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J. E. WILLIAMS, Editor. 





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VOL. TWENTY. 




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PRINTED AT RICHMOND 


, VIRGINIA, 


BY 


MACFARLANE & 

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Devoted to Agriculture, Horticulture, and K the Household Arts. 



Agriculture is the nursing mother of the Arts. 

[Xenophon. 


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


J.. E. WILLIAMS, Editor. 


AUGUST & WILLIAMS, Prop'rs. 


Vol. XX. RICHMOND, VA., 


JANUARY, 1860. No. 1. 



Slavery and Free Labor Described and 
Compared. 

BY EDMUND RTJFFIN. 

{Concluded.) 

Section VIII. — How the substitution of free labor 
for slave labor would finally operate on agri- 
cultural interests — High price of land, of it- 
self, not a benefit to agriculture, and rnay be 
the reverse — Still greater evil in fluctuating 
prices. 

But enough of reference to the incidental 
and minor question. I will now proceed to 
the consideration of the main proposition of 
the opposers of negro or personal slavery — 
which is (as enunciated above at home, 
and by thousands of anti-slavery authorities 
abroad), that the removal of negro slavery 
and slave labor will bring in a sufficient 
supply of free laborers — and that the change 
will operate speedily, greatly and profitably 
for the land owners, in raising the prices of 
lands. I deny the general proposition, and 
also each of its minor parts; and, so far as 
the present land-owners' interest are con- 
cerned, will maintain that the pecuniary evils 
of the change would scarcely fall short of 
the evil political and social results which 
have been previously and elsewhere asserted. 

The same general positions were assumed 
by the English anti-slavery party, to advocate 



and prove the expediency of the general 
emancipation of slaves in the British colonies. 
There, however, it was argued that the eman- 
cipated negroes would be more industrious 
when freed, and therefore their labor would 
be cheaper than the previous slave labor. 
The same reasoning was then used and be- 
lieved in by every emancipationist in these 
United States — of whom there then were 
many in the southern States. Since the utter 
failure of obtaining labor from the emancipa- 
ted slaves in the West Indies can no longer 
be denied, the opposers of slave labor can no 
longer promise free negro labor as a substi- 
tute. But, in this country, the old argument 
is still maintained, with the mere change of 
terms, of free northern and European labor 
being now promised as the substitute for the 
negro slave labor lost — and an improvement 
is claimed in the change, which, while re- 
taining to the owners the high prices of their 
slaves, by selling them, wilf serve also to 
more than double the present price of their 
lands. 

In reply to these assertions — first, let us 
inquire in what manner, and by what new 
inducements, the removal and scarcity of ne- 
gro slave labor will operate to bring in free 
labor. That the removal of slaves, and a 
consequent greatly increased demand and 
price for hireling labor, will bring from 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[January 



abroad some amount of the latter, is freely 
admitted. Also, that, in a very long course 
of years, the low prices of land, reduced to 
one-fourth or less of their present rates, may 
invite so many foreign and new purchasers 
as gradually to fill the country with new and 
small proprietors, who, with the aid of other 
mere hireling laborers, may even till all the 
land now under culture, or more. Further: 
the longer continuation of the (so-called) free 
labor system at a much later time, by redu- 
cing the extent of farms and creating 
greater demand for lots and residences by 
the then more crowded population, may raise 
the price of land to higher than the present 
or slave labor rates for land. All this may 
be admitted without strengthening the anti- 
slave labor argument in the least. For even 
if free labor shall be so invited, and shall, in a 
long course of time, become never so plenty 
and cheap — and if land shall finally be appre- 
ciated never so highly — the early, and also a 
long continued operation of the change will 
be to make labor much scarcer and more cost- 
ly at first, and for a long time, and land must 
sink very low in price, and be reduced as 
much in extent of culture, before an impor- 
tant reaction can be expected, and before 
higher than the present prices of land will be 
caused by a new demand of immigrant or 
other buyers. If such final results are, in- 
deed, to be deemed benefits in any aspect, it 
would be at least fifty years, and more likely 
more than a century, before they could begin 
to be realized, and very long after the piesent 
owners were dead, after having been utterly 
ruined by the removal of slave labor, or after 
they or their children had fled from Virginia 
to avoid the manifestly approaching ruin of 
all property-holders who remained. 

If the mere removal and scarcity of slave 
labor would serve to invite enough of free and 
hireling labor from abroad, why is Mary- 
land now so much wanting in labor of every 
kind ? Why are our counties, which border 
on Pennsylvania and Ohio, (where slaves 
cannot be .kept in safety, because of the dan- 
ger of their loss by Abolition action,) so de- 
ficient in labor? There is in all Maryland, 
and these parts of Virginia, great demand for 
hireling labor, yet the supplies have not, by 
half, filled the void made by the removal or 
absence ef slave labor. And the sufficient 
reason is, that the free labor that is offered, 
and which would come in any amount, if at 
high enough wages, is now dearer and less 
suitable than slave labor, costly and hazard- 



ous as is the employment of the latter. 
Higher wages are required by white hire- 
lings, and greater indulgences, while they 
are more intractable, less contented, and 
often more lazy, and always less serviceable 
and reliable than negro slaves. These are 
truths known to every experienced Virginia 
farmer. And to the experience of all such, 
whether on our borders nearest to the free, 
labor and slave-stealing States, or in our 
interior counties, I appeal to sustain my 
position of the greater cheapness and econo- 
my of using negro slave labor in preference 
to free labor. There is no position, in re- 
gard to agricultural or political economy, 
which could be better sustained by reason- 
ing and by evidence. Rut I will not occupy 
more time and space on this point, than to 
refer the decision to every farmer's experi- 
ence and knowledge of the comparative 
prices charged for hireling and slave labor, 
and their respective advantages and disad- 
vantages. 

As I aimed to show, in a previous article, 
the actual and increasing operation of the too 
high price, and consequent removal of our 
slaves by sale to the South, is to reduce the 
price of land; and to prevent investments of 
capital in agriculture, until the price of land 
shall be enough reduced to compensate in its 
lower cost to the new purchaser the increased 
coast of his investment in slaves at their en- 
hanced prices. As there is nothing in these 
changes, or their causes, to increase the 
amount or the prices of agricultural products, 
we may suppose that they will maintain the 
previous average rates. Then the gross in- 
come of the farmer will remain the same — 
while either the removal of labor, or the de- 
cline of land in price, or the certain approach, 
or even expectation of either or both, will 
serve to render the farmer's position uncer- 
tain, his prospects of the future still more 
doubtful— -to discourage the effort to improve 
his land and -his business, by presenting, 
plainly in view, the probability of his neces- 
sarily selling his land and removing with his 
negroes to a region where their productive 
or laboring value is equal to their market 
price. Under such circumstances of begin- 
ning actual loss, or prospective and much 
greater future loss, in his general busi- 
ness — when his slave-labor (as capital) costs 
him much more than he can afford to pay 
for or to retain as an investment, and when 
free hireling labor, even if to be obtained, 
would be oertainly much dearer — could it be 









I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



possible that, thus situated, Virginia farmers' 
could pay still higher prices for the free labor 
of white immigrants f If the farmer who is 
the best supplied with slaves, even now, can- 
not obtain fair profits from their labor (as the 
profits of invested capital), because of their 
high appreciation for sale, can others, having 
no slaves, afford to employ free labor at still 
higher rates'/ 

But suppose, notwithstanding all these 
reasons and all losses, our farmers, deprived 
of slave labor, whether gradually or sud- 
denly, would, by their necessity, be compel- 
led to hire the free labor of immigrants, at 
any price required. At first, and during the 
greatest scarcity and demand, the price would 
be exorbitant. And should the high price 
serve to increase the supply of labor so as to 
bring it, within some eight or ten years, to 
fair and uniform rates for free labor, these 
rates, for the reasons stated, would still be 
higher than those of slave labor now. During 
all these changes, the farmers would have 
to bear either greater or less of annual loss, 
if counted on their original capital stock. 
But, in truth, under such circumstances, (as 
the price of wages would not fall below a 
fair rate so long as labor was truly free,) 
their other capital, land, must fall, until, 
whether to the original possessor or to a new 
buyer, the value of the whole capital was 
so reduced, that the reduced profits still 
offered a fair return for cultivation. This 
might take place, possibly, after many years 
of continued depression and loss to the oc- 
cupants, and of the ruin of one or more of 
them in succession, before the prices of 
land were reduced to their lowest rates. 
Then, a new purchaser, who bought a farm 
for one-fourth (or it might be one-tenth) of 
its former price, might make a profit on his 
cheap land investment, even with having to 
pay the high price of free labor for its cul- 
tivation. 

Next, let us inquire what would be the in- 
ducements that would operate to incite new 
'purchasers of land in Virginia, and especi- 
ally from abroad, whose increased demand 
for land shall serve (as promised) to greatly 
raise the price of lands. It is admitted that 
new purchasers may be so brought into the 
land market by prices being reduced suffi- 
ciently low, and by that inducement only. 
Passing by the universal ruin to be caused 
to the present and even 1 iter proprietors 
and successive generations by such a de- 
cline, so great and long continued, the 



question occurs, how low a rate of price 
will serve to induce new buyers to occupy 
our reduced and partially abandoned and 
desolate fields? Let it be remembered that 
while the prices of land were sinking, and 
the owners, also, were being reduced to less 
labor, income and means to live, the lands 
would also, and necessarily, get into bad 
condition, and partly out of cultivation ; the 
buildings would go to decay or utter ruin, 
and the whole face of the country would be 
generally becoming waste, desolate, and 
much of it returning to the original wilder- 
ness state, except that its prior fertility had 
been exhausted before its bad culture had 
been abandoned. Under the necessary con- 
ditions, the land now valued at $>20 the acre, 
would, probably, not be fit to yield a fair 
farming profit to a purchaser at $4. And if 
to be bought at $4, or even at half that price, 
there will still be no inducements for pur- 
chasers and new cultivators to come from 
abroad, so long as rich new lands in the 
West can be bought of the United States 
government at $1 25 the acre; or be set- 
tled upon and occupied, and a preemption 
right thereby acquired for the occupant to 
buy at that low price, whenever the govern- 
ment shall subsequently order the sale of 
the territory. 

Now, under these, or any possible con- 
ditions and results of the removal of all our 
slave labor, and the change to the free labor 
system, such as above described, would be 
the manner in which only could be finally 
reached the alleged benefits, promised by 
the anti-slavery school, of substituted immi- 
grant free labor, and immigrant land buyers 
and farmers. The opposers of negro slavery 
and slave labor are welcome to my broad 
admissions, and to' make the most of them 
for their cause and argument. 

But my admissions of consequences, and 
the supposed progress of events, so far, have 
merely reached the supposed filling of the 
country with enough free labour, at the or- 
dinary higher wages of free labour — and 
found enough purchasers for the land at 
greatly reduced prices. I am willing to ex- 
tend the views to such far remote time as 
will serve to crowd the population, and 
thereby raise the prices of lands to any 
rates required for the opposing argument; 
and, in short, to admit that Virginia, in a 
very long course of time, may be brought 
to as near the present condition of Massa- 
chusetts as can be, in the entire absence of 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[January 



all the government protection and bounties 
which have operated to build up for Massa- 
chusetts full one-half of the navigation 
trade, manufactures — the population, the 
extent and the demands of the towns, and 
the consequent high price of lands, and the 
general profits and wealth of the people. 
But putting aside" these great advantages 
bestowed by the federal government, and 
which Massachusets has fully enjoyed and 
profited by, and which Virginia has largely 
helped to pay for, but never can receive — 
let it be admitted that, under the then free 
labour system, Virginia may, in two or three 
centuries, become more populous, and the 
lands be raised to much higher prices than 
now — still there would not necessarily be a 
more prosperous, happy, or worthy com- 
munity. Increased population and increas- 
ed prices of lands, both are important ben- 
efits when resulting from the true and grow- 
ing prosperity of a country. But either 
may be the accompaniment, if not even the 
result, of the privations or misery of the 
people. For a long series of years in re- 
cent times (preceding and up to the Irish 
famine, which operated to change circum- 
stances,) Ireland increased more rapidly in 
population than any country of Europe — 
was more densely populated than any except 
Holland, Belgium, and some others of the 
most fertile and highly cultivated small 
Territories — the land was exceeded by no 
country in fertility, and its price, to the oc- 
cupier and cultivator, was enormously high. 
The poor Irish peasant had to pay to his 
landlord, or more often to the u middle 
man," more per acre for the annual rent of 
his potato patch and its wretched hovel, 
and to live on potatoes only, than would 
have bought the full property, in fee-simple 
right, of as much and as good land in the 
United States. Yet, with all the greatly 
lauded and coveted benefits of dense and 
rapidly increasing population and high- 
priced lands, Ireland was the most wretch- 
ed country, with the most destitute and 
miserable people of all Europe, and, indeed, 
of the civilized world. The extreme case 
of Ireland never can be paralleled in Amer- 
ica. But even that condition of dense pop- 
ulation, high price of land, and low price 
of free labour, (improperly then so-called,) 
as is coveted by some persons as an improve- 
ment and blessing for Virginia, could only 
be reached through a long course of early 
loss to the property-owners, and of late 



privation and suffering to the poor and more 
destitute inhabitants. 

The high price of land, of itself, and 
considered in regard to the then present 
and future time only, is not a benefit to ag- 
ricultural interests, nor the community — 
but the reverse. It operates to increase the 
cost of investment in agriculture without 
increasing the products, and, therefore, 
serves to lower the profits of, and so to dis- 
courage agriculture. The low price of" 
lands, by the reverse operations, offers 
cheaper investments, consequent higher 
profits, and, therefore, greater encourage- 
ment to agricultural pursuits. 

When lands rise in price, slowiy and 
gradually, and the rise is based upon the 
improvement and increased capacity for 
production of the lands, such rise is the 
best indication of the sound prosperity of 
agriculture, and is also a stimulus to in- 
creased industry. I>ut the attainment of 
the highest rate of price, (even in this ben- 
eficial manner,) however truly indicating a 
previous and past progress of prosperity of 
agriculture, is not an element of, or as a 
means for, future profit and prosperity, 
as would be low price of lands, suppos- 
ing all other facilities for their use to be equal. 
But of all evils of either high or low 
prices of land, none are so injurious to the 
owners, and to the agricultural and general 
interests of a country, as fluctuating prices 
— and are changes caused, not by any 
changes of the intrinsic worth of the land 
itself, or at all dependent on the will and 
action of the owners, but by artificial and 
extraneous circumstances. Such causes have 
operated most banefully in Virginia, espe- 
cially in the great expansion of irredeema- 
ble bank issues in and after 1814 — (which 
caused apparent and great increase of the 
prices of land, which was, in fact, but the 
depreciation of paper money, and the stim- 
ulus of speculation thereby produced) — the 
succeeding -collapse of bank and paper 
credit, and consequent extensive losses and 
bankruptcy of proprietors, and therefore 
great and undue depression of prices gen- 
erally — and the great emigration from Vir- 
ginia, and especially of slaves, caused by 
losses to proprietors, and invited by the 
higher profits of agriculture offered to 
them on the cheap and rich cotton lands of 
the new South-western States. After strug- 
gling through those opposite evils and fluc- 
tuations of too high and too low prices of 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



lands, ;i time began of general moderate 

and continuous profits from cultivation of 

very general improvement of farms, and a 

consequent gradual rise of the value and 
of the market prices of lands, as well as of 
slaves, and both founded on the real pro- 
ducts and profits of agricultural property 
and the then existing investments. This, 
the best and most prosperous time of agri- 
cultural progress and profit in Virginia, be- 
gan (varying in different localities) between 
1830 and 1840, and continued until re- 
cent]}-, when a check and then a decline of 
the price of land and of agricultural pros- 
perity began, and must become more ex- 
tensive and rapid, with the continuance of 
of the producing cause — the high price 
of slaves — already increased to a higher 
rate than the products of their labour, in 
Virginia will remunerate, and, accordingly, 
operating to forbid new investments in ag- 
riculture, and so to reduce the prices of 
lands and to discourage their improvement 
and best cultivation. 



Section IX. — The actual working and practical 
results of the free and slave-labour systems 
compared, as shown by evidence furnished 
by the United States Census and other public 
statistics. 

Throughout the foregoing argument, the 
positions assumed have been mostly main- 
tained by reasoning a priori, and by deduc- 
tions made by reasoning from established 
premises. In this, and all like cases, how- 
ever satisfactory may be the general facts 
used as premises, or adduced as proofs, such 
facts and evidences, from the nature of the 
subject, are liable to be doubted, or object- 
ed to as insufficient, by hostile and preju- 
diced disputants. This is a necessary de- 
fect of all discussions by argument of dis- 
putable questions and doctrines, and espe- 
cially where the spirit of party or fanaticism 
has strong influence. Fortunately for my 
argument, it has not to rest on reasoning, 
or deductions, or general evidence, the au- 
thority or force of which may be called in 
question by captious and prejudiced oppo- 
nents. There have been presented in the 
last United States Census (for 1850) many 
remarkable results of the practical and long- 
continued operations of the free labour and 
negro slavery systems of this country. 
This array of practical proofs, and the com- 
parisons and contrasts they afford, will serve 
as an appropriate and impressive conclu- 



sion to the preceding general argument. 
For the substance of mom of the following 
e\idences of this kind, and for the great 
labour of research and investigation which 
was required to extract them from the cen- 
sus and other reports, I shall be indebted 
to a preceding writer, the Rev. Thornton 
Stringfellow, who has set fortli and com- 
mented upon these evidences at length in 
his "Scriptural and Statistical Views of 
Slavery," (4th edition, 1856,) an excellent 
and admirable, though plain and unpretend- 
ing little book. In all the following evi- 
dences cited from the cens. s, &c, I shall 
make use of the valuable labours of my 
predecessor, and rely entirely on his high 
authority for the correctness of the cita- 
tions. My own part of this statistical state- 
ment will be but little more than condensing 
and arranging Mr. Stringfellow's more dif- 
fused statements, and by using numerical 
figures, (instead of numbers express- 
ed in words,) and a tabular form, where 
suitable, to place the contrasts and conclu- 
sions in more striking points of view, as 
well as in much smaller space. 

Mr. Stringfellow has very properly and 
judiciously taken for comparison the six 
New England States, and the five most 
Southern old slave States, Maryland, Vir- 
ginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and 
Georgia. There are remarkable points of 
similarity between these two great sections 
of the United States, which make them so 
much the better subjects for comparison and 
contrast, in regard topiheir great difference, 
in their respective kinds of labour. Roth 
these sections are bordered by the Atlantic 
— are composed of the older States, and were 
settled nearly within the same limits of time. 
They have long had in operation their dif- 
ferent kinds of labour and systems of econ- 
omy. In addition, their respective num- 
bers of free inhabitants, in 1850, were so 
nearly equal, that they may be fairly con- 
sidered as equal, for all purposes of argu- 
ment, as will be done here. 

Until recent investigation and discussion 
had elicited more truth, it had been claim- 
ed by the people of the North and by all 
the opposers of slavery, and even was gen- 
erally admitted by the people of the South- 
ern States, that the free-labour States of 
New England were greatly superior to the 
old Southern States in obtaining the fruits 
of industry and capital — were richer, and 
better off in every economical view. South- 



6 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[January 



ern capital and industry were almost ex- 
clusively devoted to agriculture — northern 
capital was much more vested in commerce 
and manufactures, which are deemed much 
more profitable than agricultural investments. 
In addition, these pursuits of New Eng- 
land industry were richly endowed with 
governmental favour and bounty, at the ex- 
pense, and to the greater impoverishment, 
mainly, of the southern States. 

It has also been especially and loudly 
claimed, for and by the people of the New 
England States in the support and the good 
fruits of religion, and in their religious and 
moral position and tendency — and that such 
difference was the necessary result of the 
blighting and demoralizing effects of ne- 
gro slavery in the South, and of its absence 
in the North. Moreover, the early settlers 
of New England were almost universally 
devoted to their extremely strict doctrine 
of religion, and as strict code of morals. 
On the contrary, these southern States, 



(with the small exception of the first Cath- 
olic settlers of Maryland, and the Hugue- 
nots of South Carolina, were settled by per- 
sons not under any influence of religion, 
and certainly not of better than average 
morality, and habits of life. Upon such 
foundations of very different material, 
and after a long course of trial, the 
results of the different systems, in these 
respects, may be judged of by the facts 
and numbers furnished by the extracts from 
the census. 

Not only the alleged and claimed better 
moral and business habits of New England, 
but its bracing climate, deemed so much 
more healthy than the low country of the 
Southern States, would promise greater in- 
crease of population. The authentic re- 
ports of births and deaths will present a 
very different account — which, with other 
facts from the census, bearing on other 
parts of this general question, will now be 
submitted. 



Comparison in regard to Free Population of the 
Yith the five old and more Southern States — by 

New Eng- 



Six New England States 
Census returns of 1850. 



Total free population in 1850,, 
Annual births, ...... ... . . 



or 



or 



Annual deaths, ... ...... 

Number of churches erected and in use, 

Valuation of all the churches, $19,362,634 



land States. 

2,728,016 
61,148 
1 to 44 . 
42,368 
1 to 64 
4,607 



Church accommodation for hearers, ' . . , 

Excess of persons overeats in churches, 

Excess of seats over nuwber of persons, 

Number of families,. .... 

Number of dwellings, 

Number of families without separate dwel- ) 
lings, . . . . . 5 

Number of paupers (receiving regular and 
continued public support.) 

Number of native paupers, (excluding for- 
eigners,) 

Ratio of native paupers to total population,. . . . 

Ratio of all paupers to total population, (in- 
cluding slaves,) 

Insane persons 

Of negroes free in New England and slaves in 
the live Southern States: — 

Insane and idiots, 

Blind 

Deaf mutes, 



1,893,450 
834,566 

518,532 

447,789 

70,743 

1 in 7 



or 



33,431 

18,966 
to 143 

1 to 81 
3.821 



I in 980 

1 in 370 
1 in 3,005 



Total value of property $1,003,466,181 

Average value for each white person,. $367 

Lest the condition of the States refer- 
red to should be supposed peculiar, the 
average of property to each white person 



Five old 
South 'n States. 

2,732,214 

77,683 

or 1 to 35 

32,216 

or 1 to 85 

8,081 

$11,149,118 

2,896,472 

164,528 
506,968 
496,369 
10,599 ) 
or 1 in 52 £ 

14,221 

11,728 
1 to 234 

1 to 171 
2,326 



1 in 3,080 
1 in 2,645 
1 in 6.552 

1,420,989,573 

$520 



Excess for 

N. or S. 

S. 2,198 
S. 16,535 

N. 10,152 

S. 3,374 

N. $8,313,516 

S. 1,003,022 



N. 11,564 
S. 48,580 

N. 60,144 

N. 19,220 
N. 7,238 

N. 1.495 



N. 
N. 
N. 

S. 41 7 J mil. 

S- $153 



will be stated for sundry other particular 
States as follows : — 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



Nbn Slaveholding States. 
New York has for each, $231 



Pennsylvania, 

Ohio,." 

Illinois, 

New England, (as above,) 

Next richest Non-slaveholding States in 
their order severally as follows : $280, 
$231, $228, $219, $214 ; and the 
remaining States range from $1G6 
down to $134 for Illinois. 



214 
219 
134 
367 



Slavclwlding States. 



South Carolina,. .... 

Louisiana, 

Mississippi. 

Georgia, 

Alabama, ■ .. 

Maryland, ... 

Virginia, 

Kentucky, 

North Carolina, , 

Tennessee, 

Missouri, (the poorest,) 



$1,001 
806 
702 
638 
511 
423 
403 
377 
367 
248 
166 



For all the fifteen Non-slaveholding States in- 1850, (excluding California,) the value of 

property to each white person was, $233 

For the same in all the fifteen Slaveholding States. 439 



And even if every slave is counted as if 
free, and then averaging the division of 
value of property among the total popula- 
tion, the superiority would still remain to 
the slaveholding States — the share for each 
inhabitant, including slaves, being $291 ; 
and for all the non-slaveholding States, as 
above stated, $233. 

This last mode of estimation will serve 
completely (and it is stated for that pur- 
pose) to shut out an objection that would 
be ready to oppose the previous estimates; 
that is, the counting the slaves as property 
and not as 1 persons. But whatever force 
there might be in this objection in other 
respects or with other reasoners, Northern 
anti-slavery partisans have no claim what- 
ever to urge the objection, for they have 
persistently and zealously maintained that 
slave-labour, and investments in slaves for 
use, were more unprofitable than the em- 
ployment of free labour. It is, therefore, 
entirely proper and called for, that this, the 
great argument and position of opposers of 
slavery (Northern and Southern) shall be 
thus met, by showing the greater profits of 
slaves as property, compared to other in- 
vestments for industrial operations. 

A few more particular remarks will be 
offered — either as comments on some of the 
foregoing items, or on other points. For 
these also, I am indebted to Mr. String- 
fellow's selections of statistics. 

In the five old Southern States (under 
consideration) the births (of free popula- 
tion) exceed those of New England by 27 
per cent. ; while the deaths of the latter 
exceed those of the former by 33 per cent. ; 
or added together, making a difference of 
60 per cent, in favour of the increase of 
Southern population. In this estimate, the 



slaves are not included ; but the census 
shows that among them also, the births 
are more numerous and deaths i'ewe^ 
than among the free men of New Eng- 
land. 

In the city of New York, in 1847, there 
were received at the principal alms houses, 
28,692 persons — and out-door relief from 
public funds was given to 34,752 more — 
making in all, 73,264 ; or 1 in every 5 in- 
habitants of the city u dependent more or 
less, on public charity." 

In the city of New York alone, in 1848 
and 1849, there were sent to the States 
Prison, the Penitentiary, and the City 
Prison, 1,235 criminals — which (says Mr. 
S.) " equals all in the 15 slave States to- 
gether. In. the State of New York, with a 
population of 3,097,304, there were 10,279 
convictions for crime : and in South Caro- 
lina, with a total population of 668,507 
(considerably more than one-fifth,) there 
were only 46 convictions for crime/' If 
the free and the slaves of South Carolina 
had furnished criminals in proportion to 
New York, the numbers would have been 
2,218 instead of 46 only. 

" In 1845, according to her statistical re- 
'port, Massachusetts had 7 of every 8 of her 
marriageable young women working in fac- 
tories, under male overseers/' 

" Pauperism in Massachusetts and New 
York, according to the State census, be- 
tween 1836 and 1848, increased ten times 
faster than wealth or population." 

The foregoing numerical statements, both 
in the table and elsewhere, will speak for 
themselves to every reader who will exam- 
ine and compare the details. But if more 
extended comment is needed by any, or de- 
ductions to be more fully and forcibly set 



8 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[January; 



forth, I would refer the reader to the sta- 
tistical portion of the excellent essay by 
Mr. Stringfellow, to which I again acknowl- 
edge my especial obligation for the sub- 
stance of the foregoing statements, as well 
as for my share of the common obligation 
of the whole southern people, and also of 
the right-minded northern, for his plain 
and strong exposition and defense of truth. 

I will add some other facts, of like kind, 
on other good authority. Preceding quo- 
tations have shown the great excess of 
crime, among the whites of the northern 
states compared to those of the southern. 
The following statistical facts will furnish 
additional evidence that the northern free 
negroes are far more debased, and addicted 
to crime than the whites — so little has been 
effected by their freedom, and equal civil 
or political privileges, and all the aid of 
northern philanthropy, for the moral im- 
provement of the free negroes, or to pre- 
vent their continued degradation. 

The Rev. Dr. Bascom, in his Review of 
the Methodist Controversy, p. 57, (quoted 
by Estes,) states the following propor- 
tions of the negro and white populations 
in several states, and of criminals of each : 

Ratio of free negroes to total population : 
Massachusetts, 1 in 74, which furnish of total 

criminals, 1 in 6 

Connecticut, 1 in 34, " * 1 in 3 

New York, 1 in 35, " " 1 in 4 

New Jersey, 1 in 13, "' " 1 in 3 

Pennsylvania, 1 in 34, " '• 1 in 3 



In all the northern states, a one-fouth of 
the whole expense of the prison system 
is incurred by crime committed by [the 
free negroes, making but] one-twentieth 
part of the population." " The same is 
true as to the pauper expenditures of all 
the northern states." — Id. 

The next following statistics of pauper- 
ism and Crime, L have extracted from the 
official tables of the census of 1850, as pre- 
sented in the " Compendium," prepared by 
order of Congress, and which serve to com- 
pare, in these respects, the states of Massa- 
chusetts and Virginia. See pages 161, 162, 
163, 164, 165, 167. 

In Massachu- In 

setts. Virginia. 

Free nogro population, 9,064 54,333 

White population, 985,450 894.800 



Total free population, 994,514 
"Whole number of pau- 



949,133 



In 



Virginia. 



5,118 



In Massachu- 
setts, 
pers supported in 
whole or in part, 
within the year end- 
ing June, 1," 1850, 
[out of, as well as in 
poor houses,] 15,777 

''Annual amount of sup- 
port," $392,715 $151,722 

"Paupers in Poor Hou- 
ses, June 1, 1850," ag- 
gregate. 3,712 1,539 

Of which were free 
negro paupers. June 
1, 1850," aggregate, 89 186 

[Or 1 pauper free negro 
to 101.84 for Mass., 
and 1 to 292 for Va., 

"Whole number of [ne- 
gro,] criminals con- 
victed within the 
year," [including 
slaves?] 7,250 107 

"In Prison, June 1, 

1850," 1,236 313 

Of Free Negroes — "Con- 
victs i n Penitentia- 
ries, 1850" and "Per- 
sons in Jails and 
Houses of Correc- 
tion" [added to- 
gether,] 139 95 

[Or 1 convict in every 
65 free negroes for 
Mass., and 1 in 572 
for Va.] 

Abstract from " table 182. Rates of Improve- 
ment." 






o 
o 



o o 



O T3 



«5 



" Virginia — Ratio, f o r 
10 years, ending 1850, 
of convicts in peni- 
tentiaries to the aver- 
a g e population [of 
the respective class- 
es?] as 1 to 23,003 3,001 7.18 

Mass. in the same peri- 
od, [as 1 to] 7,587 727 9.58 

Mass. for year ending 
Sept. 30th, 1852, ac- 
cording to the popu- 
lation of 1850. 6,527 488 13.37 

As slaves are not referred to under that 
name in this table, and as criminal slaves in 
Virginia are not sentenced to confinement 
in the Penitentiary, for punishment, it is 
inferred that the " average population w 
was meant to include the only classes named, 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



" whites" and free "colored/' If so, then 
the ratio of white convicts, for 10 yeais, in 
Massachusetts was niQre than three times, 
and of free colored largely more than four 
times as great, as respectively of these 
classes in Virginia. The later report of 
Massachusetts, for 1852, much increases 
the previous disproportion and excess, and 
especially of the free colored criminals." 
If, however, the slaves of Virginia were 
designed to be included in the " average 
population," then that understanding and 
correction would serve to lessen the above 
estimates of excess of criminals by about 
one-third — still leaving an enormous excess 
to Massachusetts over Virginia. 

In table 179, page 166, there is stated 
the number of colored convicts (including 
slaves and free) for every 10,000 of such 
population, then in "State Prisons and Pen- 
itentiaries." In Massachusetts the number 
was 46.377, and in Virginia only 1.309, in 
10,000 of the total colored population. It 
should be observed, however, that most of 
the minor criminal offences of slaves are 
punished by their masters, or by sentence 
of a magistrate, and do not appear in public 
reports and records. This omission, per- 
haps, may serve to cause even the larger por- 
tion of the apparent vast excess of colored 
criminals in Massachusetts. But on the 
other hand, the previous items of the 
" whole number of criminals, &c, and " in 
prison June 1," must have included all the 
imprisoned slaves, and thereby served im- 
properly to increase, by so many, the stated 
number of colored convicts of Virginia, and 
so lessened the true comparative excess, 
and disproportion of crime of the free 
colored class in Massachusetts. But after 
making every due allowance from these or 
any other defects or omissions of the census 
reports, there will be enough of indisputable 
evidence to show very great excess of both 
pauperism and crime in the whites of Mas- 
sachusetts, and all New England, over Vir- 
ginia and the other older southern states — 
a still greater excess of pauperism and crime 
of the northern free-negro population over 
that of the slave-holding states — and still 
more of free negro criminals, every where, 
so far as known and believed, over slaves 
convicted for like offences. 

There is one condition of moral debase- 
ment and depravity which is not punished 
by law, or noted among criminal offences, 
but which is extremely common in the 



north, and so rare in the south, that cases 
of parracide and incest are not more 
unfrecjuent and remarkable occurrences. 
This is the marriage, or cohabitation, of 
white women with negro men. It is noto- 
rious that such connections are of common 
occurrence, and excite there no such sur- 
prise, deep disgust, or popular indignation, 
and prompt repression, as every such of- 
fence would in the slave-holding states. 
As a sample, I will quote the case of a 
single northern city only. Detroit, as re- 
ported by one of its own newspapers, (the 
" Free Press,") in a recently published 
paragraph, which has been copied by many 
oth er papers. " The extent to which amalga- 
mation is carried in this city, is really beyond 
the knowledge of nine-tenths of the inhabi- 
tants. There are hundreds of families, the 
parents of which are of opposite colors, and 
although the marriage of whites and blacks 
is illegal and void, yet they live together 
and bear children. It is a remarkable fact, 
that out of all this number, no instance ex- 
ists where a white man lives with a black 
woman. They are all white women, and 

generally the blackest kind of men 

The same condition of affairs prevails on 
the other side of the river, to the intense 
disgust, we are happy to add, of all good 
and loyal Canadians." 

The foregoing statistical facts show a re- 
markable superiority of the slaveholding 
section in view, over the New England 
States (and would over all the free States,) 
in almost every thing that is desirable to all, 
Qr of which the possession has been made 
the pride and boast, or ground of self-lauda- 
tion, of the people of the North. This is espe- 
cially noticeable in the statistics of religion 
and morals — and also in regard to popula- 
tion, wealth, pauperism and crime. The 
measure of true religion of any people can- 
not be learned from statistics — though it 
may be indirectly inferred from the amount 
of crime. But whether there is more religion 
in the South, or not, there, is certainly far 
less immorality and crime — and far more of 
facilities and accommodation for public 
worship and religious instruction, and both 
for blacks and whifes, than are provided in 
the North. " Ecclesiastical statistics," says 
Mr. Stringfellow, " will show an increased 
amount of prosperity in religion [in the 
Southern States] that is overwhelming." 

Despite our sickly climate over a large 
portion near the coast, the births are more 



10 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[January 



numerous, and the deaths by far fewer, 
than in New England. 

Instead of our labors and investments in 
slave-labor being less profitable than north- 
ern operations, it is manifest that the slave- 
holdinc: States are much richer than the 
free States, and to make this result the 
more striking, even if counting every slave 
as if free, and supposing the whole proper- 
ty to be divided among all the population, 
(slaves included,) still on this general aver- 
age, the individual share of every one, 
bond or free,' .would be considerably larger 
than in the free States. The greater num- 
ber of houseless families, of paupers, of 
criminals and of insane — as well as of 
deaths — all show in their calamitous effects 
that there is much more suffering, of both 
body and mind, in the North than in the 
South, whether comparing total populations, 
or whites only — or our slaves to the free 
negroes of the North. And, generally, 
these statistics clearly show that all the gen- 
eral evils — physical, economical, moral, or 
mental — which have been falsely ascribed 
to the existence and injurious influence of 
slavery, are to be found existing in much 
and force in the non-slave- 
or free-labor communities of the 
North, which have especially denounced 
and exaggerated the demoralizing effects of 
slavery, and pharisaically claimed for them- 
selves a superiority in every respect over 
slave-holding communities. 



greater number 
holding, 



<■»»»» 



From the Country Gentleman. 

John Johnston and his Farming. 

A late visitor to Mr. Johnston has given 
an account of his farm operations in the 
New York Tribune, which we transfer to 
our pages, with some corrections, believing 
that it will be read with great interest by 
those who have so long looked to our pages 
for the results of his experience and obser- 
vation : 

Mr. John Johnston, near Geneva, N. 
Y., at one time esteemed a fanatic by his 
neighbors, has come of late years to be 
generally known as " the father of tile- 
drainage in America." After thirty years 
of precept and twenty-two of example, he j 
has- the satisfaction of seeing his favorite ' 
theory fully accepted, and, to some extent, ! 
practically applied throughout the country. I 
Not without labor, however, nor without 
much skepticism, ridicule, and controversy, | 



has this end been attained; and if, now 
that his head is whitened, and his course 
all but run, he finds Jhimself respected and 
appealed to by persons in every State of 
the Union, he does not forget that it has 
been through much tribulation that he has 
worked out this exceeding great weight of 
glory. Mr. Johnston is a Scotchman, who 
came to this country thirty-nine years ago, 
and purchased the farm he now occupies, 
on the easterly shore of Seneca Lake, a 
short distance from Geneva. With the per- 
tinacity of his nation, he stayed where he 
first settled, through ill-fortune and pros- 
perity, wisely concluding that by always 
bettering iris farm he would better himself, 
and make more money in the long run than 
he could by shifting uneasily from place to 
place in search of sudden wealth. He was 
poor enough at the commencement; but 
what did that matter to a frugal, industrious 
man, willing to live within his means, and 
work hard to increase them? And so, with 
unflagging zeal, he has gone on from that 
day to this. 

HIS FARM. 

His first purchase was 112 acres of land, 
well situated, but said to be the poorest in 
the county. He knew better than that, 
however, for although the previous tenant 
had all but starved upon it, and the neigh- 
bors told him such would be his own fate, 
he had seen poorer land forced to yield 
large crops in the old country, and so he 
concluded to try the chances for life or 
death. The soil was a heavy, gravelly clay, 
with a tenacious clay sub-soil, a perfectly 
tight reservoir for water, cold, hard-baked, 
and cropped down to about the last gasp. 
The magician commenced his work. He 
found in the barn-yard a great pile of ma- 
nure, the accumulation of years, well rotted, 
black as ink, and " as mellow as an ash- 
heap." This he put on as much land as 
possible, at the rate of twenty -five loach to 
the acre, plowed it in deeply, sowed his 
grain, cleaned out the weeds as well as he 
could ; and the land on which he was to 
starve gave him about forty bushels of wheat 
per acre The result wad, as usual, attrib- 
uted to luck, and anything but the real 
cause. To turn over such deep furrows was 
sheer folly, and such heavy dressings of 
mauure would not fail to destroy the seed. 
But it didn't ; and let our farmers remem- 
ber that it never will ; and if they wish to 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



11 



get rich, let them cut out this article, read 
it often, and follow the example of our 
fanatical Scotch friend. 

This system of deep ploughing and heavy 
manuring wrought its results in due time. 
Paying off his debt, putting up buildings, 
and purchasing stock each year to fatten 
and sell, Mr. Johnston, after seventeen 
years of hard work, at last found himself 
ready to incur a new debt, and to commence 
laying tile-drains. Of the benefits to be 
derived from drainage he had long been 
aware; for he recollected that when he was 
only ten years of age, his grandfather — a 
thrifty farmer in Scotland — seeing the good 
effects of some stone drains laid down upon 
his place, had said, " Varily, I believe the 
whole airth should be drained." This quaint 
saying, which needs but little qualification, 
made a lasting impression on the mind of j 
the boy, that was to be tested by the man, 
to the permanent benefit of this country. 

Without sufficient means himself, he ap- 
plied for a loan to the Bank of Geneva, and 
the president, knowing his integrity and in- 
dustry, granted his ^request. In 1835 tiles 
were not made in this country, so Mr. John- 
ston imported some as samples, and a quan- 
tity of the "horse-shoe" pattern were made 
in 1838, at Waterloo. There was no ma- 
chine for producing them, so they were 
made by hand, and moulded over a stick. 
This slow and laborious process brought 
their cost to $24 per thousand, but even at 
this enormous price, Mr. Johnston deter- 
mined to use them. His ditches were open- 
ed and his tile laid — and then what sport 
for the neighbors ! They poked fun at the 
deluded man ; they came and counseled 
with him, all the while watching his bright 
eye and intelligent face for signs of lunacy; 
they went by wagging their heads, and say- 
ing, "Aha!" and one and all said he was 
a consummate ass to put crockery under 
ground, and bury his money so fruitlessly. 
Poor Mr. Johnston ! he says he really felt 
ashamed of himself for trying the new plan, 
and when people, riding past the house, 
would shout at him, and make contemptuous 
signs, he was sore-hearted and almost ready 
to conceal his crime. But what was the 
result ? Why this : that land which was 
previously sodden with water, and utterly 
unfruitful, in one season was covered with 
luxuriant crops, and the jeering skeptics 
were utterly confounded ; that in two crops 
all his outlay for tiles and labor was repaid, 



and he could start afresh and drain more 
land ; that the profit was so manifest as to 
induce him to extend his operations each 
succeeding year, and so go on until 185G, 
when his labor was finished, after having 
laid 210,000 tiles, or more than fifty miles 
in length! And the fame of this individual 
success going forth, one and another dupli- 
cated his experiment, and were rewarded 
according to their deserts. 

It was not long after the manufacture of 
the first lot of tiles that a machine was con- 
trived which would make quite as well, and 
faster; and by its aid they were afforded at 
quite as low a price as after an English ma- 
chine was imported. The horse-shoe tile 
has been used by Mr. Johnston almost ex- 
clusively, for the reason that they were the 
only kind to be procured at first, and on his 
hard sub-soil, finding them to do as well as 
he could wish, he has not cared to make 
new experiments. He has drains that have 
been in function for more than twenty years 
without needing repair, and are apparently 
as efficient now as they were when first laid. 
In soft land, pipe or sole tiles would be pre- 
ferable, or if horse-shoe were used, they 
should be placed on strips of rough board, 
to prevent their sinking into the trench 
bottom, or being thrown out of the regular 
fall by being undermined by the running 
water. He has not used the plough for 
opening his trenches, for the reason that all 
his work has been let out by contract, and 
the men have opened them by the spade; 
charging from twelve and a half to fifteen 
cents per rod for opening and making the 
bottom ready for the tile. The laying and 
filling was done by the owner. 

HIS PRACTICE. 

His ditches are dug only two and a half 
feet deep, and thirteen inches wide at the 
top, sloping inward to the bottom, where 
they are just wide enough to take the tile. 
One main drain, in which are placed two 
four-inch tiles, set eight inches apart, with 
an arch piece of tile, having a nine-inch 
span set on top of them, was dug three and 
a half and four feet deep, and *this serves as 
a conduit for the water from a large system 
of laterals. Drains should never be left 
open in winter, for the dirt dislodged by 
frequent frosts so fills the bottom that it 
will cost five or six cents per rod to clear 
them ; and, moreover, the banks often be- 
come so crumbled away that the ditch can- 



12 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[January 



not be straddled by a team of horses, and 
thus most of the filling must be done by 
hand. Mr. Johnston, in draining a field, 
commences at the foot of each ditch, and 
works up to the head. He opens his mains 
first, and then the lateral or small drains; 
but he lays the tiles in the laterals, and fills 
them completely before laying the pipe in 
the mains. The object of this is to prevent 
the accumulation of sediment in the mains, 
which would naturally be washed from the 
laterals on their first being laid. By com- 
mencing at the foot of each ditch and work- 
ing upward, he can always get and preserve 
the regular fall, which may be dictated by 
the features of the field, more easily than 
by working toward the outlet. A little 
practice teaches the ditchers how to pre- 
serve the grade almost as well as if gauges 
were employed ; but before laying the tiles, 
the instrument is applied to test the bottom 
thoroughly.* The necessity of this precau- 
tion to any one who reflects that if a tile or 
two in the course of a ditch be set much 
too high or too low at either end, the water 
quickly forms a basin beneath and around, 
sediment is washed into the adjoining pipe, 
and ultimately even the whole bore is filled 
and the drain stopped. When this happens 
it will be indicated after a time by the water 
appearing at the surface of the ground 
above the spot — drawn upward by capillary 
attraction. In such a case the ditch must 
be re-opened and the tile re-laid. 

ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Mr. Johnston says, tile-draining pays for 
itself in two seasons, sometimes in one. 
Thus, in 1847 he bought a piece of ten 
acres, to get an outlet for his drains. It 
was a perfect quagmire, covered with coarse 
aquatic grasses, and so unfruitful that it 
would not give back the seed sow r n upon it. 
In 1848, a crop of corn Was taken from it, 
which was measured and found to be eighty 
bushels per acre, and as, because of the 
Irish famine, corn was worth $1 per bushel 
that year, this crop paid not only all the 
expenses of the drainage, but the first cost 
of the land as well. 

Another piece of twenty acres, adjoining 
the farm of the late John Delafield, was 
wet and would never bring more than ten 



* I never used a leveling instrument. I 
always had water, which is the best instru- 
ment. — /. J. 



bushels of corn per acre. This was drained 
at a great cost, nearly $30 per acre. The 
first crop after this was 83 bushels and some 
odd pounds per acre. It was weighed and 
measured by Mr. Delafield, and the County 
Society awarded a premium to Mr. John- 
ston. Eight acres and some rods' of this 
land, at one side, averaged 94 bushels, or 
the trifling increase of 84 bushels per acre" 
over what it would bear before those insig- 
nificant clay tiles were buried in the ground. 
But this increase of crop is not the only 
profit; for Mr. Johnston says that on drain- 
ed land one-half the usual quantity of ma- 
nure suffices to give maximum crops. It is 
not difficult to find a reason for this. When 
the soil is sodden with water, air cannot 
enter to any extent, and hence oxygen can- 
not eat off the surfaces of soil-particles and 
prepared food for plants; thus the plant 
must in great measure depend on the ma- 
nure ior sustenance, and of course the more 
this is the case, the more manure must be 
applied to get good crops. This is one rea- 
son, but there are others which we might 
adduce if one good one were not sufficient. 
Mr. Johnston says he never made money 
until he drained, and so convinced is he of 
the benefits accruing from the practice, that 
he would not hesitate — as he did not when 
the result was more uncertain than at pre- 
sent — to borrow money to drain. Drains 
well-laid, endure; but unless a farmer in- 
tends doing the job w r ell he had best leave 
it alone and grow poor, and move out West, 
and all that sort of thing. Occupiers of 
apparently dry land are not safe in conclud- 
ing that they need not go to the expense of 
draining, for if they will but dig a three- 
foot ditch in even the dryest soil, water will 
be found at the end of eight hours, and if 
it does come, then draining will pay for 
itself speedily. For instance : Mr. John- 
ston had a lot of thirteen acres on the shore 
of the lake, where the bank at the foot of 
the lot was perpendicular to the depth of 
thirty or forty feet. He supposed from this 
fact, and because the surface seemed very 
dry, that he had no need to drain it. But 
somehow he lost his crops continually, and 
as he had put them in as well as he knew 
how, he naturally concluded that he must 
lay some tile. So he engaged an Irishman 
to open a ditch, with a proviso that if water 
should come into it in eight hours, he would 
drain the entire piece. The top soil was so 
hard and dry as to need an application of 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



13 



the pick; but a<- the depth of a foot it was 
found to be so wet and soft that a spade 
could easily be sunk to the entire depth of 
ten inches with little force. The ditches 
were made, and in less than the specified 
time a brave lot of water flowed in. The 
piece was thoroughly drained, and the result 
was an immense crop of corn. The field 
has regularly borne 60 or 70 bushels since. 
Corn was planted for a first crop in this and 
the preceding instances, because a paying 
crop is obtained in one year, whereas if 
wheat were sown, it would be necessary to 
wait two seasons. He always trains when 
the field is in grass, if possible, for the 
ditches can be made more easily; and spring 
is chosen that the labor may not be inter- 
fered with by frosts. 

To show how necessary it is to avoid 
planting trees over drains, we quote a case 
in point. In a lot adjoining his house are 
four large elms, which are marked to be 
felled, and for the reason that the lot was 
formerly so wet that a pond of water stood 
upon it in winter, and throughout th« season 
the children skated and slid upon it. It 
was drained, and all went well for a time ; 
but after seven years Mr. Johnston found 
his drains did not discharge properly, and 
that in certain places the water came to the 
surface, so as as to destroy or greatly lessen 
the crop above them. He could not account 
for the circumstance until he dus; down to 
the drain at each of these spots, when, to 
his surprise, he found the tile [two four-inch 
tile, with a semi-circle of nine inch set on 
top of them,] completely choked with fibrous 
roots of the elm. 



tural papers and to private correspondents, 
of whom he has recorded 164 who applied 
to him last year. His opinions are, there- 
fore, worth more than a host of theoretical 
men, who write without practice. He says 
that the retrogression of our agriculture in 
the older States, is to be accounted for in 
our lack of drainage, poor feeding of stock, 
which results in giving a small quantity of 
poor manure, and in not keeping enough to 
make manure. He applies twenty-five loads 
of manure to the acre at the beginning of 
a rotation, and this lasts throughout the 
course. He learned from his grandfather 
that no farmer could afford to keep any ani- 
mal that did not improve on his hands, and 
that as soon as it was in good marketable 
condition it should be sold and replaced by 
another. This theory he has always carried 
out, and, as a natural consequence, has al- 
ways got higher prices for his beef stock, 
and a ready market in the dullest of times. 



<••»»- 



The India Cotton Question. 

The chimera of cotton supply from India 
continues to dance before the imagination of 
th*e Manchester men, and the idea seems to 
be adroitly kept alive by those who have an 
interest in fostering it, in face of the reali- 
ties of the past. It is many years since the 
capacity of India to grow cotton for the Eu- 
ropean market fastened itself so firmly upon 
those who desired to be emancipated from 
dependence upon the United States, and 
above all upon "slave labor," for the most 
important material of human clothing. 



•Great exertions have been accordingly made 

Mr. Johnston says he never saw one hun-: to stimulate a growth in India, but the re- 

dred acres in any one farm, but a portion of suits have been that machine-made goods 

it would pay for draining. Mr. Johnston is have been introduced into India faster than 

no rich man, who has carried a favourite the raw material could be drawn thence for 



hobby without regard to cost or profit. He 
is a hard-working Scotch farmer, who com- 
menced a poor man, borrowed money to 
drain his land, has gradually extended his 
operations, and is now reaping the benefits, 
in having crops of forty bushels of wheat 
to the acre. He is a gray-haired Nestor, 
who, after accumulating the experience of 
a long life, is now, at sixty-eight years of 
age, written to by strangers in every State 
of the Union for information, not only in 
drainage matters, but all cognate branches 
of farming. He sits in his homestead a 
veritable Humboldt in his way, dispensing 
information cheerfully through the agricul- 



the manufacture ; in other words, instead of 
being a cotton producer, India has become 
a cotton consumer, as far as regards the Eu- 
ropean market. At times circumstances have 
for a year raised the quantity of cotton 
winch India has been able to send to Europe, 
but the extra quantity has only been drawn 
from the accumulation of old stocks, to be 
succeeded almost invariably by a diminished 
quantity. Since 1820 there have been four 
periods in which the export of cotton from 
India to Eugland have increased over the 
average of previous years. The first was in 
1836, when speculation ran high and car- 
ried up prices. A reaction followed until 



14 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[January 



the China war in 1841, when Indian cotton 
was turned from that destination to Eng- 
lund. Reaction again followed in 1851, the 
failure of the United States having sent 
prices up very high, made an opening fer 

Imported into Great Britain 
From U. States. From India. 



that of India, and in 1857 the speculative 
action again brought out large quantities. 
These changes are expressed in the follow- 



ing table 



1834. 
1836. 
183^. 
1841. 
1846. 
1850. 
1852. 
1857. 
1858. 



lbs. 
269,336,320 
281,181,180 
417,281,601 
336.647,793 
352,855,160 
493,153,112 
765,630,544 
654,758,008 
833,257,776 



U.S. 

d. 

6 
10 i 

7 



Price — , 
Surat. 
d. 
4| 



This table shows how invariably after a 
rise in prices in Europe, caused by the short- 
ness of the United States crop, in proportion 
to the demand ; reaction followed in the 
India supply. In the year 1836 speculative 
high prices doubled the import from India. 
In 1852, a year of reaction, the receipts 
from India were hardly more than in the 
16 years previous,, while the United States 
supply was t /ree times greater in 1852, -fit 
little more than half the price obtained in 
1836. In the three years ending with 1857 



lbs. 

32,666,560 

79,449,730 

33,232,612 
100,104,510 

33,711,420 
122,626,976 

81,922,432 
250,338,144 
132,722,576 

250 million pounds 



6i 
« 

7i 
5f 
1\ 



7$ — speculation. 
5 

4 1 — war. 
'■'> -Irish famine, 
short crop. 



si- 

5f- 



-speculation. 

In all the period from 



1836 to 1858, the greatest exertions have 
ceen made to draw cotton from India, with 
what results the table shows. If we now 
take the quantities of cotton sent to India 
in the shape of goods, we may estimte the 
value oft India as a source of supply. In- 
asmuch as that China is a large customer for 
India cotton, it makes but little odds whe- 
ther the cotton is sent raw from India or in 
the shape of goods from Great Britain. 
The official tables in 1836 did not separate 



there had been annually increased receipts i the quantities sent to China from thoee for- 
of cotton from India j from 119 millions in I warded to India. The quantities were as 
1854 it rose to 145 million, 180 million, follows : 



EXPORTS COTTON GOODS FROM GREAT BRITAIN. 



1836. 

1846. 
1856. 
1857. 
1858. 



To 
India. 

196,140,700 
407,951,400 
469,955,011 
791,537,041 



To 
China. 

73,671,889 
112,665,202 
121,587,515 

138,488,957 



Total 

yards. 

74,927,870 
269,812,589 
"590,616,602 
591,545,526 
920,025,993 



Equal to 
lbs. cotton. 
32,000,000 
108,000,000 
250,000,000 
200,000,000 
868,000,000 



Thus in 1836, it appears, India supplied 
Europe with 35,000,000 lbs. cotton more 
than the weight India and China took in the 
shape of goods. In 1846, India and China 
took 75,000,000 lbs. more cotton than they 
furnished, and in the three years ending 
with 1858 they took in goods 878 million 
lbs. of cotton, and supplied 569 million lbs. 
of the raw material, leaving a net demand 
for the latter of 350 million lbs. This is 
rather a crab-like motion towards supplying 
England with raw cotton. If we try the 
United Stated by the same rule we find that 
the quantity of goods purchased from Eng- 
land rose from 50 million yards in 1856, to 



150 million in 1858, or equal to 33,000,000 
lbs. raw cotton, while the quantity of the 
latter sent to Great Britain rose to 550,000- 
000 lbs. From these facts it is evident that 
the market lor goods in India and China 
outruns by far the capacity of India to sup- 
ply the material. In fact, the increased 
growth of cotton in India has not sufficed to 
keep up with the local consumption. When 
we reflect that those cotton goods consumers 
are more than equal in number to the cotton 
goods consumers in Europe, and the quan- 
tity per hoad of that material which each 
consumes is also far greater, we cannot won- 
der that the machine products of Europe 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



15 



rapidly supplant the hand prnducts of the 
Asiatics, and that the field for such opera- 
tions is almost limitless. It is like supplant- 
ing the silver of Europe with California 
gold. The operation is profitable and resist- 
less, and while the substitution is going on, 
the aggregate demand increases in the 
double ratio of the enhanced numbers and 
wealth of the people. The Asiatic market 
for British COtjtO j goods has risen from 1") 
per cent, of the whole exports in 1833, to 
40 per cent, of the whole exports in 1858, 
while the material derived from them has 
fallen from 20 per cent, of her whole pur- 
chases to 18 per cent, in 1858. It must be 
a bold operation who, in face of these facts, 
continues to speculate upon a cotton supply 
from India. The course of events points 
soon to absorbing all the mill power of .Eng- 
land in working up India cofctsn for India 
use, and possibly the transplanting of that 
mill power nearer to the crop and to the 
goods market. — U. S. Economist. 



. Change of Food for Cattle. 

Nature seeks variety, and with almost as 
great pertinacity as she insists on progres- 
sion. 

The continuous use of salt food, by man,. 
produces scurvy, while the entire absence 
of either salt or animal food produces other 
classes of disease, and refuses to build up 
an organism capable of enduring disease. 

All those things, which by analysis an 
animal is found to contain, must', of neces- 
sity, form of its food, or it cannot be per- 
fect as an organism; therefore, no one kind 
of food can produce as perfect an animal, 
developing all its functions equally, and a 
variety is distinctly called for. The very 
instinct of an animal shows this fact. The 
cattle-breeders of England can scarcely be 
said to have succeeded, until after the intro- 
duction of the various root crops, and still 
we find many cattle-breeders in America, 
who have never raised roots at all, and who 
continue to feed their animals on hay and 
corn alone. The same area of land used 
by a heard of milch cows for pastu e, when 
appropriated to a proper variety of crops, 
will cause them to furnish thirty per cent, 
more milk, and of a better quality, than 
when they are confined to the use of one or 
two kinds of food only. For the same 
reason that horses flourish best when travel- 
ing over an undulating country, rather than 
when perambulating the plains, viz., that 



other sets of muscles are brought into action 
when they leave the dead level, and thus a 
single set of muscles is not called on to 
bear the whole fatigue. So with the variety 
of food : their digestive functions are in 
turn appealed to, and all the constituents 
required by the body are in turn furnished, 
so that a healthy result is the consequence. 
It is true, that cows led on carrots give 
better milk in winter, than when fed on 
other kinds of food, but if fed on carrots 
alone, they soon lose their highest state of 
health. 

Look at the cows in the distillery stables 
of New York, when they are fed altogether 
on swill, (the name given to that portion of 
the grain not transformed into alcohol by 
fermentation,) in a very short time the very 
membranes of the animal become so tender 
that they fall to pieces, and are generally 
diseased. Is this because the residuum of 
the still is not the proper food for cows ? 
Far from it; no food is better, provided i* 
be used in part, and not exclusively. Mr. 
John Wilson, at the Wallabout, had as fine 
cows, and in as fine condition, as any man 
in America, and with as profitable results ; 
he fed then on the residuum of his dis- 
tillery in part, but at the same time in part 
on various roots, hay, etc., and none of the 
difficulties arising from the exclusive use of 
swill, were to be seen with those cows. Car- 
rots* have a value far beyond that which 
can be attributed to the mere nutriment 
they contain; for, in addition to what they 
furnish in this way, they contain a quantity 
of pectic acid, and this carries the property 
of gelatinizing the vegetable and animal 
matters held in solution, and thus enabling 
the peristaltic motion of the intestines to seize 
hold of their contents, so that digestion of 
all matters of food is perfected by the 
presence of carrots. If the horse be fed 
in part on carrots, he ceases to evacuate the 
undigested shells of oats, bits of hay, etc. 
ilis dung is as homogeneous almost as that 
of a man, and it is for this reason that a 
bushel of carrots, and a bushel of oats, are 
better for the horse than two bushels of 
oats — not from the nutritious matter con- 
tained in the carrot, but in part from the 
j power of the carrot to cause all the nutri- 
I ment of the oat to be appropriated in the 
' making of muscle, instead of part of it be- 
ing evacuated in faces. This action is true 



in regard to all the vegetable substances 
which go to make up the variety of food 



16 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[January 



for animals ; and the very instinct of every 
animal gives evid nee of this truth. — Work- 
ing Farmer. 



A Few Reasons Why Land Should be 
Improved. 

More may be cultivated with the same 
hands, because tilled with less hard labor. 

Briers and shrubs disappear, grasses ap- 
pear. 

Cattle damage the land and grass less, be- 
cause they do not have to tramp so great a 
space to fill themselves. 

Less land required. 

Less fencing. 

Less trotting after cows and horses. 

Less work at the smith's shop. 

Fewer whips worn out. 

Stronger teams. 

More manure and less need for it. 

A stimulus to action. 

A protection against winter's frost and 
summer's heats. 

A good example to children and neigh- 
bors. • 

Keeps off sheriffs and buzzards. 

Stops emigration. 

Produces money for books, and time for 
reading. 

Also, school houses and churches. ' 

Produces time to travel, to lecture on 
economy, and preach the Gospel. 

Produces sociability and hospitality. 

Makes a paradise of a barren, plenty out 
of poverty, and a blessing out of a curse. 

The barn is filled, the dairy is filled, the 
purse is filled, and the soul is filled with 
gratitude. 

If the reader will reflect, he will dis- 
cover that the number of good reasons why 
the farmer should improve his land is al- 
most innumerable. — From an Old Paper 
of 1804. 



< » » » > 



The Horse an Intellectual Being*. 

Dr. G-. H. Sutherland of Dekalb, New- 
York, sent us a letter a few days since, in 
which among other things, he alluded to the 
importance of treating horses as " intellec- 
tual beings," and of trying the effect of 
" constant kindness" in training them, the 
result of which he believed would be the 
attainment on the part of the horse, to " an 
elevated position in the scale of intelligence, 
not only distin gushing themselves among 
their kind, but actually outstripping many 



of their owners, as far as the nobler attri- 
butes are concerned." With this high ap- 
preciation of the capacity of the horse, the 
Doctor five years ago came into possessien 
of a fine three-year-old colt, and he conclu- 
ded to try the power of kindness in the en- 
deavor to develope his mind. The result is 
given in the St. Lawrence Republican, in 
which paper a correspondent writes : 

During my wanderings a short time since, 
I chanced to stop at Hermon. Hearing of 
Dr. Sutherland's learned colt, I had the cu- 
riosity to go and see him, and found him 
quite a prodigy in learning, besides being 
quite a curiosity. The Doctor calls him the 
" White Pilgrim." His color is light nan- 
keen, white mane and tail, and white eyes. 
He is a splendid little horse. The Doctor 
tells me that he has owned him only six 
months — rode or drove him almost every day, 
(as his riding is considerable,) but still dur- 
ing that brief time he broke him to the 
saddle and harness, and taught him the 
different feats I saw him perform, such as 
standing upon his hind feet, jumping the 
whip, kneeling down, lying down, sitting up, 
and walking on three legs. He will un- 
buckle a common saddle-girth, and take off 
his own saddle; he will step up to his own 
master, make a very low bow, shake hands, 
take his coat, cap and mittens off and lay 
them away, and when told, bring them all 
back to him again. With cards he will tell 
his age, the days in the week, months in the 
year, &c. With the alphabet he will spell 
any simple word put to him. Spread out a 
number of playing cards and he will fetch 
the one called for. He will play a good 
game at old sledge, and beat you as often as 
you can him, and tell your fortune, if request- 
ed. He will waltz around his yard with 
quite as much ease and grace as some of our 
country gentlemen, and pass around a hat 
for a contribution at the close of a perform- 
ance. He is arare specimen of horse flesh, 
and his equal, I think, for beauty, activity 
and intelligence, could not be found, con- 
sidering the labor performed by him and the 
short time he has been under discipline ; and 
the Doctor certainly deserves the credit of 
being a " great Horse Man." 

The Doctor, in the conclusion of his let- 
ter, says that until this season he never be- 
fore undertook to train a horse for trotting, 
but that he now has a three-year-old mare 
he calls " Crazy Jane," out of Tom Jeffer- 
son's Black Hawk, her dam sired by George 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



17 



Parish's imported St. Lawrence. With very 
little training she will make her mile in less 
than o.oO, over rather a poor track. Now, 
says the Doctor, " if trotting is a science 
that a horse can acquire by careful training, 
(like playing old sledge,) Crazy Jane will 
yet, if nothing befals her, be one among 
many to demonstrate the fact that the horse 
has an intellect, or reasoning powers, equal if 
not superior to many of their brute owners, 
and that it can be developed and cultivated 
with as much certainty and profit as the 
minds of our children." 

We look forward to the result of the Doc- 
tor's experiments with a great deal of inter- 
est ; how much kindness will do to develope 
speed in horses is yet to be ascertained. 

Evening Post. 



< «■ » ■ » 



From the Country Gentleman. 

Feeding Stock as a Branch of Farm 
Management. 

A lecture delivered to the members of 
the Highland Society during the Edinburgh 
Show week. 

Dr. Anderson said : The feeding of stock, 
and its relation to the general management 
of the farm, is a subject of the very highest 
practical importance, and one of those in 
which definite information is most essential; 
and yet there is probably no branch of ag- 
ricultural practice in which more difference 
of opinion exists; so much so, that while 
one class of persons believe it to be a high- 
ly remunerative department of farming, 
others with equal confidence maintain that 
cattle are chiefly valuable as mediums for 
the manufacture of manure. Even regard- 
ing details much doubt exists, and there are 
really but few points in which absolute 
unanimity exists. Looking at the magni- 
tude of these differences, it was not without 
some diffidence that I ventured to select it 
as the subject of my address on the present 
occasion. Those matters, however, in re-, 
gard to which doubts and differences of 
opinion exist, are, on the other hand, spe- 
cially suited to discussion, for it is incum- 
bent upon us to sift our information, and 
to ascertain what can be relied upon and 
what requires to be elucidated by further 
experiment. When this is done, it appears 
that there are many points on which we are 
very imperfectly informed, and others on 
which statements of the most conflicting 
nature have been made ; and the difficulty 



of drawing conclusions is enhanced by in- 
dividuals maintaining the exclusive excel- 
lencc of the systems they themselves prac- 
tice, and insisting that because they have 
been led to adopt a particular opinion, their 
neighbor who holds the opposite one must 
necessarily be wrong. A great point is 
gained when we admit that both may be 
right, and when we set to work cordially 
to trace out the cause of the discrepancy. 
All branches of agriculture are now going 
through this phase of their existence, and 
principles are being gradually established. 
The feeding of stock is exactly one of 
those subjects which can be most success- 
fully advanced by studying the principles 
on which it depends ; and, though these in- 
volve many most complex chemical and 
physiological questions, we have obtained 
some foundation on which to go. The food 
which an animal consumes is partly assimi- 
lated and partly excreted ; but, if it be 
properly proportioned to its requirements, 
its weight remains constant, and hence we 
learn that the food does not remain perma- 
nently in the body. If, now, an animal be 
deprived of food, it loses weight, owing to 
the substances stored up in the body being 
used to maintain the process of respiration 
and the waste of the tissues. The course 
of events- within the body is, so far as 
known, somewhat of this kind : the food is 
digested, absorbed into the blood, and de- 
posited in the form of flesh and fat in the 
body, a certain quantity being consumed to 
support respiration. If the food be proper- 
ly adjusted to the requirements of the ani- 
mal, its weight remains unchanged; the 
quantity absorbed and that excreted exactly 
corresponds to one another ; but, if we in- 
crease the food, a part of the excess will 
be deposited in the tissues and add to its 
weight. Now 'the quantity absorbed de- 
pends upon the state of the animal — a lean 
beast thoroughly exhausting its food, while 
when it is nearly fat, it takes only a small 
proportion. So, likewise, if the quantity of 
food be greater than the digestive organs 
can well dispose of, a certain quantity es- 
capes digestion altogether, and is practi- 
cally lost, i he problem which the feeder 
has to solve is, how to supply his cattle with 
such food, and in sueh proportions, as to en- 
sure the largest increase with the smaller 
loss. In solving this problem we must, in 
the first place, consider the general nature 
of the food of all animals, the constituents 



18 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[January 



of which may be divided into three great 
classes ; the nitrogenous matters, which go 
to the formation of flesh ; the saccharine 
and oily, which support respiration and 
form fat. It is sufficiently obvious that as 
the two great functions of nutrition and 
respiration must proceed simultaneously, 
the most advantageous food will be that 
which supplies, them in the most readily 
assimilated forms, and in proper propor- 
tions. In regard to the first of these mat- 
ters, it will be obvious that if two foods 
contain the same quantity of nutritive mat- 
ters, but in one way they are associated 
with a larger quantity of woody fibre or 
other non-nutritious matter, the latter will 
have considerably less value than the for- 
mer. The necessity for a proper balance of 
the two great classes of nutritive constitu- 
ents is also sufficiently obvious ; for if, for 
example, an animal be supplied with a 
large quantity of nitrogenous matters, and 
a small amount of respiratory elements, it 
must, to supply a sufficiency of the latter, 
consume a much larger quantity of the for- 
mer than it can assimilate, and there is 
practically a great loss. We may deter- 
mine the proper proportion of these sub- 
stances in three different ways : 1st, we 
may determine the composition of the ani- 
mal body : 2nd, we may examine that of 
the milk, the typical food of the young ani- 
mal ; and 3rd, the results of actual feeding 
experiments may be examined. The com- 
position of the animal body is a subject on 
which, as it appears from the recent expe- 
riments of Lawes and Gilbert, great misap- 
prehension has hitherto existed. It has 
always been supposed that by far the larger 
proportion consisted of nitrogenous matters; 
but that is quite an error, and, even on 
lean animals, the fat greatly preponderates 
over the lean. A lean sheep, for instance, 
contains one and a half-pound of fat for 
every pound of dry nitrogenous matter, and 
when very fat it may contain six times as 
much fat as lean. The inference obviously 
is, that the food must contain a very large 
quantity of non-nitrogenous matters. The 
milk, which contains a number of each 
of the three great classes of nutritive mat- 
ters, also affords us instruction, although, 
of course, more especial as regards the feed- 
ing of young stock, when the conditions 
ar^e different from those existing in the ma- 
ture animal. But, however valuable the 
data derived from these experiments may 



be, they are less important than those de- 
rived from actual feeding experiments. In 
fact, it by no means follows that the propor- 
tions in which the different substances are 
found in the animal are exactly those in 
which they ought to exist in the food. On 
the contrary, it appears that while one-tenth 
of the saccharine arid fatty matters are as- 
similated by the animal, only one-twentieth 
of the nitrogenous compounds, and one 
thirty-third of the mineral substances in the 
food are assimilated by the animal. On the 
other hand, however, it must be remem- 
bered that the particular compounds also 
exercise a very different influence. Thus 
a pound of fat in the food, when assimila- 
ted, will produce a pound of fat in the ani- 
mal; but it requires about two and a-half 
pounds of sugar or starch to produce the 
same effect. The broad general principle 
arrived at is, that we must afford a suffi- 
cient supply of readily assimilable food, 
containing a proper proportion of each 
class of nutritive substances. But there 
are other matters also to be borne in mind, 
for the food must not only increase the 
weight of the animal, but also support res- 
piration and- animal heat; and the quantity 
of food required for this purpose is large. 
It appears from Boussingault's experiments, 
that in a cow eighteen ounces of nitroge- 
nous matters are required to counterbalance 
the waste of the tissues — a quantity con- 
tained in about ten or twelve pounds of 
wheat flour ; and it is well known that an 
ox expires four or five pounds of carbon 
daily, to supply which one hundred pounds 
of turnips are required. We see from this 
the large quantity relatively to that used 
up which is required for the maintenance 
of these functions, and the importance of 
adopting such measures as, by restraining 
them within the narrowest possible limits, 
produce a saving of food. The diminution 
of muscular exertion, and keeping the ani- 
mals warm, so that a small quantity of food 
may be required to act as fuel to maintain 
the animal heat, are the most important 
considerations. Although the presence of 
a sufficient quantity of nutritive matters is 
an essential qualification of all foods, their 
mechanical condition is not unimportant, 
for unless its bulk be such as to admit of 
the stomach acting upon it properly, there 
must be an appreciable loss; and there is 
no greater fallacy than to suppose that the 
best results are to be obtained by the use of 



18G0.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



19 



those wh ch contain their nutritive matters 
in a very small bulk. As a practical ques- 
tion, the principles of feeding are restricted 
to determining how the staple food pro- 
duced on the farm can be most advantage- 
ously used to feed the cattle kept on it, and 
on this point much requires to be said. It 
appears that they can best be made use of 
when combined with more highly nutri- 
tious food, such as oil-cake or rape ; and 
when this is properly done, a very great ad- 
vantage is derived. It appears from ex- 
periments that sheep, which, when fed on 
hay only, attain a weight of ninety pounds, 
reach a hundred when rape is added. The 
subject cannot be completed without refer- 
ring to the value of the cjung produced, 
which has been very variously estimated. 
The experiments referred to in the course 
of the address appear to show that, of food 
generally, about one-third to one-fourth of 
the money value, and seven-eighths of the 
valuable matter, appear in the dung. Dr. 
Anderson concluded by saying, that he had 
by no means attempted to exhaust the sub- 
ject, but had given only a sketch, trusting 
that the observations of others might fill 
up the details. 

Marvels of Human Caloric. 

The Eclectic Review declares that we are 
"all living stoves — walking fire-places — fur- 
naces in the flesh," if those terms can be 
applied to an apparatus for the express pro- 
duction of human caloric. After stating 
the fact of the latent heat of the human 
frame, the writer says : — 

Suppose it to be the month of January, 
when winter is presumed to be reigning in 
full vigor, and every inanimate object ap^ 
pears to have been drained of its caloric; 
still the; human structure will exhibit a sur- 
plus of sixty-six degrees above the freezing 
point. Why is that? How does it happen 
while a bronze statue fluctuates in its tern-- 
peraturc with every passing breeze, the living- 
organism maintains its standard heat unim- 
paired, and preserves its tropical climate 
within, though the air should be full of 
frost and the ground enveloped in snow ? 
It is manifest that we must have some 
power of " brewing " caloric for ourselves. 

Assuming that our bodies are veritable 
stoves, the reviewer proceeds to explain 
whence we procure our fuel. Fortunately 
our coal and fire-wood, he adds, are stored 
up in a very interesting form. They are 



laid before us in the shape of breach and 
butter, puddings and pies; rashers of bacon 
for the laborer, and haunches of venizon, or 
turtle soup, for the epicure. Instead of 
being brought up in scuttles, they arc pre- 
sented in tureens, dishes, tumblers, or all of 
them in pleasant succession. In fact, when- 
ever you send a person an invitation to drn- 
ner, you virtually request the honor of his 
company to take fuel f and when you see 
him enthusiastically employed on your dain- 
ties, you know that he is literally shovelling 
coke in his corporal stove. 

All food must contain two species of ele- 
ments, if it is to do its duty efficiently. 
There must be a portion which is availa- 
ble for thq repair of the frame, which 
will remake it as fast as it is unmade, 
and which, therefore, is called the plastic 
or body-building materials. But there must 
be a certain quantity of non-azotized mat- 
ter, that will combine with oxygen, in order 
that it may undergo combustion. If we 
take milk, the " model food " of animals, 
as a criterion of proportion, we shall find 
that three times as much of the latter is 
needed as of the former. For one pound 
of simply restorative provender, an ener- 
getic man requires four of digestible fuel. 
The ultimate form in which this fuel is 
burnt, is that of carbon, hydrogen, and sul- 
phur ; but proximately, we swallow it in the 
shape of fat, starch, sugar, alcohol, and 
other less inflammatory compounds. By 
far the most incendiary of these substances 
is fat; ten pounds of this material, impor- 
ted into your stove, will do as much work — 
that is, will produce as much warmth as 
twenty-four of starch, twenty-five of sugar, 
or even twenty-six of spirits. 

It is pleasant to observe how sagaciously 
the instinct of man has fastened upon the 
articles which will best supply him with 
the species of fuel he requires. 

The Esquimaux, for example, is extreme- 
ly partial to oil fare. He docs not know 
why. He never heard of the doctrine of 
animal heat. But he feels intuitively that 
bear's grease and blubber arc the things for 
him. Condemn him to dine on potatoes or 
maize, and the poor fellow would resent the 
cruelty as much as a London Alderman of 
the Old School, if sentenced to subsist on 
water gruel alone. And the savage would 
be perfectly right. Exposed, as he is, to 
the fierce cold of the northern sky, every 
object around him plundering him of his 



20 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[January 



caloric incessantly, what he needs is plenty 
of unctious food, because from this he can 
generate the greatest quantity of heat. On 
the other hand, the native of the tropics, 
equally ignorant of animal chemistry, es- 
chews the fiery diet which his climate ren- 
ders inappropriate, and keeps himself cool 
on rice or dates, or watery fruit. 



Fdr the Southern Planter. 

Farm Drainage. 

Book-farmers and lovers of agricultural 
literature are indebted to Henry F. French, 
of New Hampshire, for a volume of very 
pleasant reading; and practical farmers, 
owners and tillers of the soil, are under still 
greater obligations to* him — though it is 
probable they wil be slow to acknowledge 
it, for they will be very slow in finding it 
out. 

Thorough drainage, the removal of all 
stagnant water to a safe distance from, the 
roots of cultivated plants, is the basis of 
good husbandry. Do what you will with 
water-logged land, it remains unimproved. 
How much of this or of any country is un- 
drained by nature, and in need of art to 
remove surplus water, can be determined 
only by careful observation; and it is only 
within the last twenty or thirty years that 
all departments of the British government 
have become convinced of the immense ad- 
vantages of draining; but they are con- 
vinced, so thoroughly convinced, that the 
legislation of that most conservative of na- 
tions has appropriated about twenty millions 
of dollars to agricultural draining. And as 
the law now stands in that country, a man's 
land may be drained, and a due portion of 
the expense charged to him against his con- 
sent. Such a large outlay of money, and 
an attack, apparently so radical, upon land- 
ed interests, by the most cautious, enlight- 
ened and practical of European States, is 
amply sufficient to draw the attention of 
proprietors in this country; and French has 
written the entertaining book, with the 
modest title which heads this notice, for the 
purpose of introducing to American farm- 
ers, in a plain and perfectly intelligible 
way, the system of complete drainage, which 
is the grand step made in the progress of 
agriculture in Great Britain. 

He has done this so fully and fairly, that 
his book leaves nothing to be desired in the 
way of an elementary treatise. The histo- 



ry, philosophy and practice of draining are 
all touched so gracefully, agreeably, and yet 
so practically, that we might well mis- 
take Mr. French for a Mind-ditching philo- 
sopher and tile-pipe layer combined, instead 
of conceiving him, as he is understood to 
be, a lawyer and judge. 

The book has fun in it, too, as well as 
philosophy and hard licks — witness a quo- 
tation from p. 183, where he speaks of the 
importance of guarding the outlets of secret 
drains from the intrusion of outsiders — and 
be it remembered, that drains constructed 
of tile cannot be entered, except at the out- 
lets, by anything larger than an earth- 
worm : 

"There are many species of 'vermin/ 
both ' creeping things' and ' slimy things, 
that crawl with legs,' which seem to imagine 
that drains are constructed for their especial 
accommodations. In dry times it is a favo- 
rite amusement of moles, and mice, and 
snakes, to explore the devious passages thus 
fitted up for them, and entering at the ca- 
pacious open front door, they never suspect 
that the spacious corridors lead to no apart- 
ments; that their accommodations, as they 
progress, grow 'fine by degrees, and beauti- 
fully less,' and that these are houses with 
no back doors, or even convenient places 
for turning about for a retreat Unlike the 
road to Hades, the descent to which is easy, 
here the ascent is inviting; though, alike in 
both cases, l revocare gradum, hoc opus, hie 
labor est.' They persevere upv?ar,d and on- 
ward till they come, in more senses than one, 
to 'an untimely end.' Perhaps, stuck fast 
in a small pipe-tile, they die a nightmare 
death; or, perhaps, overtaken by a shower, 
of the. effects of which, in their ignorance 
of the scientific principles of drainage, they 
had no conception, they are drowned before 
they have time for deliverance from the 
straight in which they find themselves, and 
so are left, as the poet strikingly expresses 
it, 'to lie in cold obstruction and to rot.'" 

But if the farmers of Virginia want to 
know all about the wonderful and indestruc- 
tible value of drainage, they must get 
Judge French's book and study it carefully. 
It will "pay" in the pleasure of perusal — 
and those who never saw a draining tile, 
will understand how infinitely superior to 
all that has preceded it, is the modern sys- 
tem of thorough drainage. 

Green Springs. 

Nov. 22d, 1859. 



I860.] 



THE SOUTH ERK PLANTER. 



21 



For the Southern Punter. 

Baltimore, Dec. 7th, 1859. 
Dear Sir, — In the September, or Octo- 
ber No. of your journal, is an article copied 
from the ''Country Gentleman," on the 

beneficial influence of droughts, which does 

not do me full justice, as in it I am only 
mentioned as having made some experi- 
ments to prove the facts stated in that 
ar.iclc. 

The truth of the matter is, that the 
whole idea, and all of its proofs, are ex- 
clusively my own. It was brought to my 
mind by observation, during the great 
drought of 1854, and I instituted at once a 
series of experiments, to show the modus 
operandi of the beneficial influence of 
droughts, which at once received the sanc- 
tion and was adopted by the highest scien- 
tific minds in this country. Ministers of 
the Gospel alluded to it in their sermons as 
one more proof that God was ever kind, 
though we might seem to suffer from this 
Providence. 

I send you, by this mail, my Fifth lie- 
port to the House of Delegates, with the 
request that, in your next number, you will 
copy the article entire, as found on page 
5G of that Ileport. 

With sincerest wishes for your prosperity 
in business, 

I remain yours, very truly, 

James Higgins. 

Ultimsts Benefits of Droughts, and the 
Mode in which they Act to Improve 
Land. 

It may be a consolation to those who have 
felt the influence of the late long and pro- 
tracted dry weather, to know that droughts 
are one of the natural causes to restore the 
constituents of crops and renovate cultiva- 
ted soils. The diminution of the mineral 
matter of cultivated soils takes place from 
two causes: 

1st. The quantity of mineral matter car- 
ried off in crops and not returned to the 
soil in manure. 

2d. The mineral matter carried off by 
rain water to the sea by means of fresh 
water streams. 

These two causes, always in operation, 
and counteracted by nothing, would, in 
time, render the earth a barren waste, in 
which no verdure would quicken and no 
solitary plant take root. A rational system 
of agriculture would obviate the first cause 



of sterility, by always restoring to the soil 
an equivalent for t hat which is taken off 
by the crops; but as this is not done in all 
cases, Providence ha- provided a way of its 

OWn to counteract the tliril'tlessness of man, 
by instituting droughts at proper periods to 
bring up from the deep parts of the earth 
food on which plants might feed when rains 
should again fall. The manner in which 
droughts exercise their beneficial influence 
is as follows : During dry weather a con- 
tinual evaporation of water takes place from 
the surface of the earth, which is not sup- 
plied by any from the clouds. The evapo- 
ration from the surface creates a vacuum, 
(so far as water is concerned,) which is at 
once filled by the water rising up from the 
sub-soil of the land; the* water from the 
sub-soil is replaced from the next stratum 
below, and in this manner the circulation of 
water in the earth is the reverse to that 
which takes place in wet weather. This 
progress of the water in the earth to the 
surface manifests itself strikingly in the 
drying up of springs, and of rivers and 
streams which are supported by springs. It 
is not, however, only the water w ich is 
brought to the surface of the earth, but 
also all that which the water holds in solu- 
tion. These substances are salts of lime, 
and magnesia of potash and so-ca, and in- 
deed whatever the sub-soil or deep strata of 
the earth may contain. The water, on reach- 
ing the surface of the soil, is evaporated, 
and leaves behind the mineral salts, which 
I will here enumerate, viz: Lime, as air- 
slacked lime; magnesia, as air-slacked mag- 
nesia; phosphat of lime, or bone earth; 
sulphate of lime, or plaster of Paris; car- 
bonate of potash, and soda, with silicate of 
potash and soda, and also chloride of sodi- 
um, or common salt. All these are indis- 
pensable to the growth and production of 
plants which are used for food. Pure rain 
water, as it falls, would dissolve but a very 
small proportion of some of these sub- 
stances, but when it becomes soaked into 
the earth it there becomes strongly imbued 
with carbonic acid from the decomposition 
of vegetable matter in the soil, and thus ac- 
quires the property of readily dissolving 
minerals on which before it could have very 
little influence. 

I was first led to the consideration of t 
above subjects by finding, on the re-cx- 
amination.of a soil which I analyzed three 
or four years ago, a larger quantity of a 



22 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[January 



particular mineral substance than I at first 
found; as none had been applied in the 
meantime, the thing was difficult of ex- 
planation until I remembered the late long 
and protracted drought. I then also re- 
membered that in Zacatecas and several 
other provinces in South America, soda 
was obtained from the bottom of ponds, 
which were dried in the dry, and again 
filled up in the rainy season. As the above 
explanation depended on the principles of 
natural philosophy, I at once instituted 
several experiments to prove its truth. 

Into a glass cylinder was placed a small 
quantity of chloride of barium, in solution; 
this was then filled with a dry soil, and for 
a long time exposed to the direct rays of 
the sun on the surface. The soil on the 
surface of the cylinder was now treated 
with sulphuric acid, and gave a copious pre- 
cipitate of sulphate of baryta. 

The experiment was varied by substi- 
tuting chloride of lime, sulphate of soda, 
and carbonate of potash, for the chloride of 
barium, and on the proper re-agents being 
applied in every instance, the presence of 
those substances was detected in large 
quantities on the surface of the soil in the 
cylinder. Here, then, was proof positive 
and direct, by plain experiments in cheni- 
isty and natural philosophy, of the agency, 
the ultimate, beneficial agency, of droughts. 

We see, therefore, in this, that even those 
things which we look upon as evils, by 
Providence are blessings in disguise, and 
that we should not murmur even when dry 
seasons afflict us, for they too are for our 
good. The early and the latter rain may 
produce at once abundant crops, but dry 
weather is also a beneficent dispensation of 
Providence in bringing to the surface food 
for future crops, which otherwise would be 
forever useless. Seasonable weather is good 
for the present, but droughts renew the 
storehouses of plants in the soil, and fur- 
nish an abundant supply of nutriment for 
future crops. 

I am happy to state that Prof. Henry, of 
the Smithsonian Institute, has fully en- 
dorsed the above views. 

If the effect of this had only been to 
teach men patience under seeming evils, 
and to add another proof to the goodness of 
our Creator, I should have been amply re- 
warded for all sacrifices that I have en- 
dured in my present position. If I could 
teach mankind to be patient under present 



evils, in the certain anticipation that they 
will bring to them ultimate good, then would 
I be contributing much to the cause of 
human happiness. Apart from this view of 
the case, however, the above facts have a 
great practical bearing on the operations of 
farming. In soils that have an impervious 
sub-soil, and from which the water runs off 
and does not soak through, it is apparent 
that no benefits can arise from droughts; 
if the water does not soak through a sub- 
soil in wet, it cannot arise in dry weather, 
and this being the case, nothing can be 
brought up from below ; the cultivators of 
such soils will endure all the evils of drought 
on present, and derive no benefit from them 
on future crops. Pie, therefore, is taught 
to loosen and break up those impermeable 
sub-soils by means of draining, deep plow- 
ing, and sub-soiling, when these sub-soils 
contain nothing injurious to vegetation. It 
teaches the cultivator of the soil that he 
should so prepare it as to reap the advantage 
of his labor in a good season, and when a 
drought comes, he will be comforted by the 
reflection that its future benefits will com- 
pensate him for all his present losses. 

<«»»»> 

For the Southern Planter. 

Tobacco the Bane of Virginia Hus- 
bandry. 

(continuation of No. 5.) 

It may be confidently asserted that to- 
bacco stands convicted of every attribute 
that constitutes an idol — an idol, as already 
shown, of the most demoralizing, and 
otherwise most extensively injurious char- 
acter to be found in the history of our 
fallen race. Its evils were early detected, 
and although exposed by all the influence 
of royalty* and edicts of arbitrary govern- 
ments, denouncing the penalty of deathf 
against offenders — even these potentates, 
backed by the unanswerable arguments in 
support of their cause, availed nothing in 
staying the progress of the vice of tobacco- 
using — proving that in the designs of an 
overruling Providence — apparent present 
evils were being made subservient to pro- 
ducing ultimately, greatly overbalancing 
good. Mysterious are the ways of Provi- 
dence ! and in no part of the divine econo- 
my does He appear more mysterious than 
in making the wrath of man to praise Him. 

* Witness King James' Counterblast. 

i" The Ottoman Sultan, capital punishment. 



1800.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



23 



But as to the extent of the tobacco 
idolatry — the millions of men who wor- 
ship in its world-wide temple — the mil- 
lions of money expended to produce and 
consume the incense offered upon the 
altars of this modern God, prove the truth 
of the assertion, that all other idola- 
ters arc small in comparision with it. It 
undeniably consumes more of the treas- 
ure of the earth for its support than is 
expended for all the Christian, benevolent, 
and educational institutions of the age, 
until it has become so interwoven in the 
very texture of society, as to stand pre- 
eminently the master vice of our sin-ruined 
world. 

If the charges made against tobacco !:c 
sustainable, how can it be otherwise a©* 
counted for, that natural human beings be- 
come its votaries — its deluded victims — its 
abject slaves — but by diabolical fascination? 
A further question may be asked — how 
could such a loathsome evil,, poisoning the 
bodies and destroying the souls of men, 
have attained to such an overmastering 
power in all the earth ? the only true solu- 
tion to be given, is the fallen state of man : 

"God made man upright, but he has sought out 
many inventions." 

"Man is as prone to#eviI as the sparks fly up- 
wards." 

But in the present moral enlightenment 
of the world, and this progressive age, why 
do not Christians rise -up and protest against 
the degrading and digusting idolatry? Sim- 
ply because the idol has an overwhelming 
majority enlisted on his side, and it is to 
be feared only for the want of faith and 
moral courage on the part of the followers 
of the Great Captain of salvation. 

In the gloomiest day of the history of 
our holy religion, 7,000 men were found 
who had not bent the knee to the idol 
God of the day — and shall there not be 
found among the millions of professing 
Christians of our day, a sacramental host 
of Gods elect — a band of volunteers to 
rally to the summons of the Almighty con- 
queror — and range themselves under the 
standards inscribed by his own finger with 
such inspiring mottoes as 

k: Come out from among them and be ye sepa- 
rate." 
"Ye shall not follow a multitude to do evil." 
;i Ye cannot serve God and Mammon." 



What boots the Superior number of the 
enemy against the host of the Almighty, 
who can make one to chase a thousand, 
and has already made proclamation that his 
warriors elect, bearing the aegis of faith, 
shall "put to flight the army of the aliens." 

All things indicate that the crisis has ar- 
rived when the conflict with this army of new 
idolaters already begun, must wax hotter 
and hotter to the end — for it is in manifest 
accordance with God's word, that every 
form of idolatry must fall, before Christ's 
kingdom can come upon the earth. And 
what Christian whose eyes are not "holden" 
may not see that this most universal of all 
idolatries, has been Providentially permitted 
in mercy and divine goodness to offer a new 
text to show who " will come out from 
among them," and stand on the Lord's 
side — by abandoning a monstrous evil — by 
a simple act of self-denial, far easier than 
giving up father or mother, sister or brother, 
house and lands, or a right hand, or a right 
eye, as in duty bound under our covenant 
with God ; but herein by a new and glori- 
ous dispensation, nothing is required to be 
given up but a morbid, unnatural appetite, 
with its legion of concomitant evils, to be 
replaced by innumerable present blessings, 
and in the future an eternal weight of 
glory. " How wonderful is the goodness 
of G-od, His ways past finding out \" 

It is freely granted that the cultivation of 
tobacco, in the last preceding ages, was the 
best practical course of opening a wilder- 
ness and subduing the earth for the purpo- 
ses of wholesome agriculture ; but that mis- 
sion of tobacco has been fulfilled, and the 
country well : nigh destroyed by its impover- 
ishing effects upon the soil, thus showing a 
necessity for a change of the fatal culture 
which produces only a deleterious, demor- 
alizing drug, for a course which produces 
the wholesome necessaries of life. 

We have not yet presented a tythe of 
the evils to be subdued, and the benefits to 
be won by the anti-tobacco warfare. If 
any human mind has yet fully compre- 
hended, surely no one has as yet fairly 
shown the length and breadth and depth 
and height of the gigantic evil. Tobacco 
stands convicted by the unanimous verdict 
of its own devotees, that in the end it does 
them no good — but on the contrary, much 
harm. And here, finally, it may be well, 
before dismissing the subject, to exhibit 
the protean monster in some of the features 



24 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[January 



in which he mars the image of God in his 
creature man, although become so familiar 
to us as hardly to be recognized as the off- 
spring of their true parentage. Neverthe- 
less, it may be for the good of some to be 
told again that the discoloured skin and 
stained teeth, nervous tremor, dyspepsia, a 
species of salivation both filthy and disgust- 
ing — and a taiuted breath, which sooner or 
later make • the man a moving mass of 
offensiveness in the nostrils of the uncofi- 
taminated — and how much more so in His, 
who is of purer eyes than to behold ini- 
quity — all, all these awful effects are the 
work of tobacco, seen every where around 
us, and known of all men. 

Who would dare to impugn the wisdom 
and economy of God's Providence, in tolera- 
ting for a time and for temporary good pur- 
poses, that which may now be demonstra- 
ted to be an unmitigated evil. This, it is 
humbly conceived, may be in strict keeping 
with the principles of the divine govern- 
ment, for He who sees all things from the 
beginning to the end, carries on his govern- 
ment of the Universe by machinery too vast 
for the limited comprehension of short- 
sighted mortals — the light revealed by the 
progress of Christian morals must be our 
polar star. 

If this skeleton sketch of the mammoth 
subject of the day shall bring out abler 
minds to do justice to it, I shall be content. 
That it must sooner or later be called up to 
the public attention is manifest, for while 
the world is so fully taken up in the tobac- 
co-sin, it may be confidently asserted it can- 
not be evangelized. But it is announced in 
His word that the world shall be evangelized, 
and consequently all sin and idolatry, and 
everything inconsistent w T ith His purity, 
shall fall before the sovereignty of His im- 
maculate truth. 

JOHN H. COCKE. 



bruised, we Americans would understand it a 8 
ground in one of the numerous stock mill 8 
now in use). The other 3,000 were fed in the 
usual way on uncut hay and whole oats, the 
horses doing their own grinding and cutting. 
The allowance, according to the first sys- 
tem: bruised oats, 16 lbs. ; cut hay, 7jlbs., 
and cut straw, 2£ lbs. The allowance, accord- 
ing to the .second: unbruised oats, 19 lbs. ; 
uncut hay, 13 lbs. The bruised oats, cut hay, 
and cut straw, amounted to 20 lbs., and the 
unbruised oats, &c, to 32 lbs. The horse 
which had bruised oats, with cut hay and 
straw, consumed 26 lbs. per day, and it. ap- 
pears it could do the same work as well, and 
kept in as good condition as the horse that re- 
ceived 32 lbs. per day. Here is a saving of 
6 lbs. per day on the feeding of each horse re- 
ceiving the ground oats and cut hay and straw. 
The advantage thus gained, the Company esti- 
mate at 5 cents a day on each horse, amount- 
ing to the handsome sum of $300 per day to 
the Company on their entire stock of 6,000 
head. — Ohio Valley Farmer. 



4 m • • > 



' Feeding Stock. 

Omnibuses constitute one of the convenient 
institutions of London as many other large 
cities. The London Omnibus Company use 
no less than 6,000 horses. In feeding so large 
a number of animals it is important to estab- 
lish that method that will sustain the animals 
best on the smallest amount of food, or at the 

least cost. In order to determine Jhis fact, inure plowed under to begin with 
the Company have made the experiment of I all depended upon a good soil -".nd a fine tilth, 
feeding 3,000 of the horses on bruised oats, i His land was a vegetable loam, with a hard- 
cut hay and straw, (for the British term of I pan at the bottom. 



From the Countiy Gentleman. 
EVENING DISCUSSIONS IN AGRICULTURAL 
HALL. 

Thursday Evening, Oct. 6. 
Manures— Soiling. 

The attendance, this evening, was large, and 
the discussion animated* Dr. Crispell, of 
Ulster Co., occupied the chair. 

In opening the discussion, T. C. Peters, of 
Gennessee, spoke of the importance of having 
land in as fine a tilth as possible before the 
application of manure was made. He was 
followed by Judge Leland, of Saratoga, who 
stated that in his opinion, manure spread in 
the fall was better than to have it lay in heaps 
until spring. Upon his land,- which was a 
clayey loam with a subsoil of granite, he had 
received no benefit from plaster. Judge Blod- 
gett, of Lewis, remarked that he did not be- 
lieve in applying manure before the ground 
was in a fit state to receive it, and thought a 
hard soil would obtain no benefit from a sur- 
face application of manure. In regard to 
pasture land, he said that the natural sod was 
better and more productive than if once bro- 
ken, as it. was difficult to reinstate them. 
Meadow lands, if deeply tilled and the manure 
plowed under, give an inducement for the 
roots of the plants to penetrate the soil, which 
which they would not have if the soil was 
hard and unyielding. lie believed in top- 
dressing meadows after the land had been 
properly seeded down, by a good coat of ma- 
He thought 



1800.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



25 



L. F. Allen, of Black Rock. Every far- 
mer should be allowed to tell his own story in 
his own way, for there are various causes 
which influence his circumstances, both natural 
and artificial, such as soil and climate, nearer 
remote from market, &0., which he himself 
best knows, and which others are entirely ig- 
norant of; and no man's system of farming 
should be condemned by another, simply be- 
cause it does not apply to his individual cir- 
cumstances. Hence we see that men of good 
judgment and careful experience differ widely, 
each in his own way. If a farmer hears an- 
other farmer say what he knows to be best, 
how can the former practice what the latter 
teaches? Soils need different treatment, and 
that treatment which one person gives his land 
and which succeeds, may not succeed with an- 
other. Doubtless some soils when once laid 
down, are better to be kept so ; others need to 
be often plowed up. In good dairy regions of 
England, pastures have laid, since the con- 
quest, with a surface manuring, and now pro- 
duce better than ever. The soils of AVest- 
chester have never been moved, and are now 
better than ever before. In the southern 
counties, three-fourths of the land has never 
been plowed either in mowing or pasture, and 
their meadows now yield three tons per acre. 
These meadows also show at the present day, 
the cradle-knolls of centuries ago, and the 
owners of these farms will not let the sod be 
broken upon them. They know very well 
that there is a rich vegetable deposit of leaves 
that has constituted a humus in the soil, which 
if once broken is lost forever. 

The President stated that it was proposed 
to introduce the subject of soiling, in connec- 
tion with the one then under consideration, 
and as Hon. Mr. Quincy was again present, in 
behalf of the farmers of New York, he would 
call upon the gentleman to give some addi- 
tional facts and details in regard to the system 
which he had alluded to the evening previous. 

Hon. Josiah Quincy, Jr., of Massachusetts, 
took the stand, and was loudly cheered. The 
substance of his remarks were as follows: 

In connection with the subject of soiling, 
one of the first questions asked is, how much 
land does it require to keep a cow? I have 
learned that one square rod of grass, bailey, 
oats, or corn, is sufficient for the food of a cow 
a single day. The best fodder for the pur- 
pose of soiling is grass, oats, Indian corn and 
barley. My system is this : I use grass until 
July ; about the 5th of April, oats are planted 
at the rate of four bushels per acre; they are! 
also planted on the 20th of April, and the 1st 
of May. This lasts through July and August, ! 
and corn so planted will remain succulent for 
about ten days. The southern variety of corn 
is then sown in drills, in the quantity of three 
bushels the acre, which furnishes food for Sep- 
tember and October. Barley is then planted 
ten days apart, which lasts till vegetables come 



on. In winter the feed consisted of hay, cot- 
ton-seed meal, and routs — [Mr. QufHCT hero 
spoke of the advantages arising from this sys- 
tem, whieh he alluded to in his remarks the 
previous evening, and continued] — The great 
increase in the polling system is as seven to 
one; that Avhere only one cow was kept with- 
out this practice, seven can be kept by it, and 
I have demonstrated that one acre of land in 
a good state of cultivation, will afford suf- 
ficient food to keep three cows through the 
season. [Here the jrentleman alluded to the 
manner of using liquid manure, as practiced 
by Mr. Mecui in England, which consists of a 
series of pipes in the ground, through whieh 
liquid manure is forced by means of steam 
power — which has before be n described in the 
Co. Gent. — and he also spoke of the system of 
manuring in Scotland, by which their lands 
have been made to produce from five to seven 
crops in one year, and further remarked.] It 
has been well said that there are three im- 
portant elements, or principles, which consti- 
tute a good farm ; the first of these is manure, 
the second is manure, and the third is manure! 
I place but little confidence in patent fertili- 
zers, so great is the adulteration in most kinds, 
but strongly urge each farmer to raise his own 
manure upon his own farm. Muck I use as 
an absorbent, by placing it in a gutter in the 
stable for my cows, which gutter is eighteen 
inches wide and four deep,. There is a cellar 
under the stable, into which the manure 
passes. I am sorry to say that I keep only 
about twenty cows;— in the morning and even- 
ing these are let out in the yard, where they 
remain a few hours, as it is not necessary that 
they have a great amount of exercise. My 
cows are perfectly healthy, having never lost 
an animal, and this system appears to agree 
perfectly with their health and comfort in 
every respect. They do not suffer from drouth 
or loss of pastures. The mowing is usually 
done in the morning, and the cows are fed five 
times during the day. I think one man would 
be employed half of his time in feeding twenty 
cows, if the fodder was not too remote from 
the stable. One other advantage of the soil- 
ing system was, that it added in importance 
and numbers to the list of farmers in our 
country. Mr. Quincy then concluded : — 

The temperature of the ocean is always the 
same, and has the same influence upon the 
surrounding atmosphere — so it is with the 
farmers of America. From their quiet and 
retired homes they are the men who, in peace 
or war, are ever ready to serve their country 
when she calls. I have always had for my 
neighbor a family who has occupied as pro- 
minent and honorable a. position in American 
history as any other. One of this family, one 
hundred years ago, kept a school in "Worcester, 
then considered an inland town. I need not 
add his name was John Adams. Later in life 
I once asked him when he thought the bond 



26 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[January 



was severed between England and this coun- 
try — if at the signing of the Boston " Port 
Bill," or the meeting at Independence Hall 
in Philadelphia? "Oh, no!" he answered, 
" for when I kept school in Worcester, and 
heard the farmers talk, then I knew that 
separation must take place." | Cheers.] And 
so let it be now, and let the farmers prove, 
by their love and adherenge to the common 
good of our country, that they have not de- 
generated, but that the same blood flows in 
their veins now that warmed the hearts of the 
farmers of the Revolution. [Cheers.] 

Mr. Gedney, of Westchester. — I draw out 
my farm manure in spring, and then turn it 
under for corn, after which wheat is sown 
with top-dressing of bones. I keep 20 cows, 
from which I save, in one year, about 100 
hogsheads of liquid manure, by means of a 
series of spouts and a large tank constructed 
for the purpose. The liquid is pumped from 
the tank, and sprinkled upon the land as a 
top-dressing. In six months it will increase 
the product of grass, per acre, three-fourths. 
Keep my cows up in stables all summer — i. e., 
at night. 

Mr, Stewart, of Hamburg, Erie Co. — For 
three years I have practiced soiling, and find 
it a benefit both to land and animals. In the 
course of my experiments, I have found that 
one acre cut is equal to four acres in pasture. 
The manure that is saved by this system more 
than pays all the expenses attendant upon it; 
and the saving in fences would, in most locali- 
ties also pay all expenses. The increase in 
the value of the animals is also about five-fold. 
I practice feeding cut straw, steamed and 
mixed with one pint of corn-meal to the 
bushel. This, I find, makes better feed. than 
an equal amount of timothy. I think one 
man can care for fifty cows, and milk ten of 
them in addition, if the feed is close by. By 
this method I make $500 per year more than 
by the old system of pasturage. For feed I 
use roots till 20th of May, and then cut clover 
until after haying. Have raised corn, and 
consider it the best fodder for the purpose, as 
it comes nearest to grass. I have also found 
that butter made from it will keep longer than 
that made from any other feed. For winter, I 
mix carrots and oil-meal with cut straw, and 
give three bushels per day to each cow. Food 
is steamed before it is given out. 

Mr. Gedney, of , considered one acre 

sown with corn in June, equal as food for 
milch cows to ten acres of rowen. Had found 
no advantage from using steamed provender. 

Mr. Geddes made some interesting state- 
mants, in which he said that each farmer must 
adapt his own plans to his own case. If I im- 
prove the system of agriculture, and the pro- 
duct of my farm, under my own management, 
that is my aim and end. If you, under a dif- 
ferent treatment, become successful, and im- 



prove your farm thereby, I am not to point 
out to you a different mode. 

Several others present gave their views ; 
which proved nothing more than that each 
one has his own opinions in regard to soils 
and their management, and to manures and 
their application. 

As the vote of adjournment was made, Solon 
Robinson rose and requested the farmers 
present to adjourn to their own homes and 
school districts, establish a "Farmer's Club," 
and maintain the same by active talk and dis- 
cussion upon topics regarding their avocation. 
In no other way could so much valuable 
knowledge be gathered up. 



Salt as a Manure. 

The following questions were addressed 
to the editor of the iV". E. Farmer : How 
salt is to be applied to the soil, whether it 
should be. mixed with barn manure or sown 
broadcast? If mixed with manure, in what 
proportion ? If sown, how much to an acre, 
at what season, and what kind of soil is 
most benefitted by it? Would it be ad- 
vantageous to use it when barley is to be 
grown ? How would it affect pasture land? 
And further, wguld solicit the opinion of 
some experienced on the profit likely to ac- 
crue from purchasing salt at twenty cents a 
bushel, for agricultural purposes. 

Would you consider it profitable to buy 
air-slacked lime, at eight cents a bushel, to 
put on the land ? 

To these questions the editor replies : 
We have often used salt as a fertilizer, but 
have not followed the experiments with suf- 
ficient accuracy to make them worthy of 
note. So we refer to others, and find plenty 
of evidence that salt may be used as a ferti- 
lizer where it can be obtained at low rates, 
where it is dirty or in a damaged state so 
as to make it unfit for common purposes. 

Salt renders 'dry loam more susceptible of 
absorbing moisture from the air, and this is 
of great importance, because those soils 
which absorb -the greatest proportion of wa- 
ter from the atmosphere, are always the 
most valuable to the cultivator. On heavy 
undrained soils it would not act beneficially. 

When sprinkled slightly over manure 
heaps it checks the escape of the carbonate 
of the ammonia, and tends to prevent un- 
due fermentation. It not only acts on vege- 
tation as a stimulant, but serves as a direct 
constituent or food to some kinds of plants. 

Applied to grain crops on light soils, at 
the rate of 500 pounds to the acre, salt in- 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



27 



creases the produce of Beed, and very much 
improves its weight to the bushel, and its 

quality. On grass lands and clover, salt 

lias a good effect, rendering the herbage 
bore palatable to stock. 

Mangold wurtzel, manured with salt 
mixed with farm-yard dung, at the rate of 
ten or twelve bushels, or even more, an acre, 
grows luxuriantly. It would, undoubtedly, 
be useful on a barley crop, because the soil 
adapted to the crop is the kind of soil most 
benefitted by salt. 

We do not doubt but that salt at twenty 
cents, and air-slacked lime at eight cents 
per bushel, would be profitable on lands 
where they arc actually needed. 

Animal Food — Vegetable Food. 

BY J. T. MOUNDVILLE. 

The experience of prize fighters certainly 
does not favor the notion that a purely veg- 
etable diet is most favorable to the develop- 
ment of bodily vigor. On a day appointed, 
two of these professors of pugilism agree to 
fight for a sum of money, and, of course, 
he who can bear or inflict the most punish- 
ment, or can keep on his legs the longest, 
is d eclared the winner, provided he has 
taken no unfair advantage of his opponent. 
It is generally known that long before the 
day of battle, these men are subject to a 
system of training as regards both diet and 
exercise ; and the diet which they, b} 7 long 
and accumulated experience, have found 
most favorable to the development of bodi- 
ly vigor, consists mainly of the lean parts 
of fresh meat, chiefly mutton, and not by 
any means of vegetables exclusively. Now 
to win one of these battles, a man must have 
great muscular power, great activity, great 
powers of endurance and indomitable ener- 
gy and pluck, and the use of animal food is 
proved by them to be highly favorable to 
the development of these important quali- 
ties, for however brutal may be the exercise 
of this power by these men; yet it must be 
admitted that these are highly useful and 
desirable qualities to be possessed by the 
great mass of mankind, who have to win 
their daily bread by bodily labor. 

It is customary in England to hold fairs 
at stated times for the sale of stock and 
other farm products, and at these fairs, farm 
bands and me'ehanics assemble from the 
country around, and by way of amusing 
themselves, usually get up some sort of ath- 



letic games, foot races by men being one. 
It is known for weeks beforehand, that Tom 
Jonefl is going to run Bill Smith, and the 
discussions which ensue as to the relative 
merits of the men and the anticipation of 
the good time they will have at the fair, no 
doubt tends to lessen their toil 

Now it so happens that a man is at pres- 
ent doing some work for me who was re- 
markable in his youth for his swiftness of 
foot, and ran for several prizes. I learn 
from him that the runners had to go through 
a process of training similar to that of the 
prize fighters, as regards exercise and diet. 
The chief food consisted of the lean parts 
of legs of mutton, and their drink, tea, 
made of fresh lean beef, put into cold wa- 
ter and simmered two or three hours, all 
fat which floated on the surface being care- 
fully skimmed off; and their vegetable food 
consisted of dry bread toasted, and but very 
little of that. The evidence afforded by 
the experience and practice of these men, 
also goes to prove that the use of animal 
food is favorable to the development of 
great bodily vigor, of great muscular power, 
activity and bottom. 

The men who have made the British rail- 
ways are remarkable among the working 
men of that country for the great amount 
of severe labor they are able to accomplish, 
and for the great amount of animal food 
they consume. They work by the piece or 
job, and, of course, the more wheeling and 
shoveling they do, the more wages they re- 
ceive. A neighbor of mine belonged to 
this class in England, and conversing with 
him some time ago about their liberty, and 
especially about their mode of living, he 
told me it was common for a man to buy 
fourteen or fifteen pounds of beef on a Sat- 
urday night for his week's supply of animal 
food, and that it not unfrequently happened 
that the beef had all vanished before the 
week was ended, and that they had to apply 
to their grocer for a supplement of bacon to 
carry them through. But it may be said, 
if 4 these men, subsisting largely on animal 
food, were able to accomplish such feats in 
fighting, running and digging, there is no 
proof that other men employed at the same 
kind of work, but living on purely vegeta- 
ble diet, were net able to do as much work, 
or more. Well, it so happened that an 
English contractor undertook to make a 
French railway, and he took with him a 
number of " navies," and employed French 



28 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[January 



laborers as well, but it was soon found that 
the Frenchmen were not capable of getting 
through anything like the same amount of 
work. This coming to the ears of a French 
physician, who was somewhat incredulous, 
he proceeded to make personal inquiries, to 
ascertain the truth of the matter, and found 
the fact was so. He then inquired how 
both parties lived, and he admitted the 
mystery was at once solved. The French- 
man's bread and fruit, and his cooked dishes 
ingeniously contrived to tickle the palate, 
and economize nutritious but costly food, 
was considered but sorry fare for men who 
had to endure such severe labor, compared 
to the substantial diet of the English navy. 
This reminds me of a paper read before 
the Horticultural Society of London in 
1831, by its President, Andrew Knight. 
It is on a peculiar mode of cultivating the 
patato, and in a few prefatory remarks, 
Mr. Knight contends that potatoes, with a 
small quantity of meat, will afford better 
and more healthy food than bread in any 
quantity, and in support of his opinion, re- 
fers to the injurious effects of u a purely 
vegetable diet" on the health of the French, 
peasantry. They are a very temperate race 
of men, and they possess the advantage of 
a very dry climate. Yet the duration of 
life amongst them is very short, scarcely 
exceedins: two-thirds of the average dura- 
tion of life in England, and in some dis- 
tricts much less. Dr. Harkius, in his med- 
ical statistics, states upon the authority of 
M. Villerrne, that in the department of 
Indre, one-fourth of the children born die 
within the first year, and half between fif- 
teen and twenty, and three-fourths are dead 
*within the space of fifty years. Having in- 
quired of an eminent French physiologist, 
M. Dutrochet, who is a resident of the de- 
partment of Indre, the cause of this extra- 
ordinary mortality, he stated it to be their 
food, which consists chiefly of bread ; and 
of which he calculated every adult peasant 
to eat two pounds a day, and he added, 
without any leading question from, me, or in 
any way knowing my opinion on the sub- 
ject, that if the peasantry of his country 
would substitute (which they could do) a 
email quantity of animal food with potatoes, 
instead of so much bread, they would live 
much longer and with much better health. 
I am inclined to pay much deference to M. 
Dutrochet's opinion, for he combines the 
regular medical education with great acute- 



ness of mind ; and I believe him to be a 
well acquainted with the general laws o 
organic life as any person living ; and ' 
think his opinion derives some support fror 
the well-known fact that the duration o 
human life has been much greater in Eng 
land during the last sixty years than in th 
preceding period of the same duration. 

In the London. Agricultu.al Gazette c 

the 24th of January last, is the report c 

the address delivered at a meeting of I 

farmer's club, by one of England's bes 

farmers, Mr. Grey, of Dillston, in th 

county of Northumberland. He took a r( 

trospective view of the progress that ha 

been made in farming during the preser 

century, and among other subjects, referre 

to the improved condition of farm laborer 

" Since I recollect," said he, "it was hardl 

the case that the laboring population of th 

country were able to indulge themselves b 

eating butcher's meat at home. The fath( 

of a family thought himself well off if h 

could feed one or two pigs, and exceeding] 

well off if he could maintain a cow ; bi 

you now see the butcher's shop in evei 

village, and the butcher's cart dispensin 

joints of meat at every cottage door as yc 

go along the road. Such is the differenc 

in the way of living;" and he adds, like 

truly benevolent and sensible man, " I a: 

sure you will all rejoice with me in thin] 

i ing that it is so." But farm hands are n 

j equally well cared for in all parts of En 

: land. Some of the southern counties, ; 

j Wilts and Dorset, have long had notorious 

j bad reputation for the low wages they pi 

their hired men. A Wiltshire parson, se 

ing there was so much difference in tl 

statement of Mr. Grey and the actual sta 

of things in his neighborhood, wrote to tl 

Times, requesting information as to tl 

wages paid the Northumberland workme 

which enabled them to live in such luxui 

ous style. This elicited from Mr. Grey a 

ditional facts illustrating the influence 

diet in the development of bodily vigc 

He mentions a striking example of the i 

efficiency of southern laborers, whose lc 

wages would oblige them to live chiefly < 

bread and the produce of their gardens. 

relation of his, who had large sums to pa 

through his hands, superintending works 

land improvement, was brought into coi 

munication with parties in the southe: 

counties, who complained of want of er 

ployment and low wages among their pe 



L8G0.] 



TIIE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



29 



wintry; which led to his offering to find Dairy Management in Scotland. 
fork for one hundred of them If they were SlR fJ()HN SlNri AIR ]ias stat(>(1 tbat « U 
jenl to Northumberland with tools lor ; a tlut t!l(l Bame mtit of hcr . 

training, at which men were making from )*$£ would add 224 lbs. to the weight 
L7sto21a per week at pieoe-work, accot^ f / an ox would lu( . e 900 En lish «j. 
ng to capacity and application. A party long of mi|k „ ft . f wc re(jk * <; ^ rf 
)i these men were provided with money for butter to bc thc av wci ht ()btaincd 

Ju.r journey and the purchase of tools, from a 11()n of milk we wi „ 337 , bg 

m.lon arming at the.r destination, were of butte 6 r from ^ ^e quantity of herhage 
edged and set to work, hut the poor fel- ;is was supposed to produce 224 Ihs. of. hcef. 
ows proved to be 80 wanting m method , Ifthe h ^ othcsis £ f gir j SlNCLA1R be 

im in power, that lew 01 them could make v. .. .i\„ n _ n i nn j „». .», , • . • ,i 

/ , ' , , ., , correct, there can be no doubt that it is the 
norc than halt the wages the men ot fcnel:_, I ~v *v,~ v. *~ „j * 

lorth country gained. With men so fed 
ind children so reared, the race, as Mr. 
jrcy remarks, " must be physically and 
mentally deteriorated.'' On the other hand, 
men well fed and strong, like the Northum- 
berland workmen, ''apply themselves to 
their work with vigor and energy; they re- 
quire the support of meat as w T ell as bread, 
ind can afford to eat it." Like a well fed 
team, they feci well ; go to their work with 
light hearts, contented and happy : con- 
scious that their strength is equal to the la- 
bor required of them, and that the wages 
they receive will be a fair compensation lor 



interest of the farmer to adopt the dairy 
system in preference to the feeding of cat- 
tle. But even granting that the difference 
between thc production of beef and butter 
is not so great as stated by him, yet it is 
generally admitted that there is a considera- 
ble margin in favor of butter, particularly 
when we take into account the relative price 
of the two at the present time. 

The importance of the subject being ad- 
mitted, we may inquire shortly as to what 
kind of feeding is best adapted for produ- 
cing the largest yield of butter. Aiton, in 
his Agriculture of Ayrshire, published about 
nte of I ^ e beginning of this century, tells us that 
robust and healthy children, who, sharing I ^ winter food of the dairy stock at that 
in their father's "generous diet, without time was the straw of oats, or, toward the 



sharing, in their early years at least, in his 
arduous toil, grow up strong and healthy, 



muirish parts of the country, the hay of bog 
meadow, frequently but ill preserved. " For 



and finally attain a stature and proportions ? &w weeks after they calved, they were al 
rarely met with in districts where a low rate ! ! owe( ? some weak corn and chaff, boiled, with 



of wages and «a consequently inferior diet 
prevails. We need not, therefore, be sur- 
prised to read further, a fact which vegeta 



infusions of hay; and by way of luxury, a 
morsel of rye-grass or lea-hay once every 
day ; and of late years, by some farmers, a 



rians will do well to ponder over. "I smal quantity of turnips in the early part 
have seen it stated that the regiment of| of the winter, and a few potatoes in the 
Northumberland Militia require more stand- s P nn S> have been added. 



ing ground than any other regiment, be- 
(•(iii. <r the men have broader shoulders." 
Hence the force and meaning of that 
proudly defiant taunt of Mrs. Barbauld, 
who, as a set off to more luxurious products 
of southern parts, says : 

I "But men are ripened in ouv northern sky." 

Wisconsin Farmer. 



Live so that when death comes you may 
embrace like friends, not encounter like 
enemies. 

Reform those things in yourself that you 
blame in others. 



The effect of 
such feeding on the animals is apparent 
when they are turned out on the grass in 
summer; " many of. them are so dried up 
and emaciated that they appear like the 
ghosts of cows, their milk vessels are dried 
up, and it is not till they have been several 
weeks on the grass that they give either 
much milk or that of a rich quality." The 
summer feeding was generally pasture ; and 
though a much better system of feeding has 
been practiced throughout the country since 
the introduction of turnip husbandry, yet an 
approximation to that described by Mr. 
Aiton will be found in some of the upland 
districts. 

Farmers have now, however, a great vari- 
ety of food from which they can make a 



30 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[January 



selection j and the problem to be solved now 
is not how a sufficiency of one particular 
kind of food is to be gathered together to 
keep the cows in life for a considerable pe- 
riod of the year, but rather what variety of 
food, or, better, what mixture of varieties, 
how much, and in what state (raw or cook- 
ed), will prove most profitable for the pro- 
duction of butter. The mainstay of the 
dairy farmer now ac formerly in summer is 
grass ; in winter, however, there has been a 
great improvement in the feeding of -the 
cows, from the use of turnips and other 
roots, as well as many other substances, such 
as beans, draff or distillers' and brewers' 
grains, linseed and rape cake. &c. Even 
now in summer, in some districts, it is found 
advisable and profitable, where butter is 
wanted more than milk, to give the cows 
some nourishing food, in addition to the pas- 
ture, at the very height of the season. Draff 
and bean meal are the two substances more 
generally used in such circumstances. 

If the production of butter is to be the 
main object of keeping a dairy, there are 
two things to which the farmer should pay 
particular attention : the kind of cows he 
keeps, and the feeding. When we speak of 
the feeding, we mean not merely the quality 
of food the farmer purchases, but of what 
is grown on his farm. It is well known that 
the grass and turnips on some farms will 
produce far more butter from the same quan- 
tity of milk than those grown on others. 
We have known cattle fed on turnips alone 
from particular farms made fat in the same 
time as similar animals fed on turnips with 
the addition of two or three pounds of lin- 
seed cake each per day, the treatment and 
housing of the animals being alike in both 
cases. Certain fields will give a larger pro- 
portion of butter to the milk than others on 
the same farm. A farmer, therefore, should 
be guided, not only by the locality, but by 
the farm, in determining what department 
of the dairy he should turn his attention to. 

Without referring at all, at present, to the 
kind of cow most profitable for a butter dai- 
ry, we pass on to a consideration of the 
kinds of food that may be used most profita- 
bly for the production of butter. The great 
authority on this subject is Mr. Horsfall, 
who has laid the public under great obliga- 
tions to himself for the publication of his 
experiments and views on this interesting 
question. His method of feeding is the fol- 
lowing : 



In May, his cows are turned out on rich 
pasture near the homestead. Toward even- 
ing they are housed for the night, when the\ 
are supplied with a mess of a steamed mix- 
ture, to be afterward described and a little 
hay each morning and evening. During 
June, mown grass is given to them instead 
of hay, and they are also allowed two feeds 
of steamed mixture. This treatment is con- 
tinued till October, when they are again 
wholly housed. After this they receive 
steamed food ad libitum three times per day. 
After each meal, cabbages are given, from 
October till December j kohl-rabi till Feb- 



ruary 



and 



angles 



till grass-time — the 
supply of each of these varieties of green 
food being limited to 30 or 35 lbs. per dav 
for each cow. Four lbs. of meadow hay are 
also allowed after each meal, or 12 lbs. pel 
day for each cow, and water is placed be- 
fore them twice a day, of which they par- 
take as much as they feel inclined for. The 
steamed food spoken of above consists oi 
" 5 lbs. of rape-cake, 2 lbs. of bran, for each 
cow, mixed with a sufficient quantity oi 
bean-straw, oat-straw, and shells of oats, in 
equal proportions, to supply them three 
times a day with as much as they will eat, 
The "whole of the materials are moistened 
and blended together, and, after being well 
steamed, are given to the animal in a warm 
state. The attendant is allowed 1 lb. to \\ 
lbs. of bean-meal per cow, according to cir- 
cumstances, which he is charged to give tc 
each cow in proportion to the yield of milk, 
those in full milk getting 2 lbs. each per 
day, others but little ; it is dry, and mixed 
with the steamed food on its being dealt out 
separately." This is certainly high feeding, 
but it is amply repaid by the results ; for, 
while cows feci in the ordinary way seldom 
produce milk which yields more than 1 *oz. 
of butter to every quart, Mr. Horsfall's 
milk gives upward of li oz. for every quart. 
It is also an" important part of his system 
never to allow his cows to fall off in condi- 
tion. He considers the maintenance of the 
condition essential to a large yield of milk. 
There can be no doubt of the soundness of 
this opinion. A cow low in condition can 
not give the same quantity of milk, as much 
of the nourishment of the food is drawn off 
to make up the condition of the animal. 
And when a very lean cow is put on rich 
food, it is some weeks before the full benefit 
of the food can be obtained in milk, for the 
reason stated above. Another useful deduc- 



1800.] 



TIIE SOUTHERN PLANTKK. 



31 



lion made by Mr. HoRSfALL f«>r his experi- 
ments is, that aTbammotu matter is the most 
essential element in the food of the milk 
cow, ami that any deficiency in the supply 
of this will be attended with loss of condi- 
tion, and a consequent diminution in the 
quality of the milk. 

In Scotland, bran is not very often used 
as an ingredient in any mixture of food for 
milk cows; but it will be seen from the fore- 
going that it forms an important part of Mr. 
Borsfall's mixture. Some time ago we 
came upon the following extract, we believe 
from the Iriah Farmers' Gazette, which 
gives some valuable hints as to the use of 
different substances in the feeding of milk 
cows: 

" In reading over the experiments on 
feeding in Stephens, a difference of opin- 
ion exists as to the comparative fattening 
qualities of linseed-cake, bean and other 
meal; and in the Report of the Lame Na- 
tional Agricultural School for 1853, 1 lb. 
of beans is said to be equal in fattening 
qualities to 30 lbs. of turnips, and nearly 
3 lbs. of oat-meal. I tried the bean-meal 
one season, at the rate of 3 lbs. a day, 
boiled, for each milk cow, with mangel, tur- 
nip, and hay. By February, one of them 
was fat, but I may say dry ; and the others 
with about half the quantity of milk they 
had when commencing. I tried oat-meal 
for two winters, fhc same quantity in the 
same way, and each cow gave three times 
the quantity of milk and butter, and turned 
out full better the following summer. I 
tried the same quantity of yellow Indian 
meal last winter, ami I think it good for 
both milk and butter. I tried bran for 
three winters, at the rate of 4 lbs. every 
night for each cow. It was equal to the 
oat-meal, while using, and my cows turned 
out better the following summer than on 
any other feeding. The bran not only 
keeps them healthy, and gives them* a 
greater relish for their food, but there is 
some combination of qualities in it beyond 
what any writer I have seen attributes 
to it." 

The state in which the food is given has 
also a great effect in the production of both 
milk and butter. We have observed more 
than once that the yield of butter and milk 
is never so great when we give cows boiled 
turnips, with beans boiled quite soft among 
them, as when they get the boiled turnips 
and the same weight of beans made into 



meal and mixed raw with them. Again, 
there is more milk, and no taste of the tur- 
nip in it, when the turnips are pulped and 
mixed with cut straw or chaff and fermented, 

than if the same weight of turnips are 
given whole and raw. In the Journal 
d' Agriculture Pratique we read a short no- 
tice on this subject, by M. Lfjeune, a 
director of the Agricultural School at 
Thourout, in Belgium. The facts he reports 
are not to be regarded as experiments insti- 
tuted to test any theory, but are merely 
extracted from his accounts, and show the 
importance of attending to the mode in 
which food is given to milk cows. In 
February, 185$, the milk of eight cows was 
selected for experiment. The cows were 
fed in the following manner: Each cow got 
per day 4.4 lbs. of meadow hay, 13.2 lbs. 
straw, 4.8 lbs. linseed-meal, 11.5 lbs. of 
beet-root, and a cooked mash consisting of 
5.5 lbs. of turnips, 2.7 lbs. of beet-root, 1.2 
lbs. linseed-meal, 3.2 lbs. of rape-cake, 1.1 
lb. of grain dust, 1.1 lb. of mixed meal, 
about l^oz. ot salt, and G gallons of water. 
From this very watery diet a large quantity 
of milk was obtained, 16 quarts of which 
gave 1 lb. of butter. In the month of 
February, 1856, the calculation was made 
from the milk of ten cows, eight of which 
were those with which the observations 
were made in the previous year. The nu- 
tritive value of the food detailed above was 
calculated to be equivalent to upward of 30 
lbs. of good meadow hay per head. The 
food given in 1856 consisted of oat-straw, 
beet-root, the meal of rye, oats, and buck- 
wheat, linseed-cake, rape-cake, and the dust 
of wheat or bran, given in such proportions 
as to make the equivalent value of the day's 
feed equal to a little more than 31 lbs. per 
head of hay. None of it was cooked, and 
the beet-root was reduced to small pieces 
sprinkled over the meal. There was not 
the same quantity of milk, but the propor- 
tion of butter was much larger, being 2 lbs. 
of butter for every 20 quarts of milk. The 
cows, with the exception of the food, were 
managed in the same way in both years, 
and there were more newly-calved cows in 
1855 than in 1856.— The Farmers Note- 
Book in the Journal of Agriculture. 



Old Radish Seed. — A correspondent of the 
Prairie Farmer says that radish peed that has 
been kept six years or more, will produce rad- 
ishes of a better quality than new seed. 



32 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[January 



Front i he Working Farmer. 

Experiments— Importance of. 

Farmers often find fault with those who ex- 
periment. They say of a neighbor sometimes, 
" he is rather experimental ;" but they should 
remember that every new truth is an experi- 
ment, to all those who have not tried it. 
Some one must be the first to vary from the 
trodden path, or we should still use a crooked 
6tiok' instead of a plow. There is a class, 
however, who, upon hearing of any novelty in 
agriculture, at once try it, not on a square 
yard, but on their whole crop ; such men are 
not worthy of being styled experimenters. 
But should a farmer, at this day, call himself 
practical and judicious in his calling, who, 
after having heard that in many sections of 
country corn is cultivated flat, without hill- 
ing, and that potatoes are so cultivated, still 
continues to hill both without trying the ex- 
periment of flat cultivation even on a single 
hill, can such a man be rated as judicious? 
Is such a man to be called a practical farmer? 
Is he practical, who allows Lima beans to 
travel around a pole fifteen feet high, when 
the pinching off of the vine at five and a half 
feet high will produce double the crop of beans, 
and particularly before frost? Should he not 
try the experiment and see how it will an- 
swer? Many permit mellons, cucumbers, etc., 
to run over the entire area of their soil, in 
long, single vines, while others, by pinching 
off the runner-buds, after the third rough leaf 
has formed, get their fruit early and of double 
size. "Why should not this experiment be 
tried and adopted, if found true ? Goose- 
berries mildew all over the country, but some 
have saved them by cutting every branch that 
is within five inches of another, and by mulch- 
ing the sur£ace with salt hay, or other cheap 
refuse material ; is this not a fair experiment 
to try ? 

It l?as been frequently asserted, that pro- 
perly under-drained sub-soiled lands never 
suffer from drought: who cannot name many 
farmers who lose their crops from- drouth, 
at least once in ten years, and still have never 
experimented to know whether they can under- 
drain and sub-soil their land, for one-tenth the 
value of their crops, or whether such sub-soil- 
ing arid under draining will save them from 
drouth entirely? And those who doubt this 
fact, should they not make the experiment, or 
visit the farms of those who have, to know of 
its truth ? 

Thousands of acres of peach trees are 
grown by those who have never tried the 
shortening-in process, and can never tell 
whether they will bear for a series of years 
longer for such practice, or not. Is it not a 
fair experiment to try this on a single tree at 
least? Are there not thousands of farmers in 
the United States who have never tried any 
other fertilizing material than barn-yard ma- 



nure? Should they not satisfy themselves 
by the experiment, whether or hot others may 
not bo more cheaply used, and produce more 
profitable results? 

Continually we hear it said, that those who 
surface-plow five or six inches, have another 
farm under it which they have not developed. 
Should not such farmers experiment with the 
sub-soil plow to know if this be true or false? 
A bushel of carrots and a bushel of oats, are 
said to equal in effect, when fed to a horse, two 
bushels of oats. Now, as sixteen times the 
number of bushels of carrots can be raised 
on an acre, than can possibly be grown of oats, 
should not those farmers, who have never 
raised carrots, try the experiment; and thus 
ascertain if these assertions are true? Those 
who use hoes, and forks, etc., for cleansing 
row crops of weeds, have heard that the horse 
weeder would do the work of forty men with 
hoes, and that many have repudiated the use 
of the hoe altogether for root crops, why 
should they not try this experiment? It is 
said that one mowing machine will do the 
work of twenty men with scythes, and that 
one thrashing machine will do the work of a 
hundred men with flails ; should not those 
who at present use flails, visit farms where 
mowing machines and thrashing machines 
are used, to ascertain if that experiment will 
not warrant them in the purchase of such 
tools? 

Those who use barn-yards open and ex- 
posed to the winds and rains, and who permit 
the washings to run off to creeks and streams, 
have doubtless heard that with manure sheds, 
and properly arranged tanks retaining the 
drainage of the manure heap, and pumps, ob- 
tain better results than by the open barn-yard 
practice ; should they not carefully review 
the operations of these experimenters, rather 
than satyrize that of which they have no 
knowledge? Experience is said to be the 
mother of wisdom — experiment is the fattier 
of truth. 



-4 m • &~+- 



Kidney- Worms in Swine. — The German- 
town Telegraph says, this disease may gene- 
rally be known by the animal appearing w T eak 
across the loins, and sometimes by a weakness 
in one or both hind legs. As soon as these 
symptoms appear, give the animal corn that is 
soaked in lye of wood ashes, or strong soap- 
suds, and at the same time rub the loins with 
turpentine. An Ohio farmer cures this dis- 
ease by giving one ounce of copperas, daily, 
for six or eight days, dissolved in warm water, 
and mixed with two quarts of corn meal and 
dish-water. 

Heaves in Horses. — It is said, in a recent 
number of an agricultural paper, that a quart 
of a decoction of smart-weed, given every day 
to a heavy horse, will cure the heaves. We 
doubt it; but there is no harm in trying. 



1800.] 



Til E SOUTH KltN PLANTER 



33 



thr Southern Plan 
Advice to Young Farmers. 

I lon^ r ha'e thought my youthfu' friends 
A something to have sent yon. 
Tho' it should serve na'e other end 
Than ju>t n kind memento : 
Km how the subject theme mny gang 
Let time and chance determine, 
Perhaps it may turn out a Bang, 
Perhaps turn out a sermon. 

'Tis the most difficult thing attempted, 
Mr. Editor, in these clays of book-making 
and essay-writing, to say anything which 
will be read, and read with interest, or profit 
by the reader. 

There seems to be a perfect mania per- 
vading the people now-a-days for seeing 
themselves in print, and not satisfied with 
seeing themselves in the periodicals of the 
day, each one must write a book. The re- 
sult is, that having to search so much chaff 
for a grain of wheat, men will not read at 
all, or if they do. it is of that sort which 
profitcth not. " Hence these tears," hence 
proceed our difficulties. One can never be 
certain he has any thing to say that will at- 
tract, or satisfied that lie has said " that 
any thing" concisely-enough ! 

To have an interesting subject, and to 
treat that subject as forcibly as is consistent 
with perspicuity, seems to be the grand de- 
sideratum of the time's. Brevity then shall 
rule in the suggestions 1 have to make to 
our young farmer friends. 

Leisure has been wanting hitherto, but 
for some time I have been intending to ad- 
dress an article, or it may be, a series of 
articles to this class of our community, 
which they might, if the papers proved 
worthy of it, take as a sort of " vade mc- 
cum," or pocket companion, and we know 
not a better medium through which to speak 
to them than your excellent "Planter" As 
the new year is about to conrmence, we had 
quite as well begin now and do what we 
may for the advancement of the interest 
upon which depends the lawyers, the doc- 
tors, the merchants, and all the interests of 
the land in which we live. 

And first of the government needful to 
be exercised in the successful conduct of a 
farm. 

In speaking of this branch of our sub- 
ject, we suppose ourselves to be addressing 
neither "old fogies" nor "Young Ameri- 



ca" — neither those who arc satisfied to do a 
thing because their " Faders did bo before 
them," nor those who imagine they have- 
learned all that can be learned. Let our 

young friends read, remembering that the 

distinguished Patrick Henry once said, that 

"he had never conversed with a sane man 

from whom he could not extort a new idea." 

The young farmer must, in his " set out," 

be assured that he is qualified to govern 

himself. No man can govern others, who 

has never learned to govern himself. If he 

has failed to learn— -this — emphatically — 

the art <f the farmer's life — he had better 

hire out and rent out, and go to school to 

learn it. Better put himself on board a 

man-of-war and learn how to obey, or in 

other words, bring his will into subjection — 

learn to keep all his passions under. Lot 

him ponder the proverb, "Better is he that 

ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." 

Unless our young brother has learned this — 

[the art — we can tell him on the threshold 

of his operations, that his btfsiness will be 

conducted with a great outlay of time and 

money, and wear and tear of health and 

'comfort. Let him first, himself, learn what 

obedience is, and then, and not till then, is 

he qualified to command it. We know, from 

long experience, that this is indispensable 

to good management, hence we dwell upon 

it! 

The young farmer should be careful that 
the order he issues is reasonable — that it is 
given in such manner as may not be mis- 
understood, but when that order is given — 
although in itself of minor importance, its 
execution should be as inexorably fulfilled 
as if the fall or rise of his whole estate de- 
pended on that order. If an order of this 
kind be neglected, those of great import- 
ance will be neglected also. Our friend 
will be surprised to see with how little 
trouble — with what comfort to himself and 
to those under him, his business will bo con- 
ducted if this rule is rigidly adhcared to. 
Let the order be a reasonable one, but let 
the want of obedience to it. be punished, 
though the " Heavens fall." 

A very sensible old lady used to sa}', " I 
make it a rule to whip my children and 
servants for — accidents? The consequence 
is, that accidents rarely happen at my 
house." 8he thought, it should rather be 
written carelessness ! 

The good managers will sec to it, how- 
ever, that these corrections are administered 



34 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[January 



calmly, dispassionately. They must govern' 
themselves. Obedience — prompt and im- 
plicit obedience — to orders, covers almost all 
the ground of a well disciplined household ! 
The knowledge of the laborer, of the fact, 
that no disobedience, or those things called 
accidents, will be allowed to go unwhipt of 
justice, will not only be insurance against 
these things occurring, but will, after a 
few years observance of the rule, render 
the laborer habitually careful, and promptly 
obedient, and bring along with it its own 
reward to the governor and the governed — 
all goes on pleasantly, and with a harmony 
that is perfectly delightful. 

The judicious manager will never tempt 
those under him to depart from the truth, 
by asking questions of them as to the exe- 
cution of orders. He should be especially 
careful, in this regard, as to the younkers of 
the family. If he sees that mischief has 
been done, — orders disobeyed, thefts com- 
mitted, or anything wrong, he should never 
accuse them, indiscriminately, of having 
committed the wrong, but he should culti- 
vate and foster the truth by every means in 
his power. There is a great deal of force 
in that saying of Jerry Sullivan's, who, 
when questioned by his master as to some of 
his duties — always said to him, "Ask me 
na' questions and I'll tell ye na' lies." When, 
however, by strict investigation the defaul- 
ter is found out, let the falsehood be pun- 
ished as relentlessly, or more so, than diso- 
bedience, or anything else pertaining to the 
household delinquencies, and in a short time 
he will perceive that, contrary to the re- 
ceived theory, his servants will be as truth- 
ful and free from pilfering as white persons 
can be. Ask no questions, kowever, and 
make no accusations, that you are not fully 
prepared to prove. We are not told whether 
Abraham whipped his household for diso- 
bedience, or for accidents — but we do know 
that he was called " the friend of God" be- 
cause he " governed his household." 

FARM HOUSES, 

From stable to dwelling inclusive, are most 
important adjunots to the farmer's establish- 
ment, and should not be passed over in these 
suggestions. If- we were called upon to 
select any one thing, to the exclusion of all 
others, for the improvement of a farm, it 
would be the arrangement of the dwelling 
and grounds immediately surrounding. A 
man may have improved his grounds at 



large to the capacity of fifty bushels to the 
acre — he may have the fat cattle " upon a 
thousand hills" — he may have everything 
else apparently thrifty about him, but if he 
lives in one of those long, tall, narrow, dis- 
proportioned wooden, or brick buildings, 
such as our fathers, some of them, thought 
were the ultimatum of architectural pro- 
portions and beauty, and which their chil- 
dren have been imitating ever since for the 
forcible reason, that "their Faders did 



so 



before them" — if a man lives in such a 
house, with a crooked rail fence around a 
yard without grass, without trees, without 
shrubbery of any kind, and without a neatly 
inclosed garden, well tilled and manured — 
we speak the sentiments of the sensible 
and refined every where, when we say, that 
farmer friend of ours knows but little of 
the real enjoyment of life, and but little. of 
the fact that, so far as the increased value 
of his " place" is considered, he is literally 
spending his labor in vain. A neat, taste- 
ful arrangement of houses and enclosures 
about the dwelling, are, nine times in ten, 
the things which render the farm valuable 
in the sight of those whose high estimation 
of such property we desire. These are the 
things, the others being not altogether neg- 
lected, by which the* farmer's estate is in- 
creased greatly over that of the man who 
labors exclusively for the money he puts 
into his pocket each year. 

If our young friend has 1 is farm already 
supplied with buildings of this kind, when 
he takes possession, the best that he can do 
for bettering his condition and renovating 
them, after counting his means, should be 
to pay an architect, if he himself should 
not have the skill, a hundred or more dollars, 
according to the service rendered, to plan 
such improvements as shall be commensu- 
rate with his means. These architects are 
generally men of acknowledged taste and 
judgment; and being, as they fire, daily en- 
gaged in business of this kind, they are far 
better fitted for the work than those of us 
who build but once in a lifetime, and who 
sec the errors we make only too late to 
correct them. This hundred or more dollars 
will soon come back to them, in comfort and 
convenience, and if they should want to 
sell, in the increased value of their farm. 

The kitchen should be near to, but not 
so near the dwelling as to endanger their 
burning each other. • It should be furnished 
with all the improved apparatus for cooking. 



1800.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



86 



A young cook, not an old one, should take 
tlu" position. The old ones are all "old 
fogies," and can never be taught to cook 
with a fire anything short of that which 
will roast them while it roasts the meats. 
An old cook can never be taught the neat, 
tidy ways which may be practiced, with but 
little trouble, under the modern system of 
stoves and boilers, and galvanized safes, &c, 
&c. The kitchen should be sacred ground 
to every foot but that of the cook and mis- 
tress. 'Tis said, that " every man must eat 
his peck of dirt," but we are sure, from the 
amount of filth that is suffered to accumu- 
late about most kitchens, that we eat that 
amount annually. Cleanliness is more 
needed about that department than any 
other on the premises of a well regulated 
homestead. This cannot be attained if any 
other than the cook is suffered to set foot 
there, and that, not for sleeping, or sitting, 
but exclusively for culinary purposes. 

The negro cabins should be built on a 
southern slope, as near as possible to wood 
and water, but especially the latter. The 
neatest and most eligible, and at the same 
time the cheapest, that we have seen, are 
those built after the following manner. 
Sills, 36 by 16, should be framed together, 
so that after leaving 4 feet for a double 
rock or brick chimney, the rooms may be 
16 by 14. Corner posts may be used or not, 
according to the pleasure of the builder. 
The house being only 7 or 8 feet pitch, the 
weatherboarding of perpendicular plank 1 
inch thick, with breakers of the same thick- 
ness 4 inches wide, nailed at the top to a 
plate 2 inches thick by 4 wide, will be 
ample support to the roof, which should be 
flat as possible, to turn the water readily. 
The weatherboarding, with these strips or 
breakers, should be nailed carefully to the 
sills at bottom, and the plates at top, with 
12 penny nails, and the weatherboarding 
should, nene of it, be more than 10 to 12 
inches wide, as wider than that the sun will 
be apt to warp and draw the nails loose. 
"As paint," 'tis said, " costs nothing," we 
would advise that the weatherboarding be 
rough-dressed and painted, both of which 
operations may be performed by such a 
hand as can be obtained for $16 or $18 per 
month. Each room should be ventilated 
by an opening of 4 by 4, filled with small 
glass, with strips nailed over it, to keep the 
unwary from breaking it. These houses 
will cost from $75 to $100. If they should 



be found too cold, it may be remedied by 
nailing four or five dollars worth of course 
oznaburga over the inner wall and painting 
it. These houses will last a lifetime, with 
once covering. They are entirely substan- 
tial and permanent. The houses of west- 
ern Texas, are, most of them, constructed 
after this plan, and are considered as per- 
manent as any, and we all know the terri- 
ble hurricanes they are subjected to in those 
southern climates. These cabins should be 
raised a foot or more from the ground, in 
order that the filth generated about the 
houses may be carefully got up once or 
twice a year. Every family of negroes 
should have a little enclosure around their 
cabin, which they should, be diligently en- 
couraged to cultivate and manure. They 
should be required to do this as regularly as 
to do the work of the master. It will greatly 
conduce to make them orderly and care- 
taking, and followed up with the master's 
w 7 atchful attention for a series of years, it 
will profit both master and man far more 
than on the first blush will appear. 

There is an old adage, to the effect, 
"Keep a thing seven years, and if you have 
no use for it then, throw it away." This 
adage the negroes pursue most literally, as 
it regards their old shoes, old coats, old 
pants, shirts, and everything belonging to 
their dress ; all these are thoroughly worn 
and soiled, and then thrust into the loft — 
into "chists," as they call them — boxes, 
barrels, or corners of their rooms — where 
they will lie until they become almost a 
putrid mass, to generate disease of every 
character. The most cleanly of them will 
do this, to the detriment of health and com- 
fort, and the enlargement of the master's 
doctor's bill. The judicious master will 
go around, once or twice a year, and have 
all these things committed to the fire, and 
will, once a year, use a barrel of lime and 
a icliitc-icash brush, costing in all $2, upon 
the inside, and thus save the visits of the 
doctor and the health of his negroes. 

STABLES, COW HOUSES, AC. 

Thee should be most carefully located, 
on as level a surface as possible. . A never- 
failing stream of pure water, cither in the 
manger of the horse, or in the stable-yard, is 
indispensable. The good manager will have 
had reference to this in the location of his 
dwelling. Whether this arrangement has 
been made or not beforehand, when the 



36 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[January 



stable or cow houses come to be built, such 
a location should be sought for them as will 
insure to the stock an abundance of the best 
of this indispensable requisite to their good 
keeping. Unless they be placed where they 
can help themselves to good clean water, 
you may in vain expect to have a team in 
good condition. Negroes and overseers 
cannot be made to understand these things. 
Hence, interest, as well as the convenience 
of the master, demands that water be placed 
in connection with the stables. 

The construction of these buildings are of 
great moment. They may be so constructed 
as to be a great convenience, and on the 
other hand so built as to be a continual an- 
noyance. We give our experience in this 
kind of building — as we speak experi- 
mentally chiefly — in all these things which 
we are now writing for our young brethren. 
Supposing we were going to provide stabling 
for from six to ten horses — we would have 
the dimensions 32 by 33 feet from out to 
out — this would afford 10 stables 12 feet 
long and 5 feet wide in- the clear, the horses 
being arranged with their heads on each 
side of a plank floor passage 6 feet wide, in 
which their chop is cut and mixed, and 
transferred directly to their troughs without 
the trouble of going out of the stable. In 
this passage, also, may be placed boxes for 
holding meal, or barrels for soaking grain, 
not one bushel of which should be fed with- 
out either grinding or soaking. But to the 
building — -we would have locust posts set in 
the ground (and white oak, if locust could 
not be procured,) 2 | to 3 feet deep, 8 feet 
pitch, with a plate on top of them 6 by 8 
inches, upon which the roof rests. These 
posts should be 8 feet apart, and conse- 
quently, there being 4 rows of them, the 
number thus set into the ground will be 20. 
Besides the stables below, this roof will af- 
ford a large and commodious receptacle for 
storing such provender as the master may 
wish to cut for mixing with meal for his 
stock. The sides should be w atherboarded 
perpendicularly with inch plank 10 to 12 
inches in width, precisely in the way indi- 
cated in building negio cabins — with the 
addition of studding put into the posts hori- 
zontally, so that the plank will come flush 
on the posts — and so that it can be nailed 
every two feet of its length. If this wea- 
therboarding were rough-dressed, and, as 
t( paint costs nothing," if it were painted, it 
would be far better! All these things would 



be rendered better still by the master's 
having a good halter chain permanently at- 
tached to each stable, and requiring that no 
horse should be put into them without be- 
ing fastened by them. If " what is worth 
doing at all, is worth doing well," then at- 
tention to these things is decided economy. 
We hope our young brother will take a 
smoke at this stage of our lecture, and wait 
with patience for what we have to say fur- 
ther to him in the next number of our. ex- 
cellent farmer's book. . L. M. 



For the Southern Planter. 

Capital and Enterprise — the Eases of 
Agricultural Progress. 

FROM THE FARMERS' CLUB OF NOTTOWAY. 

We use the word capital to embrace every 
thing from the legitimate use of which, the 
individual so using it, may reasonably calcu- 
late on receiving a remunerating return in 
revenue or interest on the amount vested ; 
and the word enterprise to express what- 
ever constitutes good husbandry. 

The capital invested in agriculture, in 
our community, may be divided into lands, 
labour and money. . The relative proportion 
of these three elements, in a judicious in- 
vestment, is, probably, one of the most diffi- 
cult problems which the agriculturist has 
to solve, and in the practical adjustment of 
which, it is believed many errors are com- 
mitted. With a majority of farmers, the 
error consists in too large investments in 
lands ; arising heretofore, from the low esti- 
mate placed on them, in the exhausted con- 
dition in which they were left to us by our 
predecessors, their remoteness from markets, 
the ease and cheapness with which they 
were acquired, and the avaricious propen- 
sity of our nature to " add field to field, and 
house to house, more from a desire to occu- 
py, than an ability to use them. 

The relative proportion of real, personal 
and chattel estate, varies materially in dif- 
ferent countries, and even in the same com- 
munity. In England, where calculation 
and skill have attained to nearly a perfect 
standard, it is considered, the capital em- 
ployed, (in. which is always included the 
stock), should be from seven to nine times 
the amount of the rents. This would ap- 
pear to be a great disproportion, even in 
view of the fact that lands are high and 
labor cheap ; but the cost of stocking the 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



37 



farm, draining the lands, tho purchase 'of 
costly fertilizers and other incidental ex- 
penses, consequent on a high state of agri- 
cultural improvement is very great; and 
that, probably a large amount of the En- 
glish farmer's profits are derived from the 
sale of stock, &c, rather than from the 
great staple crops of the farm, may justify 
this investment. 

In Virginia, where every farmer has a 
fee simple estate in the lands which he cul- 
tivates, and that too with his own labor, 
where lands are cheap and Lbor dear, avast 
disproportion in the relative investments 
exists, and the difference is found adverse 
to the English rule. From the best infor- 
mation I have been enabled to obtain on the 
subject, it will be found that there is but 
little difference between the investments in 
land, and all other taxable property, held by 
the Virginia farmers ; nearly one half of his 
capital being locked up in land, while the 
English farmer has six eights or eight ninths 
of his capital at his own disposal, for stock- 
ing and improving his farm, or for specula- 
tion and other profitable investments. 

Labor is an important item under the 
head of capital. Without the application 
of labor to our lands, they would be value- 
less, it is the judicious use of labor that 
renders them productive and valuable. The 
earth spontaneously produces but few of the 
necessaries and still fewer of the luxuries 
of life; and it is wisely ordained, tfiat "man 
in the sweat of his face shall eat bread till 
he return to the ground." Now, as of old, 
the wheat and the tares grow together; the 
thistle and the corn occupy the same space 
whether on the hill top or in the valley ; and 
the vine and the bramble everywhere con- 
tend for the mastery ; all making heavy and 
constant demands on the labor- and energy 
of man, to subdue and cultivate the earth. 
If the sentiment be true, as it has been 
beautifully expressed, that " the price of 
liberty is eternal vigilance," it is no less 
true, that the price of agricultural success, 
is ceaseless, untiring, well-directed labor. 

We do not propose to discuss the mooted 
question, as to the relative value of free and 
slave labor ; with the one we have no ex- 
perience ; with the other, we are familiar, 
and can duly testify to its adaptation to our 
wants, and appreciate its advantages, social- 
ly and politically. In agricultural pursuits, 
it is admitted much depends on the quality 
of the labor employed; still more on the 



quantity and skill by which it is directed, 
for it cannot have escaped the notice of the 
most superficial observer, that the same num- 
ber of laborers of equal physical ability 
will accomplish much more work in a given 
time, under the supervision of a judicious 
manager, than when directed by one inexpe- 
rienced or indifferent to the means and ap- 
pliances by which the labor may be perform- 
ed in the best manner and at the least ex- 
pense of muscle and sinew. 

The present unprecidented high price of 
labor, is, perhaps, one of the principal hin- 
drances to agricultural 'progress, and is a 
subject demanding the attention of political 
economists. In populous communities, where 
farming is the principal pursuit, there is 
generally a ju,st relation between the price 
of land, labor and produce ; nor can this 
relation be long disturbed from any cause, 
whatever, without producing monetary de- 
rangement and general embarrassment. The 
connection between the three and their mu- 
tual dependance is so great, the one on the 
other, that one cannot suffer without in- 
juriously affecting the whole. 

The high price of labor in this commu- 
nity, is due to several causes, some of them 
favorable, some unfavorable to our local and 
individual interests. Since the construction 
of our railroads, the price of lands has ad- 
vanced from thirty to fifty per cent, during 
the same period . the price of labor has ad- 
vanced one hundred and fifty per cent, and 
the price of our staple crops, although above 
an average price, (and would be considered 
amply remunerating under the old order of 
things), has not advanced in the same ratio 
with land and labor ; especially when you 
add to the actual cost of that labor the fur- 
ther incidental charges of costly fertilizers, 
dear provisions and high taxes. Hence the 
farmer, in this section, cannot judiciously 
increase his labor as his necessities demand; 
because his net profits from that labor do 
not justify the investment and cover the 
risk of loss from death and other casualties. 
Again, the price of labor is not regulated 
by the returns of that labor as applied or 
employed on the worn out and exhausted 
fields of Eastern Virginia, but by the higher 
and more remunerating returns of labor in 
the rich alluvial valleys of the South and 
Southwest, and in the more valuable sta- 
ple crops of cotton, sugar and rice. 

Another cause of the high price of labor, 
is due to the increase of the precious metals 



38 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[January 



and an abundant circulation. This also 
acts unfavorably and unequally on us ; we 
are not so much benefitted by this increase 
of the circulating medium as our more fa- 
vorably situated neighbors of the south, be- 
cause their fertile lands and valuable sta- 
ples enable them to derive a revenue from 
their labor greater than any thing .we can 
calculate on; hence we tannot compete with 
them in the use and application of that la- 
bor, and are driven, by force of circum- 
stances, out of the market; for as sure as 
water seeks its level, so certainty will labor 
seek its best returns, and money its highest 
profits. 

Another cause of the high price of labor, 
is the heavy emigration of our citizens to 
the South. This restless spirit of our peo- 
ple has been very unfavorable to the pros- 
perity and progress of the Old Dominion, 
by 'abstracting a large per centage of our 
white population and a larger number of our 
best laborers; by increasing the price of 
those remaining ; and at the same time 
throwing large quantities of land into mar- 
ket; in a community where labor is dear and 
land cheap, and population sparse; where 
numbers, capital and enterprise are so much 
wanted to develop the boundless resources 
of national wealth so profusely lavished on 
Virginia by nature. 

From the records of our office, the in- 
crease of the white male population in the 
county, over sixteen, during the last decade, 
amounts to only sixteen, (to say nothing of 
females of which the returns give no ac- 
count,) and the increase of tithes and under 
tithes, for the same period to only five hun- 
dred and eight, making, in the aggregate, 
only five hundred and twenty-four. 

In 1848, the tax on all property, other 
than lands, amounted to nineteen hundred 
and sixty-six dollars and eighty-four cents. 
For the same year, to wit, 1848, the tax on 
land amounted to twelve hundred and forty- 
nine dollars and thirty-seven cents. 

In 1858, tax on all property other than 
land amounted to $8,946, and the land tax 
amounted the same year to $7,639 dollars ; 
amounting in the aggregate to $16,585. 
Thus we sco, that during the last ten years 
our population is only a little more than sta- 
tionary, that during that period, taxation 
has increased between six and seven hun- 
dred per cent., and that we have not two 
dollars for one, vested in all other species of 



property over and above that which is vest- 
ed in land. 

This small increase in. population for the 
last ten .years, a period exempt from the 
horrors of war, pestilence and famine, and 
under other circumstances highly favoura- 
ble to rearing and sustaining a dense pop- 
ulation, can only be accounted for by the 
volunteer emigration of the white popular 
tion and the deportation of the slaves. 

Another cause of the advance in labour, 
is the employment of a large number of 
slaves on our rail-roads and other internal 
improvements and the mechanical trades. 
This is impolitic; they could in a majority 
of instances be more profitably employed 
on the farm ; besides they are occupying 
situations more appropriately belonging to 
that class of citizens who are dependant on 
their labour for theirs and their family's sup- 
port; thus compelling them to seek employ- 
ment in other communities. 

Experience, it may be said,' is the basis 
of good husbandry ; but that man will be 
most likely to succeed in his vocation, what- 
ever it may be, whose mind is well stored 
with the kindred and necessary sciences, by 
which he will be enabled, from the deduc- 
tions of reason, to arrive at correct conclu- 
sions, and who possesses the energy of body 
and mind to execute what his judgment as- 
sures him is right ; he will adopt the best 
means to attain his object, and apply them 
in the most economical way. 

We would, in the first place, recommend 
a judicious division and investment of the 
capital employed : believing that too large 
a portion thereof is vested in land, and is 
idle and unproductive, whereby the farmer is 
crippled in his operations. The surface 
cultivated is disproportionate -to the labour 
employed, which necessarily leads to a hur- 
ried, slovenly cultivation, the bane of good 
husbandry, having respect to the quantity 
rather than quality of work done. We 
would suggest the propriety of reducing the 
area of our fields, extending our rotation, 
the liberal cultivation of clover and other 
grasses and ameliorating crops, by which 
our stock will be improved in quality and 
increased in number, and be made auxili- 
aries in the improvement of our lands. 

We have no means to suggest bj which 
the nnmber f)f our labourers may be in- 
creased, and labour cheapened ; but they 
may be rendered more efficient, by a more 
systematic application of their labour in all 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



39 



our operations, and by the substitution of 
machinery and animal labour when appli- 
cable. Every farmer should be a good 
financier and practical economist, husband- 
ing all his resources and personally direct- 
ing the operations of his farm. This im- 
plies a practical if not scientific knowledge 
of his business, "without which he is ever 
liable to imposition. How can he without 
this knowledge ascertain whether a sufficient 
amount of work has been performed, or 
whether it .has been faithfully executed ? 
It is by personal effort, directed by scien- 
tific knowledge, that the greatest achieve- 
ments have been made in all the industrial 
pursuits of man, and agriculture is no ex- 
ception to the rule. Here we would ad- 
vocate the establishment of: agricultural 
schools, colleges," societies and clubs, as the 
best means of enlisting the united effort and 
influence of practical and scientific men in 
the advancement of our cause, for without 
concert of action no great progress can be 
expected in this or any other human en- 
terprize. 

Fertile lands and valuable money staples 
are the inducements to emigration and de- 
portation ; to counteract these tendencies we 
must increase the productiveness of our 
lands, and improve the quality of our sta- 
ples ; give employment to our floating pop- 
ulation, so as to keep them at home, and 
more thoroughly identify them in their 
feelings, associations, and interests, with the 
land and home of their fathers. »Our ob- 
ject should be to retain our present number, 
and, for the future, to guard as much as 
possible against the operation of these 
causes which have favoured emigration. 

The letter of our constitution ignores 
whatever savors of politics; we can no more 
than allude to the African slave trade. 
The introduction of the Chinese coolies, if 
practicable, would be impolitic. The in- 
troduction of a third order would be inju 7 
rious, if not hazardous, to our domestic in- 
stitutions, and we have seen nothing but 
evil resulting from the employment of the 
lower order of European labourers on our 
farms, and associating with our slaves. Vir- 
ginia must be her own nursery ; she can 
and will annually send forth labourers into 
her harvest fields, equal to her greatest ne- 
cessities, in defiance of Northern abolition- 
ists and underground rail-roads. 

A. A. Campbell. 



For the Southern Planter. 

On Tobacco Culture. 

FROM THE FARMERS* CLUB OF NOTTOWAY. 

In discharge of my annual obligation, I 
propose to discuss a question which has en- 
gaged my consideration for some years. 
Viz : How is it that so many persons, with 
the same or inferior facilities, have made so 
much more tobacco than myself? After 
due allowance for deficiency in judgment, 
management and attention, there remained 
much which defied solution. I was inclined 
to ascribe it somewhat to a degree of hard- 
driving, barbarity, &c, which I did not de- 
sire to know. But there were persons sim- 
ilarly successful, whose judgment, human- 
ity and propriety precluded such a belief, 
and induced the conclusion that some skill 
and management not formerly exerted were 
auxiliary to such results. 

I heard a gentleman possessing the algove 
attributes, with thankfulness, piety, &c, de- 
clare that he did not believe his hands 
worked any harder in making his increased 
crops, than they dd to produce his previ- 
ously deficient ones, and any new systems 
or aids become objects of interesting con- 
sideration, which I propose to discuss, not 
so much from my own experience, as from 
the materials I have collected from others. 
It must be admitted in the commencement, 
that a proper use of guano and other fer- 
tilizers for tobacco is the chief foundation 
of this increase, commencing even in the 
plant beds. Formerly we were restricted 
to the land; we would clear our second 
year's ground, and what we could manure 
from farm yards not exceeding 40,000 to 
50,000 hills per each department, or 120 
to 150,000, per 15 to 20 hands, leaving a 
small space for wheat, except by using the 
entire corn shift. 

According to the present plan of using 
the old land with fertilizers you can pre- 
pare in hills or beds with the plow for 
200,000 tobacco plants more easily than 
you could clear the 40,000 new ground 
hills and make them up. Here, with the 
increased quantity and forwardness of the 
plants, you have a wonderfully increased 
facility in the commencement. The diffi- 
culty has generally been in the worming 
and suckering. I don't see well how the 
impediment of suckering can be much di- 
minished, except in a way I would not de- 



40 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[January 



sire to imitate. But in the worming skill 
and system may afford assistance. 

Formerly it was the practice in worming 
to turn over and examine each leaf, 
whether there were indications of injury 
or not, which required so much time and 
delay as to expose the latter portion of the 
crop to very great depredation. It is said 
that by passing over the crop, only noticing 
the evidences of the worm, you can get 
over the crop so much more frequently as 
to place a larger surface under much better 
control. 

In the housing of a large crop to the 
hands, there must necessarily be much la- 
bour and attention, employing a portion of 
the night. The number and convenience 
of barns, afford assistance here. In the 
curing of the crop, I believe much labour 
can be saved, as the use of fires can be 
dispensed with to some extent, except when 
likely to injure. In the stripping of the 
croj), a good, comfortable room with a stove 
and glass windows convenient to dwellings 
is particularly useful, especially in bad 
weather. 

In the hanging up and striking down of 
the crop, small sticks, not much larger than 
the little finger, two and a half feet long, 
and hung up in the direction of the tier- 
poles, on two of the usual sticks across the 
poles, are very useful. When the bundles 
have been straightened and pressed hard, 
they can be hung up by passing these little 
sticks under the head without opening the 
leaves, which is otherwise very tedious ; 
and in striking down, these little sticks 
jieed not be removed during that operation, 
at least when expedition is important to 
secure the order. 

As another facility, it is important that 
the hands should be well fed and clothed, 
and their food prepared for them without 
interruption, and the increased crop justi- 
fies and affords the observance, apart from 
humanity and interest, for there can be no 
greater extravagance and wastefulness than 
a restriction in the food and clothing es- 
sential to the performance of proper service. 

In the prizing of a large crop of to- 
bacco, a screw would no doubt justify its 
eost, and afford a facility. It cannot be 
doubted that the convenience of rail-roads 
in conveying off our crops, rather than the 
former plan of injuring the plantation 
teams in that operation, may be enumerated 
in the elements of increased products. 



It may be also observed, that this largely | 
increased surface in tobacco is sufficient for 
a respectable wheat crop, without the use 
of corn land, which, devoted to oats, allows 
a diminution of the surface for corn, and 
leaves more labour for tobacco. 

The use of oil in the preparation of the 
tobacco crop, is of somewhat modern origin. 
Some doubted the propriety of thus impart- 
ing a fictitious appearance of richness, un-^ 
til it was said to be recommended by the 
tobacco buyers themselves. I have never 
used it but once to the extent of keeping 
the hands sleek, instead of gummed up while 
handling it, — and it is thus certainly use- 
ful. 

My object has been to point out and pro- 
pose for discussion these modern improve- 
ments in the production . of this crop, the 
increase of which may have been errone- 
ously to some extent, ascribed to over-work- 
ing of the hands employed. There can be* 
no doubt that if this increased product 
should be the means of increased comfort 
to the labourers, as both interest arid hu- 
manity should prompt, it may prove a de- 
velopment of the resources of our country, 
enhancing to its value, and promotive of 
other beneficial consequences. 

E. Gr. Booth. 



-4—«-9--»-+- 



The Use of Quails. 

Wm. Norton, an intelligent, observing 
farmer boy, who makes his home in the 
southern part of Illinois, has recently been 
studying the habits of tbe quail, or, incor- 
rectly " partridge/' and gives the follow- 
ing testimony to the Cincinnati Artisan : 

" He observed a small .flock commencing 
at one side of the field, taking about five 
rows, following them regularly through the 
field, scratching and picking about every 
hill, till they came to the other side of the 
field ; then taking another five rows on their 
return, thus continuing, till he thought they 
were certainly pulling up the corn. He shot 
one, and then proceeded to examine the corn 
ground. On all the ground that tney had 
been over, he found but one stalk of corn 
disturbed j that was scratched nearly out of 
the ground, but the kernel was still attach- 
ed to the stalk. In the craw of the quail 
he found but one cut worm, 21 striped vine 
bugs, 100 chinch bugs, that still retained 
their individuality, a mass apparently con- 
sisting of hundreds of chinch bugs, but not 
one kernel of corn. 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



41 



VIRGINIA STATE AGRICULTURAL 
SOCIETY. 
The eighth annual meeting of the Virgi- 
nia Stale Agricultural Society, was held at 
Temperance Hall, in the City of Petersburg, 
on Tuesday evening, the 1st of November, 

1859. 

The President, Edmund Ruffin, Esq., 
called the meeting to order, when the annu- 
al address u on the Rise, Progress, Present 
Condition and Future Prospects of the So- 
ciety," was delivered, 

BY THE HON. WILLOUGHBY NEWTON. 

Mr. President and Gentlemen : 

Nothing but an imperious sense of duty 
could constrain me to appear before you this 
evening. 

The Executive Committee having failed, 
after repeated efforts, to obtain* a speaker for 
the occasion, have, at the eleventh hour, 
pressed me into the service. 

I am required to perform the delicate and 
responsible task of addressing this large and 
enlightened audience with such hurried and 
imperfect preparation as could be made, in 
the short intervals of leisure which a prac- 
tical farmer may command in the midst of 
seed time, with all its engrossing cares. 

Respect for myself, as well as for you, 
would compel me to decline this call, how- 
ever urgent, if I could do so with propriety. 
But when I remember how intimately I 
have been connected with the Society, from 
the first moment of its existence; that I 
presided with the anxiety of a parent at its 
birth, and have watched with the deepest 
solicitude its progress to the present day ; 
when I reflect that, though, from my local 
position, it has been in my power to render 
very little service, I have yet been constant- 
ly honored with one of its chief offices, and 
am justly responsible, with my colleagues, 
for the administration of its affairs, L feel 
that the task, however onerous, cannot be 
declined. For, if I, upon whom it has so 
many claims, should, in this hour of its ex- 
tremity, falter in its support, who could be 
expected to stand forth as its champion and 
defender ? 

Impressed with the belief that this is a 
crisis in the fortunes of the Agricultural 
Society of Virginia, I shall not, as is usual 
on such occasions, occupy your attention with 
a dissertation on practical or scientific agri- 
culture, or with speculations on any of those 
political or philosophical questions, which 
may be regarded as intimately connected 



with the interests of our profession. How- 
ever important and* interesting such themes, 
the period requires the consideration of 
other subjects of more urgent and vital con- 
cern. * 

The occasion naturally invites us to re- 
view the history of the Society, including 
its rise and progress, present condition and 
future prospects. 

In mariner's phrase, we should " take an 
observation,'" and endeavor to ascertain 
whether we have departed from our true 
course, and what storms and shoals and 
breakers now threaten the successful prose- 
cution of the voyage of our noble ship. 

I hope to be pardoned by our friends of 
the Union Society, for speaking on a subject 
in which they may seem to have no peculiar 
interest, for I flatter myself that even those 
among them who are citizens of a sister 
State are not indifferent to whatever con- 
cerns the welfare of Virginia. And I know 
full well, that those who owe allegiance to 
our good old Commonwealth, are keenly 
alive to the interests of that noble institu- 
tion, which has not only greatly advanced 
the material prosperity of her people, but 
has reflected on the State the highest honor 
and renown. 

The events to be passed- in review are too 
recent to form the subject of impartial his- 
tory, and delicacy would forbid the detail of 
transactions, many of the principal actors in 
which are still living, and here present, if it 
were not necessary, in order to remove mis- 
conceptions and prejudices, which not only 
greatly impair the usefulness of the Society, 
but which, if permitted to continue and in- 
crease, may be fatal to its very existence. 

In the remarks which I shall make, I 
shall avoid, as far as may be consistent with 
a proper defence of the Society, all those 
points of controversy in which there has 
been division in our councils, and shall en- 
deavor to do ample justice to the disinter- 
ested zeal of the noble spirits who have con- 
tributed, by their efforts, to the success of 
this glorious enterprise. And I shall be 
particularly careful not to imitate the exam- 
ple of some military leaders, who, having 
by their united efforts achieved a splendid 
victory, disgrace the arms of their country 
by an ungenerous contest among themselves 
for preeminence in skill or valor in the 
battle. 

The Virginia State Agricultural Society 
is now in the eighth year of its existence, 



42 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[January 



and the history of similar institutions, 
throughout the world, presents no instance 
of a success at once so rapid, complete and 
brill tan t. Its true history is almost as mar- 
vellous as an Eastern tale. * 

On the dark and gloomy night of the 19th 
of February, 1852, there assembled in the 
hall of the House of Delegates, in the .cap- 
ital of Virginia, a small body of zealous and 
enlightened farmers, to make a last effo.t to 
form a State Agricultural Society. 

The humble individual now before you 
had the honor, by previous invitation, to ad- 
dress that enlightened and patriotic assem- 
bly. In the course of his address, which 
will be found in the first volume of the 
transactions of the Society, he urged such 
arguments as occurred to him in favor of its 
establishment, and foreshadowed its charac- 
ter in the following words : 

"The society which we propose to estab- 
lish, is to be as broad and comprehensive as 
the Commonwealth itself. Every section 
and interest of the State will here be repre- 
sented. The grower of wheat, on the banks 
of the Potomac, will here meet the planter 
of tobacco from the distant Roanoke ; and 
the tiller of corn, who greets the first beams 
of the morning sun from the golden waves 
of the Atlantic, will hail his brother, who 
catches its parting ray as it is reflected from 
the glassy bosom of the beautiful Ohio." 

The meeting entered fully into the spirit 
of the speaker, and the convention, num- 
bering only seventy on the first day, contin- 
ued its sessions from day to day until the 
society was organized, the principles of its 
constitution settled, and its Executive Offi- 
cers elected. . The venerable man who now 
presides over the society, and who, for so 
many years, has devoted his talents and 
learning and energy to the service of the 
farmers of Virginia, was elected, by accla- 
mation, its first President. He entered at 
once upon the active discharge of his du- 
ties, and has continued to devote himself to 
the service of the society with a laborious 
industry, an ardent, enlightened and disin- 
terested zeal which has no parallel, except 
in the devoted service to British agriculture, 
of his great prototype Sir John Sinclair. I 
have no record of the names of the gentle- 
men who participated in this first meeting, 
all of whom are entitled to honorable men- 
tion. 

Of those who took an active part in its 
proceedings my memory recalls the names of 



Randolph, Minor, Noland, Gilmer and Prank 
G. Ruffin, of Albemarle ; Seddon, Morson, 
and Sampson, of Goochland ; Booth and 
Irby, of Nottoway; Peyton, Richa rdson 
and our worthy Secretary of the city of 
Richmond; Morriss, of Amherst ; Dew and 
Boulware, of King and Queen ; G rattan, of 
Rockingham ; Nelson, Ruffin and Brocken- 
brough, of Hanover. As a part of the his- 
tory of the times I think it higlrVy desirable 
that the names of all the members of this 
convention should be preserved in the ar- 
chives of the society, and I trust it will be 
in the power of the Secretary to procure a 
record of them. 

Few in numbers and with very inadequate 
means, the society proceeded in a hopeful 
spirit, to fulfil its mission, which was declar- 
ed, in its constitution, to be " to improve and 
advance the condition of agriculture, horti- 
culture, and the auxiliary mechanic arts." 
The Executive Committee met from time to 
time, and were diligently employed in col- 
lecting information for publication in the 
transactions, and in doing all, within their 
power, to secure the permanency, and use- 
fulness of the society. 

In the course of a short time they had pre- 
pared and reported a constitution for the 
society, remarkable for its clearness and com- 
prehensive brevity; and a scheme of premi- 
ums which has been the basis of all our 
Fairs. A large amount of valuable matter 
had been contributed, chiefly by the Presi- 
dent himself, to our annals, and on the 16th 
day of December, the society again assem- 
bled in general meeting, at the Capitol. In- 
teresting and instructive addresses were de- 
livered by the President, and Mr. F. G. 
Ruffin. 

The members had in "this time increased 
to 339, and the funds in the treasurer's 
hands amounted only to $268.00. The Pres- 
ident, admonished, as he supposed by de- 
clining health, and approaching infirmity, 
resolved, to the great regret of the Society, 
to resign his office, and was chosen first 
Vice President. Philip St. George Cocke, 
Esq., was unanimously elected President. — 
In the prime of manhood, with a princely 
fortune and a large heart, which makes 
wealth a blessing, by the generous liberality 
with which it is dispensed for noble objects, 
he was. just the man for the crisis. 

He entered upon the discharge of the du- 
ties of his office with ardent and enlight- 
ened zeal, and in a neat and highly appro- 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



43 



priatc address on taking the chair for the 
first time, in the meeting of the Society on 
the 10th day of March, 185o, pledged his 
best efforts to the cause. 

This pledge was most faithfully redeemed, 
by the devotion of his time, his talents and 
his means, without stint or grudging, to the 
furtherance of the great objects of the So- 
ciety. 

It affords me the more pleasure to pay 
this merited tribute to our former President, 
because whilst he was in office, it was my 
misfortune to differ with him in opinicn in 
regard to measures which he deemed im- 
portant, and pressed upon the adoption of 
the Society with his characteristic ardour 
and. perseverance. 

It may be said of him with entire truth, 
that in or out of office, he is a gentleman, 
without fear and without reproach. 

The meeting of the 10th of March was 
deeply interesting. Mr. B. Johnson Bar- 
bour made an eloquent and most felicitous 
address. Mr. Harvie, of Amelia, at the in- 
stance of the Executive Committee, offered 
a series of resolutions, in which it was re- 
commended that a Fair should be held in 
the ensuing fall, and calling upon the mem- 
bers to guarantee such amount, as might be 
indispensable to hold the first exhibition. 

This appeal was promptly answered by 
J. Ravenscroft Jones, of Brunswick, an 
early, constant, and most judicious friend 
of the Society, who came forward and 
pledged his county for a liberal sum, and 
invited other gentlemen to do likewise. 
His example was speedily followed. Mr. 
Harvie pledged himself to be one of twen- 
ty who would become life members; his 
proposition was accepted, and in the course 
of the evening $1,800 were secured for the 
object contemplated. Thus encouraged, 
the Executive Committee proceeded to 
make all necessary arrangements for the 
Fair. The President, carrying out the 
spirit of a resolution adopted at the first 
meeting of the Society, on the motion of 
Mr. Minor, of Albemarle, appointed with 
the approbation of the Committee, General 
Wm. H. Richardson, and his son, agents to 
canvass the State, procure new members, 
and to excite an interest in behalf of the 
Society and the approaching Fair. ! hese 
gentlemen performed their duties with fidel- 
ity and zeal, and to the entire satisfaction 
of the President and the Committee. By 
their exertions, a number of new members 



were added to the Society, its finances im- 
proved, and a general interest awakened 
throughout the Commonwealth, which con- 
tributed greatly to the success of the grand 
exhibition. The Councils of the city of 
Richmond were appealed to for aid and co- 
operation, and they promptly came forward, 
and with a liberality and public spirit which 
does them immortal honor, tendered to the 
Society the beautiful and commodious 
grounds whicli they occupied, embracing 
every accommodation, and which had been 
improved and adorned at the expense of 
the city, with all the embellishments which 
the highest art, or the most cultivated taste, 
could suggest. 

The Railroad and other transportation 
companies met the wishes of the Society, 
with a promptness and liberality which de- 
monstrates that corporations are not always 
soulless. 

It was obvious that the public sympathies 
were enlisted, and that the farmers of Vir- 
ginia were at length aroused to their true 
interests. 

Under the happiest auspices, the glorious 
morning was ushered in, that was to reward, 
with brilliant success, the long and disinter- 
ested labors of their friends. 

As if moved by one impulse, the whole 
people of the State seemed to be crowding 
to the capital. Each successive train came 
freighted with peaceful farmers, and poured 
them in masses on the city, like the armed 
hosts of Napolean on the plains of Italy. 
Steamboats and stages, omnibuses and 
hacks, private carriages, buggies, sulkies, 
and neighing steeds, with their gallant 
riders, all served to swell the anxious throng. 
The day was bright and beautiful, and the 
sun shone as if from an Italian sky. 

The long streets and broad avenues of 
the city were early filled with the interested 
multitude of every age, and sex, and call- 
ing, pressing to the Fair. 
• And the noon of that day witnessed a 
spectacle which, in moral sublimity and 
simple grandeur, far surpassed the most 
brilliant pageants of the old world. The 
great heart of Virginia exulted that day. 
Not over the exhibition of her material 
wealth, as displayed in the extent and va- 
riety of implements and machinery, the 
products of the workshops of her own arti- 
zans ; not in the rich products of her gardens, 
orchards and fields, nor in her fine cattle, and 
sheep, and swine, and horses unsurpassed — 



44 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[January 



these were all worth}' of the highest admira- 
tion. But it was not these that caused a thrill 
of joy to pass through every heart. It was, 
that Virginia, the glorious mother of us all, 
had that day, for the first time in her his- 
tory, called together, around the family 
altar, her children from the remotest boun- 
daries of her territory, to recognize the ties 
of kindred and affection, and to pour forth 
with one heart, their gratitude to God for 
the goodly heritage he has given us. Who 
that had the privilege to witness that bril- 
liant scene, can' ever blot it from his mem- 
ory ? My pulse, even now, beats quicker, 
as in memory I recall the cordial grasp with 
which I greeted old friends, whom distance 
had severed for years, and the greeting, 
scarcely less cordial, with which I met for 
the first time, hundreds as strangers, whom 
I now recognize as friends. 

I survey again, in my mind's eye, the 
moving panorama. The brave men and fair 
women of Virginia, mingling in free, refined 
and unrestrained intercourse. The chivalry 
and the beauty of the State met together. 
The spacious avenues crowded with moving 
processions of both sexes, with joy beaming 
from their countenances, and exchanging; a 
nod of recognition, a kind word or a smile 
of welcome. I see again the seats of the 
spacious amphitheatres, one above another, 
filled with every form of female loveliness 
and. beauty, resembling the rich profusion 
and variety of choice flowers in a well-ar- 
ranged conservatory. Again, I behold around 
the course the impenetrable wall of human 
beings, who watch with excited interest the 
eager contests of the high-mettled steeds, 
and ever and anon rend the air with shouts 
of triumph, such as may be supposed to have 
been heard of yore at the Olympian games, 
when some dexterous wrestler tripped his ad- 
versary or some gallant horseman or dashing 
charioteer passed his rival in the race. 

These are scenes which, in all their fresh- 
ness, can never be repeated. It was our 
first great State exhibition, and added the 
charm of novelty to all its other attractions. 
It was acknowledged on all hands to be a 
brilliant success. It gave unalloyed satis- 
faction to our own people, and intelligent 
observers pronounced it unequalled in this 
country and unsurpassed in the world. 

Our own President justly pronounced it 
"a pageant and a triumph, such as Rome 



herself, in all her glory, would have been 
proud to fcave witnessed. ,; 

The night of the 1st of November pre- 
sented, if possible, a scene of more thrilling 
interest than the brilliant spectacle of the 
day. The vast crowd had quietly retired 
from the grounds, and the young and the 
old, the grave and the gay, returned to the 
city to indulge, according to their respective 
tastes, their feelings of gratulation in the 
merry dance, or social party, or animating 
conversation. At night the Society assem- 
bled in Metropolitan Hall, which was pro- 
cured and brilliantly lighted for the occasion. 
The worth, and wealth, and intellect of Vir- 
ginia were there. Mr. Harvie, of Amelia, 
came forward and offered a series of resolu- 
tions calling for individual subscriptions for 
the permanent endowment of the Society. 
These resolutions were advocated in a few 
earnest remarks by the mover and another 
member, and were responded to by the as- 
sembly with the utmost, enthusiasm. Far- 
mers and merchants, mechanics and profes- 
sional men — all vied with each other in the 
liberality of their contributions, and in the 
course of the evening more than $40,000 
were subscribed. The scene was repeated 
the following night, and the contributions 
swelled to about $50,000. 

Up to this period, all went merry as a 
marriage bell. But the Society was now 
rich, and we had to encounter the dangers 
of prosperity. 

Heretofore all services had been gratui- 
tously performed, and there was no compe- 
tition for place. Now we had a lucrative 
office to bestow; we were cursed for the first 
time with patronage, and patronage always 
engenders parties, and parties engender 
strife. 

The appointment of Secretary was made 
by the Executive Committee, and as hap- 
pens in all .such cases, one party and his 
friends were well pleased with the result, 
whilst another party and his friends were 
equally dissatisfied. The wound, though 
seeming slight at first, continued to rankle 
and fester, until at the next meeting of the 
Society it threatened its dissolution. 

The Executive Committee in the mean- 
time proceeded quietly in the discharge of 
its duties, collecting interesting materials 
for its transactions, and making provision 
for the next annual exhibition. The second 
Fair, to the astonishment of all, was a more 
magnificent pageant than the first; larger 



1800.] 



THE SOUT1IEKN PLANTER 



45 



numbers were in attendance j tho exhibi- 
tion in every department was more exten- 
sive, and pronounced superior; and the 
officers of the Society had again the satis- 
faction of seeing their labours crowned with 
bomplctc success. 

The public press had undertaken to 
lyenge the wrongs of the gentleman whose 
high claims to the office of Secretary had 
been reluctantly passed over, by the Execu- 
tive Committee, for reasons entirely satisfac- 
tory to them, in favour of another. The 
Committee was denounced as an -odious oli- 
garchy, and excited appeals made to the 
members to reform the government of the 
Society. In the midst of this excitement, 
the night arrived for the annual election of 
officers. The African church was crowded 
to its utmost capacit}*- — every seat and aisle 
was jammed with excited human beings, 
and hundreds failed to gain admittance. 

It was obvious, that in srch a body there 
could be no deliberation ; there was no pos- 
sibility of taking a vote, and a scene of 
wild excitement ensued which beggars all 
description. The fierce Democracy of Bal- 
timore, New York, or even Paris in revo- 
lutionary times, have rarely been n:ore ex- 
cited on C[uestions of the deepest interest. 

The election, which could not be made 
in the usual manner, was carried by a sort 
of covp d'etat, which could only be justified 
by the extreme necessity of the case, and 
the old officers were proclaimed duly elect- 
ed. Delicacy would have constrained the 
gentlemen elected to decline these irregu- 
lar appointments, but they had no alterna- 
tive but to accept, or to dissolvo the Society. 
It was now conceded on all hands that 
something must be done to avoid the re- 
currence of such scenes, and to provide for 
the orderly election of the Executive Offi- 
cers. Provision for an electoral college, 
or for conducting the election by ballot on 
the Fair Grounds, would have met the dif- 
ficulty.. 

But the success of the Society had been 
so astonishing, numbering now ten thousand 
members, and having a permanent en- 
dowment of fifty thousand dollars, that 
over-sanguine gentlemen began to indulge 
most extravagant ideas as to its true mis- 
sion. 

If not the State itself, it was at least an 
important power in the State, and only re- 
quired proper organization to direct public 



sentiment and control the legislation of tb c 
Commonwealth. 

The icfca of a Farmers' Assembly was 
suggested, not only to act as an electoral 
college, but as a sort of wiperlum in im- 
perio, to legislate for the interest of agri- 
culture, and by its dignity and influence to 
prescribe terms to the law-making power. 

In vain it was urged in opposition to this 
scheme, that it was visionary and impractica- 
ble — that there could be no regular elections 
where there was no organized constituency, 
and that the Farmers' Assembly would ex- 
pire by the default of the farmers to make 
elections. No, it was replied, it cannot 
fail, and the success of political conven- 
tions and ecclesiastical assemblies was ap- 
pealed to as a conclusive argument by the 
friends of the measure- — forgetting that po- 
litical parties have immense patronage to 
bestow, and that each separate church con- 
gregation is an organized constituency that 
can at any moment appoint deputies to ec- 
clesiastical assemblies. 

A very intelligent committee Was ap- 
pointed to reform the government, and at 
the next annual meeting of the Society 
made a report of the present constitution"; 
which, after protracted debate, was adopted. 
The Select Committee, foreseeing the prob- 
ability of the failure of the Farmers' As- 
sembly, very wisely made provision in the 
constitution for remitting all its powers to 
the Executive Committee, with power to 
perpetuate itself by filling vacancies in its 
ow r n body. 

Notwithstanding the unpleasant excite- 
ment at the last annual meeting, the suc- 
cess of the third exhibition of the Society 
was scarcely less complete than of the two 
which had preceded it. The fourth annual 
meeeting was to test the untried experiment 
of a Farmers' Assembly. The Executive 
Committee had made every arrangement 
deemed necessary to its success. The State 
was divided into districts, and Commission- 
ers of election appointed pursuant to the 
constitution, and the farmers urged to send 
their representatives to the Assembly. The 
novelty of the scheme attracted some at- 
tention, find few of the elections Avent by 
default. 

On the 28th of October, 1856, at 10 
o'clock in the morning, the Farmers' As- 
sembly met for the first time in the Hall 
of the House of Delegates. The body was 
respectable in numbers, and more than re- 



46 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[January 



spectablc in talents and character. Among 
its' members were some of the foremost 
men in the Commonwealth — statesmen, law- 
yers, farmers, men of the largest experience, 
of the highest intellectual endowments, and 
of incorruptible integrity. It was organiz- 
ed by the unanimous election of a distin- 
guished statesman to the Chair. The Pres- 
ident of the Society delivered his first an- 
nual message, embracing as many and im- 
portant recommendations as are usually 
contained in a message of the President of 
tlie United States. 

It was obvious- at a glance to the most 
careless observer, that an Assembly thus 
called together for a very limited time how- 
ever enlightened, was entirely incompetent 
to consider the grave and important .sub- 
jects referred to them. 

A few unimportant resolutions were of- 
ferred and adopted, and every subject re- 
quiring deliberate consideration, was referred 
to the Executive Committee. The mem- 
bers proceeded quietly to discharge their 
duty as an electoral college j the speaker 
delivered a short valedictory, the Farmers' 
Assembly adjourned and its high prestige 
was gone. 

At the next annual meeting of the So- 
ciety, the Farmers' Assembly convened for 
the second time, with its number somewhat 
reduced — elected the same distinguished 
gentleman speaker — passed through the 
same round of abortive resolutions — elected 
the Executive officers, and quietly adjourn- 
ed, perhaps for the last time. At the next 
meeting, it failed for the want of a quorum, 
and I think it now quite certain, that it 
will never meet again, except, perhaps, as 
an electoral body. 

President Cocke, at this meeting, declined 
a re-election, and the veteran, who had so 
long and so efficiently served the Society, 
was again placed at its head by the unani- 
mous vote of the Farmers Assembly; and I 
am most happy to see him here to-night, 
ready and willing, like the illustrious Scotch- 
man already referred to, to devote, as I trust, 
the long remnant of a green old age, to the 
disinterested service of his country. 

The fourth and fifth annual exhibitions 
were held at Richmond with gratifying suc- 
cess. Yet it was obvious that these specta- 
cles, from their frequency, had lost much of 
their interest. 

Indeed, it may be .gravely questioned, 
whether sound policy does not require that 



these exhibitions should be held at much 
longer intervals. 

The improvements in agriculture during 
a single year are scarcely appreciable, and 
the annual exhibitions present little that is 
new, to interest. The Olympian games were, 
in some respects, not altogether unlike our 
agricultural shows. They were held every 
fifth year, and so great . were their attrac- 
tions, that they continued for centuries to 
draw not only from all Greece, but from the 
neighboring countries and islands, vast 
crowds of admiring spectators. 

Complaints began to be made of the fail- 
ing interest of the Society, or of the ineffi- 
ciency of the executive government. Cavil- 
lers who had never taken the trouble to look 
into the transactions, and to see what a vast 
amount of valuable and interesting informa- 
tion had been collected an^'difFused, asked, 
are these annual pageants to be the only re- 
sults of the liberality of the farmers of Vir- 
ginia, in the endowment of the Society ? 
Like Naaman, the Syrian, they required 
some great thing to be done,, 

Why, they asked, does not the Society 
employ its vast funds to establish an agricul- 
tural school, or endow a professorship at the 
University ? In a word, why does it not do 
something worthy of itself, and of the farm- 
ers of Virginia. 

The invested funds of the Society repre- 
sent an annual income of about $3,000 ; a 
sum, which any man of the least practical 
intelligence will see, is barely sufficient to 
keep up the organization of the Society, and 
to defray such contingent expenses of the 
annual Fairs as may not be provided for by 
receipts from other sources. But has the 
Society not accomplished something ? Is it 
nothing to have added to the agricultural 
literature of the country contributions of 
great learning and ability, and in practical 
usefulness unsurpassed ? Is it nothing to 
have infused new hope, energy, power and 
intelligence into the whole farming class? 
Is it nothing to have more than doubled the 
value of the lands of the Commonwealth, 
and the revenues of both State and people ? 
And by the profits of improved agriculture, 
to have added vastly to the value of her 
slaves and of all other property ? Is there 
nothing in the impulse given by its influence 
to education, both private and public, by 
diffusing among the schools and colleges, and 
among the people themselves, larger views 
and higher aspirations ? Is there nothing 



1800.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



47 



in the high moral and social influences of 
the frequent re-unions of our people from 
mt quarters of the Commonwealth, at 
the annual exhibitions f Macaulay, in the 
celebrated third chapter of his history, con- 
trasts, in a philosophical spirit, England at 
the close of the reign of Charles the second 
with England in his own times. The state 
of the arts, sciences, government, society, 
commerce, manufactures and agriculture, all 
pass in review. The improvements in agri- 
culture had been such, he represents, that 
in little more than a century a fourth part of 
England had been turned from a wild into a 
garden. If the Virginia State Agricultural 
Society were, this day, to cease to exist, the 
future historian, although he might n&t say 
with Macaulay, that during its brief exist- 
ence it had converted one fourth of the State 
from a wild to a garden, he would want the 
philosophical spirit of that distinguished 
writer, if he did not refer to its establish- 
ment as an important epoch in her history. 
Truth would compel him to say, it found her 
agriculture languishing and depressed, and 
left it flourishing and profitable. It found 
her farmers dispirited and restless — it left 
them hopeful, buoyant and content. It found 
agricultural science a sealed book, except to 



the educated and learned ; it left its 



great 



principles familiar as household words to the 
masses. It found her implements of agri- 
culture, and her domestic animals, so mean 
and wretched as to be a by-word and re- 
proach ; it left them so excellent as to ex- 
cite universal admiration. It found impro- 
ved culture confined to a few individuals and 
localities ; it left it universally diffused. 

It found her farmers dispensed and isola- 
ted — it left them united as a band of bro- 
thers. It found her people of all classes 
separated by local divisions and prejudices, 
and strangers and aliens to each other ; it 
gathered them like an ancient patriarch, 
under the family tent, henceforth to be kin- 
dred and friends. 

These arc some of the beneficent results 
that the impartial historian must attribute to 
the establishment of the Agricultural Soci- 
ety of Virginia. 

Whether it shall continue to dispense 
similar blessings to our posterity, depends 
upon the spirit with which it shall be sus- 
tained by the united agricultural interests of 
this great Commonwealth. It represents no 
local interests — it makes no sectional appeal 
— it is the Agricultural Society of the State, 



and rests upon the broad foundation of the 

entire ( 'oiiiiiion wealth. It cannot be denied 
that it is now encompassed with many diffi- 
culties. 

The Executive Committee have thought 
that the Capital of the State is the proper 
place for holding the meetings of a State 
Society, and have been sincerely desirous to 
continue them in Richmond. Owing to 
some misunderstanding between the city 
council and the executive committee, the de- 
tails of whicji need not here be examined, 
they found it impossible, consistently with a 
sense of duty, to hold the last annual exhi- 
bition in Richmond, and as you are aware, 
it was held in this city with entire satisfac- 
tion to all parties. 

The event is too recent to require any 
very extended notice, but it would be un- 
pardonable not to refer with grateful emo- 
tions, to the cordial courtesy with which we 
were received by the officers of the Union 
Society, and to the generous, refined and ele- 
gant hospitality, extended to us by the warm 
hearted people of the city of Petersburg. 

The citizens of Richmond, as was perhaps 
natural, took umbrage at the action of the 
Executive Committee in removing the ex- 
hibition, and there were found among them 
a sufficient number ready to fan the flame, 
until the city was wrought into high excite- 
ment. 

In this state of feeling, it was determined 
to establish a rival Society ; I say rival, be- 
cause the organization of the Central So- 
ciety, confined to no locality, stretches from 
the mountains to the sea, and it cannot be 
disguised, it aspires to the character of a 
State institution. 

It is impossible for two State Agricultu- 
ral Societies to exist in the same Common- 
wealth, as it is for two kings to reirrn in the 
same kingdom. King Monmouth and King 
James could not both exist in England. 
The Pretender was put down, though the 
Princ* of Orange soon stepped in, and 
founded on the ruins of both factions, more 
stable and beneficent institutions. 

A lesson of wisdom may be learned from 
these historical incidents. 

Let there be an end of strife — let Rich- 
mond be again generous and ■magnanimous, 
forgetting her mere local interests in the 
larger and more comprehensive interests of 
this glorious Commonwealth, the prosperity 
of which must advance her own glory as 
the capital of the State. Let the Central 



48 



THE SO.UTHEHN PLANTER. 



[January 



Society confine itself to some locality, and 
instead of aspiring to be the rival of the 
State Society, and seeking to expel it as a 
stranger and an alien, let it be subsidiary to 
it, in the accomplishment of its beneficent 
objects. The State Society has all the ele- 
ments of its usefulness still unimpaired-; its 
organization is complete, its funds intact, 
and although the Farmers' Assembly, as 
was anticipated, has proved a splendid fail- 
ure, its old constitution, under which it 
achieved all its- triumphs, is in full force, 
and nothing is wanted but the cordial co- 
operation of the farmers of Virginia, to ena- 
ble it to advance steadily in its course of 
usefulness and distinction. . 

It would have afforded me great pleasure, 
in this hasty and imperfect sketch, to in- 
clude the names of those who, by their la- 
bors or their means, have contributed to ad- 
vance the objects of the Society. But this 
was impossible. The orators who at our an- 
nual exhibitions have delighted and instruct- 
ed us by their learned and eloquent dis- 
courses, and the members of the Executive 
Committee, now no longer in office, who 
have rendered most laborious and efficient 
service, are entitled to our lasting gratitude. 
Their labors are recorded in the imperisha- 
ble annals of the Society, and their names 
will go down to posterity among the bene- 
factors of their race. 

I have now, Mr. President, given a brief 
outline of the history of the Society, of its 
past achievements, and present condition. 

[ts future, farmers of Virginia ! rests with 
you. To you, and to the enlightened friends 
of Agriculture throughout the Common- 
wealth, the Executive Committee now make 
their appeal. If the arduous labors of con- 
ducting the administration of its affairs 
shall again devolve upon them, they ask the 
support of your generous confidence. They 
have no personal feelings to gratify, and no 
private interests to serve. *, 

I might appeal without arrogance to 
their past services and personal characters. 
as a sufficient guarantee of their fidelity, 
but the absence of all unworthy motives 
gives assurance that their trUst will not be 
betrayed. 

Let no local interest, or personal feeling, 
or idle clamor, disturb your judgment. Let 
that noble State pride which gave birth to 
the Society, still animate your actions. 

Rcmeufber that this is the Society of no 



clique, or party, or section, or city, but ol 
the great Commonwealth of Virginia. 

Banish your apathy and indifference, and 
come, with generous aspirations, to the cor- 
dial support of those who will continue to 
devote with energy and zeal, their time and 
talents to your service. 

Thus sustained, the Virginia State Agri- 
cultural Society will continue to advance in 
its career of usefulness, and will dispense 
its blessings to our children's children, and 
remain to our latest posterity, a monument 
of the wisdom and munificence of its 
founders. 



, PREMIUMS AWARDED 

AT THE 

SEVENTH ANNUAL EXHIBITION 

OF THE 

Virginia State Agricultural Society, 

HELD AT PETERSBURG, 

ON THE 

1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th November. 1859. 



Experiments, Branch I. and 

Written Communications, Branch II. 

By the rules of the society, have been refer- 
red to the Executive Committee, to be reported 
on at their quarterly meeting in January. 



Branch III. Class 1st. 

. Thoroughbred Horses. 

73. To J. M. Garland, for the best 
Stallion, " Deucalion," $50 00 

74. To Tnomaa D. Walton, for the 2d 

best, "Mohican// 25 00 

76. R. R. Beazley, for the best Brood 
Mare, 25 00 

77. Wm. C. Scott, for the second best, 

" Pauline," 12 50 

78. R. R. Beazley, for the third best, 

" Lady Merritt," Certificate of Merit. 

83. John Eubank, for the best filly, 
2 years old, "-Ellen Perry," 

84. John Eubank, for the best filly, 
1 year old, 

85. To R. R. Beazley, for best Foal 
droped since 1st January, 1859, 



10 00 



50 
00 



Branch III. Class 2nd. 



Horses of General Utility, or for Useful and 
Ornamental purposes combined. 

86. To J. A. Dyer, for best Stallion, 
" Washington Bay," • $50 00 

87. To T. F. Epes, for 2nd best Stal- 
lion, "Mark," 25 00 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



40 



89. To John Dyer, fi»r best Brood 
Marc, "Sally," 25 00 

90. Tn L. G. Simonson, for 2nd Lest 
Brood Mare, " Gold-pin," 12 50 

91. To Win, C. Archer, for 3rd best 
Br<"'il Mare, 'M»lly," Certificate of Me bit. 

92. To Wm. Ii. iVbv, for best S year 

old colt, " Floyd," 15 00 

93. To Join. W. Over, for best 2 year 
Did coit, "Yellow Jacket," . 10 00 

94. To II- M. Fo\\ Ikes, for best 1 year 
Did colt, "Hampton," 7 50 

95. To John Eubank, for best 3 year 

Did tillv, "fcllen Carter," 15 00 

96. To Robert Berry, for best 2 Year 
Did filly, " Nina," 10 00 

97. To I). Dvson, for best 1 year old 

511y, " Fanny Fly," 7 50 

98. To John R. Woods, for best Foal 
iropt in 1859. 5 00 

99. To G. W. Mo wry, for best pair 
Matched Horses, 25 00 

100. To Abraham Johnson, for 2nd 

best pair Matched Horses, 10 00 

101. To D'Arcy W. Paul, for best sin- 
gle harness horse, " Black Bill," 15 00 

102. To J. T. Stover, for second best 
single harness horse, " Champion," 10 00 



Branch III. Class 3rd. 
Quick Draught Syrses. 

103. To II. J. Smith, for best stallion 
"Kossuth," certifioate of continued su- 
periority, having taken the first Premi- 
um at four different Exhibitions. 

104. To S. W. Ficklin, for secotfd best 
"Black Hawk," $25 00 

105. Wm. Watts, for third best, "De- 
fiance," Certificate of Merit. 

10G. To J. R. Allen, for best Brood 
Mare, " Lady.Clifford," 25 00 

107. To S. W. Ficklin, for second best 
"Dun Mare," 12 50 

109. To John Rowlett, for be*t3 year 
Did coll, " Upright," 15 00 

110 To Howlett, for best 2 year 

Did colt, " Jack Clifton," 10 00 

111. To E. T. Dillard, for best lyear 

Did colt, " Sigourney,'" 7 50 

112. To John R. Woods, for best 3 
year old filly, 15 00 

113. To S. W. Ficklin, for best 2 year • 

Did filly, " Lady of the Lake," 10 00 

115, To Virgiuius ArcheY, for best 

Foal dropped in 1859, 5 00 

116. To D. T. Harvey, for best pair 
Matched Horses, 25 00 

118. To J. II. Norton, for best single 
larness Mare, " Nannie Bell," 15 00 

119. To T. Tench, for second best, 
'Lady Suffolk," 10 00 



Branch III. Class 5tii. 
Heavy Draught Horses. 

120. To U. W. N. Noland, for best 
Stallion, " Wnlbiurnc," $60 00 

121. To J. A. Weston, for second best 



Stallion, "Norman Messenger," 



25 00 



122. To 0*8. Ayre, for best Brood 
Mare, "Betty," 25 00 

124. To Wm. B. Irby, for second best, 
"Sally Eubank," 12 50 

128. To T. E. Dillard, for best 1 year 

old colt, 7 50 

129. To Charles L. Peyton, for best 

3 year old filly, " Georgeanna," 15 00 

131. Thomas Pcrkinson, for best one 

year old filly, " Rose," 7 50 

132. To G. S. Ayre,. for best Foal 
dropped 1859, 5 00 

133. To J. Carrington, for best pair 
Horses, 20 00 



oO 00 



Branch III. Class 5tii. 

Saddle Horses. 

' 135. To B. W. L. Blanton, for Lest 
Stallion, " Young Red Eye," 5 

138. To Thos. E. Friend, for best 
Brood Mare " Lady," 25 00 

143. To Henry F. Davis, for best one 

year old colt, "Thorn Telegraph," 7 50 

144. To Henry F. Davis, for "best 3 

year old filly, " Annettee Thorn," 15 00 

148. To B. W. L. Blanton, for best 
saddle hose, " GreySanford," 20 00 

149. To D. Newton Van Lear for 2nd 

best, "Billy," 10 00 

150. To Albert A.ikcn,for best Poney, 

" Grey Bill," 5 00 



Branch III. Class 0th. 
Mules and Jacks. 

151. To R. A. Young, (agent for Pur- 
ser Johnson,) for the best Jack " Mal- 
tese," 50 00 

152. To T. E. Dillard, for second best, 

" Red Eye." 25 90 

153. To Wm. II. Griffith, for best 
Jennet, "Mary," 25 0O 

154. To Sharpe Carter, second best, 10 00 

155. ToC.B. Turner, for best pair of 
Mules owned anl worked one year by 
exhibitor, 15 00 

15G. C. B. Turner, for best team of 4 
Mules owned and worked 1 year by ex- 
hibitor, 25 00 



Branch III. Class 1st. 

Durham Cattle. 

161. To D. B. Sanders, for best bul 
over 3 years old, " Highlander," 



$50 00 



50 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[January! 



1G2. To A. M. Young, for second best, 
"Gambier," $25 00 

163. To S. W. Ficklin, third best, 

Certificate of Merit. 

164. To S. W. Ficklin, best cow, 
"Victoria 2d," 50 00 

165. To D. B. Sanders, second best, 

" Hawthorn," . . • 25 00 

106. To D. B. Sanders, third best, 
" Clarissa Brown," Certificate of Merit. 

167. To D. B. Sanders, best bull, be- 
tween 2 and 3 years old, "Valentine," 40 00 

170. To A. M. Young, for best bull, 
between 1 and 2 years old, "Judge 
Douglas," 25 00 

171. To D. B. Sanders, for 2nd best, 
"VanThromp," 12 50 

172. To D. B. Sanders, for best heifer, 
between 2 and 3 years old, " Marion 
Ilarland," 25 00 

173. To D. B. Sanders, for 2nd best, 
"Alverda," 12 50 

174. To D. B. Sanders, for best heifer, 
between 1 and 2 years old, " Molly 
May," " 25 00 

175. To S. W. Ficklin, for second"besr, 
"Red Rose," 12 50 



Branch III. Class 2nd. 
Devon Cattle. 

177. To S. T. C. Brown, for best bull, 
3 years old and upwards, "Defiance," $50 00 

*178. To H. J. Strandberg, for second 
best, "Richmond," 25 00 

180. To II. J. Strandberg, for best cow, 
3 years old and upwards, " Matilda," 50 00 

182. To S. T. C. Brown, for 3rd best, 

" Cherry," Certificate of Merit. 

183. To II. F. Davis, for best bull, 
between 2 and 3- years old, "Billy," 40 00 

184. To S. S. Bradford, for 2nd best, 

" Henrv Clay," 20 00 

186. To H. F. Davis, for best bull, 
between 1 and 2 years old, "Thorn," 25 00 

187. To H.J. Strandberg, for second 

best, "Enterprise/' 12 50 

.188. To S. T. C. Brown, for best heifer, 
between 2 and 3 years old, " Blossom," 25 00 

189. To Dr. T. J. Wooldridge, for 2d 

best, "RenV 12 50 

190. To S. T. C. Brown, for best heifer, 
between 1 and 2 years old, " Mole," 25 00 

191. To II. F. Davis, for second best, 

" Nelly," • 12 50 

192. To J. M. Venable, for best 

calf, under 1 year old, " Pinkey," 10 00 

180J. To F. J.. Carson, for best im- 
ported cow, 3 years old and 'upward, 
"Penelope," 50 00 

188J. To F. J. Carson, for best im- 
ported" heifer, between 2 and 3 years 
old, "Lady," 25 00 



Branch III. Class 3rd. 
Ayrshire and. Alder ney Cattle.^ 

193. To J. B. Crenshaw, for best Ayr- 
shire bull, 3 years old and upwards, 
" Lord Mar," % 

194. To David Dunlop, for 2nd best, 
"Little Jack," 

196. To Peyton Johnston, for best Al- 
derney cow, 3 years old and upwards, 

197. To A..Turpin, for second best, 
"Mocking-Bird," 

204. To S. W. Ficklin, for best Alder- 
ney bull, between 1 and 2 years old, 
" Martin," 

196^. To A. Turpin, for best Ayr- 
shire cow, three years old and upwards, 
"May Queen," 

196|. To A. Turpin, for best import- 
ed Alderney, 3 years old and upwards, 
" Ladyship," 



40 00 


20 00 


40 00 


20 00 


20 00 


40 00 


40 00 



Branch III. Class 4th. 

Grade Cattle. 

209. To Paschal Buford,for best cow, 

3 years old and upwards, $40 00 

210. To Crouse & Irvine, for second 
best, 20 00 

211. To S. W. Ficklin, for third best, 

Certificate of Merit. 

212. Te S. W. Ficklin, for best heifer, 
between 2 and 3 years old, 12 00 

213. To S. W. Ficklin, for 2nd best, 8 00 

215. To Jas. Walker, for best heifer, 
between 1 and 2 years old, 12 00 

216. To Reuben Andrews, for second 
best, 8 00 

217. To Paschal Buford, for best heifer 
calf, under 1 year old, 5 00 



t Branch III. Class 5th. 

Dairy Cows. 

218. To S. T. C. Brown, for best cow 
for dairy, "Delight," 40 00 

219. To Crouse & Irvine, second best, 

20 00 



"Star," 



Branch III. Class 6th. 
Working Oxen. 

220. To Crouse & Irvine, for best, 

over 4 years old, $30 00 

221. To James Walker, for 2nd best 15 00! 

222. To II. F. Davis, for best, under 

4 years old, 30 00 



Branch III. Class 7th. 

Fat Cattle. 

224- To Crouse & Irvine, for best pair 
aged steers, $50 00 



!60.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



51 



50 00 



22(3. To Crouse & Irvine, for best pair 

ider 4 years old, $50 00 

227. To Crouse & Irvine, for second 

st, 30 00 

228. To Crouse & Irvine, for best pair 
ws or heifers, 
22'J. To Crouse & Irvine, for second 

st, 30 00 

230. To Crouse & Irvine, for best fat 

w, over 4 years old, 25 00 

231. To Crouse &■ Irvine, for second 

st, 15 00 

232. To Crouse & Irvine, for best fat 

ifer, 25 00 

233. To Crouse & Irvine, for second 

it, 15 00 

234. To Jas. Walker, for best single 

t steer, 25 00 



Branch III. Class 8tii. 
Fat. Sheep and Swine. 

236. To Wm. C. Rives, for the best 

n fat sheep, four or more, • $10 00 

237. To M. P. Bell, for the best pen 

' fat hogs, seven in number, 10 00 



Branch III. Class 1st, t%c. 

Fine- Wool Sheep — Merino. 

23Q. To S. S. Bradford, fur best native 
im , $20 00 

240. To S. S. Bradford, for 2d best, 10 00 

241. To S. S. Bradford, for 3d best, 

Certificate of Merit. 

242. To S. S. Bradford, for best pen 

ative ewes, three in number, 20 00 

243. To S. S. Bradford, for 2d best, 10 00 

245. To S. S. Bradford, for best pen 

«-e lambs, four in number, 10 00 

246. To S-. S. Bradford, for best pen 

im lambs, four in number, 10 00 

247. To S. S. Bradford, for best pen 

rade ewes, three in number, 20 00 

248. To S. S. Bradford, for 2d best, 10 00 
250. To S. 8. Bradford, for best pen 

we lambs, four in number, 10 00 

288. To S. S. Bradford, for best im- 
orted ram, 20 00 

289. .To S. S. Bradford, for 2d best, 10 00 

290. To S. S. Bradford, for best im- 
orted ewe, 20 00 

291. To S. S. Bradford, for 2d best, 10.00 



Branch III. Class 3rd, Sec. 
Middle- Wool Sheep — South-Down. 

252. To Thos. L. Farish, for the best 
.outh-Down ram, . $20 00 

253. To Richard Irby, for 2d best, 10 00 



Fifth Class. 
Oxford'Dowm: 

264! To Win. C. Rives, for best ram, $20 00 
265. To Wm. C. Rives, for 2d best, 10 00 

267. To Win. C. Rives, fur best pen 

of ewes, three in number, 20 00 

268. To AVm. C. Rives, for 2d best, 10 00 
271. To Wm. C Rives, for best pen 

ram lambs, 10 00 

Sixth Class, &c: 

Oxford-Doion Grades. 

275. To Wm. C. Rives, for best pen 
ewe lambs, $10 00 

296. To Wm. C. Rives, for best im- 
ported Oxford Down ram, 20 00 

297. To Wm. C. Rives, for 2d best, 10 00 

298. To Wm. C. Rives, for the best 
imported ewe, 20 00 

299. To Wm. C. Rives, for 2d best, 10 00 



Branch III. Class 7th. 
Long-Wool Sheep. 

276. To Thomas G. Baylor, for best 
Cotswold ram, $20 00 

279. To Dr. John R. Woods, for best 
pen of Cotswold ewes, 20 00 

283. To Dr. John R. Woods, for best 

pen ewe lambs, 10 00 

Class 8th. 

284. To Thomas G. Baylor, for best 

pen grade ewes, 20 00 

287. To Thos. G. Baylor, for best pen 
ewe lambs, 10 00 



Branch III. Class 1st. 
Swine — Large Breed. 

310. To S. W. Ficklin, for best boar 

over two years old, "John," $20 00 

311. To Peyton Johnston, for second 

best, "Sir John," ^0 00 

312. To Peyton Johnston, for best 
boar, one year old, ¥ Peyton," 15 00 

313. To S. W. Ficklin, for 2nd best, 8 00 

314. To Peyton Johnston, for best 
breeding sow, two years old, "Mrs. 
Ginte," 20 00 

315. To R. M. Poole, for second best, 
"Mary," 10 00 

310. To S. W. Ficklin, for best sow 
under 18 months old, 15 00 

317. W. H. Griffitn, for second best, 8 00 

318. To S. W. Ficklin, for best lot of 
pigs under five months old, 

319. To Wm. II. Griffith, for 2d best. 



LIBRARY 



52 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[Jantjar 



Branch III. Cl s 2d. 
Swine — Small Breed. 

321. To Peyton Johnston, for second" 

best boar, two years old, "Duke," $10 00 

322. To Dr. J. E. Williams, for best 
boar, one year old, " Rhiuebeok," 15 00 

323. To Dr. J. E. Williams, for 2nd 

best, "Jack Turpin," • 8 00 

324. To Peyton Johnston, for best sow, 

two years old, "Princess," 20 00 

325. To Peyton Johnston, for second 

best, "Dutchess," 10 00 

32G. To R. M. Poole, for best sow 
under 18 months old. 15 00 

327. To G. M.T. Bass, for 2nd best, 
Chester and Sufolk, 8 00 

328. To Daniel Dyson, for best lot of ' 
pigs, ten weeks old, 10 00 

329. To James F. Devlin, for second 

best, eight weeks old, 5 00 



351. To R. W. Flowers, for the best 
Black Syanish, 

353. To Archer Martin, for the best 
Willi Indian Game, 

354. To 11. Bissett, for best Sumatra 
Game, 

35G. To Mrs. J. E. Williams, for best 
Bnl ton Greys, 

357- To W. Hurt, for best Seabright 
Bantams, 

358. To Waverly Rowlett, for best 
Java Bantams, 

360. To Waverly Rowlett, for best 
Jersey Blue, 



2 C 
2 
2 
20 
2 
2 
2 



$2 



Additional Premiums on Premium Animals. 



332. To S. W. Ficklin, for the best 
stallion of any breed on exhibition, 
"Black Hawk," 

333. To T. W. Dyer, for best brood 
mare, "Sally," 

334. To Thomas G. Baylor, for the 
best ram, 

335. To Samuel S. Bradford, for the 
best ewe, 

33G. To. S. W. Ficklin, for the best 
boar, 

337. To S. W. Ficklin, for the best 
breeding sow, 



pi 

o 



The Committee having heard that ob- 
jections were raised to their acting as 
judges on Cattle, declined acting in re- 
lation to them, and hence there is no 
award. The contest was very close be- 
tween "Black Hawk" and Mr. Noland's 
horse "Melbourne." Such members of 
the Committee as were interested in 
animals submitted for the premiums, 
withdrew when those animals were 
unde$ examination. 



Class 2nd. 

Turkeys. 

361. To W. Archer, for best pair of 
common, 

Class 3rd. 

Geese. 

364, To J. T. Devlin, for best pair of 
common, $2 

366. To A. Turpin, for best pair of 
China, 2 

367. To i'-. Turpin, for best pair of 
Bremen, 2 

368. To A. Turpin, for best pair of 
Poland, 2 

o69. To A. Turpin, for best pair of ' 
African Swan, 2 

Class 4th. 

Ducks. 

370. To Waverly Rowlett, for best 
Poland, $2 "0 

373. To W. Flowers, for best common, 2 



Class 5th. 

Variety. 

375. To A. Turpin, for greatest va- 
riety of poultry by one exhibitor, 






Brancd; III. Class 1st. 
Poultry. 

343. To Waverley Rowlett, for best 
Black Poland, $2 00 

344. To Waverly Rowlett, for best 
White Poland, 2 00 

347. To Waverly Rowlett, for best 
Spangled Hamburg. 2 00 

348. To Archer Martin, for the best 
White or Red Game, 2 00 

350. To Archer Martin,. for best Vir- 
ginia Game, 2 00 



$10 



BRANCH IV. 

agricultural implements. 

Class 1st. 
Plovghs, Cultivators, &c. 

376. To George Watt & Co., for the 
best 3 or 4 horse plough, $10 

377. To Williams, Collins & Co., for 
the best 2 horse plough, 8 

378. To E. Whitman & Co., for the 
best single plough, 5 Cl 

379. To P. H. Starke, for the best 
shovel plough, 5 Cl 



\ 



<60.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



r>3 



380. To K. Whitman & Co., for the 

0t sub soil plough. $5 00 

381. To George Watt & Co., for the 

>st new-ground or coulter plough, 5 00 

382. To P. II. Stnrke, Fur the best 
U-side plough, 5 00 
883. To P. II. Starke, for the best 
iltivator for corn, 5 00 

384. To P. II. Starke, for the best 
iltivator fur tobacco, 5 00 

385. To P. II. Starke, for the best 
iltivator for two horses, 5 00 
886. To P. II. Starke, for the best 

Doden frame harrow, G 00 

387. To E. Whitman & Co., for the 

»t iron-frame harrow, . 6 00 

388. To Uriah Wells, for the best 
rain and furrow plough for opening 

id cleaning out water furrows, 10 00 

Class 2nd. 
Drills, Broadcasters, &c. 

389. To Cannon's Patent, for the 

;st broadcasting or drilling machine 
r sowing grain or grass seed, 20 

300. To E. Whitman & Co., for the 

ttt wheat drill, . 20 

391. To E. Whitman & Co., for the 
jst broadcasting machine for sowing 
jano, 4 20 

392. To E. Whitman & Co., for the 
jst lime spreader, 20 

393. To A. P. Routt, for the best 
>rn planter, 10 

395. To E. Whitman & Co., for the 
Itt attachment to drill for drilling 
.lano, 15 00 



Class 3rd. 
Wagons, Carls, Harness, &c. 

397. To J. Van-Pelt, for the best 
agon for farm use, 10 

404. To E. Whitman & Co., for the- 
3st ox yoke, ' 2 



00 
00 

00 
00 
00 



00 
50 



Class 4tit. 

Rollers, Clod Crushers, and Farm Gate. 

405. To E. Whitman & Co., for the 
est smooth roller, 10 00 

407. To E. AV hitman & Co., for the 
est clod crusher, 10 00 

Class 5th. 
Horse Powers, Threshers, Separators, &c. 

409. To J. W. Ca-rdwell & Co., for 
le best sweep horse power, Petton's 
atent, 25 00 

410. To J. W. Cardwell & Co., for 
iq second best sweep horse power, 



>ouble-Geared, 



10 00 



411. To J. W. Oardwoll & Co., for 
the best threshing macliii^ Staple- 
Tooth, W $20 00 

412. To J. AV. Oardwoll t Co., for 
the host machine for threshing, cleans- 
ing and separating wheat at one opera- 
tion, Guiser's Potent, 30 00 

413. To M. S. Kahle, for the best 
machine for gathering clover seed, 20 00 

Class Gtii. 

Straw and Root Cutters, Com Shelters, 
Mills, <kc. 

415. To It. St, Clair & Co., for the 
best hay or straw c tter for horse 
power, " 10 00 

416. To E. E. Piatt, for the best hay 

or straw cutter for hand power, 5 00 

418. To E. Whitman & Co., for the 

best corn sheller for horse power, 10 00 

419. To E. Whitman & Co., for the 

best eorn sheller for hand power, 5 00 

422. To E. Whitman & Co., for the 

best corn and cob crusher, 10 00 

Mr. G. B. Griffin exhibited a hay and straw 

cutter, for hand power, very little inferior to 

Mr. E. E. Piatt's, to which the premium was 

awarded. 



Class 7th. 

Fan Mill, Hay Press, Ditching Machine, &c. 

425. To J. Montgomery & Brother, 
for the best fanning mill, 

Certificate of Continued Superiority. 

42G. ToE. Whitman & Co., for the 
best hav press, $15 00 

430. To E. Whitman & Co., for the 

best steel spade fork, 2 00 

431. To E. Whitman & Co., for the 

best horse rake for hay, 5 00 

432. To H. Whitman & Co., for the 

best gleaner, 3 00 

Class 8th. 

434. To E. Whitman & Co., for the' 
most extensive and valuable collection 
of useful machines and implements ex- 
hibited and made at any one factory, 
whether including subjects for other 
premiums or not, a premium of 25 00 

Class 9th. 
Miscellaneous. 

437. To A. E. Huff, for Kahlc's 
Patent, for the best scoop or scraper, 10 00 

449. To E. Whitman & Co., for the 
best churn, 4 00 



54 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[Januari 



Class 11th. 
PtyttfJiing Match. 

446. ToWm. Shepperson, with "Watt's 
Virginia Plough, for the best plough- 
man with horses, $10 00 

447. To J. B. Jones' colored man, 
do. do., for the second best ploughman 

with horses, 5 00 



Class 13th. 
Reaping and Mowing Machines. 

453. To C. Aultman& Co., for the best 
reaping machine. Buck Eye, 25 00 

454. To C. Aultman & Co., for the 

best mowing machine, Buck Eye, 20 00 



BRANCH V. 

orchard and garden products. 

Class 1st. 

Fmits and Fruit Trees. 

456. To Westbrook & Mendenhall, 
for the best and largest variety of ap- 
ples suitable for Southern raising, each 
labeled, 

457. To Westbrook & Mendenhall, 
for the best and largest variety of pears, 

459. To F. Davis, for the best and 
largest collection of apple trees, suita- 
ble for Southern raising, 

460. To Jos. Sin ton & Sons, for the 
best pear trees, 

461. To James Via, for the best peach 
trees, 

462. To Joseph Sinton & Sons, for 
the best fig trees, 

463. To James Via, for the best grape 
vines, 

. 465. To F. Davis, for the best rasp- 
berry plants, 

466. To Mrs. Henry Jarratt, for the 
best bushel dried apples, 

467. To Mrs. Henry Jarratt, for the 
bushel, dried peaches, 

Class 2nd. 
Floivers. 

460.. To Mrs. James Ayres, for the 
largest and choicest collection of plants, 10 00 

470. To Miss Nancy Glover, for the 
second best, 

473. To Mrs. James Donnan, for the 
greatest variety of roses, 

475, Tp Mrs. James Ayres, for the 
best and largest collection of chrysan- 
themums, 

476. To Mrs. J. B. Varnum, for the 



10 00 


8 00 


10 00 


10 00 


10 00 


5 00 


5 00 


3 00 



3 00 



3 00 



00 
00 

00 



best floral ornament, $5 0' 

477. To Mrs. James Ayres, for the 

besc hand bouquet, not more than eight 

inches in. circumference, 

479. To F. Davis, for the best and 

largest collection of evergreens, 

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 



2 0< 

5 0' 



The Committee, to whom has been referre 
the duty of awarding the Premiums in th 
Floral Department, beg leave respectfully t 
report, that they have discharged the duty as 
signed to them, and that they concur in th 
foregoing awards. 

The Committee feel that they should d 
themselves injustice, if they failed to expres 
their regret at finding so few competitors ii 
this department of the Exhibition. 

In the various branches of Agriculture, ii 
the mechanic arts, and in the multiform opei 
ations of good housewifery, and skillful hand! 
craft with the loom, the needle, or the pencil 
it is gratifying to witness the ample proofs o 
improvement from year- to year. But wher 
are the beautiful and fragrant flowers, so elc 
quent of truth, goodness and love ? Wher 
are the tropical fruits, so enchanting to th 
eye, so inviting to the taste and so suggestiv 
of the primeval Paradise ? Where are th 
evergreens, reminding us of immortality ant 
glory, and freshening even the desolateness o 
the tomb with the- amaranthine hues o 
heaven ? 

Excepting sunshine, rain and air, there i 
scarce any object in nature which God ha 
diffused with a more affluent bounty thai 
flowers. Not only in the meadow, by th 
brooklet, and on the lawn — but buried in th 
depths of the ocean-like forests, far down ii 
the obscure dell, and on Alpine heights, when 
they wage an unequal war with eternal snow 
and ice — they show their smiling faces an< 
pour out their charming fragrance. 

This seeming prodigality in the abundanci 
and dissemination of these "silent dweller 
on the. earth/' has been beautifully recognize* 
in the oft-quoted couplet, 

_ m 

"Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, 

And waste its sweetness on the desert air. 7 ' 

But is it' waste? Is not the thought, even 
presumption? Who will dare to say tha 
those unnumbered flowers, which have neve 
been greeted by human eye, do not pour lif 
and health into the atmosphere which w»| 
breathe. Besides, it is more than mere poetr 
that, 

"Millions of spiritual beings walk the earth 
Unseen both when we wake and when we sleep. 

And who will venture to say that they, witl 
their etherialized intellects, and their loftie 
and purer sentiments than belong- to earth, d 
not a thousand times more enjoy these flora 
charms, than do any of the sin-stained meni 



800.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



55 



>ers of our race? It were as wise to say, that 
he atmosphere which floats, untouched by 
iving creature, a dozen miles above our heads, 
I waste: that the stars, which show only ns 
iamond-points in the sky — and especially, 
hose countless myriads of them which neither 
he eye, nor the telescope, has ever yet 
iroug'ht to view — is waste. Hush ! presump- 
uous man ! " Canst thou by searching, find 
utGod?" 

Flowers are one of the mightiest educa- 
ational forces which God has brought into 
>eing. The cultivation of them improves the 
ntcllect, refines the sensibilities, purifies the 

|~ieart, and softens and beautifies the whole 
iharacter. The lady whose fingers daily train 
he tender vine, and whose eye watches the 
ipening petals, gives clear proof of gentle- 
less, delicacy and refinement. And the gen- 
leman who luxuriates in flowers, twirls them 
n his fingers, and wears them in his button- 
lole, cannot be lost in sordid selfishness, sensu- 
ility and vice: — and such an one — to the 
gentler sex we hint it — may be relied upon in 
cnost cases, as having left some avenue, or 
lostern gate, leading to the heart, unguarded, 
svhere successful assault may be made. 

Silent and often unobserved as is this power 
or good, it nevertheless takes hold, and with 
in all-pervading grasp, of our earliest years. 

FEowitt has beautifully revealed our thoughts 
n this interesting theme as follows : 
" "With what eagerness do very infants grasp 
at flowers! As they become older they would 
live forever among them. They bound about 
in the flowery meadows like young fawns ; *hey 
ather all they come near; they collect heaps; 
they sit among them and sort them, and sing 
over them, and caress them, till they perish 
in their grasp. We see them coming wearily 
into the towns and villages, loaded with 
posies half as large as themselves. We trace 
them in shady lanes, in the grass of far off 
fields, by the treasures they have gathered and 
have left behind, lured on by others still 
brighter. 

4, As they grow up to mature years, they 
assume, in their eyes, new characters and 
beauties. Then they are strewn around them, 
the poetry of the earth. They become in- 
vested, by a multitude of associations, with in- 
numerable spells of power over the human 
heart ; they are, to us, memorials of the joys, 
sorrows, hopes, and triumphs of our fore- 
fathers; they are, to all nations, the emblems 
of youth in its loveliness and purity." 

In conclusion, therefore, we beg leave ear- 
nestly to recommend to our entire community, 
and especially to the mothers and daughters, 
a greatly increased attention to the cultivation 
of flowers — not only as a source of rational 
entertainment and pleasure, but as a powerful 
means for good, in training the young to intelli- 
gence, purity, refined sensibility and virtue, 
and in perpetuating to mature years, with the 



freshness and greenness of youth, the same 
excellent qualities. 

Respectfully submitted, in behalf of the 
Committee, 

A. J. Leavenworth, Chairman. 



Class 3rd. 
Vegetables. 

481. To W. B. Bagley, for the largest 

and best assortment of table vegetables, 10 00 

482. To A. A. Archer, for the best 
dozen long blood beets, 2 00 

483. To W. Bowden, for the best 
dozen head of cabbage, 2 00 

48G. To II. J. Smith, for the best 
dozen carrots, 2 00 

488. To W. B. Bagley, for the best 

peck of onions, 2 00 

489. To H. J. Smith, for the best 
dozen parsnips, 2 00 

490. To W. B. Bagley for the best 
bushel Irish potatoes, 2 00 

491. To L. J. Simonson, for the best 
bushel sweet potatoes, 2 00 



I 



BRANCH VI. 

Butter, Cheese, Bacon, Honey, <$cc. 
Class 1st. 

butter AND CnEESE. 

492. To Mrs. E. Cummins, for the 
best specimen of fresh butter, not less 

than ten lbs., 10 00 

493. Mrs. J. C. Burton, for the sec- 
ond best specimen of fresh butter, not 

less than five pounds, 5 00 

Class 2nd. 
Honey, Be& Hives, and Bacon Hams. 

497. To J. R. Banks and A. S. Mad- 

dox, for the best specimen of honey, 
not less than ten pounds, 5 00 

The honey to be taken without destroying 
the bees — the kind of hives used, and the 
arrangement of the bees to be stated by the 
exhibitor. 

499. To Mrs. Samuel Weisiger, for 

the best ham, cured by exhibitor, $8 00 

500. To Mrs. James Ayres, for the 
second best, 4 00 



BRANCH VII. 

Household and Domestic Manufacture. 

household manufactures. 

Class 1st. 

501. To Mrs. M. H. Turner, for the 
best quilt, 5 00 



56 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[January 



502. To Mrs. E. M. Wheary, for the 
second best quilt, 4 00 

503. To Mrs. Harris and Mrs. Jones, . 

for the best counterpane," 5 00 

504. To Mrs. James I.vey, for the 
second best counterpane, 4 00 

505. To Mrs Meredeth and Miss V. 
Young, for the best pair homemade 
blankets, 5 00 

506. To Mrs. W. B. Wcstbrook, for 

the best home-made carpet, 5 00 

507. Mrs. M. A. Davis, for the best 
home-made hearth-rug, 3 00 

510. To Mrs. Norman Wake.N. C, for 
the best piece, not less than seven 
yards, homemade negro shirting, 3 00 

512. To Mrs. F. Niblett, for the best 
piece, not less than ten yards, heavy 
woollen jeans, to bo woven by hand; 5 00 

513.- To Mrs. II. Jarratt, for the 
second best piece, not less than ten 
yards, heavy woollen jeans, to be woven 
by hand, 3 00 

"514. Mrs. J. W. Harris, N. C, for 
the best piece linsey, not less than 
seven yards, to be woven by hand, 5 00 

515.* To Mrs. R. II. Allen, for the 
second best, 3 00 

Class 2nd. 

516. To Mrs. J. E. Venable, for the 
best fine long yarn hose, 

519. To Mr. James Avres, for the 
best specimen of home-made wine, 

520. To Mrs. W. R. Johnson, for the 
best liorne-made bread, 

521. To Mrs. E. G. A. Poindexter, 
for the besr, home-made pound cake, 

522. To Mrs. James Ayres, for the 
best home-made sponge cake, 

523. To Mrs. James Ayres, for the 
best varieties home-made pickles, 

524. To Mrs. B. A. Hancoek, for the 
best varieties home-made preserves, 

525. To Mrs. James Ayres, for the 
best varieties home-made fruit jelly, 

527. To Mrs. Henry Jarratt, for the 
best sample home-made soap, 

LADIES' ORNAMENTAL AND FANCY 
WORK. 

Class 3rd. 

528. To Mrs. M. J. Lucas, for the 

best specimen of embroidery, 8 00 

529. To Miss M. T. Gordon, for the 
second 'best, 6 00 

530. To Mrs. W. T. Moseley, and 
Miss Pattie Branch, for the best speci- 
men of worsted work, 8 00 

531. To Mrs. Deems, for the second 

best, 6 00 

532. To Miss Bettic D. August, for 

the best specimen of crotchet work, 8 00 



533. To Mrs. Alex. Donnan and Miss 
Kate Couch, for the seeond best, 

534. To Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Alley, 
for the best specimen of wax work, 

535. To Mrs. Cooper and Mrs. Mor- 
ton, for the second best, 

530. To Mrs. Brownlev, for the best 
specimen of shell work, 

538. To Miss P. A. Lacey, for the 
best specimen of ornamental leather 
work, 

539. To Miss E. J. Rowlett, for the 
second best, 

540. To Miss Annie Butler, for the 
best specimen of block work, 

542. To Mrs. Baxter and Mrs.' Gil- 
liam, for the best specimen of knit- 
ting, 

543. To Mrs. A. Archer, and Miss 
M. Le.uoine, for the second best, 

544. To Miss Isabella Gray, for the 
best specimen of netting, 

545. Mrs. P. Woo. folk, for the second 
best, 



DOMESTIC MANUFACTURES, 
Class 2nd. 
549. To Sutherlin and Ferrill, for 
the best manufactured tobacco, Lenora 
Brand, Certificate of Merit. 



3 


00 


5 


00 


5 00 


3 


00 


3 


00 


3 


00 


3 


00 


3 


00 


5 


00 



00 


8 00 


6 00 


8 00 


8 oa 


6 00 


8 00 


8 00 


6 00 


8 00 


6 00 



BRANCH VIII. 

Honorary Testimonials to each individual 
of yirginia who, previous to 1859, has dis- 
covered or introduced, or brought into use 
any principle process, or facility generally, or 
any improvement by which important value 
has been gained for the Agricultural inter- 
ests of Virginia. 

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 

The Committee on Honorary Testimonials 
in their present report would touch only on a 
single topic. 

That the artificial grasses have had a prin- 
cipal agency in our improved systems of hus- 
bandry is known to all ; and among these the 
place of precedence must undoubtedly be 
given to clover; not only for its intrinsic 
value as an article of food for animals, and 
the wonderful increase in its growth from the 
application of gypsum, but as a means, when 
turned under, of fertilizing the soil. A great 
drawback, however, to its more general and 
extensive use, has been the high price of its 
seed when obtained from abroad, or the tedi- 
ous and comparatively inefficient methods 
heretofore employed, when the Farmer, and 
especially the Planter, would gather them 
from his own fields. The labour required for 
this purpose is also called for at an inconve- 
nient season, and materially interferes with 
the other operations of the planter, — so much 
so, indeed, as generally to render this entire 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



57 



class dependent on others for a supply. Both 
these causes combined have to this day, 
whether rightfully Ut not, deterred many 
small proprietors, or men of moderate means 
from its use, either entirely or only to a lim- 
ited extent. 

It is not very creditahle to the mechanical 
ingenuity of our countrymen which has done 
so much to facilitate or 11 bridge the labour* 
of the husbandman in other departments, that 
it should here have so signally failed. 

Your Committee are happy in expressing 
the belief that this reproach is at length about 
to be removed, and that this desideratum may 
henceforth be supplied. A machine for gath- 
ering clover seed, invented by Mr. M. S. 
Kahle, a citizen of Rockbridge county, and 
which, having been exhibited at other points 
in our State, was open to inspection on our 
own Fair Grounds en the present occasion, 
promises to meet this want. 

The undersigned have not had an opportu- 
nity of witnessing it$ operation in the field ; 
but testimonials of its successful working, 
from highly respectable and practical farmers 
in the Valley of Virginia, have been laid be- 
fore us, and our own examination of the ma- 
chine has tended to confirm their report. On 
inspection it appears to be well adapted to its 
purpose, simple in its construction, and, un- 
der a prudent use, but little liable to get out 
of order. 

We have not at present the means of form- 
ing even an appropriate estimate of the sums 
which, during the present century, have been 
paid by the farmers of Virginia to those of 
other States for the clover seed used by them. 
But that the amount is great, there can be 
no doubt. This implement promises to en- 
able them to gather from their own fields this 
essential element in an improved husbandry, 
and must inevitably reduce the cost to such as 
may not employ it directly fo.r that purpose. 
Farther consequences will be, its more liberal 
and general, if not universal use, and when 
used liberally, the increase of its own crop to 
the exclusion of noxious weeds. 

We therefore do not hesitate to invite the 
attention of our farmers generally to this 
novel implement as one which bids fair to be 
of the very highest utility. We presume not 
to say that it is insusceptible of farther im- 
provement; but it is certainly a move in the 
right direction, and in advance of all its pred- 
ecessos, so far as these are known to us. And 
should its performance fulfil but one half of 
what is claimed for it by its friends, the name 
of its inventor should be placed among those 
of the most distinguished benefactors of the 
agriculture of the State. 

The present proprietors are Messrs. Huff' 
& Kahle, of Salem, Roanoke county. 
Respectfully submitted, 

N. Frans. Cabell, 

T. Jefferson Randolph. 



DISCRETIONARY PREMIUMS.* 

559. To William B. Wanton, Farm- 
ville, for the best Tobacco Flattening 
Hill. $10 00 

500. To , Farmvlile, 

for the best Marl and Brick E.e- 
vator, 5 00 

561. To Mrs. C. B. Turner, for the 
best dried corn, 1 00 

502. Mrs. C. B. Turner, for the best 
paper flowers, 2 00 

5G3. To Miss fi. II. Laey, for the best 
oil painting, 5 00 

504. To Miss Flora Ragland, for the 

best hair work, 2 00 

505. To M. Turpi n for fine specimen 

oil painting, 2 00 

500. To A. C. Harrison, for beauti- 
ful specimen of buggy saddle, stitched 
by John Aggers, 16 years ohi, after four 
months apprenticeship, 2 00 

507. To Mrs. R. P. Bridgers, for best 
home-spun and home-made coat, 2 00 

568. To E. A. Pillow, for a hand- 
some plat of Fair Grounds, 2 00 

5G9. To T. A. Sinclair, for the best 
buggy, 5 00 

570. To Mrs. M. S. Bagley, for the 

best home-made starch, 2 00 

571. To Burger & Boyle, for the best 
circular saw, Certificate of Merit. 

572. To Law & Sherman, for the best 

lot of files, Certificate of Merit. 

573. To Mrs. J. W. Ilobbs, for the 

best specimen of lard, 2 00 

574. To Miss M. A. Glover, for the 

best geraniums, 2 00 

575. To William Dwryea, for the best 
corn starch and maizena, made at Glen- 
cove, L. I., Certificate of Merit. 

570. To Outen, for the best 

swingle tree life-preserver, 5 00 

577. To Tredwell & Poll, for Shaers 
coulter harrow, 00 

578. To Mrs. J. 0. Bragg, for beauti- 
ful stand pearl work, 2 00 

579. To Mrs Sarah Burns, Peters- 
burg, for fine spiced tomatoes, 2 00 

580. To William B. Billings, for 
Union light and self-generating, safety 

gas lamp, Certificate of Merit. 

581. To Miss Jennie Rowlett, for su- 
perior home-made fruit cake, 2 00 

582. To Mrs. James Ayres, for splen- 
did damson cheese, 2 00 

583. To Mrs. Thomas E. Ilaskins, 
Prince Edward, for superior blackberry 
wine, 2 00 

584. To Miss Ida Ragland, for fine 
specimen of painting and hair work, 2 00 

585. To Miss E. J. Rowlett, for fine 
specimen of pearl painting, 2 00 



58 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[January 



Foster 
mndea 



t COMMENDATIONS. 

Miss Rosa P. Crump, for handsome worked 
lady's morning wrapper. 
. R. J. White, of Portsmouth, for the Fost 
Block, a new building material compo 
of sand and lime. 

Mrs. Jesse W. Burton of Petersburg, for a 
handsome worked bed quilt. 

. Mrs. Nunnally, of Dinwiddie, for five hand- 
some baskets. 

Dr. A. Whitehead, for draining tile. 

Messrs. Tappey & Lumsden, for improved 
hogshead screw. 

Drs. J. M. Sheppard and J. F. Disosway, 
for one case each of dentistry. 

Mr. W. M. Bush, for hogskin, tanned one 
inch thick. 

Mr. J. F. Jaques, for fine Metalic Stencil 
brands. 

Mrs. J. Hobbs, for 'fine loaf of potato 
bread. 

Mrs. R. R. Haskins, Prince George, for 
fine specimen of home-made champaigne 
•wine. 

Mr. C. B. Turner, for fruit trees. 

Mrs. Ann Corling, for an overcast quilt. 

Mrs. J. W. Hobbs, Petersburg, for home- 
made counterpane. 

Mrs. Susan Pool, Petersburg, for home- 
made counterpanes. 

Mrs. Cosby, Petersburg, for home-made 
couuterpanes. 

Mrs. Ivey, for domestic rag carpet. 

Mrs. Tennon, for domestic hearth rug, 

Mrs. Harris, of Wake county, N. *C., for 
cotton serge. 

Mrs. A. A. Rowlett, for large quanity 
of negro clothing. 

Mrs. Norman, for cotton and flax towels. 

Mrs. J. W. Harris, of Wake county, N. C, 
for Scuppernong wine, ten years old. 

Mr. Allen P. Lee, for cotton cultivator. 

Mrs. Powhatan B. Starke, for fine sponge 
cake. 



*■»••* 




Cfj^StftfijJuir jpi&itiu/ 



RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 



A Yankee who had seen the statue of the 
" Greek Slave," and was asked if he was 
not in raptures with it, answered, "Well, to 
tell the truth, I don't care much about them 
stone gals." 

The parent who would train up a child in 
the way he should go, must go in the way he 
should train up his child. 

Dr. Franklin, speaking of education, says : 
" If a man empties his purse in his head, no 
one can take it away from him. An invest- 
ment in knowledge always pays the best in- 
terest." 

Be contented and thankful ; a cheerful 
spirit makes labour light, sleep sweet, and all 
around cheerful. 



Friends ! 

Of the Southern Planter, and agriculture gene- 
rally, help us to hold up our hands. 

If ours is a good work, then aid us in its be- 
half. By contributions of science, experience, 
theory, and subscribers, help us to extend our cir- 
culation and means of usefulness. 

If we deserve to succeed, and we think we 
do, as we try always to discharge our duties 
faithfully, then give in your continuance and 
support. 

Every man on our list of subscribers can send 
us some new names, (or else his influence is 
feebly exerted,) if he will try. Will they not 
do so? Give us a liberal support, and we shall 
be enabled to reciprocate the favor, by making 
our journal more complete and full in details, 
wood cuts, and general interest. 



<■» «» » 



On Economical Living, and the Encou- 
ragement of Home Industry. 

While public attention is awake to the neces- 
sity of some well defined course of principle 
and action, which shall be so well understood 
and acted on by all parties of our mighty Con- 
federation, as will best tend to the benefit of 
our sovereign States, and the preservation of 
their respective "rights," under the constitu- 
tional agreement, which should be alike bind- 
ing upon them all, we deem it no trespassing 
upon the peculiar character of our paper, to say 
a word to the farmers of our own State on the 
course which we believe will best advance 
their interests, and our general prosperity, if it 
is adopted. While we put in a general dis- 
claimer of any intention to increase the present 
excitement among our people, in regard to our 
"peculiar institution," or to fan the flames of 
angry prejudice existing between different parts 
of our Federal Union, we speak soberly and 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



59 



calmly our own views of what we and our 
readers, as farmers, owe to our Stair, and of 
evils which may as well be remedied now, a.- 
fit a later period. We must begin a reform 
sooner or later, and go hack to the -'good old 
times" lor our notions of economy and simpli- 
city of hahit, which so well became the "Vir- 
ginia gentleman," because they were so natural 
and unaffected. 

It will not be denied that our habits of living 
have, for many years, been growing more and 
more luxurious, and, in many cases, an ostenta- 
tious "style" has usurped the place of the 
plain, simple, cordial, generous hospitality of 
our forefathers. Are we any better or happier 
for it? Far from it. Our wants have been 
multiplied in a ratio far exceeding our means of 
gratifying them, "and if told, would muster 
many a score;" while our fortunes have de- 
creased, in spite of greater facilities than those 
possessed by the last generation for making 
money. 

Broadcloth has taken the place of home-spun; 
rosewood and mahogany have displaced the 
plain and substantial walnut and pine furniture 
of the olden time; silk has taken the shine off 
warm, comfortable home-spun yarn ; and satin 
has rustled out of sight the unpretending and 
more modest chintz and calico of our grand- 
mothers. This change in domestic matters and 
habits, which, while it has added no substantial 
additional charm to the persons of our ladies, 
has often impaired their minds, by fostering a 
blind obedience to the enervating laws of fash- 
ion and luxury, and added a grievous load of 
care to the burdens usually belonging to our 
gentlemen. Such a system of living procures 
for our women impaired health and usefulness; 
'tor our men, premature grey hairs, bankruptcy 
and misery. 

Are these things so? We shall see, by com- 
paring a list of the expenses of one of our 
young ladies of the present day for educational 
proficiency in the "ologies," dress and orna- 
ments, with those of her mother, while we listen 
to the groans of many a "governor" of a family, 
at the "extravagance" of his household, dis- 
played by a peep at his bills payable, and hear- 
ing the oft-repeated direction of "Young Ame- 
rica" to his merchant, tailor, &c, "charge it to 
the old man." 

Improper and false estimates of the respecta- 
bility of labor, have increased and grown apace 
among all classes, until many a youth would 



blush at being caught engaged in any manual 
labor or exertion differing from the course taught 
at the gymnasium, or by the "professor" of 

"boxing," or dancing; and the old adage, 'He 
who by the plough would thrive, himself must 
either hold or drive," is too often imperfectly 
remembered by farmers, and unbinted to their 
sons. If we would prosper, and deserve to 
possess this fair land in which it has pleased a 
beneficent Providence to cast our lots, we must 
help ourselves — improve and develop the vast 
resources of our State, for the support and com- 
petent maintenance of all its sons. While we 
mind our own business, we are engaged in our 
own proper duty as good citizens; and we 
wrong no others when we cultivate and cherish 
that spirit of affectionate devotion to, and pride 
in the weal of, our glorious "Old Dominion," 
which is the birthright of each and all of her 
sons. For us all, we may glory in the fact, that 
on no part of the globe is this very feeling of 
unswerving loyalty to the home of our child- 
hood so strongly marked, so often expressed, so 
seldom forgot, as in the inmost heart of every 
Virginian. 

It is right and proper to cultivate this senti- 
ment, to hush the voice of party spirit, which 
occasionally is raised among us, and to come up 
as one man to the work of developing the full 
industrial capacity of our Commonwealth; de 
voting our best energies of mind and body to 
its accomplishment; respecting the rights of 
others; knowing and maintaining our own: 
standing shoulder to shoulder, like brothers as 
we are, and push on the wheels of improvement 
of our own State car. 

{low shall we bring about this concert of 
action, to accomplish the desirable result of im- 
proving the condition of every man among us? 
By reducing our wants and expenses to the 
standard of comfort and utility. These may be 
preserved, and many a dollar saved, which is 
now spent in extravagant show, and the creation 
of envy among many who cannot afford the ex- 
pense attending useless "style." By the adop- 
tion of simple and more industrious habits of 
life and cheaper costumes of dress, but above 
all, by buying nothing outside of our ou'7i borders 
which can be procured at home, and determining, 
unalterably, to do without everything, not absolutely 
a necessary of life, which cannot be procured here. 

Look upon every sober, honest, working man, 
in every department of human industry, as the 
man of honor, and an ornament to his race j 



60 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[January 



thus will we promote the true dignity of labor; 
tighten the chains of* friendship and confi- 
dence which should bind together the hearts of 
every people, and incite every man to the faith- 
ful performance of the duty which he owes to 
society and his country. 

It is a great mistake to suppose that we are 
dependent upon any other State for the supply 
of our real wants; and if this assertion is in 
any sense too broad, surely it is high time to 
remedy, and as speedily as it can be done, so great 
an evil, and to remove the cause of this reproach 
from our skirts. 

Ln Richmond and Fredericksburg alone, we 
have water-power enough to manufacture all 
the cotton grown in the South — all the shoes' 
hats, blankets, hardware, &c.,that we want. We 
have large founderies, machine-shops and facto- 
ries of every kind, which would be greatly ben- 
efited, and placed on permanent foundations, by 
Southern support and patronage. 

Let them have it, and their prosperity will be 
the means of supplying us with establishments, 
which may at present be needed among us, for 
carrying on any other branch of industry, for the 
products of which we may be dependent now 
upon any other place. 

We believe that the adoption of this course 
would help every citizen among us* and draw 
to our shores hosts of good artisans from other 
parts, whose advent would add to our general 
prosperity as a people, and do away the neces- 
sity for any such word as "waste-land" among 
us. 

Let us begin, then, at once to adopt a more 
economical and plainer style of living; to re- 
trench, as far as possible, our general expenses, 
and to encourage, by all means in our power, our 
home manufactures, and to let every Virginian 
see by our acts, as well as ''resolutions," that in 
our sentiments of devotion to our State, our in- 
terests and common aims, we are one people — 
that each man is to his neighbor a help, friend 
and brother, and come weal or woe, we wiil 
share a common destiny. 



alone, and needs no further help. We have sent 
them the paper regularly, waited in a state of 
patient expectancy for the amount of their dues 
and contributions, and we have received neither. 

Printer's ink, paper, patience and hope are 
alike consuming by the delay of these, and we 
sincerely hope that they "treat no other friend 
so ill." 

We must, however, in the proper discharge of 
our duties 1o them, remind them that the begin- 
ning of the present year is an auspicious time 
to throw off all old .encumbrances, in the way 
of bad habits — among the worst of which we 
are inclined to number that of failing to pay the 
printer — and, with the new year, to commence 
a regular system of dealing with printers, and 
all other classes of men, as they would like to 
be treated by them, if their relative positions 
were altered. Take our advice, then, for which 
we charge nothing, and we guarantee an in- 
creased amount of happiness and satisfaction to 
all parties concerned. 



To our Subscribers. 

With the beginning of the present volume, 
The Southern Planter enters on its twentieth 
year. Upon the list are the names of some good 
friends, who have helped to support it from its 
infancy to the present time, and there 'are also 
the names of some who, as it approaches the 
period of its majority, seem to think it can stand 



• Information Wanted. 

A subscriber begs for' information, from any 
farmer whose experience qualifies him to give 
it, with regard to the following varieties of 
wheat, viz : 

Boughton, 

Bowers, 

Early Purple Straw, White. 

The difference in the prices paid by millers 
for White and Red Wheat, make it an important 
desideratum for us to procure a While variety, 
which will be ready for harvesting at a period 
sufficiently early to justify us in discarding the 
Red, now so extensively sown. 

We must do this in self-defence, if we can 
secure, along with early maturity, other advan- 
tages equal to those claimed for the "Early 
Purple Straw, Red." 



Droughts, 

It will be seen by reference to the extract of 
Dr. Higgin's Report to the Maryland State Legis- 
lature, that the new and ingenious theory of the 
beneficial effects of drouth on soils, in bringing 
to the surface a fresh supply of inorganic con- 
stituents, is entirely original with him. We 
publish in our present number his views on 
the subject, and cannot refrain from expressing 
our convictions of the entire truth of his dis- 
covery. 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



61 



This theory explains satisfactorily and ration- 
ally why it is that the well-known proverb of a 
"dry seeding time, preceding a good harvest," 
is true. 

We commend the article to the attention of 
our readers. 

4--0-* • ► 

Important Discovery. 

Rev. Mr. Sceley, formerly of Springfield, 
Mass., now in Paris, communicates to the 
Springfield Republican the following inter- 
esting particulars of a promising discovery 
in France, for purposes of health, agricul- 
ture and surgery : 

This discovery, made by Messrs. • Corne 
and Demeaux, and thus far known as " Corne 
and Demeaux's Disinfecting Powder," or as 
the " French Disinfecting Powder/' is as 
simple in its character as its results promise 
to be important. These gentlemen, in the 
course of some experiments, ascertained that 
a simple mixture of the ordinary plaster of 
Paris and coal tar (which is produced by 
the distillation of coal for gas) has very 
powerful anti-septic properties. The pro- 
portions of the ingredients are, one hundred 
parts of the plaster of Paris, to from one to 
three parts of the coal tar; and the mixture 
to be thoroughly made with a mortar and 
pestle, or in a hand-mill, or by such other 
method as the quantity desired and the 
means of the operator may dictate. The 
process cannot be very difficult, since the 
article fully prepared is sold in Paris for 
about ten cents per pound. It is used for 
disinfecting, or anti-septic purposes, some of 
which I will indicate. For preventing the 
disagreeable odor of sinks, &c, the effect is 
instantaneous, and it is so much cheaper, 
that chloride of lime must entirely fall into 
disuse. Two lbs. of the powder are suffi- 
cient to dissolve in twenty-two gallons of 
water; or a tablespoonful dissolved in If 
pints of water is sufficient per day to render 
inodorous the refuse of a household of four 
or five persons. A morsel, the size of a 
pin's head, will render limpid and fit for use 
a pint and a half of water, which is begin-! 
iring to become putrescent. The value of| 
such a discovery for those who travel in the; 
East, and especially for ships at sea, cannot 
well be overstated. 

But it also has an important relation to 
agriculture. One-half pound of the pow- 
der, dissolved in five or six gallons ot water 
and sprinkled on the litter of a stable, will 



deprive one cubic yard of manure of all 
odor, and prevent the loss of its fertilizing 
qualities. It was on this feature of the case 
that I thought you might easily institute ex- 
periments, and, if successful, you will not 
fail to see what a boon such a discovery must 
prove to all those farmers who comprehend 
the necessity of preserving in the best pos- 
sible condition, and making the best possiblo 
use of all the fertilizing materials produced 
on the farm. It is probably no exaggera- 
tion to affirm that tens of thousands of dol- 
lars are evaporated every year from the ex- 
posed and smoking manure heaps around 
the barns and out-houses of the Massachu- 
setts farmers; and if there be any virtue in 
this alleged discovery, coal tar enough to 
prevent all this waste is Furnished by any 
gas establishment in the State. Every far- 
mer is wont to use plaster, more or less, on 
his land. Let him apply a small portion of 
it in the form and manner here suggested. 
and its usefulness will be much more certain, 
in all cases, than at present. 

But the relations of. the discovery, which 
are regarded with most interest in France, 
just at present, are those which it sustains 
to surgery. It is claimed that applied as an 
ointment (made of the mixture) or in the 
simple form of a powder, to severe wounds 
and sores, to cancerous ulcers and to suppu- 
rating abcesses, it instantaneously deprives 
them of all odor, and brings the wound into 
such a state that the ordinary healing appli- 
cations act successfully. Doctor Velpeau 
has reported to the Imperial Academy of 
Medicine, expressing high approbation of it 
as a dressing^ for wounds. Immediately af- 
ter this report, the suggestion was made that 
it might be of great service to the wounded 
of the army in Italy. Accordingly it was 
tried at the hospitals at Milan by direction 
of Baron Larrey, physician-in-chief to the 
Emperor. I give a translation of a brief 
report on the subject, made to Marshal Vail- 
lant, major general of the army in Italy, by 
the surgeon, Dr. Cruveithier, under whose 
eye the experiments were made : 

" In conformity with your orders, and fol- 
lowing the instructions left by Dr. Larrey, 
the powder of coal tar has been employed 
in the hospital of Milan on the wounded in 
whose wounds the gangrenous process, or 
hospital suppuration has commenced. The 
applications of the remedy, both in powder 
and as an ointment, were made on the first 
of August. The immediate results were 



62 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[January 



very favorable, and the disinfecting proper- 
ties of the topic were verified in the cases 
of more than twenty patients who were 
treated by different physicians. Still fur- 
ther, it has proved that under the influence 
of this preparation and of good living, the 
wounds, being disinfected, are then modi- 
fied, and in a few days the greater part of 
them present a greatly improved appearance. 
The application of the disinfectant is not 
omitted till the wounds, restored to a normal 
condition, are able to feel the action of the 
medicaments usually employed to promote 
the healing process. Twenty observations 
made in the hospitals in Milan, put these 
conclusions beyond all doubt." 

From the foregoing may be learned what 
appears to be the general opinion among the 
French surgeons as to the effect of the mix- 
ture on wounds, though there has been some 
difference of opinion as to whether the pow- 
der is or is not strictly to be regarded as a 
disinfectant. That it is a powerful anti- 
septic, no one doubts, and time will discover 
whether or not it also possesses disinfecting 
properties. — Country Gentleman. 



■4 • % & » - ■ 



Lime and Salt Mixture. 

Eleven years ago we first recommended 
the use of the Lime and Salt Mixture for 
the decomposition of muck, woods-earth, 
leaves, sea-weed, spent-tan, and other organic 
matters, which do not readily yield up their 
inorganic constituents for the use of crops ; 
for whatever may be the proper doctrines of 
the day as to ammonia and its uses," the 
great value of organic matter is resident in 
the progressed inorganic constituents which 
they are capable of furnishing by decompo- 
sition. The Lime and Salt Mixture when 
properly prepared, is an admirable decom- 
posing agent. Cotton seed, and a variety «of 
other material, may be more readily decom- 
posed by its use and with less loss, than by 
any other substances. It should be thus 
prepared : Dissolve one bushel of refuse salt 
in water, with this slake three bushels of 
caustic lime, hot from the kiln ; we mean by 
this, lime which has not been slaked, either 
by water or by exposure to the atmosphere, 
and even whqp in this state, it is difficult to 
cause it to take up all the brine made by 
one bushel of 'salt. In such cases it should 
be left for one day after receiving all it is 
capable of absorbing of the pickle, when it 
may be turned over and a new quantity 



added ; thus in two or three applications it 
will all be received. , 

Salt is composed of chlorine and soda, 
and when added to lime, the following chan- 
ges occur : the chlorine combines with the 
lime forming chloride of lime, the soda be- 
ing thus set free, takes carbonic acid from 
the atmosphere and becomes carbonate of 
soda. Commencing then with lime and salt, 
we end with chloride of lime and carbonate 
of soda. This slaking should always be per- 
formed under a shed; as the new, material 
is soluble in water, the outside of the heap 
will effloresce, becoming very fine and ex- 
tremely white, and the mass should be turn- 
ed very frequently, so that all parts may in 
turn come in contact with atmosphere. 
When the whole quantity has put on this 
peculiar appearance, and not before/ it is 
ready for use. Four bushels of this mix- 
ture equally divided through a cord of any 
inert organic material, will decompose it to 
a powder in thirty days in summer, and*- in 
sixty days in winter. Swamp-muck, river- 
mud, woods-earth, spent tan, and various 
other materials when thus prepared, may be 
mixed through stable manure for compost- 
ing with great advantage. In soils contain- 
ing an excess of organic matter, such as the 
peaty soils, the Lime and Salt Mixture may 
be used direct as a manure. As a top-dress- 
ing for grass in sour lands, it has great 
value, while in all soils deficient of lime, 
chlorine or soda, it would be found to be 
beneficial. 

The Lime and Salt Mixture should never 
be incorporated with purely putrescent man- 
ures, but rather applied separately ; thus, if 
stable manures be deeply, plowed under, the 
Lime and Salt Mixture may be used as a 
top-dressing before harrowing, and it will 
gradually find its way down, meeting the 
manure beneath the surface and there per- 
fecting its decomposition, when so position- 
ed, that all the results may be absorbed by 
the soil about it. 

When oyster shell lime fresh from the 
kiln can be procured, it is always preferable 
to stone lime for agricultural purposes; 
more of it is progressed and capable of be- 
ing assimilated by plants, while the excess 
quantity does not exercise a deleterious ef- 
fect on the texture of soils. 

Those who dispute our theory of the pro- 
gression of primaries, would do well to tell 
us why we never find soil cracking by over- 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



63 



liming when shell lime is used ; as it does by 
the over use of stone lime. 

Many weeds and insects are destroyed by 
a top-dressing of the Lime and Salt Mix- 
ture, and when thoroughly made may be 
placed around peach trees, preventing the 
peach worm or borer from entering the earth 
crown of the tree. We have known apple 
orchards restored to fruitfulness by a top- 
dressing of the Lime and Salt Mixture, and 
after under-draining, we have seen fine 
crops of corn raised by its use on muck 
swamps. It is well known to most farmers, 
that raw muck placed in the drill, is a good 
manure for potatoes and for nothing else ; 
if, however, the Lime and Salt Mixture be 
used with the muck, potatoes are improved, 
and the land is permanently better for after 
crops. The Xame and Salt Mixture may 
also be freely used in very large quantities, 
as a top-dressing for Asparagus, even reno- 
vating old beds which have ceased to be 
profitable. 

Our constant readers may wonder why we 
again repeat this Lime and Salt recipe, but 
the number of applicants for information on 
this subject is so great, that we find it ne- 
cessary, to enable us to avoid answering 
their letters. — Workinq Farmer. 



ashes, and smoke, is done away with, the 
gas can be used as long as it is wanted, and 
be instantly stopped ; it can be used in large 
or small quantities, to suit the amount of 
cooking or heating to be done; it requires 
no putting on of fuel or poking, and it can 
be lighted at a moment's notice. 

In contrast with these facts, compare the 
process of preparing a working man's morn- 
ing meal — the woman who prepares it must 
be up in winter at five or six, to lay a fire, 
in order that he may get to work by seven ; 
and with the annoyance of smoke, ashes, 
and bad coals, she is wor.ied to be ready; 
the room is filled with fine dust, and, proba- 
bly, with smoke, which injures every article 
of furniture and dress with which it comes 
in contact. And, then the fire is not under 
control, it is too hot, or too cold, but seldom 
the exact heat, and consequently the cook- 
ing cannot be well done; meat is either 
burned or raw, and other articles are spoiled 
by the same want of a uniform temperature ; 
and farther, cooking by an ordinary fire, is 
a slow process compared with cooking by 
gas. There is this advantage also in favor 
of gas, that all articles cooked by it are im- 
proved in quality. This was clearly proved 
to the committee of judges, and others, who 
examined the cooking apparatus exhibited 
at Palace Garden by Dr. Skinner; he cook- 
ed for them a large turkey in three quarters 
of an hour, some beef-steaks, pigeons, liver, 
lamb-chops, pork-steaks, &c, and nothing 
could exceed the excellence of the cooking, 
the pigeons and liver, in particular, were 
remarkable, these being usually so dry and 
devoid of juices, and being, in this case, 
most savory and full of gravy. Indeed, all 



to the adage. 



■Practical Machinist. 



Cooking by Gas. 

This is an improvement in the domestic 
economy of civilized life of the highest 
order; for nothing tends to create dirt and 
discomfort about the dwellings of the poor 
arid middle classes more than the appliances 
now in ■ use by them in cities for cooking 
and heating. Moreover, the combustion of, 

coal or coke in large quantities, in crowded . the articles were improve* vastly by the 
localities, is highly prejudicial to health and 'process; and the committee, without re- 
destructive of property. There is no coal', serve, put them. Jo "the proof," according 
in common use free from a considerable ad- 
mixture of sulphur, which, when burned, 
forms sulphuric acid ; the vapor of this be- 
ing inhaled, causes many distressing pulmo- 
nary affections, and, when deposited upon 
clothing, it rots them away rapidly. But 
the combustion of well-purified gas is free 
from this objection, for its principal pro- 
ducts are harmless watery vapor and car- 
bonic acid; and, on the score of expense, 
we doubt if the wretched hard coal burnt 
by the poor in bad, smoking stoves, does not 
cost more in the course of a year than a 
neatly fitted up apparatus for cooking by 
gas would cost; for all the dirt from cinders, 



< • m » > 



, " Human happiness has no perfect security 
but freedom; freedom none but virtue; vir- 
tue none but knowledge; and neither free- 
dom, nor virtue, nor knowledge, has any 
vigor, or immortal hope, except in the prin- 
ciples of the Christian faith and in the 
sanctions of the " Christian religion." 

No man ought to look upon the advant- 
ages of life, such as riches, honor, power, 
and the like, as his property, but merely as 
a trust which God hath deposited with him, 
to be employed for the use of his brethren. 



64 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[January 







Six Little Feet on the Fender. 

In my heart there liveth a picture. 

Of a kitchen rude and old, 
Where the firelight Tripped o'er the rafters, 

And reddened the roof's brown mould: 
Gilding the steam from the ketle 

That hummed on the foot-worn hearth, 
Throughout all the livelong evening 

Its measures of drowsy mirth. 

Because of the three light shadows 

That frescoed that rude old room — 
Because of the voices echoed 

Up mid the rafters' gloom — 
Because of the feet on the fen tier, 

Six restless, white little feet — 
The thoughts of that dear old kitchen 

Are to me so fresh and sweet. 

When then the first dash on the window 

Told of the coining rain. 
Oh! where are the fair young faces 

That crowded against the pane? 
What bits of firelight stealing 

Their dimpled cheeks between. 
Went strangling out in the darkness 

In shreds of silver sheen. 

Two of the feet grew weary, 

One dreary, dismal dny, 
And we tied them with snow-white ribbons, 

Leaving him there by the way. 
There was fresh clay on the fender, 

That weary #'intry night, 
For the four little feet had tracked it 

From his grave on the gray hill's height. 

01j why. on this darksome evening, 

This evening of rain anil sleet, 
Rest my feet all alone on the hearthstone? 

Oh ! where are those other feet? 
Are they treading the pathway of virtue 

That will bring us together above? 
Or have they made steps that will dampen 

A sister's tireless love? 



The Contented Man. 

FROM THE GERMAN OF JOHANN MARTIN MILLER. 

Why need I strive for wealth? 

It is enough for me 
That Heaven hath sent me strength and health, 

A spirit glad and free: 
Grateful these blessings to receive, 
I sing my hymn at morn and eve. 



On some, what floods of riches flow! 

House,, herds, and gold have they ; 
Yet life's best joys they never know, 

But fret their hours away. 
The more they have, they seek increase; 
Complaints and cravings never cease. 

A vale of tears this world they call, 

To me it seems so fair; 
It countless pleasures hath for all, 

And none denied a share, 
The little birds, on new-fledged wing, 
And insects revel in the spring. 

For love of us, hills, woods and plains, 

In beauteous hues are clad; 
And birds sing far and near sweet strains, 

Caught up by echos glad. 
" Rise," sings the lark, "your tasks to ply ;" 
The nightingale sings "lullaby." 

And when the golden sun goes forth, 

And all like gold appears, 
When bloom o'erspreads the gltfwing earth, 

And fields have ripening ears, 
I think these glories, that I see 
My kind Creator made for me. 

Then loud I thank the Lord above, 

And say, in joy fid mood, 
His love, indeed, is Father's love, 

He wills to all men good. 
Then let me ever grateful live, 
Enjoying all He deigns to give. 



The Voyage of Life. 

Sailing down the stream of time — 
Looking back to view the shore, 

Where my early years began, 
To trace them never more ! 

Often by the way I've lost, 

Little barques that sailed with me, 
Some were often tempest-tossed, 

Others sank into the sea. 

Eyes that beamed on me so bright 
When I started on life's main; 

Closed, while yet 'twas morning light, 
Closed, and opened ne'er again. 

Hopes, that sparkled in the sun, 
l)iamond-like on every wave, 

Sank when burst upon — 

Sank, and only left a — grave! 

Still my little barque is sailing, 
Down the rapid stream of time;* 

Sails are torn, and timbers failing — 
Making for another clime. 

Hangs a rainbow over head, 
'Mid the clouds a golden bar; 

And on ocean's darksome bed, 
Brightly glows the evening star. 

And an angel, gathering up 
Hopes long buried in the sea, 

When I reach the heavenly port, 
Will restore them all to me.