joint-worm. In the 
winter of 1855, I determined to try a top 
dressing of lime and plaster on my crop of 
wheat, (though small,) in the spring of that 
year. As my force was small, it became ne- 
cessary that I should place the lime in the 
fields before beginning to spread it, which I 
did in the lump or stone, and covered it 
with dirt to keep it from blowing off, as ours is 
a very windy country at that season generally. 
I then commenced spreading the lime about the 
last of April on a field of about 25 acres oat 
and wheat stubble fallow, slaking the lime as 
it was needed for use, at the rates of 4 bushels 
of lime and three-fourths plaster per acre (with 
one of J. W. Faulks' guano and lime spreaders). 
The land was very stumpy, and of course the 
lime was irregularly applied. That field 
'yielded, at harvest, from 10 to 12 bushels per 
acre of very nice, heavy wheat, whilst similar 
land in my neighbourhood gave only some 5 or 
6 bushels per acre without the use of lime. 

In the. spring of 185G I failed to get lime: 
consequently I could not apply it, though I had 
seeded the same field in wheat except about 5 
acres, which was seeded in clover with the ap- 
plication of about 1 bushel plaster per acre. 
On the wheat that spring, the crop was not quite 
so good, yielding from 9 to 10 bushels per 
acre. In the fall of the same year, I se ded 
that land again, (stubble fallow). Last win- 
ter, you will recollect, was a very hard one, 
except the latter part of February, which was 
quite mild, and the wheat began to grow and 
look very well, though mine was very late. 
The month of March was very cold, and killed 
out a great quantity of wheat in this section ; 
our wheat fields were naked until the first of 
May. The prospect was so gloomy that one of 
my neighbours, in walking through the field 



with me, said he would not give the seed for 
what it would make. You can judge it was a 
poor prospect when I tell you wo had to ex- 
amine very closely to find the live roots. I 
applied about 10 bushels of slaked lime, and 
about 2 bushels of plaster per acre from the 
15th to the 25th of April. About the middle 
of May my wheat began to hide tire ground, 
whilst most of the fields in this section were 
quite naked ; in fact all were except good low 
grounds. I harvested a very nice crop under 
the circumstances, (it being the fourth crop 
successively), supposed to make about 10 
bushels per acre, whilst in my neighbourhood 
similar lands made from 3 to 7 bushels per 
acre. I have now about 8 acres of the same 
land in wheat again ; the balance is seeded in 
clover. 

In 1855 I had another field of about 30 
acres, which had been worn out and turned 
out to the commons as almost worthless before 
I purchased it, which was the year before, 
(1854,) in time to clean up and plant very late 
in corn. In the fall of 1854, I seeded it in 
wheat from about the 20th of October to the 
10th of November; in May 1855, I put about 8 
bushels of slaked lime, and 1 bushel of plaster 
per acre, at that time the ground was almost 
completely naked, I did not expect to get more 
than my seed ; there came a gentle rain in a 
few days and the wheat soon began to hide the 
ground. About the 20th inst., I sowed my 
clover seed at the rate of 1 bushel to 8 or 10 
acres ; at harvest, which was July, there was a 
very pretty crop of straw for the land, (taking 
into consideration the poor prospect in the 
spring,) and made from 5 to 6 bushels of wheat 
per acre, when similar land in the neighbour- 
hood, without the use of lime and plaster, 
did not make more than 3 bushels per acre. 
There was on that land, as poor as it was, the 
fin esff stand of clover I ever saw — the growth was 
so large in August that it could have been cut 
for hay in many parts of the field. I pastured 
it very hard that fall, and in the spring, 1856, 
put about 1 bushel of plaster per acre on it, 
and that summer cut a very heavy crop of hay 
off; that fall I pastured it very close again, and 
in the spring of 1857, repeated the plaster at 
about the same rate. In April I put three 
calves on it, and kept them there until cutting 
hay time, and then cut a heavier crop off than 
the year before. That field has now a fine 
clover sod. 

It is proper to state, however, that the land 
spoken of is nearly all red clay soil. In addi- 
tion, I applied lime last May on a piece of 
sandy low grounds, that I had taken a crop uf 
buckwheat from in 1854, and a crop of corn in 
1855 and lS-56, each, without the aid of any ma- 
nures except plaster and ashes, which was sim- 
ply applied to the plant. The land being thin, 
of course the crops were light. In the latter 
part of the month of October and first of No- 
vember, 1856, I seeded a part of it in wheat, 



132 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



and left the balance for oats, which was seeded 
in May, 1857, and some 4 or 5 bushels of lime 
applied, and from one to two bushels of plaster 
per acre. I got from that small field from 7 to 
8 bushels of wheat per acre and upwards of 15 
of oats, and a very fine stand of clover, which 
is very unusual on such land in this section. 

My. opinion is, so far as my observation goes, 
that limeas atop dresserto wheat andpermanent 
improver will pay better by applying it in larger 
quantities. Say some 15 or 20 bushels the first 
time, and some 25 or 30 the second, and in like 
proportions afterwards, increasing the quanti- 
ty every time you apply it to the same lands. 
Yours respectfullv, 

JOHN BOOTON. 

P. S. — The reasons for guessing at the quan- 
tity of wheat for 1857 is, it was destroyed by 
fire before it was fanned out. J. B. 



For the Planter. 

Canvassback Ducks. 

Of the multiplied varieties of water-fowls, 
which resott in the fall and winter months to 
the waters of Virginia, the Canvassback Duck 
is universally esteemed the best. So great has 
been the demand for this deliciously flavoured 
Duck for the table, that the cupidity of the 
sportsmen who rely upon the gun for subsis- 
tence, has for some years been highly excited. 
The annual slaughter is largely in excess of 
the annual increase. At no very remote period 
the variety under this exhausting process will 
disappear. Already, in the creeks emptying 
into the lower Potomac, these Ducks are al 
most- unknown, and never seen in large flocks, 
unless driven from their favourite feeding- 
grounds near the points at which the salt and 
fresh water meets, by cold sufficiently intense 
to cover the upper part of the river with ice. 
But a few years ago they abounded in these creeks, 
and a half-dozen pair was not unfrequently the 
reward of a day's sport. To the ravages of the 
gun, at many points on the waters of the Ches- 
apeake, are now added the snares of the trap, 
and the number of Ducks taken is thus quad- 
rupled. The Canvassback, usually in company 
with the Redneck — a variety but little inferior 
— resort chiefly to those waters upon the beds 
of which the wild celery, 'a marine plant, is 
found. Without any accurate knowledge of 
the fact, we incline to the opinion that this 
plant is most abundant in, if not confined to, 
certain defined limits in both creeks and riv- 
ers, the centres of which limits are the points 
at which the salt sea waters, brought up by the 
tides, are met by the fresh waters from above. 
Tho* expert divers, the Canvassbatk<, do not 
feed upon fish ; the peculiar flavour of the 
flesh is generally attributed to the food upon 
which they subsist. Certainly there is a mark- 
ed difference in the flavour of these Ducks, 
even though equally fat, when taken in those 
waters where the wild celery is not abundant. 



We have frequently shot them in the begin- 
ning of a freeze, when the sudden formation of' 
ice upon the fresher water of the upper Poto- 
mac, has driven them to seek for food in thej 
salt creeks r.ear the mouth of the river, and! 
found them equal to the highest eulogy of thej 
epicure. Again, we have killed them after: 
they have for some weeks frequented those': 
creeks, and though apparently in as good condi- 
tion, found them to vary in flavour but slightly 
from the Redneck and Blackhead habitually 
frequenting these creeks, and feeding upon ; 
their grasses. 

The Canvassback feeds with ease in deep 
water, is watchful, and except in cold weather,: 
is rarely found near the shore during the day. 
It is less rapid and expert on the wing than j 
most other- varieties of Ducks, usually keeps 
a direct course in its flight, and hence passing 
the points which indent our creeks, presents ani 
easy conquest to the experienced marksman. 
Taught greater caution, however, by repeated 
alarms, upon approaching the ambush they 
soon rise to an elevation beyond the reach of 
the gun. In very cold seasons, when pressed 
by hunger, they feed quite up to the sedge 
and sometimes in places sheltered from the-' 
winds and waves, we have shot them resting 
on the beach. 

The great demand for these Ducks, and the 
high rates which they commanded, led to im-i 
proved and more efficient modes of destruction. 
Upon coming to the Potomac, in the months 
of October or November, before entering its 
creeks and inlets in search of regular feeding 
grounds, they collect with other varieties of 
Ducks and geese in large flocks, in the bays, 
which are more or less protected from the 
winds. To these when not feeding, they us- 
uajly resort to rest, and at night to roost. 
Here they were too remote from the land 
for the ordinary shot-gun, and too watchful 
to allow the near approach of a boat. The 
men who cater for the world's mouth soon de- 
vised the means of overcoming these difficul- 
ties. Small schooners were procured and 
manned by two or more gunners; upon the 
deck were carried a large-sized, and one or 
more small-sized skiffs, and in addition to a 
supply of small guns, one of calibre sufficient 
to carry about one-fourth pound of powder 
and one of shot. This iarge gun was secured 
in the head of the large skiff. Thus equipped, 
they sail down the river. Upon discovering 
hed of ducks, the large skiff' is quietly lowered 
to the water, and paddled silently — if in sue! 
a position that the wind or tide will not float 
her — down upon the flock ; when getting with- 
in two or three hundred yards, the gun rang- 
ing across the entire, bed is fired, with mur- 
derous effect. The dead are secured at once 
the wounded pursued in the small skiffs, and 
that with the small guns. Not unfrequently 
one hundred are thus killed at a single fire. 

The drake Canvassback, though varying in 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



133 



size but slightly from the Redneck, his most 
usual associates, is conspicuous among a thou- 
sand, from his plumage and 'graceful carriage 
upon the water. The broad, full, light colour- 
ed bill; long, erect black neck, and eheoif-board 
back, at once distinguish him to the practiced 
eye. In form he resembles the Blackhead: 
breadth of chest in proportion to length of 
body, causing each to differ from other varie- 
ties of winter Ducks. He towers above the 
Blackhead in size, being quite one-third 
larger. In shape and conformation his mate is 
the same ; differing, as do nearly all birds, in 
her plumage. That of the Duck Canvassback is 
less gay, her head slightly smaller — that and 
the neck a dusky brown colour, and the dia- 
mond squares of white and black but faintly 
marked upon the back. She is also slightly 
smaller. 

It is a source of regret that no efficient 
law exists to protect this most valuable of all 
wild fowls frequenting our waters. 

No instance of an attempt to domesticate 
the Canvassback has fallen within our obser- 
vation. AVe have little doubt, however, of its 
practicability. Yet the effort, if successful, 
might preserve the variety without preserving 
the quality which has given to this Duck its 
world-wide celebrity. The flavour of its flesh, 
like the geranium beef of Madiera, depending 
upon the food the Duck feeds on. To perpet- 
uate by domestication the Canvassback as 
known to us, it will be equally necessary to 
provide the plant for its subsistence, which im- 
parts the flavour. This, we presume, would 
prove no insurmountable obstacle, though we 
are not> sufficiently acquainted with the struc- 
ture or history of the wild celery to affirm that 
art may supply the necessary conditions of its 
growth. Could some inland stream secured to 
private enterprise, with its bed, either by gift 
of nature or the pains-taking, curious handi- 
work of art, rich in those plants upon which 
the Canvassback feed, be filled with flocks of 
this chef d'ouvre of American birds, it might 
not only prove a present profitable investment, 
but further serve to hand down, in remote pe- 
riods, to a few lucky Sybarites a present wit- 
ness to the testimony of our age of the excel- 
lence of the dish of a Washington restaurant, 
long after even the popular tradition of the 
Duck shall have faded from the memory of the 
mass of men. 

We may not close this passing notice of the 
Canvassback, without a plea for the preserva- 
tion of wild fowl, and a solemn protest against 
the iniquitous trap, now commonly employed 
to entice to wholesale slaughter the winged in- 
habitants of the waves. The attacks upon 
them during the seasons of incubation by the 
spies who track them into the recesses of the 
wilderness, and the warfare waged during 
their hybernal visits to the seats of civiliza- 
tion, with small guns, were sensibly diminish- 
ing their numbers. Yet the State was re- 



ceiving some compensation in the hardy race 
of skillful marksmen, who, attracted by the 
game, early learned the use of fire-arms, — and 
thus became material ready at hand for more 
important service in cases of State emergency. 
With the loss of game, the inducement to 
handle habitually the gun, will pass away from 
our rural population. To the men of tide- 
water countries the Ducks and Geese furnish 
the occasion for indulging in sport, which in 
mountainous and inland districts is offered by 
the deer and turkey. The use of the gun in 
the capture of wild fowl is being abandoned 
for the more productive trap. From a single 
one of these, in a single season, often 1500, 
sometimes 2000, Ducks and Geese are forward- 
ed to market. These traps are so simple as to 
involve but a trifling outlay, and the coasts 
and inlets of the entire Chesapeake and its 
rivers will soon be dotted over with them. A 
few poles driven firmly down into the bed of 
the creek, at distances of three or four feet 
apart, encircling an area of a hundred or more 
square feet, and projecting about four feet 
above the water, are covered over with a net 
of twine, which net reaches quite down to the 
bottom, and is confined there to the poles. On 
one side a small opening is made in the net 
below the surface, and eighteen inches or more 
in width ; from the edges of this opening a 
zigzag path leads, enclosed on either side by 
net. In the body of the trap a quantity of In- 
dian corn is thrown ; along the zigzag, corn is 
also scattered, and from its outer mouth in va- 
rious directions to any required distance. The 
Ducks, attracted by these leads of corn, follow 
them up, and continue diving for the grains of 
corn until they pass the zigzag, and are se- 
curely within the meshes of the trap. Once 
in, their course is obstructed upon all sides by 
the net. No longer seeking for food, they 
lose the string of corn which had conducted 
them through the labyrinth of the zigzag, and 
cannot escape. The trapper in his boat, 
through a sort of doorway in the net. which 
he opens at the top, with a long handled crab- 
net, dips them up. 

Numbers of Geese are taken in these traps, 
whilst no variety of Ducks, save the Canvass- 
back, we believe, are cunning enough to evade 
its snares. 



Height of Colts. — A very reliable rule to 
judge the height a colt will attain to when full 
grown, is the following : When the colt gets to 
be three weeks old, or as soon as it is perfectly 
straightened in its limbs, measure from the edge 
of the hair of the hoofs to the middle of the 
first joint: and for every inch, it will grow to 
the height of a hand of four inches when its 
growth is matured. Thus, if this distance be 
found 16 inches, it will make a horse 16 hands 
high. By this means a man ma}'' know some- 
thing of what sort of a horse, with proper care, 
he is to expect from his colt. — Tenn. Fanner. 



134 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



Clover Frozen Out. 

While at the farm of Mr. James Bay- 
ley in Troy, he took us over a field of 
clover of fourteen acres in extent, which 
had been entirely killed by the frosts of 
last winter. In this case the clover was 
not frozen out by heaving, but had evi- 
dently been killed in the ground. We 
could and did take hold of the clumps, 
and pulled up the long tap roots from a 
depth of five or six inches. The clover 
had evidently not been eaten down close 
in the fall, for there was the remains of a 
fine full growth covering the ground quite 
thickly and evenly. It seemed as though 
a fire bad swept over the field so com- 
pletely dead was every particle of vege- 
tation. We have seldom seen a more 
complete or thorough destruction. 

The field lay on the top of a rising 
ground, and the top soil was a rich, loose 
loam, containing a good deal of calcareous 
sand. This top soil, we suspect, lies upon 
a subsoil of clay, which holds the water 
— especially in winter, and probably 
freezes on that account down to the clay. 
During the fine weather of last February, 
this soil, both from its exposure, and its 
natural qualities felt the quickening effects 
of the temperature which then prevailed 
during March, and which would and did 
freeze such ground when filled with water 
to some considerable depth, undoubtedly 
checked very suddenly the growth of the 
clover plant, choked it completely from 
the air, and thus caused it to rot as it did. 
This is an accident of climate, and the 
only remedy for it that can be suggested, 
is through tile-draining, which, by carry- 
ing ofT the water, and causing a full aera- 
tion of the soil would have the effect of 
raising its temperature and in some meas- 
ure preventing its being frozen to such a 
depth or to such a degree as this field had | 
been subjected to. It was evident also | 
that the subsoil held the water largely, for 
around the base of the hill near the low 
grounds, several large springs welled. out 
freely, and one of them gave a constant 
and steady supply even in the driest sea- 
sons. Mr. Bayley was about to summer 
fallow this field for a crop of wheat next 
season, and with this design was drawing j 
upon it about 280 loads of barn-yard and 
sheep-fold manure. Jf the season is fa- 
vourable, the field ought to average him 



forty bushels to the acre, at the least. 
With the dead clover, and about twenty 
loads ol the very best barn-yard manure 
to the acre, the amount of vegetable mat- 
ter in the field, which will be applicable 
to the growth of the wheat plant, is enor- 
mous. — Michigan Farmer. 



Vermin on Poultry. 

Poultry sometimes suffer exceedingly 
by vermin or lice, which irritate and ren- 
der them uncomfortable. We have found 
that blowing tobacco smoke among their 
feathers will kill them. Where hens have 
a chance to dig into a bed of ashes, or 
lime and ashes, and throw the dust up 
among their feathers, they will keep them- 
selves pretty free from vermin. The Mich- 
igan Farmer quotes the following from a 
foreign Journal. We do not know what 
is exactly meant by the substance which 
is there recommended as " Black Sul- 
phur." It is probably some of the sul- 
phurets, — perhaps it is a sulphuret ol' an- 
timony, or crude antimony powdered. 
This is of a black or dark colour, and con- 
tains a good proportion of sulphur. The 
paragraph alluded to reads thus : — 

John Douglas, a regular poultry breeder, 
and who sometimes has 2000 head under 
his charge, writes to the Agricultural Ga- 
zette, that where poultry is kept some- 
what confined they are apt to get infested 
with lice. This is particularly the case with 
setting hens. He recommends that with 
the sand and lime in the dust corner where 
the poultry will roll, there should be mix- 
ed half a pound of Black Sulphur. This 
will not only keep the fowls free from 
parasites, but will also give their plumage 
a fine, glossy, healthy appearance. When 
fowls are infested badly, Mr. Douglas first 
damps the skin under the feathers, and 
then dusts on the Black Sulphur. The in- 
sects will disappear in about twenty-four 
hours. Mr. Douglas once had charge of 
an Ostrich, which was pining from the 
effects of lice with which he was infested. 
The feathers next the skin were damped 
and the Black Sulphur applied. The lice 
were found dead the next day, and the 
Ostrich recovered rapidty. — Maine Far- 
mer. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



135 



Paper Money. 



In our last number we remarked upon the 
Jugular fact, that since the influx of gold from 
California and Australia began to affect the 
ommerce of the world, general business in 
ommercial countries has greatly increased in 
Magnitude, but that increase has been accom- 
>anied by a general decrease in the volume of 
iaper money in use ; in other words, although 



gold has stimulated great enterprises all over 
the world, it has actually supplanted paper as 
a circulating medium. In illustration, we have 
put together in the following table the official 
figures for Great Britain, France and the United 
States, showing the national exports of each 
country, and the amount of bank paper money 
outstanding at the close of each year: 





, Great Britain. N 

Exports. Circulation. 


, Frf 

Exports. 




£ 


£ 


£ 


L851 


* 71,448,000 


34,032,108 


46,320,000 


L852 


78,076,000 


39,904,419 


61,640,000 


L853 


98,933,000 


39,567,852 


50,240,000 


L854 


97,092,000 


38,258,367 


56,520,000 


1855 


95,688,000 


37,898,956 


62,280,000 


1856 


.. 115,610,100 


38,206,074 


64,010,000 


1857 


. . 124,100,000 


35,893,205 


63,000,000 



-United States.- 



Circulation. 



Exports. 

• $ 

196,689,718 

192,368,984 

213,417,697 

253,390,870 

246,708,553 

310,586,330 

338,985,065 



The paper money of Great Britain is com- 
posed of the issues of the Bank of England, of 
the private banks, and joint stock banks, and 
Df all the Irish and Scotch banks. That of 



£ 
23,321,100 
27,596,400 
25,771,200 
25,478,800 
24,489,480 
24,493,280 
£3,250,361 

of France. That of the United States is the 
issues of 1,312 separate and independent banks 
in all the States. If we reduce the exports and 
circulation to dollars, and compare the year 1852 



Circulation. 

$ 
155,165,251 
145,468,097 
204,689/207 
186.952,223 
195,747.950 
177,250^)71 
150.000,000 



France is composed of the issues of the Bank I with that of 1856, we have results as follows : 



Exports — Three nations. 
Circulation " " 



1852. 
$867,948,984 
532,193,302 



1856. 
1,177,706.000 
479,711,841 



Increase. 

309,757,016 



52,476,461 



Thus the surplus productions of those three 
countries exported has increased 40 per cent., 
while the paper money employed has decreased 
10 per cent., and this operation has been con- 
tinuous year by year. In the same period of 
time California has exported $500,000,000, and 
Australia $320,000,000, making $820,000,000 
:>f gold poured upon those three countries. Of 
this quantity of gold, the coinage has been as 
follows : 

England $220,101,204 

France 442,360,020 

United States 441,208,000 



Gold coinage— 1851 to 1857. $1,103,669,024 

Such has been the manufacture of gold coin 
in the three countries since 1851, and the effect 



has been to drive out both paper money and 
silver. The exports of the latter metal to Asia 
from Great Britain and the Mediterranean ports 
has been in the same period $275,000,000, and 
as we have seen, a diminution of $52,476,461 
in the floating paper circulation. Each coun- 
try has largely increased its gold circulation. 
This is corroborated by the extraordinary ra- 
pidity with which the banks of New York, New 
Orleans, England and France fill with gold in 
the last two months, since trade has been de- 
stroyed by panic. The returns of the circula- 
tion of the Bank of France show a similar re- 
sult. Before 1848 the smallest notes issued 
were $100; since then notes of $20 were is- 
sued. The amount of the different denomina- 
tions outstanding Jan. 1857, as compared with 
1852, were as follows: 



1852. 1857. 

$1,000 notes £19,600 2,000 

200 notes 17,120,480 14,860,200 

100 notes 3,843,120 2,798,160 

40 notes 3,386,520 2,908.160 

.20 notes 3,126,680 3,837,080 



Decrease. 

17,600 

2,260,280 

1,044,960 

478,360 



10,400 



The small denominations exhibit the only in- 
crease. From all these facts it appears conclu- 
sively that gold has forced itself into circula- 
tion as money to the exclusion of paper, not 
only in England and New York, where securi- 
ty must be lodged for the notes, but also in 
France, and in those States where the issue of 
bills is unchecked by the requirement of any 
direct security. With a vast increase of the 



products of industry, an- immense activity in 
trade, and great enterprise in the construction 
of railroads, the amount of pr.per money out- 
standing has gradually decreased, and gold and 
silver has been more constantly- in demand to 
scatter through the channels of circulation. It 
is evident that all that profit which the banks 
have derived from the use of their credits as 
money has been diminished. On the other 






136 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



hand, their operations in discounting securities 
has increased in proportion to the increasing 
business. The following is a table of the dis- 
counts of commercial paper by the banks of the 
three nations : 

Bank of England. France. U. States. 
£ £ $ 

1851 11,746,805 49,720,000 413,756,799 

1852 13,356^036 72.960,000 414,211,390 

1853 16,643,651 113,800,000 557,397,779 

1854 15,806,634 117,760,000 576,144.758 

1855 19,777,860 149,840,000 634,183,280 

1856 18,962,155 170.480,000 728,029,910 

1857 30,081,102 194,101,000 650,000^000 

The returns of the Bank of England and of 
the United States banks are the amount of pa- 
per under discount at the close of each year. — 
That of the Bank of France is the sum of all 
discounts made during the year. The increase 
of discounts is very large, being necessarily 
proportioned to the amount of business done. 
It is to be observed that the action of the banks 
of France and England are very different from 
those of New York. The latter being restrain- 
ed by a Usury Law, have a uniform rate of 7 
per cent, for money, and they discount directly 
to the merchants their notes bearing two signa- 
tures. It is utterly impossible for the banks to 
know the real position of those applying for 
discount. They only know that they ai^ in 
business, and keep an account with them. In 
England and France the matter is different. — 
The discount is there done through banking- 
houses, who charge uniformly a little more 
than th-e bank charges them. Thus the bank 
is governed by 30 members, of whom 10 form 
the board. There are in Paris 30,000 licensed 
traders who make bills for discount. These 
bills are offered to the banking-houses, who 
discount them, and who procure the money 
from the bank by re-discount. Thus each 
banker will send in a bordereau, enclosing 
some 200 to 300 of these notes, bearing the en- 
dorsement of the banker, in addition to the two 
names that he requires. Each of the directors 
glances over a bordereau, and passes it if it has 
a responsible bankers' endorsement. The bank 
charges its minimum rate of interest, and the 
banker charges a higher, discriminating be- 
tween " gilt-edged'' and less "respectable" 
names. The Bank of England operates in a 
similar manner, supplying the money or credits 
required, but charging a higher rate when the 
demand is more active. In times of stagnation 
of business, when goods will not sell, but obli- 
gations mature nevertheless, the amount of lrio- 
ney required is greater, and it is supplied by 
the banks, through the banking-houses, to 
commerce. In. New York the banks close busi- 
ness, refuse discount, and wait to collect. The 
two great banks of Paris and London have uni- 
formly been disposed to be cautious of credit 
in times of speculation, when the public is 
prone to make use of credit to the utmost in 
pushing every species of enterprise. On the 



other hand, they have come promptly forward 
to assist the public in times of pressure and re- 
verses. The consequence is seen in the fact 
that the late panic has been lighter in Paris 
and London than in New York and Hamburg. 
For the future it would seem that the influx ot 
gold is becoming greater in consequence of its 
enhanced value to other commodities, and will 
continue to supplant paper as a circulating me- 
dium, but it has the great disadvantage that it 
will be hoarded in times of panic. — New York 
Economist. 



A Curious Question. 

It is a singular illustration of the unexact- 
ness of agricultural knowledge, that the ques- 
tion how many seeds there are in the pound of 
our commonly cultivated field plants, should 
still remain to be answered. It is plain that 
the answer will not necessarily effect farm prac- 
tice — for the quantity of seed which it is prop- 
er to sow per acre, is a matter to be determined 
by experience, and not by argument apart from 
trial; and yet surely it. is most desirable, to 
compare the number of the seeds we ordinarily 
sow with that of the plants we raise. If in or- 
dinary practice, 1,200,000 seeds of wheat are 
sown on every 40,000 superficial feet, or what 
is more extraordinary, fifteen to eighteen mil- 
lion seeds of flax are scattered on the same ex- 
tent, about three to every inch of land, it is 
surely well to let t'r.e farmers know it. He 
knows very well he does not raise so many 
plants as this — and struck as he maybe, by the 
enormous disproportion, between the means he 
uses and the results he gets, he will inquire into 
its causes. 

The turnip seed employed per acre, numbers 
from 600,000 to 1,000,000, according to the 
kind and quantity adopted; this, if the rows 
are two feet apart, is two or three dozen seeds 
per foot of ; row, where a single plant alone is 
to be grown. No doubt, nothing like so many 
generally come up, but then there is a great 
destruction by the hoe, which will explain much 
of the discrepancy in this case. What, how- 
ever, becomes of. the 18,000,000 seeds of flax 
which are commonly — of the 6,000,000 seeds 
of oats which are sometimes sown per acre. — 
There is no destruction by the hoe in either in- 
stance here. A single ear of oats may contain 
100 grains — a single plant will generally in- 
clude a half dozen ears, but if 6,000,000 plants 
should yield as much as this implies, they 
would produce 100 loads of grain. Instead of 
600 seeds a piece, they yield but half a dozen 
each to produce an ordinary crop of oats. It 
is plain that five-sixths of the seeds, or of the 
plants that they produce, are killed in the cul- 
tivation of the crop ; and the proportion is 
vastly greater than this in the case of other 
plants. What is the ordinary seeding of the 
clover crop? Eight pounds of red clover, four 
of white clover, and four of trefoil may be 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



137 



sown — that at least 6,000,000 seeds per acre — 
a seed on every inch of land. 

There are about 25,000 seeds of Sain foin in 
a pound of rough seed, as it is called, and it 
weighs some 20 lbs per bushel ; four busheU 
is an ordinary seeding, and they contain 2,000,- 
000 seeds, or 50 per square foot of land. This 
the number, too, of seeds' in an ordinary seed- 
ing of vetches. It is manifest in both these" 
cases, there is an enormous destruction either 
of young plants or seed ; and these are the two 
great divisions under which the causes of this 
great anomaly must be classed ; faults of seed 
and sowing, and faults of cultivation. We are 
enabled, by the assistance of Messrs. Rendle, 
of Plymouth, to lay before them the following 
answers to the question — how many seeds to 
the pound? 



, No. 
of seed 
Names. per lb. 

Wheat 10,500 

Barley 15,400 

Oats. . 20,000 

Rye 23,000 

Canary grass 52,00© 

Buckwheat 25,000 

Turnip, (Rendle's swede.)... 155.000 
(Corni3h*"Hardmg,). . 239.000 

(Orange Jelly,) 233,000 

Cabbage, (Scotch Drumhead,) 128,000 
(Drumhead Savoy,). 117,000 

Clover, (Red.) 249,600 

(White,) 680,400 

Rye Grass, (Perennial,) 314,400 

(Italian,) 272,000 

Sweet Vernal grass 923,200 



No. 
of lbs. 
per bus- 

58 to 64 
48 to 56 
23 to 42 
56 to 60 

48 to 50 
50 to 56 



56 

50 to 56 

60 

59 to 62 

20 to 28 

13 to 18 

8 



[Scotch Paper.'] 



Reported Damage to the Corn Crop of 
the West. 

Paragraphs have been going the "rounds" 
of the daily papers, for a week or two, stating 
that the corn crop has been seriously damaged 
by the cold weather in November, and the very 
wet weather which preceded and succeeded this 
cold " spell." We have made careful inquiry 
from competent persons, and we find the follow- 
ing to be about the state of the case. The crop 
matured three to four weeks later than usual 
this season, having continued to grow during 
the whole of September, and in the northern 
sections of this State, Indiana, and Illinois and 
all Wisconsin and Iowa, a considerable amount 
was caught by the frost in an unripe state, ren- 
dering it inferior, and placing it in a state not 
suitable for keeping, and wholly unfit for seed; 
but drawing a line through tfle centre of the 
three first named States, the crop south of such 
line is fully matured, though, owing to the wet 
weather, has not sufficiently dried so as to keep 
in crib, and in many cases where it has been 
placed in shock, it moulded, owing more to the 



fact of the rain having penetrated the shocks 
than to the dampness of the ears. It is a well 
known fact that the ears of corn assume a pen- 
dent position when on the stalks in the field ; 
also that the husk is a complete protection from 
the rain, and that while left standing in the 
field, if it has ripened before frost, there is no 
danger. Intelligent farmers never crib their 
corn unijl it is dry, and hence we may feel sat- 
isfied the injury referred to is but partial. In 
Kentucky, and all south of there, the crop is 
large and safe, and we may safely conclude that 
the supply of this article will be very large. — 
The'distillers are now using new corn altogeth- 
er, and they inform us that it works as well as 
usual, though somewhat damp. — Cincinnati 
Gazette. 



Tobacco Analysis. 

The following Analyses of the ashes of the 
leaf and stalk of tobacco were made in the 
Laboratary of Prof. Chas. B. Stuart, of Ran- 
dolph' Macon College, by Mr. W. A. Shepard. 
We are personally acquainted with both of 
these gentlemen, having passed some time 
with them in the Yale College Analytical 
Laboratory, and from what we know of their 
carefulness and skill, we attach considerable 
value to the analyses as here given. The 
dried tobacco leaf and the stalk were carefully 
burned. One hundred parts of the dried leaf 
yielded about I8J (18.47) parts of ashes, which 
is a very large proportion, when we remember 
that most kinds of wood and other vegetable 
substances give but two or three per cent, of 
ash, 100 parts of the ashes experimented upon 
gave as follows: 



Sulphuric acid, 
Chlorine, 
Phosphoric acid. 
Lime, - 
Potash, 
Soda, - 
Magnesia, 
Soluble silicce, 
Charcoal and sand, 
Iron, merely, - 



Leaf. 

2.95 

5.93 

6.08 

35.83 

30.46 

2.95 

6,96 

1.59 

6.95 

a trace. 

99.70 



Stalk. 

4.12 
14.42 

6.70 
26.34 
35.32 

1.14 

8.30 
17 

3.88 
a trace. 

100.39 



The absence of iron is somewhat remarkable, 
as there is usually considerable quantities of 
this substance found in the ashes of most plants. 
We see that full two-thirds of the ash is potash 
and lime. Every 100 pounds of dry tobacco 
would, according to this analysis, have taken 
fjjpm the soil about 6 pounds each of potash 
and lime. 

The specimens used were of the variety 
known as the " Oronoco," raised in Southern 
Virginia. — American Agriculturist. 



138 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



The Veterinarian. 

THOROUGH-PIN. 

A thorough-pin may be defined to be a • 
wind-gall running from side to side, occu- ' 
pying the hollow interval situated at the' 
upper and back part of the hock. It con- ; 
sist of an abnormal accumulation of syno- 1 
via at the upper part of the hock joint, 
causing a dilatation of the capsular liga- 
ment (the capsule which contains the syno- 
via.) Work of any sort which causes the 
animal to overstretch its natural powers, 
especially hard up-hill work, when exces- j 
sive exercise is forced upon the hock-joint 1 
(or more properly, joints) may be reckon- J 
ed amons; the chief exeiting causes of this I 
disorder. Persivall states that straight 1 
hocks are more liable to bog-spavin and J 
thorough-pin than those of an opposite for- ' 
mation. Solleysel also states that thor- 
ough-pin is often hereditary, and derived, 
from the stallion. I, for my part, consider 
thorough-pin, &c, hereditary — i. e. that 
some animals have an hereditary tendency 
to dilatation of the capsular ligaments, and 
that mal-conformation of joints greatly as- 
sists hereditary predisposition. Pan. 

NAVICULAR LAMENESS IN HORSES. 

Any sudden step, such as a "false 
step," treading upon a stone whilst in a 
gallop, in short, any violent step on a hard 
substance, during which the tendon which 
passes over the navicular bone is injured, 
which bad effects are communicated to the 
capsule, and sometimes to the bone itself, 
will cause navicular joint disease. All 
feet, whether ill or well-shaped, are equal- 1 
ly liable to this disease. True navicular 
disease, the effect of the cause, is the pre- 
sence of an ulcerated spot, either on the . 
surface or imbedded in the midst of the j 
navicular bone. The secretion of joint-oii 
(synovia) is diminished. Every move- 
ment is accompained with severe pain, 
and consequent lameness. The division 
of the neivas about the fetlock joint will 
effect a permanent cure; yet it is as well 
to state that sometimes after the oper- 
ation the hoof will slough off, owing to 
the fact that all sensation, and therefore 
all nervous influence, is taken away. For 
a true case of navicular disease, the frog- 
seton and bleeding rarely give permanent 
relief. During action the animal goes 
very tenderly, that is, on his toes as much 



as possible, as if he were travelling over 
hot cinders. Whilit in the stable he 
stretches his \eg forwards and places his 
toe gently on the ground (called pointing.) 
If the animal has been the subject of the 
disease long, his foot, from resting it while 
in the stable, and favoring it during loco- 
motion, will from disease, become con- 
tracted. Pan. 



The Navicular Lameness in its early 
stages is not so incurable as is generally 
supposed. Hundreds of horses, with a 
little extra attention to their feet and 
shoeing, work on, and ultimately become 
sound. Of course, every disease has cer- 
tain forms which are beyond the reach of 
medical treatment, and the navicular in 
the ulcerated or carious stage will defy the 
most talented efforts to effect a cure. — 
The treatment I recommend in confirm 
cases of this peculiar lameness is strong 
counter-irritation. As soon as the horse 
is sufficiently prepared, apply the firing- 
iron effectually round the cornet, which is 
the seat of much pain in this affection, 
making six or seven strokes about 1| 
inches long, and continue each of these 
strokes down the hoof for about an inch. 
Apply a strong blister over the whole. — 
When this blister has peeled off, apply a 
second, which is usually sufficient to effect 
a cure in bad cases. Turn the horse out 
into a field or loose box, where he can ex- 
ercise himself. In mild cases, the appli- 
cation of a sharp liniment round the coro- 
net, and keeping the horse at gentle work 
in harness if possible, will frequently 
effect a cure. The navicular disease is 
found to exsist in all kinds of feet, with 
the exception of the cart-horse, whose 
work is so widely different from other 
horses. There is no doubt it is constitu- 
tional to a certain extent. The symptoms 
which I have observed are a pointing or 
resting of the affected foot, a confined 
stumbling action, and the coronet feeling 
full and thickened. As the disease pro- 
gresses the coronet becomes more thick- 
ened and inelastic; gradually the hoof un- 
dergoes an alteration in structure, the wall 
becomes ringj* and contracted, and the 
frog or sole is morbidly thickened. When 
the lameness has arrived so far, nothing is 
serviceable but the operation of neuroto- 
my, v. s. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



139 



SPLINTS, SPAVINS, RING-BONES, ETC. 

Splints, together with spavins, ring- 
bones, &c, come under the denomination 
Exostosis, that is, an abnormal growth of 
bone from bone. The part of the limb 
between the knee and the fetlock consists 
of three bones — a large one before, called 
cannon (Os inetacarpi magnum,) and two 
smaller, or splint bones (Ossa metacarpi 
parva,) placed behind the cannon on each 
side. These bones are united to the can- 
non by a fibre-ligamentous substance ; but 
sometimes, from the animal being worked 
too early or too violently, inflammation 
ensues, bony matter is deposited in the 
place of the ligamentous substance, and 
bony union takes place, the nucleus for 
further deposition ; particle upon particle 
accumulates, unti4 abony tumour (a splint) 
is formed. A splint is usually found on 
the inside of the leg, nearer the knee that 
the fetlock. Bony tumours appear occa- 
sionally on other parts of the cannon 
arising from blows or other external injuries j 
and are also called splints. A splint rare- j 
ly causes lameness, or decreases the value j 
of the animal so affected yet, in the early j 
stage of splint, when the deposition of ; 
bony matter is taking place (if I may so j 
express myself) internally, that is before! 
you are able to detect any bony protuber- j 
ance by passing the hand down the leg. 
the animal will evince symptoms of great 
suffering, and go lame. For example, Ii 
recollect a very fine young horse being 
very lame, who had baffled the skill of 
many ; the seat of lameness could be 
detected by no one, and it was finally de- 
termied to turn him out to grass. The 
animal had not been out two months before, 
on the inside of the caumon, near his 
knee, threw a splint, after which he walked 
perfectly sound. Treatment : Blistering, 
repeatedly applied is recommended by 
some, and often succeeds in reducing 
splints; but I prefer the performance of 
the operation of periosteotomy, which the 
following will explain. An incision 
through the skin above and below the j 
splint is made, and the skin raised from' 
the splint by means of a seton-needle. — j 
An appropriate-shaped knife is now passed 
under the skin, and the splint is cut 
through, after which a dressed seton is j 
introduced. This operation can only be: 
performed by a qualified vet., under whose j 



care I should recommend " Top-boots" to 
place his horse. Through the medium of 
theaboveoperationlhave seen large splints 
reduced nearly level with the bone. 

Pan. 

Health of animals may be easily ascer- 
tained by placing the bulb of a thermome- 
ter under the tongue. Dr. Spurgin's med- 
ical thermometer is best suited for these 
purposes — the heat of the stomach is cor- 
rectly ascertained. r. g. w. 

Glandes. Sponge the parts with a 
strong solution of chloride of zinc several 
times a day ; and give large doses of 
yeast mixed with a little porter or beer 
daily for two or three weeks. Let the 
groom or veterinary surgeon take care to 
wash his hands well afterwards in the so- 
lution of chloride of zinc as a precaution- 
ary measure against infection, j. b. n. 

Pulse of Animals. The following 
table, from Vatal, is inserted as a useful 
remembrancer to the practitioner and 
amateur veterinarian, &c, &c. : — Table of 
the number of pulsations in a minute in 
various animals — The horse, 32 to 38 (36 
to 40, White ;) ox or cow, 35 to 52 (42 to 
45, Clater ;•) ass, 48 to 54 ; sheep, 70 to 79 ; 
goat, 72 to 78 ; dog, 90 to 100 ; cat, 110 to 
120; rabbit, 120 : guinea-pig, 140; duck, 
136;. hen, 140; heron, 200. 

[London Field. 



Butter-making and Butter. 

One of our lady correspondents requests 
us to give some account of " butter-mak- 
ing" — how and when butter was invented 
— stating that such information would be 
interesting to many of our readers. 

The origin of butter-making is unknown. 
From time immemorial butter has been 
made and used by the natives of Western 
Europe. Little is said about it by ancient 
writers. Galen and others do not men- 
tion it as an article of diet, and it is pro- 
bable that neither the Greeks nor Romans 
employed it in cookery, nor set it up on 
their tables as food, in the same manner as 
it is enjoyed by us. As butter melts and 
becomes liquid at 90° Fall., this may ac- 
count for the ignorance of authors as to 
its use in cold countries, in their day, be- 
cause the seats of ancient learning were 
confined to warm climates, and geographi- 
cal knowledge was then very limited. — 



140 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



Through the indomitable courage and en- 
terprise of modern travelers we have 
been made acquainted with the customs 
and habits of almost all tribes and nations 
— civilized and savage^so that we know 
of butter being used among many of the 
barbarous Arab and Tartar tribes inhabit- 
ing mountainous regions ; and no doubt it 
has been known "to them for many centu- 
ries. The Tartar, carrying milk for his 
frugal meal in a leathern pitcher slung 
over the crupper of his saddle, would per- 
ceive, after a hard ride, that tlfere had 
gathered on its surface a rich yellow sub- 
stance, unknown to him before, and which' 
could have been produced from the milk 
alone. The cause of its development 
would readily suggest itself, and its pleas- 
ant flavor would incite hirn to reproduce it 
in the same manner. This is the way but- 
ter is now churned by some of these 
nomadic tribes. The milk is placed in a 
bag made of skin ; the Tartar slings it 
across his saddle, mounts his steed, and 
trots up his butter. This, we believe, 
could not have been the way butter was 
first discovered by the inhabitants of 
Western Europe, as their most ancient 
practice of churning consisted in agitating 
the milk in wooden vessels ; but how or 
when they discovered the ait, we shall 
never know. 

In Palestine, and other warm countries, 
olive oil holds the same place that butter 
does with us. As an article of diet, we 
are only acquainted with the butter made 
from cow's milk; but butter made from 
the milk of the sheep, goat, buffalo, and 
ass are known and used in various coun- 
tries, especially in Asia. Some tribes of 
Arabs use the butter (called ghee) of the 
buffalo, which they drink clarified in a 
liquid state. In the East Indies there are 
breeds of goats which give a large quan- 
tity of milk ; and among the hill tribes of 
the Himalaya mountains that take the same 
place as the kine tribes with us. One of 
these goats, lately brought to this city 
from Calcutta, (and by a Mormon family, 
strange to tell !) yielded on shipboard 
from six to eight quarts of milk daily. — 
We really hope that some of our enter- 
prising agriculturalists, who have devoted 
so much attention to improving live stock, 
will endeavor to introduce and acclimatize 
such a valuable breed of animals. They 
can bo raisedand fed in mountainous regions 



where cows would starve. Their milk is 
good, their flesh excellent, and their hair 
makes strong arid durable fabrics for cold 
weather. Goats' milk and butter are also 
common in some parts of Europe. 

Butter is the oil of milk, separated by 
the mechanical action of churning, from 
its other constituents — casein, sugar, and 
some salts. It exists ready formed in the 
milk, as oil does in various seeds, and can 
be churned from sweet (but not so quick) 
as well as from sour milk. It is called hy 
chemists butyrine and butyric acid. In 
some dairies the whole milk is churned to 
obtain the butter; in others, only the 
cream. By the former method it has 
been asserted that more, but by the latter, 
superior butter is produced. It is our 
opinion that with proper care there is little 
difference in the results of the two sys- 
tems. Grass-fed kine yield milk from 
which beautiful yellow butter is gathered ; 
on the contrary, stall-fed cows give milk 
which yields a tallowy-looking butter. — 
This latter kind of butter is often-times 
colored to deceive the buyer, by annatto, 
the juice of carrots, and the flowers of the 
marigold. The color, therefore is not 
always the test of grass-fed milk. Some 
kinds of feed impart their • strong and 
peculiar flavor to milk. This is the case 
with turnips, which should never be given 
to milch cow's except in very limited 
quantities. In winter, when grass cannot 
be obtained, the best kind of food is a 
question of no small importance. Milch 
kine should receive at least one meal per 
day of steamed or boiled food. The cheap- 
est and best for this purpose are Indian 
meal, a few pumpkins deprived of their 
seeds, carrots, hay, and cornstalk ; pota- 
toes are excellent, and when cheap should 
be given freely. Cows which receive 
one meal per day of boiled or steamed 
food, during winter, yield at least one- 
third more milk than those which receive 
only dry food, the condition of the former 
at the same time being much superior. 

Much has been said about the best 
methods of treating butter to preserve it 
sweet and from becoming rancid, under 
ordinary circumstances. There is no diffi- 
culty at all in the matter; and yet the 
quantitj r of inferior (bad butter) in propor- 
tion to good butter which comes into mar- 
ket, is immensely large. As all healthy, 
well-fed country kine, produce good milk, 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



141 



no bad butter should be found in our mar- 
kets. It reflects unfavorably upon the 
intelligence and thirft of our farmers that 
such butter is offered for sale. Cleanliness 
and care are two of the, great secrets for 
making good butter. Holland butter has 
the highest reputation of any other ; this 
is dimply attributed to the great cleanli- 
ness of the people of that country, but 
there are other conditions also necessary.; 
The dishes containing the milk should be; 
perfectly clean, and kept in a cool, dry, 
and well ventilated apartment, and the milk 
or cream which is designed to be churned 
should never be suffered to become very 
sour — to have the least odor of putridity. 
It has been discovered that butter made 
from sour cream is very liable to become 
rancid, in comparison with that made irom 
sweet milk, or sweet cream. It is, per- j 
haps, owing to want of attention on this | 
head during warm weather, that so much 
inferior butter is made. It requires longer j 
time to churn fresh than sour cream ; but! 
the quantity of the butter obtained will 
pay for the use of *horse power to churn, l 
even on a farm having no moje than five 
cows. After the butter has come, it requires 
careful manipulation, or working. It 
makes it tough to work it over a great | 
deal, and the use of much water for wash-, 
ing takes away its fine flavor. -The best, 
plan to treat butter is to submit it first to 
severe pressure, by placing it in a cloth, 1 
and squeezing it in a vessel containing a 
perforated false bottom. This can be done 
with a cheese press, if not, with a pounder 
like that employed for clothes x^fter all 
the milk is thus squeezed out, the butter 
shuld be lifted and worked over carefully, 
and afterwards receive one or two clean, 
cool waters, to wash away every trace of 
milk. It should then be salted with the 
best salt, containing a minute quantity of 
white sugar mixed with it, and last of all it 
should again be submitted to severe pres- 
sure. The great object in thus treating 
butter is to remove all the water and milk 
from it, because these induce incipient de- 
composition and consequent rancidity. — 
By churning the cream before it becomes 
too sour, and removing all the water and 
milk from the butter, and by careful and 
thorough salting and working, the best 
quality will always be obtained. 



Increased Fertility of Land. 

Editors of the Winchester Republican : 

Dear Sir — I send you for publication a 
letter which I have just received from 
Mr. James Carter, who is, you know, one 
of our most intelligent and successful 
practical farmers. This letter cannot fail 
to be read with much interest by the 
farmer, for the experiment which he details 
clearly establishes the important fact that 
cultivated lands may be increased in fer- 
tility without the application of manure of 
any kind whatever. 

Yours, *ROBT. T.BALDWIN. 



Flint RmGE, Frederick Co., Va., 
November 4, 1857. 
Dr. R. T. Baldwin: 

Dear Sir — Knowing the deep interest 
you feel in agriculture, and especially in 
anything ihat relates to the improvement 
of the soil, and believing as I do that those 
interests would be promoted by a more 
frequent communication among farmers in 
regard to their practice and experience, 
must be my apology for addressing you 
this communication. 

About twenty years ago I determined 
to try what improvement I could make on 
a small portion of my farm by the use of 
clover and plaister. For the purpose of 
making the experiment, 1 selected a field 
of about thirteen acres, the soil of which 
was light and sandy. I had cleared this 
field, and had it in cultivation about eight 
years before I commenced to use clover 
and plaister on it; during this time it had 
been producing an average of about twen- 
ty-seven bushels of corn to the acre. I 
commenced my effort to improve the soil 
by sowing it with about one gallon and a 
half of clover seed and about one hundred 
pounds of plaister to the acre. I soon 
found that the plaister acted well on the 
soil producing a very heavy crop of clo- 
ver, which was allowed to remain on the 
land, without either mowing or pasturing 
it off, for three years; at the end of which 
time it was ploughed up, in the month of 
March or April, when the clover was in a 
dry state, and planted in corn, and the 
next summer it was left over for stalk fal- 
low and sowed with wheat in the Fall, and 
again sowed with clover and plaister in 
the Spring, and the same routine continued 



142 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



up to the present time: that is to say, 
first either two or three years in clover 
without pasturing or mowing any part of 
it off. then corn succeeded by wheat on a 
stalk fallow. 

The result of this practice is that the 
product of this field has been more than 
doubled, and is stil! increasing. For the 
last eight years it has averaged upward of 
twenty bushels of wheat and about forty- 
ty-five bushels of corn; and last season, 
when the wheat crop in this section of 
country was remarkably light and of very 
poor quality, I harvested from this field 
twenty-four bushels of rftuestem white 
wheat of excellent quality, and weighing 
sixty-four pounds to the bushel. It may 
be proper to remark that no fertilizer has 
ever been used on this field, except the 
clover and plaister. 

Now, whether this improvement is the 
effect of shade, or whether it is mainly at- 
tributable to the decomposition of vegeta- 
ble matter in the soil, I will not attempt to 
decide. I merely give you a faithful 
statement of the mode of culture and the 
result, and will leave it to you and others 
to draw your own inferences. 
Very respectfullv yours, 

JAMES CARTER. 



From the FaHimore Sun. 

Hog Cholera. 

Interesting Report from the State 
Chemist. 

The public attention has been for a long 
time directed to the existence of a fearful 
malady amongst hogs under the above 
name. It has prevailed for more than a 
year in the large distilleries of the West 
and South, as well as in the small pens of 
country farmers in the East and North ; it 
has committed serious ravages in the 
southern and middle States; and early in 
the spring I was called on by the owner 
of a distillery here to attend to his hogs, 
which were rapidly dying. I went at 
once to see them, and obtained for exami- 
nation tho blood of many of the hogs in 
perfect health for purpose of comparison 
with that of these in articulo mortis, (in 
the act of dying.) These examinations, 
carefully made, revealed the fact of a 
high inflammatory conditiou of the system, 
as the subjoined analysis shows ; 

HexiUhy Flog Blood — Clot — firm, not 



large; scarlet colored; solids, normal; 
fibrin as 2,33 per 1,000. 

Diseased hog Blood — Clot — not firm but 
large ; brpwn colored ; solids, less than in 
the healthy fibrin as 5.60, per 1,000. 

The blood in each case was taken from 
the arteries. 

This condition of the blood evinced a 
high degree of inflammatory action, but did 
not show in what particular organs, struc- 
tures, or structure the inflammation was 
located. To discover this I made numer- 
ous post-mortem examinations, and found, 
1st: The brain, healthy; the heart do; 
stomach, do; bowels, including the greater 
or lesser intestines, do ; kidneys, do ; liver, 
do; melt or spleen, do ; lungs intensely dis- 
eased; in the upper part they were 
engorged with dark, grumous, bruised- 
looking blood, and in the lower lobes the 
inflammation had proceeded to suppura- 
tion, being filled with purulent bloody 
matter, and entirely incapable of carrying 
on the process of bi euthing. The left 
lung was generally more affected than the 
right, and in every instance the inflamma- 
tion had proceeded to a greater extent in 
the lower than in the upper parts of the 
lung- --in some cases the peculiar structure 
of the lung could no: be seen, so entirely 
had it become disorganized. la no cases 
were well defined abscesses found nor 
was the windpipe inflamed but a snort 
distance from the seat of the diseased 
lung. 

Symptoms — The first symptoms were a 
laziness on the part of the animal affected, 
jsome loss of appetite, a kind of husky 
grunt approaching to a cough, sometimes 
I a slight purging of the bowels, and a yel- 
jlowish colored urine; then the animal 
would become more weak and seem to be 
iparalized in the small of the back, totter 
I about for a short time, and finally lay 
down and die. 

The treatment was divided into two 
parts — prophylatic (preventive) and cura- 
tive. With a view to the first the pens 
were scattered over with plaster of Paris 
an I water slacked lime, whilst at the tame 
time, they and the troughs were washed 
with gas tar. The curative treatment was 
the administration of soda ash and borilla. 
There is some trouble in the solution of 
borilla, and on this account soda ash 
should always be used with it. About ten' 
grains of soda ash and the same amount 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



143 



of borilla shoud be given to each hog two 
or three times daily, mixed in their food. 
This should be given to the healthy as 
well as the sick hogs. To the well it does 
no harm ; to the sick it is a successful 
remedy. As in the human species, so in 
hogs — inflammation of the lungs is a most 
insidious disease, going on to the destruc- 
tion of the patient before the mere symp- 
toms give cause of alarm, and in many 
instances hogs which appeared healthy yet 
were seriously affected with lung inflam- 
mation. 

The above remedies were used on about 
three thousand hogs ,and in the utmost in- 
tensity of the disease. The number of 
their deaths diminished seventy-five per 
cent, on the second day after their admin- 
istration, and in a short time the disease 
disappeared from the locality. 

As soon as the hogs were manifestly sick 
they were put in pens to themselves and 
subjected to the above treatment. Of 
the?e about thirty per cent, recovered, 
whilst before all died. 

Causes. — It is a disease of general at- 
mospheric origin, influenced by special, 
local, exciting causes, such as the sweat- 
ing sickness, black death, cholera and 
other epidemics, which at different times 
have devastated, more or less, all parts of 
the earth, and of whose intrinsic nature we 
know but very little. It is not confined 
to distilleries, but has also proved destruc- 
tive in the country. It is not produced 
by strychnine, or any vegetable or miner- 
al poison. 

The disease attended with swollen jaws, 
the proper name of which is hog quinsy, 
prevailing in some part of the State, has 
no connection with the above, and can be 
mo*t successfully treated by making inci- 
sions over the swelling and then pouring 
in a small quantity of salt and turpentine. 

I should be obliged to persons through- 
out the United States, who have observed 
this disease, to examine tiie blood and the 
different organs, and report to me the le- 
suits ; should any be incapable of making 
an analysis of the blood I will with pleas- 
ure furnish them with instructions how to 
perform it. James Higgins, 

State Agr'l Chemist of Maryland. 



How to Raise Turkeys. 

A correspondent of the Country Gentleman 
says: Will you allow me, in farmer style, 
through your paper, to give my experience in 
raising turkeys, for the benefit of your readers. 
I commenced raising turkeys about three years 
ago, but never met with any success until the 
last season, 1855. The winter previous I win- 
tered one torn and two hens, and they laid six- 
ty eggs, from which I raised forty-live turkeys 
from fifty hatched. Until the last summer I 
never could raise over one-fourth that were 
hatched. 

My mode of raising them is as follows : I 
made each hen lay two sittings, which they 
will do without injury if they are well win- 
tered. I sit two sittings under dung-hill fowls 
and the remainder under turkey hens. As 
soon as they are hatched, I have crates provi- 
ded and immediately shut them up for four 
weeks, and then let them range anywhere on 
the farm. I feed them on Indian meal and 
keep butter-milk constantly before them. I 
throw about half an ounce of asafcetida in their 
milk each day, and this keeps them lively, and 
0hey are never bothered with lice. When I 
let them out, they seem to grow up without 
any more trouble. 

I think there is nothing that will afford our 
farmers greater profit than turkeys, if managed 
in this way. I think the whole secret of my 
success lies in the asafoetida. My debt and 
credit stands as follows : 

Dr. 
To three old turkeys, 
To four bushels of corn, 
To meal fed young ones, 
To one pound of asafcetida, 



By 45 turkeys raised and sold at $1, 

By three old ones, 

By two bushels manure, 



Leaving a nett profit of 
on three turkeys in one year, or $13 
each turkey. 

If any of youi^ readers can give 
more advice on the subject, I will be 
for it. Jason II. T 

Sandijston, N. J. 



In the Zoological Gardens, sheep of almost 
every variety have been at times exhibited, but 
not one on which a portion of crisped wool b«.a 
not been found at the root of the hair. 



$3 00 

3 00 

5 00 

96 



$11 


98 


$45 


00 


o 


00 


3 


00 


$51 00 


11 


96 



$39 04 
profit on 

me any 
thankful 

UTTLE. 



Cabbages. — A correspondent of the Horticul- 
turist says: "It may not be generally known 
that cabbages readily grown and are easily pro- 
pagated by slips. A stump may be put out in 
the spring, and the sprouts as they vegetate cut 
off, the cut allowed to dry, and then planted. — 
When cabbages or cauliflowers throw off s de 
shoots, they may be used in the same way. Cab- 
bages thus raised have short stalks, and are 
sure of he'inz true to the parent/' 



144 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



Great Trees. 

The California Farmer gives an account of 
a visit to the Yosemity Valley, by a part}' from 
San Francisco in September last, and mentions 
some of the enormous pines which grow there, 
and of which the party took measurements. 
Some of the trees noticed in the following tables 
are said to have been 300 feet high, and several 
of them 225 to 250 feet: 



in feet. 
53 
51 
50 
49 
48 
47 
46 
45 
44 
43 
42 
40 
35 
3G 
32 
28 



The aim was to see if we could not find one 
hundred trees over fifty feet in circumference,; 
which was more than accomplished by both 
parties, as will be seen. Our party measuftd 
as follows (none less than forty feet) : 



Number Circumference 


Number Circi 


of trees. it 


feet. 


of trees. i 


1 tree 


102 


1 tree 


1 tree 


97 


1 tree 


1 tree 


92 


4 trees each' 


3 trees each 


76 


6 trees each 


1 tree 


72 


5 trees each 


3 trees each 


70 


2 trees each 


1 tree 


C8 


3 trees each 


1 tree 


66 


2 trees each 


1 tree 


63 


1 tree 


3 trees each 


62 


2 trees each 


2 trees each 


60 


2 trees each 


1 tree 


59 


1 tree 


1 tree 


58 


1 tree 


3 trees each 


57 


2 trees each 


1 tree 


56 


2 trees each 


3 trees each 


55 


1 tree 


2 trees each 


54 





Number Circu 


inference 


Number Circu 


inference 


of trees. ii 


feet. 


of tree?. in feet. 


2 trees each 100 


3 trees each 


59 


1 tree 


82 


1 each from 


58 


1 tree 


80 


down to 


52 


2 trees each 


77 


2 trees each 


51 


1 tree 


76 


6 trees each 


50 


3 trees each 


75 


1 tree 


49 


1 tree 


72 


1 tree 


47 


2 trees each 


69 


1 tree 


46 


3 trees each 


67 


2 trees each 


45 


1 tree 


64 


1 tree 


43 


4 trees each 


65 


7 trees each 


44 


2 trees each 


63 


4 trees each 


42 


1 tree 


61 


3 trees each 


41 


10 trees each 


60 


8 trees each 


40 



Some of these were in groups of three, four, 
and even five, seeming to spring from the seeds 
of one cone. 



The Rhododendron Maximum. 
This is one of the finest ornamental shrubs 
of our continent, and though found along the 
whole range of the Alleghanies, and even into 
New England, is rarely seen except in the 
pleasure grounds of gentlemen of wealth. It 
is quite abundant in Virginia, in the mountain- 
ous districts, and as far west as Ohio. We 
know of several localities in Connecticut, and 
Rhode Island, where it goes by the name of 



great laurel, and buck laurel. It is a tropical 
looking plant, an evergreen like the laurel, 
with lanceolate leaves from eight to twelve 
inches in length, and one or more in breadth. 
It delights in deep woods, and in moist swampy 
localities. The fl.wers are of a pale rose colour, 
and are formed at the ends of the branches. 
The buds are formed the previous season, and 
the large green button remains in full sight 
through the winter. They come out in July, a 
cluster of pale rose-coloured flowers, and there 
are few exotics that form a more magnificent 
appearance. There is an extensive locality of 
them near the banks of the Thames, not far 
from New London, Connecticut. They are 
found in a swamp and around the borders, 
covering, perhaps, a hundred acres of land. 
The place is much visited by the curious in-the 
flowering season, and by rural improvers late 
in the fall and in the spring, for the purpose of 
transplanting the young shrub?. 

This plant and seealings from it, are found 
at our large nurseries, and are worthy of a 
place in any considerable plantation of orna- 
mental trees. It is a common error, to plant 
them in sunny, unsheltered positions, where 
they are very apt to fail the first season. Their 
best position in ornamental grounds, is in the 
shade of other trees, and about the edges of 
fields of evergreens. They make a thick screen 
from the winds in winter, and in summer are 
the most attractive and brilliant of flowering 
shrubs. In their native localities, they attain 
a height of fifteen or twenty feet. This month 
is a good time to transplant them. The roots 
should not be allowed to dry. — Prairie Far- 
mer. 



From the Southern Farmer. 

Extraordinary Tobacco Bed. 

Messrs. Editors, — On the 14th of April last 
I burnt and prepared .a plant bed for tobacco 
plants in a rich glade in the forest, and on the 
15th of April sowed the same, raking in the 
.seed which had previously been soaked for 
24 hours, and treading the bed. I then put on 
the surface a dressing of fresh stable manure 
dry, and covered it with brush. I put on 
afterwards, dressings of dry rotted hen manure, 
and dry fresh stable manure, three different 
times. On the 6th of June, after a good rain, 
I took off the brush and drew from the patch 
the following supplies of plants for planting: 
June 6th & 7th, 37,500 plants. 
June 9th, 40,000 plants. 

June 12th, 35,000 plants. 

June 17th, 18,000 plants. 

June 26th, 40,000 plants left in the patch. 



170,000 
You may publish the above if you choose. 
No guano was used on the patch. 

JOHN HENRY. 
Red Hill, Charlotte Co., Va., June 26, 1856. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



145 



For the Planter. 

Ornithological Sketches, No. 2. 

THE BLUE BIRD — SIALIA WILSONII. 

This beautiful warbler measures seven inches 
in length, and ten in extent of wings. Its up- 
per parts are of a bright azure blue colour, its 
breast of a yellowish brown, and belly white. 
His largo dark brown eye beams with intelli- 
gence, and is quick in its change of expres- 
sion, — now melting in love, now flashing in 
war. He is a constant resident of Eastern 
Virginia. I saw some during the very cold 
winters of 185G and 1857, when my thermom- 
eter was several times 8° below zero. Though 
the greater portion of them moved off to more 
Southern climes. I have been informed that 
very few of them winter in Maryland. They 
extend their summer migrations as far as the 
State of Maine. None, however, are seen in 
the British Provinces. They reach as far 
South as Mexico ; and I have been told by a 
Mexican volunteer, that they were numerous 
in the Northern part of that country. But the 
observation of most men, as to birds, or any- 
thing else in which they are not particularly 
interested, is little to be relied on. 

During the month of August, numerous de- 
tached flocks of blue birds, raised North of 
this, pass over us, uttering their plaintive cries. 
These cries are said to resemble those of the 
robin redbreast's of England,— a little bird 
dear to every child's heart, from the story of 
the '"Children in the Wood." Audubon says 
that its attitude, and many of its habits, so 
forcibly remind one of the redbreast, that in 
New England it is called the blue robin. 

With us, the blue birds begin to select their 
places for building early in March. Even in 
the depths of winter, they seldom pass a hole 
in a tree or stump, or a box, without peeping 
into it. They however sleep in such places at 
night, and it may be with the intent of secur- 
ing a snug bed that they scrutinize them so 
closely. I think, however, it is fur the purpose 
Of future nidification ; for they are not thus en- 
gaged in cold wintry days, but only when the 
winter is mild and spring-like. 

Towards the close of January last, whilst 
ploughing a field, Jf observed a number of blue 
birds busily employed in picking up the earth- 
worms from the newly turned furrow. It was 
as mild as May. There were a good many 
large stumps in the field, and several had hol- 
lows suitable for them to build in. As the 
birds would fly out of the way of the return- 
ing ploughmen, they w r ould alight on these 
stumps. The males would invariably peep into 
the holes, and sometimes enter them. 

In the cold days of winter, when no insects 
are to be had, the blue birds feed on numerous 
berries, which our lanes and woods afford, — 
the cedar, holy, dogwood, black-gum, mistletoe, 
&c. They are particularly fond of the dried 
10 



persimmons which hang on the tree. Indeed 
what animal is not fond of this delightful 
fruit ? Birds, turkeys, chickens, geese, sheep, 
hogs, cows, horses, dogs, and men — all greed- 
ily devour them. But our little bird feeds on 
insects whenever they are to be had. In the 
mild, moist days of winter, the snails creep 
out, and down upon them he pounces from a 
fence stake. He may also be observed watch- 
ing along the hedge-rows and ditch-banks, to 
pick up the grasshoppers that creep forth to 
stretch their benumbed limbs. I suppose that 
more of this pestiferous tribe of insects are 
destroyed by blue birds than by any half dozen 
genera of other birds put together. He is a 
friend to man in every respect, and injures him 
in none. This is the bird, above all others, that- 
we should most highly prize, protect, and en- 
courage. Yet, because he is so common, he 
scarcely attracts a passing notice, and is fre- 
quently shot in wanton sport, or because be 
appropriates a box of the purple martin — a 
bird not half so useful, so pretty, or so inter- 
esting as himself. And thus it is that native 
genius and excellence is coldly neglected with 
us, and every springal of a coxcomb is petted 
and caressed, whose chief merit consists in 
his living or travelling on other than Virginia 
soil. But a better time is coming, both for our 
birds, our journalists, our orators and our poets. 
I, by no means, wish to run down genius or 
usefulness simply because it is not Virginian. 
But I do not wish it to be despised, or lightly 
esteemed, because it is. I duly estimate the 
philanthropy and the philornithy, that would 
throw our country open to all good men, and 
useful and pretty birds, — it matters not of 
wln.t hemisphere, they are denisens. And my 
heart warms to Mr. John Gorgas, of Wilming- 
ton, Delaware, and Mr. Thomas S. Woodcock 
(is he a descendant of Adam?) of Manchester, 
in England, and the Hon. J. II. Petus, of 
Charleston, S. C, for their laudable efforts to 
introduce the larks, black birds, thrushes, and 
goldfinches of England into our country. Who 
would not like to hear the famous nightingale 
pouring forth its melody from a sweet briar on 
the road-side, whilst our unrivalled mock- 
bird, perched on an overhanging cedar, was 
in silence drinking in its love-inspiring strain ? 
I warrant you, that in less than a fortnight he 
would sing every note of the nightingale bet- 
ter than himself. Americans, whether birds or 
men, are great at imitation as well as inven- 
tion. Even now, while I am writing on this 
snow r y day, Feb. 4th, 1858, a young mocking 
bird, that is in a cage with a cardinal gross 
beak, at my feet before the fire, is inimitably 
taking off the awkward notes which the latter 
has been attempting all day. There ! — the 
red bird will stand it no longer ; in a fury he 
has knocked him off the top perch. But to re- 
turn from this little interruption. 

Who would not like to hear that sky-lark, of 
which we have all heard from our mothers, 



146 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



when they tell us we should "rise with the 
lark." This traditional bird we have never 
heard nor seen ; yet does nut the very idea 
awaken poetry in our minds — that we, here in 
Virginia, should see that very lark at the gul- 
den break of day, rising on his wing and 
soaring from our sight, long before he is visi- 
ble to the eye of man? It makes one sigh to 
think how very long these larks are coming. 
What has become of the twenty-one pair that 
Mr. Gorgas turned loose in the spring of 1853? I 
thought that I saw and heard one singing in Capt. 
Bassett's field, on the Pamunkey, in June, 1855, 
whilst in company with Dr. Cabell of Alabama. 
But I have never heard it since, though I have 
ridden there repeatedly to look fur it. It came 
up to the idea I had formed of the lark, ex- 
cept that it lit upon the top of a cedar for a 
.:moment, — and the books say the English sky- 
lark never lights on trees. It was a strange 
?bird to me. In May, 1857, I saw another 
strange bird, seated on the top of a very tall 
-birch in my low grounds. It had a very loud, 
.flute-like whistle, and appeared to be of a 
bulk5 r body, with white and black plumage. 
M. would have shot it for examination, but I 
fear.ed it might be one of Mi*. Petus' English 
-black birds, which he set at liberty in Wash- 
ington €ity in 1853. And here I may as well 
-ask if ^ny one can tell, through the Planter, 
what has become of those birds? I have 
! heard that the cockney Know Nothings of 
Baltimore, who sometimes buy double-barrel 
shot-guns, to go out a sporting for snow birds, 
king sparrows, and fine, fat wrens and tomtits, 
killed several of Mr. Gorgas' larks in the fall of 
the year ihey were turne_d loose. The Vandals ! 
But allowing all due credit to these larks 
for their' insect-destroying property, for which 
they were mainly imported, I will venture to 
say that they will fall vastly below the blue 
bird in this respect. For if the lark is valua- 
ble in consequence of his building in the 
.fields, our little Virginian friend will build 
just where you desire him. All that you have 
to do, is to put up a little box six inches square, 
with a hole large enough fur him to get in. 
vPlace it anywhere on your farm, — on the fence, 
.in a tree, or on a stack-pole ; and there he will 
rear his young; and there he will destroy the 
grasshoppers and every kind of worm or bug 
that creeps or -flies, and is large enough for a 
bird to see and seize. And if you will build 
him a duuble bux, he will raise yuu three broods 
every .year, without an accident. If none uf his 
progeny die, (and they are very hardy,) in 
three years from the time yuu put up his lit- 
tle bux, yuu c >uld have upwards of 1200 blue 
birds, from this single pair. And all of them 
will stay with you, if you put up boxes for 
them, and the insects on your farm be numer- 
ous enough to support them. Dues any one 
think that grasshoppers could ever be a pest 
in Virginia, if we wuuld duly enceurage and 
provide fur the blue birils ? Do recommend to 



each farmer without delay to put up as man} 
boxes as he can. 

As soon as the spring opens, the male blud 
birds begin their animated songs, mixed with 
a vein of plaintiveness, carrying the mine 
back to other and happier days. All are busily 
engaged in paying their addresses to the coy 
females ; with tremulous wings and pendem 
feet they flutter around and above the lovec 
ones, stretching their throats and trying tc 
give variety to their rather monotonous notes 
Frequent and long contested are the battles be- 
tween them. Four or five will engage in % 
melee, and fall in a knot to the ground, when 
in silence they will tug at each other with 
beak and claw. Spent with fatigue, they wil 
lay and pant, looking like a beautiful clustei 
of flowdrs, with their upraised wings of blue, 
I got near enough last spring to have picked 
up a party thus employed. So soon as thej 
discovered me they flew off, but in a minute oi 
two they were at close quarters again. Aftei 
a week or so all are paired, and there is a gen 
eral peace, unless one attempts to take the bos 
of another. The blue bird is very tenacious 
of his rights; like "Ole Virginy," he "nevei 
tires/' 

Some years ago, a pair selected a hole in a 
large martin box in my yard. As the martins 
arrived in small parties, the male flogged them 
all out, nor would let one even settle in the 
box. But as the season advanced the martins 
began to pour in in such quantities they were 
too many for him. There must have been at 
least an hundred of them. Long and fierce 
was the war, — still the blue bird did not re- 
treat. By degrees he ceased fighting the mar- 
tins, and the martins him. By common con- 
sent a little mimic chimney on the west gable 
of the box was relinquished to the blue bird 
as his stand point, to superintend his domestic 
affairs, and to keep a sharp lookout for insects 
and hawks. And there he would stand for 
hours, erect and silent, whilst his mate was 
quietly setting in her nest below him, undis- 
turbed by the martins. After he became more 
accustomed to the new order of things, he 
would prune his feathers, or carol his song at 
his ease, whilst the 'box, top and sides, was 
black with the chattering martins. Ther 
were fifty holes in the box, and every hole but 
that occupied by the blue birds had a pair of 
martins, whilst the garret of the box held a 
good many pairs. Whilst the martins would 
frequently quarrel and skirmish among them- 
selves, I never saw one molest the blue bi 
after the truce. Nor did a martin ever alight 
on his chimney top during his absence that I 
saw, and my curiosity was so much excited on 
that point that, you may depend on it, my ob- 
servations were very frequent during the sea- 
son whilst I was about the yard. 

Thus did the blue bird maintain his ground, 
and retain his rights in peace, and with the 
respect of the noisy fraternity, till their de- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



147 



pavture, — when he was almost ready to bring 
out his second, if not his third brood. And 
so it will ever be with States, men, or birds, 
who will unflinchingly and fearlessly main- 
tain their rights, with all the power God has 
given them. 

I could relate many other interesting facts 
about my little friends, but the great length of 
my communication admonishes me that it is 
time to draw to a close. So as my Lord Coke 
says, "let this little taste suffice." 

F. 



For the Planter. 

Coal Ashes. 

Cabin Point, Feb. 4th, 1858. 
Editor Southern Planter : 

Sir. — This being a snowy day, I have taken 
the liberty of transcribing some remarks from 
the AVorking Efcirmer, published in England in 
1759, a shxirt paragraph on the use of coal 
ashes. I do not know that tffey have been 
used by more than one farmer in your neigh- 
bourhood ; and as their must be a great deal 
in Richmond that many would be glad to get 
rid of, I write to call your attention to them. 
I have used some on asparagus beds, and both 
my gardener and myself think it hastened 
their growth, and made them more tender and 
large. 

" Coal ashes, from their calcareous quality, 
are singularly beneficial to stiff and sour land, 
for which purpose they are successfully used 
in the vicinity of some great cities where coal 
is burnt for fuel. They open clayey grounds, 
and correct their bad qualities. The gardeners 
and farmers about London know their value, 
and make a profitable use of them, particularly 
to bring into order those grounds which have 
been dug for brick earth. After spreading 
these ashes upon the clay bottom, they either 
sow Horse-beans, or set the early Spanish, and 
sometimes the Windsor-bean in those spots; 
or else they lay such lands down with rye-grass 
— which generally succeeds very well. Mr. 
Bradley blaming the people of Staffordshire 
and the counties adjoining where there are 
coal-pits, for not improving their heavy lands 
by manuring them with coal ashes, says that 
wherever there are a plenty of coal-pits, there 
can be no want of good, profitoble land." 

Bradley's Husbandry. 

" Mr. Mortimer agrees entirely with Mr. Brad- 
lq»y, esteeming sea-coal ashes as the best ma- 
nure (what is sea-coal ashes?) of any sort for 
cold lands, the most lasting, and fittest to kill 
worms. Their sharp and drying quality opens 
the pores of stiff soils, and discharges a great 
deal of their vicious quality. Mr. Worlidge 
looks upon them as an excellent compost when 
mixed with horse-dung, lie adds, that they 
are a great curer of moss and rushes in 
most grounds." — Worlidge' s Husbandry. 

I hope some of the good farmers about you 



will try^ coal ashes, and give the public the 
result o'f their trials. I have a good deal 
of land that would be benefitted by their 
use, but I have so small a quantity that my 
wife uses them on the lawn, and as far as 
they go improve the grass very much. 

I have heard that around Williamsburg 
some farmers sow corn, and think it equally 
good for fallows as peas. Do you know any- 
thing about it? 

The spring wheat you gave me some three 
years ago on condition I would give you a 
bushel as soon as I made two, looks very well. 
I think I can furnish you with two bushels 
(should we live) next fall. I sowed it in 
the fall. I am no believer in spring w T heat 
or Avinter oats as a distinct class. 

I have forgotten the name of the wheat. 
I wish you would come to ^ee me. 
Yours very respectfully, 

Natii'l M. Osborne. 



Tribute to the Planter. 

The following tribute to the Planter is w r orth 
publishing as a testimony to the value of agri- 
cultural papers. It is at the same time most 
agreeable to our feelings. [Ed. So. Pl. 

. Tarboro, N. C, Jan. 6, 1858. 
Messrs. Ruffm fy August, Richmond, Va. , 

Gentlemen — It has been my habit until the 
last two or three years, to remit punctually on 
the 1st January, payment in advance for the 
agricultural papers I read. 

The " Southern Planter" was the first agri- 
cultural paper I ever saw, some sixteen years 
ago. I was then a poor journeyman tailor — 
A new desire sprung up within me after read- 
ing the paper. It was to be a farmer. I went 
to w r ork and secured some fifty subscribers or 
upwards to the Planter. Since then our coun- 
ty (Edgecombe) is known far and wide as the 
banner agricultural county of the State. Thou- 
sands of acres, worn down and worthless, have 
been resuscitated and made to produce as much 
cotton per acre as the virgin soils of the South. 
Is it too much to say that the "Planter" has 
had something to do in bringing about 'this 
state of things. May I not be pardoned in ar- 
rogating to myself some little credit for my 
part in the matter. 

I am and have been a farmer for the last 7 
years, and a successful one at that ; at any 
rate, I am comfortable, if the possession of this 
world's goods can make one so. Conscience is 
not as easy, however, as it might have been, 
had I not allowed myself to forget, in the mul- 
titude of business, to discharge the trifle — the 
poor pittance — that is required of me for what 
I do not hesitate to admit, has been instrumen- 
tal, in an eminent degree, to that success. 
Yours, &c, Robert Norfleet. 



148 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



(No. 1.) 

(Papers Communicated by the Nottoway Club.) 

Prolific and Common Corn. 

Annual Experiment reported to the Farmers' 
Club of Nottoway, by Richard Irby, 1858. 

To test the propriety of planting Prolific or 
Doublc-3ared Corn, I procured two varieties. 
One called Hicks' Prolific, bearing from two to 
five ears to the stalk, and another, name not 



known, which has a very large single ear. 
Both varieties were planted on rich fiat land 
which produced from nine to ten barrels to the 
acre, worked and planted alike and the only 
difference in management was that the Prolific 
was cut down stalk and fodder and stacked up 
and other managed in the usual way. I took 
four stalks of each variety and measured and 
weighed them as well as I could with a com- 
mon measure and spring ballance. The results 
are as follows : 



PROLIFIC CORN. 

1st stalk, 3 ears weighed, unshelled, 2 lbs. Shelled corn 1J lb.* measured 1 quart— 

2nd " 5 " " " 2J* " " If- " 1 " * 

3rd " 3 " " " 2* " " If " 1 " 

4th " 3 " " " 2 " " H " 1 " — 



4 stalks 



1st ear wheighed, unshelled, 

2nd 

3rd 

4th 



81* lbs. 



6}* lbs. 



LARGE CORN. 

1] lbs. Shelled cor* 1 lb. measured 
1J " " 1 

1 u 1 

1 1 « " 3* u 

J-4 4 



4 ears 



Showing that Prolific Corn made more of 
corn unshelled 



43 
*1 



31* 



3| lbs. Shelled corn 2| lbs. 



4 quarts. 



f quart. 

2 a 



1J quarts. 



These figures may appear strange to some, 
but I tested the two kinds several years since, 
with about the same results. I will here say, 
that this Prolific Corn is not a new variety, 
but has been cultivated by myself and neigh- 
bors for many years. Any corn can be made 
to bear two or more ears by carefully selecting 
the stalks that bear more than one ear from 
year to year. The small eared corn has also 
the advantage that it matures and comes ear- 
lier. 

Respectfully submitted. 



(No. 2.) 

Comparative Value of Mexican and Peru- 
vian Guanos. 
Mr. President : 

In discharge of former obligations, I have 
exhausted nearly all the materials at my com- 
mand for either essays or experiments. 

I propose to present some observations con- 
cerning the comparative results from the appli- 
cation of Mexican and Peruvian Guano. 

The first was in corn on contiguous acres, 
and much more favorable to the Peruvian — 
but on wheat it was reversed. Whether the 
strength of the Mexican was in reserve for 
future development, or whether its adaptation 
to wheat is a peculiar characteristic, it may be 
difficult to decide. I, last fall, tried a similar 



* Means a fraction over. 
— Means a fraction under. 



experiment, directly in wheat, and at this time, 
the effect is most favourable to the Mexican 
and the Peruvian exhibiting but little benefit. 
My OAvn impression is, that the Peruvian 
Guano, with which we are now supplied, is not 
as good as formerly, or certainly its effect is 
not so advantageous. It may, in part, be as- 
cribed to the seasons, or to repeated applica- 
tion to the same land. 

It is certainly a matter of important consid- 
eration whether its use to the extent, at one 
time considered so beneficial and remunerative, 
can be continued for the future, or what sub- 
stitute can be provided? and my object has been 
so to present the subject as to secure a compar- 
ison of opinions on such an important matter. 
E. G. BOOTH. 



(No. 3.) 

Experiment with Guano and Super-Phos- 
phate of Lime. 

I used Guano, and De Burg's Super-Phos- 
phate of Lime on corn, alternating them, leav- 
ing a row with nothing applied. Neither of 
them showed any beneficial effects as compared 
with the rows where nothing was applied. It 
is proper however to say that this guano was 
not pure, or rather it was totally inefficient, 
wherever applied. 

Respectfully submitted, 

May 14th, 1857. T. F. EPES. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



149 



(No. 4.) 
Essay on Neat Cattle. 

Addressed to the Agricultural Club of Nottoway 

County. 
Mr. President : 

The present high price of the staple crops 
of this section of Virginia, -it is feared, will 
cause them to engross so much of the time 
and labour of the farmers as to lead to the neg- 
lect of other important interests connected 
and necessarily identified with a judicious 
system of rural economy. It is one of the 
fixed facts in the history of man, if it is not 
one of the laws of his nature, to prefer pres- 
ent to prospective profits ; and to say to him- 
self, Why take ye thought for to-morrow ? 
Sufficient for the day are the profits thereof. 
Ten, fifteen and twenty dollars per hundred 
for tobaccco, and more than an average price, 
for cotton and grain of every description are 
stimulants to industry and effort, which too 
frequently have their origin in an inordinate 
desire to accumulate the representatives of 
wealth, at the expense of the solid and sub- 
stantial comforts of life, and which must ever 
prove unfavourable to a well-managed atten- 
tion to the miner interests of the farm. 

These reflections have induced me to select 
as the basis of my annual contribution to the 
Club, the subject of Neat Cattle. It is not my 
intention to say much about the different 
breeds, because I have very little experience as 
to their relative value, — the adaptation of the 
improved breeds to our climate, to our means 
of subsisting them, either through the sum- 
mer or winter seasons ; supposing that they 
require a better keep than we are accustom- 
ed to give to our native stock. 

It is my opinion that we would do better 
to improve those accustomed to our climate, 
and inured by long habit to hardship, than to 
import or dip too deeply into the improved 
blood, before we are better prepared to sup- 
port them according to their physical wants 
and constitutional requirements. By a judi- 
cious selection of the parent stock, male and 
female, and more attention to the feed and 
management of our native breed, there can be 
no doubt but that they can be made to meet 
all our wants, and that it is difficult, if not 
impossible, to fix the point of improvement 
to which it may not be made to attain. 

It is most probable that Noah carried with 
him into the ark seven pair of the bovine 
family, — and as the sacred historian gives no 
account of Short or Long horns, Devons, Here- 
fords, or Ayrshire, it is fair to presume that 
they were all of the same breed. The buffalo 
of our Western prairies and the domestic cow, | 
it is well known, will breed and their progeny! 
are capable of propagating their race, — conclu-| 
sive evidence that they all sprang from the, 
same parent stock ; and that the varieties are. 



the results of accidental causes, such as domes- 
tication, climate, keep, &c. ; and that whatever 
has been effected elsewhere in the scale of im- 
provement, may be accomplished here and 
everywhere by judicious management. 

At two different periods my stock of cattle 
was nearly killed out by the distemper. The 
first time I purchased several milch cows, from 
an extensive poor ridge, sandy farm, with lit- 
tle or no flat land attached to it, consequently 
indifferent -grazing land; neither of the cows 
purchased proved to be good milkers, nor were 
any of their descendants, though they pro- 
duced large and likely oxen. My second 
purchase was from a farm of an opposite char- 
acter, lying on Little Nottoway River and the 
Whetstone Creek, with extensive low grounds, 
affording excellent pasture. These — four in 
number — all proved to be superior milkers, 
and have transmitted that character to their de- 
scendants. My stock will at this time com- 
pare favourably with any in the neighbour- 
hood. It is believed that neither of the far- 
mers of whom I purchased ever owned, and 
most probably never saw a Short-horn, Devon, 
Hereford, Alderney, or Ayrshire. I therefore 
conclude that good pastures are indispensable 
to make good milch cows, whether of the na- 
tive or improved breeds. 

The proper amount of stock to be kept on 
a farm, is a question of much importance, and 
yet one of difficult solution, — which must be 
determined by circumstances weighed and set- 
tled by each individual farmer. It should 
never, under any circumstances, be beyond 
the capacity of the farmer to keep them at all 
times in a thrifty, improving condition. In- 
terest and humanity alike sustain this posi- 
tion. They should be well sheltered and 
cared for during the severity of our winter 
and spring months ; (no farmer will ever re- 
gret erecting comfortable shelters for his stock ;) 
and plentifully supplied with something bet- 
ter than the hen's nest grass and broom-straw 
of our old fields and standing pastures in sum- 
mer, and wheat-straw and corn-stalks in win- 
ter. There is, in fact, a very great want of 
system and forethought on this subject through- 
out our community, which calls loudly for re- 
form. 

The value of the cow is not duly appreci- 
ated. She is a daily labourer of untiring in- 
dustry, gathering the richest materials from 
the hedges, fields, and bogs during the day, 
and bringing them home and depositing on 
the farm at night during the spring and 
summer months ; and in the fall and winter, 
a machine, of wonderful adaptation, for grind- 
ing up and preparing the coarse offal of the 
farm crops for the compost heep, thus paying 
for her keep at all seasons of the year, inde- 
pendently of the comforts and luxuries fur- 
nished her owner in beef, leather, milk, butter, 
and cheese, — to say nothing of the patient la- 
bour of the faithful ox. 



150 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



How, then, can we best improve our native 1 
cattle? This, to my mind, is the question 
which most interests us. Reformation on other 
subjects is always preceded by conviction 
that we are in error, either in principle or 
practice. The next step is to cease to do wrong 
and learn to do right. In the treatment of our 
stock, we follow blindly the example of our 
fathers, as we do in many other things, with- 
out inquiring into the suitableness of their 
practice to our circumstances. They lived in 
a rich, fresh country, enjoyed the benefits of 
an extensive range, made heavy crops, and 
with little trouble or expense could support a 
large stcck. In this regard, as in their to- 
bacco prop, they ran for quantity more than 
for quality. Now, all this was probably the 
best for them ; but it by no means follows that 
it is the best for us. They considered their stock 
as of minor importance ; had probably very in- 
adequate ideas of their importance as manu- 
facturers of manure and improvers of the 
farm, and hence they made but little provision 
for their comfort, and cared little for their im- 
provement. 

We must look at this subject through a dif- 
ferent medium. We will do well to forget the 
lessons of by-gone times, and follow the clearer 
lights of reason and experience by first reduc- 
ing the number, and secondly by improving 
the quality of our stock. The latter is to be 
accomplished by selecting the best and most 
perfect of both sexes for breeders, having in 
view meat, milking, and working qualities, — 
for they are all indispensable characteristics of a 
good race ; and keeping those qualities progress- 
ive by well-timed crosses, judiciously made ac- 
cording to the directions and rules laid down 
by experienced breeders, or as our own obser- 
vation and experience may suggest. And in 
the next place, by a liberal supply of food, of 
the quality to insure health and thrift through- 
out the year, dry, warm shelters during the 
winter and spring months; and, in short, by 
giving that attention to the comfort of the an- 
imal which its importance and value demand. 

The time is coming, if it has not already arriv- 
ed, when we shall have to adopt the plan of soil- 
ing, as aremedy for excessivegrazing ; and for this 
purpose the Chinese sugar corn and spurry prom- 
ise well, in addition to clover and other succu- 
lent crops which are always in use among us. 
The additional quantity of manure which may 
thus beraised will abundantly compensate for the 
trouble and expense incurred, as well as pro- 
mote the comfort and enhance the value of 
the stock. We do not pay sufficient attention 
to the root crop, the best means of supplying 
our cattle with succulent food during the win- 
ter and spring, —so necessary to counteract the 
constipating effects of the wheet-straw and 
shucks, and which they greatly need to keep 
their digestive and assimilating organs in a 
healthy condition. If we would give our cat- 
tle two or three feeds of roots per week, we 



would not see so many poor dyspeptics turned 
out in early spring to live as best they can, — 
striking emblems of the ill-favoured and lean- 
fleshed kine spoken of in Genesis, evidences of 
a past and not prophetic of a coming famine. 

I once raised a large crop of Mangel Wurt- 
zel and fed them to my stock in early win- 
ter, with manifest advantage, but found they 
did not keep well'in the kiln, and have not 
since repeated the experiment. I can speak 
more favourably of the turnip crop as a win- 
ter feed. 

Last July I had fallowed and well pre- 
pared three acres of very thin land, too poor 
to put in corn when the' field was last in cul- 
tivation, to which was applied three hundred, 
pounds of Peruvian and Mexican guano, well 
mixed, of eqnal parts of the two, sowed broad- 
cast, and thoroughly harrowed in and mixed 
with the soil, and seeded to turnips. I had 
also nearly an acre of highly manured land 
in turnips. From the two patches I fattened 
fifty-eight hogs, one beef, and fed three milch 
cows plentifully through the winter. My oxen 
(two yoke) have also been liberally fed on 
them, and occasionally my cattle have had a 
feed of them, say twice a week, and they are 
not yet exhausted, (20th of April.) 

I have no hesitation in saying, that in my 
opinion, in no other crop would the same land 
and guano have produced me as much feed 
or have been as beneficial to my stock. My 
cattle and oxen were never in better condition 
at this season of the year, notwithstanding 
the severity of the winter and spring and the 
scarcity of provender, from having made the last 
year an unprecedented short crop of corn, 
wheat, and oats, in consequence of the ravages 
of the chinch-bug and the drought, — both of 
which were very destructive on my farm. I 
can therefore confidentl}- recommend to my 
brother farmers the more extensive cultivation 
of the turnip crop as a winter feed for their 
stock. 

A. A. Campbell. 



(No. 5.) 
Best Time for Sowing Clover Seed, &c. 
Mr. President : 

In accordance with the requisition of the 
Club, I submit the following report upon the 
best time of sowing clover seed : 

At what seemed a very favourable time in 
February, 1854, I commenced sowing clover 
seed. Something interfering, I did not finish 
before the tenth of April. Finding that 
whereas Avhat was sown in February did not 
stand at all, what was sown in April stood 
V p r y well, I concluded in 1855 to try again 
the relative advantage of seeding at different 
times. Therefore I seeded part in February, 
part in March, and part in April. The result 
was, that although that sown in February was 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



151 



on tobacco lots, that sown in April on old field 
stood much the best. That sown in February 
and March was tolerably good. This year I 
have sown altogether during the first week in 
April, and now it looks very finely, hav 
ing come up well. I did nothing to it af- 
ter sowing. In April I endeavored to select a 
time when the ground was dry ; in the other 
months when the ground was puffy from freez- 
ing and thawing. 

I would also report that last year I com- 
menced sowing guano broad cast for tobacco, 
previous to bedding up the land ; but at the 
uggestion of a neighbour, I abandoned that 
plan and put the balance in the drill, using 
equal quantities ; the subsequent treatment 
was the same. I applied about one hundred 
and fifty pounds at the time of hilling up the 
tobacco. The result was very greatly in fa- 
vour of that upon which the guano was sown 
broad-cast, — it being much earlier, larger, and 
riper. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Tnos. R. Blandy. 



Mules and Mule-breeding. 
How important this branch of rural 
economy is becoming in the United States 
may be seen by the following notice of 
The Columbus Inquirer copied into the 
veterinary department of Porter's Spirit, 
and the comment accompanying it: "A 
M few days ago one hundred mules were 
sold in Scott County, Kentucky, at an 
average of $177 each. Our Southern 
planters have here another illustration of 
the fact, that they can never fully realize 
the high price for cotton until they raise 
their own stock and provisions, for the 
high price of one is always attended by a 
corresponding rise of the other." In view 
of this fact, we propose to devote a little 
space to the examination of the history 
of the mule ; the advantages which he 
possesses, as he does possess advantages 
of some kinds and for purpose over both 
the horse and the ox ; his qualities, and 
the best and most profitable mode of rais- 
ing him for the market, and for producing 
his best qualities and characteristics. To 
tell persons now-a-days that the mule is 
the hybrid between the horse and the ass 
would appear to be so absolute a truism 
that the recipients of the information 
would be very apt to laugh at the infor- 
mant, and to set him down as nearly akin 
himself to the latter species of the equine 
family ; and yet, strange to say, few per- 
sons, comparativelv speaking, know pre- 
cisely, if indeed at all, what is or is not a 



mule — much less that there are two dis- 
tinct animals, both the offspring of the 
horse and ass, one of which is, and the 
other is not a mule ; less, again, what are 
the distinctions between the two. To the 
Romans this fact was well known, and 
different names were assigned to the two 
animals, one of which names we have 
exactly followed ; although this modifica- 
tion of the creature is so rarely seen 
among the speakers of the English lan- 
guage, that the word in question is rarely 
heard, would be understood by compara- 
tively few, even well-informed, persons, 
and is not to be found in Johnson's diction- 
ary or the ordinary cyclopaedias. The off- 
spring of the male ass and female horse 
(mare) is truly the mule — in Latin, hemi- 
onus, of half ass. The offspring of the 
male horse, (stallion) and the female ■ ass 
is the hinny — in Latin hinnus, a word 
which conveys, as does the former word 
hemionus, a distinct sense, lost in the cor- 
responding English synonyms, for hinnus 
is a derivative of the verb hinnire, to 
neigh ; and in fact the hinny neighs while 
the mule brays. Nor is this all : for while 
the mule has the greater external resem- 
blance to the ass, so has the hinny the 
greater external resemblance to the horse; 
and a more- minute examination carries us 
yet further, and shows us that the mule, 
not only in outward-form but in temper 
and characteristics, has more of the ass 
in nature — the hinny more of the horse. — 
It is in a considerable degree by the 
knowledge of these fact, which are posi- 
tive that the breeder is led when he insists 
that, in order to produce the greatest ad- 
vantages on the offspring, the excess of 
blood and vital energy must be on the 
dam ; since he finds invariably that from 
the jackass and the mare, whether the 
latter be the merest dung-hill or as thor- 
ough bred as Spiletta, the mother of 
Eclipse, springs the mule of the ass type. 
The mule has long ears, slightly modi- 
fied and shortened by the intermixture of 
the horse; the hairless tail with a tuft at 
the end, the narrow quarters and thin 
thighs, the erect mane, the elongated 
head, the slender legs and narrow, erect 
hoofs, and the voice of the ass. The 
hinny has a smaller, better formed head, 
the flowing mane and full tail, the general 
form, the finer coat, larger legs, broader 
[feet, and the voice of the horse, What 



152 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



would at first appear remarkable is that 
the mule, or offspring of the male ass and 
mare, is a far larger animal than that of 
the stallion and female ass ; and not only 
that, but frequently than either of his 
parents. In proof of which may be cited 
an advertisments from Porter's Spirit of 
the Times of Jan. 8 of last year, offering 
for sale " a splendid pair of jet-black 
mules, seventeen hands three inches high, 
beautifully matched, three years old. — 
They were got," it is added, " by the finest 
Maltese jack in Kentucky out of thorough- 
bred mares, got by Wagner and Gray 
Eagle," &c. Now these prodigious ani- 
mals, fully equal in height to the largest 
London dray-horse, which would proba- 
bly weigh above two thousand pounds, if 
their height be correctly stated, (which one 
may presume to be the case, since no ben- 
efit could arise to the advertiser from a 
deception which must instantly be discov- 
ered on examination by a purchaser) are 
the produce of a sire, the largest speci- 
mens of which never exceed the stature 
of a small horse, and dams which in the 
absence of any knowledge on the subject, 
we may set down as probably not exceed- 
ing fifteen hands and two inches, and cer- 
tainly not exceeding sixteen hands, inas- 
much as the latter is, ordinarily speaking, 
maximum height of the race-horse. Here, 
therefore, we have the hybrid offspring 
overtopping the sire in height by at least 
three hands, or twelve inches, and the 
dams by two hands, or eight inches. A 
convincing proof, by the way, of the ab- 
surdity and hopelessness of expecting to 
produce an enlarged progeny by breeding 
small, weak, undersized mares to large, 
powerful stallions ; and a strong argument 
in flavor of having the size, length and room 
to contain the fetus on the side of the fe- 
male parent. 

The mule, again, which is the offspring 
of the male ass, has the great excess of 
his qualities, the incomparable endurance, 
the patience, the faculty of subsisting and 
keeping himself in good condition where 
the horse would starve, and the extraordi- 
nary sure-footedness of the ass, and it 
must be added, in a great degree, his tem- 
per, his obstinacy, stubbornness and pas- 
give vice : although it is believed that, 
both in the ass and mule, these bad quali- 
ties have been greatly fostered and in- 
creased by the cruelty and neglect of ages 



— no such qualities being observed in the 
beautiful, docile and tractible asses of the 
East, where they have been from the 
most remote ages used as the saddle ani- 
mals of the superior classes — and that 
they may by kind and judicious treatment 
be greatly modified, if not eradicated. — 
The hinny, on the contrary, although har- 
dier, more patient, more enduring of pri- 
vation and scanty fare than the horse, is 
infinitely inferior in all these qualities 
both to the ass and the mule : while he is 
at the same time gentler, more tractable 
and nearer to the horse in temper. Strong 
arguments, it will be observed, for seek- 
ing invariably to have the qualties of blood, 
temper, courage, spirit, on the side of the 
sire ; form and size on that of the dam. — 
An attempt has been made to establish a 
positive principle on the facts as here 
stated, to the effect that £l the male gives 
the external configuration," or, in other 
words, the locomotive organs, while the 
female gives internal, or, in other words, 
the vital organs ; which is generally stated 
with scientific precision. Thus: "The 
male gives the animal system, the female 
the organic or vegetative." As might 
have been presumed, however, and is too 
often the case with quasi-scientific dog- 
mas, this attempt at reducing the deduc- 
tions of theorists to the formula of pure 
science has proved a total failure ; and 
those who would maintain the principle 
by illustrations drawn from the vegetable 
kingdom have failed yet more signally, 
for here again the greatest authorities dia- 
metrically differ; Linnaeus asserting that, 
of plants, in all hybrids the internal or 
fructifying organs are all male ; while Du 
Candolle asserts directiy the reverse — that 
the organs of vegetation are all given by 
the female, those of fructification by the 
male. Again, in regard to horses, in the 
reports lately published in France by the 
authority of the Government, in relation 
to the African and Oriental horse, Gener- 
al Daumas asserts, from his knowledge 
of Ara.b horses in Algeria, that all the 
most valuable qualities in horse-breeding 
are derived from the stallion. The In- 
spector of the French studs insists on' the 
contrary, from his own Asiatic. experience 
on the subject, diametrically the reverse 
— that the mare has the chief influence 
on the foal. Thereupon Gen. Daumas ap- 
plied to Ahd-el-Kader, who has done more 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



153 



with the Arab horse, and may be pre- 
sumed to know more of the Arab horse 
than any living man, having all the tradi- 
tionary lore of the Arab preserved on this 
subject from remotest ages, together with 
much of the information and intelligence 
of the European, who replies unhesitating- 
ly : "The experience of centuries estab- 
lished that the essential parts of the or- 
ganization, such as the bones, the tendons, 
the sinews, and the veins, are always de- 
rived from the stallion. The mare may 
give the color and some resemblance to 
her structure, but the principal qualities 
are due to the stallion." This opinion of 
one than whom no one is better qualified to 
speak ex cathedra, which has only at this 
late moment come to our observation, in 
an article from The Westminister Review, 
while it exactly confirms the argument on 
which we have so strongly insisted in our 
papers on "The Improvment of the Breed 
of Horses," sets at rest, so far as it goes, 
an assertion which has been put forth in 
reference to mules — to the effect that the 
mule proper, or offspring of the male ass, 
is a modified ass ; while the hinny, or off- 
spring of the stallion, is a modified horse. 
This, again, is an attempt to force that 
into a scientific formula which cannot be 
so treated. Both the mule and hinny are 
clearly modified asses — that is to say, 
they have both more in their composition 
of the ass than of the horse, but the pro- 
portion of that more depends on the male, 
and not on the female parent. It appears 
that the vital energy and power of trans- 
mitting organization is stronger in the ass 
than in the horse probably, because he is 
entirely in-bred, less changed by domesti- 
cation, and nearer to his natural condition 
than the more cultivated and more highly 
favored animal. The zebra and quagga 
are yet more potent in this strange power 
of transmitting properties than even the 
ass ; for it is an established fact on well 
authenticated record, that a thorough- 
bred mare having once produced a striped 
foal to a quagga, continued for several 
succesive generations, when bred to thor- 
ough-bred horses and having no further 
connection, with the quagga, to produce 
striped offspring, the stripes becoming 
fainter and fainter in each successive foal. 
A fact which has led, in connection with 
other circumstances, some of the best 
French physiologists to the conclusion that 



a female which has once borne a hybrid 
becomes herself a hybrid, and can never 
again bear a perfect animal of her own 
race ; a fact certainly worthy the consid- 
erations of persons who, like the breeder 
of the advertisement quoted above, stint 
mares of such blood as Gray Eagle and 
Wagner to Maltese jacks. Only imagine 
their faces, should they after this breed 
the same mares to a Lexington, a Mon- 
arch, or a Revenue, and find the progeny 
on its appearance long eared, with b stripe 
along its back and a bar across its shoul- 
ders ! 

It is clear, then, that ^tiile in all 
hybrids of the horse and ass, the latter 
gives the greater proportion both external 
and internal characteristics, it is determ- 
ined by the sire, not by the dam, in what 
degree that excess shall exist : and this 
principle will lead 4 to a full understanding 
of how mules may be bred to the best ad- 
vantage. 

In a recent paper we showed the differ- 
ence between the mule and hinny, or the 
offspring ofifcthe male ass and mare and 
that of the stallion and female ass. We 
also demonstrated that in both animals the 
type of the ass prevailed over that of the 
horse, but the degree or proportion in 
which the prevalence exists depends on 
the male animal ; consequently, that in 
breeding mules, as all other hybrids, the 
spirit and principal ( haracteristics are to 
be sought in the sire, not in the dam. — 
Thus, if we are breeding mules, on the 
spirit, courage, temper and characteristics 
of the male ass, everything will depend in 
the production of the like qualities in the 
progeny ; while, so long as the mare is 
sound, strong enough, bony enough and 
roomy, it will matter very little, as far as 
the characteristics of the young are con- 
cerned, whether she be a Suffolk Punch, 
or as pure a thorough bred as Spiletta, the 
mother of Eclipse. Therefore, in the 
case of the pair of gigantic mules men- 
tioned in an advertisement quoted as 
begotten by " the finest Maltese jack in 
Kentuck} 7 " out of two thorough-bred 
mares " by Wagner and Gray Eagle," 
there is no doubt that the excellence of the 
mare has everything to do with the excel- 
lence of the progeny. Rut not only is it 
very certain that the Gray Eagle and 
Wagner blood is wasted to no purpose by 
this prostitution to vile uses, in giving the 



154 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



qualities of blood to the mules, but it is 
even questionable whether two stout, sound 
active Canadians, or Normans, would not 
have thrown better foals to the same jack 
than these noble mares, thus sadly misap- 
plied. On the other hand, if we are 
breeding hinnies, we Avant the very best 
stallion we can find, in blood and bone, 
so that he be not disproportionately large ; 
while, in the female ass, we only requrie 
soundness, and sufficient size to render 
her roomy enough to contain a foetus so 
much larger than her own natural progeny 
as the hinny foal is likely to do so, this 
side of the : question is worthy of no fur- 
ther consideration, and with a few words 
more we quit it altogether. 

It is generally asserted that the hinny 
has been tried and found nearly a worth- 
less animal, though admitted to be a beau- 
tiful one ; and has only been bred occa- 
sionly, in Spain, since the great decline 
in the number and quality of the male 
asses, and of mules generally from the 
want of male asses, arising from the fright- 
ful consumption of those anifhals during 
the Peninsular war., and the subsequent 
incessant civil wars which have convulsed 
that unhappy country, has rendered it ne- 
cessary to supply their want. 

We are not inclined to adopt this asser- 
tion. We believe that the hinny, so far 
from being a worthless animal, is as good 
as he is handsome, and superior to the 
mule for the uses for which he is fitted — 
that is, for a saddle animal. But being in- 
ferior to the horse as a saddle animal, and 
inferior to the mule as a beast of draft or 
burden, in which respect alone the latter 
can compete with the horse, he has no 
special place of his own ; and, although it 
seems impossible to have the right man, 
always in the right place, the impossibility 
does not extend to the right ass. Now, 
there has not yet been discovered a right 
place for the hinnies ; and, therefore, it 
having been worth no one's while to culti- 
vate hinnies, they have fallen into disuse 
and got a bad name. It may, however, 
well be doubted whether, in the great de- 
mand and inadequate supply of handsome, 
clever ponies suited for carrying boys, 
young ladies, and timid or valetudinarian 
or aged persons, who require horse exer- 
cise, it might not prove an exceedingly 
paying speculation to import a few of the 
very finest and largest-sized Maltese or 



Arabian female asses — which, by the way, 
command no price as compared with the 
jacks — and to breed from them to the best 
and highest bred, undersized, thorough- 
bred stallions. We have seen abroad, in 
past years, one or two hinnies, with ears 
but little larger than those of a coarse po- 
ny, with long thin manes, full tails, sleek, 
shining coats, which were altogether beau- 
tiful animals. They have a good deal of 
spirit, and the patience without the stub- • 
bornness of the ass. If, however, it has 
not been a matter of profit heretofore to 
raise hinnies, it has been far otherwise in 
the case of mules. So highly were they 
esteemed by the Romans, that we are in- 
formed by Pliny, quoting Varro on hus- 
bandry, that Quintus Axius, a Roman Se- 
nator, paid four hundred thousand sester- 
ces, equivalent to thirteen thousand dol- 
lars, for a male ass, peculiarly qualified by 
size, beauty and spirit for the propagation 
of mules. The same writer informs us 
that the profit of a female ass in Celtibe- 
ria, corresponding to Andalusia in Spain 
kept for the breeding of stock for the same 
purpose, was calculated at the same sum. 
The latter statement is far more remarka- 
ble than the former, since the male ass 
might be expected to serve very many 
mares, and to produce one or two such 
foals annually, for perhaps twenty years ; 
while the female ass could not be hoped to 
produce above one per anuum, of which 
one could hardly reckon on more than one- 
half turning out males, which alone are 
directly profitable in mule raising; it shows 
however, the high estimate set at a very 
early date on these animals. 

They are now, probably, more largely 
bred and more highly prized in the Unitecr* 
States than in any other country in the 
world, unless it be South America; and 
justly so. As draught beasts, beasts of 
burden, and for field labor, they surpass 
any other animal in the world ; and the 
use of them allows the noble horse to be 
applied to his own proper uses, (the sad- 
dle, or speedy light carriage draught) and 
not to field labof or the rude and sordid 
drudgery to which he is too often degrad- 
ed, and to which he is wholly unfitted. It 
is claimed for the mule, and rightly, that 
he can do his own work, that is to say, 
field work, heavy teaming, and carrying 
pack-burdens, all as well as the horse — 
the last item better than the horse, and 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



155 



twice as much of. each one of them as the 
horse, provided he is not hurried, keeping 
himself in perfect condition, where the 
horse would knock up and starve ; that he 
can do all this on half the food and with 
half the care that the horse requires, al- 
though the more food and the more care 
both have the better they will do their 
work ; and lastly, the mule, being an ani- 
mal of great longevity and great retention, 
or conservation, of both his vital energies 
and his physical powers, is able to work, 
to the advantage of his owners, twice, if 
not thrice, as many years as the average 
of horses. These are the inducements to 
breed the mule, and to apply it strictly to 
the purposes for which it is best fitted, and 
for which nature seems to have intended 
it. The great utility of the mule, in this 
respect, is shown by a curious calculation, 
which will be found in a prize essay on the 
mule, written by Samuel Wyllys Pomeroy, 
originally published in The American Far 
mer, and republished in the last edition of 
Mason's Farrier, of the saving to be made 
in the draught of packet-boats on the ca- 
nal from the Hudson River to Lake Erie, 
by the substitution of mule in place of 
horse labor. It is stated, he says, that a 
packet-boat on the Erie Canal requires a 
team of three horses to tow it 16 miles, 
going at the rate of 80 miles in 24 hours ; 
and that the relays required demand 15 
horses for each nautical day. Setting the 
time, from Lake Erie to the Hudson, at 5 
nautical days, 75 horses will be required ; 
and setting the food, stabling and care of 
each horse at 50 cents per diem, it will 
cost each packet-boat above $35 per diem 
for the subsistence of its cattle alone, 
without counting deterioration by age, la- 
Dor or accident, at which rate every pack- 
et-boat must expend $375 for every trip 
to the Hudson River and back from Lake 
Erie. Now the same number of mules 
will do the same amount of work, at least 
as well as the horses. They will do it at 
one-half the cost of subsistence ; and they 
will do it fifteen years longer than the hor- 
ses. In other words, one team of mules 
will do the work for the same length of 
time that three teams of horses will do it. 
For a team of horses cannot be counted 
on for such work for above seven years at 
the utmost. Thus, the mules will save the 
prime cost in twenty-three years of two 
teams of horses of three each, beside the 



interest; and will do the same work, dur- 
ing the whole time, at one-half the cost, 
beside the interest on the saving. If this 
calculation be a correct one, aud we have 
entirely failed to detect the flaw in it, tak- 
ing into consideration the enormous num- 
ber of boats, and the gigantic' traffic, daily 
and hourly increasing which pass through 
that grand artery of American Commerce, 
the sums of money to be realized by the 
gain of this single substitution, baffle the 
powers of the imagination to conjecture 
them. It is sufficient to say, broadly, that 
it would require but a few years, far less 
than the life time of a single man, with 
that sum annually capitalized, and invest- 
ed at compound interest, to pay the capi- 
tal of the national debt of England. Of 
so vast importance to a country, in an eco- 
nomical and national point of view,' may 
be and are the labors of the meanest of 
its animals. It was our intention to bring 
this subject to a close in the present paper ; 
but we find that we have so much yet to 
say concerning what we believe to be a 
material error in the American method 
and system of mule-raising, of the real 
plan to be adopted, and the proper animals 
to be. selected and used as parents, on both 
sides, for the raising of a far better class 
of mules than we are now raising, perhaps 
than we, or shail we say it ? — any country 
ever has raised, that we must unavoidably 
defer our conclusion to our next issue. 

In a recent number we have published 
two papers on this subject ; the former 
giving a general account of the animals, 
with the distinctions between the two va- 
rieties, the mule proper and the binny ; 
the latter relating the value, utility and 
particular qualifications of the former of 
the two varieties. In the present paper, 
we propose to treat of the difference be- 
tween the mule of Europe and that now 
generally raised in the United States — the 
error, as we believe it to be, the present 
American system of breeding — and the 
best plan to be adopted for raising the 
most valuable mules. 

Inasmuch as asses are not bred to any 
extent in the United States, it is of the 
first consequence for breeding to import 
fine jacks from their native countries, of 
the breed and description most suitable to 
the purposes for which they are intended ; 
and of the second, to cross them with 
properly-selected mares, so as to raise 



156 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



mules of the best type, size and substance 
for general work. And it will be well 
here to observe that, in the United States 
generally, the work of the mule is, and 
ever will continue to be, unless some 
radical change takes place — which is not 
to be expected — in the tastes and habits of 
the people, field-.work. agricultural labor 
and team-draught on the roads, as oppo- 
sed to use under the saddle or in pleasure 
vehicles. In the prairies, plains and 
mountains of the extreme West, on the 
Mexican frontier and on the California 
route, they are, and will be used as pack 
animals, and in a minor degree as beasts 
for the saddle, both for travelers and for 
the trappers of those wild solitudes ; but 
this is the exception, and not the rule. 

Now, any person who has traveled on 
the Continent of Europe, in those coun- 
tries where mules are in use, especially 
Spain and Portugal — for the mules of Italy 
and Switzerland are of an inferior kind — 
cannot have failed to observe that it is the 
medium, and even the small-sized mules 
which are the most highly esteemed ; that 
the great majority of the race do not ex- 
ceed fourteen hands in height, and that 
of fifteen is a rarity ; and that those near- 
est to the standard first named, are most 
prized for their hardiness, while they con- 
sume far less provender in proportion to 
the amount of labor which they are capa- 
ble of performing than the loftier animals 
of the same breed. In the United States 
the ratio of value in the mule is exactly 
the revei se of the above in general estima- 
tion — the largest mules being the most 
highly prized ; and, as a matter of course, 
all pains are taken to raise the standard 
and to breed them of the greatest possible 
height. In this aim the breeders of the 
United States have been eminently suc- 
cessful, if that can properly be called a 
success, the effect of which is to produce 
what one aims at producing, though in 
fact he had done better to produce some- 
thing else. And it may be said that the 
average size of the mule of the United 
States is not inferior to that of the ordina- 
ry working horse, while that of many is 
vastly superior. We have at present 
within our own knowledge, many teams of 
working mules employed in drawing iron 
from New Jersey foundries, and in carting 
coal and ore, which vary from sixteen to 



seventeen hands in height, while some ex- 
ceed by half a hand the latter standard, 
which, it may be said, is never attained by 
any horse, unless it be the huge London 
dray-horse, an animal incapable of work- 
ing faster than at a foot's pace, and 
only bred in fact for show and ostentation, 
not for utility. How it is that an animal 
sprung from the cross of two species, the 
sire of which is always greatly smaller 
than the dam, should be larger than either 
parent, is one of the unexplained myste- 
ries of breeding; but the mode in which 
it has been accomplisned is no mystery. 
It is by selecting the very largest and 
loftiest jacks of the breeds used in Eu- 
rope for the saddle, and in Spain for the 
draught of public conveyances and private 
pleasure carriages, and breeding from 
them out of the tallest, largest and most 
roomy mares that can be procured. That 
such dams should produce hybrids larger 
than their sires is in the natural course of 
things, since, as we have pointed out in 
our previous papers on horse-breeding, it 
is the mare, furnishing the matrix of the 
foal, who gives the size and bone to the 
progeny. But why such mares should 
produce a much larger offspring to a mule 
infinitely below themselve- in stature than 
they would bear to a stallion of their own 
race, equal or even superior to themselves 
in height, is not to be accounted for by 
any known principles of physiology. The 
fact is, however, as stated, and the result 
is not desirable. For the mule of increa- 
sed size appears to approach somewhat 
nearer to tne horse in organization, where- 
as it is desirable that he should approach 
nearer to the ass ; he is a slower and 
more sluggish animal, is less enduring of 
labor, less capable of toiling under extra- 
ordinary temperatures of heat, which is 
one of the admitted points of superiority 
I in the mule over the horse — and, being 
I much heavier in proportion, is apt to sink 
his small, narrow, compressed hoofs far 
deeper into the ground where the soil is 
deep and the roads are sticky and tena- 
cious than the smaller breed, while he will 
consume from one-fifth to one -third more 
provender. Yet even at this he will con- 
sume so much less, while doing more con- 
stant though somewhat slower work than 
the horse, that three of the large sized 
mules maybe kept in perfect condition on 
the same amount of food which is re- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



157 



quired for the support of a pair of the 
nobler animals. 

It is evident, therefore, that where 
mules are not required for show or speed, 
as saddle or carriage animals, as they are 
not, and probably never will be in this 
country, the smaller sized animals are the 
most profitable both to raise and to keep 
for the purposes' of labor. 

Now, it should be understood that there 
are at least three different varieties of 
asses — beside the small, common jack, 
supposed to be of African origin, general- 
ly of a light-gray color, with a black 
stripe along his back, and a tranverse list 
or bar across his shoulders — all of which, 
except the last, are more or less used for 
breeding in this country, although the 
mules bred from him are infinitely the 
most hardy of all, though the lowest in 
stature. The other breeds are these : 
First, the large, coarse, heavy Spanish 
jack, with slouching ears, and a dull, 
plodding gait, from which the mules for 
agricultuial purposes aie ordinarily raised 
on the Peninsula. It is this breed which 
has been so much exhausted by the con- 
sumption of the Peninsular war and sub- 
sequent internal commotions that it is in 
some districts all but extinct. Second, the 
Andalusian jack, with shorter and more 
erect ears, more active, spirited and 
sprightly than the foregoing impedes, yet 
sufficiently strong and well provided with 
bone. This animal is probably no other 
than a slightly degenerated descendant of 
the Arabian species, which has become 
somewhat coarser and larger boned, as 
well as less spirited, in consequence of his 
long residence in a colder climate, though 
still warmer than his native land, and per- 
haps of crossing with the species first de- 
scribed. The third is the Arabian jack, 
which is to the ass what the thorough-bred 
is to the horse — taller in height, lighter in 
limb, slenderer in bone, with a high-car- 
ried head, shorter and always erect ears, 
and a higher and more sprightly spirit 
than any other of the ass species. It is 
said by those who have seen and ex- 
amined this animal in its native land, and 
who are competent to judge that it bears 
so close a resemblance to the wild ass, 
Dziggtai, (Eqaus Hemionus) of Persia and 
Mongolia, as described by Pallas, the 
naturalist, that it is not to be doubted but 
that it is descended from that swift and 



beautiful creature. Were the saddle, or 
harness before pleasure vehicles, the 
object of mule-raising, this jack or his 
representative, the Maltese jack, which is 
evidently directly sprung from him, with 
little or no degeneracy or deterioration, 
would unquestionably be the best sire. 
But for draught mules for heavy work, 
these jacks are too slender in the limbs, 
and especially too long in the pasterns to 
make eligible sires; least of all is it de- 
sirable to cross them with thorough-bred 
mares — from which, indeed, to raise mules 
at all is a profanation — or with mares of 
high blood and light bone: Since, as be- 
fore stated, it is from the dam particularly 
in all cross breeds, and equally so in hy- 
brids, that we are to look for the bone and 
form, while from the sire we obtain the 
characteristic spirit, whatever .that may 
be. 

In our opinion the Maltese jack should 
never be chosen as a sire for working 
mules in this country; but if he be, he 
should be bred to close-ribbed, strong- 
boned, stocky mares ; Canadians we 
shoultl prefer to any other form. It is our 
belief, however, that (he Andalusian jack, 
if it can be procured, is the most eligible 
sire for the United States ; but as it is un- 
derstood to be difficulUo procure his race, 
it would be, perhaps, advisable to com- 
mence from the commencement and pro- 
ceed to breed our own jacks for the pur- 
pose of breeding our own mules, instead 
of having recourse to constant importation 
of mules. This in the end would prove 
to be not only the surest, but the cheapest 
method ; and it is confidently believed that 
a superior jack to any now existing, for 
American breeding purposes, might thus 
'be produced. In the islands of M.ijorca 
| and Minorca, to which the ravages of for- 
j eign and civil war have not so far extend- 
ed, it is well ascertained that the large, 
coarse, slouch-eared Spanish breed still 
exists in perfection ; and thence it would 
be easy to procure jennies — as the females 
of the ass are technically termed — by 
breeding which to the finest Maltese 
jacks, there can be no doubt that stallions 
might be reared superior in the combina- 
tion of bone with beauty and spirit to any 
breed of original jacks now in existence. 
The choice of mares from which to breed 
mules by such jacks is an easy matter. 
They should on no account be blood 



158 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



mares, or highly-bred mares, or tall mares. 
Fifteen hands in height is abundant 
stature, and fifteen two is too large, but 
they should be rather long- bodied, roomy, 
and, above all, bony. They should have 
long shoulders, as oblique as possible, 
since those of the ass are very straight, a 
peculiarity which it is desirable to correct ; 
and, for analogous reasons, they should 
not have the pasterns too stiff and erect; 
and they should have the large, round and 
well opened. The better their necks, 
withers and heads, the nearer in all 
probability will be the produce. On the 
whole, we have little doubt that fine, w T ell- 
selected Canadian or Norman maies will 
prove to be the best mule mothers, as 
thorough breeds will prove to be the worst, 
while Andalusian jacks are half breeds, 
between the Maltese and great Majorca 
race of asses, will prove the best possible 
sires. It only remains to be stated that, 
in order to have mules docile and gentle, 
they should be handled as young as possi- 
ble, and invariably gelded before they are 
six months o'd. The longer that operation 
is deferred, the more indocile, obstinate 
and perhaps vicious they will become, 
which is the greatest defect in the charac- 
ter of the mule, and that against which it 
behooves the breeder most to be on his 
guard. — JV. Y. Tribune. 

The Loves of the Birds. 

Poets have sung the loves of men and angels, 
but they have never been known to sing of the 
loves of birds. They have been very negli- 
gent in this respect. The loves of the birds 
would form as fruitful a theme as those of the 
poets themselves. In their attachments, the}' 
are generally faithful and affectionate — and it 
must be confessed they are, like men, a little 
jealous sometimes. Audubon gives a beauti- 
ful description of the loves of the humming 
birds. He says that in their courtship, the 
male, dancing airily upon the wing, swells his 
plumage and throat, and whirls lightly around 
the female; then diving towards a. flower, he 
returns with loaded bill, which he proffers to 
her. He seems full of ecstacy. when his ca- 
resses are kindly received. His little wings 
fan her as they fan the flowers, and he trans- 
fers to her bill the insect and the honey with 
which he has procured. If his addresses are 
received with favor, his courage and care are 
redoubled. lie dafes even to chase the tyrant 
fly-catcher, and hurries the blue bird and mar- 
tin to their nests ; and then, on sounding 
pinions, he joyously returns to his lovely mate. 
Who would not be a hummingbird? Audubon 
says : 



" Could you, kind reader, cast a momentary 
glance at the nest of a humming bird, and see, 
as I have, the newly hatched pair of young, 
little larger than bumble-bees, naked, blind, 
and so fee»ble as scarcely to be able to raise 
their little bills to receive food from their pa- 
rents, full of anxiety and fear, passing and re- 
passing w T ithin a few inches of your face, 
alighting on a twig not more than a yard from 
your body, awaiting the result of your unwel- 
c6me visit in a state of the utmost despair— - 
you could not fail to be impressed with the 
deepest pangs which parental affection feels on 
the unexpected death of a cherished child. 
Then how pleasing is it, on your leaving the 
spot, to see the returning hope of the parents, 
when, after examining the nest, they find their 
nurslings untouched I" 

We have remarked above that birds, as well 
as men, are sometimes jealous in love. An 
exception, however, may be found to this gene- 
ral rule in the golden-winged woodpecker, a 
frequent and well known inhabitant of our 
American forests. Among the bright beaux 
and belles of this interesting tribe, no jeal- 
ousies seem to exist, and no quarrels ever 
occur. Cheerily they hop through life, attend- 
ed by the good wishes of all their acquaint- 
ances, and of each other. No sooner does 
spring call them to the pleasant duty of select- 
ing mates and pairing off, than their voices 
may be heard from the tops of high, decayed 
trees, proclaiming with delight the opening of 
the welcome season. Their note at this period 
is merriment itself, and when heard at a little 
distance, resembles a prolonged and jovial 
laugh. These golden-winged woodpeckers 
are the darlings of Audubon. In descri- 
bing their manner of mating, he says 
that several males surround a female, and 
to prove the truth and earnestness of their 
love, bow their heads, spread their tails and 
move sideways, backwards and forwards, per- 
forming such antics as would induce any one 
witnessing them, to join his laugh to theirs. 
The female joyfully flies to another tree, where 
she is closely followed by her suitors, and 
where again the same ceremonies are gone 
through with until a marked preference is in- 
dicated for some individual. 

In this way, all the golden-winged wood- 
peckers are soon happily mated, and each pair 
proceeds to excavate a hole in a tree for a nest. 
They work alternately, with industry and ap- 
parent pleasure. When the nest is finished, 
they caress each other on the tree top, rattle 
their bills against the dead branches, chase 
their cousins, the red-head, defy the purple 
grakles to enter their nest, and feed plentifully 
on ants, beetles and larvae. By and by the 
female lays four or six eggs, the whiteness and 
transparency of which are doubtless the de- 
light of her heart. These woodpeckers raise a 
numerous progeny, having two broods every 
season. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



159 



The loves of the turtle dove and mocking- 
bird are graphically described by Audubon, as 
are also those of the wild-turkey, who is said 
to be even more ridiculous in his motions, and 
more absurd in his demonstrations of affection 
than is our common tame gander. The curi- 
ous evolutions in the air of the great horned 
owl, or his motions when he has alighted near 
his beloved, Audubon confesses himself unable 
to describe. He says the bowings and snap- 
pings of his bill are extremely ludicrous ; and 
no sooner is the female assured that the atten- 
tions paid her by her lover are the result of 
sincere affection, than she joins in the motions 
of her future mate. 

So much for the loves of birds. In many re- 
spects they resemble those of men. We have 
among us in society, our humming bird lovers, 
our golden-winged woodpeckers, our turtle 
doves, our turkeys, and ganders; and occa- 
sionally we find a pair who remind us of 
horned owls. — Boston Journal. » 



ton Sound, and on the 13th of October, a 
pigeon made its appearance at the dovecot in 
Ayrshire, from whence Sir Sohn had the two 
pairs of pigeons which he took out. The dis- 
tance between the two places is about 2000 
miles. The dovecot was under repair at this 
time, and the pigeons belonging to it had been 
removed; but the servants of the house were 
struck with the appearance a^d motions of 
this stranger. After a short stay, it went to a 
pigeon house of a neighboring proprietor, 
where it was caught and' sent back to the lady 
who originally owned it. She at once recog- 
nized it as one of those she had given to Sir 
John Ross, but to put the matter to the test, it 
was carried into the pigeon house, when, out 
of many niches, it went directly to the one in 
which it had been hatched. No doubt re- 
mained in the mind of the lady of the identity 
of the bird. — YarrelVs Birds. 



The Flight of Birds. 

The nephew of Dr. Jenner, when on board a 
vessel going in adirect course for Newfoundland, 
and more than one hundred leagues from any 
land, saw a brown owl gliding over the ocean 
with as much apparent ease as when seeking 
for a mouse over its own native fields. The 
Wijliam Thompson, of .Belfast, in his Natural 
History of Ireland, records, vol. i., page 102, 
from the log book kept on board the John and 
Bobert, of five hundred tons, Captain M'Kech- 
nie, from Quebec to the port of Belfast, that 
from thirty to forty snowy owls, on the 16th of 
November, 1838, were seen when the vessel 
was 250 miles from the Straits of Belleisle. 
Several followed the ship ; from fifty to sixty 
were seen on the 18th, some alighting on the 
rigging and yards ; three were caught and 
taken to Belfast alive. The last of those seen 
at sea was on the 20th of November; the ves- 
sel then near 700 miles from Belleisle, and 
sailing along in latitude 54°, or nearly so. 
The Rev. Robert Holdsworth wrote me word 
that a water-rail alighted on the arm of a man- 
of-war, about 500 miles to the westward of 
Cape Clear, and at the same distance from any 
known land. An officer of the ship caught it, 
and carried it with him to Lisbon, feeding it 
with bits of raw meat. In a day or two it be- 
came perfectly tame, and would eat out of his 
hand. By the kindness of two officers of the 
Royal 42d Highlanders, stationed at Bermuda, 
I received the skin of a land-rail shot there. 
This bird is not found in the New World, and 
could only have reached Bermuda under the 
influence of a strong Northeast wind and thus 
saved its life, for a time, by making that 
island. With respect to Sir Ross's pigeons, as 
far as I can recollect, he dispatched a young- 
pair on the 6th or 7th of October, 1850, from 
Assistant Bay, a little to the west of Welling- 



How to Make a Sound Shingle Eoof. 

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



160 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



roofs if the workmen do not know how to 
avoid them. You muse be careful not to make 
joint directly over the joint of the second 
course below the one you are laying ; or, in 
other words, to break joints with the two last 
courses that you have laid. — Michigan Farmer. 



Cure of Itch in Half an Hour. 

Dr. E. Smfth, at a meeting of the London 
Medical Society, called attention to an article 
in the Gazette Htbdomadair, by Dr. Bourguig- 
non, in which is a confirmation of the value of 
the treatment of itch, in Belgium, by sulphur, 
combined with lime, in a liquid form. The 
remedy is prepared by boiling one part of 
quick lime with two parts of sublimed sulphur, 
in ten parts of water, until the two former are 
perfectly united. During the boiling it must 
be constantly stirred with a piece of wood, 
and, when the sulphur and lime have com- 
bined, the fluid is to be decanted and kept in 
a well stoppered bottle. A pint of the liquid 
is sufficient for the cure of several cases. It is 
sufficient to wash the body well with warm 
water, and then to rub the liquid into the skin 
for half an' hour. As the fluid evaporates, a 
layer of sulphur is left upon the skin. During 
the half hour the acarus is killed, and the pa- 
tient is cured. It is only needful then to wash 
the body well and to use clean clothes. In 
Belgium, the treatment is introduced by first 
rubbing the body for half an hour with black 
soap ; but this does not appear to be necessary. 
The only essential act is that of the careful ap- 
plication of the fluid sulphur. The lime is of 
no importance in the treatment, except to ren- 
der the sulphur soluble, and such would prob- 
ably be the case if potass or soda were em- 
ployed, which is an improvement upon the 
mode of application of sulphur in substance 
with lard, as the more ready absorption of the 
remedy, and consequently the more certain and 
quick destruction of the insect, by using sul- 
phur in a fluid form. In so disgusting a dis- 
ease, it must be of great moment to be able to 
cure it in half an hour. — Dublin, Med. Press, 
from Association Med. Jour. 

This might prove very useful in the treat- 
ment of skin diseases occurring among horses. 
Who will try it? — Canadian Agriculturist. 

And among hogs, too. — Ed. So. Planter. 

The Sheep-Shearing Machine. 

Most of our readers have probably heard 
something in regard to this machine, though it 
is very likely that the account of it has been 
received with some incredulity. That the 
shearing of sheep can be successfully done, 
by machinery, is an achievement which affords 
another evidence that this is an inventive age. 
We saw this machine in operation at the late 
show of the N. Y. State Agricultural Society. 
It was used to cut the wool from a dried skin, 
the skin having been first moistened, so that 



it could be pressed over a block in such a way 
as to present a smooth surface. The appara- 
tus is a box, about the size and something of 
the shape of a common brick. It is fastened 
to the arm of the shearer, who works the cut- 
ting part by moving a leaver with his hand, 
so as to produce a rapid oscillating motion of 
the knives. The knives are shielded by guards 
similar in principle to those which are used for 
mowing machines, and although they can be 
made to cut very close, it is impossible for 
them to cut the skin. The machine seemed to 
work more rapidly than shears ordinarily do, 
iand the wool was out very evenly — the staple 
J never being cut more than once. The inven- 
tor stated that he had sheared a sheep in 
twelve minutes, but he did not tell the weight 
of the fleece, and we are without any means 
of accurately comparing this mode with the 
ordinary way of shearing, as to dispatch. The 
name of the inventor is P. Lancaster, of Burr- 
oal^ St. Joseph's county, Michigan. The ma- 
chine is made by Alexander Allen, of Roches- 
ter, N. Y. The price is $10.— Boston Cult. 

"Window Gardening. 
Par/or Plants. — The greatest dfficulty 
in the management of plants in dwellings, 
is the absence of sufficient moisture in 
the atmosphere ; uniformity of temperature 
may also be mentioned, and want of fresh 
air. Large foliaged plants are the least'sat- 
isfactory. The cactus family are well adap- 
ted, so far as constitution, — but they have 
little to recommend asfloral ornament. The 
epiphyllums and cereus sections, it is true, 
have magnificent flowers, but the greater 
proportion of mamillaria, opuntia, meloca- 
tus, are more curious in form than flower. 
Similar in habit and growth, are the vari- 
ous aloes. A. nigra, A. humilis, A. va- 
riegata, and A. retusa, may be mentioned 
as well adapted for this mode of cultiva- 
tion. Sompervirums and mesembryanthe- 
mums require similar treatment', and some 
of them have beautiful flowers. These 
are eminently cleanly plants, requiring 
little water, and never making a mess 
with falling leaves and buds. The cycla- 
men are most desirable, as also the exa- 
lis ; there are many beautiful species of 
both these tribes. The leaves should be 
kept clean, by syringing or sponging 
them individually. As a matter of clean- 
liness, saucers are set under the pots 
containing the plants; these should be 
emptied occasionally of water. Even 
plants that delight in moisture will not 
thrive, if it stagnates about their roots. 
Prairie Farmer. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



161 



From the Scientific American. 

The Chemist in the Laundry Washing 1 . 

Washing has for its object not only the re- 
moval from our clothing of accidental dirt, but 
also to carry away certain ammoniacal salts, 
the products of perspiration, which are absorb- 
ed from the body by all the clothes that we 
wear, especially those nearest to the skin. A 
change of under garment is essential to health 
on this very account, and the art of washing 
is more useful in removing the hardened per- 
spiration from the cloth (to which it clings 
most pertinaciously, like the matter of conta- 
gion) than in removing the superfluous dirt 
which merely offend the eye. Until recently, 
the laundress's first operation was to prepare 
" a ley" of potash, which she did by putting 
wood ashes into a tub having a perforated bot- 
tom. The tub was then filled with water, 
which, trickling through, dissolved in its course 
the potash contained in all wood ashes. This 
process is still extant in some parts of the 
country, especially where wood is used for fuel. 

The starting process of washing now is ^to 
prepare a ley of soda. Hard water requires 
more soda than soft ; and, when rain water 
can be procured, alkali may be dispensed with 
entirely. The utility of soda or of potash in 
washing arises from the power these alkalies 
possess of uniting with grease of all kinds, 
forming a soap; and to disunite the ammonia 
of the perspiration from the clothes, thus puri- 
fying the fabric and rendering it capable of 
the like absorption when again worn. This 
important action has hitherto been unnoticed. 
Now, although we admit their great utility, we 
particularly caution all parties not to use too 
much of these powerful alkalies, because cot- 
ton fabrics are partially dissolved by a strong 
hot soda, potash, or lime ley. It is to this 
cause that the " bad colour" may be attribut- 
ed, which the house- wife now and then justly 
complains of in the linen. When the outer 
coatings of the filament of the fabric are thus 
acted upon, they are quickly influenced by the 
air, and become of a yellow tint. 

There is another cause of " bad colour," 
and that is an insufficient supply of water, 
or washing too many things in the same liquor. 
This gives rather a gray tint. The yellow col 
our is, however, the great thing to guard against, 
as this partakes of a permanent evil ; and we 
mention it in particular, because there are 
strong washing fluids sold containing lime aud 
soda. In nine laundries out of ten, too much 
soda is already used ; we need not, therefore, 
desire to increase the evil. 

Many laundresses, when they hear com- 
plaints of the colour of the articles they send 
home, will make their alkaline ley a little 
stronger next washing day, and thus unwit- 
tingly increase the evil. A judicious use of 
soda or pearl-ash is highly beneficial, and a 
11 



saving of labour ; but, if in excess, is very in- 
jurious. 

The strong lixivium, recently recommended 
for washing linen, has long been known to 
those who require to cleanse metals from im- 
purities on the surface only. Printers, for in- 
stance, may use it with safety to cleans the 
face of their type from the unctious ink used 
in printing, because the ley is not strong 
enough to affect the metal. The very low priced 
soaps are by no means the cheapest in use ; 
and they also impart an unpleasant odour to 
the linen, which cannot be got rid of. 

The use of " blue" in rinse water is too well 
known to need comment further than to our 
purpose. The ordinary blue is a compound of 
Prussian blue and starch. The colour that it 
gives merely covers the yellow tint of the 
goods, without doing more. We would sug- 
gest the use of pure indigo instead of the com- 
mon blue. This advice is founded upon prac- 
tice as well as theory. Indigo, in this opera- 
tion, is without any bad action on the fabric. 
Persons employed in the "indigo department" 
of the docks have the whitest linen of all peo- 
ple in London. S. Piesse. 



From the North Carolina Planter. 

Papers of the North Carolina State Agri- 
cultural Society. 

Raleigh, Jan. 13, 1858. 
A. M. Gorman, Esq. : 

Bear Sir. — I send you for publication in 
the first number of your Agricultural paper, 
the enclosed papers, submitted to the Executive 
Committee of the State Agricultural Society, 
at their late meeting, by Dr. Wm. R. Holt, of 
Davidson. Upon Lot No. 1, the premium of 
$40 was awarded, and upon Lot No. 2, the 
premium of $50. The Executive Committee 
were in session three days, and were occupied 
most of the time in examining the Essays on 
" Hill-side Ditching." There were four Essays 
on this important subject, and all were of so 
high a character that the Committee determin- 
ed to delay the decision upon their merits until 
the next meeting, which will be held on Tues- 
day of Wake Superior Court, when it is hoped 
all the members will be present. 

Very respectfully yours, &c., 

W. D. COOKE, 
Sec. Ex. Com. 



LOT No. 1. 

Lexington, Davidson Co., N. C. 
October, 1857. 

To the Executive Committee of the State Agri- 
cultural Society: 

I submit a concise statement of the various 
particulars respecting the cultivation and pro- 
duct of the Lot No. 1, in Wheat, in 1857, sub. 



162 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



mitted to the Executive Committee of the State 
Agricultural Society. 

Lot No. 1 — At my Trentliam Place. — This 
Plantation was bought in 1828. The Lot nam- 
ed had been entirely exhausted, and had not 
been in cultivation for a few years, and con- 
stituted a part of a grazing Common, and 
would not have repaid for cultivation as it then 
was. It consisted of eight acres and thirty- 
six hundredths, and was set apart for a 
grazing lot, if it could be made to produce clo- 
ver. 

After cleansing the land of stones, which 
were put into underdrains in a low flat part of 
it, and grubbing up the sassafras, old peach 
trees, mulberry shrubs, persimmon bushes, 
&c, it was cultivated in corn and oats to 
cleanse it and test its remaining powers, with 
very poor returns. Eventually it was broken 
up seven inches deep and sowed in oats at the 
rate of two bushels per acre, and they turned 
> under in the milk state the last of June, 1843. 
Lightly manured all over the next spring, and 
put in corn. The result, a good crop follow- 
ed, with the next } r ear a good crop of oats and 
stand of clover from spring seeding. The lat- 
ter grazed until within a few years, since I 
have began the cultivation of wheat. The ro- 
tation has been an irregular one, — mainly 
wheat, corn, wheat, clover, clover. 

The wheat crop now submitted, followed the 
••last crop of clover in this rotation, and was 
..grazed very close. In August the lot was 
coultered fifteen inches deep with three horses, 
; ten inches apart in the furrows, and grazed in 
the mean time. Fallowed the last of August 
;&nd first of September with three-horse turn- 
4ng ploughs, to the depth of eight inches — 
%arrowed with heavy three-horse harrows. The 
sail season being very dry, and the fallowing 
foeing across the coulter furrows, the ground 
teoke up into very large clods, upon which the 
harrows could not have much effect. The 
'Clodcrusher (made by R. Sinclair, Jr., of Bal- 
timore) was then introduced and passed with 
i mu.ch. effect over the whole, and repeated over 
tfoe 'doddiest portions. On the first week of 
Wa\*smber the wheat and guano was sowed — 
r two bushels and one-eighth of the former, and 
. 250ths of the latter. Ploughed in with one- 
horse sharp shovel ploughs, harrowed, and 
then rolled with the Clodcrusher. The use of 
the Harrow seemed most effective in tearing up 
and bringing to -the surface the remaining 
cledfi, which were most beautifully reduced by 
the Clodcrusher. The field w r as brought into 
tbe most beautiful, fine and well pulverized 
condition, and left so until the 10th of last 
March, when it was sowed in grass seeds, viz : 
six .quarts of clover seed and one bushel of or- 
chard, grass. 

IThe wheat (white Etrurian) was cut on the 
21st of June, with a three-horse reaper, (made 
by Obed Hussey, of Baltimore,) and w r as saved 
very clean, i It could not have been cut with 



grain-cradles, without great difficulty and loss 
It stood very thick on the ground, and much o: 
it five feet six inches in height. 

The yield, forty-six bushels and sixty-foui 
hundredths per acre — of 60 lbs. to the bushel 

This Lot, I omitted to mention, was fre 
quently dressed, when in the clover part o: 
the rotation, with leached ashes and Plaister o: 
Paris, at the rate of ten bushels per acre o; 
the former, to one bushel of the latter. 

The soil, a deep, heavy, red clay loam. The 
natural growth on adjoining and similar lands 
red and w r hite oak, gum, hickory, dogwood 
and wild grape vines. The largest yield here 
tofore on an adjoining lot, was thirty-fiv( 
bushels per acre, without guano. 

ESTIMATED COST OF LABOUR, SEEDS, MANURES, &C 

Coultering, (3 horses,) %1 50 per acre 

Ploughing, " 2 50 " " 

Harrowing, " 40 " " 

Cl'd Crush'g. Rol., (3 horses,) 40 " " 
Extra harrowing and clod- 
crushing, 10 " " 
Seed wheat 1\ bush. $1 25, 2 65 
Guano, 250 lbs. per acre, 7 50 
Sowing wheat and guano, 20 
Shovel ploughing, 75 
Harrowing, 40 
Clod crushing, 40 



a (I 



Product, 
At-$1 25, 



BUSHELS. 

46 64 
11 66 



$58 30 
Expenses 



$17 80 



$58 30 
17 80 



Nett proceeds, $40 50 
Exclusive of interest on land, and taxes. 
The above Lot was broken up into an un- 
paralleled rough and cloddy condition, and ] 
determined to try the capabilities of my im- 
plements to bring it into a fine pulvuritenl 
state, to make, in my view, the guano pay, and 
to secure a good stand of grass for profitable 
grazing hereafter. 

All of which is respectfullv submitted, 

*W. R, HOLT. 

LOT No. 2. 
To the Executive Committee of the State Agri- 
cultural Society: 

Statement of the Cultivation, Products, &c, 
of Lot No. 2, in wheat, during the year 1857. 

Three-fourths of this Lot had been in thai 
cultivation of cotton for thirty-five years suc- 
cessively, and for the last ten years had been 
manured with well rotted farm-yard manure 
every two or three years, and also every two 
or three alternate years dressed with leached 
ashes over the recent planted cotton seed, in 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



163 



the drill and on the surface — the general pro- 
duct of cotton in the seed from eight to twelve 
hundred lbs. 

In the spring of 1856 it was deeply plough- 
ed, seven to eight inches, with three-horse 
ploughs, harrowed and planted in corn. Dur- 
ing the last of October the corn was gathered, 
the cornstalks cut close to the ground, removed 
to the barn-yard, and wheat at the rate of two 
bushels of early Purple Straw was sown to the 
acre, with, at the same time, two hundred lbs. 
of Peruvian guano, — ploughed in with sharp 
shovel ploughs and thoroughly harrowed 
with three horse harrows, and cross-harrowed. 
The sowing of the wheat and guano was made 
the second week of November, and the land in 
the finest possible tilth. 

The wheat was cut with a Hussey wheat 
reaper, and the yield on the 22 .75 acres, 
967^ measured bushels of early Purple Straw, 
weighing on Fairbank's balances sixty-five lbs. 
to the bushel. At sixty lbs. per bushel, the 
yield is 4.607 bushels per acre. 

This Lot, No. 2, is at my Linwood Farm. 
The soil is naturally of the best quality of up- 
land, and consists of a deep chocolate clay 
loam, lies very high and undulating, and is the 
north end of a field of forty acres, and was 
cut off from the field in a regular form, but 
was the best wheat in the field, as a portion 
of it the remaining was winter killed, from the 
blowing off the deep snow, and wetness of a 
part of the field. 

ESTIMATED COST OF LABOUR, SEED, MANURE, &C. 



Listing off into 18 cut lands 

with 2 horses, $0 15 
Sowing wheat and guano, 20 
Shovel ploughing, 75 
Harrowing and cross-har- 
rowing, 3 horses, 80 
Seed wheat, 2 65 
Peruv. guano, 200 lbs., 6 00 


per acre. 
a << 


$10 55 

BUSHELS. 

Product 46 07 per acre. 
At$l 25, 11 51f 




57 58| $57 58! 
Exp. 10 55 





$47 03f 
Nett product, exclusive of interest on land, 
and taxes. 

The charges for the labour of cultivation 
above made may be considered by some too 
liberal, but from great experience I consider 
them about right. 

All of which is respectfully submitted by 
W. R. HOLT. 

North Carolina, 

Davidson County. 
I, Azariah Williams, County Surveyor for 



Davidson county, being sworn, declare that I 
have carefully surveyed and measured the fol- 
lowing Lots of land for Dr. William R. Holt, 
of Davidson county, and the measurement is 
correct. 

Viz : Lot No. 1 — At his Trentham Place, 
near Lexington, from which a crop of wheat 
lias been taken the present year, measured 
eight acres and sixty -three hundredths, (8 .63 
acres.) 

Lot No. 2 — At Linwood, his Jersey Planta- 
tion, from which also a crop of wheat has been 
taken the present year, measured twenty-two 
acres and seventy-five hundredths, (22 .75 
acres. ) 

AZARIAH WILLIAMS. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, an act- 
ing Justice of the Peace for Davidson county, 
on the 16th of October, A. D., 1857. 

C. L. PAYNE, J. P. 

North Carolina, \ 

Davidson County, j 

I, William R. Holt, of Lexington, Davidson 
county, being sworn, say that I took proper 
care to have the wheat grown on the within 
Lots, Nos. 1 and 2, measured by Mr. Williams, 
the Surveyor, and that I believe the measure- 
ment of the wheat, as it was measured and 
tallied in the presence of myself and son, one 
or the other during the time, to be correct — as 
follows : 

Lot No. 1, at my Trentham Place, consist- 
ing of eight acres and sixty-three hundredths, 
measured full measure, three hundred and six- 
ty-eight bushels (368 bushels) of White Etru- 
rian Wheat, weighing 64 lbs. to the bushel, and 
at the rate per acre 60 lbs. to the bushel of 
forty-six bushels and sixty-four hundredths, 
(46 .64 bushels per acre.) (Measured in a 
sealed half-bushel.) 

Lot No. 2, at Linwood, my Jersey Planta- 
tion, consisting of twenty-two acres and seven- 
ty-five hundredths, measured under the same 
circumstances, nine hundred and sixty-seven 
and a half bushels of early Purple Straw 
Wheat, viz : (967 .05 bushels of sixty-five lbs. 
to the measured bushel.) At sixty lbs. to the 
bushel the measurement to the acre would be 
forty-six bushels and seven hundredths per 
acre, viz : (46 .07 bushels per acre.) 

The above I believe to be correct and true, 
— (measured in a sealed half-bushel.) 

W. R. HOLT. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, an act- 
ing Justice of the Peace for Davidson county, 
on this the 16th of October, A. D„ 1857. 

C. L. PAYNE, J. P. 
North Carolina, 

Davidson County, 

I, James M. Holt, witnessed the tallying 
and measurement of the aforesaid wheat from 
the Lots named in the foregoing paper, and 
being: sworn, sav that I believe the measure- 



164 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



ment to be correct, as care was taken to have 
it so. 

JAMES M. HOLT. 
Sworn to and subscribed before me, an act- 
ing Justice of the Peace for Davidson county, 
October 15th, 1857. 

C. L. PAYNE, J. P. 



Application of Fertilizers. 

Halifax County, N. C. 

About three years ago, I sowed, in the latter 
part of July, on a very poor spot of worn out 
land, some guano, at the rate of about 200 
pounds to an acre, ploughing it under, and 
then sowing and harrowing in some buckwheat 
and rye, and afterwards clover seed. Wher- 
ever the clover came up, I strewed thereon 
plaster, or gypsum, at the rate of a bushel and 
a half to the acre. The buckwheat I cut two 
months after sowing, and the rye in about 
eleven months. The result was, that each of 
the three crops was good, all having been sown 
at one time and on the same ground. A por- 
tion of the ground before manuring was too 
poor to produce a crop of any kind. 

Hence it may be inferred that the success of 
the experiment was owing entirely to the 
gypsum and the guano. 

Encouraged from the above named experi- 
ment, I next tried guano for wheat, on a com- 
paratively poor soil, at the rate of 200 pounds 
per acre. During the growth of the crop, 
there was a striking difference in its ap- 
pearance in favor of the parts where the 
guano had been applied and the yield, by ac- 
tual measurement, had increased four-fold, on 
the clover seed : after which I rolled the 
ground. As soon as the clover came up, 1 
sowed the field with plaster, at the rate of a 
bushel and a half to an acre. The result was, 
that the clover on the part of the field where 
no guano had been applied was inferior, while 
the guanoed portion, like that in wheat, was 
about four times as good. 

These experiments have convinced me that 
the effect of guano as a renovater of the soil, 
is as enduring as other measures, and does not 
expend itself in one season, as has been here- 
tofore supposed. 

In the spring of 1852, I instituted a compara- 
tive experiment with four fertilizers, namely : 
guano, bone-dust, wood ashes and clover ley. 
A parcel of ground was selected which had 
been cropped with clover three consecutive 
years. After the first ploughing, I ran two 
deep furrows, with an opening of drill-plough, 
seven feet apart, over the clover-ley, and simu- 
lar furrows over the adjoining ground, which 
was a part of a poor old broomsedge field that 
had also been previously broken up. In the two 
furrows next to these on the clover-ley, after 
filling them with earth nearly level with the 
surface, I applied bone-dust, mixed with loam, 
in the proportions of four-fifths loam to one- 



fifth bone-dust, at the rate of a bushel of this 
mixture to every 450 lineal feet. At the 
bottom of the next two furrows or drill* 
on the clover-ley, I applied leached ashes, a! 
the rate of about one bushel to 150 lineal feet 
and next continuing throughout the clover-ley 
Istrewd guano at the rate of two quarts and 2 
pint, mixed with one fourth part of plaster tc 
every 450 lineal feet. At the bottom of th 
next two furrows or drills on the clover-ley, 1 
applied leached ashes at the rate of about one 
bushel to every 450 lineal feet ; and next, con 
tinuing throughout the clover-ley, I strewed 
guano at the rate of two quarts and a pint 
mixed with one-fourth part of plaster to everj 
450 feet of earth at the bottom of the deej: 
furrows or drills, in order that it might no 
come in direct contact with the seed corn wher 
planted, and thereby kill the germ. Next, s 
bull-tongue plough was run on each side of the 
drills, forming another set of drills or hollows 
in which I planted "Ward corn/' in single 
kernels, a foot and a half apart. At harvest 
time, I found that the crop where the bone 
dust and guano had been applied was good 
nearly equal in product, averaging about three 
ears to each stalk, and yielding ' by estimate, 
about 60 barrels, or 300 bushels to the acre 
but on the part where the leached ashes were 
applied, the yield was quite inferior. 

I will give one more experiment with fertili- 
zers, which, from its peculiarity, may be re- 
garded with some interest, Last winter it was 
proposed that as many members of the North 
Carolina State Agricultural Society as might 
feel inclined, should deposit in one common 
fund $5 each, to be awarded in three gradual 
prizes — first, second and third — (after reserving 
for the use of the society 15 per cent.) to those 
of the number who should produce the largest 
yield of corn on an acre of land, which, in an 
unimproved condition, does not yield more 
than three barrels or 15 bushels — to be se 
lected and determined by disinterested judges. 
Each member was to have the privilege of re 
sorting to his own mode of cultivation. 

The ground selected for my experiment, in 
an un manured state, it was judged, would not 
have produced more than 2£ barrels, or 12.] 
bushels ; but by the aid of guano, plaster, su 
per-phosphate of lime, and Chappell's fertilizer 
connected with a slight dressing of manure 
from the barn-yard, and stable dung, I pro 
duced 14j barrels or 73| bushels of corn, 
valued at $62 50, and this at a cost of $20 for 
fertilizers and their application, to say nothing 
of the fodder derived from the stalks, blades 
and shucks, and the increased fertility of the 
land, from which I made a good crop of wheat 
and clover without additional manure. 

[North Carolina Planter. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



165 



For the Planter. 

Proper Mode of Gearing Horses. 

Amelia, 5 Feb'y 1858. 
Editor Southern Planter: 

Sir — I notice an article in your paper 
for January, from "Observer," on the 
proper mode of gearing horses, which does 
not exactly coincide with my experience. 
For three years past I have been engaged 
in superintending a large farm upon James 
River, where all the fall plowing was done 
with four-horse plows. The overseer I 
found geared his team in the usual mode, 
two and two. A few days observation 
showed me conclusively that this mode of 
gearing was liable to several objections. — 
In the first place, the front team evidently 
did not support a fair share of the labor; 
and in the second, being geared from the 
back, they controlled the plow, and conse- 
quently when passing over undulating 
ground required all the weight and strength 
of the plowman thrown upon the handles to 
prevent his plow from being "set" beyond 
its capacity. After carefully watching the 
operation for some hours I determined to 
alter the gearing, and, if possible, remedy 
these defects. I took one of the plows 
(Watt & Co.) to the shop, bored a half inch 
hole through the beam immediately over 
the point, through which I put an iron 
hook with a nut. The hook should touch 
the beam when screwed up. I then 
brought the fifth chain back from the buck 
and attached it to this hook, thus gearing 
the front team to the beam immediately 
over the point. What was the result — my 
plowman says he can work a double plow 
so geared with as much ease as he can a 
single one, or at all events, instead of need- 
ing a good hand to drive any boy old 
enough to crack a whip answers as a dri- 
ver. By making the hook from 6 to 8 
inches long, you raise or lower it as you 
may desire. The difference in the draught 
I consider nearly equal to one horse, if you 
take into consideration the difference in 
amount of labor performed by the rear and 
front team. I think " Observer" is wrong 
in supposing that because his illustration 
of the car answers his position satisfactori- 
ly, that when the same principle of draught 
is applied to the plow the same'result will 
obtain. 

In applying power to the car there is 
but one line of draught upon a perfectly 



smooth surface, whereas with the plow 
there are two lines of draught and the sur- 
face undulating — often sufficient to make a 
difference of a foot or more between the 
level of the leaders and the plowman. 

Will you, Mr. Editor, explain what 
" Observer" means by hitching a horse in 
a straight line from the names. Does he 
propose to run the traces parrallel to the 
earth from the hame to the swingle-tree ? 
if he does, where would he attach the 
swingle-tree to a wagon, and how to a 
plow ? 

I notice in the same paper an article 
copied from the "Journal of Agriculture" 
on Guano, in which it is stated that lands 
long cultivated in the same grain crop by 
the assistance of guano after a while cease 
to be productive except by largely increas- 
ed applications of the stimulant. This 
certainly does not accord with the expe- 
rience of two of my former neighbors. One 
has had a field in wheat for about 10 con- 
secutive years, and the other for about 8. 
In each case the land has improved stead- 
ily — the last crop being the best yet har- 
vested. How far this result may have 
been produced by restoring to the land the 
straw instead of selling it to dairy farms 
I cannot say, but that the land has im- 
proved there is no possible doubt. I shall 
adopt the same system myself, and after 
giving it a fair trial, will let you know the 
result. My plan is to run a rake over my 
harvest field and turn in the volunteer crop 
and then drill with guano. Upon my corn 
and oat land I put all my straw and ma- 
nure ; on my tobacco, guano. Having 200 
acres cleared, I divide it 110 wheat — 40 
corn — 25 oats — and 10 tobacco. The corn, 
oats and tobacco being followed by wheat 
every year. Yours, P. 

For the Southern Planter. 

Geldings vs. Brood Mares for Farm Work. 

" Northwestern Farmer," in the February 
No. of this paper, advocates the use of Mares 
on farms in the place of Geldings. About this 
we differ from him entirely ; that is, if, as he 
proposes, the mare is to be used as a breeder, 
whilst she is one of the team. He had as well 
recommend cows in the place of oxen, or wo- 
men in the Jplace of men, as farm laborers. No 
female has the same amount of muscle, or fix- 
edness of frame, which is essential to power 
and labor, as a male ; particularly whilst breed- 
ing. They then become matronly, their sys- 
tems are swollen. Their veins are tight. The 



166 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



cellular membrane is inflamed, and in all re- 
spects they are not suited to real labor. A 
man who keeps a team of mares (exclusively) 
to work and to breed at the same time, has 
neither a set of brood mares, nor a work team ; 
moreover, the colts of mares which are worked 
whilst breeding, and then whilst nursing, are 
never so good. In the first? place, the compres- 
sion and jar of labor, especially towards the 
latter period of pregnancy, must prevent the 
foetus from expanding to a full and vigorous 
size. In the second place, whilst the mare is 
nursing the colt, if she labors, from the soft 
and relaxed state of her system, she becomes 
feverish, the milk is made unhealthy, and the 
colt is purged, and sometimes killed. Then 
again, traveling the colt after the dam, gives it 
too much exercise, which is apt'to stint and in- 
jure it. Should you stop it up, again it frets 
and worries, more than when following the 
dam. One good brood mare, kept as a brood 
mare, will pay as much as three worked as the 
" Northwestern Farmer" recommends. His 
system may answer, in part, where the master 
himself is a laborer, and is constantly with his 
team, and in a grass country and cool climate, 
but with us it won't pay. To put a brood mare 
down here, in a farm team, is to take leave of 
her. "What between the overseer, negroes, 
summer fallowing, and marl hauling, she can't 
breed. Even when we do work them, that is, 
as one of the farm team, before we can obtain a 
good colt, the mare must be recruited, when 
she will breed as well as ever. But breeding and 
working must be during different years. Don't 
understand by this, that a mare whilst breed- 
ing, in the early stage, is not to be used, they 
may be, and -are, but so gently that the work 
does not injure them ; such as a .light wagon, 
or to an easy running plow, when the land is 
in good tilth, so that there may be no jerks. A 
mare not breeding, is more difficult to keep in 
order than a gelding, from their horsing pro- 
pensities which weakens them, and is almost 
sure to make them kick and bite. Two very 
unpleasant accomplishments for a work animal. 
A gelding, because he is a gelding, approaches 
an animal machine ; work is his only element; 
all the secretions of his system go to his mus- 
cles — there is nothing else left. Hence the 
gentlest of all animals is a gelding, he has no 
excitant, and if kindly driven, is capable of 
more labor than any animal which is alternate- 
ly excited and weakened by its generative sys- 
tem. 

Again, the argument is brought, that an old 
gelding is valueless — an old mare valuable — 
on account of her breeding capacity. Here, 
too, we must differ. A mare too old to work, 
is too old to be used as a breeder. Life is eb- 
bing — she can't impart to the foetus the vitality 
it should have, nor can she nurse the foal. Her 
milk is too poor, and too little in quantity — the 
colts of old mares are shortlived, and generally 
betray about the head some signs of premature 



age. With an injured mare the case is differ- 
ent, and there we agree with the "Northwes- 
tern Farmer," the mare has an advantage over 
the gelding. Although, as a general rule, if 
you wish to secure a first rate colt, dam and 
sire had best be young; or in mature life, and 
both perfectly sound ; moreover, a brood mare 
will bring much finer colts to be put every al- 
ternate year, than every year. For this reason, 
whilst a mare is nursing one colt, if she is put 
to the horse, her system has the double drain 
of an embryo and foetus inside, and a sucking 
colt outside ; which commonly acts to the inju- 
ry of the foetus, and always weakens the mare. 
We suggest to farmers to keep no more mares 
than will keep them in horses — for family use — 
say one fine mare, or two at most, as breeders, 
and work your farms with mules and oxen. 
In raising colts, of course you are apt to have 
as many fillies as horses ; in that case, if you 
keep the fillies, keep them distinct from the 
brood mares until wanted as such. 

Tidewater Farmer. 



For the Southern Planter. 

Graining and Grazing Cattle. 

Richmond, Feb. 26th, 1858. 
Dear Sir: — 

The February number of the " Planter"" 
contains a communication from Mr. Thomas 
Marshall, Secretary of the Piedmont Fauquier 
Agricultural Club, showing that the nett pro- 
fits made by Mr. Nathan Loughborough, of 
Fauquier county, on forty head of cattle, grazed 
by him in 1857, were equal to about $27 per 
head, and inquiring whether "any Agricultu- 
ral county in Virginia can beat this?" 

Happening to have in my possession memo- 
randa made in reference to some cattle grazed 
in 1854, by my neighbour, Col. Robert L. 
Wright, of AVheatland, Loudoun County, I 
feel sufficiently armed to take up the glove 
thrown by Mr. Marshall. 

On the 28th of Nov.,. 1853, Col. Wright pur- 
chased 47 head of cattle, averaging in weight 
1038} pounds at $31.92 per head. 

On the 1st day of July, 1854, thejr average 
weight was 1370 pounds, having gained in 
seven months and two days 331o pounds each, 
and were sold on that day at $67.28£ per head, 
being a gross profit of $35.36| per caput. 

During the winter of 1853-4 these cattle 
were fed upon straw and fodder, and about one 
and a half barrels of corn to each. The corn 
was fed, unshucked, with the fodder, and the 
quantity was ascertained, by measuring the 
yield of one or two shocks of corn in the 
field. > 

Estimating the value of the corn at $4 per 
head, and that of the long food at $3.21, (the 
estimate of Mr. Marshall) ; the nett profits 
were $28. 16f per head on cattle costing $2.9G 
per head less than those of Mr. Loughborough. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



167 



Whilst these profits may be considered large, 
and indeed are larger than those which have 
been received by the grazers of Loudoun for 
the last five or six consecutive years, yet I do 
not believe that they very far exceed the aver- 
age profits made by them in the year 1857. I 
do not mean to assert that the profits per head 
have been so large, for the reason that the 
greater number of the cattle grazed by us are 
of less size than those referred to, not avera- 
ging perhaps over 750 or 800 pounds when 
purchased, but the per centage realized in 1857 
on the capital invested in cattle has fallen but 
little short of 100. 

I will mention a single case, out of many, 
which I could enumerate. 

A gentleman residing in the neighbourhood 
of Col. Wright, in November, 1856, purchased 
60 head of cattle, at an average cost of $17.54 
per head. Of these 30 were sold in August, 
1857, at $38 per head, and 30 in September, at 
$36 ; average profits $18.46 per head, equal to 
upwards of 110 per cent on the capital in- 
vested. 

To these cattle no corn was fed. 
Respectfully, 

Your Ob't Servant, 

Noble S. Draden. 



above, our farmers will be relieved of the 
necessity of sending elsewhere, perhaps to 
some of our Northern brethren, for the 
best sheep to improve their flocks. Dr. 
Woods selects none but the best to dispose 
of as breeders, and sells them at prices 
not unreasonable, considering their quality. 
Char. Advocate* 



Raising Hogs. 

Fauquier County Ya 
Feb. 25th, 1858. 
To the Editor of the Southern Planter : 

In the February number of the Planter is 
an article entitled " Raising Hogs," over the 
initials W. L., which recommends spirits of 
turpentine as a medicine for hogs. He says : 

"I commenced giving my hogs a common 
tea spoonful to every hog that was weaned from 
the mother." But does not say how often, or 
at what season the dose should be given. 

If Mr. W. L., or some other gentleman, will 
inform me on this subject I will be much ob- 
liged to him. J. W. C. 

Fine Sheep. 
We have seen account of sale of 30 
sheep, sold on 22nd January, by Shook 
and Crockett, Richmond, for Dr. John R. 
Woods, of this County. These sheep 
averaged between 164 and 165 pounds, 
gross weight, and were sold at $7 per 
hundred, gross, thus bringing the handsome 
sum of $11^ per head. The lot consisted 
of old ewes and watchers, under two 
years old, and but for the condition of 
money tnatters, and the heavy decline in 
the meat market, the salesmen were con- 
fident they would have realized a higher 
figure for them, nothing but their superior 
size and quality sold them for such a price 
at present. With such results as the 



Best Age for Transplanting Fruit Trees. 

At a recent meeting of the " Fruit 
Grower's Association of Western New 
York," one of the questions propounded, 
was 

"What age is best for planting Apple 
and Pear trees from JVurseries to Orchards^ 
to insure success ?" 

The members present proceeded to dis- 
cuss this question as follows : 

T. C. Maxwell said that when he com- 
menced the nursery business, having no 
extra sized apple trees (as they were at 
that time in great demand.,) he procured 
some, and they w r ere planted in his neigh- 
borhood, with the small ones from his own 
nursery. The result was such as to con- 
vince himself and his customers that it was 
folly to plant large trees. 

C. P. Bissel, of Rochester, five years 
since, at a good deal of trouble and ex- 
pense, removed some large cherry trees to 
his grounds, and was so successful that he 
had been induced to try others, but had 
given it up as a bad job, and hereafter all 
he would seek would be a young healthy 
tree. 

Mr. Berckmans said the French rule 
was, that a tree should make all its wood 
on the spot where it grows, and hence a 
tree is generally cut down to the ground 
after transplanting. When Mr. B. came 
to this country, he brought a ship load of 
pear trees, the best of his own and Van 
Mons' collections. The wood was injured 
on voyage, and on transplanting he cut 
down to the sound wood, many to the 
ground. Those that were apparently un- 
injured were planted without much cut- 
ting; but they lingered for years and 
most of them finally died. Those that he 
cut down are now beautiful pyramids, 
requiring no care, and producing beautiful 
crops. 

Mr. Fish once sold a collection of trees 
to a lady in Pennsylvania. While delayed 
at Corning, the mice got into the bundle 



168 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



and gnawed the bark off several of the 
trees, some six inches above the roots. — 
He cut them down and made the lady a 
present of them. The present year, being 
in the neighborhood, he called to see the 
trees, and those that had been cut down 
were the finest of the lot. 

Mr. Ainsworth said that when he com- 
menced the nursery business he could not 
persuade people to buy his small trees. — 
One of his neighbors went on a journey 
with his team in search of " fine, large" 
trees, and returned heavily laden with 
about fifty apple trees. In two years after 
there was hardly a tree living. He then 
bought small trees, and now has a fine 
young orchard. Nine years ago, two of 
his neighbors, one Mr. Wilbur, and the 
other being unsuccessful he would not 
name, determined to plant cherry trees. — 
Mr. W. sent to Elwanger & Barrys, and 
bought two years old trees, planted them, 
and they are now as beautifnl trees, as 
man ever looked upon. The other, on 
seeing the trees, made up his mind that he 
would find better trees than that, and suc- 
ceeded in finding some big ones two or 
three inches through. They are alive 
now, but little larger than when first plan- 
ted. The philosophy of the thing is this : 
when a large tree is taken up, so many of 
the roots are broken off that the tree 
starves before new roots are formed to fur- 
nish its sustenance. 

Mr. Barry was glad to hear this ques- 
tion discussed. No doubt thousands of 
trees are destroyed by being removed 
too large. A young tree is checked but 
little b} r removal, and soon commences its 
growth. It would be well to be definite 
in our discussions. The question was: 
What age is the best 1 For the Pear, 
Cherry and Plum, two years was old 
enough, if persons wished a model orchard, 
trees of one year old would be better. 

These are the opinions of some of the 
most intelligent and experienced Fruit 
Growers in America, and should be con- 
sidered conclusive. They have more force 
and significance in the South than at the 
North, where young trees are of much 
slower growth. The passion for " big 
trees, and the neglect of trees (big and 
little) after planting, are among the prin- 
cipal causes of the failures and disappoint- 
ments which often attend amateur efforts 
at orcharding. 




THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 



Excusatory. 

A protracted trip to Maryland, and as far 
North as New Haven, — taken for the purpose 
of investigating the composition of certain phos- 
phates, and the value of the phosphates general- 
ly, applied to crops singly and in combination 
with Peruvian or other ammoniacal guanoes, 
has left us no time for editorial this month. 
In fact we did not return until the paper 
ought to have been in press. We are glad, 
however, that the number and variety of com- 
munications, some seventeen in number, with 
which our friends have favoured us, more than 
compensates for any lack of editorial, and 
that the nature of the business which called 
and detained us so long will excuse the late 
appearance of the paper. 

We are not yet prepared to present the 
result of our inquiries and investigations, but 
hope to do so in the. course of the nest 
month. 



An Important Amendment in the Law 
of Enclosures. 

In another part of this paper will be found 
a communication from a gentleman of King 
William County, calling upon us to agitate the 
question of altering the fence law, and to elicit 
the views of others in the same matter. In 
compliance with his request, we publish a 
document on that subject, presented by the 
Executive Committee of the Virginia State 
Agricultural Society to the Farmers' Assembly, 
which will be found well worthy of perusal. 

The recommendation contained, under the 
second head of the Report, in reference to le- 
galizing associations of farmers occupying 
contiguous lands, has been acted on in one 
case ; and the farmers of the three associations 
in Prince George, which the Report alludes to, 
now enjoy by law the benefit they had initiated 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



169 



for themselves by their individual action. We 
regard this as one of the most important acts 
for the benefit of the Agricultural class which 
has been passed for a good while : and, in 
order that all who wish to obtain a similar 
benefit for themselves may be enabled to do so, 
we append the law itself, so that at the next 
session of the Legislature, petitions for that 
object may be presented. We presume there is 
no doubt that they will be granted in all cases ; 
and to grant them in any neighbourhood, is to 
ensure their extension over the whole district 
in which it may lie, and even into contiguous 
counties where a considerable water course 
shall not intervene. 

If the Legislature, in addition to this, will 
only pass a law for the improvement of stock, 
which shall put rams, boars and bulls on the 
footing of stallions, and prohibit their running 
at large,, we shall be in a fair way to get rid of 
the fence law in a mode to which no other in- 
terest can take exception, and which will de- 
monstrate its propriety by its gradual working : 

AN ACT to Authorize Voluntary Associations 
of Individuals for Fencing their Lands in 
Common. 

[Passed Januaiy 19, 1858.] 
11. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, 
That the owners and occupants of lands on the 
south side of James River, in the county of 
Prince George, included in the following boun- 
dary lines, to wit: Beginning on the shore and 
at the margin of James River, and at the west 
side of the mouth of Powell's Creek, thence up 
that creek to the land of William H. Figg on 
the eastern side of said creek, thence along the 
outer or inland boundary line of said Figg, 
(and including his and all the other named 
lands within the designed area,) and thence in 
succession along the outer boundary lines of 
the lands belonging to the estate of William J. 
Dupuy, deceased, of James B. Cocke, of Na- 
thaniel C. Cocke, of Edmund Ruffin, (occupied 
by Charles L. Ruffin,) of Robert Adams, of 
Thomas Adams, of William T. Adams, of Pe- 
ter C. Marks, of John A. Marks, of Edward A. 
Marks, of John Smith, of Lucy J. Smith, of 
James E. Moore, of the estate of L. Wallazz, 
deceased, of James Anderson, of William 
Tench, of Julian C. Ruffin, of Henry Brock- 
well, of Henry Harrison, of William M. Wat- 
kins, of William Bland, of Harrison H. Cocke, 
of George Wilkins, of Susan Wilkins, of Peter 
Wilkins, of Peter Birchett, senior, of Daniel 
Epes and Peter Epes, to Bailey's Creek, thence 
down that creek to James River, and along the 
margin of James River to the beginning at the 
mouth of Powell's Creek, need not keep up any 
fence on the boundary lines running through 



or across said lands, and that such lines shall 
be deemed a lawful fence: Provided, That it 
shall be the duty of said owners and occupants 
to keep up a lawful fence along all the outer 
land boundary line, around the lands within 
the above mentioned bounds, and also along 
all the outer water boundary lines except such 
as have previously been made lawful fences. 

\ 2. Be it further enacted, That the like ben- 
efits, provisions and restrictions, as are stated 
in the foregoing section, for the lands within 
the boundaries therein named, shall be extend- 
ed to another body of land in the county of 
Prince George, bounded by the following out- 
lines and limits, to wit: Beginning on the shore 
of James River below the town of City Point, 
where the land boundary line of said tOAvn 
reaches the river, thence running back along 
the said boundary line,, and excluding the said 
town from the area designed to be included, to 
where the said boundary line reaches the river 
again above the said town, thence by the mar- 
gin of James and Appomattox rivers, to the 
upper extremity of the land of John T. Bland, 
thence along this western boundary line to the 
outer boundary lines in succession, of Win. D. 
Coke, James Temple, Frederick Temple, Sam- 
uel Watkins, John II. Batte, James Knox, John 
Tinsley, Edward Comer, and Christopher Proc- 
tor, to the beginning on the river shore. 

g 3. Be it further enacted, That whenever any 
person or persons owning one or more tracts of 
land outside of but adjoining any part of the 
lands designated in the foregoing section, or- 
such other land as shall be subsequently and 
legally included therewith, shall desire to have 
the benefits above granted extended to such ad- 
joining land, the said land shall be so included 
under the above provisions upon the owner or 
owners of such land first complying with the 
following conditions, to wit: To a copy of this 
act to be kept in the office of the clerk of the 
county court, shall be attached a general de- 
scription of the boundary lines of the land for 
which the application is made, together with 
the following declaration of the owner or own- 
ers thereof, to be signed by his, her, or their 
names, and the signature or signatures acknow- 
ledged before and witnessed by the clerk, and 
which paper shall be filed in the office and 
made of record, and which declaration shall be 
in the following words, or of like purport and 
meaning, to wit: " I, (or we,) 
hereby declare my (or our) consent that jny 
(or our) land situated and bounded as above 
described shall be included within the provi- 
sions of the above act of the General Assembly." 

Whenever a public road may cross any part 
of the land now included, or which hereafter 
shall be included under the foregoing provi- 
sions, good and substantial gates may be erect- 
ed across such public road or roads, as parts of 
the general enclosure : Provided, That a gate 
keeper shall reside at each gate, to open and 
shut the same for persons passing, in case the 



170 



THE SOUTHEKN PLANTER. 



court of the county shall deem such service ne- 
cessary and require the residence of such gate- 
keeper for the public convenience. 

I 4. This act shall be in force from its pas- 
sage. • 

Report to the Farmers' Assembly on the 
Law of Enclosures. 

By a resolution of the Farmers' Assembly, it 
was made the duty of the Executive Commit- 
tee to examine into the subject of the law 
of enclosures, its bearing on the interests of 
agriculture in the Eastern and other sections of 
Virginia, and to suggest such modifications of 
said law as they might deem proper and expe- 
dient. In fulfillment of this duty the Commit- 
tee would respectfully report: 

That they find the following to be the sum 
and subtance of the present General Law of 
enclosures : 

1. Every fence five feet high, which if the 
fence be on a mound, shall include the mound 
to the bottom of the ditch, shall be deemed a 
lawful enclosure as to any stock which cannot 
creep through the same. 

2. If any horses, cattle, hogs, sheep or goats, 
shall enter into any gronds, enclosed by a law- 
ful fence, the owner of any such animal shall 
be liable to the owner of such grounds for 
any injury thereby produced ; and for every 
succeeding trespass by such animal, the owner 
thereof shall be liable for double damages. 
.And after having given at least five days' pre- 
vious notice to the owner of said animal, of 
the fact of two previous trespasses, the owner 
of such grounds shall be entitled to such ani- 
mal, if it be found again trespassing on said 
grounds. 

I. The Committee would call attention to 
the fact that, in principle, this law is essential- 
ly the same with that enacted shortly after the 
settlement of the country, under circumstances 
the very opposite to those which now for the 
most part exist. Then the lands to be enclosed 
and cultivated were mere patches, now they con- 
stitute large fields and farms — then the ranges 
for stock were extensive and valuable, now 
they are contracted and generally worthless, — 
then fencing material was abundant, and the 
best kind, now it is scarce and perishable. If 
adapted to the wauts of the community, and 
beneficial to the interests of agriculture then, 
it cannot be so now under such a total change 
of circumstances as exists in all the eastern 
portion of our State. 

Again, with regard to different sections of 
Virginia, the same law is made to apply to the 
East as in the West ; where there is little or 
no fencing timber, as where there is an abund- 
ance, — as well where farming or planting, as 
where grazing is the object and pursuit of our 
people. If the law is beneficial under the one 
set of circumstances, it must be the reverse 
under the other, and ought to be modified to 



suit the different pursuits of the people in the 
different sections of the State. 

II. The law will be found to be unjust in 
operation as well as wrong in principle. 

In the case of tresspass it throws the whole 
burthen of proof on the land-holder. lie has 
to prove, before he is entitled to damages, that 
his fence was a lawful enclosure, and before he 
is entitled to the maximum of damages, he has 
to prove the identity of the trespassing animal, 
after a third trespass, and after five days' pre- 
vious notice has been given to its owner, 
during which time, and in the previous tres- 
passes, the damage done may amount to a hun- 
dred fold the value of said animal. For it is 
well known that trespasses are generally com- 
mitted by the most worthless of animals, the 
valuable being restrained and cared for at 
home. Now such are the difficulties of proof, 
and so slight is the prospect of being indemni- 
fied by an appeal to the law, that it may be 
confidently asserted that though cases of tres- 
pass by vicious animals, involving great loss to 
the farmer, are innumerable, yet such a thing 
as recourse to law to recover damages is scarce- 
ly known. 

It virtually puts the tiller of the soil who, as 
such is incapable of doing wrong to any, at 
the mercy of the stock raiser, whose property 
is capable, when not restrained, of immense 
injury to his neighbor. It virtually tells the 
owner of stock, if your neighbor does not en- 
close his land with a lawful fence, or if a sud- 
den hurricane prostrates his fences, which he 
has spared no pains to make lawful, or if aa 
unexpected freshet sweeps it away, then you 
may enter upon it with your hogs and your 
cattle, and appropriate his substance to your 
use. You are fully entitled to as much of his 
grass and his crops, as you can carry off in the 
bellies of your animals. Where is the justice 
of such license ? Why not as well say, if a 
man does not secure his barn, or corn crib, by 
a good substantial lock, or bolt, or if in the 
night time, a gust of wind wrenches off the door 
or a shutter, then his neighbor is fully entitled 
to help himself to its contents? 

3. It has failed to secure the ends which we 
may reasonably suppose its farmers designed. 
We may presume the object of the law was on 
the one hand to encourage stock raising and 
on the other to protect the tiller of the soil. 
Has the effect of the law, which has now been 
in operation two hundred years, been to in- 
crease the profits of stock raising in Eastern 
Virginia? Let the droves of horses, mules, of 
fatted cattle and hogs which come annually to 
us from the West answer. Let the salted pork, 
the salted beef, the candles, the soap, the but- 
ter, the cheese, the leather, all products of 
pasturage, which the Northern steamers land 
almost daily at our wharves, answer. Or has 
the effect been to improve the breed of our do- 
mestic animals? Is it not notorious on the 
contrary that under this law, with all unen- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



171 



closed lands used as a common, and appropria- 
ted as a range of worthless, ill-bred bulls and 
boars, that strenuous efforts at improvement 
of our stock by enterprising individuals have 
over and over again been defeated. 

Again, has it succeeded any better in giving 
protection to the tiller of the soil ? With pa- 
tient submission to the burthen imposed by the 
law, and at great expense, the farmer may 
have complied with the requisitions of the 
statute, he may have defended his crops by the 
erection of a lawful fence, and yet if his lanes 
are filled with lean and hungry cattle, led on 
by some mischievous bull experienced in the 
art of opening a way to inviting corn-fields, or 
with herds of rooting and climbing hogs, tres- 
passes must and will occur. In a night the 
fruit of his labors may be swept away, and he 
is left poorer in purse, more embittered in his 
feelings towards his neighbor — and less bound 
to that country which has failed to secure to 
him that protection which he has a right to 
claim at its hands. 

4. In its operation it is injurious to the in- 
terests of agriculture, because both onerous to 
individuals, and oppressive to the community. 

Suppose a man has bought 100 acres of land, 
what tax has he to pay before he^can appropri- 
ate its use to himself? To enclose 100 acres in 
the ordinary way, supposing the land to lie in 
the best possible shape, that of a square, will 
require 1120 pannels of fence, or 14,560 rails, 
allowing 13 rails to the pannel. To maul this 
number of rails out of such material as is now 
left generally in Eastern Virginia, will require 
the work of one man 145 days. A negro man 
hires at present for about $140 per annum, 
provision and clothes. So that omitting holi- 
days, Sundays, rainy days, and days of sick- 
ness, his labor per day is worth 60 cents. To 
maul the requisite rails then for the outside 
fence, will cost $87 — and. we may safely put 
the hauling and building at the same, making 
the first cost of enclosing $174. But it has 
been found in practice that this fence has to 
be replaced within ten years, at the farthest. 
Hence the annual cost of repairs will be $17 
40, to pay which requires a capital of $200. 
To these amounts we must add the value of 
the land occupied by the fence and the value of 
the fence timber. It is a small estimate to say 
that a width of 15 feet or ' 5 yards all around 
the hundred acres will be taken away from cul- 
tivation by the fence, making 3 acres out of the 
■100. The timber, in most of Eastern Virginia, 
is worth 26 cents per cord standing, and 14,560 
rails will make 146 cords. Hence the first cost 
of material is $36 50, one tenth of which has 
to be replaced annually. The average price of 
land in Virginia, according to the census of 
1850, was $8 per acre, and allowing for subse- 
quent enhancement, we put its present value at 
$10. The cost of 100 acres at $10 will be 
$1000. Bringing together the general items of 
cost of enclosing, we shall have 



For first cost of labor for enclosing . $174 00 

Fund for annual repairs 290 00 

3 acres of land occupied by fence . . 30 00 
Value of fence material 36 50 



Total cost of fencing and keep- 
ing enclosed 100 acres . . . $530 50 
an amount more than 50 per cent, of the cost 
of the fee simple right to the land. So that 
for every dollar the buyer pays for the land, 
he pays half as much more to secure it to his 
own use. As under all such circumstances, 
the price comes out of the article sold, the 
buyer pays as much less for the land than its 
real value as it would cost to enclose it. Thus 
the price of land is depreciated, and the public 
treasury as well as the landholder feels the 
effect. 

Let us now see what is the aggregate tax 
paid by the whole State in fence building. By 
the census of 1850, there were 26,152,311 
acres of land, improved and unimproved in the 
farms of the State, and' 170,181 farmers and 
planters, making the average size of- farms 
about 154 acres, of which 61 acres are im- 
proved. If we consider that the farm never 
lies in the best shape to be enclosed with the 
least fencing, that it is often cheaper to take in 
than leave out a portion of the woodland, that 
frequently public roads and water streams 
penetrating the farm cause much additional 
fencing, and that every farmer requires some 
interior fencing to restrain his own stock, we 
may assume that the fencing required in the 
State is not short of what would be required to 
enclose at least 100 acres for each proprietor if 
in the best shape. If so, taking into calcula- 
tion only the cost of construction, and leaving 
out of view, at present, the value of the mate- 
rial and of the land occupied by the fences, 
there is now invested in perishablefences in the 
State the enormous sum of $29,611,494. All 
of which will be lost or destroyed by the 
effects of time in the space of ten years. To 
keep up this amount of fencing, requires an 
annual outly of $3,000,000 — a sum double the 
revenue of the State for the year 1856 arising 
from ordinary sources of taxation, and three or 
four times greater than such revenue a few 
years ago. 

If to this amount, we add the cost of mate- 
rial $6,211,600, and the value of land occupied 
$5,105,430, both of which are legitimate items, 
in the cost of fencing we shall find the whole 
outlay for enclosures in the State rather over 
$40,000,000. 

The capital thus invested, and the necessary 
expenditure annually for repairs would cover 
our State with a net work of rail roads, would 
educate all our people, and in a few years li- 
quidate the State debt. 

But the community and individuals suffer in 
other respects. It is susceptible of mathe- 
matical proof that the smaller the farm, the 
greater in proportion is the cost of enclosing 



172 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



it — and when trespass is committed, the greater 
proportion is the damSge sustained Hence, 
the farming profits of the smaller proprietor are 
necessarily less than those of his more wealthy 
neighbor. His products cannot long continue 
to sustain the unequal competition, and the 
consequence is that sooner or later, he is not 
unfrequently compelled to sell out and seek his 
fortune in a more favored locality. Thus there 
is from the action of this law a constant ten- 
dency on the part of the large farms to absorb 
the small ones, and our population, already 
too thin, is made thinner by the expulsion of a 
class of farmers who, under the fostering care 
of a generous legislation, from the very concen- 
tration of their efforts, tend to carry the agri- 
culture of a country to the highest state of im- 
provement, to enhance the per acre value of 
the land and increase the revenue of the State. 

Other grievous losses occur to individuals 
from the operation of this law. It often hap- 
pens that small landed estates, the property of 
widows and orphans, whom the law professes 
to take under its especial care, cannot be sold. 
At first, when surrounded with a good fence, 
they are rented out to the advantage of the 
owners. But as the fences rot down, and each 
year the cost of repairs becomes greater, the 
amount of rent becomes smaller, till finally the 
lands cannot be rented out at all, for they will 
not justify both the paying of rent and the 
cost of inclosing. Thus the owners lose not 
only the small revenue formerly derived from 
the rent, but the land is given up by the law 
as a common to the public, and soon its farm- 
ing value as capital is greatly lessened. Such 
cases are of frequent occurrence in lower Vir- 
ginia. 

Again, from peculiarity of situation or some 
other cause, the burthen on individuals is par- 
ticularly grievous. A stream may run through 
a farm, requiring a fence on either side, or a 
water fence, all of which may be suddenly 
swept away by a fresh, perhaps in mid-sum- 
mer, in the midst of harvest, when it is im- 
possible for the proprietor to renew the en- 
closure or to protect his crops against the de- 
predations of the stock of the whole neigh- 
bourhood, or a violent hurricane may prostrate 
his fences and in a single night give entrance 
to enough lean cattle and famished hogs to 
ruin his prospects of a crop for that year — or 
some windy day in March, a fire in a few hours 
may destroy all the fencing that the labour of 
the last three months has been able to accom- 
plish — or a public road, or worse still, a cross 
road may double or quadruple the cost of 
fencing and increase irj the same or even a 
greater ratio the danger of and liability to 
trespass. Such cases are not uncommon and 
no doubt have come under the observation of 
every reader of this report. 

Again, if the law would permit it, the same 
time and labour which mauls and puts up 100 
rails to rot and be lost in a few years, would 



convert the same material into a cord of wood 
worth, with the same hauling, $2. And the 
buyer of 100 acres of land instead of paying 
50 per cent, of its value to enclose it and keep 
it enclosed, might with the same labour the 
first year cut and deliver 146 corns of wood at 
$2 per cord, deriving therefrom $292. Or if 
instead, the same time and labour were devoted 
to the improvement of the soil ; to draining, 
liming, manuring, or more thorough tillage, as 
a certain consequence, the whole country in a 
few years would assume a different and more 
improved aspect ; the land would increase in 
product and value ; the owner would grow in 
wealth, and the public treasury would feel the 
benefit. 

5. Of all the causes of neighbourhood bick- 
erings and misunderstandings, this law may 
confidently be asserted to be the most prolific. 
A man may have done all that he can do to 
come up to the requisitions of the law ; the 
time and labour which he ought to have devot- 
ed to improving his land and increasing his 
crops, at great sacrifice, he has devoted to 
mauling rails and building fences. He may 
have put up his ten rails and capped them 
with top log, staked the corners, and on inspec- 
tion pronounced all good. Trusting to his 
fence for protection he ploughs and plants. 
His crops may be almost ready for the sickle. 
He is just ready to reap the reward of his toil, 
when some unfortunate night a herd of cattle 
or swine find their way within his enclosure, 
and he arise in the morntng to look on his loss 
in dismay. Wherever a night-travelling negro 
is in the habit of crossing a fence, it is soon to 
some extent thrown down, inviting the ingress 
of jumping cattle. Some thin, half-starved 
hogs cannot be kept out, (such have even been 
known to gnaw rails in two;) and once in, 
they lead on the whole herd that are apt to ac- 
cumulate in lanes. Or worse still, some un- 
principled man, either himself or by a small 
bribe to a negro, not hesitating to help him- 
self to all that the law permits, aids his fam- 
ishing stock to find their way in. But it mat- 
ters little by what agency the thing has been 
brought about. He sees and feels his loss, and 
that despite every effort on his part to prevent 
it. It is more than human nature can stand. 
Were they his own hogs, could they be got 
out in no other way, he would destroy them. 
Even if he could furnish the requisite proof, 
the redress held up to his view by the law is 
too remote, too uncertain, too inadequate, and 
altogether too slow for the present pressing 
evil. He takes the matter in his own hands, 
and forthwith a feud arises which may be 
transmitted to the children of the parties con- 
cerned. Some may say the above is an ex- 
treme case ; it may be so, but who will deny 
that the like is of frequent occurrence ? 

In making all unenclosed lands a common, 
this law serves to render indistinct the line 
which separates the rights of different indi- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



17^ 



viduals, — a line which ought always to stand 
forth distinctly and boldly. It thus has a de- 
moralizing tendency. It furnishes a plea to 
one man to make use of that which belongs to 
another, and it tempts the man, not fortified by 
principle, to bring about that state of things 
under which he can enjoy the property of an- 
other, without liability for damages for tress- 
pass. 

Having thus concisely examined the bearing 
of the law on the interests of agriculture, and 
pointed out some of its evils, we now turn to 
the more pleasing task of suggesting such 
modifications of the law as may afford some 
relief to a burthened community. And we are 
pleased to believe that the effort at relief is 
not now so hopeless as a few years ago. For 
though such is the general law of enclosures, 
yet in later years the legislature in particular 
cases has not shown itself unwilling to listen 
to the complaints of our farmers, and to apply 
the suggested remedy. It has, for example, 
declared certain water streams in Eastern Vir- 
ginia, to be lawful enclosures. It has declared 
the same of mere plantation boundary lines, 
on the upper waters of the James River, where 
fences are liable to be washed away by freshes ; 
and more recently in a large district, embrac- 
ing parts of Nottoway and Lunenburg coun- 
ties, it has legalized a voluntary agreement, 
entered into by an association of farmers, by 
which each farmer has bound himself to re- 
strain his own stock, thus doing away with the 
necessity of fencing, except one outside ring- 
fence to enclose the whole district. 

These general enactments have all been at- 
tended with immense benefit, and the systems 
instituted under them, have worked well. The 
selling value of many farms in the tide water 
region, bordering on creeks and rivers, has 
doubled in consequence. But much more can 
yet be done. 

Your Committee would recommend — 

1. That the law be so modified as to prohibit 
the running at large of hogs in Eastern Vir- 
ginia. It is now almost universally conceded 
in this portion of our State, that hogs can be 
raised and fattened more economically within 
our enclosures, and in sites, than ranging at 
large on the barren commons ; and such law 
would enable the construction of fences on a 
cheaper plan, (the object being merely to re- 
strain cattle,) than those now required for our 
protection against the depredations of hogs. 
The benefit which would arise from this change 
of the law may be illustrated by the case of a 
New Jersey farmer, who settled in lower Vir- 
ginia, and who, after buying and stocking his 
farm* remarked that he would give as much 
more as he had already expended on his farm, 
if the law of enclosures here, as in his State, 
restrained the running at large of hogs. 

2. In Prince George county, many farmers 
feeling the crushing burthen imposed by the 
fence law, and seeking relief, have formed 



voluntary associations, under which they mu- 
tually bind themselves to keep up a ring-fence 
around a number of farms, and each farmer 
within such enclosure for himsef to restrain 
his own stock, of every description. No less 
than three such enclosures exist in said coun- 
ty, each embracing some fifteen or sixteen 
farms, owned and managed by different far- 
mers. They have been in existence for several 
years, and the system is found to work ad- 
mirably. The amount of fencing done by 
each proprietor is small in comparison to what 
he formerly had to do, when besides fencing 
in his own, he had to fence out his neighbour's 
stock. There has been far less difficulty and 
ill-feeling arising from the trespassing of stock, 
more labour to devote to draining, marling, 
manuring, and tillage ; and a great saving of 
fence material, which is every year becoming a 
matter of pressing importance. Such has been 
the benefit experienced under this system, 
still in its infancy and exposed to the natu- 
ral disadvantages and prejudices which all new 
schemes have to encounter, the farms within 
these enclosures, which on account of scarcity 
of fuel and fence timber, were hardly saleable, 
have readily gone off at an increased price. 
Three striking instances have occurred within 
the last few months. Mr. R., a practical man, 
bought a farm of 250 acres, at $18 per acre. 
On being asked what he would have given for 
it, if he had his fences to build under the gen- 
eral fence law of the State, replied that ho 
would not have bought it at any price, but he 
thought its value would be only one-half what 
he gave for it. Mr. G., recently bought a farm 
of 180 acres, for which he paid $3,500. In an- 
swer to the same question, he promptly re- 
plied, that he would not have bought it, but 
presumed its value would have been about 
$2000. A widow lady, from an adjoining 
county, lately bought a farm within one of 
these enclosures, of some 350 acres, for which 
she paid $14 per acre. Two good farmers, and 
practical men, neighbours, were asked what 
would the land have been worth under the old 
system, the one replied $10, the other $5 per 
acre. It ought to be stated that the two first 
farms above referred to, were very deficient in 
wood, and the third lay in a long narrow strip 
by the side of a public road, with all its tim- 
ber at one end. Such is the beneiit in this 
part of the State, to individual owners, and 
consequently, also, to the treasury of the Com- 
monwealth, arising from this new and uncer- 
tain relief from the burthens of the fence- 
law ; uncertain, because dependent altogether 
on individual action. What might not then be 
expected, where the law is brought to the aid 
of the community? We would, therefore, re- 
commend in the second place, that these gen- 
eral enclosures, made by voluntary agreement 
and association, be sanctioned by legal enact- 
ment, so that the present proprietors may be 
saved from any trouble or annoyance which 



174 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



might be caused to them by any new settler of 
different views coming among them. Further, 
that all similar enclosures should be fostered 
and encouraged by law, and that on the peti- 
tion of three-fourths of the land-holders, of 
any connected space, embracing as many as 
twelve farms, that the boundary lines of those 
farms be declared by enactment of the Legis- 
lature, to be lawful enclosures, provided an 
outside ring-fence, embracing the whole, be 
kept up at the expense of the farms so en- 
closed. 

3. We would recommend with a view to fa- 
cilitate the formation and extension of such 
enclosures, ■ that the Legislature direct the 
county courts, on the application of any twelve 
neighbouring farmers, to authorize the erec- 
tion of gates across public roads. There is, we 
know, a general prejudice against this, on ac- 
count of inconvenience to travellers. But this 
objection is every day becoming less and less. 
Must travelling is now done on railways and 
by steamboats, and as to neighbourhood move- 
ments, it will readily be seen that the larger 
and further these associated enclosures ex- 
tend, the fewer gates will have to be encoun- 
tered. For instance, under the old system, 
when neighbour A. went with his family to 
visit neighbour B., his carriage had to encoun- 
ter both his own and B.'s out-gate. If both 
lived within such an enclosure as above de- 
scribed, though miles apart, no gate at all has 
to be encountered. Within one of the enclo- 
sures above mentioned in Prince George count}^ 
.the minister and a very large portion of his 
congregation go to and return from church 
every Sunday without having a gate to open. 
It is only when a person in the public road 
passes entirely through from one side to the 
other of the enclosure, that he has an extra 
trouble from the erection of gates on the roads. 
This is fully balanced by the convenience of 
the many who move within the enclosure. And 
if not, surely this is a very small tax on indi- 
vidual convenience for the public good. Even 
this would be temporary and yearly diminish- 
ing, for as their advantages become better un- 
derstood, these enclosures would rapidly ex- 
tend, and within a short period, large districts, 
embracing, may be, whole counties, would- be 
without both fences and gates to interfere 
with public travel. When this state of things 
becomes general, then we would recommend 
the repeal, in that section of the State, of the 
present fence-law, and require each owner to 
restrain his own stock of every kind. 

EDMUND RUFFIN, Jr 

WILLIAM M. TATE, • [ Sub- Committee. 

RICHARD IRBY, 



and Dr. Woods — of their very superior stal- 
lions; to wit: Scrivington, Kossuth, and Hare- 
lock. The two first are well known, and have 
been seen and admired at our fairs. It were 
superfluous to say a word in commendation of 
them. But Dr. Woods' Harelock, a Cleveland, 
by Scrivington, and only imported last Fall, is 
not so well known, but he deserves as much 
praise for his good points as his owner does for 
his public spirit. 

Dr. Woods, we learn, has also imported 
Napier, not yet arrived however, who is said 
by some to be the finest Cleveland bay in Eng- 
land, though we suspect that Cleveland Short 
Legs is a little ahead of him. 

We hope the public will not fail to second 
the efforts of all the owners of these fine ani- 
mals to improve the breed of our horses. There 
are mares enough in each locality, now bred 
to worthless horses, to keep these good animals 
in full work ; and Albemarle, especially, which 
has tried the Morgans, and wants something a 
size or two larger, certainly will not permit 
Dr. Woods to lose money. Those who know 
| him well, know that in the improvement off 
stock of ail kinds, he sets a higher value on 
reputation than on cash. 



Fine Stallions. 
The breeder of fine horses will see in this 
number of the Planter, advertisements by their 
respective owners — Mr. Dulany, Mr. Smith, 



For the Southern Planter. 

Fencing and Stock Running at Large. 

February 17th, 1858. 
Mr. Editor: 

Without circumlocution, I will begin in 
medias res, by imitating the old adage, "he 
who makes two blades of grass to grow, where 
only one grew before/' does more good than 
the whole race of politicians. ' I say he who 
enables the farmer to make only one pannel of 
fence, where he had to make two, does not only 
more good than the whole race of politicians, 
but more than many who have been esteemed 
benefactors to mankind, for if he has to make 
only half the fence, the farmer cannot only 
double the blades of grass, but double the bar- 
rels of corn, the bushels of wheat, and also the 
general productiveness of his farm, and conse- 
quently its value, to say nothing of the saving 
of labour, timber, and vexation of spirit from 
destroyed crops and the doing so much useless 
and hard work. 

In this county (King William) the five or 
six field system is generally pursued, but it is 
getting nearly incompatible with the limited 
amount of timber, on many of the farms, where 
they have to fence out not only their own stock, 
but that of the rest of mankind. 

We have been tantalized with many promises 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



175 



of a substitute for the rail fence, in wire, 
boards, live fences of various kinds. Many of 
us thought we had found the great desideratum 
in the ossage orange, with its formidable thorns 
and foliage which animals and insects alike re- 
jected, but you will say, I have been poorly en- 
couraged in my first attempt, when I tell you 
the fate of mine. It was planted on a bank 
three feet high, well prepared and protected 
with cedar brush on the top of the bank. It 
grew off very well, every plant, but alas ! I 
forgot to put the fence on the outside of the 
hedge, and the famished stock in the road eat 
it up, thorns, leaves, roots and all. Neverthe- 
less, I believe in the plant and will try it again, 
and when I do, I will recollect that infancy re- 
quires protection. 

But this is not the question. It was the 
quantity of fencing and not the kind, we are 
considering- There is a strong party with us 
who are willing to do our neighbours the justice 
to keep their stock at home, thereby limiting 
our "fencing, so far as stock is concerned, to 
our own. The law permitting stock to wander 
at large, and depredate where 'they can, is un- 
just, and the practice, though allowed, is one of 
questionable honesty. 

My object in writing, is to elicit discussion 
and information on the subject; and as the 
standard bearer of the farmers of Virginia, I 
appeal to you to come forward, write yourself, 
and encourage others to write. 

I am always on the lookout for something on 
this subject, which I have never seen discussed 
in your paper. Premiums have been offered 
on several interesting subjects ; this one of 
vital importance to the farmer, has been over- 
looked. I think it is a subject which may be 
profitably discussed for a prize ; a good practi- 
cal essay on the subject would do much good. 

It takes us nearly all the winter to do our 
fencing, which time could be much more profi- 
tably employed in improving our lands if we 
had only to enclose our own stock. 

Though no radical or reformist, I must say, 
the law regulating enclosures, is behind the 
age, it is too much like the Irishman's reci- 
procity, all on one side. The' stock owner 
is too much favoured to the disadvantage 
of the land owner. I am democrat enough 
to think every interest should be equally pro- 
tected, or not protected at all, and then none 
would have a right to complain. 

Hoping I may excite interest on the subject, 
and that a better day is coming. 

I am yours very respectfully, 

L. 



For the Planter. 

Does Guano ''Stimulate the Soil?" 

Mr. Editor — I have lately noticed an 
advertisement of Rhodes' Phosphate of 
Lime, which the writer says "is not. de- 
signed to supersede the use of Peruvian 



guano, but aid, economise and improve it; 
the guano by the excess of ammonia, stim- 
ulates the soil, but at the same time im- 
poverishes it — acting like strong drink up- 
on the human system ; while Rhodes' Su- 
perphosphate of Lime furnishes the nutri- 
cious materials for vegetable matter, and 
at the same. time enriches the soil, acting 
like solid food upon the animal body." — 
" Stimulate the soil" conveys to my mind 
a singular idea, and I have sought to 
know what is designed to be conveyed 
by the expression. This writer says, as 
" strong drink upon the human system." 
Where is the likeness? Had he said 
Ihese concentrated manures stimulate the 
plant, then there would have been some 
remote likeness in the modus operandi of 
the two characters of agents. But when 
he talks of stimulating the soil, there is 
none. As well may mustard, pepper, and 
the like condiments, be said to stimulate 
the food we take with them. True these 
condiments mixed with food, furnish a 
stimulating quality to the mass, yet it is 
the condiments that stimulates the stom- 
ach, the vital organ, and not the food taken 
into it. So Peruvian guano containing, as 
it does, fertilizing principles, in a highly 
concentrated state may and doubtless does 
stimulate the plant or its vital organs, but 
not the soil in which the plant grows. — 
Between the elementary principles of the 
guano, and those of the soil to which it is 
applied, there may be carried on both an- 
alytical and synthetical operations, by the 
free play of their elective affinities. But 
these operations are purely chemical, en- 
tirely without the range of vital action. — 
Stimulation is the result of the action of 
an agent upon the vital principle, or that 
property of life, vegetable or animal, in 
which consist the susceptibility of exhibit- 
ing the phenomena of life, when acted 
upon by the appropriate stimulus. Does 
guano act merely as a stimulus to the 
plant, "furnishing no food as strong drink 
is supposed" to act upon the human sys- 
tem ? A man may use strong drink and 
thereby awaken a preternatural or morbid 
appetite for food, by gratifying which, he 
takes on greatly increased flesh. Does 
this strong drink fatten him by directly 
furnishing the material, or indirectly i>y 
exciting the digestive apparatus to more 
vigorous aclion. desiring and assimulating 
a larger amount of food, while it furnishes 



176 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



In all common or domestic manures there 
is intermixed much material that, at least 
for the present crop is wholly inert — act- 
ing only mechanically, by diluting the more 
active properties, and rendering the soil 
more open and porous. So in all food 
given to animals, there is much that actsi 
only mechanically by dilution, distention, 
&c. Suppose that by chemical agency 
the nutritive principles of the various arti- 
cles of food given to man and beast were 
extracted from the inert matter with w hich 
they are commingled and combined, does 
any one doubt that the purely nutritious 
materials would constitute but an exceed- 
ingly small proportion of the mass, and is 
it not manifest that any slight variation in 
the quantity taken, would be felt greatly 
more sensibly? 

Guano is no production of art, but of 
nature, controlled by the subtle principle 
of vitality which controls and modifies all 
chemical agencies brought within the 
range of its influence. It may be analyz- 
ed as other natural substances, and its 
prominent elements pretty satisfactorily 
ascertained, but till it is reproduced by 
chemical synthesis, I shall claim the priv- 
ilege of doubting whether all its elements 
in their exact relative proportions have 
been ascertained. It is known that the 
same elements, varying in relative pro- 
portions, may form compounds of very dif- 
ferent character, and there may be ele- 
ments in a substance sufficient to greatly 
modify its character, and yet in so infini- 
tesimal a proportion as to elude the detec- 
tion of any analytical operation. 

Does any one know how stable manure, 
operates ; then may he know how guano 
acts, just making due allowance for the 
different decree of concentration and the 
mass of undigested and unassimilated ma- 
terial in the stable manure that must ne- 
cessarily remain in the land for future op- 
eration. B. 



but little nutriment itself? Mainly so — 
yet this strong drink does not act entirely 
and alone, as a mere stimulant, for it con- 
tains carbon and hydrogen, important ele- 
ments in ihe formation of animal fat. — 
Now, supposing the guano to act in like 
manner, by stimulating the organism of 
the plant, contributing no more of nutri- 
ment than strong drink does to the nour- 
ishment and growth of the animal, how is 
it that by the application of guano alone, 
to exhausted lands, originally fertile, a 
good crop is produced and the land left 
greatly improved in fertility ? To this I 
should like to have a satisfactory answer. 
Pure Peruvian guano may contain an ex- 
cess of ammonia, beyond the present de- 
mands of a crop that would consume the 
other ingredients. If so, what mischief 
or loss ? If the original constitution of the 
soil be good, this excess will be seized by 
the soil and held over to meet the next re- 
quisition, thus leaving the soil fertilized, 
not " impoverished." This strange notion 
of stimulating the soil has cast dust in the 
eyes of many and tends to retard the im- 
provement of lands by concentrated ma- 
nures. Much, it seems to me, would be 
gained by having this rightly understood. 
All food stimulates, whether animal or 
vegetable, but not equally. The difference 
between the action of food and mere stim- 
ulants is this — the mere stimulants act 
upon the vital susceptibilities or principles 
of action, exciting to quicken and more 
vigorous action, for the time only, furnish- 
ing nothing for assimilation and appropria- 
tion, while food, superadded to its stimu- 
lating property, contains elements which 
being seized and eliminated by the diges- 
tive apparatus of the animal or plant, is 
kept in store for its continued sustentation 
and growth. The vital powers may droop j 
and its susceptibilities become too feeble 
to be excited by food alone, and then stim-| 
ulants come into requisition till the vital 
energies are sufficiently invigorated to 
subsist upon food alone. Where then is 
the great mistery in the action of guano,! 
beyond the action of all other fertilizers ?| 
Just this — that in guano, the elements of 
fertilization are more concentrated. Just; 
the difference that there, is between qui- j 
nine and Peruvian bark, or opium and: 
morphine, concentrative of the active prin-; 
ciple, requiring more particularity in regu- 
lating the dose. 



Large Hogs. 

Mr. Frank Minor, of Ridgway, in this 
county, butchered his lot of hogs, a few 
days since, numbering 104, and the aver- 
age weight was 243 lb. This average of 
a farmer's whole lot of ' killing' hogs can 
not be beaten by even Augusta County. — 
Can it, Mr. Spectator 1 — Char. Advocate. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



177 



For the Planter. 

A Good Gate. 

Have a good heart pine log, twelve feet four 
inches long, and large enough in diameter to 
make, when sawed, at least nine planks, full 
one inch thick and five or six inches wide, (to 
make a planed or dressed gate, have the plank 
sawed one inch and a quarter thick.) Take 
two of these planks, saw them into two equal 
parts in length. When your planks are cut, 
either dressed or undressed, lay on some level 
surface two of the six-feet pieces down, eleven 
feet from out edge to out edge, parallel and 
even at their ends. Then take one of your 
long planks and lay it from the lower end of 
one of these uprights to the upper end of the 
other, and mark it so that it may be sawed off 
in a bevel, and just fit between the two as a 
brace ; then saw off seven of the other planks 
eleven feet long, and lay them horizontally 
across these two uprights and the one brace 
fitted exactly between them, the distance apart 
you may think proper, from about four inches 
at the bottom of the gate to five, six, seven, as 
you ascend from the bottom. When these hori- 
zontal planks are all adjusted in their proper 
distances, and the whole tried by a square and 
found correct, you should lay across these 
horizontal planks, bars or slats, whatever you 
may call them, just even with their ends and 
directly over the two first laid uprights ; two 
more uprights and another brace plank be- 
tween them, fitted as in the first instance at 
bottom and top. You will then bore holes 
through the three at every crossing, large 
enough to receive a 3-8 rivet, — which rivets 
may be made of common round iron rods of that 
size, a good head made to one end, and a little 
pointed at the other for a bar ; these rivets to 
be about three inches and one quarter in length, 
which will pass through the three planks 
about one-fourth of. an inch, receive a hoop 
iron bar, and bear good strong riveting. When 
these are all drawn through set up the gate, 
and with one man to hold the pole of an axe 
on the head of the rivets, another with a ham- 
mer can put on the bar previously punched, 
and beat down the point of the rivet as he 
chooses. This will require twenty-one rivets, 
— but I Avould add two more, one near the 
end of the braces ; making in all twenty- 
three. 

Now for the posts. Get a large white or 
post oak tree, saw off two posts eleven or 
twelve feet in length each ; leave a butt to 
each of their larger ends, five feet in length 
from the butts ; have square the upper parts, 
or flatten one side, and take the bark off the 
remainder ; but for a nice gate, hew neatly and 
dress. 

Dig your post holes for a large gate five feet 

square and five feet deep. First put in one 

post, and arrange the hewed face as you wish 

vour gate to set ; and in ramming add a mod- 

12 



erate quantity of earth at a time, and as you 
fill in see that your gate post sets with a slope 
on the side the gate is to rest against, not over 
five inches back nor less than four inches from 
a perpendicular at the top ; and be sure to 
keep it in that slope until ramming in the 
earth will not alter its position, — but be equal- 
ly certain to keep the post perpendicular in 
the other direction. When one post is properly 
arranged and well rammed from the bottom to 
the top of the hole, put in the other post, and 
by the eye keep it with the same slope the 
first has, and by the plumb-line perpendicular 
in the other direction, until that is also well 
rammed. The gate may be hung, no doubt, 
with different kinds of hinges ; but I use a 
cast hinge, made by a pattern I furnished to 
Mr. Barnes, of Richmond, at his foundry se- 
veral years ago ; and I believe his successor 
has it at this time. But I find the bolt-holes 
drilled through two pair I got lately through 
Dandridge & Hart are larger than necessary. 
They are heavy, costly, and very strong, and 
I suppose would List a century or two if paint- 
ed occasionally. The hooks should be about 
nine inches long, and for the bottom one an 
inch and a half broad around the pivots, and 
three-fourths of an inch thick, let into the post, 
first by boring with an auger and then trim- 
ming with a chisel, and then driving it in. 
The top hook should be made pretty much the 
same but with a half inch or three-fourth inch 
rod welded to the small end, long enough to 
go through the post, with a screw to receive a 
strong thick tap resting against the post, — the 
auger hole being first bored through the post. 
This fixture is almost absolutely necessary with 
all heavy gates. Rust after a time will loosen 
the hook at the top, which at once suffers the 
weight of the gate to draw it out of the post, 
and down comes your gate, and all wedging is 
only a temporary remedy. 

A gate thus hung, while being opened, has 
a tendency to shut until it reaches the central 
line from the post to which it is hung, a little 
beyond which, where the gate has a tendency 
to fall back, a stake or stob should be driven 
into the ground for the gate to rest against 
when opened for the passage of carriages of 
any kind. A gate thus fixed, and a proper 
latch, will always shut by its own weight; and 
posts thus embedded and rammed around, will 
never be seen leaning from the hanging of 
wagons and carts from careless driving. One 
of the posts cannot be moved by any common 
team, — the team will be stopped or the hub 
slide by it, scraping the post a little. You 
need not request fox hunters or hasty travel- 
lers to be sure to shut your gates. Only re- 
quest them not to prop them open. 

I can hardly describe how I fix the latch, 
but it may be fixed in different ways. In 
fixing a latch, always bore the hole for the 
catch entirely through the post for the shank, 
otherwise if the catch be ever broken it will be 



173 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



hard fta be gotten out. My latch catches under 
the notch, so that the weight behind raises the 
latch to its proper position ; though a common 
latch may be fixed between the horizontal laths 
and come out between the two uprights, and 
fall into a notch on the upper side of the 
catch; though I do not prefer this mode. 

If you, Mr. Editor, have a bad out gate, near 
a road, and wish to try my plan, which I prom- 
ise you will last you your life-time, as young 
as. you are, I will send you a latch and fixtures 
for your gate when you are ready for it. But 
I hardly suppose you will require any im- 
provement on your gates, being at the head of J 
our profession ; though it was said of the es- " 
timable James M. Garnett, he was one of the 
best writers on agriculture, but one of the 
worst practical farmers. 

Very respectfully yours, 

Thos. B. Anderson. 

P. S. — The hinges are let into the two up- 
rights nearly or quite the thickness of their 
jaws, and two bolts with screws and taps pass 
through each hinge. One side is cast with " Al- 
to Relievo'* for the heads of the screws to rest 
between, so that the bolts may not turn in put- 
ting on the taps. You may fix the hinges to any 
part of the uprights by slipping a piece of the 
same timber between them, and bore your bolt 
holes through the uprights and the intervening 
piece at the same time, which renders that 
part of the gate pretty much as a solid. 
■ Yours, 

February 19//*, 1858. " T. B. A. 

Our esteemed correspondent supposes our 
gates all right because we are an Agricultural 
Editor, but hesitatingly intimates by a refer- 
ence to the late estimable James M. Garnett, 
that we may instruct by contrast as well as by 
the pen. Perhaps we do ; for how can it be 
expected that we shall give a general superin- 
tendence to everybody elses farm and a special 
one to our own at the same time? We invite 
our friend very cordially to come and see for 
himself when he next visits Richmond ; and 
we will accept his " gate latch and fixtures" 
with pleasure and gratitude if he will only 
bring himself along with them. But we give 
him notice that we farm on " Know Nothing" 
principles at least in one respect. Whoever 
comes through our gate is as much bound to 
secrecy as if he had entered the "Culvert.'' 
Oar preaching and teaching may be as unlike 
as the public and private life of the Rev. Ike 
Kalloch are said to be; and a general know- 
ledge of the fact might affect our reputation 
quite as much as certain disclosures did that 
distinguished divine's. — Ed. So. Pl. 



For the Planter. 

Shall Apple Trees be Manured, or shall 
they be Checked, to make them Pro- 
ductive ? 

In the January No. of the Planter, I ven- 
tured to point out what appeared to me to be 
a conflict between the reasoning and recom- 
mendations of two articles in the " Horticul- 
tural Department" of that journal. 

In reply to my brief communication the 
" horticulturist" of the Planter, cuts and 
thrusts at me, in the last number, as remorse- 
lessly as he would chisel the " tap-root" of a 
barren pear or apricot tree. " Tyro answer- 
ed," however, reminds me of the "reasons" 
of Gratiano, " two grains of wheat hid in two 
bushels of chaff, — you shall seek all day ere 
you find them ; and when you have them, they 
are not worth the search." As it is not my 
intention to get into a controversy with the 
learned " Pomologist" of the Planter on this 
fruitful theme, I shall not undertake to win- 
now his huge pile of chaff for the small 
amount of grain that would reward my la- 
bour. 

I will, however, restate the point in which 
I conceive the articles referred to come in 
conflict the one with the other. 

In the article on " Apples," nothing is said 
about manuring trees growing in poor land ; 
nor is any intimation given that r^ch land 
would require none. An annual dressing of 
manure is recommended, without limit or 
qualification, as a sure remedy for the general 
barrenness of apple trees every other year ; an 
evil confined to no particular locality or kind 
of soil, but wide-spread and universal, as com- 
mon, if not more so, to the most vigorous and 
luxuriant trees growing on the richest lands, 
than to those on the poorest ; and likewise 
true of trees on soils of every intermediate de- 
gree of fertility. The reason given for this 
mode of treating apple trees is, that thereby 
their vigour and luxuriance is increased. 

This article, thus insisting that a mode of 
treating apple trees that induces an increased 
vigour and luxuriance is all that is necessary 
to a crop of fruit every year, is succeeded by 
one on " root-pruning," which set out with 
the statement that barrenness in fruit trees is 
often superinduced by vigorous and luxuriant 
growth ; the remedy for which is an applica- 
tion of a " sharp chisel" to the roots. And 
the wisdom and efficiency of this treatment is 
enforced by a reference to the general law that 
anything that retards the growth, impairs the 
vigour, and diminishes the luxuriance of fruit 
trees promotes and hastens their fruit-bearing. 
Frequent transplantings are referred to as an 
illustration of this truth. 

Now, it may be that these diverse modes of 
reasoning and treatment entirely harmonize 
and agree, but I confess I am too much of a 
"simpleton" to perceive it. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



179 



I pass over in silence many other things in 
these horticultural articles that might well be 
commented upon, and leave the " contributor' 7 
to this department of the Planter in the self- 
complacent mood induced, by the utter uncon- 
sciousness that there is anything about plants 
he does not know, " from the cedar tree that 
is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop thatspring- 
cth out of the wall," to repeat the lines — 

" And on my side it is so well apparell'd, 

So clear, so shining, and so evident, 

That it will glimmer through a blind man's eye." 

I shall be as much rejoiced as any reader 
of the Planter, if under the teaching of 
its Horticultural Department every orchard in 
Virginia is made, 

" — like Adonis' gardens, 
That one day bloom'd, and fruitful were the 
next." 

Allow me to state a case, and I will trouble 
the Planter no further. I have an apple tree, 
a favourite, that like most others of its kind, 
rarely bears more than each alternate year. 
It is a healthy and vigorous tree, but not re- 
markably luxuriant, and gives no evidence of 
the " prodigious" formation of wood ; the soil 
in which it grows is not quite so rich as the 
"field of Waterloo," yet it would produce 
twelve or fifteen barrels of corn to the acre. 
Now, I would like amazingly to gather a crop 
of apples from this tree every year, but I am 
such a " simpleton" I don't know which rem- 
edy to make use of. Shall I apply a " heavy 
dressing of manure" during the winter, or a 
I sharp chisel to the tap-root?" 

February 8th. Tyro. 



For the Southern Planter. 

Very Expensive, and, to Me, Useless Ma- 
nure. 

Mr. F. G. Ruffin : 

My Lear Sir— I think, in my last communi- 
cation to your paper, I warned the Virginia 
farmers to be careful of De Burg's Super 
Phosphates of lime, which to me had been 
worse than useless. I then thought perhaps 
there might possibly have been some defect in 
my own lands, upon which this manure might 
not work so well as upon others, but a more re- 
cent investigation of this manure and its ven- 
dors have well convinced me, that he who dares 
venture his money upon this, to me, worthless 
material, ventures at a horrid risk, which but 
the fewest number of us can afford in times 
like these. And as I have ever thought, a 
frank and candid statement of our failures in 
the various humbugries of the day, by which 
we followers of the plough are so thickly be- 
set, was justly due from one to the other, in 
discharge of this duty, I will now give the Far- 



mers, through your paper, my investigation of 
De Burg's Super Phosphate of lime, as I said 
in my last communication, that it had entirely 
failed upon my tobacco and wheat crop, and 
warned my fellow Farmers to beware how 
they used it upon lands like my own 5- deter- 
mining never to use it again myself. In 
August of last year, while confined to my 
house by indisposition, I received from my 
post office a Circular from the Messrs. J. J. 
and F. Turner, of Baltimore, lauding De Burg 
over Peruvian Guano, and all other manures, 
endorsed by many certificates from various 
parts of the country. Having nothing else to 
do, I wrote to these gentlemen, telling them of 
my efforts and failures with this same De Burg, 
expressing warmly my regret, as I had fondly 
hoped to have found in it, that which we Far- 
mers so much needed and desired, to supplant 
the expensive Guanos, but that I feared to 
make another rash investment in an article 
with which I had so completely failed, in two 
carefully made experiments, and I could not 
try it again without an indemnity, which I 
think I proposed somewhat after this manner, 
(not having kept a copy,) that they might send 
to the care of Messrs. Mason & Lewis, mer- 
chants of Scottsville, Albemarle county, Va., 
from one to ten tons of their De Burg for me ; 
that I would take it from there to my farm, 
and would get my neighbour, Mr. A. P. Giles, 
(who was from about Baltimore,) whose name 
was affixed to one of their certificates, to see 
the preparation of my land, and some of it ap- 
plied, who should again see my wheat just be- 
fore harvesting, and that he should then say 
whether I should pay them for its benefits, if 
so, how much, or whether they should pay me 
for its failure, and if so, how much, at the 
same time giving them many references as to 
my ability and disposition to pay. This letter, 
written, I think, on the 25th of August, was 
shown to my friend and neighbour, Mr. John 
D. Moon, of Mt. Air, who agreed with me, that 
I would not hear from the Messrs. Turner 
again. In due time, I received an answer 
from the Messrs. Turner, bearing date August 
the 28th, as follows : 

" They wished to inform me that I was mis- 
taken, that I had never used De Burg. We 
knew so when we read your article a short 
time since in the American Farmer ; the arti- 
cle you got was not De Burg, and that they 
(we) would not hesitate for one moment to ac- 
cede to your (my) proposition, but for the fact 
their supply was not equal to the demand." 

Well, confiding, as most of we clod-hoppers 
are, I thought this might all be just so, but I 
could not, for the life of me, get rid of the 
mystery, why, if the demand upon these gen- 
tlemen actually was beyond their supply, they 
should thus cruelly have informed me, a poor, 
heavily Peruvian Guano gouged farmer, of 
their having an Excelsior, but ah, not for me ! 
All I could make of this was, it was either so, 



180 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



or it was not so; if so, it was cruel in them thus 
to have informed me of so great an agricultu- 
ral benefit, which was by them reserved for 
others more fortunate than myself ; if it was 
not so, it was at least a monstrous poor come 
off. Yet I was fully resolved to ferret out this 
mystery to its very bottom ; and I have done it 
to my entire satisfaction, and here it is : 

On the 26th of last November, being in 
Richmond, at the Va. Central Railroad meet- 
ing, I called upon my friends and Commission 

Merchants, Messrs. , than 

whom there are not in Richmond, (and of 
course not in this great world of ours,) two 
gentlemen of more high sense of honour to be 
found — of whom I asked where and of whom 
did you get that stuff you sent to me as De 
Burg. They at once replied of 



-, a gentleman in whom I could 
confide, and that one of them would go with 
me to his office, which one of the firm did ; and 

'kindly introduced me to Mr. , of whom 

A asked, have you any of that famous manure 
■ called De Burg's Super Phosphate of Lime. 
t'He promptly replied no — we do not now keep 
any such stuff. Of whom did you purchase 
the article marked De Burg, sold by you to 
Messrs. . He at once prompt- 
ly said of De Burg himself, to whom we paid 
our money. Now I was well assured I had 

gotten the article which Messrs. 

had sent to me. I was just as well satis- 
fied they had sent me the article purchased by 

them of "Mr. , and was just as 

perfectly convinced that Mr. had 

sent them the very identical, self-same article 
which he had purchased of Mr. De Burg him- 
self. And yet these Messrs. J. J. & F. Turner 
write me: "We know you have never used any 
of De Burg's Super Phosphate of Lime." How 
is this? Why, does this great manufacturer of 
manure, Mr. De Burg, send out two articles, 
one genuine and the other spurious, and both 
labeled and priced alike ! Can this be possible? 
If so, these Messrs. J. J. & F. Turner must 
not only know it, but must also know where 
and to whom they send the two articles, or 
how could they thus have positively known I 
had not used the genuine De Burg, and if they 
know this, and still continue to deal with Mr. 
De Burg, pray how are we poor Virginia far- 
mers to know but that they too may thus deal 
out the genuine and the spurious stuff; if so, 
will they please inform us how we may detect 
their, or De Burg's spurious stuff; for I must 
think there are two articles of De Burg's own 
manufacturing. If so, will Mr. De. Burg, or 
the Messrs. Turner, please be so kind as to in- 
form us of Virginia in what proportion the 
genuine and the spurious stand to each other. 
Is it only just a little of the spurious to help 
out the loss upon the making of a genuine, 
good article? or the rather, is it merely a little 
of the good and genuine article to be shipped 
to a few crack farmers of Maryland and Old 



Virginia, merely to secure good, puffing certifi- 
cates, by which to secure a clear sale of all 
their spurious stuff to the little farmers of Ma- 
ryland and us confiding boys of good Old Vir- 
ginia? I think if the Messrs. Turner will 
please be so good as to answer frankly the fol- 
lowing interrogatory, it may help us a little at 
guessing at our chances for a good or bad arti- 
cle : 

Messrs. J. J. & F. Turner: Sirs— Did you 
ever receive of Mr. De Burg a cargo of his 
Super Phosphate of Lime perfectly labeled, 
which upon inspection proved not to be of the 
genuine article ; if so, did you refuse it; if so, 
did Mr. De Burg direct you where to ship it ; 
if so, was it not to Richmond, Virginia; if so, 
did you thus ship it to Richmond ; if so, per- 
haps it was of that same cargo I got my two 
tons of worthless stuff. 

I will just give one more item to show our 
opinion of De Burg here-abouts. About the 
16th of last November, at the sale of the late 
Andrew Stevenson, in this county, a good 
deal of De Burg's article, purchased for the 
last crop of wheat, which was not used, as no 
wheat was seeded on the estate, was offered at 
auction by the cryer, upon 8 months time, to 
as large and intelligent an assembly of farmers 
as I ever saw at any one sale, and not one cent 
was bid for it, and all things else went at the 
tallest prices. If it had been sand it would 
have been bid for. This told loudly of our 
having been sadly bitten. 

Yours, N. 



For the Southern Planter. 

Orchard Grass. 

As this is near the season for sowing this 
most useful grass seed, I will furnish you, Mr. 
Editor, with a few facts relative to its great ad- 
vantages for cattle, and its yield of seed per 
acre. In this climate and section of the Val- 
ley it is the earliest grass by a month at least; 
the last to be injured by the winter, and unless 
pastured too closely in the fall, affording much 
green food the entire winter. 

The quantity of seed obtained per acre from 
a good and well set field or lot, is often very 
great. I have repeatedly known fifty bushels 
per acre saved, and then a respectable crop of 
hay cut. As to the permanence of the grass, 
I will mention a statement made to the Far- 
mer's Club of this county, by a member, ob- 
tained from my friend, the Rev. Mr. Allemong, 
of Newtown. His lot has been in this grass 
thirty-four } 7 ears, and has averaged during that 
time more than thirty-five bushels of seed per 
acre. I see no deterioration now in its stand. 
A moderate crop of hay has always been cut 
after securing the seed. It is not equal to 
Timothy for hay, in weight or nutriment, I 
think ; but I am confident that a lot of ten 
acres properly seeded, will afford more food for 



THE SOUTHEEN PLANTER. 



181 



all kinds of stock in its product of hay and sub- 
sequent rapid growth of grass, than any other 
now known. The hay should be cut early in 
June. When intended for seed it should re- 
main longer, and after that is secured, should 
be mowed immediately for hay, or left for fall 
or winter grazing. It should be sown about 
the usual time of clover seed on the wheat 
land, or with the oat crop, which is better. 
Two bushels per acre should be sown in order 
to secure a good crop, if it is wished to save 
the seed. The seed is very low at present, and 
can be furnished in Baltimore or Strasburg by 
Allemong & Son," of Newtown, in this 
county, at about $1.20 per bushel. 

Frederick. 



For the Southern Planter. 

Blue-Grass Sod for Wheat. 

Ivanhoe, near Piedmont Station, \ 
Fauquier county, Feb. 15th, 1858. j 

F. G. Ruffin, Esq.: 

Dear Sir — In response to your inquiry, ad- 
dressed to our Club at its last meeting, as to 
" the management of blue-grass sod for wheat," 
I am commissioned to subjoin the following re- 
port: 

It is the opinion of our farmers that a blue- 
grass sod is not a good preparation of fallow 
for wheat; but that an old sod is perhaps the 
best chance for a heavy crop of wheat. Ac- 
cording to the age of the sod, the English grass, 
or green-sward, takes possession ; and as it in- 
creases, so the fitness of the land for wheat in- 
creases also. Although the English grass, or 
green-sward, is the grass that takes possession 
when our land is first cleared, yet the blue- 
grass springs spontaneously when land, that 
has been subjected to cultivation, is allowed to 
rest. The richer the soil the sooner the blue- 
grass gives ground to the green-sward ; so that 
it cannot be stated at what age the sod is in 
the best state for wheat, as the character of the 
grass changes, more or less, according to the 
fertility of the land. Our farmers, pursuing 
the mixed agricultural system of grazing and 
farming, know so well that the age of sod is 
important too, in the more certain "crop of 
beef" that they are seldom induced to plough 
up an old sod. A blue-grass, or young sod as 
it is called, i. e., one from one to five or six 
years, is esteemed the worst preparation for 
wheat; for the reason that the green-sward has 
not taken sufficient possession, and the turf not 
being sufficiently close, the furrow of the plough 
will sometim s break, and the blue-grass will 
inevitably take root and grow from its culti 
vation in those places imperfectly turned ; and 
if the Summer is a wet one when the land is 
ploughed, the blue-grass, however well the 
land may be turned, is almost certain to choke 
out the wheat. An old sod, on the other hand, 
when the plough is put into it, furnishes an 



unbroken furrow from one corner of a land to 
another, and if a stone should prevent the per- 
fect subversion of the turf, which the Loudoun 
bar-share accomplishes with more certainty 
than any other plough we use, the green-sward 
has not that vitality which the blue-grass has, 
and the crop of wheat is not endangered by it. 
Indeed, as you no doubt have observed, the 
green-sward is very easily destroyed by good 
ploughing. 

Such has been the uncertainty of the wheat 
crop for the last five or six years, from the 
ravages of the joint-worm and other insects, 
that our farmers prefer, when they break up 
an old sod, to put it in corn first, which up to 
this time has been a very certain crop ; then in 
corn land wheat, which being after an old sod, 
is esteemed almost as good a chance for wheat 
as a common clover-fallow ; then, after it has 
been in clover one or two years, as there may 
be more or less blue-grass with the clover, they 
fallow it for wheat ; the effect of the old sod 
still showing itself in all these crops, especi- 
ally in the clover-fallow ; so that the old sod is 
esteemed the means of furnishing a clover- 
fallow of the best kind ; as well as being of 
itself perhaps the best chance for a heavy crop 
of wheat. Last year, '57, the best crop of 
wheat, by far, in our neighbourhood, was on 
an old sod ; and but for the uncertainty of 
wheat for the last few years, from the causes 
above enumerated, I am persuaded our farmers 
would have given the cream of our old soda to 
wheat rather than to cattle. 
Yours respectfully, 
F. LEWIS MARSHALL, Committee 
of Piedmont Fauquier Agricultural Club. 



For the Southern Planter. , 

Lime as a Fertilizer. 

Hanover, Feb. 17th, 1858. 
Editor of the Southern Planter: 

Dear Sir — The last number of your paper 
reached me in due time, freighted with its 
usually interesting articles ; but the lack of 
information, on the subject of lime, by your 
correspondents, is greatly to be regreted, as 
this is one of the most important as well as 
permanent fertilizers that comes within the 
reach of the agriculturist. For it not only 
roots out hen-grass and broom-straw, but it also 
roots out ague and fever and other bilious dis- 
eases, purifies the atmosphere, and gives health, 
vigor and energy where these life-killing dis-' 
eases have heretofore prevailed. All the in- 
formation, then, that can be elicited on this 
absolutely necessary article both for the im- 
provement of the soil and health of the country, 
is or should be sought after with all the avidity 
that hunger seeks for food, or thirst for the 
cooling brook ; and if I held the pen of a ready 
writer, your columns should never be without 
something in favor of this Alpha and Omega 
of all good farming, until every farmer below 



182 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



the head of tide-water should be made sensible 
of its importance. It is an article, too, so 
cheap and so easy of transportation, and can 
be so readily spread on the land, and such a 
small quantity works such wonders on the soil, 
driving otit poverty, and cau&ing luxuriant 
crops to grow where before all was sterrility 
and barrenness, changing the character of the 
soil, and making stiff land more friable and 
light, and sandy soils more stiff and tenacious, 
retaining moisture much longer, and causing 
heat and frost and rain to fructify and ferti- 
lize and improve the earth, until it becomes as 
fruitful as the lands of the < Nile. With all 
these facts so clearly established by the ex- 
perience of some of the best farmers among us, 
is it not wonderful that lime should be so little 
used, and that guano, which is so costly, should 
be so popular? Can it be, Mr. Editor, that 
the one has to be transported over seas and 
rivers and bays and lakes, before it reaches us, 
and that the other is of home manufacture and 
abounds in any portion of the Commonwealth, 
or is it owing to the want of information on 
the subject on the part of farmers? Surely, 
Mr. Editor, to the latter cause must be ascribed 
this neglect, which information through your 
columns alone can supply and rectify ; and it 
is greatly to be lamented^ that gentlemen far- 
mers of intelligence and leisure, who are capa- 
ble of writing intelligibly on this subject, the 
most important of all others, should be so lit- 
tle disposed to impart all the information with- 
in their practice and experience to those who 
need the most rousing articles before they can 
be made to understand their true interests. 
Let us strive then, Mr. Editor, to shake off this 
enormous and onerous tribute to a foreign 
government — of very doubtful value — and seek 
by all the means within our reach, to promote 
the great permanent interests of agriculture by 
changing the current of these large expendi- 
tures, and causing them to flow in a far more 
profitable direction. 

I am, with great respect, 

Your friend and obedient servant, 
AGRICOLA. 



For the Southern Planter. 

Soil Analysis— A Reply to the Article 
Entitled "Fertilizers for Fruit Trees." 

Loudon County, Va., 2nd mo. 13, 1858. 

F. G. Rvjjin : — In the Southern Planter for 
this month is an article headed " Fertilizers for 
fruit trees." Whether it is editorial or not, does 
not appear, no credit is given to other publica- 
tions. This article gives some very erroneous 
estimates and calculations, and I propose most 
respectfully to notice them, together with some 
of the conclusions the writer has come to. The 
writer first makes an extract from an article 
of Marshall P. Wilder in the Patent Office Re- 
port. This extract advocates ' special fertili- 



zers ' for fruit trees, and it is to refute the 
principle of 'special manures' for crops, that 
the article was written. 

The writer says that, ' fruit trees and all our 
cultivated plants are composed of precisely the 
same elements, some fourteen in number, four 
of which are termed organic and ten inorganic. 
The former exist in the atmosphere, and may 
be inhaled by the leaves of the plants ; the 
latter are only obtained from the soil. ' If 
every one of these ten inorganic elements do 
hot exist in the soil, no plant fit for food can 
grow on that soil unless the lacking element 
or elements are supplied in manure. On this 
point all are agreed! 'To ascertain whether 
any particular soil is deficient in one or more 
of the elements of plants, it has been proposed, 
as Mr. Wilder states, to analyze the soil. Such 
an analysis is unnecessary, for if all plants 
contain the same elements, and no plant can 
grow on a soil unless it contains every one of 
the inorganic elements of plants, it follows 
that if the soil does produce a single spear of 
grass, a Canada thistle or a white daisy, it con- 
tains every one of the inorganic elements of 
plants. So that to analyze the soil, for the 
purpose of ascertaining whether it is destitute 
of any element of plants, is unnecessary if any 
plant is growing on the soil. If therefore a 
soil does not produce so much as a blade of 
quack grass, and cannot be made to produce a 
plant of any kind by tillage alone, it may be 
necessary to analyze it in order to ascertain 
which of the ten inorganic elements are miss- 
ing ; on any other soil it is certainly useless." 

The writer admits that ' it is true,' that ' the 
soil may contain enough of every element for 
the production of one species of plant, and not 
enough for another species which requires a 
larger quantity/ and then says, ' but no analy- 
sis can determine the point.' If 'no analysis 
can determine the point' whether there is 
enough of one element for one plant, and not 
enough of the same element for another plant, 
how can an analysis tell whether that element 
is missing or not, in a soil that will produce no 
plant. Can an analysis tell no difference in 
the amount of potash between the virgin soils 
of Virginia, and those which have become im- 
poverished by the cultivation of tobacco for- 
merly. That plant extracts more potash from 
the soil in the form of nitrate of potash than 
perhaps any other plant in cultivation, and is 
not the reason why fine timber succeeds so well 
on such soils that it needs very little potash for 
its growth. The admission that an analysis 
may be necessary in a soil that will produce no 
plant, is certainly opposed to the other conclu- 
sions of the writer, for the presence of an ele- 
ment can as certainly be detected as it absence. 

But the most glaring error of the writer is in 
his estimates of the weight of the soil. ' For 
instance,' he says, 'a soil ten inches deep 
would weigh about ten thousand tons gross 
per acre.' In Johnson's Encyclopedia, article 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



183 



Earth, the weight of 'arable soil ' is put 
down at 84.5 pounds per cubic foot. Deduct 
one-sixth for a soil of ten inches, and multiply 
by 43560, the number of square feet in an 
I acre, and we have 3,066,624 pounds per acre, 
Bless than one seventh of 22,400,000 as asserted 
by the writer. Such gross error is not calcula- 
ted to inspire confidence in the other assertions. 
it The writer goes on — a crop of wheat of fifty 
'bushels per acre contains 40 pounds of phos- 
phoric acid. This 40 pounds mixed up with 
22,400,000 pounds of soil is one part in 560,- 
000/ This last sum should be 76,684. Take 
j this last sum and see whether his other calcu- 
lations will hold good. In soils such as exist 
I generally in the Piedmont region of Virginia, 
silex or sand forms often one half of the soil : 
this is easily removed before analyzing. In- 
stead of the 40 pounds of phosphoric acid 
| being 'one in half a million/ as he asserts it 
would, it would be one in 76,684: one half of 
this may be removed as sand. Now 2000 bush- 
els of wheat would be 40 times 40 pounds of 
sulphuric acid, or after removing one half, one 
part in, say 2000. Now will this writer say, 
after his experience in ' determining phospho- 
ric acid/ and his conclusion, that ' the analysis 
I has 'been properly made/ when duplicate 
analysis of the same soil agree ' within one ten 
thousandth part, that he cannot detect one part 
of phosphoric acid in 2000 parts or 4000 parts. 
Now a radical error in his essay is in the ap- 
parent supposition that this 40 pounds is all the 
phosphoric acid in the acre of soil. All fertile 
soils contain it, but it is not all at one time 
available for plants. Phosphoric acid, potash, 
and other elements that exist in small quanti- 
ty in soils, are liberated by their decomposi- 
tion, but not as fast as the demands of the far- 
mer require, hence the necessity of their ap- 
plication to the soil. Phosphoric acid has 
been found to exist in all plants where it has 
been sought for, but it always exists in combi- 
nation with potash, soda, magnesia or lime. 
Hence the reason w T hy many crops seem to be 
much benefitted by an application of bone dust, 
the other elements may exist in sufficient 
quantity, and by adding them still further no 
benefit can accrue, when by adding that that is 
deficient, an immediate benefit is visible, and 
the other elements are brought into use. Phos- 
phoric acid exists in less quantity in soils than 
almost any other element, and is likely to be 
soonest exhausted, or at least will be available 
in smaller quantity than others. This will ex- 
plain why bones act so beneficially as a ma- 
nure to some crops, where other elements enter 
more largely into their composition. In some 
plants, wheat for instance, phosphoric acid 
exists as phosphate of magnesia in large pro- 
portions, in others as phosphate of lime, soda 
or potash. Some of these combinations may 
be found more ready than others, or the other 
elements may be in less quantity than admits 
of a ready combination. This may explain 



why 'for the growth of turnips a soil requires 
a much greater quantity of available phos- 
phoric acid than to produce wheat/ It may be 
that it needs a larger amount of acid to effect 
the combination found even in the small quan- 
tity of turnips than wheat. To come to a cor- 
rect conclusion, we should know whether all com- 
binations in vegetables, of whatever base, are 
equally available from equal quantities. Agri- 
cultural chemistry has much yet to learn, and 
we can only become competent scholars by 
closely observing facts and making our obser- 
vation on them. To do this correctly, we 
should try different special manures on soils 
differently constituted, that is, we should try 
to raise turnips, for instance, on a soil deficient 
in potash, while other elements were in good 
proportion, and see whether potash would not be 
a special manure for turnips then. Until this 
is done, it is certainly premature to come to the 
conclusion that ' potash is not a special ma- 
nure for turnips,' and so of other crops. 

The writer considers that ' as applied to hor- 
ticultural plants, there are many observed 
facts that would of themselves throw doubt on 
the correctness ' of the theory of special ma- 
nures. And he particularly urges the fact of 
the benefit of bone dust, which contains a large 
quantity of phosphoric acid and ammonia, and 
very little potash, as a highly esteemed ma- 
nure, But let me ask what would be the 
effect of this manure were there little or no 
potash in the soil. The effect would certainly be, 
the plant could not thrive, because it requires 
a considerable portion of potash in the organi- 
zation of the plant, and if that is not had, no 
other element except an alkali could supply its 
place. If this be so, and I presume it will not 
be disputed, what becomes of the conclusion of 
the writer that, ' we are not warranted in con- 
cluding that it is the potash which abounds in 
new soils that peculiarly adapts them to the 
production of these fruits/ the pear, the grape 
and the strawberry. What is it then, we 
would ask? Horticulturists know that woods- 
earth.is the best manure for these fruits, and it 
has a large share of potash in its composition. 

The writer says in relation to the theory of 
' special manures/ there is not a single well es- 
tablished fact that sustains the doctrine, and 
as it has been proved erroneous in the only 
case in which it has been fairly tried; we have 
no certainty that it may not be equally untrue 
in all other cases ? Will the writer be willing 
to have his own essay tried by this rule ? See- 
ing that his calculations are exceedingly erro- 
neous when ' fairly tried/ will he admit that 
we have no certainty that it may not be equal- 
ly untrue in all ' other cases/ His reasoning 
would seem to be at variance with his asser- 
tions — he states that if anyone of the inor- 
ganic elements of the soil is wanting, 'no 
plant fit for food can grow on that soil unless 
the lacking element be supplied / and it may 
be supplied in any artificial manure, or in its 



184 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



chemically pure state ? This is what the advo- 
cate for special manures insists on. But he 
says that this cannot be ascertained, and ' is 
unnecessary if any plant is growing on the 
soil/ And then directly says, that if a- soil 
does not produce a blade of quack grass, &c, it 
may be necessary to analyze it in order to as- 
certain which of these ten inorganic elements 
are missing/ This is exactly what has been 
done : soils have been examined by chemists — 
the missing element has been detected and pre- 
scribed for, and the result has been a good 
crop, where the amount of seed sown would 
not have been realized before. And yet the 
writer asserts there are no well established 
facts that sustain the doctrine.' It would be 
far more consistent with sound reasoning to 
conclude that where potash does not seem to 
be a ■ special manure for turnips,' that the soil 
itself contained enough for the supply, and that 
where phosphoric acid produced so much bene- 
fit, that that was the deficient element. And 
as that was supplied in the cases mentioned by 
itself, it gives strong evidence in support of 
the special manure theory. The writer exult- 
ingly says, ' now we know that superphosphate 
is a special manure for turnips, and is it not 
probable, from the facts mentioned above, that 
phosphates and ammonia, rather than potash, 
are the special manures for the vine." They 
assuredly always will be, when they are defi- 
cient in the soil, and I will venture the asser- 
tion, and that the writer himself will not con- 
trovert that they themselves will give no effect 
when applied to a soil saturated with them, 
and further, that a soil containing no potash, 
but every other element, will be benefitted by 
an application of that element as a special 
manure. 

Seeing then the writer of the essay has 
made such extremely erroneous calculations, 
and that the instances which he brings forward 
to support his positions, will admit of quite a 
different conclusion from what he draws from 
them, may I not use his own language in con- 
clusion and ask him, * to give this whole sub- 
ject of special manures and soil analysis,' and 
his essay too, ' a careful re-consideration/ 

YARDLY TAYLOR. 



For the Southern Planter, 

Harrowing Wheat— Very Valuable Infor- 
mation Concerning. 

Accomac C. H., Va, Feb. 12th, 1858. 
F. G. Ruffin, Esq : 

Sir: — In the Southern Planter for the cur- 
rent month, in connection with the publication 
of a letter on the subject, you request farmers 
to experiment on harrowing wheat, and report 
results. , 

Having already experimented, I hereby re- 
port the results. 

In 1852, March 10th, I commenced rolling 
my wheat. I intended, by way of experiment, 



to harrow one cut,; but after a few ups and 
dows of the harrow ; the operation seemed so 
destructive that I ordered the harrow to desist, 
and the roller to go on alone. 

The harrow was a triangular one, about 7 
feet wide, with 19 teeth 10 inches long of lj 
inches square bar iron running edge foremost, 
and tracking about 4 inches apart. This, with 
its weight — (which was, I should say, about 
100 pounds) and drawn by two horses, made 
such havoc with the stools of wheat — tearing 
the roots up, inverting the stools, &c, that I 
stopped it. 

In a short time, however, I had reason to re- 
gret it, for the harrowed wheat seemed to be 
invested with new life, and took and main- 
tained the lead of that adjoining, as though 
it had received a good top-dressing. Since that 
time I have never omitted harrowing — the har- 
row followed immediately by the roller, to 
press the roots into the soft beds prepared by 
the action of the harrow while still moist. 
This I consider important. 

The harrowing is an excellent preparation 
for seeding clover, furnishing a light, fine bed 
into which it is pressed by the roller. 

The time you suggest as the proper time for 
harrowing wheat — February, is rather earlier 
than I would advise. The time, however, must 
depend on location, &c. I generally begin 
when I perceive the wheat taking a start, and 
when all danger of the disturbing action of 
frost is past. 

I will state that the soil on w|iich I first 
made the experiment in 1852, was a light 
sandy one. I find it equally beneficial, how- 
ever, on all soils. Respectfully, 

THOS. R. JOYNES, Jr. 



Largest Yield of Corn on Record. 

A correspondent writing from Vander- 
burg County, Indiana, informs us that at 
the State Agricultural Exhibition a Silver 
Pitcher was awarded for the best^vc acres 
of corn. The award was made upon the 
decision of three disinterested men in each 
town, who examined the corn growing in 
the fields, and measured one acre of each 
plot. They then made oath to the yield 
of the single acre, and of the whole five 
estimated from the acre actually measured. 
The award made, under oath, was for 857-£ 
bushels of shelled corn on five acres, or 
171? bushels to the acre. 

If this has been excelled at any other 
time, or in any other place, we shall be 
glad to hear of it. Till we do we shall 
put Vanderburg County, Indiana, at the 
head of the corn column — unless we hear 
of some mistake in the above report. 

American Agriculturist. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



185 



lortiraltural Department 



either class there are several plants proper and 
suitable. 



E. G. EGGEIING, Contributor. 



Hedges.— Osage Orange. 

A hedge, (to adopt the language of the Far- 
mers' Encyclopedia) is a living wall (or fence,) 
formed of woody plants sown or planted in a 
line and cut or clipped in such a manner as to 
form a compact mass of any degree of width or 
height that may be required, either for the pur- 
poses of shelter, separation or defence. A 
definition sufficiently complete for our purpo- 
ses. 

In this country, owing to the facility with 
which fencing materials can be procured, 
hedges have not been very general^ adopted ; 
but in the older countries of the world, hedges 
form a most pleasing and attractive feature of 
every landscape. Every tourist has observed 
and described those riatural fences in England, 
France, and Germany, where they are cultiva- 
ted with much care, and are of the utmost mo- 
ment to the husbandmen. 

In some parts of our own country, particu- 
larly in the prairie States of the "West, the 
planting and cultivation of hedges has begun, 
of late years, to attract much attention ; and 
miles of Osage Orange and other hardy plants 
have been sown or planted for hedges. In this 
State, occasionally, a hedge is found, made of 
cedar, or black hawthorne, but serving more for 
ornament than any purpose of general utility. 

It is a mooted question, into the merits of 
which we do not propose to enter, whether 
hedges are economical or otherwise, in locali- 
ties where timber for fencing is abundant. 
That a well arranged, well set hedge is, in the 
long run, the cheapest fence which a farmer can 
have around his farm, is, to our minds, as clear 
as noonday, although the care and labour ne- 
cessary to develop a hedge is greater than 
many are able to afford ; and the original ex- 
penditure would, perhaps, be greater than 
would be required to construct an ordinary 
fence. With this discussion, however, we shall 
not meddle, as our purpose is, merely to give 
directions for the planting and cultivation of 
hedges for the guidance of such as affect them. 

Hedges may be divided into two classes, 
such as are designed for utility, and those that 
are mainly intended for ornament, and for 



And first of the hedge for utility. The 
chief plants used for these, are cedars and 
osage orange. Formerly, thorns were highly 
esteemed, but they have deservedly fallen into 
general disrepute. They do well in England 
but are wholly unsuited to our climate. 

The cedar hedge is very beautiful, and when 
the farm lies high, it serves admirably to pro- 
tect it from cold, chilling winds, which are 
sometimes prejudicial. It is, however, not well 
suited for general adoption, because of the 
difficulty of transplanting the young trees, and 
of getting a number of a size, to form a hedge 
of any considerable extent. While there are 
instances within our knowledge of cedar hedges 
which turn cattle, and in every way subserve 
the purposes of a board or rail fence; still we 
are inclined to recommend the planting of 
cedar hedges, only for ornamental purposes. 

This leaves for the hedge for general utility 
only the osage orange, concerning which a 
vast deal has been written and printed, much 
that wfjp eulogistic, much, abusive, and still 
the contestants are in the field, and eager 
for the fray. We do not adopt fully the views 
of either party to this controversy ; but 
believing that both are right in some things, 
we shall state the facts within our knowledge, 
and leave each reader to draw his own conclu- 
sions. 

One thing this controversy has ascertained 
beyond all question we think, that the osage 
orange is better suited for hedges in this coun- 
try, than any and all other plants which have 
been offered to the public. Its superiority is 
seen in that it is a native of the country, the 
rapidity of its growth, the number and size of 
the thorns it bears, which makes it an object 
of terror and dread to all animals ; the fact 
that cattle will not eat the plant at all, and the 
plant scatters no seed over the farm, or if they 
chance to become thus scattered, they perish 
during the winter. 'these* are the chief char- 
acteristics of the osage orange, and they are 
just what is needed for a hedge plant, and they 
are possessed in so eminent a degree by none 
other. 

It has also been ascertained, as we think, 
beyond doubt, that a hedge, one which will 
turn any animal larger than a black snake, can 



186 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



be formed out of osage orange. Instances of 
such hedges in Virginia are rare, if indeed 
such an one can be found, and there may be 
those who would therefore jump to the conclu- 
sion that no such hedge can be found else- 
where. Such a conclusion would be erroneous. 
At the West, such hedges are found, and we 
have more than once conversed with a Missis- 
sippi planter, formerly a Virginian, who comes 
to this State each year, and who told us of 
hedges miles long, and some of which he em- 
phatically averred would turn a black snake. 
We are indebted to this gentleman for much of 
our information on this subject, and it was by 
adhering to instructions given by him that we 
became convinced of the value of the osage 
orange as a hedge plant. 

The failures in Virginia are attributable to 
the mismanagement and neglect of those who 
have attempted the cultivation of osage orange 
hedges, and not to the insufficiency of the 
plant to answer the purpose. The farmer 
sends off to the nursery for a lot of plants, 
which are sent him, probably before he is 
ready to plant them, they are thrown down 
somewhere to await his convenience, then 
planted often as otherwise in a soil not suffi- 
ciently prepared for their reception, small 
plants and large plants are set out indiscrimi- 
nately, and of course the experiment proves a 
failure, and the farmer pronounces the osage 
orange a cheat and a humbug. Such have 
been the mass of the experiments in this State, 
and we submit that they establish only the 
folly of the experimenters. 

In Mississippi, according to the authority we 
have alluded to before, there are persons 
who make it a business to raise the osage 
orange, and plant them out for the planters, 
they receiving a compensation for the work, 
and warranting the growth of the hedge, the 
proprietor of the plantation paying a certain 
part of the compensation at the time that 
the hedge is planted, and the balance when 
it is established beyond all peradventure. 
This gives the contractor a direct personal in- 
terest in the success of the hedge, and insures 
that the plants will have all proper attention 
which will sufficiently account for the superior 
success which has attended experiments with 
osage orange hedges in the west. If such a 
system could be introduced into Virginia, 



hedges of osage orange would be much more 
highly appreciated. 

In the absence of any such arrangement the 
next best thing is for each farmer, who desires 
to have an osage orange hedge, to do that for 
himself which, in Mississippi, is done by a few 
persons for all the planters — that is, sow the 
seed, raise the plants, plant the hedges, and 
give them such cultivation as they need, and if 
this be done, success is certain. 

The osage orange is propagated chiefly from 
the seed, which are very like the seed of the 
orange, are contained in a ball from two to. 
five inches in diameter, and are coated over 
with a gummy substance, which adheres to 
them most tenaciously. Good seed cannot at 
all times be had. Those which are saved in 
the South and West, and brought here from 
New Orleans, are oftener than otherwise 
worthless, owing to the fact, that in order to 
clean the seeds readily, the persons saving 
them put the balls into hot water, which, in 
many cases, utterly destroys the fructifying 
quality of the seeds. A year or two ago an 
entire barrel of seed, which we obtained from 
New Orleans by the kindness of Messrs. Dun- 
lop, Moncure & Co., did not give us a single 
plant. This danger may be avoided by pro- 
curing the seed balls instead of the seed 
already cleaned, and if the plant should be 
much cultivated there would soon be an ample 
supply of Virginia raised seed. If the plant 
be allowed to grow up into a tree, it will bear 
seed in six or seven years, and as a tree, it is 
decidedly handsome as a shade tree. 

The seed are to be planted in drills, opened 
two inches deep, and the drills eighteen 
inches apart, and the seed to be distributed in' 
the drill about as thick as garden peas are 
sown. The season for sowing is in the month 
of February, or it may be sowed in the fall if 
the seed can be procured. Before sowing, the 
seed should be rolled in ground plaster, as the 
plaster which adheres to them will greatly 
facilitate the process of germination. The 
best soil for it is a sandy loam, tolerably fertile. 

The seed sown in February, if they come up 
well, will give plants by the end of the year, 
varying from six inches to ^wo or three feet 
high, and during the year, the only cultivation 
required, is to keep them free from grass and 
weeds. These plants are allowed to remain in the 
nursery rows during the winter, and the ensu- 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



187 



ing spring, the plants should all be headed 
back by cutting down half of their full growth, 
and then the plants are done with until the 
next fall. Still however, keep the nursery 
clean of grass and weeds. 

"While this process is going on in the nurse- 
ry, grub the line upon which the hedge is to 
be planted, so as to clear it entirely of every 
species of shrub and briar, that the land may 
be left free to the Osage Orange alone. 

The second fall or spring after the seed 
were sown, the plants are old enough to be 
transferred from the Nursery to the Hedge 
Row, and as with all other plants, this is a 
matter of delicacy upon the proper perform- 
ance of which, much depends. Plants as nearly 
of the same size as possible will be taken of 
course, and- it will be well to break the roots as 
little as possible, and where they are broken or 
bruised to cut such parts off smoothly. And 
take up only so many plants as can be planted 
in a few hours, so that they may be out of the 
ground for the shortest possible period. 

The plants are planted as nearly in a straight 
line as possible, and about eight incnes apart, 
the ground to be broken up say eighteen inches 
or two feet wide. There are several modes of 
planting, one of which is to break the land 
first and then run a line and go on to open 
holes eight inches apart, into which the plants 
are put ; but there is another mode which we 
greatly prefer, and which we will attempt to 
describe, though it is well nigh impossible to 
do so, without the aid of a cut. It requires 
two men, one of whom has a spade and the 
other the plants and a stick, eight inches long, 
to measure the distance from plant to plant. 
The one spades the earth, and after turning 
over several spades full, he reverses the spade, 
and by simply putting the implement down 
into the earth, presses the soil either way, ma- 
king an opening into which the other places 
the plant, and the next spade full of earth is 
thrown against the plant and so covers it in 
properly, and this is repeated every eight 
inches, until the entire hedge is planted. The 
earth may be slightly trod with the foot after 
the planting is done. This is the speediest 
process which we know of, and one that we 
pursue in planting all scions in the nursery. 
The best time for planting is after the leaves 
have turned yellow and dropped off. 



This planting done, the hedge is left to itself 
for a year, only having an occasional hoeing, 
and one year from the time of planting the en- 
tire hedge is to be cut down to within one or 
two inches of the ground. The plants thus 
treated will produce from six to eight shoots, 
which grow straight up in a bunch, and which 
are left untouched during a year. At the end 
of one year from the date at which the plants 
were first cut down, the second growth is to be 
cut down, say to within two feet of the ground, 
which completes the hedge except a semi-an- 
nual clipping, which may be done about the 
first of January and July. A large pair of 
box-shears is the best thing to use for this 
clipping, and a vast deal can be done at it in a 
day. 

The Osage Orange left to its natural course 
would grow up to be a large tree, but this pro- 
cess of heading back, joined to the close plant- 
ing, staunts it into a dwarf, and the branches 
intermingle and interlace until they form a 
barrier impenetrable. The process at the same 
time makes the hedge longer-lived than' it 
would be if formed of natural shrubs, and 
after a few years, the hedge having exhausted 
the soil, ceases to grow in great measure, and 
then remains pretty much stationary. 

This is the plan of making hedges with 
Osage Orange, which we would recommend to 
all persons, and we venture to state with all 
confidence, that whoso adopts" this advice will 
not be disappointed. It will be observed that 
this plan devolves the whole process on the far- 
mer, from sowing the seed to the completion of 
the hedge, and this we deem of importance to 
ensure success in the experiment. Of course, 
where persons are unwilling, to take all this 
trouble, and choose rather to purchase the 
plants from some individual who raises them 
for sale, the directions we have given for 
planting and cultivation are still applicable, 
and may be followed with benefit. 

Such a hedge is not intended for division of 
the farm into fields, and would not be suitable, 
because such fences are frequently changed, 
while these hedges are in the nature of things, 
permanent, and owe much of their excellence 
to that attribute. But for road-side fencing 
and all boundary fences, it is hard to conceive 
of anything more appropriate and valuable 
than such a hedge as that we have herein de- 



188 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



scribed. Whether the trouble and expense of 
getting such a hedge is too great to justify the 
attempt in a State like ours, where timber is 
abundant, it is not for us to say, though we in- 
cline to the opinion that in view of the perma- 
nence of such enclosures, they would be found 
profitable. One thing, however, we do state 
most decidedly, that it is better not to attempt 
to have a hedge, unless you are willing to en- 
counter the trouble and expense involved in 
the process described. The deficiency in mo 8 t 
hedges we have seen has been that near the 
ground the spaces were wide enough to admit 
small animals, and this can only be avoided by 
heading back the plants in the hedges as herein 
before advised. 

We have said nothing about vacancies in the 
hedge caused by plants dying, because if the 
plants are raised on the farm, and then taken 
up carefully, kept out of the ground but a short 
time, planted with proper care, and not planted 
until they are two years old, there will scarcely 
ever be such a thing as a plant dying. When 
plants die, it is attributable to the failure to 
comply with some one of the conditions stated, 
and very much of the prejudice which has ex- 
isted against the Osage Orange, is properly due 
either to the fact that the plants were trans- 
planted too early, were kept out of the ground 
too long, or else were takeu up with so little 
caution that the roots were injured beyond re- 
cuperation. Still if gaps do occur, they can be 
filled with plants from the nursery, where a 
few should be left to meet such an emergency. 
It is, however, little likely to occur. 

In all that we have said of the cultivation of 
the Osage Orange, we have but given the re- 
sults of experiments which we have heretofore 
conducted in a small way. We were led to 
make them by conversations with one who 
had much experience, and in every instance 
our experience tallied with what we have 
herein advised, and we therefore speak very 
confidently and with every assurance that our 
views are correct. Would not a good result is- 
sue if the Executive Committee of the State Ag- 
ricultural Society shoirtd offer a premium of, 
say one hundred dollars, for the best mile of 
Osage Orange Hedge, the competitors for the 
premium to furnish a detailed statement of the 
plan of culture, and the expense of the whole 
process from first to last? If it did no more it 



might settle definitely the dispute concerning 
the cost of such enclosures, and if it should es- 
tablish their cheapness it would be an incalcu- 
lable benefit to the Agriculturists of the State. 
This article is already so extended that we 
shall defer what we have to say concerning or- 
namental hedges until next month, at which 
time we will conclude all that we have to say 
on this subject. 

Rhubarb— Its Culture and Uses. 

Rhubarb is of several kinds, one of which 
is a well-known drug, entering largely into the 
treatment of the sick all over the country. 
This variety, rheum palmatum, is a native of 
China and Russian Tartary, and grows to the 
greatest perfection in the Tartarian mountains, 
though it is cultivated with very considerable 
success in many parts of Europe. 

Of this, however, we do not propose to speak, 
but of the rhubarb, {rheum rhapontieum,) which 
is very generally cultivated in the garden, in 
England and throughout this country. This is 
a native of Asia, and was introduced into the 
London market about the year 1815, and not 
many years thereafter was introduced into this 
country. It has rapidly gained in public favour 
in both countries, and immense quantities are 
sold annually in the large cities. It is a hardy 
perennial plant, with long, broad leaves, and 
large stalks, which are slightly acid and vinous. 

Several varieties are cultivated in England, 
some of which are not known in this country. 
The English varieties are Bucks, new early 
Scarlet, Tobolsk, Dalley's Goliah, Dalley's 
Admiral, Elfort Rhubarb, Giant Rhubarb, Wil- 
mot's, Early Red, Myatt's Victoria, and Aus- 
tralian Rhubarb. The Victoria has. been tried 
in Virginia, but did not thrive well. The 
American varieties are, Early Red, Early 
Prince Albert, Giant, Mammoth, Victoria, and 
Red Giant. 

The mode of propagation usually pursued in 
England, is by seed. This should be sown in 
September, or October, soon after ripening, as 
the seed is apt to lie dormant through the year, 
if sown in the Spring. If the seed be sown in 
Spring, it should be in February or March, 
and the earlier the better. The seed should be 
put in drills, four feet apart each way, and 
about an inch deep, and the plants not to be 
removed. They will bear transplanting, but 
it always checks and retards their growth. 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



189 



The mode of propagation more generally pur- 
sued in this country, is by cuttings, that is, 
root cuttings. The root is something like the 
Peaonia, and a single root may be cut into 
several pieces, which are to be planted very 
much as was prescribed for planting the seed, 
and at the same distance apart. Whether one 
method or the other be pursued it is well to put 
several plants together, to be thereafter thin- 
ned out as circumstances may require. The 
season for putting in the cuttings is about the 
first of March. 

Some care must be observed in the selection 
of a soil, that it be not such as retains much 
moisture, which this plant does not much af- 
fect. The soil best suited is a light, rich, deep 
soil, moderatejy moist, such to instance as a 
rich sandy loam, such as suits asparagus. 

The cultivation is no complicated affair, the 
main thing being to keep the plants clear of 
weeds, at every and all seasons. Towards the 
clbse of the Summer, thin out your plants so 
as to* have them stand at least four feet apart 
every way. The leaves decay in Autumn, and 
they are then to be removed, and the bed in 
which the plants stand to be gently stirred with 
a fork, and turning in some well-putrified stable 
manure. Now, if the plants be young seed- 
lings, in order to protect them from the frost, 
place over the stools a little soil, and so leave 
them until the ensuing Spring. 

In the Spring the beds may be again dug be- 
fore the plants make their appearance, and as 
the stalks when blanched, are much less harsh, 
and require much less sugar to make them 
palatable, it may be well to earth ©the plants a 
little. This is effected by digging a trench be- 
tween the rows, and throwing the earth thus 
dug out upon the plants, to the depth of a foot. 
Or the same end may be attained by a cover- 
ing of coal ashes or drift sand. Or the blanch- 
ing may be secured by placing a flower pot, or 
small keg over the plants in the Fall, and 
covering it, say two feet thick, all around with 
manure. Whichever method be taken, the 
covering must be taken off so soon as the cut- 
ting ceases, to allow the plants to grow freely. 

The plants sometimes produce seed in two 
years, but generally in three, and to get the 
seed in perfection, set apart plants for the pur- 
pose, which are neither to be blanched or 
gathered from. The seed ripen in September, 



or October, and should be gathered as soon as 
ripe. 

With us rhubarb is used almost exclusively 
for pies or tarts, and for this the stalk only is 
good, and the large ribs in the leaves, but the 
former almost wholly. It answers thus admi- 
rably, having very much the flavour of goose, 
berries, and coming into use much earlier in 
the season. It is very generally esteemed, we 
believe, not only as an agreeable, but as a 
wholesome article of diet. Besides, from the 
tender leaf-stalks a jam or jelly is made, which 
is pronounced good. This is made by adding 
to one pound of the leaf-stalks, cut as for tarts, 
one pound of sugar, and boiling until brought 
to a proper consistency. Buck's early Scarlet 
rhubarb, prepared thus, makes a beautiful red 
jelly, and it can be flavoured with .any spices 
that are preferred. The juice expressed from 
the leaf-stalks makes, it is said, a capital wine. 
The rhubarb cut into small pieces and done in 
sugar, in the usual way, makes, it is said, an 
excellent preserve. ■ 



Continuation of the Garden Calender from 
Last Month. 

June — Is the month emphatically for clean, 
ing the garden of weeds. Some persons rake 
them off and carry them away, but our practice 
is different. We always weed the garden when 
the season is hot and dry, and leave the weeds 
lying upon the surface, where they serve a 
two-fold purpose. They preserve the land from 
the ill effects of the scorching heat of the sun> 
and then they gradually decay and become 
manure, thus tending to enrich the soil. 

At this season, hoeing is beneficial to all 
plants, as the stirring of the soil protects the 
roots of the plants from the severe heat, which 
would be likely to injure them if the surface 
soil were allowed to bake to a crust. 

The latter part of this month, a few turnips, 
of the Red Top variety, may be sown. The 
plant-beds, where the cabbages and celery are 
standing, ought to be Avatched carefully, to 
protect them from, the ravages of insects, which 
are now likely to attack them. The best 
remedy is tobacco trash, put on in the morning 
while the dew is on the beds, or when that can- 
not be had, shell lime or soot will answer. 

July — This is the month for planting out a 
full crop of cabbage for winter use. Work the 



190 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



ground deep and thoroughly, and enrich the 
land with old, well-rotted manure, if you would 
have fine, large heads. Prepare the land for 
Fall Cucumbers and Gherkins, for pickles. 
Sow. a few more turnips and a full crop of 
Swedish, or Ruta Baga. Plant out Cauli- 
flowers, and the last of this month is the best 
time to plant out Celery. Collect the seeds 
saved, dry them in the sun for a few days, rub 
them out and clean them well, and put them 
away in bags labelled properly. Put in the 
bags, along with your peas and beans, con- 
siderable quantities of fine tobacco, to preserve 
them from the ravages of the worms. 

August — This is the month to sow a full 
crop of Turnips. If Celery was not planted 
last month, plant it now, and where that was 
done replant to fill vacancies. Sow Spinach 
and a few Radishes, and a few Kidney Beans 
for pickles. Sow Lettuce for Fall use. Thin 
out the Ruta Bagas, so as to leave them stand 
five or six inches apart in the row. Earth up 
the Cucumbers. 

September — Sow Turnips and Kale, for 
salad, any time after the 15th of the month; 
also, Early York, Large York, and Flat Dutch- 
Cabbage seed, to be planted out later in the 
Fall, to mature very early the ensuing Spring 
or Summer. Commence to earth up your 
Celery, fur whichfull directions will be found 
in the Planter for November 1857, at page 695. 
Sow Lettuce, for early Spring use, of the 
Brown Dutch variety. Make new Strawberry 
plantations. See Planter, June 1»57, page 
374. 

October — The latter part of this month plant 
out the Lettuce and Cabbages which are in- 
tended for use early next year. In planting 
these latter, be careful to put them deeper than 
is usual, so as nearly to hide the bud in the 
earth. Persons wishing to have cabbage for 
cole-slaw, may, the latter part of this month, 
take so many heads as they may wish to re- 
serve for that purpose, and bending the outer 
leaves over the bud, bury them in the earth, 
leaving the roots upper-most, and burying the 
cabbage ten or twelve inches. Ridge the earth 
over the cabbages so as to turn the water off' 
of them, and put them on a sloping hill-side, 
or other dry place, when possible. Thus buried 
they bleach white and become very tender. 
Late in this month cut down the stalks on the 



Asparagus beds, and then proceed to dress 
them for the winter as directed in our article, 
in the Planter for October 1857, page 623. In 
some parts of the State, where the frost sets in 
early, put away cabbages for winter. 

November — Dig up your Carrots, Parsnips? 
Beets, Salsify, Turnips, Ruta Bagas, Onions, 
Potatoes, &c, and bury them in trenches, or 
put them away where they can be readily got 
at during the winter. If the Cabbage were 
not put away last month, it slrould be done 
this. For some directions on keeping Cabbage 
through the Winter, see Planter for November 
1857, page 641. 

December — When the weather will permit it 
to be done, the ground may be trenched and 
run up in ridges, to make it mellow, and a 
variety of little jobs may be done in the gar- 
den in anticipation of the busier seasons of the 
year. No specific directions can or need be 
given. 



Pickles for Market. 

January 25th, 1858. 
Mr. Eggeling: 

Dear Sir — Thinking you would like to hear 
how I succeeded with my experiment in put- 
ting up pickles for sale in the markets, I will 
here give you the bill of sale, for a barrel of 
pickles, by a commission merchant in Rich- 
mond. 

1 barrel, 17 gals, pickles, 25c per gal., $4 25 

CHARGES. 

Cash paid freight and toll, 55c 

Dray 13c, storage 17c, 30 

Commission, 21 



Nett proceeds, 
If to the above costs you add : 
8 gals, vinegar, 25c per gal., $2 00 
Iron hooped cask, 1 00 



1 06 

$3 19 



3 00 



It will then leave a clear profit of 19 

to be divided between the cost of hauling the 
pickles six miles to market, and my trouble of 
gathering and pickling the same. 

I hope you will excuse me for writing to you 
about it at all, but I had nothing else to do in 
particular ; it will cost you nothing, perhaps, 
but a little trouble in reading it. 
Very respectfully yours &c. 

Remarks. — We are much obliged to the 
writer of the foregoing letter, for this report of 
the ill success of her experiment at putting up 
pickles for sale in the market, although it seems 
to contradict the views which we presented in 
a former article. These views were based 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



191 



upon information which we derived from sources 
which we deemed entirely reliable, and we 
confess to a feeling of acute disappointment 
upon first reading our correspondent's letter, 
so utterly discordant with all that we had 
learned. Subsequent inquiries satisfied us 
that our original informants had not misled us, 
and that our correspondent's ill success is at- 
tributable wholly to an unfortunate choice of 
an agent to make sale of her pickles. 

The result of our inquiries is, that at no 
time during the last three months have good 
pickles, put up in this State, been worth in 
this market less than from sixty to seventy-five 
cents per gallon, a price which could have been 
obtained at any family grocery and of .the 
landlord of either of the principal hotels of the 
city ; and if of superior quality, a somewhat 
higher rate might have been obtained. As- 
suming seventy-five cents as the price which 
our friend ought to have gotten for her pickles, 
and her account with the commission merchant 
would stand thus: 



forty to sixty cents per gallon, and at a much 
higher rate when put up in jars. These are 
every way inferior to Virginia pickle, and are 
worth less in the market, as we are assured by 
every dealer with whom we have conversed 
on the subject. From all which it does most 
clearly appear, that our correspondent has to 
censure her commission merchant for the failure 
of her experiment, and not the writer of this 
article. 



1 -barrel, 17 gals, pickles, 

Freight and toll, 55c 

Drayage and storage, 30 

Commissions, 63 



$12 75 

1 48 

Nett proceeds, $11 27 

An exhibit which looks better for the success 
of our scheme than that which is set forth in 
the letter upon which we are commenting. 

We have no disposition to speak harshly or 
unkindly of any human being, but the com- 
mission merchant who was entrusted with the 
sale of that barrel of pickles did not discharge 
his duty towards his employer, unless indeed 
the article which was sent to him to sell was of 
inferior quality. We assume that this was not 
the case, and so assuming, we cannot hesitate 
to pronounce the transaction unjust to our cor- 
respondent, and think in good conscience that 
the merchant is her debtor in the sum of the 
difference between three dollars and eleven 
dollars twenty-seven cents. That is, the com- 
mission merchant owes her the sum of eight 
dollars and twenty-seven cents, which she 
ought to demand and he ought to pay. 

The price which our correspondent got for 
her pickles is less than is usually paid for 
cucumbers and the like, merely preserved in 
salt water, ready for pickling ; and the North- 
ern pickles sell in this market now at from 



How to Treat Peach Trees. 

BY THE LATE A. J. DOWNING. 

April is the time to " shorten-in" your 
peach, apricot, and nectarine trees, both for the 
sake of the fruit they will bear this season and 
the health and good condition of the trees. I 
suppose everybody understands the difference 
between shortening-in and common pruning. 
If not, I must make a long story short by say- 
ing, that shortening-in is nothing more than 
cutting off the ends of the last year's shoots. 

Suppose, for instance, the case of a young 
peach tree just coming into bearing. The 
growth of last year consists of shoots, all over 
the outside of the head, or top of the tree, each 
shoot from ten to twenty inches long. Well, 
in the case of such a tree, I should shorten-in 
every shoot one-half — that is, I would cut off 
five inches of the end if the shoot is ten inches 
long, or ten inches if it is twice that length. 
If the tree has made but a moderate growth, 
then I' would take off only a third; or the 
same if there is but a scanty store of blossom- 
buds. But if the tree is strong and healthy, 
and shows an abundance of blossom-buds, then 
half the length of the last year's shoot is not 
too much.* The fruit will be larger, you will 
have as many bushels, and the flavor will be 
much richer ; and what is of great consequence, 
the constitution of the tree will not be impaired 
by overbearing. 

In the case of large, or old peach trees — es- 
pecially if they have been neglected, or badly 
pruned — something must be done that will 
bring them within bounds again, and restore 
them to 'good condition. This, as I have sat- 
isfied myself, may be done by "heading-in," 
which is nothing else than cutting back the 
ends of the principal limbs — say from two to 
four feet — in order to make the tree throw out 
a new head of young, healthy bearing wood. 
Of course, this proceeding loses you the crop 
of fruit for this year ; so, that if that is impor- 
tant, you must take one side of the tree this 
year, leaving the other side to bear, and next 
year head-in the other side. In* this way I 
have restored old apricot and peach trees that 
were "given up by the doctors," superanuated 



* I mean, of all the strongest shoots. The weak 
ones may be left two-thirds their whole length. 



192 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



and worn out in service, to a pretty respectable 
condition of youth again ; good at least for 
half a dozen years more. 

It is the fashion now-a-days, when the 
chemists and doctors wish to know what is to 
be done to help a plant or tree, to examine its 
ashes. It is, in truth, not a bad plan, and is 
evidently founded on the old doctrine that the 
new grows out of the old ; "ashes to ashes and 
dust to dust." Exactly what the elements of 
the peach tree ash are I don't know, for I have 
not been able to find any analysis ; but I con- 
clude they are pretty largely lime and potash, 
for I have found by repeated trials that ivood- 
ashes is the very substance (along with suffi- 
cient manure in the soil, mind,) to maintain a 
healthy, substantial, and productive habit in a 
peach tree. 

Don't be so foolish, (as many persons are, 
when they are going to give an extraordinary 
relish of a new-fangled manure to a plant,) 
don't be so foolish as to content yourself with 
sprinkling four or five handfuls of ashes around 
a peach tree and expect its leaves to turn color 
with a lease of new life. Take half a peck of 
leached ashes to a young tree, or half a bushel 
to a full grown tree — in that proportion at 
least ; put not a dust of it around the trunk 
(that is, so far as benefitting the roots go,) but 
make a calculation with your eye of how far 
the roots of the tree spread ; it may be two 
feet, it may be six feet every way from the 
trunk. Then, having satisfied yourself about 
where the greater part of the young fibres are, 
spread the ashes on the surface of the ground 
over them, and turn it under about three inches 
with the three-pronged spud, or a light spade. 
If such treatment as this don't give you healthy 
trees, then your stock is radically diseased, and 
only worth a place on the wood-pile. 

That little enemy, the peach-worm, will very 
likely have established himself in your trees ; 
he is already there to a dead certainty if you 
are not wide awake to his sapping and mining- 
habits. If, therefore, you have not been over 
your trees last fall, and got the upper hand of 
him for the next six months, altogether the 
way of doing business with this gentleman is 
to Lynch him on the spot by ferreting him out 
of his hole, in the neck of the tree, just below 
the surface of the ground. You can do this 
good tu:n for a peach tree in five minutes, by 
lifting the soil around it two or three inches 
deep, laying bare the stem just between wind 
and water, as the old sailors say. If all looks 
clean and smooth there, very well; replace 
the soil again. If, on the other hand, you see 
gum, then look out for the enemy. Scratch a 
moment with your knife where the gum oozes 
out, and you will get on his trail ; cut into the 
bark till you find him — in the shape uf a white 
grub, three-quarters of an inch long — and when 
found, " make no note of it," but settle his ac- 
count as rapidly as you can. 

This grub comes from an egg laid in the 



bark, in summer, by the winged insect. Un- 
less the creature is wonderfully abundant, it 
contents itself with looking about for the ten- 
der bark at the surface of the ground. On 
this account it is a good plan to outwit the 
rascal by heaping up a little cone or pile of 
wood ashes, tan or tand, say six inches high, 
around the trunk. The sole object of this is 
to guard the soft place in the bark at the neck 
of the tree. On this account you must clean 
away the pile every fall, so as to let the bark 
harden again. If you do not, but keep it there 
winter an summer, you will find that it does 
no more good than blowing against the wind — 
for the very plain reason that the bark becomes 
tender at the top of the pile, instead of the 
surface of the ground, as before. 

Some years ago a good deal was said in favor 
of pouring boiling water about the neck* of 
peach trees. It was said to kill the worms and 
do no harm to the tree. I am an advocate for 
this practice. I do not consider it, by any 
means, so thorough a means for ridding the 
tree of worms as " war to the knife" is, but 
still, it will in most cases do the job for them 
most effectually ; and many a tree that stands 
near the kitchen door may be protected in this 
way by her who holds the kettle for a weapon, 
as weli as by the " regular army" of practical 
gardeners. 

Besides this, I have satisfied myself, by ex- 
periment, (though I am sorry I have not yet 
had time to get up the theory,} that a good 
dose of hot water is a means of bringing-to 
many a peach tree just about giving up the 
ghost. It seems to rouse the vital powers ; 
and if there is life enough left, a good scalding 
at the neck seems to produce a reaction that is 
at times quite wonderful. 

Three years ago I had two trees, a peach and 
a favorite apricot, that had been failing for a 
couple of seasons — often thought before that 
very serviceable trees. They had been rather 
badly treated by the worm, to be sure, but 
that had been attended to in time, and the roots 
appeared to be in a very fair condition. Still, 
the trees dwindled, looked sickly, and bore lit- 
tle or no fruit. As a desperate remedy, I re- 
solved on a trial of hot water. I removed the 
soil directly round the neck of the tree, making 
a basin three inches deep and twenty inches 
across. Into this I poured twelve gallons of 
boiling water. 

To my great satisfaction the trees, instead of 
dying, immediately pushed out vigorous shoots, 
took a healthy appearance, and made a fine 
growth of wood, and have since borne two 
crops of delicious fruit. I experimented last 
year again, with equal success, and now am 
ready, like old Dr. Sangrado, to prescribe hot 
water in all desperate cases. — Term. Farmer. 



*I mean by the neck the bottom of the trunk, 
just at the surface of the ground, where the roots 
tart out. 



SOUTHERN PLANTER.— ADVERTISING SHEET. 



OR. 

PHOSPHO-PERUVIAN GUANO. 

Ammonia 8 per cent.— -Rune Phosphate of L.ime, 45 to SO per cent. 

WARRANTED ONE-HALF BEST PERUVIAN. 

JOHN S. REESE & CO., 

Office ova- the Com Exchange, No. 77 South Siree.\ BALTIMORE, MD. ~fgg 

PRICE REDUCED. 

'lie principal problem in agriculture is, how to replace those substances which have been ta- 
om the soil and which cannot be furnished by the atmosphere. If the manure supplies an 
rfect compeiiMifion for this loss, the fertility of a field or country decreases, if on the contrary 
are given to the fields, then fertility increases. 

ly recent researches into the constituent ingredients of our cultivated fields have led me to 
onelusion. that of all the elements furnished to plants by the soil, and ministering to their 
sfmient, the phosphate of lime or the phosphate generally must be regarded the most important.'''' 

[Extracts from Liebig's Ag. Chan. 

e superiority the above guano possesses over all concentrated fertilizers, consists in the fact, 
while it contains sufficient ammonia to insure all the benefits that can be afforded by a larger 
ity of that element, it contains 50 per cent, more bone phosphate of lime than any ammoniac le 
o as imported. Hence, while it affords an abundance of the phosphates for the growing crop, 
)ut exhausting the soil, it leaves deposited in every acre a quantity that cannot fail to contri- 
materially to its permanent fertility. 

e radical defect in Peruvian guano (otherwise the most valuable of all manures) is, that it 
sees an excess of stimulant in its too large per centum of ammonia, and an inadequate quantity 
losphates to compensate for the loss sustained by the soil. Hence the opinion that Peruvian 

tends to exhaust land, is sustained by rational conclusions, as well as experience. 

ded to the above advantages, the condition of our guano gives it a pre-eminence over all other 
zers. It is entirely free from Lumps, and is reduced to a uniformly FINE dry powder, every par- 
being in a minute state of division; a result of the utmost importance, which cannot be se- 

1 by any means at the command of the consumer. The solvent action of the salts of ammo- 
ipon the minutely divided phosphates, renders them easily soluble, which effect cannot be had, 
s the minute particles be in direct contact, as is known to every one familiar with the laws of 
ical affinity. To this fact, doubtless, among others, the remarkable results of this guano are 

•utable. 

tias been successfully used by the most enlightened farmers and planters for the two past 
with an immediate result fully equal to the best Peruvian, and in many cases reported to us 
rior to that article. We could add pages of testimonials, but deem it unnecessary, as its effects 
be seen and heard of in all quarters. Its superior value is attested by concurrent experience 
nconlrorertable theory. Its condition and price, together with its permanent qualities, must 
nend it to all consumers of guano, 
order to secure our Manipulated or Phospho- Peruvian Guano consumers must be careful to speci- 

their orders, Reese's, or obtain it direct from our agents. The present price in Baltimore is 
jer ton of 2,000 pounds, and it may be had from the following agents at the same rate, with 
ecessary expenses of freight, drayage, &c, added, 
e bags of our article are branded, "Reese's Manipulated Guano." 
r a detailed account of this guarfo, with an argument demonstrating the truth of its theory, we 

to our Pamphlet, which will be mailed to any address, upon application, postage free. 



John S. Reese & Go. 



AGENTS. 

Waters & Co., Georgetown, D. C. R. Norfleet, Tarboro', N. C. 

ft. Besant & Co., Point Rocks, Md. DeRusset & Brown, Wilmington, N. C. 

Phillips & Co., Fredericksburg, Va. Jas. Gadsden & Co., Charleston, S. C. 

Winston & Co., Richmond, Va. Wm. B. Horsey, Seaford, Del. 

,es & White, Petersburg, Va. Nathaniel Horsey, Horsey's X Roads, Del. 

A. Miller, Lynchburg, Va. Richards & Miller, Philadelphia, Pa. 

■and & Reynolds, Norfolk, Va, Wheat & Bro., Alexandria, Va. 

Sfarcfo" 18SS. AcmJE & Tmwrflte, Walketftm, Va. 



SOLTIIEltX PLANTER— ADVERTISING SHEET. 



3^tr. Lefebvre^s School 

Corner of Grace and Foushee Streets, RICHMOND, VA. 

The next Session of this Institution will opeu on the FIRST DAY OF OCTOBER, li 
and close on the First Da}' of July, 1858. 

TERMS FOR THE SCHOLASTIC YEAR, 



$200 

L() 



40 

20 

40 
20 



40 



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

For the use of Piano. 

For Drawing, from Models, 

For Drawing, from Nature, 

For Painting in Water Colors, 

For Oil Painting, 

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



For Board, ... §200 For two lessons (of an hour) a week, fj 
F .r Washing, - 
For Lights, 
For English Tuition, 
For Modern Languages, (each.) 
■ For French, when studied exclusively of 

the English branches, 
For Latin, ... 
For Music on Piano, Harp, Guitar, Or- 
gan or Singing: 

For one lesson (of an hour) a week, 

REFERENCES: 

The Patrons of the School.— Right Rev. Bishop Meade, Right Rev. Bishop Johns, Right 
Bishop Elliott of Georgia, Right Rev. Bish;>p Cobbs of Alabama, Rev. Moses D. Hoge, 
D., Rev. Charles H. Read, D. IX, Rev. T. V. Mo re, D. D., Rev. B. Gildersleve. The Clei 
of the Episcopal Church in Virginia. 

P. LEFEBVRE, A. M 

John A. Calyo, 
C. W. Thilow, 
W. F. Grabait, 
Mrs. A. E. J. Gibson, 
Miss Mary Gordon, 
MAD'ELLE L. VILLEMET, French Governess. 
All letters to be directed to Hubert P. Lefebvre, Richmond Va. 



HUBERT 

Rev. II. S. Keppler, 
William G. Williams, a. m. 
John P. Little, M. D. 
It. A. Lewis, M. D. 
Eliodoro Camps, 



Principal. 
] Miss E. Bart lett, 
Mrs. M. Taylor, 
Mad'. me M. Est van, 
Mad'elle Lacy, 
Charles II. Roseen, 



Established l8iS Rebuilt ami Enlarged 1856. 

BRIDCEMAN'S 

HORTICULTURAL ESTABLISHMENT, 

Nos. 876 and 878 Broadway, 

NE W YORK. 
Always on hand, in season, a large and choice selec- 
tion of 

Field, Herb, Vegetable and Flower Seeds. 

Every article appertaining to the business furnished 
at reasonable rates, and warranted as represented — 
The seeds are grown to order by experienced cultiva- 
tors, and fully tested before being oftered. 

For safe by the quantity, or in packages for retail 
trade. 

fjp Goods packed securely to go any distance. — 
Ciders b\ mail will be attended to with exactness and 
promptitude, 

Priced Catalogues furnished on application. 

Marc h 1858. 

FOR SALE, 

A Farm in Henry County, containing between 800 
and 850 ACHES, lour miles from the' Courthouse, 
and 36 from Danville. The soil is of superior quality, 
and well adapted to the usual crops, but particularly 
suited to Tobacco and Clover It is divided into four 
fields, and about 20O Acres of it in Clover. There are 
400 Acres cleared, 100 Acres in second growth, and 
the rest in fine timber. The whole farm is well wa- 
tered, and has about 40 acres of Branch flats. The 
improvements are good. If purchasers desire it, it 
will be divided into two farms, giving the purchaser 
choice of halves. For terms and farther information, 
upplv to AUGUST & WILLIAMS,.- .. 

Feb 58— tf .Ouice of Sotttlwn l'lan#«r. 



[July '57—11 



DON'T PURCHASE UNTIL YOU Htf 
TRIED NASH'S PIANOS. 

All wo ask of persons wishing to purdB 
PIANOS is, that the\ will give ours a trial before] 
ing elsewhere, and if we tail to please it will beati 
own expense. E. 1* NASH, 

Book and Piano Seller, 

March 1858. Petersburg, Vtj 



Thorough-Bred Colt For SaleJ 

The subscriber takes pleasure in offerirfl 
\ the sporting community GAMBLER, a beautiful] 
stud colt. He was sired by Cbilde Harold, dam fl 
rough-bred) by imported Trustee. He will be 4 yt) 
old 12th of May 1858; has never served a mare, 
is very promising as a race horse. Pi ice $500. 
For pedigree and particulars, appiv to 

S. VVELLFOK1) CO H BIN, 
It Moss Neck, near Fredericksburg, V4 



R. M. NIMMO, 
GENERAL AGENT & ST0REKEEI J 

OF THE 

VIRGINIA PENITENTIAL 

No. 27 PEARL STREET. 

Keeps constantly on hand a supply of, 

I following articles manufactured at the Penitential 
the most faithful and substantial maimer: BOOS 
SHOES, BBOGUES, HARNESS, KERSR1 
LINSEVS. COTTONS, BAGS, WAGONS, CAfll 

; WHEELB ARROWS, AXES, &c. 

Orders Promptly Executed* 

i August 1867— tf