TH E 




Devoted to Agriculture, Horticulture, and the Household Arts, 



Agrici 


ilture is ilie nursing mother 


of tlje Arts. 
[Xenophon- 


Till 
th 


ngc and 
e State.- 


Pasturage 
-Sllly. 


are the two 


breasts 


of 


J. E. 


WILLIAMS, 


Editor. 






AUGUST & WILLIAMS 


Prop- 


RS. 


Vol. 


XX. 


RICHMOND, 


VA., 


MAY, 


1860. 


====== 


No. 




5. 



From Parks* Es$at/ cm the Philosophy ami 

Arf of Land- D nil iHuje. 

KSSAY II. 

Lecture on Draining. 
Mv Lord Portmax am> (Ikntlemex: 

In fnltilinont of the wish of the Council 
of the Swiety, [The Royal Af^ricultural 
Society of Enj^land,] and in anticipation 
that I, in common with its menihcrs, shall 
benefit by the remarks and larirer knowledii^e 
of others, I have undertaken to appear bo- 
fore the present assemblage of agriculturists 
with the view of illustrating some of the 
principles and rules of jtractice in the art of 
land-draining. Ry so doing I do not think 
that I, or others who may follow me, shall 
be open to the charge of presumption, in- 
as-much as we may doubt if there lives the 
man, having acquaintance with the clin.ate, 
soil and agriculture of Britain, who would 
have the hardihiwd to dispute the assertion 
that drainage is beneficial, or the fact that 
vast districts in our island still require to be 
relieved from an injurious amount of water 
stagnant in its soil and stagnating too near 
its surface. I apprehend, therefore, that I 
may commence this paper by a.ssuming — by 
taking for granted — unphilosophical and in- 
admissible as such a procedure would be in 
17 



a doubtful case — that land-drainage is an 
art and a practice of acknowledged value 
and ucce.«;.sity ; a?id that we arc met here 
not to dispute about the jiropricty of drain- 
ing wet lands, but simply to discuss the 
means of rendering the art of drainage 
efficient and economical, and to impart to 
each other our respective knowledge as to 
the modes of arriving at those desirable 
ends. I further apprehend that it should 
be our course to state, with precision, such 
practice as we may have icverally pursued, 
it.s effect.s, and the causes to which good or 
ill-success in a particular practice may, in 
our opinion, be ascribed. I imagine that 
we shall, in this way, best fulfil the object 
of the Council in inviting this discussion, 
liir I subscribe heartily to the doctrine en- 
forced in the l^eport of our Council to the 
general nieeting in .May last, viz.: that "a 
clear knowledge of cau.se and effect, under 
given circumstances, and a detail of the 
particular cases to which such knowledge is 
applicable, is, in their opinion, the only safe 
science to be recommended to their mem- 
bers." There is nothing contained in this 
declaration of the Council to discourage ex- 
periment, as has been feared and suggested 
to me by some of its members — from which 
circnm.stance, partly, I refer to it — since 
" safe science," if the term has a meaning 



1 



268 



THE'SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[May 



is simply expressive of that determinate 
state of knowledge which is founded on 
facts; and we .cannot obtain facts but 
through experiments, observation, and ex- 
perience. Let me mention a definition of 
science, as propounded by that illustrious 
traveller and philosopher, Alexander Von 
Humboldt, in his recently published work, 
" Cosmos,"* p. 71. He observes, ^'Science 
begins at the point where mind dominates 
matter, where the attempt is made to sub- 
ject the mass of experience to the scrutiny of 
reason; science is mind brought into con- 
nection with nature." There is no differ- 
ence in I he sense of the two definitions, and 
the recommendation of the Council will put 
the members at their ease who have infor- 
mation to add to the common stock, and 
will, I trust, absolve them and myself 
from all charge of egotism, or desire of dis- 
play, in speaking of our individual per- 
formances or opinions. 

Experience has proved that a soil sur- 
charged with water cannot perfect crops, — 
that excess of water is an impediment to 
the due mechanical division of the active 
soil — that it diminishes the fertilizing power 
of every species of manure — that it lowers 
the temperature of the mass of the bed- — 
that it precludes the free entrance and 
change of atmospheric air— -that it prevents 
the free descent of rain through the soil, 
and its timely evacuation. The existence 
of water in excess is far from being con- 
fined to those absorbent and tenacious de- 
scriptions of soil which have obtained the 
name of clays. My own observation of the 
soils of Britain leads me to the perception 
and belief, that fully as large an area of its 
extent, consisting of loams, and of earths 
still more silicious, need draining quite as 
much as the stiff and compact clays. Water is 
permanently maintained too near the surface 
of many soils, where natural texture, for a 
few feet deep, would allow to it a free pas- 
sage downwards, were it not for the exist- 
ence of a clay or some other impassible 
medium, at a depth more or less great, which 
uphold water. The evils referable to the 
excess of water in soils arc rendered pecu- 
liarly apparent by comparing such water- 
logged land with those free, deep, naturally 
dry, and warm soils, as they are called. 



•"Cosmos; A General Survey of the Physi- 
cal Phenoniina of the Universe." 

BaiUiere,219 Regent Street, London. 



which are so coveted by fiirmers; of which 
every one wants a slice, but which arc §o 
rarely to be met with, in comparison with 
the over-wet or too dry portions of the 
superficies of our island. The art of draining 
land is to assimilate the naturally wet to the 
naturally moist soil, in so far as that can be~ 
accomplished by so simple an operation, and 
its eftect upon the physical condition of wet 
land will be the greater or less, according 
to the knowledge and skill displayed in per- 
forming the operation. In a former paper 
on the subject, entitled "On the Influence 
of Water on the Temperature of Soils," 
(See February and March numbers of this 
journal,) I endeavoured to bring together 
and lay before the Society a succinct history 
of the properties of water in its several 
states as a fluid, a solid and a vapour or 
steam, and to show its efi"ects upon soil ; to- 
gether with the action of other natural 
forces inherent in soil, and dependent on 
meteorological phenomena. I need not 
again refer in detail to the points discussed 
in that Essay, nor further than to express 
the conviction, that without a pretty clear 
knowledge of the nature of those bodies, 
forces, and phenomena,— without, in fact, in- 
forming ourselves of the properties of the 
tools with which Nature works, our own 
efi"orts and performances must be imperfect, 
and come short of the mark. 

A number of instances of draining, ob- 
served at diff"erent periods, and published 
by others as well as myself, has induced in me 
a firm belief in a very early-formed opinion, 
that, the general drainage carried on in this 
country, is of a depth too shallow to realise 
the valuable results which a given expendi- 
ture of money is capable of effecting. Grow- 
ing experience, with extended observation, 
have only served to strengthen my confi- 
dence in the superior efficiency of a deeper 
system of drainage, and the fortuitous dis- 
covery of the simple cylindrical pipe-con- 
duit came in aid of those agriculturists and 
drainers whose convictions and practice are 
enlisted in the same cause. The Society 
owes to Mr. Pusey the first announcement, 
that there were drain tiles of that form in 
use, in his paper "On the Evidence pf the 
Antiquity, &c., of Thorough Draining," 
published in the May Journal of 1843; 
and in the same year, at the Derby Show, 
Mr. John Read exhibited a few specimens 
of pipes. This was followed by an investi- 
gation into the use and merits of pipes 



^.^Hfl 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



259 



Bftde at the instance of the Council by | of whose u. m 1; \v.i> printed in the year 1 052, 
myself in Kent, and reported in the second and in which the recommendation and theory 
part of tlie Journal of tijc same year. There ' of deep drainage, as applied by him to 
existed only, at tliat tinje, a maohine of a' water-inea<lows and Kwamps, are so clearly 
rude kind for manufacturing; drain pipes, but 'and powerlully laid down, that it would be 
through the wide-spread information con- , difficult to <;ive them in better lan^uaj^c. It 
veyed by the paj^es of their Journals, and | is right, too, to assign the merit of diseovcr- 
thc prizes offered by the Society, for superior ling, or of the earliest assertion of sound 
machines, we have arrived, in the short practical principles to whonisoever we may 
space of three years, at that agreeable dilem- consider to be entitled to the praise. The 
ma which actually renders the selection in I author of this work was a ('aptain Walter 



our show-yard of the most meritorious jnpe 
machine a matter of no little difficulty. 
From a machine having the faculty of pro- 
ducing about lOOU feet of iiipcs per diem, 
we have advanced, in less than three years, 
to the faculty of making fully 10,UU0 feet 
in the same time; in truth, the power of 
production, by means of these machines, is 
considerably, though usefully, greater than 
the requirements of any tilery. It may be 
also asserted, that we have, during the 
same period, vastly enlarged our knowledge 
of the art of draining. We have come to 
consider, scientifically, what is meant by 
draining. Instances of the truest kind for 
guiding our judgment have been elicited 



Bligh, signing himself "A liover of Inge- 
nuity." it is quaintly entitled "The Kng- 
lish Improver Improved ; or the Survey of 
Husbandry Surveyed :" with several prefaces, 
but specially addressed to " The Uight 
Honourable the Lord (icneral (^-omwcll, 
and the Right Honourable the Lord Presi- 
dent, and the rest of the Honourable So- 
ciety of the Council of State. In his in- 
structions for forming the flooding and drain- 
ing trenches of water-meadows, the author 
says of the latter, — " And for thy drayning 
trench, it must be made so deep as to goe 
to the bottom of the cold spewing, moyst 
water, that feeds the flagg and the rush ; 
for the widcncsse of it, use.lhine own liberty, 



from the practice of many farmers living in t but be sure to make it so wide as thou 
different counties, and occupying different 



mayest goe to the bottom of it, which must 
be so low as any moysturc lycth, which 
moysture usually lyeth under -the over and 
second swarth of the earth, in some gravel 
or sand, or else, where some greater stones 
are mixed with «lay, under which thou 
mayest goe half one spade's graft deep at 
least. Yea, suppose that this corruption 
that feeds and nourisheth the rush or flagg 
should lie a yard or four foot deepe, to the 
bottom of it thou must goe, if ever thou 



kinds of soil. We have ha<i collected and 
placed before us in juxtaposition the fact 
and the effects of drains made at different 
depths, not only in similar soil, but in the 
same field ; we have the fact before us, well 
ascertained by various careful observers and 
practitioners, that lands which have been 
drained to a certain depth without effecting 
a cure of wetness, have entirely lost their 
dropsical habit when undordrained to a 

greater depth. The evidence to my mind is' wilt drayn it to purpose, or make the utmost 
irresistible, that a les-5 depth of drain than ' advantage of either floating or drayning, 
4 feet, in any soil, will not be accompanied i without which thy water cannot have it^ 
by those beneficial result.s which we obtain ; kindly operation ; for though the water fat- 
al that, and in some soils by a still greater 'ten naturally, yet still this coldness and 
depth; and if permitted, I should not doubt' moysture lies gnawing within, and not being 
the bringing before you of a mass of evi-ltaken clean away, it cats out what the water 
dcnce, drawn from my own practical ex- 1 fattens; and so the goodnossc of the water 
perience, as unimpeachable as it would be 'is, as it were, riddled, screened, and strained 
convincing, that drains executed to these 'out into the land, leaving the riohnesse and 
depths are not only the most efficient, but| leannesse sliding away from it." In another 
the most economical, when the conduit is place he replies to the objectors of^ floating, 
formed oE-^ylindrical pipes. 'that it will breed the rush, the flagg and 

Before, however, entering on the detail of the mareblab, ''only make the drayning- 
on.e or two interesting and peculiar exam})les trenches deep enough, and not too far off 
of the effect of decj) drains. I am desirous thy floating course, and Tie warrant it they 
of making known to the Society the opin-' drayn away that under moysturc, fylth. and 
ions of an excellent author, the third edition' venom as aforesaid, thai waaiataias them. 



2G0 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[May 



and then, believe nie or deny Scripture, 
which I hope thou darest not, asBildad said 
unto Job, ' can the rush grow without mire, 
can the flag grow without water V Job viii. 
11. That interrogation plainly shows that 
the rush cannot grow, the water being taken 
from the root ; for it is not the moystnesse 
upon the surface of the land, for then every 
shower v/ould increase the rush, but it is 
that which lieth at the root, which, drayned 
away at the bottom, leaves it naked and bar- 
ren of relief" 

The author frequently returns to this 
charge, explaining over and over again the 
necessity of removing what Ave call bottom-' 
water, and which he well designates as filth 
and venom, observing "I am forced to use 
repetitions of some things, because of the 
suitableness of the things to which they are 
applied; as also because of the slownesse of 
people's apprehension of them as appears by 
the non-practice of them—the which, wher- 
ever you are so draining and trenching, 
you shall rarely find few or none of them 
wrought to the bottom." As to the distance 
between the draining and floating trenches, 
he prescribes no certain rule, saying, " If 
the land is sounder and drier, or lietli more 
descending, thou mayestlet it (the water) run 
the broader; and as thy land is moyst, sad, 
rushy, and levell, let it run the less breadth 
■or compasse;" thus exhibiting afar more cor- 
rect and intimate acquaintance with his sub- 
ject than is often to be /ound among the 
water-meadow artificers of the present day; 
my opinion being that many of these mea- 
•dows have been converted into swamps for 
want of systematic and deep under-drain- 
age. Our author gives a most just account 
of the cause of those isolated boggy places 
and swamps so often formed on the slopes of 
hills, and at their foot, and describes the 
mode of treating them, so as to effect a per- 
fect cure, which coincides with the best 
practice of the present day ; but I fear to be 
tedious, and therefore refrain from this quo- 
tation. 

For all drainage purpose he reprehends 
shallow trenches, observing, in respect to 
bog-drainage, "Rut for these common and 
many trenches, oft times crooked too, that 
men usually make in their boggy grounds, 
some one foot, some two, never having re- 
spect to the cause or matter that maketh 
the bog; I say, away with them as a great 
piece of folly, lost labour, and spoyle, which 
I desire as well to preserve the reader from, 



as to put him upon a more profitable ex- 
periment; as to destroying the bog, it doeth 
just nothing, only taking away a little water ' 
which falls from the heavens and weakens 
the bog nothing at all, and to the end it 
pretends is of no use." Finally, he describes, - 
admitting such a work to be more expensive, 
but more efficacious and durable, the use of 
deep covered drains, placing at the bottoms 
of the trenches, " good green faggots, wil- 
low, alder, elm, or thorne," or in firmer 
stuff", "pebble stones or flint stones, and so 
fill up the bottom of thy trench about fifteen 
inches high, and take thy turf and plant it 
as aforesaid, the green soard downwards, be- 
ing cut very fit f:r the trench, so as it may 
joyne close as it is layd down; and then 
having covered it all over with earth, and 
made it even as the other ground, waite and 
expect a wonderful eff"ect through the bless- 
ing of Grod." He prescribes, also, in all 
cases excepting the water-meadows, the driv- 
ing the drains right up and down the fall of 
the land. In this account of the draining 
of water-meadows and swampy lands, one 
cannot but recognize very sound principles, 
and these are represented by Captain Bligh 
as having been put into practice by himself, 
copied by others, and as having raised the 
value and rent of land so treated from a 
few shillings to two, three, and four pounds 
per acre. There is no indication in this 
work of any systematic plan of under-drain- 
ing generally wet and retentive soils; but 
the author seems, nevertheless, to have been 
thoroughly penetrated with its importance, 
referring to the "incredible expense" it 
would occasion, and he prescribes in this 
difficulty the ridging up wet clay lands, or 
the laying them in balks. As no instance, 
or "precedcat," as Captain Bligh terms it, 
of any general under-diaining is referred to 
by him, we may, I think, conclude that this 
practice has had its origin within the last 



two hundred 



years. 



struggling 



onwards to 



perfection through the diflScultics presented 
by the absence or expensiveness of good 
materials wherewith to perform permanent 
subterranean water-conduits. 

In the course of my operations as a 
drainer, I have met with, or heard of, so 
many instances of swamp draiftnge exe- 
cuted precisely according to the plans of 
this author, and sometimes in a superior^ 
manner-— the conduits being formed of wall- 
ing stone, yet at a period long antecedent to 
the memory of the living — that I am dis- 



1860.] 



THE SOUTUERN PLANTEll 



!61 



pOMd to consider the practice of doop drain- 
Age to have orii;inuted with Captain IJIiuh, 
and to have been preserved by imitators in 
various parts of tlie- country; since a book 
wliich passed throu;;h three editions in the 
time of tlie CommonwcaUh, must necessarily 
have had an extensive circulation, and en- 
joyed a high renown. Several compli- 
mentary autograph verses, written by snnie 
imitators and admirers of the ingenious 
]{lij;h, are bound up with the volume, which 
I beg to put into your Ijordshii)'s hands as 
proof of the statements I am making. 1 
find also, not unfrecjuontly, very ancient 
deep drains in arable tields, and some of 
them still in good condition ; and in a case 
or two I have met with several ancient 
drains six feet deep, placed parallel with 
each other, but at so great a distance asun- 
der as not to have commanded a perfect 
drainage of the intermediate space. 

The author from whom 1 have so largely 
quoted, is the earliest known to me who has 
had the sagacity to distinguish between the 
transient eftect of rain and the constant action 
of stagnant bottom-water in maintaining 
land in a wet condition. It is this subter- 
ranean water, as it may not be improperly 
termed, to which excessive and injurious 
wetness is attributable ; and if such water 
be not removed and kept down at a depth 
exceeding the power of capillary attraction 
to elevate it too near the surface, no drain- 
age can be efficient. It is chiefly through* 
capillarity that those soils are maintained in 
a sufficiently moist state for vegetative per- 
fection, on digging into which we do not 
d..«cover any tree water within several feet 
of the surface. The effect of rain is to 
thoroughly moisten such soil, gravity carry- 
ing down below, the excess, or that portion 
which the soil cannot ab.sorb and retain. 
Evaporation takes place from the surface of 
the land, and as each atom of moisture is 
taken up into the atmosphere, its place is 
supplied by another atom communicated by 
the contact of the particles of the soil, the 
more superficial acting on the deeper par- 
ticles like so many pumps to elevate the 
water and supply the loss. In this way 
deep, rich loams, to which I have before 
adverted as so rare and so coveted, are main- 
tained in a nearly constant condition of 
moisture suitable to the necessities of plants. 
It may and does, though rarely happen, 
that even such soils during long-continued 
droughts sutler, that is, become dryj but 



the attentive observer will notice a vcrj' 
beautiful and powerful provision of nature 
to prevent excessive dryness. During the 
night evaporation Irom the surface of soil 
commonly ceaj es, to commence again when 
the rays of the sun impinge upon it; but 
capillary action is const4int and of equal in- 
tensity both by night and by. day, so that 
wo havo, on the avomge, twelve hours per 
diem of the sun's influence to produce 
evaporation, and twenty-four hours of capil- 
lary action to supply the loss from below, 
and maintain a tolerably uniform hygrome- 
tric or moist condition of the active soil. It 
is, t believe, coiisistent. with the universal 
opinion, that drained lands do not burn nor 
suffer from drought so soon or so much as 
those soils which are wet at all periods of 
the year, except during the hottest months. 
This phenomenon is explained by the fact 
of a retentive soil, swollen by water, con- 
tracting so much by the loss of its water, 
that it is almost inaccessible to air from 
which to obtain moisture. After drainage, 
the mechanical texture of such soils becomes 
gradually changed J pulverization takes place 
in the subsoil in the manner precisely similar 
to the change we see produced in fresh 
turned-up soil well exposed to the atmos- 
phere; such change of texture in the niass 
below is doubtless slower than in the super- 
ficial soil, but it is equally certain to occur. 
Perhaps no more striking illustration of 
the great importance of securing free in- 
gress to air, and free egress to Witerin the 
mass of the soil, can be given than that 
which is derived from the fact, that, by al- 
lowing land to rest without cropping it — in 
short, by fallowing it — fertility is renewed, 
and this effect is produced solely by sup- 
plies furnished from the inexhaustible mag- 
azine of the atmosphere. The atmosphere 
is our cheapest, it is a boundless store- 
house of manure : then why not let it freely 
land deeply into our soil ? The earnestness 
. with which I appeal to the landed proprietary 
of l^ritain to drain more deeply, and aban- 
don the ofttimes abortive an<l at all times 
incomplete system of shallow drains, is de- 
lived from the indications of experience ; 
[and to those well informed of the superior 
I economy and efficiency of the deeper sys- 
tem^ it is painful to behold the sums of 
money daily buried in the soil with such 
good intentions, but with comparatively so 
little useful effect. In respect, however, 
of the depth at which drains may, with a 



262 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[Mat 



certainty of action, be placed in a soil, 1 
pretend to assign no rule; for there cannot, 
in my opinion, be a more crude or mistaken 
idea than, that one rule of depth m appli- 
cable with equal efficiency to soils of all 
kinds : the same remark applies to assign- 
ing any common rule of distance between 
drains, which may be greater or less accord- 
ing to the depth of the drains, and the tex- 
ture of the particular soil. It must be self- 
evident that water will flow through a 
gravel, or a sand, or a loam, with less ob- 
struction to its passage than through a clay, 
and easier through one clay than another 
containing different proportions of silica 
and alumina. There are also many other 
properties of soils to which the drainer has 
to pay attention in determiKing depth and 
distance, such as tightness or compactness, 
uniformity or intermixture of soils of a dif- 
ferent texture in the line of his drains in 
the same field, &c., &c. All these circum- 
stances will affect both his practice and the 
cost of the work. It consists with my own 
practice at the present time, that drains are 
being executed at depths of from 4 to 6 
feet, according to soil and outfall, and at 
distances varying from 24 to 66 feet; com- 
plete efficiency being the end studied, and 
the proof of such efficiency being, that, af- 
ter a due period given for bringing about 
drainage action in soils unused to it, the 
water should not stand higher, or much 
higher, in a hole dug in the middle between 
a pair of drains than the level of those 
drains. 

The cost of drainage is in like manner 
affected by the texture of soils, their sto- 
nincss, &c. ; and rates of work are being 
paid varying from 3d. to even Is. 6d. per 
rod, (5i yards,) causing the cost of drain- 
age per acre to vary from £2 to even £5 
per acre, according to circumstances. 

The fuUowing is an instance of the utili- 
ty, the necessity I ought to say, of well ex- 
amining soil — of ascertaining, in fact, what 
we have to deal with — before commencing 
drainage. I was invited in February last 
to visit the property of the Duke of Wel- 
lington at Stratiicld-Sayc. I found a par- 
ticular grass field, which it was desirable to 
drain, very wet, and it was thought that no 
drainage deeper than two feet would have 
any effect upon it, as drains in other parts 
which had been made three feet six inches 
deep, had not effected much more good than 
the shallower ones. It was also thought, 



that the mass of clay beneath would be 
found almost impervious to water, as cracks 
had only opened in hot seasons to about 
15 inches deep. However, we had the 
turf and mould borne off a space of about 
5 feet square, and 22 inches deep, when a 
bed of yellow plastic clay appeared. Into 
this bed, which was soft and easily worked 
by ihs hand, a hole was sunk. But a very 
slight quantity of water oozed into the hole 
until we reached about four feet three inches, 
when the hole rapidly filled ^with water. 
It was stiff clay, but evidently of a more 
porous nature, and there a mass of free 
water resided. It was immediately appa- 
rent, that the cause of the upper clay and sur- 
face being so wet, in defiance of the shallow 
drains, was now discovered; for as the upper 
clay reposed on what, relatively, may be called 
a pillow^ of water below, the capillary iorce, 
always in action, continually sucked up this 
water, and supplied the incumbent soil with 
a perpetual excess of fluid. The shallow 
drains might have done their duty in re- 
moving the water of rain — the surface 
water — but they could in no wise efiect the 
liberation of the bottom -water. An experi- 
mental drain was thin made, 5 feet in 
depth and 350 yards long, laid with 1} 
inch bore pipes. Clay was puddled in over 
this line of pipes up to 2 feet 6 inches 
from the surface, and anolher line of sim- 
ilar pipes was then laid ; so that we had a 
shallow and deep drain in the same trench, 
the object being to measure the relative 
discharges of water from each, and the 
lower drain was puddled over to prevent, as 
much as possible, the top water from mix- 
ing with the bottom. The result was, that 
the bottom drain discharged, from the com- 
mencement, a stream averaging one gallon 
per minute during seventy-six days, being- 
equal to nearly five tons every twenty-four 
hours. The run then rapidly diminished, 
and speedily came to drop only. A second 
5-foet-deep drain hai been made 30 feet 
distant, so as to insulate a space of land on 
one side of the experimental drain, and it 
will be found, that, taking the length of 
350 yards with a breadth of 12 yards 
affording water to the bottom drain, 



(6 
an 

5} 



yards on each side of it,) no less than 
area of 4,200 square yards of water, 
inches deep, had been removed by this one 
drain. At first the upper line of pipes an- 
swered to rain, but this action soon ceased, 
and the whole of the water finally passed 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



268 



oflf through the lower and deep drain. Tlie 
land is now reported to nic as giving way 
in cracks to a greater depth than foruierly, 
BO that an efficient drainage n>ay bo cer- 
tainly expected. The following is an analy- 
sis of the clays in (|uestion, taken 22 
inches, and 4 feet G inches deep respective- 
ly beneath the surface, by Mf. Phillfps : 



Clay nt Clay at 

2-2 iiicliee. 1 feet <'> 

inches. 

per cent. per cent. 

59.0 72.9 

23.5 13.4 

8.1 fi.n 

1.0 0.8 



Silica. . *. 

Aluniinn.. 

P(prnxi(le of Iron .... 

Carbonate of lime,. . 

Water, with a little "j 
carbonaceous matter. | 
8lij;lit traces of niaj;- J* 
ne.sia an«l .«iilphate of | 
lime and los.«» J 

Carbonate of magnesia. 



8.4 



0.0 



O.S 



greatlr 



100.0 100.0 

This is only one out of numerous exam- 
ples which I could cite of tjie lower clay 
of a field being more porous than that nearer 
the surface. Beds of gravel, sand or mix- 
ed earth also often prevail under superficial 
clay at depths not too great to enable the 
drains to be placed at distances considerably 
wider apart than if the drains were laid in 
the clay, effecting thereby the removal of 
the subterranean water, permitting the de- 
Bccnt of rain-water, and causing a less out- 
lay of money. • 

The capillarity, or sucailmci/, of soils varies 
and is often very noticeable. It 
has occurred to me in digging test holes 
previous to drainage, to find the water 
standing in them not nearer the surface 
than three feet, yet, the surface soil has 
been so wet that water would drop from it 
on squeezing it with the hands. This ex- 1 
hibition would determine me to bleed such 
soils to the depth of five feet at least, a' d ' 
Fuch drainage has been accomplished with ' 
complete success. * ! 

Although I am not a practical farmer, I ^ 
think that I may very confidently recom- 
mend to farmers the laying land absolutely 
flat after efficient drainage. It is the prac- 
tice of many good agriculturists in the stiff- 
est clays, who consider that even a crea.«5e 
left on the surface is injurious to drainage. 
In addition to several received opinions on 
that head, I will quote a letter recently re- 
ceived from Mr. Andrew Thompson, the 



intelligent bailiff of the Right Honourable 
Charles Arbuthnot, who has drained part 
of his farm — a very strong clay — four feet 
deep, and whose account of the effects is to 
be found in the last Journals. 

Woodford, July 4th, 1846. 
Dear Sir : 

On the arable land which we have drain- 
ed to the depth of four feet, I have not 
found it necessary to maintain any open 
waicr-furrows. 1 am not at all an advocate 
for water-cuta or surface drains of any de- 
scription on arable land, it being my belief, 
that, when they are used for the purpose of 
carrying off the water after heavy rains, 
they are also the means of washing away 
a quantity of fine soils, which might other- 
wise be retained on the land. 1 believe, 
that, if even the most retentive of soils were 
drained to a considerable depth, and ren- 
dered Triable by the aid of Read's Pulver- 
izer, there would not then be any use of 
open water-furrows on that description of 
land. In reply to your other question, I 
have to say, that adjoining one of the fields 
which was drained to the depth of four 
feet in a field of the same subsoil, (a strong 
blue clay,) which was only three years ago 
drained in the old-fashioned way of " shal- 
low draining," I have frequently observed 
that after heavy rains tke water began to 
run first from the deep drains, and that, 
when the shallow drains did run, they did 
not appear to me to discharge the same 
quantity of watef to the Siime quantity of 
land as the deep drains. 

I was quite against draining land so deep 
until I saw the great advantages derived 
from it. 

Yours, &c., 

Andrew Thompson. 

The last remark made by Mr. Thompson, 
as to the deep drains giving issue to rain- 
water, in land under precisely similar cir- 
cumstances, before shallow drains, agrees 
with the observation of a great number of 
farmers whose land has been so drained ; 
and it would be difficult to cite a more ap- 
posite proof, I think, of the superior con- 
dition into which the mass of the soil 
is brought by deep drainage. That this 
should occur in a field where shallow drains 
exist in the neighbourhood of deeper 
drains, and within their influence, would be 
naturally expected, as the water keeps on 



264 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[May 



descending below the level of the higher 
and until it reaches the level of the lower 
vents, where it meets with free water, and 
then begins to travel horizontally to the 
drain. The reason, however, why the 
deeper drain in one field should begin to 
discharge before another and a shallower 
drain in another field or in a very distant 
part of the same field baying pr(^ciseiy sim- 
ilar soil, is not quite so obvious. 

I have this day received from a tenant 
farmer in Yorkshire an account of an ob- 
servation of his,, that a four feet drain began 
to run five minutes earlier after rain than 
another drain 16 inches deep, at a distance, 
but in the same field. Some experiments 
are being made which may elucidate this 
action, which tells so favourably for the 
deeper drainage.* 

There are some causes of stoppage to 
subterranean drains, though fortunately few 
and limited in their extent, with, which 
every drainer should be acquainted, and 
prepared to encounter and vanquish as he 
best may. The first and most extensive 
evil of this kind to which I will refer is 
the deposit of a substance of an unctuous 
sticky nature, in drains laid in soils contain- 
ing much ferruginous matter. Oh this point I 
was particularly questioned by his Grace the 
Duke of Richmond, Chairman of a Select 
Committee of the House of Lords, appointed 
last year " to inquire into the expediency 
of a legislative enactment being introduced 
to enable possessors of entailed estates to 
charge such estates with a^um, to be limited, 
for the purpose of draining and otherwise 
permanently improving the same." I was 
asked, '^ Do not stone drains invariably clog 
if there is water in them impregnated with 
iron ?" My reply was, " I have no doubt 



been practically and specially required to 
discover the cause, and, if possible, a cure 
for this disease. It may not be thought 
tedious that I narrate what I know on this 
subject, as there are thousands of acres of 
land subject to this evil, the drainage of 
which depends on discovering some means 
of rendering it permanent. 

When applied to by Sir Robert Peel last 
autumn to drain some portion of his estates 
at Drayton Manor — and he knew that my 
system consisted in the use of small pipes 
in preference to any other conduits — he 
earnestly called my attention to this cause 
of stoppage, which had been a continued 
source of vexation, expense and defeat, in 
draining the park and other parts of the 
property. Sir Robert accompanied me 
throughout the grounds to be first drained, 
and showed me the evidences of this red 
deposit at the mouths of drains, and the 
spewing masses of it on ditch-banks, &c., 
leaving me to deal with the enemy accord- 
ing to my judgment. . It will be conceived 
that I felt tlijs full force of the difficulty, 
and there was but little experience, so far 
as I know, of the use of small pipes in 
soils similarly infested. Yet, I had confi- 
dence in pipes as preferable to all other con- 
duits, from the compression of the run of 
water into the smallest required volume, and 
therefore as more likely to prevent deposits 
from occurring or accumulating in them 
than in larger conduits. I was acquainted 
with one case and only one in which my 
small pipes, an inch" bore, had been used, 
and have continued to act well for several 



years. 



without obstruction in a boj 



:gy s< 



oil 



charged with iron, though the ditches into 

which the pipes, always running full bore, 

their water, require clearing 



discharged 



but that the ferruginous matter, such as I [once or twice a year to keep them open. I 
have often seen accompany the water ofi also felt additional confidence in the suffi- 
drainage, would stop up stone drains;" and, jciency of small pipes, as I proposed laying 
in .conversation, his Grace informed me, them with collars, which would further help 
that he had estates in Scotland infested to;to cover and diminish the size of the crevice 
such a degree with ferruginous matter, that; between each pair of pipes, and close it 
the deposite of iron in drains seemed an 'against the entrance of solid matter. How- 
almost invincible obstacle to the drainage of! ever, I devoted an entire week to the ex- 
these lands. Since that time, and in va- amination of old drains, many of which 
rious parts of England, my attention has ' were quite stopped up with earth and iron 

I deposit mixed; of these some were compos- 
)e evidence given before 'cd of the common horse-shoe tiles laid with- 
out soles and others with soles. The drains 
through which water was continually.run- 



* See the report of 
the Select Committee of the House of Lords in 
J 845, for information on this head. Mr. Robert 
Neilson's statement of the result of interming- 



ling deep and .^hallow drains in the same iield ning y<y^'^ chiefly open, exhibiting great 
is highly instructive and to the purpose. | quantities of the deposit at their mouthS; 



1800.] 



THE SOUTUEliN .TLANTEfl. 



2G5 



arul one Uruiii formeJ of six inch pipes, cuii- 
veyiii«j imuh water, exlubited the iron copi- 
ously as a precipitate wlien the line wa« 
broken anil a pipe reniovetl, which exposed 
the water to the atmosphere; cesspools coni- 
niuniratin«r with the atmosphere at the top, 
and into which some drains entered, were 
also lined with deposite. I examined several 
drains scrvinjr as mains, and particularly at 
their point of junction with minor drains, 
and I found one of tljcse drains about six 
feet in depth, and very well constructed, 
to be nearly cUK«cd with what appeared to 
be a pure specimen of the deposit, liaving 
the red colour of peroxide of iron, and of 
a pasty consistence. 'J'his particular mass 
of deposit had occurred at the junction of 
a branch with the main, about 80 or 40 
yards from the higher end or ori;::in of each 
drain, and where the run of water would 
necessarily be less, than as it approached 
the outfall ; and I have found at JJrayton 
Manor, and many other places where ferru- 
ginous matter abounds, that stoppage from 
its deposit is much more frequent towards 
the higher than nearer the outfall end of a 
line of drains ; and for the very obvious 
reason that the flow of water there is less both 
in amount and velocity, and consequently of 
less force than as it approaches the end of 
its course. This specimen was analyzed by 
Mr. Richard Phillips of the (leological 
Museum, Craig's Court, London. Mr. 
Phillips at once told me it was peroxide of 
iron, but I wished it to be analyzed that 1 
might know whether, and to what extent 
the iron was pure or incorporated with other 
matter. The following is Mr. IMiillips' re- 
port of its nature and of the manner of 
its production : 

'OTusEUM OF Geology, ) 
13th Dec, 1845. j . 

"I have submitted the deposit occurring' 
in tlio drain to analysis, I find it to consist 
of, after drying — 

Silica nnti nliiinin.i with a traoe of 

lime 40.2 

Peroxide of iron VJ7.8 

Organic mnttcr 'J'A.O 

11 »(».() 
" The large amount of peroxide of iron j 
shown in the above analysis, appears to me 
to be in consequence of the iron existing 
originally in a lower state of oxidation, in | 
which state it has been dissolved by carbonic] 
acid, and formed by the decay of organic 



matter in thcHoil, and then carried away by 
the drainage water; witen by flubse(|ucnt 
exposure to atmos|dieric air, it has been con- 
verted into insoluble peroxide. The other 
ingredients in the deposit would appear to 
have been carried down mechanically, in 
cor).*«equence of their existing in a very mi- 
nute state of division." 

It thus appeared from the annlysis that 
only 27.8 per cent, of the deposit consisted 
of iron, and that the reujainder, nearly three- 
fourths of the whole, consisted of foreign 
matter. This analysis powerfully fortified my 
hoj)es, that, the drains 1 was niaking miglit re- 
main permanently open, if their mechanical 
structure were such as to admit water only, 
and no other earthy matters than such as 
might be chemically dis.solved in water, in 
which case it was apparent that I .should re- 
duce tlie enemy to bo contended with by 
nearly three-fourths of his strength, and di- 
rect against him, ibr expulsion, a more con- 
centrated stream of water, by reason of the 
swollen dimensions of tfie conduit. Jktween 
November last and the present time some 
miles of drains have been executed in the 
soils referred to, abounding with bog-iron 
ore, locally called ' })ox-stone," the same 
that I have met with in X(jrth Devon, under 
the name of "black-tam," and in Somerset 
under the title of '' iron-mould." In other 
parts it is called by its proper name. It oc- 
curs in mas.^os, both large and small, some- 
times in beds. It is intensely hard, and in- 
teferes much, both with tho economy and 
dispatch of digging the drains. It is the 
protoxide of iron of the chemists, and fur- 
nishes, by it:? fine di.'Jsemination in the soil, 
the matter dissolved by means of carbonic 
acid in the water which enters the drains, 
becoming peroxide in the manner described 
by Mr. I'hillips. The term iron, or rust of iron 
would convey to the mind an idea that this 
ferruginous matter was heavy, and would 
(juickly settle ; but when it is considered 
that all substances chemically dissolved in 
water, and precipitated, are infinitely fine, 
each atom is, in a practical sense, light, and 
ea.sy of removal ; and in reality tliis sub- 
stance is seen to is^uc from the mouths of 
drains in the form of light, flocculcnt, float- 
ing little masses, which settle when the wa- 
ter is quiet, or are easily brought to rest by 
^tones, grasses, &c. ; and this has actually 
given rise to a notion with some people, that 
it was a vegetable substance, and grew in 
drains. 



266 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[May 



Up to the presc!it time scarcely a trace ofi 
this ferruginous matter is to be discovered 
at the outiall of any one of the pipe-drains 
laid at Drayton Manor; there is scarcely i 
even a stain of its presence visible on \ 
the ends of any of those pipes which; 
discharge into open ditches, and then it 



might be expected to exhibit itself; so that 
the result is very encouraging. The time, 
liowever, has been too short to permit us to 
indulge in absolute certainty as to their per- 
manent action ; yet, I may mention one or 
two circumstnn'ces as confirmatory of the fact 
that earthy matter does not enter the pipes, 
and th^t, therefore, nothing has to be dealt 
with but the iron. There is no appearance 
of any sand or other earthy bodies, having ac- 
companied the water of drainage, which is 
brilliantly clear; and in one field where I 
had the opportunity of continuing a line of 
pipes through the field into a head of water 
which I could stop out or allow to flow 
through the drain 290 yards long, at will, 
no earth was washecT out by it ; thus giving 
proof that none had entered the drain with 
the water of drainage. 

The subsoil generally in Drayton Manor 
Park consists of gravel, intermixed with fine 
and very heavy sand, alternating with, or 
broken in places by a marly clay, very re- 
tentive of water. It contained much water, 
test-holes made in the winter before drain- 
age standing nearly full of water. It was 
chiefly by the pick-axe that the trenches 
had to be opened, spades being of little use 
in the gravels. The sides of the drains fell 
in and closed so much that it was difficult, 
and in son}c parts impossible to keep an en- 
tire line of drain open, before the pipes were 
obliged to be laid, so that the worst parts had 
to be done by instahnents, the pipes being 
laid and covered up as the work proceeded ; 
for, if not so done, the spewing sand was 
Ibrced up from the bottom and through the 
sides by the pressure of water. All was 
secure, however, when the collared pipes 
were laid and covered in One drain, about 
105 yards long, was laid in (juicksand, by 
using inch pipes completely sheathed in an- 
other larger pipe, and no packing or cover 
wafi employed. The drain, which ig about 
nix feet deep, has never exhibited, at its out- 
fall, a grain of sand; the water is beautifully 
pellucid, and has maintained a discharge, 
varying, however, with the rain or drought, 
of about two gallons per minute. I con- 
sider this method of sheathing pipes to form 



a drain of the most permanent kind through 
any species of quicksand or soft soil; pack- 
ing may be a useful and even necessary ad- 
junct in certain very fluid and fine media, 
but, when a drain thus formed, is carefully 
laid and filled in, my belief is, that it wilL 
resist the entrance of all matter except wa- 
ter. To use the apt expression of one of 
my workmen, " nothing else can get in 
when the water si'gJis into the . drain so 
guilty. 

Another cause of obstruction to drains is 
the entrance into them of the roots of trees 
and plants. Of the former several cases have 
been reported to me as having occurred, and 
probably no species of close underdrain, yet 
constructed, can be considered to be abso- 
lutely safe from the roots, if laid within the 
range of their travels ; and the great dis- 
tance from the parent tree to which roots 
will travel in search of food is well known 
to every agriculturist. It would be ventur- 
ing too much to say that a root will not enter 
drains by any, even the smallest conceivable 
crevice or pore which will admit water; for 
cases have been mentioned to me almost jus- 
tifying the belief that roots have insinuated 
themselves through Roman cement. They 
seem, however, to be very capricious and 
choice in their attacks, for I have seen drains 
which continued perfectly free in their ac- 
tion for years, adjoining fences and planta- 
tions, whilst a drain at a greater distance 
had been choked by roots. In the two or 
three cases observed by myself, I have found 
that a single thread-like root alone has en- 
tered, and then worked its way up against 
the run of the water, increasing into a hairy 
mass, something like the brush of a fox, 
and growing in length sometimes to several 
yards, until it closes the drain as completely 
as if it were stopped full of clay. In situa- 
tions where drains must be laid near to trees, 
I would advise the keeping as far off" as cir- 
cumstances permit, and the providing each 
row of pipes, if joining a main, with a cess- 
pool at their junction in order that the dis- 
charge may be visible and examined occa- 
sionally, which would soon detect a stoppage 
if it occurred. But it will be wise in all 
cases, if people will have liedge-row trees, 
that the drainer so plan his operations as to 
keep as wide of them and fences as possi- 
ble— ;but better still to get trees felled wher- 
ever they occasion a feeling of doubt as to 
their affecting the permanency of the drain- 
age, or cause it, in respect to the direction 



I860.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 2G7 

or depth of the druins, to be other than! with a sinjjle caac of stoppage from the roots 



complete. If trees, iw in parks, are in the 
way of drains, I advise the sheathing of the 
pipes on approaching within twenty yards, 
and I frnjiieiitly diverge from the line and 



of plants in pipes; but it is evident that if 
the roots of weeds or cultivated plants were 
in the habit of preferring to burrow in a 
drain rather than in tlic hv.d of the soil, u 



pass round the tree to regain the true line of pipe-drain would be as liable to be choked 
drainage. as any other form of drain. 

With stoppages from the roots of plants' I will now refer to one or two natural aids 
I have only very recently become acfjuaint- of drainage. 

od, but this evil does occur, though Ibrtu-' Besides the porosity of soils, by which 
nately it is of very rare oeeurrence. The they receive and part with water more or 
first ease known to me took place this year less readily, accoiding to their openness 
in a field on the estate of Mr. W. Wolrychc or rctentiveness, there arc other adjuncts or 
Whitmore, at Lebotwood in Shrop.^liire, moans auxiliary to its reception and dis- 
A tenant of his laid a j)ipe-draln last March charge. It l;as not occurred to me to excavate 
in a boggy j>iece of ground, ver^' wet and many clay soils for drains in whi(*h there are 
spongy, which was sown with turnips. The not perceptible what experienced and obser- 
drains were I'ound in many places to be com- vant drainers aptly call water-veins. The 

fletely stopped with line n.ots in October, clay is divided as it were, into j)lates, masses 
t seems to be difficult, indeed, impossible, opening or parting from each (»ther like the 
to pronounce from what plants these roots leaves of a book, between which, thin as the 
proceeded. I sent specimens of them to vein is, an evident passage of water has 
Professors Tiindley and Daubcny, who kindly taken place. These partings may have been 
examined theni, but neither of these botan- originally occasioned by vertical cracks from 
ists is able to decide on the jiarent plant, to the surface, which have never entirely closed 
which the roots unfortunately were not again, and so, served to conduct away some 
traced wli(>n the pipes were taken up. The of the rain-water to more porous and absorb- 
drains were shallow, not exceeding two ft'et ent strata. It is a matter of fact that, in all 
six inches deep any where. The boggy soil clays in which these water-veins occur in the 
contained many sorts of weeds, as crowfoot, greatest number, 1 have found drainage to 
coltsfiMjt, rushes and docks, of which there be elFccted most speedily, and I practically 
was abundant evidence when I was on the use the perception of their presence as some 
spot some weeks afterward**. The pipes guide to the distance at which I determine 
sent me contained much earth which had to place the drains from each other, 
got into them with the ri)ots, and t under- l^ut the most active and potent of the 
stand that .several of the pipes were almost drainer's auxiliaries, is the common mining 
stopped with soil alone ; but it is al.«o true earth-worm or dew-worm. The earliest 
that othei-s, in winch the roots had worked written notice which I have seen of the 
were free from earth. From all the evi- utility of the earth-worm in drainage, is to 
dencc \ could collect on- the i^pot, I am dis- be found in Mr. hearts' article on draining, 
posed to consider this .stoppage by roots to (Journal, Vol. iv., p. 212,) in every one of 
have originated in bad laying of the pi}ies wht>se remarks I concur. p]arth-worms love 
by the farmer, and insufficient depth in a n)oist but not wet soils; they will bore down 
very foul piece of land. It is, however, a to, but not into water. They multijily rap- 
case of warning, and one to excite vigilance idly in land after drainage, and prefer a 
of observation. I have now a drain laid deeply-drained soil. 

deeply in the same soil, wilh pipes collar- On examining, with Mr. Thomas Ilam- 
jointed, and other drains to test any differ- mond, of I'enhurst, Kent, part of a field 
ence in fiiture action and phenomena. which he had deeply drained after long pfe- 

It is important that every ca.«e of the vions shallow drainage, we found that the 
stoppage of drains from the entrance of roots worms had greatly increased in number, and 
should be well investigated ; but we may that their bores descended quite to the level 
rest quite satisfied, from our long experience of the pipes. Many worm-bores are large 
of under-drainage, that instances of this enough to receive the little finger, and it is 
evil will only be of ca.sual, and probably, of possible that one worm has several bores for 
merely local oeeurrence. With the excep- liis faniity, and refuge-holes from rain. I 
tion of the one case cited, I have not met have very recently found worms twisted up 



268 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[May 



into knots, and berthed in a nidus, formed 
by the side of the vertical bore, and in com- 
munication with it by'a lateral hole about 
an inch long, forming in appearance a com- 
fortable retreat. 

3Iy valued and much lamented friend, 
Mr. Henry Handley, informed me of a 
piece of land near the sea in Lincolnshire, 
over which the sea had broken, and killed 
all the worms — the field remained sterile 
until the worms again inhabited it. He 
also showed me a piece of pasture land, near 
to his house, in which worms were in buch 
numbers that he thought their casts inter- 
fered too much with its produce, and in- 
duced him to have the field rolled at night 
in order to destroy the worms. The result 
was, that the fertility of the field greatly 
declined, nor was it restored until they had 
recruited their numbers, which was aided 
by collecting and transporting multitudes of 
worms from other fields. 

The great depths into which the worms 
will bore, and from which they push up fine 
fertile soil and cast it on the surface, has 
been admirably traced by Mr. C. Darwin, 
of Down, Kent, who has shown that, in a 
few years, they have actually elevated the 
surface of fields by a layer of fine mould 
several inches thick, thus adding to the pab- 
ulum of the grasses. His experiments were 
made at Mr. Wedgwood's, of Etruria, and 
are recorded in the ' Gardener's Chronicle ' 
of April 6, 1844. Mr. Darwin's researches 
are entitled to the strictest credibility. Here, 
are some specimens of warp soil now under- 
going drainage by me on an estate of Mr. 
William Marshall, M. P., near Patrington, 
fourteen miles east of Hull, and opposite 
the well-known tract of land, reclaimed like- 
wise from the Humber, called Sunk Island. 
When first examining this soil for drainage, 
I was struck with the astonishing number of 
fine vertical holes penetrating the warp to 
its full depth — in some places eight to ten 
feet. These holes evidently were not the 
work of earth-worms, being of a much 
smaller bore, and worms abound in that soil, 
ami were at work in their own fashion, 
though no other living creature was dis- 
cernable. Very many of these minute holes 
seem to be fully appropriated by the fine 
roots of plants, which descend into them, 
and thus find easy access to moisture and 
air. 

On further investigating into the origin 
of this net-work of holes, it was traceable, 



beyond a doubt, to the existence and activity 
of myriads of small marine animals, having 
numerous legs, and minute, eel-like looking 
fish, working in the mud of recent depo- 
sition. The tidal stream from the Hum- 
ber, which is conducted upon the warping 
grounds, and let out again with a retiring 
tide, after the deposition of its solid matter, 
does not destroy the life of these creatures, 
nor close their cylindrical habitations. On 
the retirement of the water, they are to be 
seen ceaselessly occupied in working up and 
down their holes further, to maintain and 
elaborate them against the next invasion. 
The death of these amphibious animals no 
doubt occurs when the process of warping 
terminates, and the soil solidifies, but their 
holes remain entire, and open from the top 
to the bottom of the mass, serving to admit 
air and moisture, and to pass the water of 
rain in finely divided streamlets to the 
drains; and the earth-worm finally estab- 
lishes himself in a soil easily penetrated, 
and most congenial to his mining habits. 
In the field of warp first begun to be drain- 
ed on this estate, I have set out the drains 
at about 40 feet asunder, their depth vary- 
ing from four to six feet, as outfall permits ; 
but it is probable, as experience is gained of 
the draining faculty, that we may see fit to 
diminish the number of drains, and so in- 
crease their distance from each other in 
these soils. The alumina of the Humber 
warp is very fine and very retentive of 
moisture. Water appeared at 18 inches be- 
low the surface, after a month of powerful 
evaporation and drought in May and June 
of this year, and copious streams were dis- 
charged from the deep drains. In its origi- 
nal state of wetness, but under circumstances 
of drought, this soil cracks widely and deep- 
ly, like the stiffer clays, so that it seems to 
possess every facility for the most complete 
drainage, whilst its faculty for absorbing 
moisture from the air, and by capillary at- 
traction from below, are of the highest 
order, which must vastly aid in conferring 
upon it the fertility well known to attach to 
warp lands. 

But as the quality of warp varies greatly, 
according as the deposit takes place in dif- 
ferent parts of the same stream, and at 
greater or less distance from the warping 
river's mouth, I cannot, perhaps, mention a 
more remarkable instance of the difference 
in the properties of warp than what occurs 
at Bridji-ewater in Somerset. The river 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



Parrot is fiuued for the almost evergreen I 
fatness of the pa<turni^o bordering its bunks, 
lands which Moro formed originally, it may' 
be presumed, when that river was an estuary' 
of the sea, faj^Iand. Its deposit immedi- 
ately in the iWghborhoud of Ikidgcwater, 
has occasioned a great manufacture of very 
superior bricks and earthenware ; and there 
is one article of almost universal domestic 
use, called the Bath brick, for cleaning 
knives, cV'c, made at Bridgewater only, and | 
it is singular that the sludge or mud, from 
wliich these bricks are made, is collected i 
from the river Parrot's banks, within about, 
a nnle above and a mile below the town of! 
Uridgewater. The banks, of those particu- 
lar two miles of the river alone afford the ■ 
precipitates fit for the manufacture of the ^ 
Bath brick. The deposit formed, whether' 
more inland or more seaward, is found to be 
more unfitted for the purpose. So, in the ! 
warp lands formed from the water of the 



Humber, whether passed immediately from 
that river, the Ouse, or the Trent, great dif- 



ference in the quality of the deposit and 
fertility of the soil in respect of the propor- 
tions of clay, sand and salt, is discernible 
and well known. 

Great difference also exists as to the ne- 
cessity of draining warpod lands arising 
from the depth of the warp, the character 
of the sub.soil on which the warp is run,, 
and the particular composition of the warp 
itself in its proportions of clay and sand. I 
Near to the mouth of the If umber, it strikes I 
me that there is a much larger proportion i 
of alumina (clay) deposited, in respect of; 
silica (sand), than about (Joolc, Thorn, and 
other warping districts. There is no doubt 
also much more common salt in the compo- 
sition the nearer to the Humber mouth. 

The quantity of salt in which the wheat- 
plant will flourish is curiously illustrated 
in the warp soils about Patrington, and 
would be scarcely credited unless seen. The 
whole surface of a large reclaimed warped- 
piece, on Mr. Marshall's estate, was planted 
with wheat for the fii-st time in the autumn 
of 1844. "When 1 t^aw it in the autumn of 
1845, the surface of the ground was crystid- 
ized all over with salt, evidencing the enor- 
mous quantity which the mass of the bed 
must have contained ; yet, from this first 
crop, the tenant told me he had thrashed out 
24 bu hels to the acre. The order of cul- 
ture there, after warping, is to leave the 
land to the occupancy of what is called the 



sheep-grass, which natarally skins it (i^.y 
affords it a natural covering) for three years, 
when that begins to die off. It is then 
plowed up, sown with rape, and allowed to 
go to seed. This plant is considered to 
remove ' thc**\ery injurious excess of salt, 
and great crops of it are obtained. Wheat 
follows, and after that, any other crop of' the 
farmers' liking, without regard to systematic 
rotation, may be ])roduced, and without the 
aid of manure, for many years. 

But the whole of this land is much too 
wet, and its powers will not be appreciable 
until after deep and complete under-draining. 
It appears, however, that the lands warped 
at a greater distance from the mouth of the 
river, must be skillfully treated in respect 
of under-drainage. A complete power of 
deep undcr-drainage should be established, 
to withdraw the water and keep it down low 
beneath the surface, when injurious, whilst 
there should be provided means of sustain- 
ing water nearer to the surface and to the 
roots of plants, when under the influence of 
such a dry season as was experienced in 
1844. 

In many of these warped lands means 
exist to fulfil this end, as water is raised out 
of the ditches by niacliinory, when in ex- 
cess, and the height of. water in theditches 
is maintainable by drawing it from the high- 
land drains. A farmer residing near to 
Hatfield Chase, informed me that he con- 
sidered he saved crops of the value of 
.£1,500, in 1844, (when it will be remem- 
bere t we had fourteen weeks of hot sun 
without a drop of rain,) by his command of 
water to charge his ditches. The warped 
lands are very commonly divided into fields 
of ten acres, being squares of two hundred 
and twenty yards, surrounded by open ditch- 
es, and it is considered that the water is 
thoroughly drawn cut of the soil to the 
level maintained in the ditches; but as I 
much doubt, and am .siti.-fied from my own 
observation of these flat, warped lands, both 
in wet and dry weather, that they would be 
jLstonishingly benefited by a system com- 
bining both sub-drainage and sub irrigation; 
but it is impossible that the farmer may 
have reason for not draining this soil more 
deeply, or more completely, unless means 
arc provided for sub-rrrigation in droughthy 
seasons. 

There has been rather recently introduced, 
by some drainers, a practice of making what 
they term air-drains, with the view of pro- 



270 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[May 



vidinp; for the ventilation of the soil, and \ 
also for promoting, as they think, a freer ■ 
flow of water from drains. As regards the 
latter point, it is quite certiiin that such air- 1 
drains must be superfluous and unnecessary. ' 
The fact of water entering subterranean 
drains at all is quite decisive as to the uni-j 
Versal presence of air in soil, and no one ! 
has shown, or has attempted to show, so fiir j 
as I know, its insufficiency. Water could 
no more issue from a drain laid in the earth, 
than it could flow from a tight barrel, if air 
did not press in the surface of the liquid 
within it. Every one knows how small a 
vent-hole, at the top of a cask, suffices to 
enable it to withdraw a great stream from it 
at the bottom, and every one knows that the 
bulk of liquid discharged in a given time 
is in quantity precisely equal to the volume 
of air which enters in the same time. The 
fact of rain-water sinking through the soil 
is demonstrative of the permeability of the 
soil to air, as every drop of water which 
falls from the heavens must first displace an 
equal volume of air before it can enter the 
soil ; the water would remain on the surface 
and never sink, if, ?jy reason of its superior 
gravity, it did not push aside the air in its 
descent, which it does until it meets with 
some subterranean level where the earth is 
saturated with the fluid, and the rain-water 
then comes to rest, having disturbed and 
displaced air throughout its whole downward 
course. And by this action we are led to 
observe one beautiful provision of Nature 
for renewing the constituent air of the soil — 
and I regard it as an argument in favor of 
deep, as compared with shallow drainage — 
that a greater bulk of earth is thereby tilled 
with air, and with frequently renewed air. 

There are other equally beautiful processes 
incessantly active to maintain a full supply, 
and fresh supplies of air in the soil. The 
continual change of tenjperature in the soil 
and in the atmosphere reposing upon it, has 
its effect; but probably the most potent 
cause is the unceasing appropriation, by 
plants, or manures, or soil, of some one or 
other of the three gases of which the at- 
mosphere is composed, A renewal of the 
particular atmospheric gas consumed, whe- 
ther it be oxygen, nitrogen, or carbonic acid, 
must be nearly consentaneous with its use, 
and is effected by the well-known principle 
of diffusion of gases, and without which 
neither plants nor animals could live. 

I have spoken of cess-pools as useful and 



convenient breaks in lines of drains, par- 
ticularly in the long run of a main, or where 
several lines of drains converge from two or 
more directions in one common central point 
to an outfall. The use of ^n cess-pool in 
drainage is an old English ^letice; I have 
found it in several counties, both North, 
South, and Midland: it is usually con- 
structed in brick. The specimens now ex- 
hibited are made of large earthen pipes 9 
inches in diameter, with a flat tile or foot 
on which to place them in the soil. This 
plan will be found advantageous and cheap, 
as the foreman drainer may fix his cess- 
pools without needing bricks and mortar 
and a bricklayer. The holes for the re-* 
ceiving-pipes are burnt in these cess-pools of 
the proper dimensions, and the hole for the 
discharging, or outfall-pipe, is made a little 
lower than the holes of the receiving-pipes, 
so that a drip or fall from the former takes 
place, and the run of water from each pipe 
is observable. I have converted these cess- 
pools to another use, viz : that of enabling 
us to introduce water into the body of the 
earth, and apply it to what I have before 
termed sub-irrigation. All the drains of a 
flat field may be made to issue from a cess- 
pool, into which water from a higher level 
may be conducted. A cess-pool of the same 
kind is also fixed at the outfall end of a 
field, into which all the drains are con- 
ducted. Now, by stopping up the outfall- 
pipe, and letting water into the infull cess- 
pool, it is clear that all the pipes ramifying 
through a field will become filled with water, 
and that they will disseminate it gradually 
throughout the entire mass of earth above 
the level of the drain-pipes, and to any de- 
sirable height, as you will observe from the 
specimens before you that an outlet-pipe can 
be formed in the discharging cess-pool at 
any required distance below the surface of 
the soil, or at the surface. In this manner 
water may be given to the roots of plants — 
I refer more particularly to the grasses; and 
when enough is given the whole of the 
water may be removed at will, and a per- 
fect drainage be established. The intro- 
duction of these cess-pools with pipes also 
enables us to fill the higher parts of a field 
with water, which, suddenly liberated, will 
scour out the lower drains, and prove their 
condition of openness The cess-pool is also 
useful when placed close to an outfall into a 
stream or ditch, into which the water backs 
up with floods. It may be furnished with a 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN l-LANTEB- 



271 



dr.iinage. In rn.-o ot 
and (.liscliarjrini: \>\i>i.' 



pipe and valve, which closes against tlu 
rising of the outfall water, and opens as the 
flood water falls, letting out the drainage 
water. My thei^e simple means the sedi- 
mentary flood water is prevented from enter- 
ing the drain-]>ipes, whieh remain filled with 
the elear water of 'l'-iM-">^'» 1 
need, the receiving 
may be luted into the eess-pools with Jelf- 
rey's marine glue, but in njost eases, a ram- 
ming round with elay will sulliee for the 
purjiose, absolute tightness being rarely 
necessary. 

These cess-pools, with the various pipes 
now exhibited, have been made by Mr, J. 
M. Hoskison, of Wilnecote, near Fazeley, 
Staft'ordshire. They arc adnjirable speci- 
mens of manufacture fur truth and smooth- 
ness. 

It will be observed that I have not intro- 
duced to your notice any other kind of 
drain-tile than pipes, and because I con- 
sider them to have the preference over every 
other description of drain tiles, and for the 
following reasons : — 

1st. Ik'cause the pipe is an entire con- 
duit in itself, stronger than any other lorm, 
and capable of being centred and con- 
nected by collai"s, or of having one pipe i 
sheathed within another. : 

2nd. Because the pipe requires less sub- 
stance of material for a given strength, than 
any other form into which clay can be 
put. 

3rd. Because the carriage is lighter, both 
to the field and in the field : a great con- 
venience and economy to the farmer and 
the drainer. 

4th. Because, from their form, when 
properly laid in the soil, pipes are subject to 
less derangement from external pressure, or 
the entrance of earth or vermin, than other 
forms of drain-tile heretofore in use. 

f)th. Because a less amount of earth has 
to be excavated in forming a bed for the 
cylindrical pipe, at a given depth, than for 
the common tile and sole. 

Gth. Because pipes can be laid truly and 
firmly on their bed, whether plain or with 
collars, without requiring the workman to 
stand in the drain. 

Much has been said and written about 
the porousness of pipes as a useful property. 
I do not see any reason to suppose that the 
pipe possesses any greater or less degree of 
absorbent power than other porous or un-j 
glazed earthenware, most of which are more 



or Ie>^s porou.s to water. When properly 
ttsted under a pressure of four feet of soil, 
1 have found the ab.sorbent power of various 
pipes, formed ol' various clays, eijual to the 
pa.-.sing of about lol.Oth part of the quantity 
of water which enters the conduit through 
the crevice existing between each pair of 
pipes. By so much tliis proj)erty is useful, 
and 1 do consider that it assists in drying 
and giving firtiiness to soil in immediate con- 
tact with the conduit. 

The tools which 1 now exhibit are, I be- 
lieve, of very superior manufacture, and 
much cheaper than many inferior articles 
made about the country. They are tho 
result of much care and trial in comparison 
with others, and of cost to myself and the 
maker, Mr. Lyndon, .^linerva Works, Faze- 
ley-Street, JJirmingham. Here are speci- 
mens of the various grafting tools, scoops or 
hoes of different sizes, and the all-inij)ortant 
bottoming or deep-drain spade. A principal 
advantage in these, as compared with other 
maker's manufacture, is, that the steel of 
the tool is plated upon iron so that, as the 
iron wears 'd\vi\y, the steel maintains a con- 
stant sharpness of edge, and the drainers 
have not to run away from their work to the 
grindstone. The pickaxes, &c., arc of 
equally good quality. Here is a tool, called 
the pipe-layer, recently invented by one of 
my men for layin.^ '^ pipo •'I'^d collar-joint at 
the same time into a drain. This simple 
contrivance has saved the u.sc of a boy in 
laying pipes wl^en collars are necessary. It 
is suitablejlbr pipes of li inch bore, but may 
be made to suit any other size of pipe. 

With reference to these practical matters, 
it may be advisable for me to s;iy that, in 
clays and other clean-cutting and firm-bot- 
tomed soils, 1 do not find collars to be in- 
dispensably necessary, although I always 
prefer their use; but they are essential to 
the security and permanence of drains in 
sandy, loose, and rofk atrat^i. • 

JOSI.MI I*ARKF.S, 
11, Grrnt Collrge Street , Westminster. 

[The draining implement.*! referred to in 
the concluding passages of the foregoing 
lecture, and exhibited to the audience, not 
being described by the lecturer, those pa.s- 
sagcs would not hare been copied into this 
paper but for the fact that such reference is 
made to the implements in question, as will 
aid any of our readers who may desire it, 
in ordering them. — Ed. 



272 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[May 



Address of Hill Carter, Esq. 

Delivered before the Virf/niia Central Agri- 
cultural Societij at the Fall Eihihition 
of 1859. 

Gentlemex op -the Va. Central Agr'l 

Society and Fellow-Citizens of Virginia : 

Having been requested to address this 
Society on the subject of practical agricul- 
ture, and give a description of the Shirley 
Farm, and management upon it, I rise with 
unaffected diffidence to address so large and 
brilliant an assemblage, fearing that I shall 
afford very little pleasure or profit. But, 
believing it the duty of every one, when 
called upon by his fellow-citizens, to con- 
tribute his " mite/' even should it be as 
small as the " widow's mite," I will en- 
deavour to respond to the call, so flattering- 
ly made upon me, and I only regret my 
feeble ability to make a proper return lor 
so high an honour, and to give instruction 
and entertainment to this large assemblage. 
As I am merely a plain farmer, I will in a 
plain farmer-like way, give the experience 
oi' one who has lived and worked some 
forty odd years upon a farm, and raised and 
educated a large family from the proceeds 
of the farm, and that farm, too, when I 
commenced, worn out and exhausted, as 
nearly all the farms in the lower country of 
Virginia were at that time. 

The great drawback to the improvement 
of Virginia agriculture is the high price of 
labour, in consequence of the high price of 



grant, if exerfed in Virginia^ would enable 
him to enrich his farm, to enlarge his es- 
tate, and perhaps to rival the most prosper- 
ous emigrant to the West. 

I do not deny that large fortunes are fre- 
quently made by emigrating to the West, 
but my friends, it is frequently at a great 
sacrifice of comfort, feelings, family ties, 
and sometimes of principle, too, for it can- 
not be denied that the principles of new 
countries are looser than of old settled coun- 
tries. Nine times out of ten those emi- 
grants who succeed in the West, would have 
succeeded at home ; and those who fail in 
the West would have done certainly no 
worse at home, and perhaps bettor. So my 
advice to those who have tolerably f\nr 
prospects at home, is to remain and use 
proper exertion to improve their lands, their 
circumstances, and their mother State ; and ^ 
the first thing necessary to do that is, to j 
follow the example of emigrants to the West 
in these particulars, that is, to use economy 
in living, dress and furniture, until they 
shall have made a fortune, and never to in- 
dulge in any extravagance until they are 
perfectly able to afford it. Travelling out 
in the AVest, the plainest fare and furniture 
are met with, even in rich planters' houses 
in the country. The cotton bale and the 
sugar hogshead are the standards of wealth 
and respectability there, and although that 
thing may be carried too far, yet if we were 
in Virginia to think less of high living, 
and more of cropping, there would be less 
occasion to emio;rate. It is a singular fact, 



negroes, and the great temptation to our but certainly true, that a man who in Vir- 
population to move off to the rich lands ofiginia is accustomed to live at his ease, and 
the West^ and South-west, where lands are ! in luxury, will go out to the West and set- 
tle down in a log cabin, eat corn bread and 
middling, work hard, and save every dollar 
he makes, that he may buy negroes to make 
cotton or sugar, and the ultimate fruit of 
all his privation and toil is, to die a wealthy 
man. The same man, if he were to live j 
I and save in the same way in Virginia, and 
work as hard, might increase his wealth 
perhaps just as fast, and die rich, too ; but 
owing to the old habits and associations 
prevailing in his neighbourhood, he will 
idle his time, live above his means, waste 
his substance, and at last die a bankrupt. 

One of the advantages of emigrating to 
a new country is, that it certainly gives en- 
ergy and economy to some who are deficient 



cheap and '•productive, and fortunes easily 
made. This has taken off both our wealth 
and population, and retarded the improve- 
ment of Virginia. It is a strong tempta- 
tion to a young man living on a poor farm 
in Virginia, who hears of the fertile lands 
of the Valley of the Mississippi and in the 
new States of the far West, to emigrate, 
hoping to make a fortune in a few years ; 
but he little knows the trouble, the difficul- 
ties, the dangers and risks he encounters, 
and after all he very often draws a blank in 
the lottery, (for such it is,) in which he en- 
gages, and instead of bettering his situation, 
he is worsted, and sometimes ruined. The 
same energy and industry, the same intelli- 
gence, perseverance and enconomy which 
are necessary to the success of the emi- 



n these qualities, and I dare say it would be 
good advice to such to emigrate^ for it gives 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



273 



them a new character; but, if we could buti 
retain ainon^ us the energetic, the iiit lli- 
gent, and economical part of our popula- 
tion, Old Virj^iniu would be ns prosperous 
and flourisliin^r as any State in the Union 
AVe have a ^'rcat variety of climate and 
Boil, and only want industrious and econom- 
ical habits in our farmers and planters, and 
the application of more care to the improve- 
ment and to the beautifying? of the land, 
and less to the pamporinir and beautifying 
of the body, to make Virginia the first 
State in the Union. 

Now, the next (juestion is, how shall we 
improve the land in \'iri::inia ? For all will I 
admit its want of improvement. In the 
first place, cultivate only as much land as 
can be done judiciously. Turn out the 
balance to pasture, or to ^ow up in woods 
if you cannot cultivate it well. If the 
land is poor or exhausted, adopt an amelio- 
rating system, introducing gra s frequently 
where you cannot command manures from 
cities, &c., or if your capital wil! not afford 
it. Grass is the great renovator of land in our 
arid climate, and without it, unless you can 
command manure from cities, or els(r\vhere 
— an advantage enjoyed but by few — there 
are no means of iniproving worn-out lands. 

The next question is, what grass is best 
adapted 10 our climate and soil generally? 
I would s;iy, red clover, — though any other 
graijs that you can get to grow is ameliora- 
ting. Yet clover is most valuable, most 
usual, and is quickest introduced into our 
lands. But some will perhaps say, that, 
my land is too sandy, or too much of a pipe- 
clay to grow clover kindly. Well, that is 
unfortunate, but there is a remedy for this 
evil. Peas will grow well on sandy land, 
and next to clover the pea is the best im- 
prover I know of Sandy land is al.^o more 
easily and economically cultivated, and 
therefore profitable, l^ut for pipeclay, there 
is hardly any remedy that will not cost 
more thin it will repay, but yet it can be 
improved at high cost, and many of us who 
have small strips of it running through our 
lands, have to cultivate it at more cost than 
profit, merely becau.se it would be an eye- 
sore to leave it unimproved. Plenty of 
lime and manure frequently repeated, mi>kes 
pipe-clay yield good crops of wheat and 
clover, and tolerable crops of corn, but the 
same quantity of manure and lime applied 
to other lands, would go much farther, and 
be much more profitable and economical. 
18 



In fact, if the pipe-clay lands lay in a situ- 
ation to turn them out to grow up in woods, 
it would be the be.>st u.sc you could make of 
them. In an economical point of view, 
they ought never to have been cleared, but 
they are freijucntly mixed uj) with t e besi 
lands of our country, and we are compelled 
to vlear them, and work them though they 
do not pay — or disfigure the plantation bj 
leaving them out. 

As to an ameliorating system, the ques- 
tion arises, what sysfem is the best ? J his 
depends upon the nature of the soil and 
climate, whether it is hilly and rolling, or 
a flat country, whether a light or stiff soil 
))revails, or whether there is a mixture of 
sand and clay, i^'C, and whether the climate 
is cool or hot, Jkc. Now, I should say, in 
a hiJly and rolling country, the best system 
is, frccjucntly to introduce in the rotation of 
crops the grasses — clover, timothy, blue- 
grasa, or any other adapted to the soil and 
climate. It would be advisable, also, to 
have many shifts. Six, seven, or eveo 
eight, would not be too many. But in a 
flat or alluvial country fewer shifts, or fields 
would answer The rolling, hilly country 
requires grass more frequently, to prevent 
the .soil and manure from washing away, 
and is generally, both in climate and soil, 
better adapted to the production of grass, 
with which grazing for market may be 
united ; whereas, the flat or alluvial lands 
are not so good for gra.ss and are better for 
grain — corn especially — and are less adapt- 
ed to grazing for market. Rich lands will, of 
course bear a more vigorous system, re(|uire 
fewer shift.s, and bear more freijuent cultiva- 
tion, and of course make more profit. The best 
lands in our country, both hilly and rolling, 
or flat and alluvial, are very much of the 
same nature, (with few exceptions,) for the 
reason that the alluvial lands of our rivers 
were formed from the be*t soil of the moun- 
tains and upper country washing down and 
forming the alluvial deposit of the rivers 
below. The best soils of our country are 
of the happy mixture of sand and clay, with 
just enough iron in them to give them a good 
brown chocolate colour, then if they have veg- 
etable matter enough, together with the pro- 
per salts and lime in them, they are perfect. 

The next best lands of our country are 
thase which approach nearest to the fore- 
going, either red or mulatto, having a pro- 
per proportion of sand and clay. The 
third best are what are called grey ; having 



274 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[May 



little or no iron in them, but a good mixture 
of sand and clayt The poorest are the pure 
white lands always excepting the pure pipe- 
clay, the unkindest land of all, which is only 
profitable in timber, and should never have 
been cleared if it could have been avoided. 

There are a great many grades of land 
between the foregoing, such as red clay 
land, red sandy land, mulatto clay land, 
mulatto sandy land, coarse sandy land, and 
gravelly land, black sandy land, and boggy 
or peat lands, but they all have more or less 
sand and clay in them, and the nearer they 
approximate to the happy mixture of these 
elements the better the land. Wherever 
the happy mixture of sand and clay pre- 
vails, the land is very easily improved with 
clover and plaster of Paris, — particularly if 
there is some lime in the land. All clay 
lands, in a cool climate, are good grass lands 
and may be improved with grass and rest. 
Even in a hot climate, grass will grow tolera- 
bly well on clay lands with manure and rest. 
What I mean by clay lands, are those in which 
clay predominates, though not without some 
sand. Indeed, all lands have more or less sand. 
" Limestone" lands are good all over the world. 

But to return to the proper system 
>for ameliorating lands: I should think t.hat 
in a hilly, rolling country, seven or eight 
shifts with grass, at least three years in 
the rotation, would be advisable, with graz- 
ing for market, or tobacco, if in a tobacco 
country; but in a flat or alluviaL country, 
fewer shifts — say, if exhausted, five shifts — 
with grass two years in the rotation. If in 
good heart — four shifts — with clover one 
year in the rotation, and tobacco or not, as 
the country may or may not be suited to it. 
These rotations, of course, should be regu- 
lated according to the strength of the land; 
rich or strong land requiring fewer, and 
weak or poor land requiring more shifts, 
and a more frequent introduction of the 
grasses. If the land is too sandy for clover, 
substitute peas in the rotation, and give it 
more rest to put up in natural grasses. Of 
course, in all systems, you should make rind 
use as much manure as you can, and where 
cities or towns are accessible, you should , 
procure manure from them — if you have 
the means, — and where lime or marl is to 
be conveniently procured — if the land has 
not already lime in it — it should mostcer-! 
tainly be used, as there can be no permanent 
improvement of land deficient in lime, with- 
out the use of it. It is said, and I believe 



truly, that there is no lime in the soils below 
the falls of our rivers, except the Indian 
banks, or deposits of shells, &c., and cer- 
tainly these soils are more benefitted by the 
use of lime than by any other manure that 
has been tried upon them. Both sandy and 
clay lands, hilly and flat lands, are improved 
by lime in the tide-water country, and we 
are all very much indebted to Mr. Edmund 
Rufiin for the introduction of the use of 
marie and lime. His book on Calcaneus 
Earths is, in my opinion, the most valuable 
book to the tide water farmers in the world. 
I sincerely believe that but for the use of 1 
marie and lime in the lower country it would 
have been deserted, and become a wilder- 
ness. But with the proper use of them, I 
believe it will become one of the most popu- 
lous and desirable sections of the State. 
Next to an ameliorating system, comprising 
the grasses, and manure, lime, guano, &c., 



utensils— -good ploughs, 



come good farmin< 

good strong and heavy harrows— -particu- 
larly for stiff lands; good reapers; thrash- 
ing machines, according to the labour re- 
quired, &c. There is no economy in using 
indifferent implements because they are 
cheap. Next to these come good teams, 
mules, &c., (and at the present prices far- 
mers ought to raise their own mules. Why 
should we not raise our mules as well as our 
negroes?) I said good teams: I mean quick, 
active mules, or horses. A slow mule makes 
a slow ploughman, and besides losing time — 
for time is everything — a slow ploughman 
makes bad ploughing, for a plough will not 
do good "■'irk going along in a snail's pace, 
and you are, moreover, feeding man and 
horse to little purpose. Next come good 
and well trained labourers and good over- 
seers — the two most important parts of the 
whole system— -and how to make them so 
is the question. Well, the question has 
this solution : Close and strict attention on 
the part oC the master, good discipline 
among the negroes, good feeding, clothing, 
housing, and nursing of them when sick, 
make good labourers and good overseers, I 
never had a bad overseer in my life, and I 
have had a great many. Some of them 
have been said to be bad before they came 
to me, and after they left me, but they have 
always behaved well while with me. They 
say, on board ship, a good captain makes a 
good first lieutenant. I think the negroes 
and overseer depend very much upon the 
master. An attentive master makes good 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



275 



overseers. I found tlic land in three hliif'tn, 
corVy n/icaf, and ptisfurc, with some indiffer- 
ent cattle, and .sheep, and a few hogs, all 
^razini: the third field, ^o as to make the 
third t-hilt, and what was called the resting 
}ear — the most exhaust inu,- part of the sys- 
tem. I was young — not heing of age— and 
just from sea. Of course I knew nothing 
about faiming, but I soon saw that there 
was a want of system in everything — no 
regularity of hours, no measuring in and 
out, no day-book, no journal, no reckoning 
kept. It was so different from sca-.serviec 
that I began to fear the ship was in a bad 
way, and would soon founder, if not at sea, 
at least on the river. So I began to inquire 
and read some little about farming, and Ibr- 
tunately met with the rhiladeli)hia Agricul- 
tural Memoirs, and my old i'riend John G. 
Mosby, who, by-the-by, is entitled to the 
credit of introducing the four-shift system 
and clover on lower James river. 1 soon 
found that land could be cultivated in other 
ways than three shifts, and that the whole 
system was wrong; and in a year or two I 
count of incomings and outgoings, have all I changed overseer and system both. The 
his crops regularly measured in and out; i first change I made was to turn out the 
keep an accurate account of all farm ex- poorest field, and convert it into a standing 
penses and profits, A:c., and balance ac- pasture for the cattle, sheep, &c., and laid 

off the other two fields in lour shifts or 
fields, and sowed one each year in clover, 
and plastered the clover heavily; the clover 
and plaster acted finely, and the crops im- 
proved rapidly under the milder system of 
four fields and a standing pa.sturc for the 
stock, which allowed all the clover to be 



overseer and good negroes. The next 
question is, will the system recommended 
pay? Good, or improved land, good ma- 
nuring, liming, itc, good teams, good 
labourers, giH)d farming utensils, good over- 
seer, everything good must cost a great deal 
of money, but bad ones, my friends, cost 
morel 80 it is cheaper to get good ones. 
Improved land certainly will make more 
than unimproved. Good labourers, utensils, 
&c., require fewer of them and will be 
cheaper in the end, so there is true economy 
in having everything good. If you have 
stock on your land, you should select the 
best breeds, for it is as cheap to feed good 
Btock a« indifferent, and much more profitable. 
Every farmer should have cattle enough to 
afford him oxen for farming purposes, and 
to convert his straw and stalks, &e., into ma- 
nure, even if he do not graze for uiarket, 
hogs enough to feed his negroes, and sheep to 

clothe them if he is in a jrood grass conn- 
ed o 

try. Every farmer should be systematic in 
everything, should keep a journal, or re- 
quire the overseer to do so, keep the ac- 



counts at the end of every year, and then 

he would know whether the firm was mak- 
ing a fair profit, and whether he ought to 

remain in Virginia, or emigrate. 

I have said nothing yet about rocft crops; 

but although the lower country is not a very 

good root country, there are souie roots that 

can be raised, in a small way, to advantage; | turned in, the cattle not grazing the clover 

for several years, until the land acquired a 
sufficient quantity of vegetable matter — the 
very thing it most needed after so long and 
scourging a system as it had undergone for 
Viany years. Al'ter imjiroving the four 
fields by clover and plaster for several years. 



and every farmer should have potatoes, a 
good turnip or rula-baga patch lor his ne- 
groes, and milch cows in winter. Negroes 

if they have 



should have vegetables, and 



not gardens of their own, and time to work 
them, they should be niade on the farm for 



them, as it is important for their health that 'and reaping tolerably good crops, I found 



they should have a vegetable diet. 



that the land became too full of vegetable 



1 have been desired by the Executive n)atter, and required grazing again. .1 then 
Connnittee of this Society to give a descrip-. took up the standing pasture, changed the 
tion of the Shirley Farm, management, sys- system into five fields — the standing pasture 
tern, crops, &c., but as I fear it would look having very much improved from re.'^t and 
rather egotistical in me to talk so much cow-pening in the meantime. I continued 
about myself, as I should have to do, if I the live-field system, with partial grazing, 
went fully into detail, I will only make a | for several years, with tolerable success, until 
few remarks on that subject. In 181G Ij Mr. Edmund lluflin induced me to try the 
took possession of a poor, exhausted James marl from his farm in Prince George county, 
river plantation, which had been originally which acted like a charm. I continued the 
good land, but very much exhausted by bad | use of marl for several years, but finding it 
culture, under the management of ignorant' very laborious to transport, it being across 



276 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[May 



the river, and eight or ten miles oif, I com- 
menced usinp: lime; first, by buying oyster 
shells and burning them in a kiln ol* wood ; 
and after oyster shells became difficult to 
procure, I commenced the use of Northern 
lime, and have continued it ever since, m 
moderate quantities, liming regularly one 
shift or field in the rotation each year. 
The improvement from clover and plaster of 
Paris alone was considerable, particularly 
upon the wheat crop; but the land began 
to get clover sick, and frequently failed to 
produce good clover, and of course the wheat 
crop sufi'ered, ibr they go together, but after 
marling and liming, the clover rarely failed, 
and the crops regularly improved, particu- 
larly the corn crop, which has doubled since 
marling and liming were introduced, and 
both wheat and corn crops have quadrupled 
since 1816, when the three shift and hard 
grazing system was abandoned. I attribute 
"whatever success I have achieved to constant 
and strict attention to my business; to my 
lands, negroes and overseers; to a systematic 
habit I acquired at sea, of keeping regular 
account of every thing on the plantation, 
(never selling, feeding or using a grain of 
anything not measured and entered in my 
books," and I can tell by referring to them 
for 40 years back, every bushel of corn, 
oats, &c., consumed yearly on the plantation 
by negroes, horses, cows, hogs, &c., and every 
dollar expended for plantation and negroes, 
as well as myself and each member of my 
family, &c.;) to adopting an ameliorating 
system, with frequent grass crops; to the 
use of plaster, marl and lime; and to con- 
stant attention to plantation manure, of 
which a great deal is made and used. To 
these, I repeat it, 1 am indebted for what- 
ever success I have attained, and I would 
advise others to pursue substantially the 
same course, especially in husbanding with 
great care the resources of the farm, for 
making manure, and to stick to old Virginia, 
and make her flourish. 

I am now about to change my system 
back to four fields again, believing as I nowj 
do, from many years' experience, that after, 
you have improved your land to a certain 
extent, (if alluvial or flat land,) that the: 
four field system is the best. It certainly 
will make more wheat, and nearly as much 
corn to the acre; and as it affords more landi 
in each crop, it will make more produce,! 
and, provided the land improves under it, 
must be the best system. But the land, 



must be either good or improved, level or 
alluvial land, to stand the four field system, 
or it will not answer ; and you must use good 
management in manuring and liming, &c., 
or it will fail : but, with that, I believe it is 
the best system. The advantage the four 
field system has over the five is, that it is a 
more cleansing system, — the hoe-crop (corn) 
coming round more frequently, keeps the 
land cleaner, which is all-important in any 
system. The next advantage in the four 
field system is, that you turn in a clover ley 
more frequently, which is highly improving, 
and at its best stage too for fallowing, which is 
all-important; and the third is, that you 
have more land to cultivate, and, provided 
you have sufficient labor, your returns will 
be larger. But you cannot support so much 
stock, and you will have to substitute straw, 
in some measure for manure, by covering the 
land with it, which, as it is becomiiig a 
prevalent opinion that It is the best mode of 
using straw, is no objection to the system. 
Coke's, Lord Leicester's, four field system 
so generally adopted in England, is a very 
similar one, substituting turnips and barley 
for corn and wheat, and using more manure 
than we can affijrd to do. The English sys- 
tem, on heavily manured land, is turnips, 
barley, clover, wheat— ^our system is corn, 
partially manured or limed, or both, wheat, 
clover and wheat. The corn crop is a more 
exhausting crop than turnips, but it afibrds 
a good deal more of offal for manure, and 
makes up in that way ; and as a bread crop 
for our?negro population and teams, is inval- 
uable. But do not understand me as recom- 
mending the four field system for any but 
rich or highly improved, and flat or alluvial 
land. It will not answer for hilly, or rolling, 
or weak land, fhe^ should have a more ex- 
tended and ameliorating system, viz: 6, 6 
or 7 fields, according to circumstances as 
mentioned before, so that the more frequent 
grass crops will intervene, and prevent wash- 
ing, and restore the fertility exhausted by 
grain crops, tobacco, grazing, &c. I have 
been cultivating under the five field system 
twenty years, after having previously culti- 
vated twenty years under the four field sys- 
tem, and I now return to the latter system 
because my land is sufficiently improved, I 
think, to stand it, and make more profit un- 
der it, and perhaps continue, with good man- 
agement, to improve under it. I think, un- 
der good management, on good land, where 
heavy crops of corn and wheat are made, 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



577 



you may manure an entire field, or fourth 
part of the land, each year, under the four 
field system. That is to say, you can cover 
vith the spare straw and the manure of the 
plantation one-fourth of it annually; and if 
80, it mu."<t be an improving; system. The 
fact is, all land should be manured regularly 
at intervals ; and no system is a good one 
"which does not admit of manuring at least 
one field in the rotation annually; for, after 
all, manure is the great mine of agricultural 
wealth. 

The improvement in agriculture in Vir- 
ginia for the last twenty years, particularly 
in lower Virginia, has been considerable ; 
and the agricultural fairs of the State arc 
entitled to a good deal of the credit; but 
there is great room for improvement yet, 
and I have no doubt, if the fairs continue 
to be encouraged as heretofore, and our young 
and enterprising men will only stick to old 
Virgima, she will fiourish.and become the 
first State in the Union, as she once was; 
and God grant she may be again, is the 
prayer of your humble servant 

P. S. — I have been informed that there 
was dissatisfaction expressed at the Central 
Agricultural Society when I delivered this 
address, that. I did not enter more into de- 
tail about my crops &c. ; and I have been 
requested U) do so, but as I said before, I 
think it would be egotistical to talk so much 
about myself, as it would be necessary to do, if 
I did that ; I will merely say, therefore, that 
when I took charge of the management of 
my plantation the best crops of wheat were 
about 2,0U0 bushels, and of corn about 5U0 
barrels ; and my best crops of wheat, since 
I improved the plantation, have been over 
8,000 bushels, and of corn over 2,000 bar- 
rels — so that 1 have quadrupled the crops 
as I said before. 

Hill Carter. 



pounds of Peruvian Ouano to a third acre. 

Each acre was planted in Tobacco the same 
day, and cultivated all alike without any 
other manure. The refeult was as follows, 
viz: the American Guano produced 452 
pounds of Tobacco per acre at a cost of $8 

I per acre ; the Manipulated produced 520 
pounds of Tobacco per acre at a cost of 
§10.40 per acre; and the Peruvian Guano 
produced 090 pounds of Tobacco per acre, 

• at a cost of $11.80 per acre. Now for the 
quality, and you have the whole experi- 
ment. The Peruvian was the largest and 

I most sightly while in *he hill, but when 
cured the Kettlewell's Manipulated was of 

I the richest and best body, and the Ameri- 
can decidedly the most inferior, indeed, it 

i was all lugs, and mean lugs at that. We 

i had a heavy rain in September, which 
caused it all to fire and spot badly, but the 
Peruvian more than any, and the Manipu- 
lated less than any. This exper iment was 
made under my own eye, the land measured 
and the Guano weighed by myself I know it 
to be accurate. And now, from these data, 
your readers can make their own calcula- 
tions and draw their own conclusions — my 
own humble opinion is in favor of the Ma- 
nipulated. Very respectfully, 

II. H. Allen. 
Oral Oaks, Ta., April 12th, 1860. 



For the Southern Planter. 

Experiments with American and other 
Guanos on Tobacco. 

Mr. Editor — In the April number of 
the Southern Planter I promised you my 
experiment on Tobacco with American and 
other Guano — and here it is. Last year I 
Selected a poor piece of light, sandy land, 
on which, after thorough preparation, I ap- 
plied 400 pounds of American Guano to 
one acre, 400 pounds of Kettlewell's Manip. 
ulated Guano to another acre, and 400 



Fram the Farmer and Gardener. 

How to Raise Early Tomatoes. 

The profits of the Tomato crop depend, to 
a very great extent, upon the season in 
which they are brought to market. Some 
years ago, truck-farmers on the Neck, and 
in parts of New Jersey, contiguous to Phil- 
adelphia, made their calculations to the ef- 
fect, that if they could bring tomatoes into 
market by the fourth day of July, they 
were worth from three to four dollars per 
basket, and they managed generally to begin 
their harvest about that time. Since the 
introduction of steamboat communication 
with the Southern ports, early trucking, 
generally, has been shorn of much of its 
])octry, and such prices as were formerly 
realized, are no longtr to be thought of 
Still, it is of great moment that peas, toma- 
toes, and potatoes should be brought into 
market as early as possible, because they at 
once supersede the Southern importations. 
A week earlier, or later, may seem a small 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[May 



matter to some people, but when that week 
makes a diflference of one dollar in the re- 
spective prices, the farmer regards it as no 
small matter. This it almost invariably 
docs in relation to peas and tomatoes. — 
Hence, it is a great matter to be in time. 
Of course, tomato-plants, which are to ripen 
their fruit early, must be raised in a hot- 
bed ; and they ought by this time, to be 
well under way, already transplanted in the 
frame from which they are to be set out in 
the field, cr garden. 

Now, the secret of the disappointment of 
farmers, is often traceable to a very obvious 
cause. They set out their plants too earhj. 
This may seem a strange assertion. Never 
mind that, if it is true ; and we know it is 
true. The first blossoms of the tomato, 
after transplanting, usually drop ofi', and the 
promise of early fruit drops with them. 
Let your plants for very early product re- 
main in the hot-bed till the fruit has set on 
them ; choose a wet time to plant them out, 
in May ; no matter if it is late in the 
month — and see what the result will be. 
In order to make assurance doubly sure, 
after the plants are eight or nine inches 
high, put them each in a flower pot, and in 
transplanting, you break none of the fibrous 
roots, and as you gradually harden your 
plants by leaving tJie frames ofi" in mild 
weather, when the proper season for trans- 
planting arrives, they will grow and thrive 
without any delay or drawback, owing to 
the change. This wilting of the plants is 
a loss of time, and as a few days will make 
a material difference, the object is to avoid 
it, if possible. Give it a trial. 

Jersey Blue. 



•Head Work. 

If a man is really a boor he will pass for 
nothing more, and if he is at heart a gen- 
tleman, will pass for nothing less ', if he is 
an ignorant plodder, men will treat him as 
such, and if his brains are well cultivated, 
others will not be slow to find it out; so 
that those who do not command respect, 
have themselves to blame most. A young 
man in these days has no more right to have 
an idle head, than an idle body; neither 
ought he to so overwork his muscular sys- 
tem that there is no more nervous energy 
left for the brain, and as a consequence feel 
so dill and stupid, that he has no desire to 
open a book. It is pre-eminently the day| 



of physical science. The Classics are giv- 
ing way to rocks, and plants, and the ele- 
ments with which nature performs her won- 
drous work. The " Study " . is changed 
from the closet to the field, and the farmer 
can, and ought to be, even with all. A few 
text books, and much close, thoughtful ob- 
servation, will do more towards balancing 
mind and muscle, more towards making 
farmers men and gentlemen, than all the 
harrangues on the dignity of their calling 
ever uttered. 

Turn back the leaves of the great book 
on which you tread, and read in the rocks 
the history of long gone by creation ; trace 
the tree from embryo to perfection ; observe 
clouds and storm, wind and sunshine, and 
find even these erratic visitors of the air 
subject to law; turn up the soil, and with a 
chemist's eye mark the changes of the 
mould under the influence of rain and ma- 
nure. Carry out those ideas, an(^ see as 
your brains get used to working, if you 
don't soon feel the result all over — a light- 
ness of heart and a sense of equality in 
whatever society you may be thrown. — 
"Awake thou sluggard, and arise thou that 
sleepest." — American Agriculturist. 



An ''Able" Editor. 

Every judicious and observant man will 
concur in the following views, presented by 
the editor of one of the best conducted jour- 
nals in the Old Dominion, the Alexandria 
Gazette : 

Many people estimate the ability of a 
newspaper, and the industry and talents of 
its editor, by the quantity of editorial mat- 
ter which it contains. It is comparatively 
an easy task for a frothy writer to pour out 
daily, columns of inords — ivords upon any 
and all subjects. His ideas may flow in 
"one weak, washy, everlasting flood," and 
his command of language may enable him 
to string them together like bunches of 
onions, and yet his paper may be a meagre 
and poor concern. But what is the labor 
and the toil of such a man who displays 
his " Icadf-d matter '' ever so largely, to that 
imposed on the judicious, well-informed 
editor, who exercises his vocation with an 
hourly consciousness of its responsibilities 
and duties, and devotes himself to the con- 
duct of his paper with the sam.e care and 
assiduity that a sensible lawyer bestows 
upon a suit, or a humane physician upon a 



I860.] 



THE SO'UTHERN PLANTER. 



270 



patient without regard to show or display ! 
Indeed, the inerf^ initituj part of cditinir w 

?aper, is but a small portion of tlie work, 
'he iiuhistry is not even shown there. The 
oaire, the time employed in seloctinL!:, is far 
more important, and the tact of a ii;ood 
editor is better shown by his selections than 
anythin*]^ else ; and that we all know is half 
the battle. J3ut as we have said, an editor 
ouL'ht to be estiniatcd, and his labors under- 
stood and appreciated, by the general con- 
duct of his paper — its tone — its temper — 
its uniform, consi.stont course — its princi- 
ples — its aims — its manliness — its dijrnity — 
its propriety. To preserve these as they 
should be preserved, is enoujrh to occupy 
fully the time and attention of any man. 
If to this be added the general supervision 
of the newspaper estabiishnient, which 
most editors have to encounter the wonder 
is how can they find time or room to vrite 
at alt. 



17. It prereiits, in % great measure, the 

evaporation of wate., and the consequent 
abstraction of heat frotn the soil. 

18. It admits fresh (juantities of water 
from rains, &c., which are always more or 
less imbued with the fertilizing ga.se8 of the 
atmosphere, to be deposited among the ab- 
sorbent parts of soil, and given up to the 
necessities of plants. 

lli. It prevents the formation of so hard 
a crust on the surface of the soil as is cus- 
tomary on heavy lands. 

20. It prevents, in a great measure, grass 
and winter grains from being w inter- killed. 
Fanners' Magazine. 



Advantages of Under-Draining. 

1. It prcvruts drouth. 

2. It furnishes an increased supply of 
atmospheric fertilizers. 

8. It warms the lower portions of the 
soil. 

4. It hastens the decomposition of roots 
and other organic mat er. 

5. It accelerates the disintegration of 
the mineral matters in the soil. 

G. It causes a more even distribution of 
nutritious matters among those parts of the 
soil traversed by roots. 

7. It improves the mechanical texture of 
the soil. 

8. It causes the poisonous excrementi- 
tious matter of plants to be carried out of 
reach of their roots. 

n. It prevents grasses from running out. 

10. It enables us to deepen the surface- 
soil — by removing excess of water. 

11. It renders soils earlier in the spring. 

12. It prevents the throwing out of grain 
in winter. 

13. It allows us to work sooner after 
rains. 

14. It keeps off the effects of cold wea- 
ther longer in the fall. 1 

15. It prevents the formation of acrtiA 
and other acids, which induce the growtli I 
of sorrel and similar weeds. | 

16. It liastens the decay of vegetable ' 
matter, and the finer comminution of the' 
earthy parts of the soil. I 



From the New York Observer. 

The Japan Apple Pie Melon. 

ITS OULTIVATIUN, AND PKKFAUATION. 

It is stated in a California paper that the 
seed of this melon was reqcntly introduced 
into that State, from one of the Islands of 
the Pacific Ocean, and that they are culti- 
vated with good success in California, at- 
taining the weight of from 45 to 50 pounds, 
and are highly esteemed as a luxury for 
pies, and sell readily in the market of San 
Francisco at sixpence per pound. 

We obtained a package of the seed in 
the spring of 1858, from a gentleman who 
resides in California, and have had good 
success in their cullivation for the two past 
reasons, and as we learn how to prepare and 
use the fruit, we are more fully convinced 
of its great value. AVe have now speci- 
mens of the fruit 18 inches in length, 
weighing from 35 to 40 lbs. They are cyl- 
indrical in shape ; — color, when ripe, a gol- 
den tint : flesh fine and close grained, and 
more so than the common watermelon. The 
color of the seeds is a dark green. 

Plant on good soil, some 10 feet apart. 
Let two, or at the most three, plants re- 
main in each hill. After the fruit has set, 
cut of! the top end of the vines, and prune 
off some of the lateral vines. If not pruned, 
the vines will extend some 15 or 20 feet, 
producing many laterals, which too den-^ely 
cover the ground. Gather the fruit when 
ripe, and if kept in a cool, dry place, free 
from frost, they will keep good and sound a 
year, and you may have them at hand for 
use, at any time, fresh and good. We es- 
teem this new vegetable as a valuable acqui- 
sition — especially so, when our apples and 



28a 



TRE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[Mat 



other fruits fail, or in new sections where 
fruit has not been cultivated. The way we 
prepare them for pies, preserves and sauce 
is as follows : For pies, peel and cut up the 
melon into small pieces, taking out the 
seeds, soft pulp, &c. Put them in a pre- 
serving kettle, with just enough water to 
keep them from burning, and stew over a 
tolerably brisk fire for three or four hours, 
or until the whole is reduced to a pulpy 
mass, free from lumps, and thoroughly 
" done." You have thus a substance re- 
sembling green apples stewed ; and by add- 
ing sugar and a little lemon, or tartaric acid, 
and made up with crust in the usual way, 
you have a pie equal, if not superior, to an 
apple pie. For a pumpkin, or custard pie, 
stew as above stated, but omit the acids, 
and bring the mass to the proper consis- 
tency by adding sugar, milk and eggs. But 
little of either of these ingredients will be 
found necessary — only sufficient to give 
color and flavor. A very superior preserve 
is made of this melon, prepared in the ordi- 
nary way as for other fruit, with the addition 
of a little lemon. For^sauce, pare and slice 
like apples, put into the stew-pan — add a 
little extract of lemon, and sweeten to your 
taste. L. NoRRis. 

Windsor, Ashtabula Co., O. 

P. S.— Having a surplus of the above 
melon seeds on hand, which may prove of 
much value to those who wish to cultivate 
them, I am willing to send by mail, to any 
address, a package of the seeds, to those 
who may desire it, asking only a sufficiency 
in stamps to pay the expense of putting up 
the seeds and postage. Address as above. 



Keeping: Sweet Potatoes. 

A writer in the Oskaloosa Herald gives 
this method of preserving the Sweet Potato 
through the winter. His way is as follows : 

"I use dry sand to put them up in — it 
don't matter how the sand is dried, in a kiln, 
a log heap, or in the sun, so it is dry, that is 
all that is required. I prefer drying in a 
log heap, as it cost at least four times less, 
and is just as good. And a family that has 
a little room with a stove in it may keep a 
box or two of eight or ten bushels without 
much inconvenience. The boxes must be 
raised six or eight inches from the floor, and 
they must not be nearer than four inches to 
the wall. Fill the box with potatoes, and 
then put in sand, cover the potatoes with 



sand. There is a good deal said about kiln- 
dried sand, but it is all fudge. I have also 
known them kept well in buckwheat chaff". 
In order to keep potatoes with success, 
there must be a thermometer kept in tha, 
room. The mercury must not sink below 
40° ; if it does, the potatoes will chill and 
rot; it also must not rise above 60°, or they 
will grow. 



Agricultural Chemistry. 

The following views in relation to the de- 
mands of Agriculture upon Science, were 
expressed by Professor Voelcker, of the 
Cirencester College, England, in a recent 
address before the Royal Agr'l Society : 

He believes that among the landed pro- 
prietors, their agents, and the larger farmers, 
especially the rising generation, a more ex- 
tensive knowledge of the science applicable 
to agriculture is needed. All these want 
better instruction. But to teach the small 
farmer or the labourer chemistry, is simply 
absurd. To either, the pursuit would be a 
waste of time. So chemistry should never 
be made the direct guide to the agricultu- 
rist. Science is, after all, only the syste- 
matic arrangement of well-authenticated 
facts, and the rising generation should be 
taught its general principles. But many 
professors of chemistry have over-estimated 
their .wn powers, and instead of explaining 
the experience of practical men, they set 
themselves up as guides to tho farmers; 
they have over-estimated the powers of the 
new science, and in consequence stumbled. 
Again he says : " Agricultural chemistry, 
in its application to farming, is altogether a 
new science ; and hitherto it has been like 
every new knowledge, too vague and too 
general it its doctrines, as well as in its re- 
searches. What is required at the time 
are, experiments made for the special pur- 
pose, researches carried on in the field as 
well as in the laboratory. We have no need 
of the joint labors of practical men and 
men of science. These are questions which 
can only be properly investigated if the man 
of science heartily joins with the practical 
man, working cheerfully together, each in* 
his own department — a nearer approach be- 
tween agriculture and science, in short, is 
what is required at the present time. A 
general knowledge of the principles of 
farming, however useful to the practical 
farmer, never will help him to grow a large 
crop of turnips ; he must have special train- 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



281 



ing in practical matters in order to be a suc- 
cessful fanner. So it is with chcniicnl 
know led «j:o. Men may have excellent cheni- 
jcal knowledge, but if they have not special 
chemical knowledge in relation to farming, 
their labors will be of little direct utility to 
the agriculturist." 

In reference to the culture of root crops, 
he says that generally ammoniacal manures, 
such as guano, are thrown away on roots; 
and phosphates are more profitable. Guano 
and super-phosphates of lime, both rather 
retard the germination of the seeds, but 
they pu.sh forward the young plant in its 
early growth. This we believe is to form 
the true value of such manures, though 
perhaps this is over-estimated. 

Annual of Svientijic Discovery , 1860. 



A tendency of Inventions-A proof that 
they are from God. 

Few will be disposed to deny that this 
world, in its minute, as well as its compie 
hensive providential arangements,* bears un- 
equivocal testimony to the benevolent de- 
signs of the Creator. It is impossible to 
contemplate the constituent elements of 
which it is composed, without the conviction 
that they were primarily selected and depos 
ited in accordance with the anticipated 
wants of the human family. In every as- 
pect there appears adaptation to the physi- 
cal and mental constitution of man, whether 
considered in his original state, or fallen and 
depraved condition. As a holy and happy 
being he had few physical wants; but such 
as he experienced, were amply supplied in 
that world over which he obtained domin- 
ion. As a spiritual being, niade in the Di- 
vine image, he enjoyed complete felicity in 
communion with (Jod. To him, as lord of 
Creation, all nature tendered a physical ser- 
vice; but yet a service only rendered in 
obedience to the dictates of his mental be- 
ing, and actually elicited through the opera- 
tion of his own physical organization. Nor 
was this a constitutional necessity only, it 
was the liw of his materio-mental being, 
corresponding to the law judicially announc- 1 
ed, and to the charter of privilege munifi- ' 
cently grafted when Adam was commanded ' 
to " be fruitful and multiply and replenish 
the earth, and sulxhw if, and mve dominion 
over the fish of the sea, and fver the fowls 
of the air, and over every living thing that 
moveth upon the earth." Subchic thr earth 
was the prjmary command and the claim of. 



" dominion over it" seems to rest upon obe- 
dience to this injunction. Until the human 
family has multiplied so as to replenish the 
earth, that subjection cannot be obtained, 
nor that universal dominion established. 
Those physical and moral revolutions which 
have resulted from the introduction of sin, 
do not make void the primary commis.sion, 
nor cancel its obligations. Stt/uhie the earth 
was the mandate issued to Noah amidst the 
desolations disclosed by the receding deluge, 
as well as to Adam surrounded with the lux- 
uriant productions of Paradise. Suhdur the 
caiih and have dominion over it is the Divine 
mandate addressed to their posterity as much 
as to those progenitors of the human race; 
and until the work is accomplished, the obli- 
gation mubt remain immutable. 1 1 is true 
that human capabilities, mental and physi- 
cal, were impaired by the shock of moral 
evil, and even the world itself was convulsed 
by the thunder-bolt of Divine wrar.h, drawn 
down by the electric wire of human guilt; but 
no such changes, whether physical or moral, 
could alter the Divine Decree, rescind the 
original law, nor re^ase humanitjr from the 
primary obligation^ With a darker intel- 
lect and a weaker constitution — with conse- 
quent liability to exhausting fatigue and fre- 
quent disappointment — with a blighted world 
and rebellious subjects — man must, from 
age to age, pursue his laborious course until 
the original purposes of his Creator regard- 
ing earth, are all accomplished. In the 
beneficence of God every effort is accompa- 
nied by a present benefit, while each suc- 
ceeding discovery is not only a stimulus to 
future exertion, but also a re-echo of the 
voice of the original proprietor, saying to 
the sons of men, " Subdue the earth and 
have dominion over it." 

Exercising a delegated dominion ^ver the 
earth, the active duties involved in subduing 
it were accompanied with sensations of un- 
alloyed pleasure ; but having, by transgres- 
sion, forfeited that dominion, fallen man is 
constrained by necessity to labor as a slave, 
while the pleasure of labor is embittered by 
its penal characteristics. Irrespective of 
this, the work originally indicated must be 
accomplished. Man must retiin his place 
as the agent by which it shall be eflfected. 
But in the mysterious providence of God, 
the work of subduing the earth is so planned 
that each succeeding generation may be 
amply occupied, and also realize increa.sing 



282 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[May 



benefits in proportion to the progress made, 
wliile the united efforts of all arc requisite 
to carry it forward to final consummation. 
As the various workmen in the erection of a 
building individually and unitedly contribute 
towards the completion of the plan designed 
by the architect, so the human family is 
gradually filling up the comprehensive plans 
of Providence regarding the world. 

Viewed in this aspect, there appears a 
close connection between man's nature and 
his duty as a creature destined for occupa- 
tion, hisw^ants furnish a permanent motive 
where his moral obedience fails to constrain 
him to duty. In the appointment of heaven, 
the increase of his wants by the fall, coun- 
ter-balances the reluctance of his rebellious 
spirit, so that he renders as an instrument, 
that obedience which, as a moral agent, he \ 
declines to yield. The natural activity ofi 
his constitution, though benumbed by the 
chilling effects of sin, is stimulated by stern 
necessity to work out the doings of Grod, 
regarding the earth as his temporary habita- 
tion. Work or want is the by-law of actual 
administmtion, which even savage life can- ^ 
not disregard, and whreh the highest state 
of refinement cannot utterly repeal. All 
must earn their bread by the sweat of their \ 
brow, or the exercise of the brain within it. ! 
From the very constitution of things, both I 
are brought into requisition in every depart- 
ment of human occupation. From the sov-| 
ereign to the humblest subject, there is labor 
in procuring supply for official, relative, and | 
personal wants. If the hands are freed from 
grinding toil, the mind will be taxed with 
exhausting activity; and even when both 
seem to be emancipated by the possession of 
riches, the cares of preservation, of distri-' 
bution, of modes of increase, are found us 
harrassing to the possessor, as if both head 
and hafids were employed in daily labor. ' 
Thus it is fo nd in universal experience, 
that, " All things are full of labor ; man ; 
cannot alter it; the eye is not satisfied with! 
seeing, nor the ear with hearing," 

In beholding the toiling multitude we may 
be ready to enquire, whence the necessity 
for this incessant labor? Is it simply by 
way of punishment that God has doomed 
the fallen race to work, that life may be pre- 
served, and yet in the excess of work de- 
manded, and sometimes in its very nature, 
that life is being wasted by continuous toil ? 
This might seem at first sight the reason, 
and as announced in the sentence passed 



upon Adam, it is no doubt presented as an 
element in the penalty. Indeed, the toils of 
human life have been adduced as an argu- 
ment that man is fallen. J^ut when consid- 
ered in relation to the comprehensive plans 
of the moral government, labor appears iit 
the aspect of a blessing. It is at once a 
check upon human depravity — a preserva- 
tion of crime, and the source of social com- 
fort; while at the same time affording a 
wider range for the operation of relative af- 
fections. The fall of man did not introduce, 
but only increased and aggravated human 
labor. The primary law was announced ere 
yet the bloom of Paradise had been blighted 
by sin. " 1 he Lord God took the man 
and put him into the garden of Eden, to 
dress and to keep it." That garden was 
planted by thq Divine hand, with every tree 
and herb good for food, and pleasant to the 
eye ; but though divinely planted in fructif- 
erous maturity, they were committed to the 
care of our first father " to dress and keep/' 
It is also* evident, from the primary law of 
the Sabbath, that our first parents were des- 
tined to active labor during six days of the 
week, else what would be the meaning of 
the rest of the seventh ? It is evident the 
ground was not yet under the effects of the 
curse, and that the earth yielded sponta- 
neouirly all that man could require; but even 
then some labor was necessary in order to 
the enjoyment of what nature so abundantly 
provided. The very formation of man teaches 
that he was designed for some species of 
labor. It has been cle rly demonstrated by 
comparative anatomy that the formation of 
all the creatures is in adaptation to their 
habits of life, and the exercise of their pe- 
culiar instincts, as well as to the place which 
they are destined to fill in the scale of crea- 
tion. The human species is no exception to 
this universal law of creation. The w^onder- 
ful organization of man, in adaptation to the 
work given him to do, has been already no- 
ticed. The human hand furnishes a distinct 
and irresistible argument for the existence 
of God, while it affords a not less convincing 
proof that man was originally designed to 
labor. It is to the hand as directed by an 
intelligent mind, that we are indebted for all 
i^echanical inventions. 

Taking mfll's constitution as the index, in 
accordance \^^th universal analogy, it is evi- 
dent that labor was the original law of his 
being. If angels —pure and holy spirits — 
are actively employed in the ser.Yice of God 



I860.] 



THK SOUTHERN IM.WTER. 



— and if irrational creatures, with material 
oruanizatiun are destined to a certain amount 
of labor, in prolon^inu their existence, may 
it not be IcLMtiniatily inferred Uhan man also 
conibininLT the material and the mental, must 
be designed for activity and labor. Nor is 
this all that nuiy be adduced from the nature 
of his constitution. It is clear, t«) a demon- 
stration, that without labor, either in a holy 
or a iallen state, nian's capabilities and ]iow- 
ers could never be disclosed. Without the 
arts of industry, many of his latent iaculties 
of invention must lie iorcver dormant, and 
the marvels of science and art which these 
have exhibited, must have been forever lost 
U.) the page of hunr\n history. Indeed, un- 
til the last invention of «:enius shall be con- 
structed, upon the eve of the world's disso- 
lution, the full extent of man's mental and 
physical capability shall not be made mani- 
fcsf. It thus appears, that while labor is 
necessary in his individual and relative posi- 
tion, it is also necessary to exhibit what man 
was as God made him, and what mysterious 
treas res Divine goodness had stored up at 
creation for his future benefit even in a fallen 
state. 

It is not the /act of labor, as the law of 
existence, that has produced human misery. 
Nor is labor in itseli" any evidence of a fallen 
state. It is the nature, the amount, and the 
aggravating circumstances in which labor 
must be prosecuted, that tend to characterize 
it as an evil in man's estimation. The intro- 
duction of moral evil has deranged the nature 
and increased the quantity and aggravated 
the circumstances of human toil. Its evils 
are not inherent, but may all be traced to the 
fountain of mural evil. In man's original 
constitution* there was absolute perfection. 
The finished works of creation were all pro- 
nounced " very good," by the Divine Author. 
Man's mental and physical constitution re- 
sponded harmoniously to the works of na 
ture, while the appropriation of what infinite 
goodness had provided was but the increase 
of human happiness. There was nothing in 
the primary law of labor repugnant tt> man's 
tenderest feelings. Activity was the most 
joyous part of his existence. He could run 
without being weary, and walk without faint- 
ing. In his system there was no weakness, 
giving rise to suffering under exertion ; and 
in his labor there was no disappointment, to 
perplex or disturb his mental complacency. 
The duties assigned to Adam in Paradise 
were as pleasant to his entire constitution, as 



the prospect of his luxuriant garden was to 
his organ of sight, and perception of beauty. 

It was the cur.'ie — the blight of sin — that 
changed the entire aspect of human cmploy- 
jmeiit. Beneath the Irown of an angry (rod 
the elements of nature were convulsed — the 
earth became not only barnn, but thorns and 
thistles sprung upas the indigenous produc- 
tions of the soil. The original, spontaneous, 
vegetative powers ol" earth were arrested, so 
that to man, the offender, it could only yield 
its reluctant produce, when moistericd with 
the sweat of his brow, It is, therefore, clear 
to a demonstration, that the evils of labor 
are nut in its nature, but in the quantity 
I necessary to subdue the soil thus blighted — 
tin the liability to fatigue and exhaustion, 
in.separable from the shattered constitution 
of man as fallen — and from the circum- 
stances, relative and social, in which human 
toil must be endured. Labor is healthlul 
and pleasant under proper regulations; all 
I its embittering elements are the consequences 
j of sin. * * * * * 

It is true that many seem to speak and 
!act as if labor in itself were the curse; but 
such speak unadvisedly, and act without due 
I reflection upon the providence of God. The 
j entire absence of labor could not ameliorate 
j the condition of the human family, while the 
I depraved pa.ssions and appetites remain un- 
restrained. Universal idleness in such cir- 
'cumstances would make earth one wide- 
spread hot-bed of iniijuity, and ev«)ke the 
ghastly features of even hell itself I AVho 
are the pests and plagues of society, but 
such as are idle, whether found in the ranks 
of wcjdth or tltc rags of poverty ? To re- 
move huujan labor and leave hun)an deprav- 
ity, would deterorate rather than improve 
man's condition. There was mercy, as well 
as judgment in the decree which enjoined 
him *' subdue the earth," even though it 
must be " in the sweat of his brow." With 
his pre\sent constitution he could not be idle 
and yet be liappy. Indeed, it is (juestion- 
ablc whether in any circumstances, a being 
naturally active could be happy in a sUite of 
physical inertia. Kven mental activity could 
not siitisfy the native propulsion of a mate- 
rial organization invested with life. If, then, 
this native tendency to action were not re- 
strained and exhausted by law ful labor, it 
would be all e . bodied in the production of 
crime. It has been well remarked by an 
ennnent writer, (Dr. McCosh,) that, '* if man 
were not obliged to toil for his bodily suste- 






284 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[May 



nance and comfort, his native restlesness 
would impel him to deeds which would 
throw society into hopeless disorder, and 
deluge the earth with blood." * * * 

The crownino- evil in connection with hu- 
man toil is, that in certain states of society, 
the amount and the nature of the labor de- 
manded are such, that mental and physical 
slavery is the result. * * * * 

The tendency of mechanical inventions is to 
give mind supremacy over matter, and to 
establish that dominion accorded to man in 
his original charter. In proportion as man 
understands his privileges and exercises his 
capabilities, amidst the profusion of nature, 
in that proportion will he find its adaptation 
to his peculiar circumstances, and in so far 
as he obeys the original mandate, " Subdue 
the earth," will he find its treasures laid at 
his feet. " The earth hath God given to the 
children of men," consequently, it is their 
province to discern, and dispose of the riches 
therein deposited, so as to promote human 
comfort. It is with this view that art is 
made auxiliary to human power, and has en- 
abled man to carry his Researches and appro- 
priation of terrestrial things, beyond the pri- 
mary limits of manual capability. Nor is 
this all. The ultimate tendency of inven- 
tions is to emancipate the human family 
from the heavier portions of manual labor, 
and to give the mind more extensive power, 
so that machinery may take the place of hu- 
man hands, and one individual be able to 
accomplish what hundreds could not have 
effected. — (^Blakeley^s Theology of Inven- 
tions.^ 

\_To he continued.'] 

« • » • » ■ 

A Valuable Table. 

The following table will be found valuable 
to many of our readers : 

A box 24 inches by 16 inches square and 
28 inches deep, will contain a barrel — five 
bushels. 

A box 24 inches by 16 inches square and 
12 inches deep will contain half a barrel. 

A box 26 inches by 15, 8 inches square 
and 8 inches deep will contain 1 bushel. 

A box 12 inches by 11. 2 inches square 
and 8 inches deep will contain one peck. 

A box 8 inches by 8 inches square and 4. 
2 inches deep will contain 1 gallon. 

A box 4 inches by 8 inches square and 
4. 8 inches deep will contain a half gallon. 

A box 4 inches by 4 inches square and 4. 
1 inches deep will contain one quart. 



General Considerations on Manures. 

By Samuel W. Johnson, Chemist of the 
Connecticut State Agricultural Society. 

1. What are manures ? 

Manures are substances which are incor'^ 
porated with the soil, for the purpose of 
supplying some deficiency in the latter. 
However numerous and different may be 
the materials which assist the growth of 
plants, judging them by their origin, exter- 
nal characters and names, chemistry has in 
late years demonstrated that they all consist 
of only about a dozen forms of matter, 
which will be specified below. 

2. Hoiu manures act. 

Manures may act in three distinct ways. 

I. T'hey may enter the plant as direct 
nutriment. Carbonic acid, water, ammonia, 
or nitric acid, sulphuric acid, phosphoric 
acid, silica, oxyd of iron, chlorine, ffme, 
magnesia, potash and soda, are the eleniinta 
of vegetable nutrition — the essential plant- 
food. 

In a fertile soil all these materials are 
accessible to the plant. If one of them be 
absent, the soil is barren ; if a substance 
that contains the missing body be applied to 
the soil, it makes the latter fertile. 

II. Manures may act partly as solvents^ 
or absorbents, and thus indirectly supply 
food to the plant, e. g., lime, gypsum, salts 
of ammonia, &c. 

Soils are infertile, not only from the ab- 
sence or deficiency of some one or more of 
the above-named forms of plant-food, but 
also for other reasons. The food of the 
plant must be soluble in water, so as thus to 
be transmitted into the plant as rapidly as 
needed. Soils are often unproductive, be- 
cause the stores of plant-food they contain 
are locked up in insoluble forms. Lime, 
guano, the products of the decay of vegeta- 
ble matters, often fertilize a field merely by 
their solvent action on the soil. Gypsum 
acts as an absorber or fixer of ammonia.. 

III. Manures improve the physical cha- 
racter of the soil, — i. e., make it warmer, 
lighter, or heavier, more or less retentive of 
moisture, &c. Such are some manures that 
are often applied in large quantity, as lime, 
marl and muck. 

A soil is often barren, not because it has 
no supplies of nutriment for the plant, 
neither for the reason that those supplies 
are insoluble; but because the soil itself is 
so wet or dry, so tenacious and impenetrable. 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTEK. 



285 



or 80 li^ht ami shiftiriir, that voj^eUition fails 
to find tlie physical conditions ol* its growth 
and |ierfecti«)n. 

Almost all our ordinary fertilizers exer- 
cise, to a trreater or lesss degiee, all those 
efl'ects. Thus lime, on a clay soil, may, 1st, 
Diechinically destroy the coherence and te- 
nacity of the clay, and jrive it the friability 
of a loam ; 2d, chemically decompose tUe 
clay, makin<jc potash, soda, ammonia, Ace, 
soluble; and, JJd, be directly absorbed and 
appropriated by the plant. 

o. E.vhinLstlon of thr soil hy croj^ping^ 
and renovation f/j/ irnttJn rimj. 

Under cultivation, there is removed from 
the soil by each crop a greater or less (juan- 
tity of plant-food. The stores of nutriment 
in the soil thus continually become smaller 
and smaller. 

By the action of the atmosydiere (weather- 
ing), assisted by pulverization of the soil 
(tillage), the insoluble matters of the soil 
are gradually made soluble and available to 
vegetation. 

There is thus constantly going on in the 
soil an exhausting, and as constantly, a reno- 
vating process. In most soils under ordi- 
nary cultivation, the exhaustion, or removal 
of plant-food, proceeds more rapidly than 
the supply by weathering. 8uch soils, there- 
fore, tend to become unproductive. In a 
few cases, the solution of the materials of 
the soil itself goes on so rapidly that there 
is always present in them an excess of all 
the matters re(|ui.site to nourish vegetation. 
These soils are inexhaustible. 

To assist in maintaining the first class of 
soils in a state of productiveness, manures 
are employed. 

4. Comparative agricultural value of dif- 
fei'cnt ft'rtHizers. 

It is obvious, from the foregoing conside- 
rations, that manures are required to exer- 
cise very different functions in different 
cases, according to the character of the soil, 
as determined by its origin and by its pre- 
vious treatment. The soil itself is constantly 
changing under culture, so that what is use- 
ful on my neighbor's soil, that has been 
tilled and cropped for twenty years, may be 
quite valueless on mine which is just re- 
claimed from the forest. What benefits my 
soil this year may be of no perceptible ad- 
vantage next year. 

In how far manure is needed for the spe- 
cial purpose of supplying the soil with food 
for vegetation, it is often difficult to decide. 



If a new and good soil is repeatedly cropped 
until it cea. cs to }ield remunerative returns, 
it nuiy be that addition of sonie one sub- 
stance, lime, or potash, or sulphuric acid, 
will restore its fertility. It more often hap- 
pens that smral bodies are deficient; but 
ir/iat is deficient can only be certainly learn- 
ed by actual trial. In any special case that 
substance is most valuable as a manure, (in 
so far as the </irfct nutrition of the plant is 
concerned,) which is most deficient in the 
soil in accessible form. 

As regards the indirect action of manures, 
in virtue of their absorbent or solvent pow- 
ers, and as regards their effects in meliorat- 
ing the texture and other physical characters 
of the soil, practical men have established 
certain rules, founded on extended experi- 
ence, which it is not needful to recapitulate 
here. ' 

Thus much is certain : that one fertilizfng 
agent has no absolute and invariable superi- 
ority over another, for all are equally indis- 
pensable. The superiority that any one 
manure may be reputed to possess, dej>ends 
upon circumstances. Circumstances are ex- 
ceedingly various and continually changing. 
The reputation and local value of manures 
is equally various and changing. 

In some regions, as in certain districts of 
Pennsylvania, lime is considered the best 
manure. In numerous localities, planter 
(sulphuric acid and lime) is depended upon. 
In some districts, super-phosphate of lime; 
in others, Peruvian guano is almost ex.^lu- 
sively used. 

Among the substances essential to vegeta- 
tion, there are some which almost never fail 
from the soil. Thus, oxyd of iron and 
silica are present in every soil. Lime and 
sulphuric acid may often be wanting. Pot- 
ash and soda are not unfrequently deficient. 
Available ammonia and phasphoric acid are 
likewise often liable to exhaustion. 

Ammonia and phosphoric acid, which 
po.Hsess the highest commercial value among 
fertilizers, have been considered by some 
who.'^e opinions are of weight in the agricul- 
tural world, to possess also a decidedly great- 
er agricultural value than other manures. 
It is as.serted that in the growth of certain 
crops, and in fact those crops which best 
remunerate the farmer, these substances are 
most rapidly exhausted from the soil. Now 
it is undoubtedly true, that on the soils in 
certain districts, and in certain courses of 
cropping, the application of ammoniacal and 



286 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[May 



phosphtitic manures produces the most strik- 
ing results; yet it is by no means proved, 
or even probable, that on the whole, all soils, 
and all systems of cropping included, these 
bodies are of'tener lacking, or oftener and 
more permanently useful, than some of the 
other fertilizing substances. 

5. What manures are most often and 
most generaUij useful? 

While we cannot accord to any simple 
manure, or to a^y single ingredient of a 
manure, a universal fertilizing superiority, it 
is true that some manures are more useful 
than others, on account of their compound 
nature. The more ingredients a manure 
can supply to vegetation, the more useful it 
is. Stable manure is the universal and best 
fertilizer, because it contains every thing 
which can feed the plant. Swamp muck, 
straw, and vegetable refuse generally, are of 
similar character. Fertilizers, like lime^ 
plaster, salt, &c., which contain but a few 
ingredients, cannot in general be depended 
upon for continuously maintaining the fer- 
tility of the soil. 

6. Uses of special or partial manures. 
Special manures, i. e., manures which 

contain some one or few ingredients, are of 
use, very rarely, as the farmer's chief reli- 
ance, but often as adjuncts to stable manure. 
Several special manures may often be so 
combined as to make an effectual substitute 
for stable manure. In hiojh- farming, and 
in market gardening, and generally where 
circumstances admit of raising the most ex- 
hausting crops without fallow, laying down 
to grass, or. rotation of any sort, special ma- 
nures are most advantageously employed. 
In ordinary mixed farming, they are useful 
in assisting to reclaim or improve poor 
lands; but in the best practice, they play as 
yet a very subordinate part, unless peculiar 
circumstances make them extraordinarily 
cheap. 

7. Comparative commercial value of ma- 
nures. 

The commercial value of a manure is 
measured by its price, and may be quite 
independent oi its real agricultural value, 
though it usually depends considerably on 
its reputed agricultural value. The scarcity 
of a substance, the cost of preparation and 
transportation, the demand for it on account 
of other than agricultural uses — all these 
considerations of course influence its price. 
It is commercially worth what the dealer 
can get for it, so much per bushel or ton. 



8. Valuation of manures. — What sub- 
stances are to he regarded as commercially 
important iV? costly manures. 

In any fertilizer which is sold as high or 
higher than half a cent a pound, there are 
but three ingredients that deserve to be 
taken account of in estimating its value." 
These are ammonia, phosphoric acid, and 
potash. Every thing else that has a ferti- 
lizing value may be more cheaply obtained 
under its proper name. If the farmer needs 
sulphuric acid he purchases gypsum; if he 
needs soda, common salt supplies him. 
Every thing but these three substances 
may be procured so cheaply, that the far- 
mer is cheated if he pays ten dollari:^ per 
ton for a manure, unless it contains or yields 
one or all of these three substances in con- 
siderable proportion. 

9. Mechanical condition of m,anures. 
Nothing is so important to the rapid and 

economical action of a manure as its exist- 
ing in a finely pulverized or divided state. 
All costly fertilizers ought to exist chiefly as 
fine, nearly impalpable powders, and the 
coarser portions, if any, should be capable 
of passing through a sieve of say eight or 
ten holes to the linear inch. The same im- 
mediate benefits are derived from two bushels 
of bones rendered impalpably fine by treat- 
ment with oil-of-vitriol, ten bushels of bone- 
dust, and one hundred bushels of whole 
bones. Fineness facilitates distribution, and 
economizes capital. 

10. Chemical condition of manures — 
State of soluhility^ &c. — Ammonia^ poten- 
tial and actual — Phosphoric acid, soluble 
and insoluble. 

The solubility of a manure is a serious 
question to be considered in its valuation. 
We are accustomed to speak of ammonia as 
existing in two-states, viz : actual and poten- 
tial, liiy actual ammonia, we mean ready- 
formed ammonia; by potential ammonia, 
that which will result by decomposition or 
decay — '' that which exists in possibility, not 
in act." Now the former is almost invari- 
ably soluble with ease in water, and is thus 
readily and immediately available to plants; 
while the latter must first become " actual'' 
by decay, before it can assist in supporting 
vegetation. 

In Peruvian guano, we have about half 
of the ammonia ready formed, and easily 
soluble in water, the remainder exists in the 
form of uric acid, which yields ammonia by 
decay in the soil, but may require weeks or 



18G0.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



587 



months to complete the change. In leather 
shavings, or woolen. rags, the ammonia is all 
potential, and as these bodies decay slowly, 
they are of less valiio than guano as sources 
of ammonia. Oilcake, (linseed and cotton- 
seed,) contains much potential ammonia, 
and in a form that very speedily yields 
actual ammonia. 

A\'e do not know with what precise results 
the process of the decay of ammonia-yield- 
ing bodies is accomplished in the soil. Out 
of the soil such bodies do not give quite all 
their nitrogen in the form of ammonia : a 
portion escapes in the uncombined state, 
and thus becomes unavailable. 

IMiosphoric acid may occur. in two differ- 
ent states of solubility J one readily soluble, 
the other slowly and slightly sohible in 
water. The former we specify as soluble, 
the latter as insoluble phosphoric acid. In 
Peruvian guano we find o.5 per cent, of 
soluble phosphoric acid, existing there as 
phosphates of ammonia and potash. The 
remaining 10 to 12 per cent, is insoluble, 
being combined with lime and magnesia. 
In most other manures, genuine superphos- 
phates excepted, the phosphoric acid is in- 
soluble. 

Among those phosphates which are here 
ranked as insoluble, there exist great dif- 
ferences in their availability, resulting from 
their mechanical condition. The ashes of 
bones, and the porous rock-guano when 
finely ground, exert immediate effect on 
crops, while the dense, glassy, or crystal- 
lized phosphorite of Hurdstown, N. J., and 
the fossil bones (so-called coprolites of Eng- 
land,) are almost or quite inert unless sub- 
jected to treatment with oil-of-vitriol. 

11. The rcasonahlc. j^ricc of phosphoric 
acid, ammovia, and potash. 

I. Insoluble phospJmrir arid. There arc 
several substances now in market which, as 
fertilizers, are valuable exclusively on ac- 
count of their content of phosphoric acid ; 
which, moreover, are at present the cheapest 
sources of this substance that possc^^s the 
degree of fineness proper to an active ferti- 
lizer. These substances are the phosphatic 
guanos, (Coluuibian and American guano,) 
and the refuse bone-black of .«;ugar refine- 
ries. From them we can easily calculate 
the present lowest commercial value of phos- 
phoric acid. If we divide the price per 
ton of Columbian guano, 835, by the num- 
ber of pounds of phosphoric acid in a ton, 
which, at 40 per cent, amounts to 800 



pounds, then we have tlic price of one 
pound as nearly 4^ cents. 

Refuse bone black may be liad for 8o0 
})er ton ; it usually contains 32 per cent, of 
phosphoric acid. The same division as 
above gives us 4^ cents as the cost of phos- 
phoric acid per pound. 

In this report I shall adopt the average 
of these figures, viz: 42 cents, as the 
reasonable price of insoluble phosphoric 
acid. 

Phosphoric acid is much cheaper in 
crushed bones; but this material is not 
in a suitable state of division to serve as 
the ba.sis of a fair estin)ate. 

II. Sohd/le pJiosphoric arid. This is 
nearly always the result of a manufacturing 
process. Professor Way, chemist to the 
lloyal Agricultural Society of England, 
estin)ates its worth at 10:> cents per pound. 
Dr. A'oelcker, of the Koyal Agricultural 
College of England, and Dr. Stoeckhardt, 
the distinguisli'.d Saxon Agricultural Chem- 
ist, reckon it at 12-] cents per pound. They 
have deduced these prices from that of the 
best commercial su])erphosphates. In this 
report the price will also be a.'^sumed at 121 
cents. This, I believe, is considerably more 
than it is really worth, but it is probably the 
lowest rate at which it can now be pur- 
chased. 

III. Actual ammonia. The cheapest 
commercial source of this body is Peruvian 
guano. Although it contains several per 
cents of potential ammonia, yet the latter is 
so readily converted into actual ammonia, 
that the whole effect of the manure is pro- 

|duced in one season, and therefore we may 
Ijustly consider the whole as of equal value 
with actual ammonia. 

Good Peruvian jruano contains : 



2 i)cr cent., or lO lb: 
12 " 2-10 '' 



16 



320 



per ton of potasli. 
'• soluble |)liosj)lio. acitl. 
" iiis^oliible " " 

niul yields 
" ammonia. 



^ If we add the values of the potash, (see 
I next page,) and of the phosphoric acid, so- 
luble and insoluble, and subtract the same 
from the price of guano we shall arrive at 
the worth of the ammonia — as follows : 

40X'l=$l.nO; fiOX 12i=$7.50; and 210 X 
.1\=.'f{|0.80; total, .$10.90. 

$C,5.00—.$ 19-90=$ 15.10 the value of 320 lbs 
of ammonia. 

$45.10-1-320 = 14 cents nearly, the value of 
one pound. 



288 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[May 



This price, 14 cents per pound, will be 
employed in this report. 

IV. Potential ammonia. The value of 
this varies so greatly, being, for example, as 
uric acid in guano, not inferior to actual 
ammonia, while in woollen rags it is not 
worth more than one-half as much, that we 
can fix no uniform price, but must decide 
what it shall be, in each special case, sepa- 
rately. 

V. Potash. The value of potash is diffi- 
cult to estimate, because it may vary exceed- 
ingly according to circumstances. Wood 
ashes are its chief sources 3 these are poor 
or rich in potash according to the kind of 
tree that yields them, and the soil on which 
it has grown. It may vary from five to 
twenty per cent. Stoeckhardt, who esti- 
mates the value of ammonia at twenty cents, 
makes potash worth four cents per pound. 
The price of potashes can not serve as a 
guide, for they are never used for agricul- 
tural purposes. Four cents is certainly high 
enough for this country, if it is correct for 
Germany 

12. Potash may he usually neglected. 

Most concentrated manures contain very 
little or no potash. In guano it rarely ex- 
ceeds three per cent. Superphosphate of 
lime can contain none of consequence. Pot- 
ash cannot be economically added to manu- 
factured manures, because nearly pure pot- 
ash, or even the raw material from which it 
is extracted, viz. : wood-ashes, has a higher 
commercial value for technical than for agri- 
cultural purposes. Besides, potat<h is not 
generally deficient in soils, and therefore far- 
mers do not wish to pay for it as an ingre- 
dient of costly manures. It is only wh^n a 
manure is professedly sold as containing 
much potash, that this ingredient deserves 
to be taken account of in its valuation. 

13. Computing the money-value of con- 
centrated manures. 

In what immediately precedes, is contain- 
ed the data for calculating approximatively 
the price that can be afforded by a high- 
priced manure, if we have before us the re- 
sults of a reliable analysis. The actual cal- 
culation is very easy, and has been illustra- 
ted already in deducing the value of ammo- 
nia from Peruvian guano. We give here a 
resume of the prices adopted in this re- 
port, viz. : / 



Potas h, per pound, 4 cents 

Insoluble phosphoric acid, per pound, 4^ " 
Soluble " " " 12^ " 

Actual, and some forms of potential 

ammonia, 14 " 

As a further example of the calculation, 
here may follow the details ol the valuation" 
of a superphosphate of lime. Analysis gave 
the following per centage : 

Actual ammonia, 2.3,9, say 2.4 

Potential, 1.06, " 1.0 

Soluble phosphoric acid, 2.56, " 2.6 

Insoluble,. 22.98, " 23.0 

Multiplying the per centage of each in- 
gredent by its estimated price, and adding 
together the products thus obtained, gives 
the value of one hundred pounds; this ta- 
ken twenty times, gives us the worth of a 
ton of two thousand pounds. 

In the case before us, the quantity of po- 
tential ammonia is so small that we may 
recken it with actual ammonia without ma- 
terially influencing the result. Thus, 

2.4+1.0=3.4; 3.4X14 = .48, value of amiTio- 

nia in 100 lbs. 
2.6X12i== .33, value of solu- 
ble phos. acid 
in 100 lbs. 
2.3X04i=$1.03, value of insol. 
phospho. acid 
in 100 lbs. 



$1.84, total value of 
20 100 fts. 



$36.80, value of one 
ton. 

It is not claimed that this method of val- 
uation is more than rough and approximate. 
Usually the price demanded is more than 
that obtained by calculation. In case of 
the superphosphate just mentioned, the sell- 
ing price is $45. There is no doubt that it 
ought to be better for that money. The 
farmer must decide for himself whether he 
can get the same fertilizing materials more 
cheaply. If he cannot, he may purchase 
such a superphosphate. For comparing the 
icorth of different fertilizers this method of 
computation is of great value, as will be 
seen further on, where will be found tables 
giving the calculated values of all the high- 
priced manures that have come into my 
hands officially, during the last two years. 

It is but jui't to mention here, that this 
method of estimating the value of fertilizers 
was first proposed nine years ago by Dr. J. 
A. Stoeckhardt, Professor of Agricultural 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER, 



289 



Chemistry in the Koyal Academy of Agri- 
culture and Foresty, at Tluirand, near Dres- 
den, in Saxony, and has been adopted in 
principle by the chemists of the agricultural 
societies in Great Britain. 

The estimates I made in 1856 were much 
lower than those now given. The price of 
manures has advanced since that time, (Pe- 
ruvian guanos ten dollars per ton,) and the 
prices I then propfeed for phosphoric acid 
were too small. All the estimated values in 
this report are founded on the prices just 
given. 

14. EMimation of the value of cheap ma- 
nures. 

The method of valuation above described 
is not applicable to cheap manures, which 
contain but little ammonia or phosphoric 
acid. Their value often depends more upon 
the mechanical and chemical condition of 
their ingredients, than upon the quantity of 
any one. The few manufactured manures 
of this sort, may best be compared with 
some fertilizer of standard commercial va- 
lue, viz. : stable manure, leached ashee, &c. 
Under the head Poudrette, examples will 
be given. 



Report of P. T. Tyson, Esq., Maryland 
State Agricultural Chemist, on Guano. 

Maryland was the pioneer State in the use 
of guano in this country. 

According to my recollection, the fir.st trial 
of it in the State was by Captain Abel S. Dnn- 
gari, of a few baj2;s brought by him from Peru, 
and applied to part of his corn crop. This, I 
think, was about the year 1832, and soon after 
the importation of it by the cargo soon com- 
menced. 

The good effects of this manure upon ex- 
hausted soils, brought it rapidly into use, and 
the high price it reached, induced enterprizing 
persons to search for it, especially upon those 
small coral islands whose only inhabitants arc 
birds. The results of this activity brouo;ht 
into notice the various kinds of guano now 
sold by the dealers. 

All of those that can be had in considerable 
quantity, are sold in Baltimore, which con- 
tinues to be the leading guano market in this 
country. 

In estimating the value of any guano to the 
farmer, we may disregard all its constituents 
except ammonia and phosphoric acid. The 
value of some of them depends principally 
upon their large proportion of ammonia. 
Others containing no ammonia, are valuable 
for their phosphoric acids alone. There are 
some again which contain available propor- 
tions of both of these matters so important to 
the farmer^ 
19 



AVo may therefore divide the guanos now 
accessible to our agriculturists into three 
genera or groups. 

1. — Ammoni.\ted Guano. 

The only species of this kind is Peruvian 
guano,. containing from 7 to 18 per cent, of 
annnouia. 

2. — PnosiMiATic Guano, 

Containing phosphoric acid equal to from 
16 to 90 per cent, of phosphate of lime. 

Of this the species recognized in the official 
advertisements of the State Inspector are — 
Mexican, White Mexican, < 

Colombian, Brown Colombian, or % 
Sombrero, Nevassa. 

3. — Ammonia — PnospnATic Guano. 

California, 

Containing from 3o to 10 per cent, ammonia 

i with equally varying proportions of phosphate 

of lime, or its equivalent in phosphoric acid. 

African, 
Containing variable quantities of ammonia, 
and phosphate of lime. 

Before further considering these guanos, I 
beg leave to present a number of results of 
analysis by diiferent eminent chemists. 

The first series are selected from a large 
number of analyses by my friend. Dr. Piggot, 
and are contained in the following communi- 
cation with which he has favored me. There 
is also one included from my friend Dr. C. 
Morfit, formerly of Baltimore, but now resid- 
ing in New York : 

Baltimore, Dec IGth, 1859, 
r. T. Ti/.'iou, Esq., State Agricultural Chemist: 

Dear Sir: — In reply to your inquiries con- 
cerning the results of my examination of the 
different guanos brought to this market, 1 sub- 
mit the following statement: 

1. — Brown Mexican Guano. 

These guanos have evidently been formed 
from the excrements of birds, which have lost 
their ammoniacal salts by evaporation in tiie 
hot sun, and by solution in the heavy rains- 
that fall in the region from which they arc 
obtained. The small islands called *' Kc3's," 
upon which they are fnund, have often an in- 
distinct basin shape, inclining in every direc- 
tion towards the centre. In consequence of 
this form, much tif the guano is washed, dur- 
ing the rain, into hollows, where it is gathered. 

The color of this guano varies from a pale 
fawn-yellow to a deep chocolate brown, the 
difference appearing to be due to the varying 
quantities of humus present in the different 
varieties. All tlie genuine lime <i;uanoes, no 
matter how dark they may be, leave a pure 
white ash if thoroughly burned, which suf- 
ficiently establishes the organic nature of the 
coloring matter. I have been, told by sea 



-t^\ 



2m 



THE SOUTHEKN PLANTER. 



[May 



captains who have brought in this dark guano, 
that it was collected among the thickets of 
bay cedars which are found upon many of the 
islands of the Caribbean sea. Most of these 
brown guanos also contain notable quantities 
of fibrous roots, another evidence of the ori^iin 
of their color. There are, however, dark 
coloured soft guanos, which owe their tint to 
the large mixture of iron among them. These 
contain little or no lime, being made up almost 
entirely of phosphate of iron. Their contents 
are very variable, especially in the proportion 
of phosphoric acid, as will be seen by the 
analysis which I shall presently quote. The 
following tables will give an idea of the con- 
stitution of this artfcle: 



Water, . • . . . 

Organic matter, . 

Sand, 

Liine, .... 

Magnesia, . . . 

Phosphoric acid, . 

Chlorine, 

Carbonic acid and 
other ingredients 
not estimated. . 

Equivalent of phos- 
phoric acid in bone 
pliosphate of lime. 



I. 



32.51 
9.35 
0.66 

28.56 

16.32 



12.60 



35.36 



11. 



29.28 

12.53 

0.21 

28.21 

16.68 



III. 



24, 

20.93 

0.12 

26.89 

24.34 



13.09 2.84 



36.14 



52.74 



IV^ 



13.11 
35.49 

1.09 
20.86 

3.85 
16.16 

2.25 



6:i9 



35.01 



22.98 
11.06 
trace 

30.78 

31.22 



3.98 



67.64 



Water and orgiinic matter, . . . . 31.34 

Silicates insoluble in hydrochloric acid, 34.45 

(containing of ammonia — 1.31.) 

Lime, 5.56 

Magnesia, trace 

'^^Ju"iina 13.66 

Oxide of iron, 3.71" 

Phosphoric acid, 5. 51 

Sulphuric acid, 4.2 1 

Alkaline salts, o!41 

• 99.85 

The combination of the bases and acids is 
as follows : 

Sulphate of lime, 7.98 

Phosphate of lime, ....... 4,85 

" " alumina, 6.38 

Of the insoluble silicates above mentioned, 
only 10.G8 escaped solution in caustic potash, 
so that a large amount of the -silica present is 
soluble in that reagent. 

Another guano somewhat resembling this, 
but of greater value, was brought here 
from Soldanha bay, Africn, in 1854. I ana- 
lyzed a sample of it with the following results : 



Of the above, No. I. represents a cargo im 
-ported in August, 1854; No. II. the cargo of 
the "Susan," which came in the following 
September; No. III. the cargo of the "Mary," 
imported in 1855; No, IV, is a sample of a 
'deposit examined to determine its value, and 
No. V. is a sample of a cargo imported in 
1855, and marked by the inspector " Brown 
Mexican A A," but owing to its richness to the 
presence of lumps of Colombian guano inter- 
:mixed with it. Of the dark iron guanos, the 
following, a sample from a small cluster of 
islands near the South American coast, called 
the " Brothers," may be taken as an example. 

Water, 16.06 

Organic matter, 22.92 

Sand, 19.68 

Phosphate of lime, . . . 9.01 

" " magnesia, 2.86 

• " " iron, . . 27.19 

Carbonate of lime, .... 5.95 

Not estimated, 2.33 



Water, 





17.06 


Organic matter. 




7.89 


Sand, 




39.59 


Lime, 




9.56 


Phosphoric acid. 




17.54 


Iron, alumina, magnesia, &c., 


(not 




estimated,) . . . . 




8.46 



100.00 



Some of these ferruginous guanos contain 
not a trace of lime or magnesia, others are 
remarkable for the presence of considerable 
quantities of sulphate of lime or gypsum. An 
example of this will be found in the following 
analysis of the sample of a cargo from Pata- 
gonia, brought into Norfolk in the summer of 
1^58 : 



100.00 
The phosphoric acid is equivalent 
to bone phosphate of lime, . . 38.10 
In another guano of this soft variety, sul- 
phate of lime is present in large quantity, but 
the phosphate of that earth is more abundant 
than in the Patagonian above described. Of 
this variety, the following analysis of a sample 
from Portland hay. Cape Colony, Africa, will 
furnish a good example: 
Water, . . ... . 21.37 

Organic matter, . . . . 10.44 

Phosphate of lime, .... 40.24 

Sulfihate of linie, .... 9.88 

Sand, . . . , . . 0.61 

Iron, alumina, alkalies, &c., (not 
estimated,) . . . . . 17.46 

Jarvis island guano is another of these 
gypseous phosphates as the following analysis 
of the sample of a cargo imported into New 
York will show : 
Sulphate of lime, .... 

Phosphate of lime, .... 

Phosphate of magnesia, . 

Sesquioxide of iron, 

Alumina, ...... 

Chloride of potassium, 

Chloride of sodium, 

Sand 

99.40 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



291 



Tho term "Mexican guuno" is not strictly 
npplieable t > all the different viirietios ubove 
described, but I have had no choice in the use 
of it, all the soft phosphatic guanoes below G5 
per cent, of bone phosphate, from whatever 
eourcc they may have been derived, being 
known by that name in this market. 

WHITE MEXICAN GUANO. 

This title was originally given to a very 
light c<dored guano, consisting chiefly of po- 
rous- lumps of low specific gravity, but it has 
since been applied to all guanoes that exceed 
65 per cent, of bone phosphate of lime, which 
is the highest standard of Brown Mexican. 
The most characteristic specimens of this va- 
riety are those which were formerly brought 
from Pedro Keys, and the following analysis, 
made of a lump selected by myself from one of 
the cargoes, will give a good 
position : 

Water, .... 

Organic matter, * . . 

Lime, ..... 
Magnesia, .... 
Alkaline salts,. 
Phosphoric acid. 
Sulphuric acid. 

Chlorine, .... 

Sand, . . . m . 

Iron, alumina, and other substances not 
estimated, .... 



pie, tho watery solution of the guano was neu- 
tral to test paper ; it never contained, even 
after boiling a few minutes, one per cent, of 
pluisphoric acid, and what it did contain was 
invariably combined Tvith lime. I determined 
to ascertain, if possible, the cause of this mis- 
take, and in order to this end undertook a 
minute analysis of the article. My results 
enabled me to announce its true constitution, 
and to show that the lime existed as tho neu- 
tral phosphate, consisting- of two atoms of 
lime, one of water, and one of phosphoric acid, 
instead of bone phosphate, which has three 
atoms of lime and one of phosphoric acid. 
The error was occasioned by overlooking this. 
The following table expresses my results: 



Moisture, 

Organic matter atid water combined, 

Phosphate of iron, 

idea of its com- j Phosphate of magnesia, 

Lime, . 

r, g^ Phosphoric acid, 

■ ^^ Sulphuric acid, 

Ao Q^ Chlorine, 

7^-^^ Sand, 
trace. 

0.71 
37.12 
trace, 
trace. 

0.11 



zo 



100.00 

The calculated amount of bone phosphate of 
lime 80.53, is so near the sum of the lime and 
phosphoric acid (81.03) that the guano may be 
considered a phosphate of lime containing a 
few impurities. 

This analysis, however, must not be sup- 
posed to represent the value of actual cargoes 
of this Tiu-tiele. Very few of them reach so 
high a grade; the average per centage of 
those I have analyzed, usually varying between 
65 and 75 of bone phosphate. Many of the 
guanoes recently brought in and sold under 
this name, a^-e, in reality, common soft guano 
mixed with fragments of hard guano, which 
raises their per centage as in the case I have 
cited in analysis No. 1. 

COLOMBIAiV GUANO. 

This substance is memorable for the singular 
errors into which several chemists fell in refer- 
ence to its constitution. When offered fi»r t-ale 
here in 1855, the dealers advertised it as a 
natural svpcrphosphate of lime, publishing cer- 
tificates of analysis by several well known 
chemists. These, after statyig the amount of 
bone phosphate of lime present, gave estimates 
of free phosphoric acid varying from 5 to 11 
per cent, of the whole weight of the guano. 
The simplest test were sufficient to show the 
incorrectness of these statements. For exara- 



2.34 
8.95 
0.3.5 
0-61 
38.75 
46.22 
1.96 
free. 
0.63 

100.81 
Upon calculating the results, some lime will 
be found over and above the exact amount for 
the neutral phosphate. This I take to be com- 
bined with one of the acids of the humic 
group, because the substance effervesces with 
acids after ignition, but not in its original con- 
dition. I believe the following table correctly 
expresses its composition: 
Natural phosphate of lime, . . 87.95 

Sulphate of lime, . . . 4.21 

Lime combined with organic matter, 1.47 

Organic matter, . . . 2.29 

Phosphate of iron, . . . 0.35 

Phosphate of magnesia, . . 0.61 

Chlorine, . . . . trace. 

Sand 0.63 

Moisture, .... 2.34 



100.85 



The phosphoric acid is equivalent to 

bone phosphate of lime, . . 100.14 

^fter the publication of these results Drs. 
Iliggins and Bickell published a paper on the 
same subject. They pointed out some inter- 
esting facts which had escaped my observation. 
It will be remembered by every one who has 
seen this guano in its natural state, that it has 
a glazed surface of a mammillated form which 
is a mere shell-covering, of a dark brown com- 
pact mass. Tlie latter was the portion I ex- 
amined. They studied the surfjice also, and 
found that in it, the phosphate of lime exists 
in the form of bone phosphate, while they ar- 
rived at the same conclusion with myself in 
refeience to the body'of the rock. 

The first guano of this kind was found upon 
the surface of primitive rocks on Monk's 



2§2 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[May 



Island, in the gulf of Maracaibo. Afterwards, 
it was discovered on El Rogue. A substance 
closely resembling, but not identical with it, 
has been recently brought in from El Monita. 
The cargoes of this guano do not come up to 
the samples, because they contain a large pro- 
portion of the rocks of the islands. Still, they 
furnish the largest amount of phosphoric acid 
in a given weight of material, and that, too, ih 
a remarkably soluble form. The only difficul- 
ty is, that this variety is scarce. 

SOMBRERO GUANO. 

This guano is the most abundant and uni- 
form source of phosphoric acid now known to 
commerce. It is incorrectly called a guano, 
as it has evidently not originated from the ex- 
crements of birds, but is clearly a submarine 
deposite. I am inclined to think, that it is 
made up of the bones of marine animals, and 
the excrements of fish and mollusca that feed 
among the coral reefs. It is composed of phos- 
phate of lime, mixed with some carbonate of 
that earth, as well as the phosphates of mag- 
nesia, iron and ammonia. It contains a very 
small quantity of sand and not much organic 
matter. It is quarried like a rock, and re- 
t[uires to be ground before it is applied to the 
soil. 

The following analysis will show its consti- 
tution and exhibit its remarkable uniformity. 
They are all cargo samples, Nos. I. and II. 
having been imported into this market in. the 
fall 1858, No. III. being the sample of a cargo 
taken by the purchasers as it ran through the 
mill at Petersburg, Va., in the spring oif this 
year. No. I., I sampled myself, in the store- 
house, after it had been ground. I have, 
moreover, another analyses of special samples, 
which have been either sent on from the island, 
or selected from the vessels here, but as these 
are the only full analyses- of cargoes I have 
made, they will probably convey a better idea 
of the average production of the island. A 
great number of determinations, of phosphoric 
acid and lime in' cargo samples give parallel 
results : 



As additional evidence of the character of 
this guano, I subjoin a copy of an analysis by 
Prof. Caujpbell Morfit of New York : 

Water, 3.52 

Sand, 68^ 

Organic matters with lime, . 12.33 

Cb loride potassium, 09 

Sulphate lime, 86 

Bone phosphate lime, ) 64.67 



Bone ash, 



67.06 



magnesia, 



2.39 
. ■ 3.62 
. 1-95 
. 5.34 
.76 
. 1.10 
Alumina ,, 3.13 



Phosphate alumina, 

" iron, 

Carbonate lime, 

Silicate potassa and lime, . , 
Oxide iron 



Water and organic matter, 

Lime, . - . . 

Magnesia, 

Alumina, 

Sesquioxid of iron. 

Alkalies, 

Phosphoric acid,^ - 

Chlorine, . _ - 

Carbonic acid. 

Sand, - - - - 

Not estimated, 



Phosphoric acid equivalent 
to bone plios. of lime. 



7.07 
44.66 
1.56 
4.97 
2.03 
0.81 
34.65 
0.35 
2 80 
0.69 



99.59 



75.04 



II. 



7.07 
41.52 
0.35 
4.13 
4.97 
0.81 
36.80 
0.35 
2.92 
0.69 



99 61 



79.73 



III. 



12.27 

40.27 

1.07 

I 4.67 



35.62 



0.51 
5.59 



100.00 



77.75 



100.44 
The total amount of phosphoric acid is 34.06. 
Equivalent to bone phosphate lime — 73.93. 

NEVASSA GUANO. 

This material is in small fed pebbles, usual- 
ly rounded, resembling gravel. I have made 
but a single full examination of a sample, 
which gave. 
Organic matter and water, with some 

carbonic acid, . . . 12.72 

Sand, . . • . . 4.11 

Lime,_ .."... 29.66 
Alumina and sesquioxid of iron with 

a little magnesia, . . . 21.50 

Phosphoric acid, . , . 31,66 



99.60 
Phosphoric acid equivalent to bone phos- 
phate of lime, 68.49. 

The sample from which the above anal3'sis 
was made, was made perfectly dry. 

IRON GUANO. 

Early in 1857, a large number of rocks, sup- 
posed to be identical with the Colombian guano 
already described, were brought into the United 
States, mainly through the ports of Baltimore, 
Philadelphia an<l New York. I never saw any 
reason to consider them guanoes, they being 
chiefly composed of Wavellite, mixed with 
variable quantities of phosphate and sesqui- 
oxid of iron. The following table expresses 
their composition. No. 1 is a pale phosphate 
from Testigos ; No. 2, a red rock, from the 
same island. 



Water, 

Sesquioxid of iron. 
Alumina, 
Soluble matter, - 
Phosphoric acid, • 
Sulphuric acid, - 
Cnlonne. 



I. 



21.05 
4.85 
22.11 
17.55 
33.65 



II. 



16.74 

12.96 

20.91 

7.74 

40,45 

.02 

.12 



Phosphoric acid equivalent to bone 
phosphate of lime, 72.91 87.64 



1&60.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



293 



Both the samples contained fluorine, which 
was not estimated. These phosphates were 
deemed here as worthless, because they had 
not a lime base. I never could -see any good 
reason for this opinion, especially, as I proved 
by actual experiment, that their phosphonc 
acid was rapidly dissolved by the alkaline sili- 
cates, which are of course present in every 
soil capable of producing wheat or corn. 



El Monita Guano. 

Several samples of hard guano have been 
recentl}' brought in from the island of El 
Monita. Tliey somewhat resemble genuine 
Colom))ian guano in their external surface, 
which is white, smooth and mammillated, but 
differ from it in their general structure, which 
is scaly, so that they readily split up in paral- 
lel layers. They appear to contain a mixture 
of the two phosphates of lime in varying pro 
portions. The amount of sulphate of lime 
differs greatly in different samples ; and this 
difference causes a fluctuation in the per cent- 
age of phosphoric acid. The following table 
expresses the composition of the first sample 
which I examined : 



Water and organic 


matter, 


12.28 


Sand, 




0.86 


Lime, 




35.06 


Magnesia, 




2.99 


Phosphoric acid, 




27.78 


Sulphuric acid, 




17.61 


Not estimated, 




3.79 



100.00 

I suppose these substances to be combined 
as follows : 



Mixed Phosphates of Lime, 


46.18 


Pl*)sphate of Magnesia, . 


8.65 


Sulphate of Lime, . 


35.41 


Sand, .... 


0.86 


Organic matter. 


5.11 


Not estimated, 


3.79 



100.00 

Equivalent of phosphoric acid in bone 
phosphate of lime — 60.17. 

That these proportions vary materially will 
be perceived, when I state that another sample 
of a similar rock from the same island, brought 
in by the same schooner, and examined for 
phosphoric acid and lime, contained of 

Lime, .... 33.75 

Phosphoric Acid, . . 42.83 
in the hundred parts. 

Equivalent of phosphoric acid in bone 
phosphate of lime — 92.80. 

Some stalagmites, of a conical form and 
mammillated surface, were brought in at the 



same time from the same island. I examfhed 
a sample of one of these, with the following 
result: 



Water and organic matter, 

Sand, ..'..., 

Lime, 

Phosphate of iron, .... 

" " magnesia, . 

Phosphoric acid, combined with lime. 

Chlorine, 

Sulphuric acid, .... 

Not estimated, .... 



15.73 
1.34 

36.45 
2.68 
6.22 

24.96 
0.29 
9.15 
3.18 

100.00 

Of the ammoniated guanoes I have not made 
80 many analyses as of the phosphatic. I am 
convinced, however, that the assumed unifor- 
mity of Peruvian guano, as imported here, 
does not rest upon a basis of fact. I have 
analyzed one sample which contained 18.53 
percent, of ammonia. The last sample I ex- 
amined gave me only 11.40 per cent, of ammo- 
nia, and it certainly presented no appearance 
of having been damaged on the voyage. 

California Guano. 

There have been various articles brought in 
under this name. Usually they are very wet 
and dark colored, when of course their per 
centage of ammonia is low. The following 
table expresses the results of my analysis of 
the first cargo brought to this port, and proba- 
bly represents the average composition of this 
material : 



Moisture, ..... 


15.63 


Combined water, organic matter, and 




ammoniacal salts. 


51.04 


(Containing ammonia, 10.17.) 




Lime, 


. 6.11 


Phosphoric acid, .... 


1191 


Sand and gravel, .... 


3.68 


Wot estimated, .... 


11.63 



100.00 

An examination for ammonia of a sample 
recently sent me gave me only 3.46 per cent, 
of that alkali. Anotheu sample, which I re- 
ceived about two months since, and of which I 
made a commercial analysis, gave me the fol- 
lowing results : 

Water and organic matter, . . 38.45 

(Containing of ammonia, 6.35.) 

Sand and gravel, .... 16.10 

Lime, . • 15.55 

Phosphate of magnesia, . . . 4.61 

Phosphoric acid, .... 16.29 

Not estimated, .... 9.00 



100.00 



I have examined other ammoniated guanoes 
from Yucatan, Africa, Patagonia, the Galapa- 
gos Islands, and other points, chiefly in the 



294 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[May 



Pacific Ocean, but as they are not articles of 
commerce here, I shall not trouble you with a 
description of them. 

Very respectfully, yours, etc., 

A. Snowden Piggot. 



I also avail myself of some of the analysis 
of Prof. S. W. Johnson, the results of which 
are just published under the title of "Peat, 
Muck, and Commercial Manures.'' 



1. — Peruvian Guano. 
ANALYSES OF FOUR SAMPLES. 





•1 


1. 


2. 


3. 


4. 


Water, .... 






12.63 


12.70 




66.32 


65.18 






Organic matter, 


.1 






52.27 


51.46 


■^Ammonia potential, . 




5.82 


5.95 


1 16.03 


15.98 


" actual, 




8.93 


9.08 






Phosphoric acid, soluble in water, 




4.69 


3.64 


1 15.19 


14.08 


" insoluble in water 




10.05 


10.05 






Sand, etc. 




1.69 


1.52 


2.45 


2.66 


Phosphate of lime equivalent to 
total of phosphoric acid, 


the" 


(av'ge) 


21.28 




31.69 



California Guano, (Elide Island.) 

In Prof. Johnson's book are recorded four analyses. Nos. 1 and 2 by. himself, 3 by Dr. 
David Stewart, of Annapolis, and No. 4 by Dr. Deck, of New York. 





1. 2. 


3. 


4. 


Water, . . 


27.34 27.60 


18.90 


22.64 


Organic and volatile matter, . 


39.20 38.75 


43.30 


43.53 


Ammonia, • . . . 


10.00 10.06 


9.39 


11.46 


Phosphoric acid, (soluble,) 


5.07 5.31 


^11 




(insoluble,) . 


6.66 6.25 




Sulphuric acid, 


4.94 






Lime, ..... 


9.67 9.36 






Potash and a little soda, 


2.50 


9.60 




Sand, etc. .... 


2.50 2.52 


4.70 


3.24 



Prof. Johnson gives the results of analyses 
of eight samples of Sombrero guano, which he 
has recently performed. Four of these were 
taken from the large pieces as imported, and 
contained phosphoric acid equal to the follow- 
ing proportions of phosphate of lime, viz., 
81.75 pr. ct., 79.88, 76.98, and 75.36 pr. ct., an 
average of 78.5 pr. ct. The remaining had 
been ground, and were on sale in Hartford 
and Norwich, Connecticut, and contained, re- 
spectively, 78.50, 73.21, 68.59, and 68.20 pr. 
ct. of phosphate of lime, the average being 
70.9 pr. ct. The difference, therefore, between 
the lumps and the ground article is 8.4 pr. ct., 
which is attributed principally to the moisture 
absorbed by the ground article. 

Among many chemists in Great Britain, 



who have paid much attention to guano, as 
well as to its adulterations, I may mention 
Prof. Nesbit, of London, Doctor Cameron, of 
Dublin, and Prof. Anderson, of Glasgow. It 
does not appear necessary, however, to quote 
the results of any of their numerous analyses, 
as a sufficient number have been stated to 
show the compositition of the unadulterated 
guanoes accessible to the farmers of Maryland. 

It appears that the adulteration of guanoes, 
especially the Peruvian, is very extensively 
practiced in Great Britain, and I regret to be 
obliged to believe that frauds of this kind are 
also perpetrated in our own country. 

In order to protect our farmers against such 
impositions, the system of inspection of guano 
was instituted in our state, and it has doubt- 



[* By the term "potential" ammonia, Prof. Johnson means that which will be produced by 
further chemical changes, in addition to that already existing.] 



18G0.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



295 



less been a means of protection to a considera- 
ble extent. IJut yet it appenrs from the tcsti- 
nn)ny of many farmer.", that they have had 
pnlnunl unon them, sonietimes, inferior or 
adulterated piiano, with the inspectors' mark 
upon the ba^s. Gentlemen have informed me 
that boatmen who have brought them Peruvii\n 
guano, have offered to furni.sh them with ^ood 
new baj^s for the guano bags containing the 
inspector's mark! Suspecting, hinvever, tliat 
they were wanted for dishonest uses, they re- 
fused to part with them. 

There is a peculiar earth on the southern 
slope of Ilampsteud Hill, near the eastern 
limits of Baltimore, of which I have been 
infi>rmed large quantities have been, and still 
continue to bo, secretly carted into the city. 
There ])eing no conceivable honest use Jov 
which this material can be brought into the 
city, and it being very similar in color to Pe- 
ruvian guano, it was reported to be used to 
adulterate that article, the mixture being put 
up and sold in old guano bags containing the 
inspector's mark ! Some months since, the 
inspector called the attention of the police to 
the affair, who arrested the parties, carting 
away this earth in guano bags during the 
niglit. The arrest was evidently made at an 
injudicious time, because upon examination 
the bags were found to contain only the earth. 
If, however, the parties had been watched un- 
til they had taken it to their mixing depo^, 
and completed the crime, tfiey might possiblij 
bave been properly punisheft. 

During the late season of active field-work, 
I endeavored to collect for examination sam- 
ples of guano, ground bones, and artificial 
fertilizers, which had been purchased and re- 
ceived by my farming friends. Finding but 
few kinds in their possession, I requested that 
samples might be .forwarded me whenever 
they shall again purchase. 

Among others, I got in person a sample of 
guano from Col. Jno. S. Sellman, of Anne 
Arundel county, which being sold for Mexican 
AA, should have contained phosphoric acid 
equal to 55 per cent, or more, of phosphate of 
lime, and yet the analysis showed but M} per 
cent. In this case the Colonel paid for 50 per 
ct. more phosphate of lime than was implied 
in the purchase, and if the deficiency had not 
been discovered, he would have suffered a still 
greater loss by not applying a proper dose of 
the phosphate to bis soil. IIow much of this 
guano was sold, and used by farmers, I have 
no means of knowing. 

Samples of other guanoes and fertilizers 
have recently been received, and are under 
examination. 

In using on ammoniated guano we should 
always mix with it a portion of ground plas- 
ter, in order to prevent the escape of the am- 
monia or its carbonate. 

I may add also that the experience of those 
who have several times applied Peruvian 



gnano to the snme field, has jjenerally shown 

that, after the second or third application, it 
produces little or uo good result unless other 
nmnures are also applied. In England the 
sanjc effects have been observed. 

This has been attributed to the large pro- 
portion of ready-made ammonia, whicli tend? 
to promote a vigcjrous growth of crop, and 
thus rapidly abstracts the essential constitu- 
ents of the soil, including its phosphoric acid. 
It is for this reason that better permanent 
effect results from mixtures of Peruvian and 
phosphatic guanoes than the former, when ap- 
plied alone. 



The Husband who was to Mind the House 

Once upon a time there was a man so 
surly and cross, he never thought his wife- 
did anything right in the house. So, one 
evening, in hay-making time, he came home 
scolding and swearing, showing his teeth and 
making a dust. 

" Deer love, don't be angry ; there's a 
good man," said his goody; ''to-morrow letV 
change our work. I'll go out with the mow- 
ers and mow, and you shall mind the house." 

Yes I the husband thought that ^vould do 
very well. He was quite willing, he said. 

So, early next morning his goody took a 
scythe over her neck, and went out into the 
hay-field with the mowers, and began to 
mow; but the man was to mind the house 
and do the work at home. 

First of all, he wanted to churn the but- 
!er ; but when he had churned a while, he 
got thirsty, and went down to the cellar to 
tap a barrel of ale. So, just when he had 
knocked in the bung, and was putting the 
tap into the cask, he heard overhead the pig 
come into the kitchen. Then ofli' he ran up 
the cellar steps with the tap in his hand, a^ 
fast as he could, to look after the pig, lest it 
should upset the churn; but when he got up 
and saw that the pig had already knocked 
the churn over, and stood there rooting and 
grunting amongst the cream, which was run- 
ning all over the floor, he got so wild with 
rage tliat he quite forgot the ale barrel, and 
ran at the pig as hard as he could. He caught 
it just as it ran out of the door, and gave it 
such a kick that piggy lay for dead on the 
spot. Then all at once he remembered that 
he had the tap in his hand ; but when he 
got down to the cellar, every drop of the ale 
had run out of the cask. 

Then he went into the dairy and found 
enough cream left to fill the churn again, 



296 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[May 



and so he began to churn for butter they 
must have for dinner. When he had churn- 
ed a bit, he remembered their milking cow 
was still shut up in the byer (barn), and 
hadn't had a bit to eat or a drop to drink all 
the morning, though the sun was high. 
Then all at once he thought it was too far to 
take her down to the meadow, so he'd just 
get her on the house-top — for the house, you 
must know, was thatched with sods, and a 
fine crop of grass was growing there. Now, 
their house lay close up against a steep down, 
and he thought if he laid a plank across to 
the thatch at the back he'd easily get the 
cow up. 

But still he couldn't leave the churn, for 
there was his little babe crawling about on 
the floor, and " if I leave it," he thought, 
" the child is sure to upset it.'^ So he took 
the churn on his back, and went out with it; 
but then he thought he'd better water the 
cow before he turned her out on the thatch; 
so he took up a bucket to draw water out of 
the well, but as he stooped down at the well's 
brink, all the cream ran out of the churn 
over his shoulders, and down into the well. 

Now it was dinner time, and he hadn't 
even got the butter ; so he thought he'd best 
boil the porridge, and filled the pot with 
water and hang it over the fire. When he 
had done that, he thought the cow might 
perhaps fall ofi" the house and break her 
neck. So he got up on the house-top to tie 
her up. One end of the rope he made fast 
to the C(^w's neck, and the other he slipped 
down the chimney and tied round his own 
leg ; and he had to make haste, for tlie water 
now began to boil in the pot, and he had still 
to grind the oatmeal. 

So he began to grind away ; but whilg he 
was hard at it, down fell the cow off the 
house-top, and as she fell, she dragged the 
man up the chimney by the rope. There 
he stuck fast ; and as for the cow, she hung 
'half way down the wall, swaying between 
heaven and earth, for she could neither get 
up nor down. 

And now the goody had waited seven 
lengths and seven breadths for her husband 
to come and call her home to her dinner; 
but never a call she had. At last, she 
thought she'd waited long enough, and Went 
ho i:e. But when she got there and saw the 
cow hanging in such an ugly place, she ran 
up and cut the rope with her scythe. But 
as she did thjs, down came her husband out 
of the chimney; and so when the old dame 



came inside the kitchen, there she found 
him standing on his head in the porridge 
pot. — Miner s Rural American. 



For the Southern Planter. 

Rust and its Effects. 

Mr. Editor. — I have been much sur- 
prised, and not a little disappointed, to see 
such little interest taken by agricultural jourr- 
als and writers, of a disease which certainly 
is formidable enough in its effects, to be de- 
serving of more attention. In vain, have I 
received my monthlies, and searched them 
through, with the hope of finding something 
upon this important subject. Such little in- 
terest seems to be manifested towards an in- 
vestigation of the source and effects of " new- 
fashioned rust," that we might well conclude 
it to be some harmless disease, impotent in 
its eftects upon the wheat crop. Such re- 
flections as these, have induced me to pen 
this article, which, if it accomplishes nothing 
else, will, I trust, contribute something to- 
wards an elucidation of the subject, by di- 
recting the attention of those more capable 
than I am, of throwing light upon it. 

As it is of this " new-fashioned rust," or 
the rust that first made its appearance two. 
years ago, that I*design to treat, it might be 
necessary to describe the " old-fashioned,'^ 
but as I take it for granted that everybody 
is acquainted with the difference between 
them, I hasten on, and will endeavor to be 
as brief as possible. 

The disease termed rust, which proves so 
disastrous in its effects upon the wheat crop, 
has never, I believe, been traced to any defi- 
nite cause. Botanists describe several varie- 
ties, but they fail to enlighten us as to their 
origin. Indeed, the appearance and depar- 
ture of these fungi is so mysterious, that the 
cause of their existence may well evade the 
scrutiny of the niost searching mind. The 
disease cannot be traced to an atmospheric 
or meterologic cause, for its appearance is 
independent of any such cause. It comes 
and goes regardless of the peculiar circum- 
stances accompanying its appearance or de- 
parture. Many attribute the cause of the 
disease to the state of weather existing du- 
ring the time of its ravages. To ascertain 
then, the causes which originated this species 
of the parasite, we must resort to more con- 
clusive testimony than that established upon 
observing what changes the weather under- 
goes, during the prevalence of the disease. 



isua.] 



THE* SOUTHERN PLANTER 



297 



This requirea u (le|?reo of scientific rei?earch 
beyond what has yet been attained, and it 
would be the veriest presumption to make an 
attempt, unaided by ^cientitic attainnients, 
to solve what has baffled the most experi- 
enced and observant botanists themselves. 
Without attemptini:, therefore, to account 
for the disease, which rctjuires and awaits 
future developments, I pass on to tlic more 
famjihlc shape assumed by its effects, and 
will enileavor to prove, by facts based upon 
comparative deductions, liow these effects 
may in a measure be avoided. 

J^efore attempting!: to su;j:u:cst a remedy by 
which the evil effects of rust may be avoided, 
the in(juiry naturally arises: llow and in 
what manner does rust effect wheat ? Why, 
simply by checking the flow of sap, not de- 
stroying; the fli>w altogether, but rendering it 
inconiplcte — thereby preventing the forma- 
tion and mature development of the grain, 
which is arrested in its course towards "fill- 
ing out," partially during the protjrcss of the | 
disease, and completely after it lias attained! 
its maximum height. Those who are ac- : 
quaintod with the manner in whicli the grain 
forms, and have observed its progress from , 
time to time throughout the prevalence of 
the disease, will not perhaps controvert this; 
solution of its effects in retarding; the forma-' 
tion of the grain. l 

In order to establish upon a plausible | 
basis what I attempt to prove, I submit the! 
following assertion, viz : The evil effects of! 
rust are in direct proportion to the growth of 
straw, that is, the more luxuriant the growth, 
the more disastrous will be the effects pro- 
duced by rust. I am led to make this asser- 
tion from facts carrying with them the 
strongest convictions of their correctness.. 
Facts gathered within thesjdiere of my own 
observation sustain it conclusively. A farm 
situated upon Nansemond River, capable of; 
yielding upon an average, twenty busliels ofj 
wheat to the acre, did not, owing to the of-- 
fects of ru.st, produce over ten. Hercwlierci 
the land was rich enough in itself to pro-! 
duce a rank growth of straw, guano was ap-j 
plied, thus rendering the crop more suscep-' 
tible to injury from rust. Likewise upon a; 
neighboring farm which had two sepcrat^ 
fields seeded in wheat fall before last, one 
rich and the other comparatively poor, the 
same result was observed. The rich land, 
upon which grew a rank growth of straw, 
failed to come up to its capacity for yielding 
grain by about two-thirds, while the poor) 



land in a different field, and con8e(|uently 
with a slim growth of straw, sustained uo 
perceptible injury, but yielded a full crop. 
I'pon another neighboring farm similar ef- 
fects were observable. Thirty acres of tluH 
last mentioned farm were seeded in wheat 
fall before [ast, and guano applied. The 
land occupied by these thirty acres is exactly 
siniilar, both as regards texture of soil and 
strength, to an hundred acre field seeded in 
wheat by myself at the same time, but owing 
to the application of guano upon the thirty 
acre of the adjoining farm, which augmented 
the growth of straw, the yield was reduced 
to one-half the (juantity usually produced, 
while the hundr<'d acres of my own farm, 
without the application of any manure or 
fertilizer whatever, came up, in the yield of 
grain, almost to the full capacity of the land. 
AVhy the lnuidred acres failed to come up 
entirely to its accustomed yield, I attribute 
to the inequalities of the surface diversify- 
ing the character of the soil, the low places 
being much richer than those more elevated, 
and in these low rich spots the growth was 
rank and the grain .shrivelled. I could men- 
tion a multiplicity of cases similar to those 
already mentioned, which came under my 
own personal observation, but I refriin, 
deeming that I have cited enough, and only 
desire to direct attention towards what I con- 
ceive to be a subject of great interest and 
importance to i'armers. 1 will say thougli in 
passing, in addition to the foregoing, that 
the comparative failure last harvest of the 
wheat crop all along James River, the great 
wheat yjrowing section of the State, sust^iins 
my position as conclusively as the cases 
cited. 

Now, in conclusion, the question arises, 
granting the effects : what remedy can we 
apply, to protect ourselves against the ravages 
of the rust? I will not pretent to answer 
this question, but in its place, will submit a 
(juerc or two. Rank growth contains more 
succulant matter than tlie growth of poor 
land; may not this preponderence of succu- 
lant matter, by tending to generate and nur- 
ture the disease, explain in a measure, why 
such growth sustains greater injury from tlie 
rust*/ When rust is anticipated should fer- 
tile lands, which produce a luxuriant growth 
of straw, be made to augment such growth 
by the application of any enriching sub- 
stance or agent ? l^eaving these queries to 
the consideration of your many enlightened 
readers, who are more capable than I am of 



298 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[May 



investigating the subject, I draw this article; 
ah'eady too long, to a close. 

" Chuckatuck.'^ 



Stable Management of Horses. 

The practical suggestions contained in the 
following article are worthy of .the attention 
of all who have the care of horses. Give 
an animal the right feed, :ind take care cf 
him as ho should be, and he will seldom be 
unfit for work. How to do these, is told 
briefly in this article from the Prairie 
Farmer : 

It is one thing to know how to use a horse, 
but is another thing to know how to take 
care of a horse. A stable horse needs spe- 
cial care and attention. His feeding must 
be as regular as the measurement of the 
hours. When a change of feed is made it 
must be done with great care — giving a 
small allowance at first, until the stomach be- 
comes used to the change. He must be 
cleaned every day; and when we say cleaned, 
we mean all that can be conveyed by that 
word. A good curry-comb, brush and oiled 
woolen cloth, are the utensils necessary. 
First take the curry-comb and begin at the 
top of the neck, back of the ears, working 
the hands both ways. Proceed in this way 
till you have gone over the entire body and 
legs. Then take both comb and brush, and 
follow the comb with the brush, and after 
every other stroke, draw the brush across the 
teeth of the comb to clean it. An experi- 
enced groom will do this instantaneously. 
This done, take your cloth and lay the coat, 
and remove the dust which adheres, to the 
outside. The face and ears must alsofeel the 
brush. 

" Few men know how to clean a horse 
properly. If the above directions are fol- 
lowed daily, your horses will enjoy good 
health generally. Stabled horses must be 
exercised daily. This is absolutely essential 
to good health. If the feet of your horse 
are brittle, and are liable to break and crack, 
they must be well oiled once a week. A 
horse thus treated will always be ready to 
go when wanted, and you will not be ashamed 
either to ride or drive him. 

" Another thing quite as important is a 
a clean and well ventilated stable. We can- 
not excuse any farmer or horse owner who 
does not clean his stable twice a day. A 
stable should be so constructed as to have a 
wide passage-way or floor in front to feed 
from. Above the manger a space should be 



left a foot or two in width clear, and the pr s- 
sage should be the avenue for the supply of 
fresh air to the nostrils of the horse. 

"A horse enjoys a good bed, and it should 
never be refused him. At night, take your 
fork and make it up light, and you will feel 
amply rewarded for the humane treatment 
you have given your beast." 

\_NeLV York Observer. 



New Method of Propagating Plants. 

At a late meeting of the Royal Society a 
paper was read " On a New Method of Pro- 
pagating Plants," by Mr. E. J. Lowe, F. R. 
A. S. The author states that the experinient 
of a new method of propagating plants has 
been so successful that he has thought it de- 
sirable to communicate his results to the 
Royal Society, for the guidance of those who 
are interested in the advance of horticul- 
ture. It had occurred to him that if a cut- 
ting of a plant were sealed at the base, so as 
to exclude the moisture of the soil from as- 
cending the stem in injurious quantities, the 
method of striking cuttings of most species 
of plants would not be so precarious a pro- 
cess as at present, and accordingly some col- 
lodion was obtained in order to make the ex- 
periment. With respect to this new process, 
he states that immediately upon the cutting 
being severed from the parent s(em the col- 
lodion was applied to the wound, and then 
left a few seconds to dry, after which the 
cuttings were pitted in the ordinary manner. 
To test the value of this new process more 
efl^ctually, duplicates of all the species experi- 
mented upon were at the same time similarly 
planted, without the collodion being applied 
to them. Thus out of 131 cuttings to which 
collodion was applied 86 took root, and out 
of the same number to which collodion was 
not applied only 42 took root. This experi- 
ment the author considers speaks for itself. 
Notwithstanding the season being too far 
advanced for the full benefit of the process 
to be thoroughly observed, still twice as many 
cuttings took root treated by the new me- 
thod as had rooted by the old. The mortal- 
ity in the open ground was increased by 
slugs having eaten some of the cuttings 
above the ground ; those thus damaged were 
examined after they had been in the ground 
for a month, and it was found that the col- 
lodion was quite as sound as when first ap- 
plied. It would, therefore, appear that the 
collodion seals the wound of the cutting, and 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



2i)0 



protects it from the fatal effects of dninp, 
until roots are prepared to force their way 
through the covering of ii:un cotton. 

[^London Fanner s Juurnal. 



Artificial Flower-Making. 

Artificial flower-making Is not an insigni- 
ficant trade. An imjuiry was made into the 
industrial statistics of Paris in 1S47, which 
lets us into a little secret in this matter. The 
total manufacture of cambric flowers in that 
year was prodigious, amounting in value to 
more than 400,000/. sterling. We, in Eng- 
land, onljitook 12,000/. worth of this value ; 
for we pride ourselves on being able to make 
our own artificial flowers. The cambric, 
muslin, gauze, velvet, silk, and other mate- 
rials were procured from St. Etienne, St. 
Quentin, and Lyons; the dyes and colours 
were prepared exptessly for the purpose by 
manufacturing chemists; the buds, leaves, 
petals, stamens, pistils, and other component 
parts, were made in small workshops by per- 
sons who each attended to only one part of 
a flower ; while the whole were fitted to- 
gether in other workshops. Even these 
workshops are frequently limited to one sin- 
gle kind of flower each ; so completely is the 
division of labor carried out. There were 
about 50 small manufacturerss of petals and 
stamens, and other component parts, employ- 
ing about 500 persons ; while there were 
nearly 600 dealers or vendors, who em- 
ployed nearly 6000 persons in building up 
the various integers into whole groups of 
flowers. Of this immense number of per- 
sons, about 5000 were women, whose average 
earnings were estimated at Is. 8d. per day. 
Siveral of the n anufacturcrs effect sales to 
the amount of 10,000/. a year each. "We 
must, therefore, regard French flower manu- 
facturers as commercial men of notable im- 
port. — London Farnurs Journal. 



Extract from an Address 

DcUvd'cd hpforc the North Alabama Agri- 
cultural and Mechanical Association, at 
Decatur, Ala., Oct. Idth, 1859. 

BY LT. M. F. MAURY, U. S. N. 

Ladies and Gentlemen : — We are here 
to strengthen the hand that guides the plow, 
and to do homage to t!.e arm that plies the 
hammer. 

In the progress of the age, the farmer and 
the mechanic have become the truest ex- 



pounders of what science has done and in 
doing for the world. In every country they 
are the exponents of its civilization, its cul- 
ture, and its greatness. 

What would IMato say could he with his 
old notions have lived to see this our day, or 
to hear such a sentiment ? 

A philosopher frierid of his once Con- 
structed a piece of machinery according to 
scientific principles. Plato remonstrated 
w^ith him upon the grounds, that such a prac- 
tical application of mathematics tended to 
degrade science into a low craft, fit only for 
carpenters, and the like. His remonstrance, 
we are told, had its effect, and according to 
]*lutarch, the science of mechanics was 
thenceforward considered to be unworthy of 
a philoso])her. This notion ruled the world 
for centuries, and kept man groping along in 
the dark for ages. Indeed, we are hardly 
yet freed entirely from it ; for there be some 
men of science, even at the present day, who 
despise labor, shake the head, and affect to 
ignore that large and growing class of phi- 
llosophers that call themselves utilitarian. 

The true man of science and the brawny 
armed mechanic arc the complements of each 
other. They arc brothers; they are as ne- 
j cessary to material progress, as engine and 
I boiler are to motion in a steamship ; and if 
I you ask me which, in my judgment, is most 
!in)portant, which entitled to most considera- 
I tion and the highest honors, the mechanic or 
I tlie man of science, I must beg to answer by 
; asking you to tell me which of the two parts 
, of the steam engine does the builder niake 
j to the most honor, the piston-rod, or the cyl- 
inder? If either be wanting there is no 
progress. 

j The philosophers of that old school were 
boilers without engines, for they disdained 
the mechanic, affecting to regard his occu- 
pation as degrading, and even immoral. A 
disciple of one of tho.se schools once inti- 
mated that men of science might claim the 
mechanical arch, as one of their achieve- 
ments. His fellows considered this an in- 
dignity and an insult. Sen* ca felt himself 
called upon to resent the imputation, and in 
his ire exclaimed : " We shall next be told 
that the first shoemaker was a philosopher!" 
— a man of science. 

Why not a shoemaker? The first man of 
science I ever saw was a shoemaker of Wil- 
liamson county, Tennessee, — old Mr. NeiJ. 
He was a mathematician ; he worked out his 
problems with his awl upon leather, and 



300 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[May 



would send home liis shoes their soles cov- 
ered with little x's and ;/'.s. The oxaiiiplo of 
that luan first awakened iu my breast the 
young' spirit of emulation ; for my earliest 
recollections of the feelings of it are con- 
nected with the aspiration to equal that old 
shoouiakcr in mathematics. 

This thing of public opinion is a mon- 
strous despot, for it wilMiave its own way, 
and sometimes its own way is wrong. It op- 
pressed the meclumic and kept him bound 
for many generations. At last by some ac- 
cident or chance — for almost all the great 
inventions and discoveries have been due to 
chance — he hit upon the art of printing. 
By that act he sent an agent abroad that 
was to loose the shackles from his mind and 
his arms — an agent that was to go forth into 
the world elevating and lifting man up in 
the scale of excellence, and moving more 
masses and greater weights than the lever 
of Archinicdcs, — plant it where he would, 
— could pry. 

When the public saw the first works of 
this agent in the hands of the old colporteur, 
the public said it was the "devil with Dr. 
Faust." But it was no " devil." It was the 
spirit of a mighty agent, — and see what it 
has done for the mccnanic, and the mechanic 
for it! Bacon was the fii'st to detect the true 
character of this "devil," for he was the 
first man of science that fraternized w^ith 
mechanics, and ever since then their pro- 
gress has been upward and onward. The 
time is almost within tlie recollection of us 
all, when the printing press was worked en- 
tirely by hand; the ink was put on by hand; 
the paper was laid on by hand ; the forms 
were rolled under by hand ; and by hand the 
impression was drawn. I can almost fancy 
that I see now the merry printer's boy, with 
his paper cap and apron, smutty face and 
brawny arms, flourishing away with his two 
huge balls, drumming merrily some fancied 
tune, as he inked the types for the next im- 
pression. In thoFc times 1,000, or 1,500 
impressions, was a good day's work for the 
best pressman; and thus the circulation of a 
daily paper was limited, even by working 
day and night and with relays, to some three 
or four thousand copies. And that same 
public voice which had so long held the call- 
ing of the mechanic as ignoble, and kept 
him down, now began to clamor for more 
dailies, and a wider circulation, and it was 
proposed to multiply copies by reduplicating 
forms. But the demands of the public were 



for cheaper, as well as for a larger circula- 
tion. The mechanic understood the call; 
and bringing to his aid the principles of 
science, he produced the steam press — an 
inanimate thing that works like an intelli- 
gent creature — a very ^^ deviV — sometimes, 
ibr it makes tyrants tremble. It inks, it 
rolls, it draws, and throws off more impres-^ 
sions in a minyte, than in the old way, two 
or three men could in an hour. 

Thus the man of science, fraternizing with 
the mechanic, or both being united in the 
same person — for the two are by no means 
antagonistic, or inconsistent with each other 
— has produced apiece of mechanUm which 
rules the world. Its messengers go forth 
morning and evening; at night and at noon 
they come upon you as noiselessly as the 
snow-fiake, but they tell upon the popular 
mind with the voice of thunder, and the 
power of lightning. 

The improvements of the age all tend to lift 
.up and elevate the mechanic. He is bound 
to be not only almost, but altogether equal to 
the man of science. 

When your apprentice boy takes to the 
books of learned men, do not discourage him 
in his efforts after knowledge, by talking to 
him of the mysteries of science. Science 
has no mysteries ; she is a blab. Nature has 
her secrets, but the moment science gets at 
one of .them, it is given to the press, carried 
by the winds, and steam, and lightning, and 
scattered over the world, the common prop- 
erty of mankind. 

I do not like the idea of considering the 
mechanic and the man of science necessarily 
as two distinct beings. You cannot separate 
them. They are Siamese, and one cannot 
move in fulfillment of his destiny withaut 
the other. They are continually calling upon 
each other for help. They each heed all the 
calls of man in his perpetual strugle for eon- 
quests of mind over matter ; and in the 
strife, sometimes one, and sometimes the 
other, has the lead. 

No calling, whether industrial or scientific, 
can prosper without the aid of the mechanic. 
He gives agriculture its implements, com- 
merce its machinery, and science its instru- 
ments. The astronomer can not move with- 
out him. If you would see the most ele- 
gant combination of physical laws and me- 
chanical skill, conie to Washington and let 
me show you the great telescope of the Ob- 
servatory there. It is a specimen of man's, 
handiwork that -gives the most sublime ut- 



18C0.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTEP. 



301 



tcnince to tlio ijlorirs of the honvcns: After 
Newton had exj)numle«l the laws of «;ravita- 
tioM, astronomers waU-ljcd tlie stars with 
their telescopes to see if this new-born tliinii 
were universal or not. It extended to the 
planets, they at onee s;iw ; but did it reach 
to the fixed stars? This piece of handi- 
work from the shop of the mechanic soon 
told us : It revealed worlds and systems of 
worlds among the fixed stars not only movini; 
in obedience to the laws of gravitation, but 
shiiiini^ with different lights. Through it, 
we discovered suns and systems of suns of 
divers colors — some of fiery red, some bright 
orange, others emerald green, smalt blue, 
ash grey, or pearly white, flanii ng through 
the firuKunent in the brilliancy of their glory. 

Put the telescope has not, nor has any 
other instrument yet enabled us to say 
whether the light of all these suns be com- 
pounded of the rays of the spectrum, like 
that shed by our king of day, or whether 
the diversity created liere by the prismatic 
cohtrs, be made up Uierc by their orange, 
blue, green and red suns. 

Imagine ^'ourselves, my young friends, to 
be in one of those distant worlds, with an 
ash-gray sun, that its rays are colorless, sim- 
ple and uncompounded, affording neither 
tints to the prism, nor glitter to the dew 
drop. Picture to yourself the scenery there. 



bonuly, nor give brilliancy to the diadem of 

n»yalty. 

In such a world, witli sucli a sun, the liu- 
nuni face divine might exjtress all the (juali- 
tics of the n)ind, and Ixam with all the af- 
fections of the luart, but tlic purple light of 
love can never rise on the cheek of beauty, 
nor the hectic flush herald its decay. JJfo 
there would breathe and perisli in its mar- 
ble, and nature spring and decay in it.s rus- 
set brown. 

Therefore, rejoice, my friends, and bo 
thankful that you live under a prismatic 
sun, with its rays of variegated light, and 
that those ex(juisitc models of organic and 
inorganic life, with which the Great >Ie- 
chanic has decked his terrestrial temple, 
have been embellished for your pleasure and 
delight — their hjveliness is enlianced by that 
ethereal beauty which the play of light and 
color alone can impart. 



For the i^outlirrn Planter. 

Agricultural Geology. 

BY PROF. J. L. CAMPBELL. 

INTRODUCTION. 



The study of Geology is important to the 
intelligent pursuit of agriculture ; in the 
It would be difficult to sketch a landscape ' fi»'st pl^ce, because the natural qualities of 
except with India ink; but that we may a large niajority of soils, are deternuned 
have a sketch of it, let us borrow a pencil t)y the characters belonging to the rocks 
from Sir David Prewster,* and take a glance ^^ich underlie them, and from which thej 
at this beautiful world of ours under the,^»<^ve had their origin. Secondly, becaase 
colorless rays of this imaginary sun,— emit- 1 >n t^ie selection of lands formed, like the 
ting a light of pearly whiteness: Here is a al'"vial, from different kinds of material, 
picture— look at it. collected from different sources, a tolerably 

The maLrnificent' foilai^c of the vegetable ^^.^"'•''^^^ j"^-,"^^"* ^^" ^^ ^'^""^^ f. *'\?'^ 
world stiltfills the eyes: You perceive it, i*''"'?'"^' r|ual.ty, as well as ot their fu- 
with its picturesque and lovely forms, but! ^";^«,/"^^^^'''^3^' ^J ^^"^>;'."?? the nature 
we can neither rejoice over the verdue of its ^^ *^^^ f^"^T ^"-^ . ^'^^'^ thc'r con- 
youth, nor mourn over the yellow of its age. '^^'^"^"*^ '"'V'' '''' ^" ^'^ ^''''" 



s in a jiew country, no one is 
has repliiced the golden vestur.' of the ris./^^/^" n^^'^'^^^^ to decide between tho..e of 
ing and the setting sun. The .tars twinkle I ^'^7^^'^ ^^^-.'^^^ ^^ durability, a« the prac- 
colorless in a gray sky, and the rainbow has^^'V f ^^^-/r*- I^^^ry farmer may soon 
dwindled dovvn into a narrow arch of- dusky I ^"^^\*V'"^^^^\S^^^^^''.s*' «^ ^^^ f ^^ T 
light. In such a world, t!ie diamond, the^^'^ ^""/'^ J^^S^ quit<^ accurately of the 
ruby, and the sapphire K.ay still display to '''':'''!^^ character of all the rocks coming 
science the nice geon:. iry of their forms,: ^^'^^^ *'^? ^='^-/^ '^^ ^'^^ ^^'''^"^^^^^ 
and yield to art their adamantine virtues, ?! ^'.^ "'••^^.^'^ ^^«. f^q"aintance of those m 
but they can never sparkle in the chaplet of '!' i"Hncdiate neighbourhood, he can widen 

'^ I his sphere of investigation, and as he 

* See Chap. VIII. Vol. I. Memoirs of Sir ^^^^'^Is from place to place, every variety of 

Isaac NcM'ton, by Sir David Brewster. | rock over which he pa«*3es will present a 



lu this picture, the sober mantle of twilight ,, ,./. i . , • , , i « 

^' ' . •' .... '^^ so well qualined to decide between tho.«?e of 



302 



THE SOUTHEEN PLANTER. 



[May 



new page of the great book which Nature 
has spread out before him. 

The substance of the following pages, 
and the illustrative cuts, are taken from the 
author's work on " Scientific and Practical 
Agriculture." While the greater part is 
copied literally from the book, some por- 
tions are so far expanded as to adapt them 
more entirely to general reading. 

The two great sources from which plants 
derive their nourishment, are the atmos- 
phere and the soil. "VVe can exercise no im- 
portant control over the condition of the 
air. Our .Creator has established laws, by 
which its chemiccil composition is made al- 
most invariable. The quantity of moisture, 
too, which it brings and pours out as rain 
upon our farms, is a matter entirely beyond 
our influence. i 

The management of the soil alone has 
been committed to our hands. Then, Icav- 1 
ing the atmosphere in the hands of that j 
all-wise and beneficent Being, who has, 
made it an inexhaustible source of food to 
plants, and of fertility to the soil, let us 
turn our attention to- those principles and 
laws which will guide us to a knowledge of 
the origin and nature of different soils, and 
to the means by which they can be best 
cultivated and improved. 

AGRICULTURAL GEOLOGY. 

" Geohgy is the history of the mineral 



masses that compose the earth, and the or- 
ganic remains which they contain." — Hitch- 
cock. 

In its relations to agriculture, geology 
points us to the origin of soils, and the in- 
fluence which the rocks have had in deter- 
mining their different physical and chemi- 
cal characters. As already stated, they have 
their origin, generally, in those masses of 
mineral matter upon which they rest. On 
the mineral characters of different rocks, 
then, the mineral character of soils must, 
to a great extent, depend. Alluvial and 
drift soils, which are formed of mixed ma- 
terial derived from various localities, of 
course form exceptions to this rule. 

The term " rock," as used by geologists, 
embraces all the solid mineral matter of the 
globe ; that is, not simply the firm unyield- 
ing masses, ordinarily called rocks, but also 
deposits of clay and other loose material, 
not necessarily very coherent in character. 

When we examine the rocks, as they ap- 
pear at the surface of the earth, we find 
them under two general forms. ' (1.) Sotne 
of them exist in layers, which are often 
parallel, or nearly so, and are found lying 
one above another. Each one of such 
layers is called a stratum (plural, strata) ; 
and masses of rock having this structure 
are said to be straiified. The ' annexed 
figure represents a section cut through 




stratified rocks. The strata are sometimes 
horizontal, as seen at c, c, in the figure. 
At other times, and more frequently, they 
are found in an inclined' position, as at 1, 
2, 3, 4. They are then said to have a dip. 
The angle which the face of the stratum 
makes with the horizon is the measure of 
the dip. Very few Stratified rocks are en- 
tirely horizontal in position ; most of them 
having a greater or less dip, but varying by 
every possible angle, between a horizontal 
and vertical range. | 

(2.) The other general form under which 



rocks are found, is that of large irregular 
masses, having no regular layers; these 
are termed unstratijied. These unstratified 
rocks seem,, in most cases, to have been 
thrust upward through the stratified, by 
some subterranean force — sometimes form- 
ing a large part of the central mass or axis 
of long chains of mountains, as we find 
strikingly exemplified in many portions of 
the Blue Ilidge. The granite and trap 
rocks are the most abundant of this class. 

The following figure is designed to repre- 
sent the section of a mountain, by which 
both stratified and unstratified rocks are 



IWJ 



TIJB SOUTUEllN PLANTER. 



308 



bronjrht to view, in their relative positions j tain. Tlic mass at a, a, is unstratifieJ, and 
with respect to eacli other and to the niuun-(fbriiis the central axis of the ridge; wlAj 




aihyh, are the stratified rocks, which seeniithinp; of the mineral constituents which 

enter most largely into their composition. 

MINERALS. 



to have been elevated from their original 
positio!! by the upward force which elevated 
the central mass a, a. 

Stratified rocks generally bear unmistak- 
able marks of having bien deposited by 
water, just as we find the same process now 
going on in the bottoms of seas and lakes. 
Such being the case, they must have been 
originally formed ii> a horizontal position, 
or nearly so. The unstratificd rocks, on the 
other hand, bear evidence in their iwm and 
structure, of having been subjected to in- 
tense heat, and appear to have been often 
thrown up from beneath the earth's surface 
in a molten state, Hence they are fre- 
quently called' "igneous rocks." 

All the rocks which constitute the outer 
crust of our earth, bo far as man has been 
jjble to penetrate, or so far as they have 
been thrown up within his reach, whether 
they be stratified or unsfratified, arc com- 
posed chiefly of a comparatively few min- 
erals. Before we enter upon a more de- 
tailed description of the different classes of 
rocks, it will be necessary to know some- 



A minei-al is any substance which is not 
the result of animal or yegetable growth. 
I All objects which wc can perceive by our 
'senses, have been assigned to some one of 
the three great kingdoms of nature— the 
animal, vegetable and mineral. Every ob- 
ject, then, upon the earth, which has not 
resulted from the action of vita lit ij must be 
regarded as mineral in its character. Such 
:a classification would place air and water 
among minerals; but with these we shall 
'have nothing to do at present. It is only 
the solid mineral substances entering into 
I the composition of rocks and soils ^ Inch 
now claim our attention. These are Quartz, 
Talc, Clay, Feld.spar, Mica, Hornblende and 
Limestone. Let us examine each of these 
'separately. 

I Quartz. — The purest specimens of 
; quartz are found in cryst^iLs, having such 
.forms a» those exhibited in the annexed 
figure. The crystals arc all. six-sided 




prisms, terminated by six-sided pyramids. 
The different faces of the crystal often vary 
much in size, giving considyable variety of 
form, as in those seen at a and h, in the 
figure. The extreme hardness of thisinin- 
eral is illustrated by the fact that the sharp 
angles of its crystals scratch glass very 



(fii 



readily. It is the same substance which wc 
find in the form of flint, sand, carnclian, 
agate, &c. When particles of sand are 
cemented into masses, they constitute sand- 
stone, which is one of the most common 
and abundant forms of quartz. 

Chemical relations. We learn from the 



304 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[May 



chemist, that quartz (or silica) is an acid 
ingots chemical relations, being a compound 
of the metal silicium with oxygen ; its pro- 
per chemical name%eing silicic acid. At 
a very high temperature, this mineral com- 
•bines readily with strong bases, such as 
soda, potassa and lime, forming a class of 
chemical salts, called " silicates/' Natural 
silicates are very numerous, as we shall pres- 
ently see; and they enter very largely into the 
composition of the rocky masses of the 
earth. 

Talc is a silicate of magnesia. It is 
sometimes found in layers as thin as paper, 
having a green, or greenish-white colour. 
The surface, when rubbed with the fingers, 
feels greasy. When a layer of it is bent, 
it does not regain its former condition, like 
mica, a mineral- of the same form. Soap- 
stone and French chalk are- compact forms 
of talc, and are frequently found in exten- 
sive masses. Soft clay slate is frequeritly 
called soapstone, but is really a mineral 
of very different composition, and will be 
described under clay, in the next para- 
graph. 

Clay. — This is a silicate of alumina, and 
is found abundantly all over the world. In 
a pure and pulverized form, it consists of 
extremely fine grains, which, when wet, 
form a cohesive mass. Among its purest 
natural forms are pipe-clay and porcelain- 
clay. It enters very largely into the com- 
position of rocks, from which it is liberated 
in large quantities by the action of rains 
and frosts, as will hereafter be described. 
Slate is a compact form of clay, of greater 
or less purity. AVhen sufficiently firm and 
of proper structure, it is used fi)r tiles, 
writing-slates, &c. When soft and brittle 
it is called "shale." Mingled with sand, 
pebbles and organic matter, clay consti- 
tutes the body of the great majority of soils. 
When perfectly pure, it is white, but we 
generally find it coloured" in a variety of 
shades from light-yellow to dark-brown — the 
colouring matter being oxides of iron and 
manganese. To the farmer^ it possesses the 
highest interest. Although not a fertilizer, 
in the sense of affording nourishment di- 
rectly to the plant, it serves an important 
purpose in giving compactness to the soil, 
and in retaining moisture, ammonia, and 
other fertilizing substances. 

Feldspar is a double silicate of potassa 
and alumina. Soda is frequently found in 
it, taking the place of potassa in whole or 



in part, and modifying to some extent the 
structure as well as the composition of the 
mineral. Feldspar is sometimes massive, 
and sometimes of a regular crystalline struc- 
ture. When it occurs in regular crystals, 
they have the form represented in outline 
by the figure here given, which is an ob- 




lique rhombic prism. The crystals are of- 
ten quite flat, and have their ends so modi- 
fied, as to appear of different and less reg- 
ular shape than the above figure w^ould 
indicate. The surfaces of the crystals, es- 
pecially the broader faces, have a brilliant, 
lustre like that of glass, with something of 
a pearly appearance. The most common 
colours, of this mineral are white, gray, 
green a fid flesh colours. All these varieties 
may be found amongst the rocks taken from 
the Blue Ridge tunnel on the Central 
Railroad. Feldspar is not quite so hard 
as quartz, but is sufficiently so to scratch 
glass. 

When exposed to the direct influence of 
the weather, this mineral is gradually de- 
composed. The silicate of potassa is re- 
moved by the combined action of the air 
and rains, while the silicate of alumina re- 
mains as fine particles of clay. If the 
feldspar is pure, the resulting clay is white 
— passing under the mame of " kaolin," is 
extensively used in the manufacture of por- 
celain ware. 

In the decomposition of feldspar, we have 
a striking illustration of the part which 
the carbonic acid of the air performs, in 
connection with other agencies, in produ- 
cing changes of character in rocks. The 
silicate of potassa is decomposed by the 
strong affinity between carbonic acid and 
potassa, a carbonate instead of a silicate be- 
ing produced. This carbonate of potassa is 
readily dissolved and carried off by rains, 
while the silical^ of alumina is left, as a 
minutely divided clay. But there is always 
enough of potassa (and soda, if it be pres- 
ent) retained to meet the wants of the 
crops that may grow upon the resulting 



I860.] 



THK SOUTHERN PLANTEi^. 



305 



soil, if other minerals, such* as quartz 
and mica, are coiitaiiie<l in the same mck 
with the feldspar, tliese remain in i'rw^- 
ments minjxled with the ehiy — the rjuartz ;is 
partieles of s;md, and the mica in sliininii 
scales. 

Mic.\ is frequently known as vihirrn/ 
isin;/f(iss. It occurs in thin leaves, and in 
shininu: scales min<i:Ied with other minerals. 
When found in n)as.ses, it is easily split into 
extremely thin layers. These are much 
more tou«;h and elastic than those of talc, 
and are sometimes as transparent as jrla.ss. 
Mica varies in colour from very li^iht to 
quite black shad.s. The heat of a lamp or 
ordinary fire has hut little effect upon it ; 
hence the transparent varieties arc used for 
making windows in stoves, and instea<l of 
glass in the construction of lanterns. Mica 
is a double silicate of potassa and alumina, 
but differs from feldspar chiefly in havinu- 
only about half so much potassa; nor is it 
so readily decomposed by the action of the 
weather as feldspar. 

Onim'fe is a uiixed mineral, composed 
of quartZy fcUhpar and mica. These con- 
stituents are not chemically combined in 
the rock, but mechanically mingled, ai»d 
cemented together. Granite is one of the 
most importiuit and valuable of the unstrat- 
ified rocks, and is extensively employed as 
a building material.* Extensive depositos 
of this rock of superior quality lue found at 
various points over the region of country 
lying between the Blue llidge and Tide- 
water. 

When exposed to air and rain, granite 
is gradually broken doAn into a mixed mass 
of clay, sand and mica. The clay results 
from the decomposition of feldspar, as de 
scribed above; while the silica and micaj 
are liberated in fragments more or les.-«| 
crystalline — the former constituting fine orj 
coarse sand, or quartz pebbles, according tO| 
the original texture of the rock ; the latter 
generally appearing in sujall scales, varying, 
greatly in both size and colour. 

Gnris.'i is another rock havi* g the same 
mineral ingredients as granite, but differing 
entirely from it in structure. While gran- 
ite belongs to the igneous, gneiss belongs to 
the primary stratified rocks. It has great 
variety in its structure ; sometimes existing 
in thin layers, or lamina^, passing gradually 
into what is called mica slate; at other 
times it is more compact, and finely gran- 
ular, and has a less distinct stratificatioD 
20 



The minerals, (quarts, fcldfipar and mica,) 

comp(»sing it, .are always crystalline. This 
rock abounds in the IMcdmont country lying 
east of the ]>lue Uidge, as well as in nearly 
all regions where the jirimary stratified 
rocks make their appearance. When com- 
pact in structure, it forms a strong and val- 
uable building stone, and is often inij)roper- 
ly called granite. The soils resulting from 
its disintegration are similar to those from 
real granite, but difl'erent s))ccimens cif both 
granite and gneiss vary widely in the pro- 
portions in which their constituent minerals 
occur, and of course must give a cor- 
responding variation in the soils they pro- 
duce. 

Hornblende is more complex than 
either of the simple minerals above describ- 
ed. It is composed of silica, eondjined 
with magnesia, lime, alumina and oxide of 
iron. The different- varieties, however, vary 
son)ewhat in composition and ajipearance. 
Those containing a large per cent of iron 
are of a very dark colour, while those con- 
taining but little iron are of very light 
shades. Its crystals are prisms, soujctimes 
short and stout, and at other tinjcs lc»ng and 
slender. In fine fibres, easily saparated, 
and very flexible, it forms a.*-bestus, a ma- 
terial used for making incombu.-itible cloth. 
Hornblende exerts an important influence 
upon soils which have resulted from the 
rocks containing it — especially the daiker 
varieties — affording an abundance of both 
linir and o.nWr of inm, two of the most im- 
portant e^einents of fertilit}-. 

Trap is a heavy, hard, unstratified rock, 
not un frequently called " green.stone." It 
consists of an intimate mixture of feldspar 
and hornblende, and occurs sometimes in 
beds of* vast extent, as njay be seen in 
many of the higher an<l wider parts of the 
l)lue Kidge ; at other times we find it in 
veins of varying width, which have been 
thrust upward i^a molton condition, through 
crevices in the stratified rocks. During the 
process of cooling, the shrinking of the 
ma.ss causes the minenil to break into nu- 
merous fragments, or blocks of different 
sizes, from an inch or two to several feet in 
thickness. The angular parts of these are 
worn oft' by exposure to the weather, and 
they thus acquire the general shape and ap- 
pearance of waterworn boulders.* When 



• Vuljiarly called " nigger-heads"' in some 
localities. 






306 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[May 



trap-rock is entirely disintegrated, it yields 
a dark clay soil of great fertility. Its feld- 
spar furnishes an abundance of clay and 
potassa, while its hornblende gives a sup- 
ply of lime, magnesia and oxide of iron. 
This, and many other rocks from which our 
best soils are 'formed, have no inconsidera- 
ble traces of phosphates, sulphates and 
chlorides about them. 

Hornblende may take the place of mica 
in both granite and gneiss. The granite 
containing it is called " syenite." In the 
Piedmont section of Virginia and adjoining 
States, many valuable belts of dark red 
lands are found, resulting from the decom- 
position of gneiss in which hornblende 
abounds. 

Carbonate of Lime is an important 
mineral. The varieties of form under 
which it occurs, are too numerous to be 
separately described. Common limestone 
is the most abundant, and is found very 
widely diffused over the surface of the 
earth, among rocks of every age and form, 
Marble is one of the purest forms of this 
mineral 3 while tufa and some kinds of 
marl are impure carbonates, containing 
jnuch clay and other mineral matter. The 
.beautiful st'alactites, which hang like icicles 
from the roofs of caverns in limestone re- 
gions, are composed of carbonate of lime, 
which has been gradually deposited from 
the water that trickles down through the 
crevices of the rocks. When water of this 
character, charged with carbonate of lime 
in so ution, comes to the surface of the 
ground it constitutes what we call " lime- 
stone springs." 

By burning common limestone, marble, 
or any other form of carbonate of lime, the 
carbonic acid is expelled by the heat, and 
the rock is reduced to quick-lime. The 
quality of lime varies very #iuch, being de- 
pendent upon the purity of the rock from 
which it is prepared. When considerable 
quaiiLilies ui ojay auu iiiaguesici avc piObent 
in combination with the limestone, it pro- 
duces lime, which has the property of 
hardening under water. This is called 
"hydraulic cement." This cement is large- 
ly manufactured on James Kiver, at the 
pjint where the canal enters the pass 
in the Blue Ridge. The hydraulic iinie- 
stotie is Ibund at several places in the 
Valley. 



CRUST OF THE EARTH. 

Geologists generally believe that the inner 
part of the earth is a mass of mineral matter 
in a molten state, as we often find it issuing 
from volcanoes; and that only a crxiU of 
solid rocks surrounds it on all sides. The. 
thickness of this crust is supposed to be les& 
than one-fortieth of the distance from the 
surface to the centre of the globe; i. e., less 
than one hundred miles. The arguments 
upon which this belief is based, would 
occupy too much space, and carry us too far 
into the science of geology, to suit our 
present purpose. 

Some of the rocks which constitute the 
crust of the earth are, as heretofore stated, 
stratified in form, while others are unstrati- 
fied. Those of a stratified structure cover 
much the larger part of the continents and 
islands of the world. A l)rief out-line of 
the manner in which they have been formed, 
and of the leading divisions under which 
they have been classed, may, therefore, be 
of general interest. 

The stratified rocks bear all the marks of 
having been formed under water, in the 
bottoms of oceans, seas, and lakes, or at 
the mouths of rivers. The- material of 
which they are composed, when deposited 
iby water, would naturally assume a hori- 
zontal position. By the varying action of 
freshets, waves and currents, layer upon 
layer would be built up. Embedded in the 
strata thus formed, we might well expect to 
find the remains of plants and animals; and 
so we do in most of them. Nearly all the 
higher stratified rocks contain shells, the 
bones of fish and land animals, with many 
varieties of plants — sometimes the plant is 
formed entire, at other times, leaves, branches, 
roots, and even large trunks of trees, re- 
main preserved, else have left their images 
indelibly stamped upon the rocky surface. 
The remains of animals and plants thus 
found, are known as "■ fossils," and the rocks 
containing them are said to be " fossil- 

llCiOUO. 

The fossils deposited in the rocks are 
sometimes so abundant, as to constitute the 
whole mass, except njineral matter deposited 
from water either in the fossil body itself, 
so as to solidify, or "petrify" it, or between 
the different fossils, so as to cement them 
together into one common mass. In all 
cases where fo-s:ls abound, they have ex- 
erted a considerable influence on the chemi- 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



307 



cal, as well as tlic physical character of the 
rocks in which they occur; and have, consc 
queiitly, taken part in dcternuning the 
quality of soils formed from such rocks. Of, 
this more will be said hereafte. . 

By volcanic forces, acting; from beneath, 
the stratitied rocks havjc been elevated to; 
various hei«rhts, and thrown into a variety I 
of positions, and now constitute a large 
portion of the surface of continents and 
islands inhabited by man. Some of the 
positions of the strata are exhibited in the: 
first and second figures, given as illustra- 
tions in the first part of this article. The 
older strata generally make a large angle 
with the horizon, or, in other words, have a 
large dip ; while the dip of those of more 
recent date, is less, — some of them being 
entirely horizontal. 

Formations. The physical history of 
our globe runs back to a very remote period. 
The only record we have of the various 
changes and modifications of structure, 
through which it has, meanwhile, passed 
are found in the rocks, as they are developed 
at the surface. The " testimony of the 
rocks" is so plain and unequivocal, that, in 
many cases, there is no difficulty in arriving 
at the most satisfactory conclusions, in re- 
gard to the agencies by which changes have 
been brought about, flie nature of those 
changes, and the character of the organic 
beings that pc'oj)lcd the earth at successive 
periods. In other cases, where the causes 
to which phenomena are tj be referred, are 
not so obvious, we may apply the process of 
rea.*<oning from analogy, which is perfectly 
legitimate, and leads us to conclusions 
with which the mind is entirely satisfied. 
Among these conclusions, a few of the most 
prominent must suffice for our present pur- 
pose. 

1. We infer from the structure of the 
stratified rocks, atid from the kind of fos- 
sils they contain, that the greater part of 
the h:ibitable earth has, in past times, formed 
the bottom of the ocean, or of great gulf^ 
uiiu iDiuiid seas. 

2. Volcanic forces have so acted upon 
the strata, as to elevate them above the 
ocean level, and give them a great variety 
of position, in regard bt»th to dip, and t > 
the range or bearing of their upturned 
edges. We infer, that volcanic action, on 
an extensive scale, has been the agency in 
producing these changes; first, because no 
other known cau.se is sufficient; secondly, 



because the masses which have been thrust 
upward amongst the stratified rocks, and 
against which they rest, as in the second of 
the preceding figures, bear all the marks of 
having been in a stiite of fusion, and are 
similar, !n man}' respects, to those about 
volcanoes, which are known to be of igneous 
origin. 

6. The elevating forces seem to have 
acted at successive periods of time, with 
long intervals of repose. The evidence of 
this is seen in the fact, that those strata 
lying nearest to the line in which the eleva- 
tion has taken place, seem to have been, at 
first, elevated through a short distance, and 
to have remained in this position, with but 
little dip, until a second set of strata were 
deposited horizontally, with their edges rest- 
ing against those first formed. Then, by a 
second action of the elevating force, both of 
these sets of strata have been again up- 
heaved on one side, so as to increase the 
dip of the first, and give to the second a 
dip which is somewhat less. In many 
localities several of such periods appear to 
have followed one another. 

4. More intimately connected with the 
subject of the geological origin of soils, is 
the fact, that the mineral matter accumu- 
lated, and built up into stratified rocks over 
the expanse of ocean -bottom, varied widely 
in quality at difl"ercnt periods of time. 
During one period limestones formed the 
predomincnt material deposited. Again, 
slates, formed from indurated clay, were 
accumulated; then, perhaps, a stratum of 
sindstonc, or conglomerate. These do not 
follow each other in any definite order, but 
such is their position, that wherever any one 
of them comes to the surface, it gives char- 
acter to the soil overlaying it. 

5. The stratified rocks, however, have 
another point of diff'erence, which is much 
more definite than that of- mineral compo- 
sition; it is found in the character of their 
Ibssil remains. Our globe appears to have 
pa.sscd through various stages of condition 
and climate, suited to difi'erent ordei-s of 
animal and vegetable organisms. This we 
learn by examining the only record we have 
of their history, the rocks above which they 
have lived, and in which they have found a 
vast burying-ground. As we advance from 
the rocks which lie lowest in the sciies, to 
those which form the upper strata, we find 
in our researches, first a class which seem 
to have been deposited in regular layers 



308 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[Mat 



but which contain few, if any, (races ^f 
organic existence. These seem to have 
been constructed before phmts began to 
adorn, or animals to enliven the dreary 
waste, which must have formed the charac- 
teristic feature of the earth, at some remote 



For the Southern Planter. 

Vegetable Physiology. 

Repli/ to Professor Camphell. 
Mr Editor : 



. , „ . . , . -, , I In the April number of the Southern 

per»d of Its unwritten historj. ■ Next above pj^^^t^ i, ^„ ^^ti^l^ ^ p^^^f j j^ (^ 

these occur rocks, built when some of the k^jj ^. ^^^l^j .^^„ (.^11 L^^j^..^^ y^*; 
simplest forms of animated beings, such as j„ j. j ^o my comments, in your March 



the coral, the encrinite, a few marine 
bivalves, the strange trilobite, with here and 
there a number of the finny tribe consti- 
tuted the first inhabitants of a yet gloomy 
world ; while a few flowerless plants pro- 
vided their simple means of subsistence. 

Ascending still higher, we discover the 
varieties of fishes multiplying, and the frog 
and tortoise tribe making their appearance. 
Again we come to vast accumulations of 
vegetable deposits, Avhich nature has laid up 
as fuel lor the use of busy man, that he may 
drive himself and his business forward with 
increasing speed for ages yet to come. Then 
we find still higher up, the records of those 
times, when great reptiles and sea.monsters 
held their sway, and when birds began to 
take possession of their peculiar element. 
Above these we find the entombed mam- 
malia, the hippopotamus, the ox, the deer; 
with fowls, and fishes, and reptiles, appoach- 
ing more and more nearly to the character 
of those we daily see around us. Bur,, in all 
our search, we have looked in vain for man, 
or for any traces of his art. It is not till 
we have passed through all the stratified 
rocks, that we find our own species leaving 
his mark amongst the physical records of a 
world, which has at a comparatively recent 
period been made his habitation, and placed 
beneath his control. 

On the basis of these wide differences 
amongst the rocks and their fossils, geolo- 
gists have marked out definite "groups," to 
which they apply the term *'• formations." 
These formations having been produced at 
successive times, indicate what are called 
" geological periods." Of these we shall 
have something to say, in the order of their 
relative ages. 



Frogs. 

An enterprising citizen of New Jersey 
has prepared ponds for the purpose of 
raising frogs for the table. They readily 
command the price of one dollar per 
hundred at wholesale. Frogs are becom- 
ing the common article of food. 



number, upon his article on vegetable phys- 
iology, which preceded mine in the order of 
publication in your paper. As the professor 
seems willing to " sit at my feet, or any one 
prepared to give him instruction," I shall 
not despair of yet making him a convert; 
but I would advise him not to be determined 
beforehand, to be " a little slow of appre- 
hension," and "if not always ready to adopt 
his (my) theories," at least weigh well the 
facts that may be brought forward in their 
support. As to authorities, while I give 
them their place, I prefer facts, for it is only 
by observing facts as they present themselves 
to the inquiring mind, that the laws of na- 
ture can become known. 

And first : I must correct one misappre- 
hension into which the professor has fallen, 
— as I cannot help thinking — with his eyes 
open. At least, without much stretch of the 
imagination, I think a more rational conclu- 
sion might have been come to. I admitted 
that the sap brought up from the roots ma- 
terial for growth, and that another portion 
was collected from the air in the form of car- 
bonic acid gas, by the leaves, and after ad- 
mitting this as true, the writer then goes on 
to say : " Having nov7 a portion of the ma- 
terial necessary for the nourishment of the 
growing plant, brought up from the roots to 
the leaves, and another portion collected by 
the leaves from the air, we are left to infer, 
(as far as Mr., Taylor tells us anything to 
the contrary,) that it all remains in the 
leaves, exce[)t the water evaporated through 
their pores." It is true I did not say in so 
many words, that the carbonic acid imbibed 
by the leaves was distributed through the 
sap of the plant, as I admit to be the case, 
inasmuch as the sap near the leaves would 
contain a very small portion of matter from 
the roots, the principal part being deposited 
below. I did, however, assert the fact, of 
the acid mixing with the sap, objecting to 
the term " dissolved." I stated the fact 
of the great affinity of water for that gas, 
from the known fact, that it could not be 
mixed with a portion of water without every 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



809 



portion of water in contact bcconiini^ ini- 
pre^rjatcd with it. And I fiirtlier stated, 
tliat '* plants are precisely in that position 
to make theni the niediuni between the 
earth and the air," in the transmission of 
el( etricity betworn them, " and more par- 
ticularly tliritUL;h the water of the sap where 
it meets the <;as." I now leave the })r()fes- 1 
Bor to judge how far his " reliable autliori- 
ties differ from Mr. Taylor," merely saying 
that a majority of authorities is no evidence 1 
of being in the right. Authorities differ,, 
liowever, even by tiie profess^or's own show- ] 
ing. Who shall decide when doctors dis- 
agree ? 

Science must come to facts, for facts alone 
can substantiate it. The fact of the ab- 
sorption of gas by the leaves is freely ad 
mitted ; but' I still think, that if all the 
matters for growth have to be brought up 
to the leaves, and then descend after being 
vitalized, in the descending sap, there is 
every reason to suppose that these materials 
would be deposited more rapidly near the 
leaves than they are The supposition that, 
on the same principle, " the niineral matters 
would be deposited nearer the root," is not 
appropriate. It is si law of vegetable life, 
that plants have the power of separating 
the materials for growth, and depositing in 
each place its appropriate kind of matter. 
Tluis the wheat plant deposits <ilex and pot- 
ash largely in the straw and chaft", while in 
the grain is found starch and gluten, and 
magnesia in the bran. So of every other 
plant. It would be unreasonable to suppo.<;e 
that the "mineral matters" would be de- 
posited in the lower part of the plant, when 
the law of growth directs them to the leaves 
and twigs principally. But the carbon be- 
longs more to the stem and larger parts of 
the plant, and the gas from which it is de- 
rived, is in part carried up by the sap from 
tie soil, and partly imbibed by the leaves, 
thus making up for the deficiency from the 
soil. 

The professor, in noticing two objections 
that I presented against the downward flow 
of sap, reiterates the downward flow with 
more minute explanation, but at the same 
time docs not add a single fact proving such 
downward flow, and then says: " Here then 
we have Mr. Taylor's second point of difli- 
culty set aside." We want something more 
than mere assertion. If this theory is true, 
there certainly can be some facts foufid to 
support it. lie then adds one or two facts, 



tliat he thinks tend " to confirm tlie theory 
of a descending circulation of the elaborated 
sap;" but^'hieh I should explain on a very 
diff*erent principle. " Let a strong cord be 
tied tightly around the bo<ly of a rapidly 
growing tree; or. let a ring of bark a (luar- 
ter of an inch of less in width l)e careiully 
cut out all around the trunk, while the part 
above the ring grows larger tlian the part 
below, the ring will be gradually closed over 
from the upper side, showing an accumula- 
tion of matter from above." I have a 
strong case of this kind on my grounds now. 
A young heart oherry-tree of about three 
inches in diameter, from which a young 
man in our employ, last year, cut out a ring 
of bark of about three-quMrters of an inch 
in width, all around the tree ; the circum- 
ference above the cut is at least one inch 
greater now than below, where the growth • 
has been very little ; there is now, however, 
quite a number of shoots making their ap- 
pearance a little below the cut. The cut is 
not closed up, but much more growth has 
taken place from the upper than the lower 
edge. Now, since the connection of the 
bark is entirely severed, and no passage of 
sap can take place upward 1; encath the bark, 
no materials from below has been brought 
up there, consequently no growth could be 
made there, except from above; the car- 
bonic acid gas being imbibed by the leaves, 
and descending through the sap beneath the 
bark, until checked by the incision causing 
the carbon to be «ieposited there in larger 
(|uantity than if it could have pas.sed further 
down. This is precisely what might be ex- 
pected from the facts of the case. 

I now propose to present some facts bear- 
ing on the question, and I earnestly ask the 
professor's attention to them, and," wish him 
to verify them for himself. I have taken 
the baik oflT of oak timber for tanning 
purposes, and for some varieties, the best 
time is just before the buds expand in 
the spring. At that time the pores of the 
sap-wood and the bark, and the space be- 
tween the wood and bark arc all full of sap, 
and the bark separates easily. There could 
be no downward flow then for there were no 
leaves to cause it, and the sap between the 
wood and bark then had a milky appearance, 
|»lainly showing that there was wcK)dy matter 
in preparation then for deposit, and it was 
beginning to assume a jelly-like appearance. 
It will not do to suppose this matter was 
brought down the fall before; there is no 



310 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[May 



evidence of that; but it must have been 
brought up from beluw by the ascending sap 
and prepared for deposit. ])u|^ng warm 
weather, in winter and spring, the roots of 
trees and plants imbibe the water, and thus 
fill the tree with sap, and matters for growth 
are carried up, and doubtless began to be 
depos^ited belbre the leaved open, as the 
milky appearance of the sap indicates. 
The tree, in the fall, has very little sap, 
and the matter for growth must all be de- 
posited. 

Another, and more conclusive fact, and 
one that I do not see how it can be got over, 
is this : I have been for a number of years 
engaged in the nursery business, hence I 
have been, as it were, compelled to look into 
vegetable physiology; and not having any 
preconceived opinions, I have wished for 
facts to sustain me. In grafting fruit trees, 
apples for instance, we raise seedlings of 
two years' growth, say half an inch to an 
inch in diameter. We take these up and 
do our grafting in the house, and then plant 
them out in nursery rows. We cut the 
stocks off about the surface of the ground, 
as they grew in the seed beds, and insert a 
graft, with the end of it cut in the form of 
a wedge, by splitting the stock and pressing 
the wedge in the cleft. The main secret of 
success in performing this operation, is to 
insert the graft so that the inner bark of the 
graft and that of the stock shall be even — 
DO difference about the outer bark, as that 
of the stock is often thicker than . that of 
the graft. Some recommend to let the line 
of the inner bark of the graft and stock 
cross each other, so that they will be sure to 
be in contact at some point, for on this 
mainly depends success. ^ In this case the 
sap arises between the bark and wood, and 
DO where else; growth commences by gran- 
ules of new wood portruding from between 
the bark and wood, and as the sap enters 
the graft new wood forms there also between 
the wood and bark, and between the two the 
cut-part of the graft and stocks is covered 
with new wood, partly before any leaves 
open on the 2;raft. No new wood whatever 
proceeds from the pores of the sap-wood, 
only from the pores between the wood and 
bark, and thus issuing from both stock and 
graft, the entire cut-surface is covered up 
soon unless the stock is large. This cut- 
surface may be seen by examination at any 
time afterward, until that part becomes de- 
cayed, and never is there a union of those 



cut-surfaces, only a casing of new wood 
around them. 

Here, beyond question, beyond cavil, be- 
yond dispute, the sap rises between the sap- 
wood and bark and makes growth there, be- 
fore any leaves are seen on the graft — no pos- 
sibility of a descending current producing 
this. The same principle is seen in bud- 
ding. We usually insert the buds in the 
fall, and let them lay dormant until spring, 
when by cutting off the whole of the top 
just above 'the bud, we throw the whole 
strength of the tree into the growth of the 
bud. "But if we wish to start the bud to 
growing in the fall, we then cut off the top, 
which presents a downward flow, if there 
was one, and the bud will start into growth 
then. Here the sap ascends beneath the 
bark that causes this growth, for the bud is 
not inserted into the sap-wood, but rests up- 
on it just beneath the bark — no possibility 
of the sap that passes up through the pores 
of the sap-wood reaching the bud at all. 

Here then are facts, of which there can 
be no cavil ; facts that cannot be gainsaid ; 
they stand there "solitary and alone;" no 
possibility of receiving nourishment from a 
downward flow of sap, but all from an up- 
ward flow alone. And if this growth is 
produced from an upward flow alone, where 
is it different from all growth — where is the 
evidence that all growth is not similar? 
These questions are asked in good faith and 
sincerity, let them be answered fairly and 
unequivocally — not by theories or authorities, 
but by plain facts alone. Science must come 
to facts; she has no other reliable support 
in this day. 

Other facts may be added. We often see 
persons who have had the top and side- 
branches of shade-trees all cut off to make 
a more bushy and round top from the new 
growth. Here, there is no possibility of sup- 
port from a downward flow of sap, for that 
is all cut off; yet these trees will put out 
branches hear the top of the stem, and often 
grow freely. Here the upward circulation 
of matter for growth being interrupted, its 
accumulation produces buds that start into 
growth ; and these buds are formed alone 
between the bark and sap-wood, and never 
communicating with the pores of the sap- 
wood, but only resting upon.it. Even if 
they did unite with the pores of the sap-wood, 
the sap, according to the advocates of 
a downward flow, not being vitalized by 
being sent to the leaves, could not produce 



I860.] 



THB SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



311 



growth, and would only make the difficulty 
the greater. 

These may suffice as to facts at present ; 
let us see how they will be answered. As| 
to my objecting to make light the chief 
agent in decomposing carbonic acid gas, the 
professor's rays " will hardly bear the test 
of eitlier authority or experiment." He 
gives authority, but nut a word uf experi- 
ment. In this day, experiment is worth 
much more than authority. I shall not at- 
tempt his proposed potato experiment. I 
have never said that light was not important 
in growth, I only consider, that writers gen- 
erally do not give electricity the full credit 
that that agent is entitled to in the decom- 
position of carbonic acid gas in growing 
vegetiibles. He himself admits that '' no 
one has ever denied that electricity exerts 
an influence in the vegetable as well as the 
animal kingdom." Now, what " influence " 
does it exert? Is it not reasonable to sup- 
pose that this influence is more likely to be 
what I have supposed than any other, if not, 
let us know it. Perhaps there may not be 
so much difference between us, after all, 
when we come to understand each other 
fairly. 

He then goes on : " But when Mr. Taylor, 
or any one else, brings in the operation of 
electricity to solve the mysteries of natural 
phenomena, let him* not forget that he is 
dealing with the most hidden and inexpli- 
cable of all mysteries. An agency of which 
Prof Faraday, the prince of electricians, 



says. 



There was a time when I thought I 



knew something about the matter ; but the 
longer I live and the more carefully I study 
the subject, the more convinced I am of my 
total ignorance of the nature of electricity.' " 
Are we then, becaase we are ignorant of 
" the nature of electricity," to forbear stu- 
dying its laws and bringing them to our aid 
and advantage ? Such intimations come 
wiih a bad grace from the head of an insti- 
tution of learning. They would have dis- 
couraged Volta from discovering the Voltiiic 
pile, and Franklin from proving the similar- 
ity between lightning and electricity. They 
would have prevented, if carried out, that 
grand advancement of the present day, the 
magnetic telegraph. All those engaged in 
these things, were " dealing with the most 
hidden and inexplicable of all mysteries." 
But, does Professor Faraday himself dis- 
courage us from examining into the laws 
that govern electricity, because we do not 



understand its nature? Hear what he says 
on this very subject. In the next page of 
the Southern ]*lanter, after the conclusion 
of the professor's es.say, commences an ex- 
tract from a lecture, *' delivered before the 
Royal Institution, London, by Profes.sor 
Faraday, on Science, as a branch of Educa- 
tion," in which. electricity is spoken of as a 
subject of science, " which has been lefi 
more to its own development, and has pro- 
duced as its results the most enduring marks 
on the face of the globe." The first experi- 
ments of ^'olta, when- he discovered the 
Voltaic piles, " a feeble instrument, giving 
feeble results," yet important as the begin- 
ning of. a series, that. has led through suc- 
cessive stages of discovery, until we now 
have that pre-eminent fact of the electric 
telegraph, a reaiity in successful operation. 
He then goes on and expresses the belief 
" that much as there is known to us, the 
unknown far exceeds it; and that, extensive"* 
as is the teaching of method, facts and law,, 
which can be established at present, as edu- 
cation looking for far greater results should 
be favored and preserved." * * * 
" How well may the young man, entering 
upon his duties in electricity, be taught by 
what is past, to watch for the smallest sign 
of action, new or old ; to nurse them up by 
any means until t1iey have gained strength ; 
then to study their laws, to eliminate the 
essential conditions from the non-essential, 
and at least to refine again, until the encum- 
bering matter is as much as possible dis- 
missed, and the power left in its highly de- 
veloped and most exalted state. * * * 
The beauty of electricity, or of any other 
force, is not that the power is mysterious 
and unexpected, touching every sense ai 
unawares in turn, but that it is under latCj 
and that the txiught intellect can even now 
govern it largely. The human mind is 
placed above, not beneath it; and it is in 
.such a j)oint of view that the menial edu- 
cation afforded by science is rendered super- 
eminent in dignity, in practical application 
and utility; for by cnobling the mind to 
apply the natural power through law, ib 
conveys the gifts of God to man." 

This is but a part of that beautiful and 
eloquent extract, yet sufl^cient to put to 
shame the opinion, that we must not attempt 
to apply the laws of electricity, because we 
may be " ignorant of its nature I" 

But I must draw to a clo.^e ; this essay is 
already longer than I had intended, yet 



312 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[May 



Influence of Different Kinds of Manure 
on Herbage. 

The grasses form a most important tribe 
of farm plants. Nutritious in their bulky 
green state, and highly conducive to the 
health of the stock which browse upon 
them in our pasture fields, they are no less 
valuable when dried into hay. The natural 
history of the grasses has long since been 
written; they are what belong to one great 
family of plants — the graminaceous — and 
possess certain characteristic properties by 
which we readily recognize them. The 
chemical and other properties of the grasses 
differ very considerably. . One contains more 
albuminous compounds; another, more min- 
eral ingredients; one is most nutritive at 
the period of flowering; another contains 
most nutritive matters when fully matured. 
It is, however, singular that we are not in 
possession of reliable data whereby to pro- 
nounce an opinion as to the relative merits 
of the grasses. Science has thrown some 
light upon this subject; it is but that dim 
glimmer which prevents our seeing the en- 
tire distance before us. There is a dark 
place which must be illumined, and an 
ignorance which must be corrected, ere the 
farmer and the grazier can truly balance the 
merits and demerits of particular grasses for 
particular purposes. Chemical analysis alone 
will not accomplish all that we require, any 
more than the empyric conjecture of the 
more practical man ; the two must cooperate, 
and naturally correct an^l assist each other. 
The grasses, like other plants, are amena- 
ble to those various physical agencies which 
influence vegetable life. Heat, air, and 
light exercise their own distinctive functions 
in modifying the size, etc., of plants. That 
there is most intimate connection, too, be- 
tween the soil- and the character of the 
vegetation which it naturally bears, is well 
known. It is also a well known fact, that 
the manures with which we top-dress grass 
lands, very considerably influence the char- 
acter of the sward, diminishing the propor- 
tion of one species of grass, and increasing 
break their force, or shield him from the full that of another. The laws by which these 
weight of misfortune. It is as if his right modifications were eff'ected, remained un- 
hand was withered, as if one wing of an old known, however, until Messrs. Lawes and 
eagle was broken, and every movenient that | Gilbert undertook to investigate the subject. 
he made brought him to the ground. His 'In experiments instituted to test the effects 
eyes are dim and glassy, and when the film I of different manures in simply increasing 
of death falls over him, he misses those ac-|the valuable yield of grass, they were so 
customed tones which might have smoothed struck with the marked eff"ects of some of 
his passage to the grave. |the manures in destroying certain plants and 



more facts might be gfven, and more' might 
be said in refuting the position advanced. 
There is, however, one paragraph so fla- 
grantly unjust, that I must be permitted to 
reprove it. He says, " We had better at- 
tribute much to the ' guiding finger of Om- 
nipotence,' than to say ' we know all about 
it — electricity has solved the whole' myste 
ry.' " These words, " guiding finger of Om 
nipotence," I quoted from his first essay; but 
the language that makes me say, "we know 
all about it — electricity has solved the whole 
mystery," is not mine; and to place it where 
it stands, is to make the reader suppose it to 
be mine, which, whether so intended or not, 
does me injustice, and- deceives the reader. 
I am a plain man, I like plain dealing, and 
therefore speak plainly. 

I will now close, and with the above ex- 
ception, will say that I have been gratified, 
And can, in sincerity, adopt the professor's 
language : " Meantime I shall be glad to 
hear from my good friend again, although I 
have not the pleasure of a personal acquaint- 
ance with him." I think I have "brought 
forward facts, well authenticated," which 
any person may verify for himself, who will 
earnestly endeavor to do so ; and " by a le- 
gitimate process of reasoning, based upon 
these facts, I trust I shall' be able to show 
him that he has been entertaining erroneous 
views and advocating unsound theories," in 
advocating a downward flow of sap in plants. 
All that is necessary, is to examine fairly, 
with a mind divested of previously conceiv- 
ed opinions, and then I shall expect yet to 
receive his "sincere thanks." 

Yardly Taylor. 

Purcelvillej Loudoun Co.j Va. 



The death of an old man's wife, says La- 
martine, is like cutting dpwn an ancient oak 
that has long shaded the family mansion. 
Henceforth, the glare of the world, with its 
cares and vicissitudes, falls upon the old 
widower's heart, and there is nothing: to 



860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



3ia 



families of plaiiUs, that they souL^ht the as- 
sistance of the late Professor Heufrey in 
classityinp: the plants composing the sward. 
The plots selected for botanical examination 
were : 

1. Not .manured. 

1. Manured with ammoniacal salts alone. 

3. Manured with mixed mineral manures 
alone. 

4. Manured with do. and ammoniacal 
salts. 

5. Manured with do. and double quantity 
of do. 

6. Manured with farm-yard manure. 

7. Manured with do. and ammoniacal 
salts. 

The herbage was classified chiefly into 
(a) «;raminaceous plants, (/>) leguminous 
plants, and (t) miscellaneous herbage, prin- 
cipally weeds. 

The graminaceous plants formed, at the 
time of cutting, 75 per cent, of the produce 
of the manured -portion ; on the part ma- 
nured with farm-yard manure they found 
87 J per cent ; ibl per cent, when farm- 
yard manure and ammonical gaits were used; 
75 per cent, on the portion to which mineral 
manures were applied ; 89 per cent, where 
forty pounds of ammoniacal salts alone were 
used; 79 J per cent, by the same amount of 
ammoniacal salts and mineral manure; and I 
97} per cent, whore double allowance ofi 
both ammoniacal salts and mineral manures' 
were app>licd. The quality of the gramin- 
Jtceous herbage varies, no less than the pro- 
portion of it which composed the herbage 
under the different manures. 

At one time the graminaceous portion of 
the herbage consisted of 06 per cent, of 
flowering or seeding stem, and 34 per cent, 
of leaf and undtvclloped stem, on the un- 
manured plot; 59 per cent, of flowering and 
seeding stem by mineral manure alone; 40 
per cent, of the sanie by annnoniacal salts 
only; 75 per cent, by a joint application of 
animal and mineral manures; 67 percent, 
by double application of both manures; and 
80 per cent, when farm-yard manure and 
ammoniacal salts were applied. 

It has been found that the manures which 
increase the amount of whole produce, also 
increase, in a very high degree, the propor- 
tion of graminaceous herbage, a conclusion 
which is of no less interest than importance. 
The foregoing facts also lead to another 
instructive conclusion, namely, that nitro- 
genous manures have a special effect in de- 



velloping the " proportion of leaves and 
shoots," while mineral manures tend to the 
increase of the flowering and seeding of the 
plants ; a conclusion of great practical value 
to the farmer, as it teaches that guano and 
sulphate of ammonia produce very different 
results from tho.<e mineral manures which 
depend for their efficacy on their containing 
the ash constituciits of plants. — Irish Agri- 
cultural Review. 



From the Ohio Farmer, 

What's my Farm Worth? 

I have invested so much money in a farm, 
tools, team, &c. — what are they worth to me? 
They are my capital in trade — what income 
do they yield ? They are my principal in 
bank — does the hiterest support me ? I 
know of no set of queries to which a greater 
variety of answers might be obtained. Some 
men will grow poor in the most lucrative 
kinds of business, while a grinding, half- 
penny sucker, will grow rich in the dullest 
and hardest. Some men would put my farm 
at §50 per acre, and would realize an income 
of 20 per cent. ; another would put it down to 
§25, and would not obtain from it five per 
cent. There is no kind of capital, the re- 
turns of which arc so various, in different 
hands, as arable lands; and all this difier- 
encc arises, as will be readily seen, from a 
difference in management. 

But I have got my farm, with its needful 
buildings — my teams, my cows, sheep and 
pigs, and chickens, and njy tools — and these 
all together are my icorkiwj c(tj)i(<il. It is 
a little diflerent from so much value in cash 
— there is a little more wear and tear, and 
it is not quite so easy to change its location 
anil direction, but 1 confess it cannot slip 
awa}' quite so readily, and is therefore safer. 
Now, every acre of this land represents §50; 
whether it is in a state of high culture, or 
in wood, or wet, unproductive marsh, or 
swale, it lies there, §50 each acre. 

Now, unproductive capital is a dead loss 
to a man. Land that don't produce any- 
thing, is like money locked up in a chest. 
Kvery acre of my farm, which lies unpro- 
ductive from any cau.se — from barrenness, 
from want of draining, from brush and briars 
along the fences, from lack of manuring, or 
good plowing, or anything else, is a dead 
loss to n)e, year after year, as long as I en- 
dure it, to the amount of its cost, at lea.st. 
Now, the question is, can I afford to endure 



314 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[May- 



this loss ? Is it economy for me to invest 
my money in such a way that it yields no 
returns? I think not. I had better unite 
my labor with this capital, until I bring 
each acre to its highest capability of pro- 
ductiveness. I see a difference between los- 
ing the interest on each $bO and making a 
nett profit of $20 per acre. 

But there is another consideratimi : my 
farm is my capital in bank, and as a good 
financief I should be careful of my drafts 
upon it. In plain English, my farm, from 
the surface down as deep as I want to work 
it, is all wheat, corn, oats, rye, barley, fruit, 
animals, grass, butter, cheese, etc. — whatever 
I desire of these things, lo ! I have it in 
my fiirm — in its raiv state — and I have paid 
$50 an acre for the privilege of getting 
these materials out into organized and val- 
uable products. Now, if I ship 200 bu;;hels 
of wheat, 500 of corn, 50 barrels of fruit, 
10 firkins butter, and so on, I am actually 
sending away the most valuable portions of 
my iarm — I am drawing out the principal 
from its place of deposit — from every acre 
I am taking away a certain, tangible pro- 
portion of my $50 worth of farm. How 
long it would take me to get all my grain, 
and grass, and fruit, and animal materials, 
from the soil into an organized, merchanta- 
ble shape, I cannot tell; I know some far- 
mers who have done it in a short life-time, 
and who are now mourning because they 
have not another farm to conquer, or rob, 
rather. They have drawn all their capital 
from bank, and of course the annual income 
is cut off. But I don't want to do this; I want 
to keep my principal good in bank ; I want 
to reap the largest returns possible from it, 
and I want every cent of it to produce some- 
thing. Here are three important and foun- 
dation principles to guide me to be a suc- 
cessful farmer, and to guide every farmer : 
First, every acre must be brought under cul- 
ture. Second, it must be made to give a 
maximum yield. Third, the condition of the 
soil must be kept up to the highest point of 
productiveness. What, then, is my farm 
worth ? — Chas. Betts. 



Put no dependence on genius. If you 
have great talents, industry will improve 
them ; if you have but moderate abilities, 
industry will supply their deficiency. Noth- 
ing is denied to well directed labour; 
nothing worth having is to be obtained with- 
out it. 




i S0utIjtrH ^laiittL 



RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 



Virginian Independence again. 

In the remarks submitted on this subject in 
our last issue, we quoted from the speech of Mr. 
London the following passage, credited by him 
to a correspondent : 

"A vessel drawing fifteen feet water, coming 
to Richmond with plaster from Nova Scotia 
direct, has to pay $100 to $150 [not $1 00 to 
$1 50, as incorrectly printed in our April num- 
ber] for a pilot, equivalent to one dollar per ton 
on plaster, while a vessel from Massachusetts, 
or Maine, with a coasting license, takes no pilot, 
brings plaster subject to no tax, and pays the 
northern man his profit." 

We reproduce this paragraph for the purpose 
of correcting a slight inadvertence of Mr. Lon- 
don's correspondent in predicating his calcula- 
tions of pilotage from sea to Hampton Roads^ 
and thence to Richmond, on a vessel drawing 
fifteen feet water, whereas the depth of James 
River does not safely admit of a draft of morc^ 
than 11 feet at Richmond, and limits the ascent 
of vessels from 11^ to 15 or 18 feet draught to 
City Point. But, the intelligent reader will per- 
ceive that the difference is rather seeming than 
real, or at least of no great importance, since by 
a careful examination of the old law, we find 
the pilotage on a 15 foot vessel, going to and re- 
turning from City Point, to have* been $8 60 
per foot, amounting in the aggregate to $129 j 
while on a vessel of 11 feet draft, pilotage out 
and in amounts to the sum of $125 69. Still, 
this slight modification of the statement, iliough 
more strictly conformable to the state of facts, 
does not impair the force of the argument re- 
specting the practical operation of our laws 
against the direct importation of the plaster 
used by our agriculturists. The licensed coast- 
ing trader, from any of the Northern Slates, may 
still reap the fruit of the discriminating tax in 
his favor, imposed by our bungling and unjust 
legislation, operating, as it manifestly does, to 



I860.] 



TH£ SOUTUERN PLANT£Il 



815 



the ilnmn^o nnd oppreitsion of our own citizens 
and in t^flort denying tlifni iho free exerrise ofj 
ihcir niulouhled right to pni ticipntf, upon terinn 
of jii!-t crpmliiy, in tho ilirect foreign trade of 
the conntry. The old Inw, to which we have 
referred, hn;) been reviseil and amended (?) by 
tlie late General Assembly, but instead of re- 
moving the evils, so fur as the city of Richmond 
and thai portion of the Siatu of wliiuli il is the 
commercial centre are concerned, they hove 
only of:;<ravttteil them, as will be seen by the 
folU)winiJ imposing facts which we now bring 
to view. By the late Act of tho Gerieral Assem- 
bly, vessels from British provinces, trading to 
Alexandria, are placed upon the same footing 
with our coasting vessels, whilst the like pro- 
vision is not accorded to the same class of pro- 
Tincial British vessels trading to Richmond, or 
Other town, situated upon any stream in the 
Commonwealth other than the Potomac River. 
But we reserve this subject for more elaborate 
examination hereafter, and pass on to the con- 
sideration of another, which is at war with the 
maintenance of an independent attitude by Vir- 
ginia. We mean the practical operation of 
Banking. 

In our former article we inerely mentioned 
the reference made by Mr. London to the trans- 
actions of the Virginia Banks as hurtful to the 
commercial find agricultural interests of Vir- 
ginia. We recur to the subject for the jmrpose 
of citing passages from this part of his speech 
in illustration of his position. Before doing so, 
however, we propose to make a few observa- 
tions upon what we understand to be the rela- 
tions of Banking Corporations to the boily politic. 
They are created by public authority in con- 
siderotion of their supposeil subserviency to thfe 
pidjlic weal. They are indued with certain 
faculties and powers, privileges and immunites, 
which do not apply to individuals or unchar- 
tered associations, but exclusively to themselves. 
They exercise the high attribute of issuing notes 
of circulation within the prescribed multiple of 
their specie capital. 

They are permitted to use the notes so 
issued as money in discounting negotiable paper, 
taking interest in advance upon notes issued by 
individuals, but poying no interest upon their 
own. 

Within the limits of their authorized circula- 
tion, and to a reasonable extent on their deposits, 
tlie discounting of paper may proceed without 
any other limitation upon the discretion of tho 
Banks than that which is prescribed by a pru- 



dent care always to reserve, within their control, 
active and available re.-ources sulficieiit to meet 
all their liabilities. 

In considerutioti of these high attributes and 
prerogatives, the Banks are held to the obliga- 
tion of maintaining a sound convertible cur- 
rency, equal in value tothe precious metuls, by not 
transcending the limit of public c-onfidence in 
the excessive extension of their circulation, and 
by their prompt jjayment of all their liabilities 
in gold or silver. 

Inasmuch as the paramount condition on 
which they were created was their public utility, 
and the profit of stockholders only, a secondary 
consideration- -however desirable as an inci- 
dent — the Bonks ore not only boun^ strictly to 
<jbey this fnn<lamental low of their existence 
by subordinating their private emolument to 
public duty, but, lire umler the strong, implicit 
obligation, so to conduct their business opera- 
tions as never to jeopard the pul)lic weal, or 
betray the slightest disregard of the overruling 
consideration upon which their chartered privi- 
leges M'ere obtained. 

The advantages expected to arise from these 
institutions were, in contemplation of law. to 
accrue to Virginia, by their affording to her men 
citizens the . facilities promised in effecting 
through their instrumentality the exchanges of 
trade, and in discounting the negotiable j)nper, 
of approved character, offered them by Vir- 
ginian customers, thus converiiirg into active 
means that which would otherwise remain un- 
available until at maturity, and consequently 
tend, wliile so remaining, to neutralize so much 
copital and to check, pro tanio, the operations of 
the commerce of Virginia. 

Now, if these views are correct, it is manifest 
that dealing in exchange and the discounting of 
bills maturing out of the State cannot bo recon- 
ciled with the ' poramount condition' of the 
creation fif our banks, ond the ' implicit obliga- 
tion' they are under to furnish to the cilizens of 
Virginia the means at their disposal for facili- 
tating the traile and commerce of Virginia. We 
may be told that discounting bills drown on 
sliipments from Virginia, payable without her 
limits, does meet this cardinol requisition, by 
furnishing to our own tnerchonts the accommo- 
dation required to facilicate their operations. 
But who is it tliat entails upon our merchants 
the necessity of going abroad to find a market 
for their commodities, at the cost of freight, com- 
missions, guarantee, storage, marine and fire 



316 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



[Mat 



insurance, &c., &c. — ainountint? to from seven 
and n lia'f to 15 or 20 per cent, on their home 
value ? Why must our cotton, flour, manufac- 
tured tobacco, and other mw and manufactured 
articles be sent to the North instead of finding 
purchasers in our ownniarts? The answer is 
but too obvious. Our Banks will not furnish 
them with the same pecuniary facilities for hold- 
ing their commodities at home, (to await the 
demand from the purchaser, and to aid in build- 
ing up our home trade), by large oddf, as they 
■will do upon bills drawn on projjerty deported 
from our own markets, to find purchasers else- 
where. For the paltry consideration of the 
additional, illegitimate gain of |^ to ^ per cent. 
exchange, our Banks subject our own citizens to 
the necessity of a shave of some ten per cent, 
in charges- -(which goes to enrich Northern cities, 
and build up their trade) — in order to place 
themselves in the favored position necessary to 
enjoy "Bank facilities" for conducting their 
business. Now, if our trade is thus profitable 
to the North, is it not manifest, that if our pro- 
ducers and manufacturers should be assisted by 
loans from our banking institutions to enable 
them to hold their c(fhimodities until they find 
a home purchasher, by which they would effect 
a savmg of commissions, &c., amounting to at 
least 7 to 10 per cent. — we say, is it not mani- 
fest that northern dealers would send money, 
obtained from their own Banks, to purchase these 
commodities, and ours be released from the bur- 
den of furnishing- the capital, as they have been 
and are doing mediately by discounting the ac- 
ceptances of insatiable northern commission 
merchants, who take to themselves the lion's 
share — sucking the juice from the orange and 
accounting with the shipper for the pulp and the 
skin as the "net proceeds" of his adventure* 
Now, what would be the eflJect of such a re- 
form, as is implied above, in banking adminis- 
tration? What would become of the so called 
balance of trade against Virginia, which is 
claimed as the basis of premium on exchange 
in favor of the North? The true nature of this 
balance of trade, claimed as the basis and war- 
rant of a premium on exchange is simply this : 
the voluntary action of our Banks in depreciat- 
ing their own currency, which they are bound 
to maintain at the par of gold and silver, upon-the 
basis of the equality o^^hich it professedly rests, 
by giving their own notes at a discount of i^ to ^ 
per cent., and sometimes more in exchange for 
New York or other northern bank paper at their 
par value, if indeed, they are equal to gold and 



silver, which, by a palpable misnomer, is called 
premium on northern fimds, while it is in fact 
nothing more nor less than the discount upon 
Virginia currency, or its degradation below the 
sjieoie standard. Just as the dearness of all the 
means of subsiitence, and the general rise in 
every description of property, cheat us with the 
semblance of present and growing prosperity, 
when the fact is we are really growing poorer, 
and all our imaginary prosperity is owing to 
the depreciation of nioney by reason of an 
inflated currency, as we shall learn to our cost, 
when by inevitable necessity, unless the estab- 
lished connection of 'cause and effect can be 
broken, this state of things shall be replaced by 
the fearful reaction which is destined to succeed 
it ; or to use other language : when Bank liabili- 
ties for their circulation and to their depositors, 
have to be met at every hazard by a peremp- 
tory challenge of individual debtors to the liqui- 
dation of their indebtedness, contracted under 
this plethoric state of the currency, and required 
to be paid at an enormous sacrifice of property, 
arising not only from the deficiency of the cir- 
culation consequent upon its sudden and ex- 
hausting depletion, but still more by the -panic 
which closes the grasp of the capitalist firmly 
and inexorably upon his money, and fills with 
consternation and alarm the unfortunate debtor, 
^iit it is high time we should introduce to the 
reader's attention the extracts promised from 
Mr. London's speech. They are as follow : 

"But the uses to which the banking capital 
of the Slate has been applied, with the knowl- 
edge and consent of the Legislature, forms an- 
other item in the chain of legislation by which 
our vassalage to the North is continued. By the 
returns made to the Legislature for the year end- 
ing 1st October, 1855, * * it will appear 
that the total discounts payable in and out of 
the State of the different Banks and branches in 
Virginia, pursuing their vocations under charters 
sid)ject to the control of the Legislature of the 
State from October the 1st, 1854, to October 1st, 
1855, were in Virginia $64,990,377.90; out of 
the State $18,363,3.38.85. The proportion is not 
less now, as may be inferred from the fact that 
uniformly, northern bills aiC preferred by the 
banking institutions of the State." 

****** 

'•When the discount follows upon a transac- 
tion by which the property of the citizen of 
Virginia passes into the hand of the northern 
buyers, the banks are mere brokers, who buy 
these evidences of indebtedness, made in pur- 
suance of the transfer of Virginia property to 
some one who has bought it of him, and instead 
of allowing him to find a purchaser for his bill, 
which could be more readily done than to find 
a purchaser for the article itself, which was the 



-mmm^^ 



I860.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



317 



bn^is of the paper, we nilow the banks (whose 
Iff^al v«H'ati(>ii!» should be fo <!iscoiint or h'n<l 
their inenns to cili/ens of the State upon the 
security of two respon>i!>k' luinuv"*) to enter the 
market nn bill-brokers merely, buying; of one 
man to sell to nnoiher — the proceeds of trans- 
neiions that are frecpiently in advance, made 
with the fact nnnonnced by the Banks, 'that if 
certain (lour, for instance, is sent to Baltimore, 
the bill made on this shipment will l)e discount- 
ed, whereas if the Ihuir jjoes tft ^lexnndria it 
will not be discounted." The preference for 
northern bills is sliown by the fact that on many 
occasions sixty days is the limit «)f tiitie for Vir 
pinia paper, whilst ft)ur months on any V'nnkee 
point is ili«?counted — not to proceed into detail 
further with this branch of the subject.' 

The partiality of the Banks for northern funds 
over paper maturing at their own coimiers, often 
results in the manufacture of fictitious paper to 
meet this preference. "'A Yankee'' sells "his 
acceptances and his name, in many instances 
worthless at home, for a commission to a Vir- 
ginian, to whom it (is) more valuable than the 
stock of the State of Virginia in his transactions 
M'ith the Banks. Reaso'ning on these subjects 
is useless, unless these startling facts will make 
US |)ause in our policy, when we see one-fourth 
of the entire bankii.g capital of the State used 
to foster and cherish the disci[)les and confede- 
rates of Sewaril, Sumner, Wilson and others." 

Mr. London objects very strongly to tlie prac- 
tice of the Banks, for the consideration of i per 
cent, brokera^'c, «)f lending their credit by the 
endorsation of sterling bills tlrawn by individ- 
ual exporters of produce, "in order to make 
them sell in northern markets ;'' the effect of 
which is, tljat it '* compels the importers in Vir- 
ginia either to scml to New York a check, bought 
of the Bank, to buy a sterling bill, or to pay in 
Virginia wliat the bill is worth in New York 
and the exchange, as it is falsely called between 
New York and Virginia — the whole transaction 
in this affair, as well as in the former, results in 
this, that ^11 of the influence and power which 
capital can exert, operates against an indepen- 
dent Virginia commerce and in favor of perpet- 
uating our vassalage to northern masters.'' 

"Without stopping to trace this evil througlj 
all its ramificatkms, enough has been stated to 
warratit the enactment that hereafter no bank 
or branch in tlris State shall carry on. either di- 
rectly or indirectly, any operations in any bill, 
note, or other evijtlence of <lebt, i7iaturing out of 
the State. Let them be what they ought to be, 
simply offices of discount and deposit, and leave 
the exchange business to be carried on by the 
merchants of the State. The usual argument 
relied on for defending these transactions is, 



that it enables the produce buyer to pay more 
for wheat ami tobacco than he otherwise could 
d(», if he hud. Pir in>tance. to bring his money 
into the Slate, and pay it down for her agricultu- 
ral products. An easy and conclusive reply to this 
specious statement of this view of the (pie^tion is 
simply this: between the seller and the buyer 
as few Imnds as posjiible is the best for the pro- 
ducer. The instrimientality of the incorporated 
in>fitutions. is wholly from con«'i<lert»tionj» of 
prr>lit. and residts simply in enabling them to 
snb>tilulo to a greater extent their notes in>tead 
of specie; it is Jiy this system of exchanges 
tliat the real redem[)tifin point for the Biink is- 
sues c»f Virginia, has been made in New York, 
and not here iti Virginia, Cut these institutions 
(df from any participation in any thing which 
can divert their attention* from the plain duty 
imposed alike by law and eommon sense, of 
keeping their notes as good as gold, being al- 
ways convertible into coin; and using their 
means in the legitimate busmess of discounting 
the notes secured by two good names of the citi- 
zens of Virginia, and leave the business oTbuy- 
ing and selling bills f)f exchange, where the 
hand of government ought to be seen or known 
only in enforcing contracts between merchant 
ancl merchant. This change in our system of 
banking is demanded by every consi<leration of 
State interest and State i)ride, and is ab.-oliitely 
essential in the great reforms indicated in the 
previous observations. Surely there is enough 
of legitimate business i)aper secured by two 
sidjstantial names in Virginia to abstirb all of 
tlie banking facilities to be furnished by our 
Banks, without seeking to fasten ourselves to the 
changes and speculations of any other State 
North of us. The present miquitous sy>tem 
taxes our mannfacttirers of tobacco and every 
thing else, except, probably, flour, quite one- 
' eightli of the whole value of their entire pro- 
diu'tions, in commissions and other charges, 
without returning fme farthing (except the 
amount made by the banks in exchange, which 
is not above one-quarter per cent.) in any 
way to the capital or labor of the State; for 
if any thirig is beyond dispute, it is that every 
charge of every kind must come out of the land 
and labor of the country ; for it is obvious, that 
if the manufacturer sold his productions here in 
Virginia where they are ma«le, whoever bought 
them would be as able to f)ay the prices he has 
been in the habit of paying through Yankee 
commission houses, who are too often mere men 
of straw, kept up solely by the fact that our 
Banks will discount pa])er i)nyable in New York 
before they will discount similar paper jiayable 
in Virginia; ought there to be this liberty exer- 
ciseil by any. hands over which the State exer- 
cises any controll" * 

We have before us some startling statistico^ 
going to show the "losses sustained by our far- 
mers an«l planters upon the sale of their crops," 
&c.; but we are obliged for the present to with- 
hold them. They, with a further examination into 
the new pilot laws, will forn\the subject matter 
of a future article, in which we shall attempt 



318 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[Mat 



to show the hostility of the laws of Virginia to 
her commercial iiulependence, and how bur- 
thensome has been her policy to the agricultu- 
ral interests of the State. W. 



State Agricultural Fair. 

We congratulate our readers on the auspicious 
event of a union between the Virginia Stale and 
Virginia Central Agricultural Societies, for hold- 
ing the next annual Fair on the beautiful and 
commodious grounds of the Central Society. 
The time will be fixed in a few days, and the 
details of arrangements, premium list, &c., will 
be announced as soon as practicable. Care 
will be taken to anticipate the usual time of 
holding the Fair, so as to allow ample time for 
visitors from the remotest parts of the State to 
return home before the occurrence of the Presi- 
dential election. " Come, haste to the wedding 
ye friends," &c. 



Lime and Salt Again. 

"We have already expressed our own opinion 
that slaking caustic lime with salt water, results 
in the production of two new articles, viz : 
Chloride of lime and carbonate of soda. We do 
not consider ourself so good a chemi^^t as to 
state this as a fact, beyond the fear of contradic- 
tion — but we have no reason to doubt it. The 
mixture has a very strong and peculiar smell, 
which we believe is produced, by the presence 
of chloride of lime, which certainly "smells 
aloud." 

We have been told by several persons, that 
salt had proved an effectual remedy for "lirne- 
burnt" land — and we cannot explain its action 
upon any other grounds than those we have 
hitherto published. 

Dr. John DuVal, of Petersburg, has called our 
attention to an unintentional omission in our 
former article, of one chemical result of the 
mixture, that is, the formation of the hydrate of 
lime, before it can be converted into a carbonate 
by exposure to the air. This we do not consider 
of any materinl importance, as the affinity of 
lime for carbonic acid is so strong, as to ensure 
the speedy change to a carbonate whenever it is 
so exposed. 

Dr. DuVal says he. has never been a believer 
in the "mutual decomposition theory," but in 
view of the importance of the fact — whenever 
it can be established as such — he intends ex- 
perimenting this year for his own satisfaction. 
We hope all qf our readers — who may have the 



opportunity — will do the same, and give us the 
results. 



Emulation Club. 

A friend from Petersburg informs us of the 
establishment, in his neighborhood, of a club — 
the object of which is to ascertain, by carefullj^ 
conducted experiments, how far a man may 
venture Jo go in expenditure, per acre, in "high 
farming," without incurring loss. The land is 
to be measured by the club — (the manures ap- 
plied — the crops all pitched — the rate of ex- 
penditure, per acre, left to the discretion of each 
member,) and the products housed, and measured 
under their immediate surveillance. The report 
is to be made out by the members of the club, 
so as to exclude any possibility of mistake as 
to cost and yield per acre. We commend their 
example to our readers everywhere: and hope 
that every neighborhood will at once establish a 
similar club — as no member runs much risk of 
any loss, while he secures the probability of 
great gain. 



Bright, on Grape Culture. 

We have received from the Author, Mr. Wm. 
Bright, of the Logan Nursery, Philadelphia, a 
very neat and handsome duodecimo volume of 
about 120 pages, on the. -'Single Stem, Dwarf, 
and Renewal Systems of Grape Culture." The 
work contains an outline of the above system ; 
directions respecting the culture of the grape on 
poles, and for the propagating and fruiting of 
them when so cultivated; also, directions for 
the cultivation of the grape in gardens and 
vineyards; for the preparation of the soil, plant- 
ing, pruning, and mulching of vineyards ; for 
the treatment of vines in city yards, and|'on 
arbors; and also for the renewing of old vines. 

The work has some observations on the Ohio 
German system of grape culture; on the man- 
agement of, and on atmospheric conductors in 
the cold vinery ; inside and divided borders in 
the vinery, and composts and soils for bf)r<lers; 
the planting and training in the cold vinery; 
management of the hot-house; injurious effects 
of deep, rich borders, and deep planting in vine- 
yards; special manures for the grape, and 
method of applying them ; concluding with an 
appendix on inside borders and shallow plant- 
ing ; shallow planting of trees, and a new 
method of constructing vineries. 

We think the reader will find that a large 
amount of practical knowledge is to be gained 
by a careful study of this little volume. 



18G0.] 



TUB SOUTIIKIIN PLANTER. 



819 



At Home, March 2n<l, 1800. ) 
Jacksun Co., Arkansas. ^ 

Messrs. .Au(;u8t ff Wtlluims : 

Dfar Sirs — The "back numbers" of your 
inucli L'stecnicd niagn/.iiie are duly to hand, fur 
wliirli favour jdease iiccept my tliniiks. 

Can ytui or some of your correspondents j,'ive 
me iiome iiilbrnuition re^^ardin^ a farming iiii- 
plenicnt iliat will cut corn and cotton stalks i^o 
IJjnt tlicy can be properly turned under with a 
good two horse plow ? 

I learn that the corn planters of Ohio and In- 
diana have ceased to use the ohl ruinous plan 
of raking and burning them. 

If you can refer me to anything on the sidi- 
ject, the information will be gratefidly received 
by Yours, very truly, 

Inexperience. 



Remauks. — The simplest and cheapest con- 
trivance we have ever seen recommended for 
knocking down corn-stalks before plowing, was 
a sapling, or jtole, long enough to reach across 
three or four corn beds — to the ends of which 
trace chains were fastened and connected to- 
gether at the ring of a double bar, to which two 
horses were attached. It was tlien ilragged 
over the field. We never saw ojie work, but 
presume there would be no difliculty in the way 
of its successful operation. As it "carries a 
wide row,'' a man couKI soon level a large liehl 
of corn-^talks 

We annex a diagram fgr the purpose of better 
explanation 



We ank the favor of Doctor Jno. R. Woo«U, of 
Albemarle, to give uh h history of his last year's 
crop " from the stump.'' 

We saw his crop sold at the "Exchange" 
here, and were struck with the neatness and 
taste with which the bundles were put up, as 
well as the very fine quality of the Tobacco. 

Near Richmond mir lands are better adapt- 
ed to the growth of " Shi(>ping Tobacco " 
than any other kind. The leaf is usually too 
thick and heavy for "manufacturing" purposes. 

To get a good price for shipping-leaf, it it ne- 
cessary to handle it properly, anil to prize it par- 
licidarly well. 

We hope Dr. W. will comply with our rerjuest 
as soon as may be convenient to him. 



Mr. Ficklen's "Black Hawk." 

See the advertisement of this fine Stal- 
lion in our advertising sheet. Wo have had the 
promise from Mr. F. to furni>h us with the pic- 
ture of this superb animal for insertion in our 
[lages — and regret that the delay of the artist, 
in executing it, has kept it from us so long. It 
is almost useless to say anything about the 
" Black Hawk '* stock of horses, as their great 
superiority in their class has been so well 
tested in the United States. We do not beljeve 
that they can be excelled for quick draft and 
saddle horses — while their good tcinper, stylish, 
lofty carriage, speed and endurance combined, 
make them the horse for all pleasure purposes. 




Polo. 



Tobacco. 

Afany of our subscribers have begun to raise 
Tobacco without any previous knowledge of the 
best modes of successful handling and prizmg. 
We have had frequent requests from them to 
give as much information on the subject in our 
columns as we could gather from experienced 
plantcr^. This we have done, and propose still 
to do. 



The Sale of Devons at Bhinebeck, N. Y. 

A noie just received from Mr. Wainwright in- 
forms us. that in. conseq»ience of Mr. Alexan- 
der's sale of Blooded Stock being advertised to 
come ofl^ on the same day as the one he had 
chosen, he l>as concluded to postpone Ijis sale 
of Devons until Wednesday, Juue 13th, 
«'»-••-• 

^ Short Horns at Auction. 

• Our readers will find in our advertising sheet 
an advertisement of James Gowan, Esq., (near 
Philadelphia,') of his stock of fine cattle at auc- 
tion. 

Mr. Gowan has been long and favorably 
known to breeders, and his sale will afforil all 
tli«)<" who wi.->!i to buy fine stock an opportunity 
to do so. 

Thr Quarterly Journal nf ^rt is to hand, filled 
with a variety of entertaining and instructive 
articles. 




320 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[May 



ll/M^ 




For the Southern Planter. 

She Sleepeth. 

BY EUGENE d'oRVILLE. 

Cold as marble is her brow, 
Pale her lips, they move not now; 
Hush! in silence lowly bow, 
For she sleepetli. 

Sleeps the last unbroken sleep, 

And the shadows slowly creep 

Over all : — friends sadly weep, 

For she sleepeth. 

Gently part her dark brown hair, 
Softly touch her cheek so fair. 
All is cold and silent there. 
For she Sleepeth. 

Lay her in the quiet tomb, 
Death had no sting th' grave no gloom, 
Let sweet flowers o'er her bloom. 
For she sleepeth. 

. For the Southern Planter. 

To . 

BY JAS. D. MCABB. 

'Tis pleasant quite for one to hold 

The gifts of poetry, 
For pleasure rare and exquisite. 

The Poet oft doth see : 
He lives in joy each golden day, 

Untonch'd by hand of care. 
And views with glad and eager eyes, 

A sky unclouded, fair. 

'Tis bright and beautiful to hold 

The gift of poetry, 
For wild, enchanting visions oft 

Will 'round the Poet stray; 
He breathes an air of sweet romance, 

None others e'er can know. 
And fairy dreams of loveliness 

Will oft before him flow. 

But oh ! 'tis sad and terrible 

To hold the fatal power 
Of weaving into poetry 

The scenes of ev'ry hour! 
Yon know not what mad longings fill 

The poet's aching breast — 
The yearning for a beautiful 

With which he'll ne'er be blest. 



And oh ! what tenderness springs from 

The Poet's eager heart! 
He cannot bear the world's cold sneer, 

Or act a borrowed part. 
Rebufls and frowns are all he meets. 

And ph ! they btn-n like fire; 
Then seek not. on your happiness. 

To strike the fatal lyre. 

To My Mother. 

My mother! many a burning word 

Would not suffice the love to tell 
With which my inmost soid is stirred, 

As thoughts of thee my bosom swell I 
But better I should ill express 

The passion thus, than leave untold 
The glow of filial tenderness 

Which never in my heart grows cold. 

Oft as I muse o'er all the wrong. 

The silent grief, the secret pain, 
My froward youth has caused, I long 

To live my childhood o'er again. 
And yet they were not alt in vain. 

The lessons which thy love then taught; 
Nor always hath it dormant lain, 

The fire from thy example caught. 



One By One. 

One by one the crystal stars 

Peep out from the darkening sky, 

Till the sombre earth is arched 
With a jewelled canopy. 

One by one the warbling birds, 
Winter over, homeward flee. 

Till our silent \voods are glad 
In their loving minstrelsy. 

One by one the tiny seeds 

Li the ground must lie and sleep; 
One by one the silver drops 

Fall from clouds that kindly weep. 

One by one the smiles of joy. 

Words of peace, nnd acts of love, 

Gild the gloottiy sky of life — 
Fill the shining world above. 



The Farmer. 

"Of all pursuits by man invented, 
The farmer is the best contented; 
His calling's good — his profits high, 
And on HIS labors all rely. 
Mechanics all by him are fed. 
Of him the merchants seek their bread; 
His hands give meat to everything. 
Up from the beggar to the king. 
Our clothes from him must first arise 
To deck the fop — to dress the wise — 
We then by vote may justly state 
The farmer ranks among the great. 
If, then, the plow supports the nation, 
And iTien of rank in every station, 
Let kings to farmers make a bow, 
And every man procure ti plow."