THE 



SOUTHERN 




DEVOTED TO 

Agricultnre, Horticulture, and the Household Arts. 



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



J. E. WILLIAMS, M. D., 
Prop. WILLIAM GILHAM. 



Editors. 



f AUGUST & WILLIAMS, 
\ Proprietors. 



Vol. XXI. 



RICHMOxYD, VA., MARCH, 1861. 



No. 3. 



For the Southern Planter. 

A Premium Essay on the Practical, Economical and Profitable Arrangement 
of a Farm of 300 Acres devoted to the Cultivation of Corn and Wheat 
as Staple Crops. 

BY EDMUND TAYLOR. 

[A gol<l medal of the value of $100 was awarded to the author at the United Cattle 
Show and Fair of the Virginia State and Central Agricultural Societies, held in October 
last, for the best Essay on the practical management of a farm of not less than 300 acres, 
devoted to the cultivation of corn and wheat as staple crops. The necessary farm 
buildings to be described ; the proper division of the farm into fields ; the force in teams 
and farm hands necessary for its cultivation ; the rotation of crops pursued; the artificial 
grasses cultivated; the green crops plowed in for manure; the quantity and kinds of 
stock which may be usefully and profitably kept upon it; and all other matters deemed 
necessary by the writer for its profitable and economical management to be distinctly 
stated. Also, the proper preparation of land for corn and wheat, the best times, in the 
opinion of the writer, for planting and sowing these crops, the method pursued in the 
management and disposal of the shucks, stalks, and fodder of the corn, and in harvest- 
ing, preserving and threshing the wheat crop, and preparing it for market.] — Ed. 

In the following essay, the size of the farm is assumed to be 300 acres, divided 
into five fields of 40 acres each, four lots of 5 acres each, and 10 acres to be 
occupied by the necessary farm buildings, gardens, and for other purposes here- 
inafter mentioned; leaving 70 acres of wood-land for fuel, timber and fencing 
purposes, and as a general range for hogs. 

The schedule requires that " the necessary farm buildings be described ;" this 
requisition however is somewhat indefinite, as it leaves in doubt whether the 
buildings appertaining to the comfort of the owner are included or not. 

As these, however, are so entirely controlled by the diversified and almost irre- 
concilable ideas of taste and comfort of different individuals, I shall assume that 



130 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[March 



only those buildings are designated which are exclusively necessary for the prac- 
tical, and especially for the economical management of a farm of the assumed 
size. 

The farm buildings should be located — as far as the nature of things will ad- 
mit — near the centre of the farm. 

This is essential in the application of manure, in going to and returning from 
work, in saving and securing the crops, and in giving the manager — from a cen- 
tral position — a complete and easy oversight of the entire premises. Such a po- 
sition is not only economically beneficial, but also is practically suggestive of 
errors and improvements; for let the manager move as he will, much of the 
farm is brought under his inspection. Experiments are easily contrasted, and 
the stock is immediately under his eye and easily driven to and changed from 
such pastures as in his opinion may seem best. 

I would enclose three acres as a general lot for stock of all kinds, to be sub- 
divided as follows : 

One acre for horses or mules, as the case may be, with a substantial log stable 
near its centre; the stable to be built of barked pine logs, and to have a loft its 
entire length for the storage of provender. The door to be on the South or 
Southc-western side, and stalls arranged on each side of the main length of the 
building at right angles to a passage-way, beginning at the door and running the 
entire length of the stable. The stalls should be at least 4$ feet wide, with a 
good passage or gangway. There should be a slope from the head of the stalls 
to the gangway of from three to four per cent., to carry off the liquid manure 
from the beds of the stalls. Opposite to the door of the other end of the pas- 
sage, a hole should be cut in the logs of sufficient size to throw out the soiled 
litter and manure. This opening should have a sliding, door, to be closed or left 
open as the weather may suggest. An open shed ought to be constructed over 
this manure pile to protect it from the weather. Heaps of manure exposed to 
the weather lose a large proportion of their valuable constituents, in solutions 
carried off by rains, rapid evaporation and undue heating, which produces burn- 
ing or scalding. 

One acre and a half to be appropriated to the comfort of cattle. A shed 
made of plank, with joints well broken, ought to be constructed for their protec- 
tion ; it should open to the South, and have an extension of ten or twelve feet 
at each end, and at right angles to the main length. These extensions or wings 
break off the East and West winds, and materially add to the comfort of the 
stock during the winter. Stalls of good width for the convenience of milking, 
say five feet wide, should be strongly made, and stout troughs slightly raised 
from the ground ought to run the entire length of the shed. Racks must be 
fixed at a convenient height under the shelter, and feeding racks should also be 
made in different parts of the lot, always to contain food when the cattle are 
penned. The racks within the shed only to be filled with food at stated times, 
and of a more nutritious kind than that with which the uncovered racks are 



1861.] THE SOUTHEKN PLANTER. 131 



filled. The troughs are to serve for wash, vegetables, and such short corn as 
may be advantageously used for stock. The general slope — either natural or arti- 
ficial — f cattle sheds should be dished, in order to hold the liquid manure. For 
the purposes of manure, marsh mud — if convenient — weeds, turf, and occasion- 
ally leaves must be hauled into the cattle sheds. Leaves should only be taken 
from ravines where they have accumulated, if taken elsewhere there is danger of 
starving the trees. 

The remaining half acre of the general lot I would enclose and devote to the 
occasional protection of sheep in snowy or rainy weather — they require none at 
other times — calves, and for any emergency — such as the necessary separation of 
stock — which may arise. 

It is to be distinctly understood, that if the location admits of it, each lot 
should include a stream of water. Should this be impossible from the nature of 
things, water must be conveyed to the lots by pipes, or a well be dug in such a 
position as to afford at all times an ample supply of water for the different kinds 
of stock. Nothing contributes more essentially to their health than pure water, to 
be used as instinct and nature direct. 

I should devote two acres to the houses and gardens necessary for the manager 
and farm hands. A quasi holding of property by negroes tends to make them 
industrious and respectable, adds materially to their comfort and keeps them from 
wandering about on holidays and at unseasonable hours of the night. 

The manager's house to be built of hewed pine logs, one and a half stories 
high, pointed with mortar within and without, and containing four rooms. Such 
a building is substantial, comfortable and healthy; and, if occasionally white- 
washed, will last half a century. 

Assuming that the farm hands are negroes, I should build for them one double 
cabin of plank ; the planks to be vertical, and the joints broken by strips three 
or four inches wide. The cabin to be underpinned with stone or brick, with a 
tight, thick plank floor, a chimney in the centre, and a loft above sufficiently open 
to allow the noxious gases to escape, yet close enough to add comfort to the 
rooms below. 

White-wash to be used freely within and without these buildings, and all filth 
and rubbish to be carefully removed, at stated intervals, to a compost heap, which 
must be sprinkled occasionally with lime. 

In the neighborhood of the manager's house, but at a sufficient distance to 
prevent fire from communicating from building to building — a remark which is 
applicable to all the farm buildings — a wheat-barn must be built of sufficient 
size to insure the safe storage of the crop. It is almost impossible to say what 
the exact size should be, for under a gradual system of improvement, or in par- 
ticular localities well or ill adapted to wheat culture, the size required might 
materially vary. Under no circumstances, however, would I build one of less 
size than 18 by 25 feet, with a loft over the main room, and a shed-room of 10 
feet in width at each side. The loft and sheds will materially assist in storing 



132 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[March 



seed and refuse wheat, ^nd serve at times for the temporary housing of other 
farm products. The construction, however, is of more importance than the size. 

The usual plan of weather-boarding outside, and partly or entirely sealing 
within, is highly objectionable in my opinion. Such a plan affords a sate and 
comfortable harbor for rats — those destructive pests of the farmer. 

I suggest, then, that the house be framed in the usual manner, and simply 
sealed up with tongued and grooved plank on the inside of the studs. This plan 
effectually excludes the rats, and saves a large outlay in weather-boarding and 
labor. For the protection of the exposed studs and frame-work, I would apply 
hot pitch or gas tar — the smell of the latter will soon disappear — and renew it at 
intervals of one or two years. 

If grain garners are used, they should be placed head to head against the di- 
vision walls of the main building and sheds; and they should be made of plank 
sliding in grooves on upright posts, for the ccnvenience of throwing two or more 
together as well as for purposes of general storage, when the garners could be 
entirely removed. 

I would here take occasion to say, that the roofs of all the farm buildings 
should be either painted with a think coat of metallic paint, or thoroughly satu- 
rated with hot pitch — the latter is the cheapest plan. And let it be remembered 
that this must be occasionally renewed in the ordinary course of a generation. 

Where slate is cheap and accessible, it may be used advantageously for roof- 
ing, if well put on, otherwise it will only prove a source of annoyance and ex- 
pense. 

The main room as well as the sheds of the barn should have external doors, 
and the sheds must connect internally with the centre-room by doorless openings. 

We come now to the corn crib. 

It is best to build this of hewed pine logs also, and not less than 15 by 30 feet, 
with a passage-way at one gable end, into which the outer door should open. 
This passage will prove very convenient in shelling and separating corn, and 
serves a good purpose, by preventing mud and dirt from being carried into the 
room appropriated to the corn. The logs should be close enough to exclude the 
necessity of chinking, and the house itself should by all means be rat-proof. To 
secure this desirable end I would recommend the following plan : 

Locust posts must be obtained, and one end tapered down into a spile-shape, 
insert the large end in the ground, resting on rock or other firm foundation. 
Before the sills are laid on the posts, pieces of tin or sheet iron of two or, three 
feet in diameter must be nailed on top of the posts horizontally with the ground, 
leaving or making a hole in the middle for pinning down the sills, and on these 
the sills should rest. It must be carefully borne in mind, that the building must 
be sufficiently elevated above the ground to exclude the possibility of a rat's leap- 
ing from the earth to the crib. 

It is utterly impossible, if this plan be carefully executed, for a rat to reach 
the crib by climbing the posts; and if a little care be taken to leave nothing 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 133 

resting on the bouse by which a rat might climb up, the farmer may safely defy 
this noxious pest. 

The other buildings required, would be sheds large enough to shelter all the 
farming implements from the weather. The loss annually sustained by neglect- 
ing this precaution, is a steady and continual drain upon the purse of the farmer. 

An acre of land around these farm buildings will be sufficient for loading and 
unloading, turning and hitching up, and also furnish the necessary space required 
for performing the various local farm duties. 

We have now four acres left of the ten set aside for farm use of a specific 
kind ; I should set apart three acres of this in some moist position as a standing 
meadow, the annual crop of grass from which will add materially to the support 
of the stock. The other acre I should devote to the rearing of locust posts for 
fencing purposes. The seed may be sown in drills, or planted at regular inter- 
vals, and trimmed out if too thick or when large enough for stakes or posts. I 
have seen successful plantations of locusts raised in the drill; and land once set 
well, continues to yield indefinitely a valuable supply of timber, and the land will 
become year by year more fertile. 

The subject of fencing is not adequately understood or appreciated by farmers 
generally. Live fences of Cedar and the Osage Orange should be thoroughly 
tested, and wherever it is possible, they — one or the other — should be substituted 
for the present expensive and laborious system of fencing. The cedar-wattle, 
closely interlaced and nicely trimmed is a valuable fence; but this sort of fence 
must rest on a ditch-bank, so that the wattle itself may not be higher than four 
feet; if the wattle is higher than this limit, it is apt to blow down in high winds. 

While on the subject of fencing, I will say a few words in reference to fuel 
and wood-land. The indiscriminate slaughter of valuable wood for fuel is de- 
plorable, and enough to drive an economical and judicious European farmer mad, 
could he witness the sang /void with which it is done by our farmers generally. 
Judicious cutting is beneficial ; and for fuel, the crooked, half-decayed and wind- 
shaken trees should be used first ; and it should be a cardinal rule to cut out such 
trees as shade or injure a young plantation, which will soon become very valuable 
if assisted by the judicious application of the axe, saw or knife. 

I have not designated, be it observed, the size of the stable, sheds and some 
other buildings, but the requisite size will of course be suggested to the intelli- 
gent farmer when I come to enumerate the farm-hands, team and stock which in 
my opinion are sufficient for the judicious cultivation and profitable management 
of the farm. 

The number of farm-hands required for the cultivation of a farm of the as- 
sumed size, I should designate as follows: 

Five able-bodied men, to be employed exclusively in the care of the stock and 
the cultivation of the farm. One woman to cook, wash and mend for the mana- 
ger and the hands, to milk also, and attend to the dairy. This woman to be 
assisted by a girl of some twelve or thirteen years of age. 



134 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[March 



Thus we have seven hands in all, which number I think is- sufficient for the 
profitable cultivation of a farm of three hundred acres, devoted exclusively to 
the two staples of wheat and corn. 

An ample team is necessary on every farm, and I would here remark that 
Southern farmers are more in this particular than perhaps in any other connected 
with the cultivation of our lands. The number of team upon many farms is 
often inadecpuate for performing the work well and at the proper time, and the 
quality — where this objection does not bold good — is frequently so detestable as 
utterly to destroy the effect of numbers. 

I might dilate upon the subject of labor-saving machines and the substitution 
of animal for human labor, but the scientific experiments and practical results 
on the subject are so satisfactory and patent, that it seems as useless as to argue 
upon a foregone result. I would, however, most earnestly recommend the appli- 
cation of labor-saving macbines in every reasonable form, and especially the sub- 
stitution of animal for human labor in every shape and form, where it can possi- 
bly be substituted. 

The number of good horses or mules — the latter preferred — I should fix then 
at six ; this number will enable the manager to use two three horse plows for corn 
and wheat fallows. 

Under no circumstances would I permit any land to be first broken by less 
than three horses to a plow, and at a less depth than eight inches, but rather at 
ten or twelve if the soil admits of it. 

I am aware that some farmers say, that in light soils two horses will plow deep 
enough. There may be such soils, but I have never seen an acre of land in 
Virginia on which deep plowing would not be advantageous. In many parts of 
the State, where the land had been plowed, from time immemorial, only a few 
inches deep, deep plowing alone has changed the desert into a blooming Eden. 

Of course I do not mean to assert that judicious cultivation and improvement 
must not contribute to the renovation of these worn out lands, but what I mean 
to say is, that the foundation and basis of improvement is deep plowing ; deep 
enough to turn up the hidden trea^re which has been accumulating for ages. 

It is asserted by some farmers also, that only an inch or so of subsoil sbould 
be inverted at any original fallow, upon the ground that this is as much as can 
be improved. I disagree with this theory also, and for the following reasons : 

Because the surface-soil is not injured by the admixture of the subsoil, but 
rather gains by the absorption of agents in the subsoil not possessed by the sur- 
face-soil. And because the subsoil feeds upon the atmosphere, obtaining ingre- 
dients hitherto not possessed ; and, besides, derives and confers untold benefits — 
through the decomposing action of frost — by the hitherto undeveloped but now 
released chemical agents which it contains. fr>u T* 

In addition, I may mention the ease of cultivation after deep plowing, the 
facility with which the roots of plants may extend in depth and breadth for feed- 
ing purposes; and especially the advantages in absorbing and carrying off sur- 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 135 

plus water to spring channels below, which never would be reached but for deep 
plowing. 

Deep plowing is the antidote, while shallow plowing is the cause of washes and 
gullies. 

I would keep nine good cows, and the manager — consistently with other duties 
— should turn his attention to making butter for market, an article of agriculture 
too much neglected by our farmers. 

Forty merino sheep I should advise as scarcely enough for a farm of three 
hundred acres, but say forty choice merinos. I prefer this breed to any other, 
because it is very hardy, perfectly healthy in the largest flocks, and easily man- 
aged; it yields large and heavy fleeces of wool, second to none for general 
utility.* Four good oxen would complete the list of necessary stock. 

I will suggest here, that it might be well to keep a good brood mare or two, 
to raise horses for supplying the wants of the farm, or for sale, as circumstances 
may suggest. 

It is almost impossible to designate the number of brood sows, but the intelli- 
gent farmer will be able to estimate the required number when I come to mention 
the number of fatted hogs which should be annually killed. Let him be careful, 
however, to select a good and approved breed, this is a sine qua non, for it costs 
more, sometimes twice as much, to fatten a land-pike than his carcase will sell 
for when slaughtered. 

Although not required to do so by +he Schedule, I deem it proper to give the 
number and kind of farm implements which will be required for working the 
farm. Before doing so, however, I would again call attention to the fact, that 
the farmer who does not avail himself of the various labor-saving agricultural 
machines now in use, is, to say the least, behind the age, and wilfully neglecting 
his own interests. Especially on small farms, and with few hands, are these 
machines necessary and advantageous. 

f*" One good ox-cart, two light but strong two-horse wagons, one thresher, sepa- j 
f rator and cleaner combined, two three-horse plows of approved make, three one- 



se plo 1 
or i„ 

o cood 



\ 



j horse plows, a heavy bull-tongue cultivato^ I harrow shape, two harrows, two 
' light one-horse cultivators, one fan and two good cutting-boxes, I should enumer- 
ate as the principal farm implements required for the economical, timely, and j 
thorough cultivation of the farm. • 

To these may be added on e reaper, a good grain cradle for opening a way and 
for cutting such spots as are impracticable for the reaper, a corn-planter of the 
most approved make, and a light, substantial drill, without guano or other attach- 
ment, as we have nothing to do, in the present instance, with such manures. 

It may not be amis3, however, to observe, in reference to bought manures, 
that as we call in the physician to heal the sick, we may likewise buy some of the 

*The success of the merino sheep, in Culpeper county, is almost miraculous. See 

article "Merino Sheep," in last Patent Office Report, by a German sheep grazier. 
-> - r > fici/tr- * A A , « i « _i i, . iv ' 

•^ti ■ X,7i-, ; . ■> >,;.■: , .-.,■; ■ ■ 4,^3^ 






_ 



136 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[March 



most approved fertilizers to heal galls and filled up gullies, when there is not 
sufficient niauure upon the farm for these purposes. 

It may be well, also, to observe, that some few of the farm implement?, such 
as plows, &c, had better be duplicated, or rather an extra one should be on hand 
in case of breakage in a busy season. It would be well, in fact it is necessary in 
some localities, to have a clod-crusher for pulverizing the soil. There are several 
cheap kinds which may be made upon the farm, one or two of which I will 
mention. A stout log, of about eight feet, sawed into sections and attached to 
the usual frame, is a cheap and efficient crusher. The sections may be made to 
revolve upon a single iron rod, thus moving together; or by a separate rod and 
separate frame — the whole on one large frame — they may revolve independently 
of each other, a very convenient form for curves and turning, as it allows the 
various sections to revolve in the proper ratio of a moving radius. There must 
be an interval between the sections, in each case, to allow for the effects of centri- 
fugal and centripetal tendencies. 

Another simple plan is to bore a stout log full of holes, a few inches apart, 
and insert pins, leaving them four or five inches long, this is a very effective 
crusher, especially where the clods are very hard. 

As it is a farming maxim, "that he who hauls well generally farms well," it 
may be proper to say a few words about farm roads. These should extend into, 
or to every field, as the locality may require; they should be graded, and have 
no grade higher than five degrees, and especially should the manager not put off 
mending them "until a convenient season," but always keep them in order. 
If the manager has a true eye, he can run these roads without a level, but if not 
it will be necessary to use that valuable instrument. A cheap and good one 
must be constructed for farm use, and this involves a difficulty not generally over- 
come by farmers, for I consider the ordinary rafter-level as utterly useless. I 
know I am treading upon dangerous ground in attacking an instrument which is 
so highly thought of by distinguished gentlemen of Virginia, and especially do 
I regret to differ with one gentleman whose talents and accomplishments are only 
equalled by his curtesy and honor M* 

But I am constrained to say, that the idea of running levels by a bit of board 
fixed horizontally to the end of a pole, and stuck up here and there in a field and 
sighted over by the operator, is, to me, supremely ridiculous. It always reminds 
me of the " devil on two sticks," seeking what mischief he can do. An instru- 
ment of this kind is used on many farms for running corn rows, and I have 
scarcely seen a farm upon which this practice was patent, that was not rapidly 
running away in washes and gullies. Instead of this worse than useless instru- 
ment, I recommend the following as cheap, accurate and valuable. 

Take a piece of scantling and level one side with a plane, mortice a hole in it 
large enough to receive an elongated ounce vial. Fill the vial with spirit nearly 
to the top, cork and hermetically seal it. Then with putty, and by the plumb 
and the air bubble in the vial, imbed it in the mortice, and you have a cheap and 



1861.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



137 



accurate level, sufficient for all farming purposes. Of course the level must be 
fixed on a leg or legs. -£'( w f'J^> ~ /uMXWi^iK, Woa*^\j, >,, 

It will be recollected that the farm is divided into five fields of 40 acres each, 
and into four lots of 5 acres each. One of these 40 acre fields is to be culti- 
vated in corn. The plowing and preparation of the ground, and everything con- 
nected with the cultivation of the crop, will now be stated. 

The field is to be plowed with three-horse plows as early in the fall as possible. 
In the spring — previous to planting — the land is to be thoroughly torn to pieces 
with the bull-tongue cultivator, and afterwards nicely and well harrowed. The 
corn to be planted with the corn-planter, and as early in April as the weather 
permits; distance between the rows, or drills, to be four feet; distance in the 
drill, or of the hills, apart, to be two feet, leaving one stalk in the hill. This 
distance will give 5460 stalks of corn to the acre. 

It is thought by some that planting portions of the crop at different times is 
best, in order to secure a favourable season for at least a part of the crop. This 
may be well in some soils apd localities, but is liable to the objection of derang- 
ing the general and systematic working of the crop, and of giving different 
periods — often inconvenient — for securing the matured crop and the fodder, and 
materially interferes with the regular progress of wheat seeding. 

lam convinced, however, by practice and observation, that entire early plant- 
ing, in any series of years, will eventuate in a larger , yield than any other plan, 
however much specific rules may suit particular localities or peculiar systems of 
farming. 

There are many modes of cultivating the corn crop, which recommend them- 
selves to the farmer, but the basis of all modes is to work in time, and to keep 
the land free of grass and weeds. I prefer the following mode, which is 
sanctioned by some of the most successful corn makers in the State. 

As soon as the corn is up, the dirt must be thrown from the corn with single- 
horse plows, running two furrow s in a row with the bar side of the plow next 
to the corn, and as close as possible without cutting it up. The hands not 
engaged in plowing to follow on and thin the corn to the required thickness; this 
should be done as early as posssible, so that the whole nutriment of the soil may 
be expended upon the stalk that is to bear the ear, and not on those which must 
eventually be destroyed. As soon as this operation is over, the earth to be throw n 
back to the corn, splittin g the row out fully and clean, and lapping the dirt 
round the hills of corn. :rwe-Ji« •*•.** ^lov^k ti 14 **<n> tfiyxq . ^ 

The hands should again follow the plows and uncover and straighten any corn 
injured by the plowing, and chop up the weeds and grass not entirely destroyed 
by the plow. These two operations should, if possible, be finished before harvest. 
As _gpon as harv est is over, the corn must receive its last or laying-by working. 
Then the single horse cultivator comes into use; it must be run twice in a row, 
levelling the high beds made by the last plowing. Again the hands follow; 



&W< 






•J 



138 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[March 



sucker the corn and chop up any weeds or grass not destroyed by the cultivator. 
This is all the working required by the corn crop.* 

[to be continued.] 

Love of Flowers. 

No man can cultivate too earnestly a hearty love of flowers. We may not 
measure the value of them as we measure merchandise, for the influence flowing 
from them is ethereal and intangible; yet not more necessary is pure air to a 
healthy growth and broad development of body, than is a loving communion 
with these " sweetest thoughts of God" needful for all true up-building and ex- 
pansion of the mind. The notion that it is a weak and feminine thing — a thing 
for children and women — to interest one's self in flowers, is utterly false. One of 
the most humanizing, and therefore nohlest things in the world, is a devout study 
of these beautiful works of God. There are granite peaks lifting themselves 
bare and bald with forbidding aspect, which, though clothed with grandeur, are, 
nevertheless, the unloveliest objects of nature. There are other peaks which 
have as much of majesty, yet nestled in whose rifts and climbing up whose sides 
many colored flowers unfold their beauty, and by their soft hues relieve the stern- 
ness of the dull, harsh rock. He is the truest man whose character thus com- 
bines strength and conciliating tenderness — whose principles are firm as moun- 
tains, yet at the same time are always adorned by the verdure of a gentle chari- 
ty. From no source can man gather so many gentle thoughts and unpolluted 
feelings, as from intercourse with flowers. If the Infinite is ever turning from 
the care of circling worlds to the adornment of the violet, surely it cannot be be- 
neath the dignity of man to follow his Maker with a reverent step, and learn the 
lessons which he has written for him in the humble flower. — Prairie Farmer. 



Management of Cream in Cold Weather. 

For ■ some reason not yet known, cream skimmed from milk in cold weather 
does not come to butter when churned, so quickly as that from the same cow in 
warm weather. Perhaps the pellicles whieh form the little sacs of butter are 
thicker and thougher. There are two methods of obviating this trouble in a 
great degree. One is to set the pan of milk on the stove, or in some warm place, 
as soon as strained, and let it remain until quite warm — some say until a skim of 
cream begins to form on the surface. Another mode recommended, is to add a 
tablespoonful of salt to a quart of cream when it is skimmed. Cream thus pre- 
pared will generally come to butter in a few minutes when churned. It is 
thought the salt acts upon the coating of the butter globules, and makes them 
tender, so that they break readily when beaten by churning. — Maine Farmer. 



* Every farmer should have a calendar of work for each month, in which it would be 
well regularly to note "the stages of the game." 



$304 95 


70 


00 


64 


00 


316 


88 


484 


46 


923 


00 


§2,163 


29 


§40,000 00 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 139 

For the Southern Planter. 

Farm Account, 
Shcnoing net per cent, made on Plantation by Th. J. Randolph, Jr. 

EXPENSES. 

1855. 

To Sundries, - - - - - ' : •- 

" Overseer's wages, ..... 

" Taxes, ------. 

* Hire of negroes, ..... 

" Railroad freight and commission, 

" Guano, plaster and grass seeds, .... 

Total amount of expenses, 

Capital invested in plantation stock, etc., 

A Equal to ten per cent, on capital stock. 
B " " 12 6-10 " " " " 

RECEIPTS. 

1855. 

By 1892 bushels of wheat, @ $1 89, 
« 1314 a u corn, @ 70 cents, 

" Cash for tobacco, ..... 

" " " lambs, ..... 

" 2306 lbs. of pork, @ 8 J cents, 
" 38,939 " " oats, (a) §1 15, 
" Sundries, ...... 

Total amount of receipts, ... 

" " " expenses, ... 

A Net amount of receipts exclusive of support of family, 
Support of family derived from farm, - 

B Net receipts including support of family, - - §4,824 12 

EXPENSES. 

1856. 

To Sundries, ...... 

« Taxes, ------- 

" Hire of negroes, -_-.-.-.- 

" Railroad freight and commission, ... 

" Guano, plaster and grass seeds, --.-.- 
" Seed oats, ...... 

Total amount of expenses, . . - 

Capital invested in plantation, etc., ... 

C equal to 6 22-100 per cent, on capital. 
D " "8 72-100 " " « " 



§3,531 


95 


1,001 


44 


729 


33 


71 


50 


190 


01 


451 


21 


211 


97 


§6,187 


41 


2,163 


29 


$4,024 


12 


800 


00 



§98 18 


90 


00 


254 


03 


642 


23 


990 


24 


51 


40 


§2,126 08 


40,000 


00 



140 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[March 



1856. RECEIPTS. 
By 2145 20-60 bushels of wheat, @ $1 39, 

" 317 " " com, (oj 73 cents, 

" 4203 lbs. of pork, @ 8* cents, 
" 85,891 lbs. of oats, @ §1 12, - 
" 25 £ cords of wood, (a), $3 66, 

Total amount of receipts, 
" " " expenses, 

C Net receipts including support of family, - 
Support of family derived from farm, 

D Net receipts including support of family, - 

1857. EXPENSES. 
To Sundries, - 

" Overseer's wages, - 

" Taxes, - 

" Railroad freight and commission, 
" Guano, plaster and grass seeds, 

Total amount of expenses, 
Capital invested in plantation, etc., - 
E Equal to 6 46-100 per cent, on capital, 
F " "8 73-100 " " " " 



1857. 



RECEIPTS. 



By 2136 30-60 bushels of wheat, @ $1 19, 
" 4531 lbs. of pork, @ 7i, 
" Cash for beef, - 
" 73,840 lbs. of oats, @ 78, 
« 8269 lbs. of tobacco, @ $7 68, - 

Total amount of receipts, 
" " " expenses 

E Net receipts excluding support of family, 
Support of family derived irom farm, 

F Net receipts including support of family, - 
1858. EXPENSES. 

To Sundries, .... 

" Overseer's wages, ... 

" Taxes, ----- 
" Railroad freight and commission, 
u Guano, plaster and grass seeds, - 

Total amount of expenses, 
Capital invested in plantation, etc., - 
G Equal to 4 38-100 per cent, on capital. 
H " "7 04-100 " " " " 



$2,991 


60 


231 


04 


346 


75 


952 


51 


93 


33 


84,615 23 


2,126 


68 


§2,489 


15 


1,000 


00 


§3,489 


15 


$50 00 


150 


00 


90 


00 


316 


35 


731 


56 


$1,337 91 


44,000 


00 



$2,546 


51 


325 


75 


93 


80 


582 


81 


632 


09 


$4,180 96 


1,337 


91 


$2,843 


05 


1,000 


00 


$3,843 05 


$69 


21 


.175 


00 


90 


00 


294 


75 


750 


30 


$1,379 26 


45,000 


00 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 141 

1858. RECEIPTS. 

By 1322 bushels of wheat, @ SI 35, - - - $1,789 42 

" 20 " " potatoes, .... 20 00 

" 149 " " corn, @ 95 cents, ... 141 82 

« 8750 lbs. of pork, @ 7 cents, - - - - 612 50 

" 6630 " " tobacco, @ $6 79, - - - - 450 26 

« 18,900 lbs. of hay, @ 75 cents, ... 141 75 

* Cash for beef, 195 50 



Total amount of receipts, ... $3,351 25 

" " " expenses, - - - 1,379 26 



G Net receipts excluding support of family, - - $1,971 99 

Support of family derived from farm, ... 1,200 00 

H Net receipts including support of family, - - $3,171 99 

1859. EXPENSES. 

To Sundries, - - - 

" Overseer's wages, ..... 

" Taxes, ------- 

" Railroad freight and commission, ... 

" Guano, plaster and grass seeds, - 

" Twenty head of cattle, ----- 

" Negro clothing ------ 

Total amount of expenses, 

Capital invested in plantation, etc., - - - - 

O Equal to 5 62-100 per cent, on capital. 
P " "8 29-100 " " " " 

1859. RECEIPTS. 

By 2095 bushels of wheat, @ 01 10, - - - $2,312 33 

" 100 bushels of corn, @ 90 cents, - - - 90 00 

" 8060 lbs. of pork, @ 7 71-100 cents, ... 621 63 

" 23,040 lbs. of beef, @ $3 70, - - - - 851 45 

" 524 lbs. of mutton, (a) 08 cents, - - - 41 92 

" 388 lbs. of wool, @ 22£ cents - - - . 87 30 

" 12,630 lbs. of tobacco, @ $5 17, - - - 653 66 

" 11,680 lbs. of oats, @ 80 cents, ... 116 80 



$232 


64 


150 


00 


108 


00 


432 


53 


830 


60 


400 


00 


90 


00 


$2,243 77 


45,000 


00 



Total amount of receipts, ... $4,775 09 

" " " expenses, - - - 2,243 77 



O Net receipts excluding support of family, - - $2,531 32 

Snpport of family derived from farm, ... 1,200 00 



P Net receipts including support of family, - - $3,731 32 

Net per cent, from plantation for five years, excluding support of family, is 
6 53-100. 

Net per cent, from plantation for five years, including support of family, is 
9 7-100. 



142 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[March 



The Miller, his Son, and his Ass. 

A miller and his son once drove an ass to a neighboring market town in order 
to sell it. They had not gone far on the road before they were met by a number 
of girls, laughing and singing. As soon as they saw the father and son trudg- 
ing after the ass, they said one to the other, " Did you ever see such a couple of 
dull fellows, to let the ass go in that manner when they might be riding?" The 
father overhearing this remark, immediately desired his son to mount the ass, 
while he proceeded cheerfuly by his side. After a while they came up to some 
old men, who seemed to be earnestly debating some important matter. When 
they saw the young man riding on the ass, and the old man walking patiently 
by his side, one of them exclaimed, " Do you tee that young scapegrace riding 
while his old father walks by his side ? Does not that prove what I have been 
saying ? Is not that an instance of the respect shown to old age by the young 
of the present day ? Get down you young rogue, and let the old man take 
your place !" As soon as the son heard these words, he immediately jumped 
off the ass, and let his father get up. In this manner they went some distance 
farther along a sandy road, when they were met by some peasant women. They 
immediately bawled out to the father, " You are a cruel old fellow to make your- 
self so comfortable on the ass, and to let your poor son toil through the deep 
sand. It is impossible for the lad to keep pace with you." The good-natured 
miller, wishing to oblige all parties, immediately desired his son to get up behind. 
In this way they were drawing near the town, when a shepherd, minding his 
sheep by the road-side, called out loudly, " Pray, my friend, does that ass belong 
to you?" " Yes," said the miller. "One would not have thought so by the 
unmerciful manner you have loaded him. Why, you two fellows are far better 
able to carry the poor animal than he you!" The father and son at once got 
down, and the son said to his father, " What now shall we do to satisfy the peo- 
ple ? We must at least tie the ass's feet together, and carry him on a pole on 
our shoulders to market." So they tied the ass's legs together, and, by the help 
of a pole on their shoulders, they endeavored to carry him across a narrow 
bridge which led to the town. This was was so novel a sight that the people 
left their shops and houses to enjoy the fun. But the ass, patient as he is said 
to be, could not endure either his situation or the noise on all sides of him, so 
he commenced kicking away at the cords which bound him. He soon managed 
to burst them asunder, and tumbling off the pole, he fell into the river, and 
being carried away by the tide, he was drowned. Upon this, the old man, an- 
noyed at having tried in vain to please everybody, and vexed at the loss of his 
ass into the bargain, made the best of his way home again. 

It is impossible to please everybody. — Fable-Book. 



A Winter Cake. — Take half a cup of butter, two of sugar, three of flour, 
and one of thick, sour cream, (instead of eggs,) get it ready for the oven in the 
usual way, then sprinkle and stir in a teaspoonful of soda, bake it slow. 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 143 

From the Northwestern Farmer. 

Improvement of Hogs— Selecting Breeders. 

As regards this special department of stock, the farmer should be as careful 
to secure improvement in fattening proclivities, as in anything else. Mind, I 
do not say that he should ignore a careful selection of kind, but that after he 
has made improvement in that, to see farther that he improve his own, particu- 
lar lot of hogs, by increasing their abilities to fatten. The whole school or agri- 
cultural philosophers may think that I am " beside myself " with a new theory ; 
but, I care not a mite, since I believe, that all I have written for the agricultural 
press is founded on experience, and not on " theory" — at least I intended it to be 
so. Let me submit the following proposition, which if not correct, let some one 
tell me. I for one believe it to be an important element in this improvement of 
swine by cross and otherwise. 

Proposition. If from any litter, we take a female, marked for fattening quali- 
ties, steady growth, plumpness &c, and from another litter of the same kind — 
but unrelated — we take a male noted for similar qualities ; the offspring of these 
two, with scarcely an exception will have so much of the qualities of their parents, 
as to excel the litters from which their parents were taken. In the case of cross, 
we might impute their improvement to that; but it operates as well in the full 
blood, or with the offspring of unrelated parents of mixed blood. 

If the above proposition be true, then whatever disappointment has been ex- 
perienced by farmers in the selection of kind, may be in part, traceable to their 
carelessness in producing from the original. 

If the above proposition be true, then no farmer should allow the hogs to de- 
teriorate, by employing his neighbour's inferior stock to associate with his own 
superior — much less with inferior stock. 

If the above proposition be true, then can we improve even our common stock; 
and that has verily been done, we may improve Suffolk, and Yorkshire, and 
Berkshire, and Chinese ; if we can make an improvement by crossing, we can 
make an improvement upon that first improvement. Is that too mystical ? * 

* * Some kinds of hogs require a greater age for full growth than others. 
I think that those which require the greatest age may be made to weigh much 
heavier than those which attain full size early, but are not so profitable, in as 
much as they have to be kept so much longer through cold weather, when a 
larger quantity of food has to be provided which is not paid for by their growth. 
Hogs kept over one winter may pay well enough, but kept two winters pay poor- 
ly enough. For instance, I had three hogs 16 months old, killed the 22d of 
Nov., one of which weighed 378 lbs. A warrant of 200 lbs. increase in each 
one, would not pay me for another year's feed and trouble of feeding them. The 
Chinese, Suffolk, and crosses with these and the common, attain size early, and 
make thick pork. The Suffolk is invaluable in many respects. 

"Some one" has said, "some where," I do not remember where, that "hogs 
should be kept thin through the summer ; that they would fatten more rapidly 



144 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER [March 

in the fall, &c, &c." Now all that may be true, and be very disastrous to the 
farmer in the end. Will a hog grow, and be stinted at the same time Impossi- 
ble. For this process then to be profitable to the farmer, the hog must have a 
mushroom growth, which is contrary to experience. They should not be kept 
fat, but in good order to insure steady growth, and should be thoroughly fatted 
by the time cold weather sets in. for we do not get half price for our corn to 
keep our fat hogs till "Christinas" in this cold country; especially do we not, if 
we keep them exposed. We would not get full price to keep them in close pens 
till Christmas. 

I keep my pigs in close, tight pens in the winter — allow them a small yard 
only in the summer, and put them up close again by the first of September. I 
do not feed pumpkins, squash, or " arm6-full of Panic grass," to them, but all 
the corn or meal they can eat, and plenty of cold water to drink. A person need 
have no "flabby pork," nor pork that will "shrink in the pot," if he will take 
take pains to re3r them properly — keep them close — feed those he intends to fat- 
ten, on perfectly sound corn, with plenty of pure water to drink. 



Draining Orchards. 

I visited, not long since, the successful orchard of seventy-five acres, owned 
by Mr. James Wakeman, of Cottage Hill, Du Page county. One of the leading 
features of this orchard was, the trees had the appearance of being planted on 
ridges, which was caused by annually ploughing towards the trees. He com- 
mences to plough next the tree first, which leaves a deep furrow in the centre be. 
tween the rows, which acts as a partial drain — a very efficient surface-dra'n in 
winter. For when the snow is thawed by the influence of the sun, the ground 
being frozen, it runs into hollows. It cannot penetrate the soil. If the s'ope 
is completed to the dead furrow, it goes there. But if there is a hollow imme- 
diately about the body of the tree, it flows there. I have seen it stated recently 
that the expansion or lifting power of ice is nearly equal to twice the lifting 
power of gunpowder. Hence the effect of a body of ice immediately about 
the body of u tree; hence, too, the importance and benefits of banking up 
with earth, in the fall, immediately about it. I have had trees destroyed in 
this manner by ice forming about the collar. I have seen hardy grapes ruined 
in the same way. Scores of trees, whose bodies are otherwise protected by the 
sun, are filled at the collar by this lifting ice. It is a good plan, I think, to bank 
up about trees in the fall, and especially plough orchards as above described. — 
Prairie Farmer. 



Pickle for Beef. — To eight gallons of water add two pounds of brown 
sugar, 1 quart of molasses, four ounces of salt-peter, and fine salt till it will 
float an egg. Beef put up in this way will keep good without absorbing so 
much salt as to make it hard and though when cooked. 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 145 

From the Northivestern Farmer. 

Practical Hints about Poultry. 

BY C. N. BEMENT. 

Our object in this communication is to give our method of improving and 
keeping fowls, as we have paid considerable attention and have had some expe- 
rience in the business. 

Every one must be aware of the fact that, generally speaking, the fowls ordi- 
narily kept by our farmers are small in size and usually but indifferent layers. 
Neither their inferiority in size, nor their poor egg-laying qualities, however, is 
to be attributed to the kind of food they receive, (for farmer's fowls generally fare 
well,) nor to want of attention ; but to the fact that in many cases, the stock is 
never changed, or if changed at all, so seldom as to be productive of no good 
results. Thousands of miserable, weak-minded people, idiots and lunatics, attest 
the evil results of marrying between blood relations. If such be the conse- 
quences resulting from breeding in-and-in, from the human family, will not the 
principle apply equally to fowls ? Will not a stock of fowls degenerate from 
year to year, both in size and in other good qualities, if no addition from other 
varieties or other yards are not made ? Look to the condition of the fowl known 
as " Dunghill," a variety more generally had than any other in this country 
and which, although now small and comparatively worthless, were, doubtless, at 
one time in every respect equal to those for which such enormous prices have 
latterly been obtained. Why this degeneracy ? It is very easily understood. 
The idea of improving the breed of fowls rarely visits a farmer's mind ; and in 
the multiplicity of duties resting upon him, he does not think it a matter of suf- 
ficient importance to change cocks with his neighbor, or to kill off his old ones 
and purchase new. This is a great error, as we shall endeavor to prove, by facts 
from our own experience. 

Some thirty years ago, being convinced that by changing our plan of breeding 
fowls, we could very materially improve them in some very essential particulars, 
we purchased some forty or fifty head of the finest "Dunghill" fowls we could 
find, paying attention to size and form only, color being disregarded. The oldest 
in the flock was not more than seven months. We purchased them in the fall 
of the year, provided them with warm comfortable quarters, fed them well and 
received in return a good supply of eggs. 

From this flock we raised during the next summer about three hundred chick- 
ens. The young cocks were either sent to market, or served up for our own 
table. We did not retain a single one of them. The old ones were also disposed of, 
and an entire new supply of young cocks of the best size and form we could find 
purchased. From the pullets we selected one hundred of the best for breeders. 
The same system was pursued the ensuing spring, and we thought the progeny 
of the second year somewhat superior in size to their progenitors. Their laying 
properties were certainly improved. The year following, the cocks of the pre- 
vious year were disposed of, and their places filled with new ones. The two-year 
10 



146 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [Mauch 

old hens were also disposed of or retained for hatching. The third year we had 
the satisfaction of beholding great improvements — the results we had anticipated. 

The chickens were not only greatly improved in size and appearance, but we 
received nearly double the quantity of eggs from the same number of fowls. We 
still pursued this plan, and cannot but commend it to the attention of others. 
Our fowls were at least one-third larger than the original ones, and cost us no 
more food or trouble than the smaller ones, and when sent to market they brought 
a much better price. 

In winter, fowls like a warm southern aspect, where they can huddle together 
in the sun during the morning and middle of the day, and screened from the 
northern and western blasts. Provide them with such a place and plenty of food, 
such as corn, barley, oats, buckwheat, corn and cob-meal mixed with scalding 
water, and boiled potatoes, not, without an occasional feed of animal food and con- 
stant access to pure water, gravel, old mortar, oyster and clam shells and bones, 
all broken finely, and they will yield eggs in abundance through the winter. 

Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 

Treatment of Young Mares. 
Are young mares injured for fast work by having colts at an early age ? 

I have no doubt that the powers of a mare are seriously impaired for fast work 
after she has had a foal. It may not stop her growth, because a filly which has 
been well kept up to three years old, does not usually grow much after that pe- 
riod. It may not greatly detract from her appearance, although it must tend, in 
a certain degree, to increase that very usual defect in mares, the disproportionate 
weight of their carcass compared with the power of their legs. But the very 
fact is itself a strong presumption against the expediency of the practice. I 
imagine that those bieeders who resort to it, do so either from mistaken views of 
economy, or only apply it to such mares as they propose to retain for mode- 
rate work about home. Without entering at length into the physiology of the 
subject, it appears to me that one consideration suffices to condemn the practice. 
The whole art of training a horse for a race, or preparing him for the hunting 
field or other fast work, consists in bracing his muscular s}'stem and discarding 
from the frame all superfluous matter. In the breeding animal the very reverse 
of this is required ; our preparation must then be made for the total relaxation 
of the system, which is requisite for the birth of the young animal. When it is 
considered, moreover, that this state of relaxation is continued for six months 
longer, or until the foal is weaned, it must be evident that the system can scarcely 
be expected ever fully to recover its tone after prostration so severe and relaxa- 
tion so protracted. The case of heifers and ewes feeding well under similar cir- 
cumstances, to which my correspondent alludes in another part of his letter, is 
not a parallel one. In these latitudes we do not require our horses to lay on flesh, 
but to work. That exceptions may occur to the rule that breeding unfits a mare 
for fast work, I do not doubt; but it is never safe to take exceptions for a guide. 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 147 

As far as my experience goes, its result is quite in accordance with theory. I 
once had a mare which had bred a foal at four years old. In spite of her being 
well bred, powerful, with a handsome figure and fine action, she was worthless as 
a hunter. What made this the more remarkable • was that she belonged to a 
family celebrated for their excellence in this respect. She had no unsoundness, 
she was a fine goer for a short- distance, but was useless in a run, although no 
faults could be detected in her wind. She appeared utterly to flag after an 
amount of work which to an ordinary hunter would only have been exercise. 
She was a hearty feeder, and was capable of standing a good deal of slow work, 
as, for instance, in harness. 

1 consider, in short, that to breed from a growing filly is to run the hazard of 
unfitting her for fast work. — Cor. Lon. Field. 



Col. Pratt's Dairy Farm. 

The following statistics of Mr. Pratt's dairy is from the volume of the Trans- 
actions of the N. Y. State Agricultural Society for 1859 : 

Col. B. P. Johnson — Sir : In the last year's report of the State Agricultural 
Society, you were pleased to publish the account which I submitted of my dairy 
farm for the years 1857 and 1858, and your courtesy at that time induces me to 
offer for your consideration a like account for 1858-59. Referring to my for- 
mer communication, I have to give the following figures, observing now that I 
have employed the same help upon the farm as I did then. 

BUTTER. 

Fifty cows realized, 
Average number pounds to each cow, 
My butter netted me this year, 
Hogs, weight 6,455 lbs., 

Total, 
From this deduct on farm investment, interest 
Labor on farm and repairs, ... 850 



1857. 


1858. 


1859. 


ft>s., 6,500 


8,050 


8,300 


130 


161 


166 


- 


- 


$2,070 


- 




418 



1,550 



Making the net gain for the year, ... 

My farm, stock, &c, is valued at $10,000. Within the past year I have set out 
1,400 sugar maple trees, and a few elm and beach trees. 

Raised 500 bushels of corn, 700 bushels of carrots, 300 bushels of potatoes, 
200 bushels of turnips, 70 tons of hay, 50 tons of cornfodder and stalks. 

The subject of manures is, we all know, attracting considerable attention 
throughout the country, and it may not be out of place for me to state what I 
am doing in this matter 

I have a large wagon (bark rack) of the capacity, of say, two cords; this I 
send, with a man and all the idle boys I find in the village, to the woods, where 



148 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [March 

they rake up from two to three loads per day ; these leaves are carried to the 
hogpens and the barns where they serve as bedding to the stock; and when well 
mixed with the other manure (throwing in occasionally a barrel of wood ash;s and 
a load of old spent tan bark as a decomposer of the leaves,) they go to the ma- 
nure heaps or on the land. I am satisfied with my experience thus far in mak- 
ing this kind of manure. This, with the care given to the farm, has nearly dou- 
bled its value. From three acres of land on the side hill I have cut twelve tons 
of clover and timothy hay the past season at one mowing. 

My practice is to put on manure both spring and fall, raking it fine and level 
ready for the scythe. My cows are, with one exception, natives; I stable them 
in winter and feed them about two quarts of meal per day through the spring, 
with all the hay and stalks they want. I have for them in the yard a never-fail- 
ing, never-freezing trough of spring water, and to which, summer and winter, 
they can go at pleasure, and I can't help thinking that they arc all the better for 
this privilege. 

In this connection let me add that I have raised a native heifer calf, which, for 
good points, can hardly be improved, not yet a year old, which weighs 750 
pounds, gaining about two pounds per day, the mother of the calf weighs 860 
pounds. Both the cow and calf furnished with meal occasionally, and this con- 
firms me in the opinion I have held for a long time, that the keep will do very 
much to improve the breed. A recent examination of stock farms in England, 
and viewing the cattle in London market from nearly every country in Europe 
has not lessened my faith in this matter. I am yours truly, 

Z. Pratt. 



A Concert by the Cows. 

When, as it oftentimes happens, we hear the tinkling of a sheep-bell or a cow- 
bell on the hills or in the woods, we are reminded of the many pleasing allusions 
of the British poets to this cheerful rural sound. The bells, it is true, are not 
generally as musical as they might be, yet they strike a pleasant chord in the 
heart of every one who loves the country. It has often occurred to us, that if 
the manufacturers of these bells would make some of a superior quality of tone, 
not a few farmers would be glad to buy them for their herds. It would be a 
pleasant sound for the traveller to hear from a distance, as the animals wended 
their homeward way at night, and it would gladden the ear of the proprietor and 
his family. We have heard a few such bells. 

Within a short time we have seen it stated that a certain English nobleman 
has suspended a musical bell on the neck of all his cows, each bell tuned in a 
different note of the scale, and the whole running through several octaves. A 
visitor to this farm is charmed by the music, as well as by the sleek sides of the 
cattle. Sometimes he hears several notes in unison, then a slight discord, then 
a sweet harmony, and all varied by distance, and by the rising and falling of the 
breeze. 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 149 

For the Southern Planter. 

The Cultivation and Management of Tobacco. 

[A Premium Essay.'] 

Influenced by an hereditary fondness for the culture of tobacco, and desiring 
to contribute, though but a mite, to the success of our Union enterprize, I pro- 
ceed to make some suggestions upon the culture and management of tobacco. 
In these observations I shall attempt as great conciseness as may be compatible 
with perspicuity, tiryv^tuu- Jzj4A*laj ^y (jur-Jzti^ vwJUYtf£n»V So^PC-frfa** 

I shall not pause' upon the threshold of the subject to argue the question, 
whether we should raise tobacco at all, or not; for whether we view the subject 
in a moral or an economical point of view, and to whatever conclusion we may be 
led, there seems to be an urgent necessity, on the part of most persons, impelling 
them to plant tobacco j for in our climate, and on our soil, it seems to be the most 
uniformly safe and reliable production, on which to rely as a money crop ; and the 
most elaborate argument upon that point would produce no practical results. But 
a malady which cannot be cured, must be governed and directed. We will plant 
tobacco ; and it becomes us to consider in what way we can plant to the greatest 
advantage, — with least injury to our lands, and greatest profit to ourselves. 
PREPARATION OP THE PLANT BED. 

The first thing essential to success, in making a crop of tobacco, is an early and 
abundant supply of plants. With an abundance of early plants, success is always 
possible, without them a failure is almost certain. And in the first place, let it 
be remembered, that the labor of burning and preparing plant land, in the 
winter season, is not at all to be compared to the inconvenience and loss result- 
ing from a failure in plants the following spring. Therefore, I say, sow as much 
plant land as will in a season, really favourable and propitious, furnish plants for 
three time? as many hills as you design planting. I know of no other mode of 
guarding against seasons late and unpropitious. In this case, if the seasons 
should be favourable, you will have an abundance of large fine plants to set 
your crop the first season after your land is prepared, and thus gain a great 
advantage in securing an early and regular stand of plants, and the entire grow- 
ing season for the tobacco to mature in ; and also, by having an abundance of 
early plants ready, you secure much greater independence of the seasons for 
planting, since by the use of good plants and chaff, you can frequently plant with 
the season in the hill on first being made. And, on the other hand, if the seasons 
are very late and unfavourable, by reason of a larger surface to pick, you will 
still be enabled to plant so much the earlier, as in those seasons they gener- 
ally grow with greater irregularity, and by means of the greater abundance 
for replanting, you still have manifest advantages in securing a stand. In either 
case you will enjoy the satisfaction of giving to your less fortunate neighbours, 
which is by no means a small matter, for I would rather give away an entire 
(planting than to beg one plant. To make sure, I suggest that the proportion be 
no less than one hundred square yards, to every ten thousand hills to be plan 



1 be 
ted. 



150 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [March 

The selection of plant land is a matter of great moment. It is best that 
several kinds be selected with reference to moisture, in order to suit any kind of 
a season ; or if they can be located hard by a stream, this necessity may be obvi- 
ated by the use of a hand-pump, or a temporary change of the branch for water- 
ing the bed, by which means, in a drought of great severity, moisture may be 
furnished sufficient to prevent the depredations of the fly, and keep the plants in 
a healthy and growing condition. An incidental advantage in such a location is, 
that guano may be applied, as a top-dressing to the small plants, with greater 
safety and benefit, as it may always be made to precede a copious watering, which 
greatly enhances its action. 

As to the preparation of the land, the plan I have found most successful is 
briefly this : After the selection of a suitable spot, to burn before Christmas, or 
as soon thereafter as the earth may be found in a proper condition, by which I 
mean that it shall not be very wet, nor is it best that it be extremely dry. Let 
the burning be rather moderate; just so hard as may be necessary to destroy the 
roots and seeds of grass, without burning the mould of the soil. If the burning 
be early, I do not think it necessary to remove the ashes, as by being mixed with 
the soil, and leached for several months before the germination of the seed, they 
become rather advantageous than otherwise. Have the bed thoroughly prepared 
by chopping with both grubbing and hilling hoes, being careful not to invert the 
surface soil. Then sow the best Peruvian guano with regularity, at the rate of 
500 lbs. ^jJ acre, and chop and rake until you feel satisfied that it is perfectly in 
corporated with the soil to the depth of two or three inches. It is best to apply 
it at about that depth. It is best, also, to apply it at two sowings, and chop 
thoroughly and rake each time. It must be remembered, that the tobacco plant, 
at its earliest germination, is an extremely minute and tender growth, and it is of 
the utmost importance that the first springing rootlets should have a bed of soft 
earth, and that the plant food should be presented in the best possible mode for 
immediate appropriation. When the land is nicely prepared, sow seed regularly 
and liberally; — twice as many as you ever heard mentioned in any of the old 
rules, — at two sowings, having the first half of the seed raked in very lightly, 
with an iron tooth rake; and after they are all sowed, have the bed well tramped 
until the land is sufficiently close and compact. Then spread fine, well-rotted 
stable manure, free from seed of all kinds, to a depth of one inch, and finally 
cover with straight brush, or if brush is difficult to obtain, use wheat straw, as I 
have several times done with success. Many persons may object to my recom- 
mending thick sowing, but I have never known a man to fail, in a tobacco crop, 
from having too many plants, while I have known many failures from having them 
too thin. The young plants, of late years, have so many difficulties to contend 
with, that I prefer to have them very thick at first, and after the dangers of fly, 
frost, &c, are principally past, if they are still too thick, they may be thinned 
easily with an iron rake. The dressing of stable manure, which many would 
think unnecessary, I think of essential service. It seems to me to exert a three- 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 151 

fold beneficial effect ; first its positive and direct effect as a powerful manure ; 
secondly, the peculiarly warming influence exerted by such manure hastens the 
germination of the seed ; thirdly, by settling closely around the plant, and above 
many of them, it affords great protection from frost, while the plant is in a 
tender state. If the straw-covering has been used, suffer it to remain until the 
frosts of spring have ceased in a great measure, when it had better be removed 
by degrees, with a steel fork. This is necessary that the plants may assume a 
more hardy growth, previous to transplanting. And after all these efforts, if the 
plants are still later than would be desired, a top-dressing of manure, applied 
every few days, will hasten them forward with astonishing rapidity ; but if these 
suggestions have been attended to, it is almost certain that you will have plants 
both early and abundant, and the young planter may judge how important I con- 
sider it to have plants, by the time I have devoted to the subject, and the 
minute, and I fear, tedious manner in which I have treated it. But we come 
now to the second division of the subject : 

THE PREPARATION OF THE LAND AND CULTIVATION OP THE CROP. 

If you design planting on lot land, it should be thoroughly and deeply 
broken, during the fall or early winter, and harrowed occasionally to keep down 
the grass. In the mean time the litter of the plantation should be thrown upon 
the land with a lavish hand, and if it be abundant, I think broad-cast the best 
mode of application. If the quantity is limited, and you wish to make the most 
of the given amount, I think it best that it should be trenched. This may be 
done either with a trenching plow, or with the ordinary two or three-horse plow, 
running twice in the same furrow, and throwing the earth each way. In the 
trench thus formed, let the manure be deposited and somewhat compressed, and a 
ridge formed on the top of it by the same plows, thus precisely reversing the 
series of trenches and ridges. I am clearly satisfied that this is the very best 
manner in which unrotted wheat-straw, or any very coarse, long manure can be 
applied, as well for convenience of tillage as for the benefit of the growing crop. 
Let it be borne in mind, that whatever can be successfully done by horse-power, 
is cheaper thus done. I have found tobacco to grow equally as well on ridges 
made by plows, as the best hills made by hand. If it is designed to cultivate a 
large c rop to the force employed, it is best to have these ridges checked, which, 
if well done with a suitable implement, will very much facilitate the operation, if 
not, indeed, supercede the necessity of hilling. By having it checked you are 
enabled to bring horse-p o wer to bear upon it in both directions, which will greatly , 
relieve the tedious and laborious operation of hand-h oeing. In the intermedi- 
ate spaces between the checks, made by the plow, let the earth be compressed by 
a sound pat with the hilling boe, to designate the exact spot for the plant, and you 
have as good a hill as can be made. If the ridges have been thrown up with good ' 
season in the earth, and it is somewhat early in the planting season, the plants 
may be set in these without rain, and with every prospect of their living. This 



152 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [March 

I prospect is greatly enhanced by setting them late in the evening, and covering 
them with a small lock of green clover, or a handful of wheat-chaff. If it 
has been necessary *o ridge in dry weather, it is best to wait until it rains, rather 
than incur the risk of losing the plants, and the labor of an extra planting. On 
the other hand, tobacco should never be planted when the earth is so wet as to 
pack next to the planting peg, since the hard earth next to the young plant 
would be very prejudicial to an early and vigorous start. The plant should be 
set a little deeper than it grew in the bed, the roots all tending down, and the 
earth carefully but firmly compressed to the root. 

Now we come to the cultivation of the crop. There seems to be no crop re- 
quiring less particularity of culture than the tobacco crop. Any conceivable 

■ mode of destroying the grass, and stirring the earth, will answer to induce vigo- 
rous growth, if the land and seasons suit. But I think it desirable that the earth 

( should have a good, deep and thorough breaking, thus early in its cultivation, 
which will promote a broad, healthy and vigorous growth in the plant, and pre- 
vent the difficulty known among planters as buttoning. The soft and freshly 
broken earth, invites the young roots to a deeper and wider range, and the leaf 
will not fail to take a corresponding manner of growth. Many persons recom- 
mend the use of the coulter, but I have been in the habit of using the little turn- 
ing plow, passing it both ways and bearing the earth from the plant, and running 
as near to it as possible, without loosening it, and if there should be moisture in the 
land, even that would do it no injury. This operation covers whatever of grass 
may have started in the middle of the row, and as will readily be seen, leaves 
but little for the hoes to do. It is best, however, that they pass over after the 
plows, scrape off the crust and grass immediately next to the plant, and draw up 
fresh earth. This operation if well done, leaves the young plant in fine condi- 
tion for growth ; — free from grass, with an abundance of soft, fresh earth next to 
it, and underlying it, in every direction. After two or three weeks it will be 
proper that this operation be renewed. Let the same plows pass through it in 
both directions, bearing the earth towards the plant. Here again will be found 
the great advantage of having the land checked, as the labor of hilling by the 
hoes will be reduced more than half, and it will be more thoroughly and effectu- 
ally done by the plows. 

By this time it will be large enough to begin to top. I think the cases very 
rare when it is advisable to leave more than ten leaves upon a plant. My custom 
is to prime, to six inches, and top at ten leaves. By this means you make but 
little lugs and short leaf; the tobacco will be greatly more uniform in length and 
quality, the leaves will ripen more nearly at the same time, — will grow longer 
and ripen better, and it is the approved opinion of most planters, will yield more 
and better tobacco, than if a greater number of leaves had been left. As the 
season advances, the number of leaves must be diminished. 

After your tobacco has received the last working, has taken entire possession 
of the land, and been all topped as you desire, you have but two difficulties to 



\ 

t 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 153 

contend against until it is ready to bring to the house. These are the horn-worms 
and the suckers. My tobacco crops have been graduated, not by the quantity 
we could cultivate, bjit_bjjhe_arnpunt we could keep the worms from destroying. 
They certainly constitute the most serious difficulty the planter has to encounter. 
And to begin at the beginning, it is certain that every possible mode of destroy- 
ing the horn-blower should be adopted, and assiduously followed, as you may feel 
a perfect assurance that in a corresponding ratio will the worms be reduced. 
Many may be killed with paddles by the boys around the Jamestown blooms,/ 
white lillies and tobacco blooms. I have read of great destruction to the fly by 
the blowing of certain poisons into the blooms. I have never tried it myself. I 
have been told that if you raise a torch-light each night about where they most 
frequent, that great numbers of the fly would be attracted by the light, and get 
their wings scorched in the blaze. I have never tried this, but have no doubt 
upon the general principles which prevail among the insect tribe, the effect will 
be as described. One of the most efficient and interesting, and certainly the most 
profitable modes of getting the worms off the tobacco, is by means of a large flock 
of turkeys. If forced to remain in the tobacco for awhile they will form a fond- 
ness for the amusement of catching them. By these assistants it is probable that 
the women and boys of the plantation will be able to keep them under, and also 
the suckers, while the men of the farm may be engaged about other things ; and 
this brings us to another division of the subject, namely : Cff€%H i^"3*ti#w£ 

THE BUILDING OF TOBACCO BARNS. 

Let it be distinctly understood, that if they are to be built, the interval of 
time between the cultivation and cutting of the tobacco is the best and most suit- 
able. It should not by any means be deferred, for, however busy you may 
be, you may rest assured that you will not be less so when your fall duties begin 
to press upon you. If you cleared a new-ground (to use the old plantation phrase) 
the winter before, every tree which would answer for a barn-log, or a tier-pole, 
should have been reserved, and taken directly from the land to the location of 
your proposed building. By this you accomplish the double purpose of clearing 
your land of them, and at one handling, get them in place, at the most lei- 
sure time of the year, when teams very often have nothing else to do. And when 
logs are cut and in place, the barn is more than half built. Another advantage 
of this arrangement is, that the material will be lighter to handle ; and, I think, 
a pine log cut in the winter, and the bark suffered to peel off, as it will do the 
next August, makes a harder and more enduring piece of timber than when cut 
in mid-summer. 

But few planters have barn room enough. It is often the case that the loss 
on one crop of tobacco, together with the extra labor of hoisting, rehanging, &c, 
would more than suffice to build a barn. No planter ought to stop building barns 
until he has a plenty to hold his entire crop at one hanging. Twenty-five feet 
square is a good and convenient size to build barns, but I am satisfied that to 
make the yellow wrapper a smaller size — say twenty feet square — is better suited. 



154 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [March 

When I commenced farming, under press of circumstances, I was induced to 
build a barn, which I conceive combines the greatest possible capacity, with the 
least given amount of material. It consists of two twenty-five foot barns with a 
twenty foot passage between them, and the whole building thrown under a conti- 
nuous roof — thus making two sides of two barns do double duty, or getting the 
entire passage room, twenty by twenty-five feet, by building two sides of it, the 
rear and front, which are of logs inwrought, or joined in the corners of the other 
two barns. This building affords enormous capacity for holding tobacco, which 
constitutes the only objection to it. You have too large a mass of tobacco sub- 
ject to the accident of one fire. Its conveniences on the other hand are very 
great. The passage room being provided with a stove and a prizing screw, fur- 
nishes an excellent and comfortable place for stripping and prizing tobacco. By 
having large quantities down in safe order, we find stripping suitable work for 
extremely cold and wintry weather. I understand that the planters in Carolina 
and the upper counties prefer their barns built with shortened logs, or after the 
cabin-roof style, and I have no doubt it is more favorable to securing the ex- 
tremely high heat to which the yellow wrapper has to be subjected. 

But we come now to the most efficient and particular part of the management 
of a tobacco crop, namely : 

THE CUTTING, HOUSING AND CURING OF THE CROP. 

We may suppose that the leaf has ripened uniformly and well. The broad, 
crisp and deeply mottled leaves seem, with genuine abandon, to woo the flatter- 
ing embraces of September's sun. The dreary haziness of the atmosphere, the 
deep blue clouds which anon hide the sun from view, the first faint mingling of 
autumn's own yellow with the green of far-spent summer, admonisb the planter 
that he must soon enter upon the closing scenes of his year's labor. The barns 
are all ready. Abundance of good seasoned wood is at the door, or the charcoal 
securely stored away under cover,, where the faithful laborers of the plantation, 
eager for the fray, with exulting step and glistening blades, open the ball. The 
pointed end of an old scythe-blade, with a handle attached, makes the best knife. 
And when the sturdy and trusty foreman of the crew lays resolute hold upon 
such an implement, the inspiration of the moment will spread among his com- 
rades, while the deep rich cry of the opening stalk is music to the planter's ear. 
And here let me say, that I believe there is more tobacco lost by deferring the 
cutting too late, than by cutting too soon. It must be borne in mind that each 
I day after it will answer to make good tobacco, it is unnecessarily subject to the 
casualties of the weather — hail, wind and frost, or that most destructive of all 
ailments, the spot. 

This very often originates in violent wind and rain, as it did last year, by which 
I lost at least one-fourth the money value of my crop. The leaves are bruised 
by the wind, — the bruised spots, of course, when bealthy development ceases, 
will rot, and the habit thus established, continues to affect the whole plant. 



1861.] THE SOUTHEKN PLANTER. 155 

When it first makes its appearance, the best thing to be done is to cut it imme- 
diately, for you may rest assured that all improvement is at an end. The tobacco 
■when cut may be carefully placed in wind-rows, and when it is wilted sufficiently to 
handle without breaking, it may be put into heaps of eight or ten plants, accord- 
ing to the size of the plants. A good and popular mode of hanging, is to hang 
on the hill. Let the stick be securely driven into the hill, hang the plants care- 
fully with the buts of the stalks due South. A day partially cloudy is best for- 
cutting; and sun-burning must be particularly guarded against, as there is noth- 
ing more injurious to tobacco. If it is carefully hung in this manner, and the 
leaves of each plant well straightened out, so that each plant will be supported 
by another, it will hang with safety for several days — turn off water very well in 
case of rain, be partially secure from frost, and owing to the obliquity of the 
sun's rays falling upon the plant, be quite safe from sun-burning. I have some- 
times followed this plan, but generally, another, which I think a little more ex- 
peditious. We use an ox-cart, with a very-deep, long plank body, fixed to dump 
or slide out the load — have several sets of plank to lay in the bottom of the body 
as slides, or in the absence of plank, tobacco sticks may be made to answer a very 
good purpose. Pack the tobacco in large hands, after it has partially wilted, in 
the body on the sliding plank, with the stalks all turned carefully out, until the 
body is entirely full, and as much higher as the team can draw. Carry to the 
barn door, dump the body — the plank will easily slip on the floor of the body — 
and without a tedious second handling in unloading, you have the tobacco at the 
right place, and ready to hang. I am clearly satisfied, after trying every mode 
of hauling tobacco, that by this mode it may be hauled more expeditiously, and 
with less injury from bruising and breaking than by any other mode. If the object 
is to make plain tobacco, and the plants are not very large, you may hang as many 
as ten plants on a stick 4J feet long. The old mode was to scaffold — by so doing 
you saved in wood and time of firing, and may with safety hang it considerably 
closer on tbe tier-pole. My custom has been to put it directly in the house, and 
hoist and regulate as soon as possible. When this is done, if it be large, strong 
lot tobacco, suited for shipping purposes, there is but little difficulty. Let it 
hang until it shows a disposition to turn yellow, which will usually take place in 
about three days, when fires may be raised under it, keeping them quite small at 
first. When the tails of the tobacco begin to rattle, raise the fires gradually as 
high as may be done with safety, and keep them so, until the leaf and stem is 
perfectly cured. You will find the tobacco of a dark nutmeg, brown color, and 
smelling strong of smoke, which is a recommendation in shipping tobacco. But 
if it be grown on new land, well ripened, and suitable for manufacturing pur- 
poses, it should be cured without fire, or, at all events, without smoke. If it is 
determined to make a lot of sun-cured, it may be hung thin on the scaffold, as 
long as the weather will permit, and then removed and hung thinly in an open 
barn, where the remaining moisture of the plant may be taken out by the air 
pawing through it. It is believed that in this way you may preserve all the es- 



156 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [March 

sential oils of the tobacco, the native aromatic flavor of the weed, more perfectly 
than in any other way. But of late years they have found out that exposure to 
the sun and dews will extract all the unpleasant odour of smoked tobacco; hence 
we hear but little said of sweet hogsheads of tobacco, as was formerly the case. 
But there is another class of tobacco which has attracted much attention of late, 
and 'brought enormously high prices. I allude of course to the yellow wrapper. 
To make this successfully requires management totally different from that just 
described. This tobacco grows best on a soil somewhat light and sandy, but at 
the same time of the requisite strength — such land as is indicated generally by 
chinquepin and hickory. It is extremely difficult to make it on a stiff clay soil. 
The tobacco should be encouraged by all possible means to yellow on the hill. A 
habit or tendency thus established, on the hill, will be found of essential service 
in the succeeding operations. It is the custom of many persons to yellow it on 
scaffolds, by crowding it very think for a few days. The success of this is de- 
pendent in a great measure upon the weather. If it is warm and fair it some- 
times answers very well, but I think is never so certain, as to yellow by slow fires. 
Let it be understood that to make this kind of tobacco, it is absolutely essential 
to have barns perfectly tight, from bottom to top; for with open barns it is im- 
possible to govern the heat, with that particularity and nicety, necessary to suc- 
cess. You must be supplied with an abundance of good coal, or have well con- 
structed flues — the object being to furnish a dry clean heat, without smoke. The 
tobacco must be hung very thinly in the barn, say seven plants on a stick, and 
the sticks ten or twelve inches on the tier poles. I conceive the great desidera- 
tum to be, that the yellowing and the drying process should be going on at the 
same time, and in corresponding degree. It is difficult to lay down any particu- 
lar and definite rule, but I will mention a formula of management which in my 
judgment will suit as many cases, as any other single rule. When the tobacco is 
nicely regulated, hang a thermometer about midway the barn, and raise small fires 
of coal over the floor; to a twenty foot barn have nine small fires, and be gov- 
erned entirely by the degree of heat as indicated on thermometer, as follows, to 
wit: first 24 hours at 90 degrees, 12 hours between 95 and 100, 12 between 100 
aud 105, 12 hours between 105 and 110, next 12 hours between 110 and 115. 
next 12 between 115 and 120 ; then rise very gradually ten degrees every four 
hours, until you attain 160 degrees, and keep at that until the tobacco is thorough- 
ly cured, stalk and stem, and be sure it is thoroughly cured. It is highly impor- 
tant that the fires should never be suspended for a moment, for when the drying 
process ceases, the running begins, and you will inevitably have a red spot. And 
even after the tobacco is thoroughly dry, to all intents and purposes, every time 
it comes in order a prejudicial effect is produced upon its color, and if it is suf- 
fered to be often thus influenced by the dampness of the atmosphere, during 
winter, you will find in the spring, instead of the bright golden yellow which you 
expect, either a dingy yellow, or a positive red. This may be prevented in a great 
degree, by crowding it very thick into a close barn, dry it thoroughly with coal, 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 157 

and afterwards, it will probably remain exempt from atmospheric influences, but 
in times of extreme dampness it may still be necessary to dry it off with coal. 
The scheme of time and heat above given, is intended for rather thin new 
ground tobacco ; the time assigned to each degree of heat must be lengthened 
when applied to heavy lot tobacco. In fact, my formula, or any other one I have 
ever heard of, will only do as a general guide, to be varied and modified accord- 
ing to the particular circumstances of the case, and the skill and judgment 
ot the operator. In assorting this kind of tobacco, unless it is all perfectly 
bright, which will rarely be the case, it is best that there be five divisions, 
long bright, short bright, long dark, short dark and lugs. It should be stripped 
and nicely tied up, and got into safe but pliant order, and packed straightly 
in boxes containing between one and five hundred, and sent to market gene- 
rally about the first of June, and if everything hits exactly right, and you 
happen to be a lucky individual, you may expect fine prices. I may men- 
tion before I dismiss the fancy wrapper, that it is fashionable with many of 
the best planters, just on finishing the curing of a house, to run the mercury 
up very high for a short time; say to 180 or even to 200, so as to scorch the 
tobacco a little. It is said to develop a peculiarly rich and aromatic flavor, 
which is highly prized by the manufacturers. 

But I must briefly recur to the common kind of tobacco. Let this be assorted 
into three kinds — long leaf, short Jeaf, and lugs; after it is stripped, have it 
hung in the barn so thin as to come to a resular and uniform condition through 
the entire house — take down in high order, and pass through the straightcner, or 
put down in the straightening bulk, and weight heavily — suffer it to remain in 
this bulk only a short while — take it up and have a parcel of short dressed sticks 
with one end sharpened, which run through the bundle just below the tie. And 
hang up again by putting strong sticks across the tier poles, and these shorter 
sticks, to rest on them. If you use the straightener, which I have heard recom- 
mended — but have never used — this last mentioned bulk will be entirely unne- 
cessary. Hang it thin enough to dry out perfectly, and as these operations are 
based upon the presumption that the tobacco is in supple order, if there should 
be an unusual continuance of damp weather, it would be proper to dry it out by 
fires. After it is once perfectly dry, you may watch out for your condition sea- 
son. This will frequently occur when you little expect it — sometimes under the 
influence of a warm Eastern or Southern wind, it will be found to soften. When- 
ever it has come sufficiently in order to press in the hand without breaking the 
leaf, but the stem is still dry, two-thirds of the way down, your tobacco is in 
strictly safe prizing order, and you must make haste to secure it by bulking it 
in a broad bulk, the larger the better, when if weighted and wrapped with straw, 
it will await your convenience for prizing, whether it be one month, or twelve 
months. It is best that your condition bulk should be slightly elevated, and the 
stalks removed, so that the air can pass freely, or you may find the bottom 
courses affected somewhat by the dampness arising from the earth, and if it will 



158 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [March 

remain long in bulk, straw should be basted around the heads of the bundles, 
which will prevent any appearance of mound. I am aware that this is a point at 
which many planters fail, and consequently are disappointed in their expectations, 
and make heavy complaints against merchants, markets, &c, while the fault is 
with themselves. Tobacco is not an exception to the general laws of trade in 
this respect. A man who thrusts a horse upon the market in bad condition, or 
" out of order," does not expect more than half price and is not usually disap- 
pointed. And owing to the peculiar nature of tobacco, there is no commodity in 
the trade in which particularity of order is more essential. The buyer in bid- 
ding for a hhd. of tobacco, is governed, frequently, not by what it is worth at pre- 
sent, but by what it will probably be worth when he is ready to use it up, one- 
two, or three months hence ; when, if the order was bad, it will have materially 
depreciated in value. The tobacco, when it comes to the hogshead, should be 
dry, straight, and well assorted, as to length and color; for nine times in ten, the 
hogshead will be sold by the most inferior break ; and I have seen one bundle of 
inferior tobacco, injure the sale of a hogshead, one or two dollars per cwt. A 
safe rule in prizing, is for the planter to expect the most indifferent tobacco in 
tbs hogshead to turn out the sale sample, and he will find it a safe basis of ex- 
pectation. 

The hogsheads should be made of seasoned staves, to tbe maximum size of 
legal gauge, strongly and tightly coopered, and for prizing really fine tobacco, it 
is better that the staves be planed on the inside, and there should be a nail put 
in every stave at the bottom, for the convenience of stripping at the Warehouse. 
Fine tobacco should rather be very carefully packed and pressed, than strictly 
prized. Hogsheads of fine tobacco sbould not exceed 1000 lbs. Common to- 
. bacco and lugs should be prized heavy, say to 1600 lbs. A properly made priz- 
ing screw, seems to be the best arrangement for prizing tobacco, with which I 
am acquainted. There should be four very stout pieces of oak timber, say fifteen 
or eighteen inches squares, put together in the strongest possible manner, by 
mortic and tenons, and the bottom sill should be let into the ground about two 
feet, and a suitable bole left in the center, that the bottom of the hogshead may 
sit directly upon the sill. This is that the lever may not be too high for the 
hands to operate conveniently. The upright posts sbould be fourteen or sixteen 
feet apart, that a seven or eight foot iron lever may pass entirely around the 
hogshead, and should extend three feet above the cross piece, in which the screw 
works, in order that there may be very strong braces extending from this cross 
piece, near the screw, to the top of tbe posts. Without these efficient braces the 
cross piece will surely spring and give you trouble, if you attempt heavy prizing. 
I understand there is a newly patented screw particularly suited to prizing pur- 
poses, but have not seen one, and of course cannot speak of it. As to tbe 
braces just mentioned, it is best that there be two corresponding braces on the 
under side of the beam, in order to counteract the otherwise powerful tendency 
to press the frame apart. 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 159 

As to the quantity per hand, where mixed husbandry is pursued, as is the case 
in most parts of Virginia, eight or ten thousand to the hand will furnish full em- 
ployment; where tobacco is made the specialty, and small crops of grain at- 
tempted, and there is no extra preparations, or outside matters to claim attention, 
[such as building barns, burning coal, &c, by means of the assistants, and labor j 
■ saving operations mentioned in the first part of this article, I consider an j 
I able, exper t hanj d, equal to the management of twenty thousand plants. But it is ! 
proper that I should admonish any one less experienced than myself, who at- 
tempts the last figures, that he must be certain about his running gear : he must 
grease well, track well, greet Aurora with impatient welcome, and hold himself 
in readiness to take a quick-step to the music of the Whippoor-will, particularly 
should there be a glut of horn worms, and no turkeys, nor yellows jackets. 

But it seems to me I have said quite enough upon the cultivation of an article 
of as questionable utility as tobacco. Surely this will do for a man who has no 
earthly use for it, but to make it and to sell it, and who, if he had the only single 
pipe-bowl of seed in the world, would perhaps, indulge a newly born fancy for 
tobacco smoke. I am aware that I have said many things which would cause a 
veteran planter to smile on account of their great simplicity, but such an one 
may remember, that all planters are not old planters, and I have o'bserved that 
there is no subject with regard to which a novice is more at a loss how to proceed ; 
and tobacco culture has spread within the last few years over a portion of Eastern 
Virginia in which it was formerly unknown. I intended that my suggestions 
should be strictly of a practical character. I have forborne to dabbie in the 
chemistry of tobacco culture, because I am rusty in my chemical readings, and 
very much doubt whether the chemical science as applied to agriculture, has 
attained that degree of certainty and accuracy, which well justify the expecta- 
tions which many have indulged with regard to it. At any rate a man possessed 
of the requisite skill in analytical chemistry, to analyze the soil, and medicate it 
precisely according to its requirements, for a particular crop, will be apt to find 
more profitable employment than making tobacco. I adhere to the doctrine of 
our fathers, that the land, the plow, the rain-cloud, the sunshine, still have some- 
thing considerable to do with a tobacco crop, and that the victory does not belong 
alone to the knight of the retort with his infinite array of ides and ates. Do not 
understand me as ridiculing true science, for no man has a higher regard for her 
truths, but I believe as used by the present generation of patent manure venders, 
her technicalities are made to answer the purposes which Talleyrand thought the 
object of language — to conceal truth rather than to convey it. At this day in* 
which we live, this patent age of new inventions, when to breathe air is fogyism, 
and the world is mortgaged to humbug, it is really refreshing to find something 
tangible and certain, " something that will do to swear by," should it be as 
homely, as common-place, and as old fashioned a thing as a manure bank. And' 
this should be the principal reliance of the planter All artificial manures should j 
be regarded only as a uxiliaries. 



160 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [March 

But I have touched upon all the points mentioned by the committee for par- 
ticular discussion, and enlarged upon each one, according to my estimate of its 
importance, and now only pleading my motive, in partial extenuation of its many 
imperfections, to the worthy committee-men of the Virginia State and Central 
Agricultural Societies, the document is respectfully submitted. 

Henry M. Fowlk.es. 
Windsor Park, Chesterfield Co., Va., Oct. 20, 1860. 



For the Southern Planter. 

Southern Patronage to Southern Industry. 
In a late number of the Planter is an article from " De Bow's Review," on 
" Southern Patronage to Southern Imports and Domestic Industry." This article 
is well written, and most of the sentiments advanced are worthy of being pon- 
dered over and considered at the present time. The true policy of the South, 
as well as every other country, is to turn the attention of its citizens to diversity of 
employments. No country that only produces the raw material can be as prosper- 
ous as one that combines agriculture, manufactures, and commerce. Our own 
country gives strong evidence of this truth. The South, with a soil and climate 
greatly superior, and with tide-water facilities of great advantage, has not in- 
creased in population and wealth in the same ratio as the North has. Her 
statesmen have hitherto discouraged the introduction of manufactures on a large 
scale, and now, when they see the need of them, they are unprepared to supply 
themselves. Some thirty years ago, or thereabouts, one of the firm of Lawrence 
& Co., of Boston, having heard much of the water-power of the James River, at 
Richmond, visited that city, proposing, if encouraged, to erect cotton factories 
there. He was highly pleased with the prospect and the advantages of the place, 
and many of the citizens gave him encouragement, but the editor of the Rich- 
mond Enquirer came out in an article against the proposition, as being contrary 
to the policy Virginia had marked out for herself. The editor, probably, saw in 
the introduction of a population that would naturally follow, if manufactures 
were largely introduced, that they could not be so easily brought under the train- 
ing of politicians. However that might have been, when Lawrence saw that his 
proposition was to meet opposition, he quietly withdrew and turned his attention 
elsewhere. Let us consider for a moment what would have been the condition of 
Richmond if that proposition had been cordially endorsed, as it ought to have 
been. The erection of cotton factories would have caused machine shops to le 
erected, these would necessarily have employed many hands, and these, in turn, 
would have encouraged other factories, such as woollen, calico-printing, and the 
like. Few situations excel Richmond for the various manufactures of iron. Her 
water-power is enormous, and if this is not enough, her vicinity to her coal fields 
is such, that steam-power can be used to any extent. Had the enterprise of Mr. 
Lawrence been inaugurated at the time above referred to, the population of a 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 161 

Lowell, or a Pittsburg, might have been added to her present numbers, and a 
stimulus have been given to the agriculture of the vicinity, which would have 
advanced it far beyond what it is at present. 

This policy has been unfortunate, for now, when the necessity is forced upon 
us, we are unprepared to meet it. To propose to stop trade with the Northern 
States, is simply ridiculous, we are not prepared to supply ourselves, and we must 
get this supply as cheaply as we can. There is, however, a prejudice in the 
minds of many, that is an obstacle to the introduction of home-made machinery 
among us, and this prejudice must be removed before much success can be 
obtained. 

Many persons seem to be of the opinion that our timber is not as good as that 
from the North, and that our mechanics do not understand how to put machinery 
together as well. The latter may, in part, be true, but that will soon correct 
itself in practice; and to illustrate the latter, let me give a few facts: A son of 
mine, in connection with a young man from western New York, is putting up 
machinery to make carriage-shafts, rakes, to turn fork and broom-handles, &c, 
and looking round to find a market for their articles, called on a dealer in shafts 
in Washington City, and when he found that they were to be made in Virginia, 
he said, " You have not got good timber there ;" the reply was, that they believed 
their timber was very good ; when he retorted, " I know Virginia, and I know 
the timber there is not good." Another case, a merchant in Alexandria, who 
keeps an agricultural machine warehouse, and a shop for their manufacture and 
repairs, was told by another merchant, who had a farm in the country, that he 
wanted a thrashing machine; "Well," said the first, " I would like to put you 
up one." "0," said the other, "you have not got as good timber here as they 
have at the North " " We think we have good timber, but if you want a North- 
ern machine let me order one for you." " no, I can do that myself." And so 
he ordered one and paid a retail price for it, when the other merchant could have 
bought the same machine at a wholesale price, paid himself a fair compensation, 
and delivered the machine to him at the same price he paid for it. 

This idea, that we have not good timber in Virginia, shows a lamentable degree 
of ignorance of our own resources- The wagons made in the Valley of Virginia 
around Winchester, have a high character for superior timber, so much so that 
citizens of the Ohio valley will give more for one of them than for a wagon 
made anywhere in that valley. There are contractors of the British Government 
at work in the Cheat River valley, in Western Virginia, cutting up white oak 
timber and shipping it, by railroad, to tide-water, and thence by sea to England, 
to make gun-carriages; believing it to be the best timber they can procure in 
any part of the world; and yet, there are men who assert, that we in Virginia 
have not got good timber. The ship-builders of Maine say, that the ship-timber 
from the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, is the best they can procure anywhere ; 
and the hickory timber of Virginia has been taken North and returned in axe- 
handles, to be used in this State. This does not look as if our timber was not good. 
11 



162 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [March 

There is, however, another and a more formidable obstacle to manufactures, 
and that is in the habits of our people. Home education has more to do in 
forming the future habits of a community than many are aware of. Many seem 
to suppose that by giving a young man a college education, he is thereby rendered 
fit for any situation in the community. This may do for him if he is to be a 
lawyer or a doctor, or an office holder, but if he is to be a really practical busi- 
ness man in other departments, it is quite a different thing. It has been the 
boast of writers, in this State and elsewhere, that the leisure that many young 
men possess, is favorable to the development of talent, and that it gives them 
opportunities for improvement that those who have not leisure do not possess. 
This is a great and often fatal mistake. Necessity will accomplish what leisure 
never can. Leisure will employ herself in nice distinctions, and theoretical 
deductions, but for investigations that require real labor and patience, they are 
rarely undertaken. If children are not brought up to industry, and to study 
economy, they are poorly qualified to perform properly the duties of life. Scruti- 
nize the early history of those who have been the betrayers of public trust, and 
the defaulters in office, and in almost every case, if not in every one, we shall 
find that idleness and leisure, and a want of correct moral training, were the 
accompaniments of their early life. While, on the other hand, those who have 
been as way marks, and eminent in their walks through life, have been, in almost 
every. case, subjected by stern necessity to the early discipline of industry and 
economy, and thus formed their characters and laid the foundation of their 
future usefulness. Who are our really business men, our engineers and super- 
intendents, and officers of our railroads, superintendents in manufactories, our 
merchants and active business men in every department of business? — not those 
who were reared in the lap of leisure ; the narcotic effects of which lull the 
energies until they are incapable of a vigourous effort in a right direction. Hence 
we have so many theories in politics, so many nice disquisitions on political 
economy, such abstract reasoning by men who have never made the practical 
application of political economy their study. 

I like the suggestion in the article from De Bow, where the writer says, " Let 
our politicians and fire-eaters turn their swords (if not into plow-shares) into 
yard-sticks and distaffs, and enter the field of domestic industry, prepared to 
fight against our worst enemy — Northern Industry and Commercial Enterprise." 
They must not only turn their swords into distaffs and yard-sticks, but they 
must turn them into hammers and hand-saws, and, indeed, into every kind of 
tool, for it was by this process that Northern industry and enterprize have become 
what they are. No other course will do — there is no patent road to independence; 
labor and energy can reach it, but leisure never. 

The sentiment " that non -intercourse with the Northern States is impracticable 
and will not be our true policy," is evidently correct. We of the South should 
diversify our business, and introduce manufactures amongst us, for the encourage- 
ment of agriculture, manufactures, and commerce. This is necessary to the full 



1861.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



163 



development of our country, and its full development should be the aim of every 
citizen. There is in reality no antagonism in these interests, and free trade 
between the States is better than any restriction can possibly be. 

Agriculture is essentially a peaceful business, and if all would but follow the 
Golden Rule, each one for himself, how soon would our present distracted country 
be smiling in all the loveliness of peace and prosperity, and the base intrigues 
and criminations of politicians be buried in oblivion. 

Yardley Taylor. 



From the New England Farmer. 

The Improvement of Old Pastures. 

The improvement, within a reasonable cost, of the old run-out pastures 6f New 
England, is, to my mind, an interesting subject, and one of the most important 
branches of cultivation our farmers can undertake. Having had my attention 
directed to this subject for several years, I have been induced to try various me- 
thods for the renovation of such lands — the results of some of which have been 
given in former communications to the Farmer. Several interesting improve- 
ments of these lands are now in progress in my immediate neighborhood ; and 
having to-day visited some of the fields either already made productive as pasture, 
or undergoing tillage, to bring them into that condition, it is now my purpose to 
give the details, in part, of what was observed. In a communication to the 
Farmer, in August or September of the year 1856, I described a tract of sixty 
or more acres of worn-out pasture land, then recently purchased by our Vermont 
Asylum, the improvement of which had become a desirable object, and one in 
which, from some official connection with the Institution, I took an active interest. 
This tract lies more or less rolling, but nowhere so steep, or uneven, as to be in- 
convenient, or objectionable for plowing. The improvements commenced upon 
it five years ago have been steadily progressing since, in pieces of ten to fifteen 
acres each, until some of them now have sufficient age to give them a certain 
character, from which conclusions can safely be drawn. I shall first speak of 
three fields comprised within this tract. 

The first piece looked at to-day, a field of about fifteen acres, is now covered 
with a promising crop of potatoes. The land was the oldest kind of bound-out 
pasture, covered with moss, and a feeble growth of inferior grasses, interspersed 
with sweet fern, shrub pine, and other bushes. The largest were pulled out, 
root and branch, by taking a chain-hitch to them, with the oxen ; and others were 
cut down to the ground, and the little stumps turned under by the plow. In 
November last, the large breaking up plow, drawn by four oxen, was started, and 
the land turned over about eight inches deep, in the nicest and most thorough 
Btyle. In April last, it was harrowed, furrowed out in rows one way, three feet 
and a half apart, and a shovel full of compost, made of muck and ashes, was 
dropped once in every three feet in the rows. The potatoes were dropped upon 
the compost, and the planting finished about the 20th of April. The muck used 



164 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[March 



had lain in a large pile on dry land, for a year or more ; and last fall it was com- 
posted with unleached ashes, using about three bushels of ashes to an ox-cart 
load, or one-third of a cord of muck. After lying in a heap a few weeks, the 
compost was shoveled over, and then carted upon the plowed land, and deposited 
in heaps of ten to twenty loads each, at convenient places for re-loading and 
dropping in the hills at planting time. 

The potatoes were hoed twice, using the horse and cultivator between the rows 
at each hoeing. The tops have made a large and healthy growth ; they stand 
about three feet high, and spread out laterally, so as to touch each other from 
row to row. The hills were examined to-day in various parts of the field, and 
the potatoes found to be large and sound, and promising a good yield. It is well 
known that of late years, our best potatoes usually come from these old pasture 
lands. The varieties planted arc the New Jersey Peach Blow, the Davis Seed- 
ling, and the Prince Albert, or St. Helena. The New Jersey Peach Blow, a 
strong growing, healthy and excellent variety, bears no resemblance to the kind 
commonly known as Peach Blow throughout New England. 

The piece of land is to be plowed again, late this fall, and harrowed smooth 
and fine. On a light snow in April following, it is to be liberally seeded with red 
and white clover, herds-grass and red top seeds, for pasture. No grain is to be 
sowed, as a crop of that kind would draw too much from the land, and injure it 
materially for pasturage. Besides, the grasses will catch better, and sooner afford 
a lull bite of pasturage, if sown alone, than they would if shaded and encum- 
bered with a grain crop. The old sward turned under, and rotted and subdued 
by cultivation, will afford nourishment to the new grasses, and thus secure a pro- 
ductive pasture for several years. 

In November coming, some fifteen acres of adjoining land, similar to what this 
piece was, will be plowed up, and next season manured and planted with potatoes, 
and afterwards seeded down to pasture. If, however, experience should indicate 
that an additional stimulus to the land would, on the whole, be advisable, then 
future fields will be dressed with about 500 lbs. of bone dust per acre, at the 
time they are re-seeded to pasture. 

The next field visited was a piece containing twelve acres, plowed up five years 
ago, this present month, and eight acres dressed with 400 pounds of bone dust 
per acre, two acres with 300 pounds of Peruvian guano to the acre, and two acres 
each with twenty bushels of unleached ashes, and the land immediately stocked 
down with grass for pasture, no grain crop being taken off. Having spoken fully 
of this field in a communication to the Farmer four years ago, and again two 
years ago this present month, I need not now go into particulars about it. Suf- 
fice it to say, that the land afforded excellent pasturage, ever since it was thus 
dressed, and re-seeded, and the cows appear to be very fond of the herbage, for 
they tkeep it always cropped as short nd smooth as a newly shaven lawn — indeed, 
any one acre has been more valuable for what it has produced, than have any 
five acres of the adjoining land not yet in like manner taken in hand for improve- 



1861.] THE SOUTHEKN PLANTER. 165 

ment. The contrast between this piece and another of about equal size lying 
beside it. but not yet assisted by cultivation, is so strikingly favorably to the for- 
mer, that I wish every reader of these remarks might have been with me to-day 
to observe it. It may be remarked in passing, that while each of the three fer- 
tilizers used on this field gave good results, the bone dust appears to be of the 
most lasting benefit to the land. 

Another field of about ten acres was looked at, which two years ago bore a re- 
markable crop of potatoes. It was manured in the hills with muck and ashes, 
and planted and cultivated in a manner similar to the fifteen acres first mentioned 
in this article. After harvesting the potatoes, the land was plowed again, and 
smoothly harrowed, and the following spring, or a year ago last April, it was 
stocked to grass for pasture, no grain being sown. The grass came up well, and 
the land is now covered with a very thick sward, composed of herds-grass, red- 
top, and red and white clover, yielding the best of pasturage. The color of this 
field is of so deep a green, as to make it at once distinguishable at as great a dis- 
tance as the eye can discriminate shades of color at all. 

The next land visited was a field belonging to my friend, Richard Bradley, 
Esq. It was plowed up a year ago last November, and, in the following April, 
planted with potatoes, manuring them with a shovelful of compost in each hill. 
The compost was made of muck and ashes. Last April, the land was plowed 
again, 5U0 pounds of bone dust sown to the acre and harrowed in, then twelve 
quarts of herds-grass, one bushel of red-top, twelve pounds of red and four 
pounds of white clover seeds sown to the acre, and the field rolled. The grass 
has made a great growth, and a full swath might now be mowed. 

Then came a smaller lot of Mr. Bradley's, completely run down by previous 

• owners, with shallow plowing, and frequent crops of rye. The course of crop- 
ping had been to plow the land four or five iuches deep, as often as it would bear 

.' five to eight or ten bushels of grain to the acre, sow it with winter rye, but omit- 
ting grass seeds, and after harvesting the rye, leaving the land to cover itself 
with such vegetation as it could, whenever it could. Last year at this time the ; 
land was covered mostly with moss, with here and there a few bushes and feeble 
grasses. Last November it was plowed a foot deep with the sod and subsoil plow, 
and an entirely new soil brought up to the surface, fine grained and salvey. Ini 
April last it was dressed with 500 pounds of bone dust per acre, together with 
200 pounds of Peruvian guano, to give immediate action to the newly turned up; 
soil, then harrowed fine, and sowed with one and a half bushels of orchard grass, 
a peck of herds-grass, a half bushel of rep-top, eight pounds of red and fouri 
pounds of white clover seeds to the acre, and the surface made smooth with thei 
roller. Here, too, is a superior catch of grass, giving the land a very different* 
appearance from what it had a year ago, and showing that much can at once bei 

k done for the improvement of such land. 

' The last field examined was a tract of some six acres, which Mr. Bradley is 
now plowing. This land has also been much reduced by shallow plowing, and 






166 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [March 

frequent crops of rye. The sod and subsoil plow, drawn by four oxen, is turn- 
ing the land ten inches deep, bringing up a different soil from the old surface 
one that has never before been exposed to the day. The plowing is done in cap- 
ital style, no baulks or imperfections of furrow being anywhere allowed. About 
the first of September, a ton of bone dust to each acre is to be sown on the fur- 
rows, and also about one and a half bushel of winter wheat per acre, and the two 
harrowed in together. The sod and subsoil plow prepares a very level, mellow 
surface, and so cracked and opened withal, as to make a very superior seed-bed, 
in which the bone dust and seed wheat can be well covered by the harrow. Then 
one and a half bushel of orchard grass, a peck of herds-grass and a bushel of 
red-top seed are to be sown to the acre, and the land rolled. In the spring, the 
land is also to receive red and white clover seeds — the design being to secure a 
thick sward and moderately rolling surface, it is thought that winter wheat may 
succeed well on it. The other two fields of old pasture, on which Mr. Bradley 
has applied 500 pounds of bone dust to the acre, have done so well, that he is 
inclined to try the experiment of a very heavy dressing of bone, and see if the 
land will return him a good crop of wheat, as well as an increased amount of pas- 
turage over what could be realized from an ordinary dressing, and lasting for a 
longer period. The idea prompting to this generous usage is, that land will pay 
very much in proportion to what you invest in the improvement of its soil, or 
that where much is given to it in the shape of fertilizers and thorough cultiva- 
tion, much may be expected from it in the crops returned. The locality of this 
lot is withal so convenient to the barns, that it is quite desirable, on that ac- 
count, to make it over into a productive pasture. Application has been made to 
Mr. John Johnston, of Geneva, New York, for the seed wheat. He is a very 
successful wheat grower, and has several valuable varieties of seed, which he has 
been at considerable pains to procure and perfect. This is to me an interesting 
experiment, the results of which I expect to have something to say about here- 
after in the Farmer. 

It may be observed that the various fields spoken of in this communication, 
being free from uncommon roughness, or steep declivity of surface, are tolerably 
well situated for plowing, and are in the immediate vicinity of a village, where 
pasturage commands a high price. Under such circumstances, one can well af- 
ford to improve such lands in the ways above mentioned. Other circumstances 
may, of course, require variations from these modes of improving pasture lands, 
or may, for the present, forbid attempts at improvement. Of that, each one must 
judge for himself; but as a general proposition, in the older settled districts of 
New England, investments for farming purposes made directly in the improve- 
ment of the soil itself, pay quite as well as the purchasing of more land, and 
adding it to the farm. F. Holbrook. 

Brattleboro' , August 25, 1860. 



If you wish to have fine stock, feed them well. 



1863.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 167 

Rural China. 

The following extracts from a recent letter from the correspondent of the 
London Times, who accompanied the Allied Forces in their advance upon Pekin, 
will be read with interest : 

For upward of six miles we passed through gardens, the produce of which 
supplied the garrison of the forts and the town of Taku. They were admirably 
cultivated. Little water-wheels furnished an easy means of irrigation, and the 
vegetables might have put a Battersea market garden to shame. Large Swede 
[jm.] turnips, excellent French beans, crisp radishes, lettuces, yams, and many 
other vegetables grew in profusion. The fruit was magnificent. Trellised vines, 
whence the ripe luscious fruit hung in mellow clusters, reminded us of Italy. 
Peaches, water melons, apples — very like Newtown Pippins — and pears of every 
description, were abundant. For six miles "dropped the heavy-blossomed bower, 
hung the heavy-fruited tree." 

For a mile and a half did the road wind through the streets of Ko-bu, no 
street exceeding eight feet in width. The open sewers were choked to repletion 
with offal of every description; what they were unable to contain lay scattered 
about the streets. The houses of mud and straw bore a strong family likeness to 
those of Sinho and Tangkow, and the peculiar, faint, sickly smell, so well known 
to all travelers in China, greeted our nostrils from every group we passed. 

Four miles march brought as to another town, Kiang-kia chwang, near which 
we determined to halt for the night. A large Acacia at the entrance of the 
village shaded a strip of green by the side of some water, and there we pitched 
our tent. 

Leaving the town, we came on an extensive plain covered as far as the eye 
could reach, with millet, 12 to 14 feet high. For six or seven miles we rode 
through this gigantic corn, now nearly ripe for the harvest. The millet answers 
a vast variety of purposes. Its head is ground into flour, and very good flour it 
makes, or distilled into shamshoo, the vilest and most deleterious of drinks. The 
leaves when green are eaten by the cattle; when dry they make excellent fodder. 
The stalks serve for fuel, for thatching, for partition walls, for fences, for mixing 
with mud for the walls of houses and for the embankments of the canals. It 
was the only grain we saw on the road. We were told that directly the millet 
was cut at the end of this month, wheat is sown, which is reaped at the latter 
end of June. The wheat when cut is replaced by the millet. 

We have not had one drop of rain in three weeks. The thermometer has risen 
to 9H 6 in the shade at noon, and yesterday we were treated to an Indian "hot 
wind," but the nights are cool, and even cold. [This was in September.] 

Forcing our way through unsavory Celestials, we find ourselves in a small 
square occupied by the "eel-pie" and "baked potato" men of the place. Your 
working man dines in the street, and this square is a favorite al fresco restaurant. 
Li, on our right, deals in meat pies. He has a small charcoal fire below his oven, 
and in a trice h\a po.te is compounded and cooked before the public. Ho, by his 



168 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [March 

side supplies vegetable diet, turnips, onions, pumpkins, yams, cut into small slices 
and served in the water wherein they are boiled. Here is a man with sweetstuff, 
pastry and "tuck." There another with fruit — grapes, peaches, lotus fruit, 
water melons, apples and pears. 

Mr. Parkes heard that a committee of merchants had been appointed by Sang- 
ko-lin-sin to furnish supplies for the whole Chinese army in the north. He 
sought them out, and explained that, as their office had now become a sinecure, 
they must transfer their allegiance to the Allies. The committee made no demur, 
and a tariff of prices was soon arranged. They rated the Mexican dollar at 
1,000 cash, which at the present rate of exchange, gives 200 cash for Is. The 
pound avoirdupoise is equal to the Tein-sin catty, by which everything is sold. 
Bullocks are divided into three classes. The first weigh about 500 lbs,, and cost 
25 dollars per head; the second, weighing about 400 lbs., are fixed at 25 dol- 
lars; the third, about 300 ibs., are 15 dollars each. Beef and mutton are sold 
by retail, the first at 3d., the second at 4d. per lb. Tea is Is. 2d., sugar 4d., and 
flour 2Jd. per lb.; onions, turnips, and pumpkins, five cash per lb.; fowls 9d., 
and ducks Is. 9d. each. The finest grapes may be had in abundance at 3d. per 
lb.; the largest peaches at Id. each. Water melons — most refreshing of fruits, 
and large enough for a dozen — cost 5d. each. _ 

Ice in large blocks of 15 lbs., pure and clear as the finest Wenham Lake, is 
sold for 6d. a block. There is any quantity of forage of every description — hay, 
millet stalk, green gass, paddy, peas, beans and Indian corn. Coal costs id. and 
charcoal Id. per lb. Coolies receive Is per day per man. Supplies of every des- 
cription are abundant and excellent. The mutton is fat and well flavored, and no 
finer grapes and peaches are grown than those which come to Tein-tein market. 
A favorite fruit with the Chinaman is the classic lotus, in shape like a small 
melon [what can this be ?]; it is full of stoneless kernels, sweet and pleasant to 
the palate. Often and often have I eaten them without experiencing the dreamy 
sensation they are said to produce. 

The banks of the canal are fringed with very laTge willows, weeping and up- 
right. Ascending ten miles, the aspect of the country changes. First come 
topes of large trees, then what may be really dignified by the name of a wood. 
We jump on shore and enjoy our tiffin sub tegmine. The timber is large and 
fine — walnut, willow, locust trees, and immense pear trees. 

Yesterday the thermometer stood at 102° in the bell tents and under the awn- 
ings of the Granada. 



Useful Hints to Planter's Wives. 

Blood Stotfc. — As we devote a large space to the subject of raising fine stock — 
blood stock — we do not see, says the Spirit af the Times why a few words, as to 
the best manner to get human beings along will be objectionable. While we devote 
so much time to the stable and farm-yard, the nursery must not be altogether ne- 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 169 

glected. The Scalpel, whose editor has a way of using plain langauge when he 
has anything to say, speaks as follows : 

All the absolute evils of this world may be said to arise from ignorance and 
selfishness; perhaps all might be included in the word selfishness, if we give to 
that term its full and broad signification. Even our purest affections in their 
manifestation seem often only a desire to please ourselves, without reference to 
any result beyond the present. There is, throughout the world, a lack of per- 
ception of separate individuality, and of the consequences to that other being, of 
any course we may pursue. Among men, the results of the acts of individuals 
toward each other and upon the community, have given rise to legislation and to 
laws. 

In each separate family pater-familias (sometimes, indeed, it is rwoifr-familias) 
constitutes himself and his various moods the law by which his household is gov- 
erned; and in many cases his daily emotions of anger or pleasure, disappoint- 
ment or success, render his rule benign and considerate, or harsh and tyrannical. 
Many again there are, who, by a steady moral, unwavering mind, guide the 
household affairs and the development of those youthful minds which God has in- 
trusted to their care. To these, and to all, we address ourselves. It is impossi- 
ble to instruct and develope correctly any two children by the same course of 
treatment; it is vain to make anj system a Procrustean bed ; it is inconsistent 
with the advancement of humanity and with true individuality. While in morals 
there my be an absolute right and wrong, an unwavering adherence to the good 
and the true, the peculiar method of attainment to this rule is as varied as the 
minds upon earth. 

The natural facilities of each child are as plain to careful observation as the 
sun at noon-day; and it is only necessary to know the mental bias of a child to 
which his or her powers are best adapted. 

Let every father, every mother, and all who hope to call themselves parents, 
forever bear this in mind. Watch the child at its play. Suffer it to play as it 
will, and note what sports attract it, and wherein lies the chief pleasure. 

Away with those horrors, infant phenomena. Let nature alone, and do you, 
ignorant man, keep your great, coarse finger out of the delicate machinery, which, 
working by and through nature, will, at the proper moment, indicate the course 
to be pursued, the development which is sought. Permit childhood to guide you 
in the treatment thereof. Nature is a wise teacher. 

At infancy, the healthy body, incapable of progressive motion, demands rest; 
give then perfect quiet. Man's early life is a mere vegetative existence ; the 
brain, gently pulsating beneath the unformed bone, is not yet the seat of reason, 
but of instinct; while nature then demands entire repose, or at the most, passive 
action, why should a barbarous nurse and ignorant mother array the little form 
in thick embroidery; display it to the admiring multitude; handle it with thump- 
ing vibration, or spin it like a boomerang in the air? Why seek the most noisy 
promenade to confuse it with the uproar? Why pound it up and down over 



170 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [March 

hundreds of miles, in the midst of smoke, effluvia, and all the rattle, noise and 
screams incident to railroad travel ? Avoid those abominations called cradles ; 
flee from the rocking of the crib, and all those swinging motions which cannot 
fail to produce, in a minor degree, those very agreeable sensations, that pleasant 
lethargy, which seizes upon one when he is taking his first lesson in drunkenness. 
What a renown would that agriculturist win for himself who should first invent a 
patent, portable, double action, self-rocking cradle for sucking calves; what an 
advantage to the bovine race. 

When by pure air and its natural nourishment, [the pure milk of a cow, or a 
goat, is far better than that of a feeble, passionate or drunken nurse, when the 
mother cannot nurse her offspring,] the child has become old enough to creep 
about, down on the floor with it and let it go; give it a bail or something to 
creep after, and rest fully content that when tired, ihe child will cease its play. 

Don't hurry the little one to walk ; do not encourage it to stand alone, lest bow 
legs and weak ankles be the penalty of your too assiduous care, of your selfish 
desire to see your child walk before nature has decreed it. When the proper 
time arrives the little hands will seek the tops of chair seats, the little body will 
sway to and fro, erect for the first time; soon the first step is taken, and then all 
is plain. 

Keep your books, your illuminated alphabet, your intellectual blocks, and your 
abortions of toys — caricatures upon nature — toys which it is no harm to fall down 
and worship, since the like thereof exists neither in heaven above, nor in the 
earth beneath, nor in the water which is under the earth. Let the child play 
one, two, three ; what, says some one — four years ! and not know a letter ! Yea 
my good madam, until it reacheth the age of seven years, would we have the 
little mind free and unpuzzled ; at liberty to observe, to desire, to construct, to 
play, to make out its own individuality. This is the great attribute of men — 
play ; this divides him from the brute creation ; man alone can laugh. Remem- 
ber that the longer the period of youth, the period of formation, the better, the 
more healthful, enduring, and longer-lived the man. Of all created beings man 
is the most helpless at infancy. 



The Blood Horse. 

A few words upon the much discussed question : Which is the best breed of 
horses for all purposes in this country ? 

The points desired in every horse are freedom of action, rapidity of motion, 
powers of endurance and docility. Among the breeds of horses at present 
known, the blood horse possesses these qualities in a higher degree than any, or 
all others 

There are not wanting those, however, who deny the adaptability of the blood 
horse, for general use upon the grounds, first, of a want of docility ; second, a 
want of the proper gaits. In support of the first of these objections, it is said 
that the blood horse has too much " mettle," is too high strung ever to become 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 171 

quiet, gentle and safe. Reading, observation and practical experience, have con- 
vinced us that this is not the case. It is true that mettle is one of the distin- 
guishing traits belonging to the blood horse, but we deny that he is naturally 
either irritable or ill-tempered. On the contrary, being more intelligent he is 
more readily taught; being more affectionate, is more easily managed; being 
braver, he is more reliable. This error has arisen from a partial experience. The 
system of training used to put the blood horse in that condition, best suited to the 
race course, which while it develops his speed renders him nervous and excitable, 
and from the example of race horses it has been erroneously concluded that this 
nervousness was a characteristic of the blood, when it was in truth, only a result 
of the training to which the horse had been subjected. In proof of this, we 
might instance the horse, be his blood what it may, that has been accustomed to 
be ridden in the chase ; the sound of a horn arouses him, and a pack of hounds 
in full cry excites him beyond measure. But examples are also numerous of the 
present thorough-breds being broken to as quiet service either under the saddle 
or in harness, as the coldest blood Conestoga that snailed it in a dray. They es- 
tablish the insufficiency of this objection. 

In support of the second objection, it is urged that the blood horse is not 
adapted to harness, because he does not trot fast. Here again is an error. Ac- 
tion is the great headspring of all speed. Action is dependent upon the shape 
and strength of the animal. By long years of judicious breeding and careful 
attention, the blood horse has been brought to that form most conducive to free- 
dom of action. The result has been the highest degree of speed. But all efforts 
with the blood horse have been directed to increasing the speed of one gait — the 
gallop or run. The trot is just as natural a gait as the gallop, and it is but rea- 
sonable to suppose that with the freedom of action resulting from the peculiar 
formation of the blood horse, if properly bred and trained the blood horse would 
in a short time develope a proportionate degree of speed in a trot. The facts on 
record all go to confirm this conclusion. Flora Temple, the fastest trotting ani- 
mal now living, has more of the style, appearance, and so far as anything is 
known, the blood of the thorough-bred, than of any other breed. 

For the saddle, the only remaining use to which horses are extensively put in 
this country, the blood horse is peculiarly adapted. His long oblique shoulder, 
quick, nervous, free, action, all combine to make his motions pleasant and agreea- 
ble to the rider, while his indomitable courage and sure-footedness render him 
eminently safe. 

For heavy draught the blood hcrse cannot begin to compare with his elephan- 
tine brother, the Conestoga. But for all such work, we have in mules a most ex- 
cellent substitute. • 

Having thus stated the ground and reason of the superiority of the blood 
horse, it seems but a short step to demonstrate it to be the true policy of the 
breeders of the country to secure the services of the best Blood Stallion in reach. 
But there are two material obstacles to this course — first, the scarcity of good 



172 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [March 

blood horses in our midst; second, the necessarily high price of these and the 
corresponding low price of the other Stallions. These are advantages, however, 
in the end, as they secure to the blood horses the very best mares of tlje country, 
and their produce will tend greatly to raise the estimation in which this class is 
held. On the other hand the probabilities are that the colts produced from cold- 
blood horses will be gelded, while those from the thorough-bred are kept for 
breeders. If this course shall be adopted, as the increased interest manifested 
of late in horses, leads us to hope, the time is not far distant when Maury coun- 
ty can boast the best breed of horses in the State. — Democratic (Columbia) 
Herald. 



From the Farmer and Gardener. 

Discrimination in the Food of Stock. 

Mr. Editor, — There are so many points in the occupation of husbandry 
demanding the farmer's close attention and investigation, it is not surprising 
that he sometimes sits down almost afraid to grapple with "the thousand and one" 
difficulties which present themselves. He need not, necessarily, undertake to 
overcome all these obstacles, though the subjugation of some of them at least, is 
indispensable. 

There are certain principles which underlie every process of farming, which, 
in order to success, must be understood and applied. Thus, in feeding cattle, 
simple as the operations may appear, +here are certain principles involved which 
cannot be overlooked or departed from without decided detriment to the animal. 

Looking over a most valuable agricultural work, a few days since, my atten- 
tion was forcibly drawn to an article in which the uses to which the different 
constituents of food are applied in the animal economy, were very fully explained. 
The following summary exhibits the gist of the whole article. 

1. The albumen, gluten, casein, and other nitrogenous principles of food, sup- 
ply the animal with the material required for the formation of muscles and car- 
tilages; they are called, therefore, flesh-forming principles. 

2. Fats or oily matters of the food are used to lay on fat, or for the purpose of 
sustaining respiration. 

3. Starch, sugar, gum, and a few other non-nitrogenized substances, consisting 
of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, supply the carbon given off in respiration, 
(hence their generic name — Elements of Respiration) or they are used for the 
production of fat. 

4. Phosphates of lime and magnesia in food, principally present the animal 
with the materials of which the bony skeleton of its body consists. 

5. Saline substances — chlorides of Sodium, and potassium, and phosphate of 
potash and soda, and some other mineral matters occurring in food — supply the 
blood, juice of the flesh, and the various animal juices with the necessary 
mineral constituents. 

There is, in the foregoing summary, subjects for deep thought and close 



1861.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



173 



investigation, on the part of the man who is engaged in feeding cattle with an 
eye to profit. It is a -well-known fact, that " an animal in its natural state, when 
it has once attained its full growth — if in perfect health — never increases or 
diminishes in weight, when it is allowed to live uncontrolled by human power.'' 
Were such the fact, when the animal is under human control, there would be 
less necessity for discrimination in feed; bur it is not. By a proper dispensation 
of the various kinds of food, great advantages in the form of fat, muscles, &c., 
are readily attainable. Thus we find it necessary to vary the character of the 
food, if we would have healthy animals. If we feed an animal on starch or 
sugar, we cannot hope to add much to its fat or muscle. Again : if flesh and 
fat-forming food is given, which does not contain the requisite amount of phos- 
phates, the strength of the animal will decrease, because the food it receives is 
devoid of all bone-producing principles. For these reasons, the man who desires 
to produce animals, which will pay him a profit, must give his closest attention to 
the selection of the food with which he supplies them. He must satisfy himself 
that it contains all the elements which go to make up the animal economy; and 
moreover, that these elements are presented in due proportion — that nitrogenized, 
non-nitrogenized and mineral matters are so intermixed, that there will be a 
healthy and proportionate development of every part of the animal's frame. 
Thus, in young and growing animals, we require the presence of flesh-forming 
and bone-producing food, to meet the daily demand for the increase of muscle 
and bones. I can best show the necessity of a proper observance of these princi- 
ples by another extract from the same author. 

"We can readily conceive the necessity for the presence of starch or sugar in 
young and fully grown animals, as they are required largely by both for sustain- 
ing the daily waste of carbon, which is drawn off into the air, in the form of 
carbonic acid, during respiration ; but why should any flesh-forming or bone- 
producing matters be required by which both muscles and bones have reached 
their full size? A well-known fact will furnish us with the answer to this 
question. It is well ascertained by physiologists, that all parts of the body 
constantly undergo a scries of invisible changes of substance, from which results 
the gradual renewal of the whole body. Every movement of the animal, every 
action of any of its organs is accompanied by the chemical decomposition of a 
minute portion of its component parts. By this decomposition, which imper- 
ceptibly, but regularly affects all parts of the body, successive portions of it are 
altered in a manner which renders them unfit to be retained by the system. They 
are consequently rejected. In this manner, the muscles, skin, intestines, bones, 
&c, are by little and little removed, and rejected in the excretions, in a more or 
less perfect state of decomposition. All the different organs of the animal body 
would thus become emaciated, and life would soon cease, if the daily waste to 
which all parts of the body are subject were not replaced by the food. The 
body, therefore, requires constant supplies at every period of its life, of all those 
things of which its several parts are made up." 



174 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [March 

Proper discrimination, therefore, is required on the part of the feeder. Such 
articles of food are to be selected as from their nature are calculated to produce the 
results desired to be secured. Thus, if it is sought to add flesh and fat to the 
animal, a preponderance must be given to flesh and fat-forming materials. Of 
course there is nothing new in what I have written, but the subject is one of such 
importance that its repetition here can do no harm. R. Stevenson. 

Lockwood Vale, Pa. 



The Object of Agricultural Journals. 

Time and again we have called the attention of the readers of the Rural to 
this matter, and for several weeks have been contemplating another article upon 
the subject, but the following, from a correspondent of the Germantown Tele- 
graph, embraces all the facts so fully that we submit it, instead of one of our own, 
to the attentive perusal of every planter and farmer: 

" I have greatly misconceived the design of the agricultural periodicals and 
papers of the day, if one of their leading objects is not to afford the practical 
farmers of the land an opportunity of communicating and comparing their several 
modes of tillage — thus embodying the opinions and experience of the reading 
community for the benefit of all. It is a great mistake (and one of which many of 
our practical farmers are guilty,) to suppose that, when an individual becomes 
the editor of an agricultural paper, he necessarily constitutes himself a dictator 
of opinion and practice to his readers. His opinions, though they may be highly 
enlightened and judicious, are at least but the opinions of a single individual, 
and are entitled to no more extra consideration than his advantageous position for 
the acquisition of valuable knowledge may justify. The common objection^ 
therefore, to subscribing to an agricultural paper, that he (the objector) knows 
more about farming than the editor, is the clearest proof of a deplorable ignor- 
ance — ignorance of the very objects of the publication which he rejects. 

"As the world waxes older and wiser, the useful arts keep pace in their im- 
provements with the progress of society. But these improvements, which are 
advancing daily, are not, perhaps, in themselves, more important than the facili- 
ties afforded by the press for making them known, with almost magic celerity, 
to the ends of the earth. Thus, an important discovery in farming, which, with- 
out this aid, would probably be years in travelling beyond the space of twenty 
square miles, is taken up by our agricultural journals and is circulated through- 
out the country in a few weeks;— while a distant periodical repays the obligation 
by recording an equally valuable idea of the same character, and destined to a 
like extensive and rapid circulation. But if all practical farmers were, in surly 
silence, to keep their ideas and discoveries to themselves, how disastrously would 
the value of our agricultural papers be curtailed ! 

" And this brings to the point I had in view in adopting the caption I have 
placed at the head of this paper; that it is an appeal to my brother farmers for 
communications on various topics connected with the interests of agriculture in 



1861.] THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 175 

our land. Let our farmers then make it, if not a matter of patriotism, at least 
of personal interest, to enter upon natural anil unreserved comparisons of practice 
and opinions, which cannot fail to produce the happiest results to all. 

" It was a favorite saying with Judge Duel, ' That but a small portion of our 
knowledge can be derived from our own experience. Among the most practical, 
the cheapest, and by far the largest portion of our knowledge, must be derived 
from information afforded by the experience of others.' 

" What better conveyance for this interchange of experience can be found, 
than our agricultural papers ? 

"In these communications the drapery of highly polished composition is by no 
means necessary; let no one, therefore, be deterred from communicating valuable 
information which may be in his possession, because he may not happen to think 
his style of writing sufficiently classical. Send the facts to the editor, and my 
word for it, he can dress it up so that you will not be ashamed of it, and that too 
without changing the facts in the least. Try once, and you will not repent of 
it." — So. Rural Gentleman. 



Power of Horses at Different Rates of Speed. 

Do you know of any experiment showing the loss of effective power arising 
from the increase of speed of horses when drawing — that is to say, how much 
less time can a horse or team continue to draw or expend a given force, when 
driven at any rate above 2J miles per hour, than uniformly at that rate or there- 
abouts ? 

Horses, at a moderate walk, will accomplish more labor than when working at 
greater speed. This is owing to three causes : First, the animal must carry his 
own weight, whether walking four miles an hour or running twelve. Suppose, 
therefore, that when walking four, one half his strength is expended in moving 
his own body of 1,000ft). and the half in drawing the load of 1,000ft). Now 
double his speed to eight miles an hour and he does just double the work in the 
same space of time; or, by carrying his own body only, he moves as much mat- 
ter and does as much work per hour, as before with the half ton load attached. 
Whatever load he may draw at the latter speed, is done by extra or excessive 
exertion. A second reason why he must take less load when travelling faster, is, 
that the load being moved more rapidly, requires a greater expenditure for the 
time ; for example, the horse who draws 500ft). at six miles an hour, does as 
much work in effect, as the one drawing l,000ft>. three miles an hour. The third 
reason is, in addition to the foregoing that when a horse's speed is increased, it 
requires a quick and unaccustomed motion of the muscles, which proves very 
fatiguing. 

In estimating the "horse power" of any engine, it is common to make each 
horse power equivalent to a force of 1501b. 20 miles a day ; or to 33,000ft). rai- 
sed one foot per minute, or 5501b. one foot in a second. This is however much, 
more than ordinary horses accomplish. American horses do not average more 



176 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [March 

than half this amount. Experiments have been made in connection with calcu- 
lation, to ascertain the effective force of horses at different velocities, on a canal, 
railroad, and turnpike, with the following result: 

Work accomplished per hour for one day, in tons, 
drawn one mile. 

On R. R. On tunrnpike. 

115 14 

92 12 

82 10 
72 9 

57 7.2 

48 6 

41 5.1 

36 4.5 

32 4 

28.8 3.6 

It will be seen from the preceding table, that a horse, when walking 2j miles 
an hour, will draw more than four times as much on a canal, as on a railroad ; 
but the resistance of the water increases as the square of the velocity, because 
on doubling the speed not only twice as much water must be displaced in a given 
time, but it must be done with twice the velocity, and thus both together require 
a four-fold force. When therefore the speed reaches five miles an hour, the ad- 
vantages of the canal give place to those of the railroad, and at seven miles an 
hour, twice as great a force is required on the canal. The railroad and turnpike, 
being similar in character, there is about the same rate of decrease in power on 
each. — Country Gentleman. 



Velocity 


Duration 


Work c 


per hour. 


of day's work. 




Miles. 


Hours. 


On Canal. 


21 


11* 


520 


3 


8 


243 


3* 


5 9-10ths. 


153 


4 


4i 


102 


5 


2 9-10ths. 


52 


6 


2 


30 


7 


11 


19 


8 


H 


12.8 


9 


9-10ths. 


9 


10 


3. 

4 


6.6 



French Method of Transplanting Trees. 

In Paris, during the last revolution, the trees on the streets were cut down for 
barricades. The crowning glory of the boulevards, is the trees. It being desi- 
rable to have those of advanced growth when transplanted, the following success- 
ful method, so different from ours in America, is now pursued. 

The deciduous tree to be removed may be ten to fifteen years old. It is dug 
out at any season, with as large a ball as practicable, usually six feet in surface 
diameter, and about three feet deep — the tap roots being cut away. It is hoisted 
boldly by a lifter, which forms part of the wagon. The earth-ball is bound 
around firmly, and the tree is placed firmly in the hole prepared for its reception 
in the sidewalk. So far the process is what is usual elsewhere. 

When the tree is thus set, several earthen pipes are arranged and covered un- 
der ground, through which water is conveyed to the roots once or twice a week. 
Around the body of the tree from the ground to the first branches, say ten or 
twelve feet, straw is placed perpendicularly and about an inch or so in thickness. 
Around the whole is wound coarse wrappiug cloth or bagging, ending at the up- 
per part with a tin funnel. Not a branch is cut from the tree top; there is no 



1861.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



177 



heading in at all. Till the tree is established, water is thrown into and over its 
top, say once or twice a week or oftener; and into the tunnel which keeps the 
bark of the trunk in vigor. Though a tree is lost now and then, two-thirds cer- 
tainly live by this method, and in the second year appear as if nothing had 
happened. 

[The above, from a correspondent of the Philadelphia Ledger, has been sent 
to us with the request that we give it insertion. The sheathing with straw is 
often practised here. The results mentioned are not in the least extraordinary. 
The French are too skilled in Vegetable Physiology, and know too well the ef- 
fects of excessive leaf evaporation, in the absence of proportionate root action, 
that we incline to believe that more or less pruning or shortening of the wood is 
practiced. Nothing is mentioned about the kind of tree, which is important. 
We have seen larger trees, at least older ones, removed here with perfect safety. 
But all experienced planters are well convinced that young healthy trees, prop- 
erly planted, in properly prepared soil, will outstrip, in a few years, large trans- 
planted ones. This does not, however, imply that small trees are invariably most 
suitable. Single trees of a large size, where immediate effect is desired, may oc- 
casionally be used with the happiest results, but it is an expensive operation, and 
cannot be recommended as a practice worthy of extensive imitation.] — Farmer 
and Gardener. 



From 'he New England Farmer. 

Hay and Root Crops— Their Comparative Value. 

Hay is the chief article of food for stock during the winter season ; and, gen- 
erally speaking, if a sufficiency of good hay is properly fed to stock, they will 
thrive upon it, and increase in weight and value. But it is not always, nor even 
usually the case, that farmers have a sufficiency of the best quality of hay to 
feed to their stock, with no exceptions in the way of coarse fodder, damaged hay, 
straw, etc.; and in case the latter is fed, or when the usual yield of hay has been 
reduced by reason of drought, or other causes, root crops afford a valuable 
auxiliary, whether used in connection with the former, or as a substitute for the 
latter. Hence it often becomes necessary to know the comparative value of po- 
tatoes, carrots and ruta bagas, that farmers may be able to substitute, in part, 
these roots for hay. 

It is becoming more and more the practice of our best farmers to feed out, not 
only their carrots, turnips, etc., but their potatoes, instead of selling them from 
the farm to be worked into starch, in the belief that the good of their farms de- 
mands it, and that their purses in the end will not be the losers thereby,; and 
the more it is practiced, the more convinced are they of the economy and profit 
of such a course of feeding. Not only is the profit derived from the roots, as 
such, but the relative value of the hay, as well as that of the roots, is increased 
when fed together. And it becomes an object, the present season especially, for 
such farmers as have been deprived of their usual amount of fodder by the 



178 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [March 

drought, to make the best of all such means to keep and improve their stock 
until the return of grass. 

The following table, gathered from reliable sources, shows the value of pota- 
toes, carrots and ruta bagas, the roots usually grown for stock, compared with 
that of good liay. 

200 lbs. of potatoes are equal to 100 lbs. of hay. 
275 " " carrots " « " 

300 " " ruta bagas « " " 

Again : by allowing 60 pounds to the bushel, of the above roots, we have the 
following : 

67 bushels of potatoes are equal to a ton of hay. 
92 " carrots " " " 

100 " ruta bagas " " " 

By this estimate, with the usual yield per acre, it will be seen that root culture 
pays ; a fact of which many a farmer and stock-grower has been convinced by 
practical demonstration. I. W. Sanborn. 

Lyndon , Yt., Dec, 1860. 



French Mustard. 

One of the most refreshing condiments which has ever been invented is that 
now known as French mustard It is equally good with fish, flesh, or fowl, and 
wonderfully helps bachelors' bread and cheese (Betty says they don't deserve 
anything better) to go down savorily. The following recipe is an excellent 
way to make it, and plain table-salt may be used in place of the anchovies, 
where there is any difficulty in procuring them. Take one pound flower of 
mustard, a quarter of an ounce each of the following plants in a green state, 
and quite fresh ; parsley, tarragon, chervil, and celery, together with one or two 
eschalots, or garlic, and half-a-dozen pickled anchovies. Mince all these latter 
very fine, then rub them with the mustard. Next mix one ounce of salt, and a 
wine-glassful of vinegar, in a half pint of water, more or less, as you wish the 
consistence of the mixed mustard to be, then put the mixture into small pots, with 
a teaspoonful of vinegar on the top, cork well down, and as its flavor improves by 
age, it may be kept a month or six weeks before it is brought to the table. No 
less than five tons of mustard so prepared are imported every year from France 
into England, and a large amount is annually imported and consumed in this 
city. Why not make it at home ? — Scientific American. 



Cottage Pudding. — One pint flour, one and a-half teacups sugar, one do. 
milk, one egg, two and a-half spoonfuls butter, one do. soda, one do. cream tartar. 
Bake in a round pan in moderate oven, when just done, ice it and let it stand 
in the oven with the doors open to harden, serve hot, with wine or lemon sauce. 




Top-Dressings upon Wheat— Suggestions for Experiments. 
The following report upon some experiments made with different top-dressings 
upon wheat, we condense from the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of 
England; the experiments were made on the farm of the Royal Agricultural 
College, by Dr. Voelcker, Professor of Chemistry : 

" The field on which the experiments were tried is perfectly level, and through- 
out of uniform depth. Its extent is about 20 acres; the last season the whole 
was in wheat after seeds; 2 acres covered with a very equal growth were mea- 
sured out for the experiments, and carefully divided into eight parts of equal 
length and breadth. Each experimental plat thus occupied the space of J acre. 
The 2 acres under experiment were surrounded by a considerable breadth of the 
general wheat crop, except on one side. Although the headland, and a portion 
of the rest of the land, separated on that side of the experimented plats from 
the adjoining hedge, it was considered prudent to reject the \ acre next to the 
hedge. Seven plats of \ acre each in extent were then left. These plats were 
manured as follows : 

"To Plat I. was applied 70 lbs. of Peruvian guano; or at the rate of 1\ cwt. 
per acre. 

"To Plat II. was applied 49 lbs. of nitrate of soda; or at the rate of If cwt. 
per acre. 

" To Plat III. was applied 45 lbs. nitrate of soda and 42 lbs. common salt; or 
at the rate of \\ cwt. of salt, and 180 lbs. of nitrate of soda per acre. 

" To Plat IV. was applied 1 cwt. of Proctor's wheat manure ; or at the rate 
of 4 cwt. per acre. 

"To Plat V. was applied If cwt. of the same manure; or at the rate 6 cwt. 
per acre. 

" Plat VI. was left unmanured. 

'• To Plat VII. was applied about 1 ton of chalk-marl ; or at the rate of about 
4 tons per acre. 

"The quantities of the different fertilizers were obtained in each case at an 
expense of 1£. 12s. 6d. per acre, except the larger dose of wheat-manure on 
Plat V., the cost of which was 2£. 8s. per acre. 

"The manures were all finely sifted, (except the marl,) mixed with about 10 
times their weight of fine soil, and sown broadcast on the afternoon of the 
22nd of March. The land was clean, in good condition, and moist. The day 
on which the top-dressings were applied was calm and cloudy; a moderate rain 
that fell on the next day washed the various manures into the soil, and secured 
at once their uniform distribution. The season, on the whole, was favorable to 
wheat, the weather at harvest time was unusually splendid, and on none of the 
experimental plats was the crop laid in the slightest degree. 

"Towards the end of July the crop was nearly ripe; at that time I could not 
notice any marked difference in the state of ripeness of the crops on the seven 
experimental plats. 

" The wheat was reaped in *he first week of August, and threshed out on the 
24th ; the whole of the produce of wheat and straw carefully weighed. 



180 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[March 



" The following table exhibits the yield of wheat of each experimental plat, 
and the produce calculated per acre:" 







Produce Produce in 


< 




in Wheat Wheat per 


h5 

PU 




per Plat. 1 Acre. 




• 


Lbs. 


Bus. Lbs. 


Bushels. 


I. 


2 J cwt. suano per acre, - 


GOP] 


10 12406 


40 1-10 


II. 


If cwt. of nitrate of soda per acre, 


570 


9 1 2280 


38 


III. 


180 lbs. of nit. of soda and 1$ cwt. salt per acre, 


609 


10 2436 


40 6-10 


TV. 


4 cwt. of Proctor's wheat manure per acre, 


595 


10 12370 


39 1-2 


V. 


6 cwt. " " " " 


663 


11 12662 


44 1-5 


VI. 


Unmanured, - - - - - 


A 05 


6|1620 


27 


VII. 


Marl, 4 tons per acre, 


404 J 


6|!l618 


27 



The table showing the yield of straw, and that showing the increased produce 
of wheat per acre, we omit. 

" In some parts of England chalk-marl is applied with considerable benefit to 
the wheat crop, but as the soil of the experimental field contained 18 per cent, 
of carbonate of lime, it could not be expected that a marl, which owes its fertiliz- 
ing properties almost entirely to the carbonate of lime and to a lirtle phosphate 
of lime which it contains, should produce any marked effect upon the wheat crop. 
Indeed, I did not expect any increase from the application of this marl. We 
may learn from this result that the efficiency of a manure is greatly affected by 
the chemical composition of the soil to which it is applied." 

The chief points of interest which attach to these experiments are : 

1. That nitrate of soda applied by itself materially increased the yield of both 
straw and wheat. 

2. That the admixture of salt to nitrate of soda was found to be beneficial. 

3. That guano produced as good a result as nitrate of soda. 

4. That the increase in wheat and straw corresponded with the quantity of 
wheat-manure which was used. 

5. That ammonia and nitrogenized organic matters had a most marked and 

decidedly beneficial effect. 

" It may not be amiss to contemp^te these experiments in an economical point 
of view, and *o ascertain to what extent the different top-dressings have repaid 
the outlay of money. Leaving unnoticed the extra produce of straw, which in 
some cases was considerable, I shall only take into account the produce in wheat. 



H 




Money in- 
crease of 
Wheat. 


Cost of 




Clear 


< 




Manure. 




Profit. 






£. s. d. 


£. s. d. 


£ 


s. d. 


I. 


Guano, - - - - - 


3 8 9 


1 12 6 


1 


16 3 


II. 


Nitrate of soda, - 


2 17 9 


1 12 6 


1 


5 3 


III. 


Nitrate of soda and salt, 


3 11 5 


1 12 6 


1 


18 11 


IV. 


1 cwt. of wheat-manure, 


3 5 7 


1 12 6 


1 


13 1 


V. 


3 cwt. " " - - 


4 10 4 


2 8 


2 


2 4 


VI. 


Unmanured, - 


• i a u 


a a a 


u 


a a 
lose. 


VII. 


Chalk-marl, .... 


none. 


1 12 6 


1 


12 6 



1861.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



" It will be seen that, with the exception of the chalk-marl, all the top-dress- 
/ings paid very well, and that the more liberal outlay for manure produced by far 
(the best return in money." 

We present the above abstract of the experiment of Dr. Voelcker, not so much 
for any particular light that they may throw upon the cultivation of wheat in our 
country, as for the purpose of showing how experiments of this, and a kindred 
nature, should be conducted, if we expect to derive such results from them as 
may be relied on with confidence. It also affords us an occasion for making some 
suggestions, which we throw out, in the hope that many of our friends may be 
induced to undertake similar experiments on this, or some other subject of equal 
importance to the agricultural world. 

The information conveyed to the English farmers — and to us — in these exper- 
iments is distinct, positive, and highly practical. We are informed as to the 
character of the soil upon which they were made; the portion of the fielcf ex- 
perimented upon was of uniform quality, and the stand of wheat was nearly or 
quite uniform on all the plats; one of the plats was left without manure, so that 
its yield, being the normal yield of the field without manure, might serve as the 
standard of comparison for that of all the others; the different manures were all 
applied at the same time, and in the same way; the exact amount applied in 
each case, and its cost is given ; the exact yield of each of 'the plats is given, and 
consequently, the increase in the yield of each manured portion over the unma- 
nured becomes known; and finally, the price of wheat being given, we have the. 
clear profits per acre of each manured portion over the unmanured. Now, let us 
suppose that the Professor, as he proposes to do. continues these experiments for 
a series of years — observes the effect of these manures on the other crops in the 
rotation — studies the effects of season, &c, &c, upon succeeding crops of wheat 
when top-dressed in the same way, &c, can any one doubt the great practical 
value of his results ? 

Our system of farming is somewhat different from that of the English, and 
the manures at our disposal are not in all respects the same as theirs; yet it is 
just as important for us to know both the actual and relative value of our manure?, 
not only for wheat, but for all of our crops, as it is for the English. That we 
have much to learn there can be no doubt. We remember a discussion which 
took place at the first meeting of the State Agricultural Society upon the use of 
Peruvian Guano; all who took part in the discussion were thoroughly convinced of 
its great value as a manure, and yet many of those who had used it extensively, 
were uncertain as to whether they had derived any pecuniary benefit from it — 
they were not sure that it paid. In other words, they were groping in the dark, 
on an all important subject. 

But while there is much yet to be learned about Peruvian Guano, there are 
concentrated and expensive manures, into some of which Peruvian Guano enters 
as a constituent; it is important that we should know more of their practical 
value, as compared with Peruvian Guano, and with each other. For example, we 



182 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [March 

have the Manipulated Guanos, composed of Peruvian Guano, bone ash, and 
phosphatic guano, or of the first and some form of the latter; the super-phos- 
phates; ammoniated super-phosphate; soluble phospho-Peruvian Guano; bone 
dust, &c. A large amount of capital is invested in these manures, and of course 
they are being largely purchased by farmers ; it becomes a question of importance, 
not only to know whether any or all of these pay on particular crops, but to as- 
certain as nearly as possible, which of them in the long run, will yield the largest 
return for the money expended. Let us have Peruvian Guanos and some of 
these manures tried side by side on wheat, or tobacco, corn, meadow, &c; let us 
learn which, if any of them, is to be relied on for securing a stand of clover 
after wheat; let these, and other important practical problems receive solutions 
by experiments similar to those of Dr. Voelcher, and then may we look for re- 
sults which will be as interesting as useful. 



To Our Exchanges. 

"We are already indebted greatly to our brethren of the Agricultural press for 
the kindness and courtesy which we have ever received at their hands. We shall 
be under renewed obligations if they will do us another favor by exchanging two 
copies of their journals with us for the " Planter." 

If they can accede to this request, we shall be glad if they will direct one 
copy to " Southern Planter," Lexington, Va., and send the other as at pre- 
sent. 

We can assure our brethren, that we will with pleasure reciprocate this favor 
by any means in our power. 



The Farmer and Gardener. 

Published by A. M. Spangler at Philadelphia, is one of the best of our ex- 
changes, and we cordially recommend it to anybody wanting an Agricultural 
paper. 

See the Prospectus in our advertising sheet. 



Fine Asparagus and Fruits. 
Our friend H. J. Smith, who raises the finest Asparagus, that we ever saw, 
has some roots 'for sale. He will confer a favor on us if he will give us the histo- 
ry of his fine beds of large Asparagus, for the benefit of our readers. We should 
be pleased also to have his experience in raising Dwarf Pears, the Laicton 
Blackberry and Strawberries, all of which we happen to know have turned out 
well in his hands, which are very skilful in all that pertains to Horticulture, &c. 



The Cincinnatus seerrs to be our old friend the Scientific Artisan, in a new 
dress, which is of the best materials and the most fashionable " cut." The pa- 
per has greatly improved in appearance and is very handsomely illustrated with 



1861.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



183 



wood cuts of the latest inventions patented. The name of Dr. Warder — as one 
of its regular contributors — is a host of itself. 



Tobacco Houses. — Our correspondent who wishes information on this sub- 
ject, will find full and complete directions for the entire management of the 
Tobacco crop, in the essay of H. M. Fowlkes, Esq., published in our present 
number. 



The Old Spirit of the Times. 
The old " Spirit of the Times" entered upon its Thirty-first Volume on the 
9th instant, inaugurating this evidence of its long life by an entire new dress of 
type and four additional pages to its heretofore large and attractive form. No 
paper in the Country has, throughout its management, maintained a more 
thoroughly consistent course than this journal. Notwithstanding the vicissitudes 
of politics and panics, it has pursued the even tenor of its way, turning neither 
to the right nor the left, and the consequence is, that it maintains its popularity 
in every section of the Union, and this new evidence of its success we have al- 
ready noticed is its just reward. 



"Origination" of Manipulated Guanos. 
We have from time to time noticed a controversy upon the subject which heads 
this paragraph, between manufacturers claiming the origination of something 
pertaining to the mixing of ammoniacal and phosphatic guanos, but giving very 
little attention to it, we supposed it had reference more to the manner of mixing, 
than to the materials mixed — and we have generally looked upon it as rather a 
good joke, and somewhat suspected that it was one of the " tricks of trade," to 
obtain great merit for what we considered a very simple matter, the better to 
draw public attention to the commodities offered to the farmers and planters of 
the country, and to give the more importance to the claims for patronage of the 
contending parties — but never dreamed, until we saw the announcement in the 
* Southern Planter," that we had ever laid claims to the same honor! Hence, 
we were surprised to find in a communication, upon the subject, in the January 
number of that paper, the following paragraph. After alluding to the claims of 
Mr. Kettlewell in the premises, the writer, who signs himself "James Higgins, 
Analytical and Consulting Chemist," remarks : 

" Since Mr. Kettlewell's publication, some other individuals have claimed for 
themselves, or others, the credit of the origination of the mixed guanos, and 
amongst them are Mr. Samuel Sands, the publisher of the Rural Register in this 
city, and Mr. B. M. Rhodes, who is the agent for a Philadelphia manufactured 
Super-phophate of Lime. Of the former, I will only state that his own paper, 
the American Farmer, refutes all that he says about the matter, and that now, 
Sands is selling a refuted Manipulated Guano by the aid of an analysis of 



Mr. 



Dr. Charles Bickel, who never made an analysis for him." 



184 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [March 

As before intimated, we never entertained the slightest idea that we were the 
originator of Manipulated Guano, and have no recollection of ever having ut- 
tered a sentence that could be so construed : and therefore the writer has not, 
we believe, the shadow of a foundation for such a remark. The concluding sen- 
tence is equally worthy of credence; a mere quibble calculated to deceive, is in- 
tended by the writer, for we never claimed that Dr. Bickell had made an analysis 
for us; but it was made by him as published for parties with whom we are con- 
nected in the manipulation ; and the remark that it is a " refuted manipulated 
guano," is entire news to vs — in fact, we have no idea what the writer means by 
the remark, and indeed care not. 

We hesitated whether we should notice this matter at all, and loth as we are 
at any time to be placed in a false position, we might have permitted it to pass 
by in silence, did we not suppose that a duty to others possibly required us to al- 
lude to it — and yet we really begrudge the space to do so, as we suppose the main 
object of the parties is to " get in the papers," and keep themselves and their 
commodities before the public, and we feel rather disinclined to aid in so lauda- 
ble an effort. 

We have more than once expressed the opinion, that the reason why the Peru- 
vian Agents in this country had received orders to abstain from selling Peruvian 
guano to manipulators, was in consequence of the beneficial effects experienced 
by the admixture ot Peruvian and Phosphatic guanos in England, the fears en- 
tertained that it would decrease the demand for the Peruvian — and the claim so 
boastfully made of originality in the manipulation, we have ever supposed, was 
not particularly due to any one on this side of the water, but was derived from 
the agricultural journals of England. But the writer himself shows in the com- 
munication alluded to, that his attention was directed particularly to the subject, 
by the excellent action of some Patagonian guano, used by a farmer, which con- 
taining only half as much ammonia as did the Peruvian, yet acted very well — 
and many of our readers remember also, that the lehaboe guano introduced here 
many years ago by Messrs. Birckhead & Pearce, was also very rich in ammonia, 
and much more so in phosphates than the Peruvian, and the trial of which in- 
duced farmers to commence the mixing of the Peruvian with Oolombiau and 
other guanos containing more phosphates than Peruvian but less of ammonia_ 
Among these, if we remember aright, were James T. Earle, Esq., and others, of 
the Eastern Shore, and A. B. Davis, Esq., and other farmers who had been using 
Guano very largely in Montgomery county, and probably the writer in the 
Planter obtained the information from the experiments of these or other gentle- 
men who had been experimenting, or from English periodicals, (from which 
many good things have been taken,') upon which he claims " originality." 

At the Guano Convention held in Washington City some years ago, a number 
of the most intelligent and respectable farmers from all sections of Maryland and 
other States were present, when this very subject was introduced, and experi- 
ments reported of the application of Peruvian and Phosphatic Guanos, and al- 



1861.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



185 



though we remember that the writer in the Planter was present, during its sit- 
tings, neither he nor any one for him presumed to lay claim to originality in the 
premises, because if such a claim had then been entertained or uttered on the 
floor of the Convention, no doubt there were many present who would have been 
able to prove its fallacy. Indeed, the following resolution, offered by Col. James 
Piper, of Carroll Co., M., as intelligent a gentleman as this State held within 
her borders, was adopted, we believe without the slightest dissent, by which it 
will be seen, that Drs. Booth, of Philadelphia, and Stewart, of Baltimore, are 
particularly alluded to, as having recommended the mixture of the guanos, and 
no allusion is made to any of the parties now claiming the credit. Col. Piper's 
resolution was as follows : 

"Resolved, That this Convention respectfully recommend to the farmers in the 
habit of using Peruvian Guano alone, to substitute a mixture of Colombian, 
Mexican, and other phosphatic guanos in proper proportions, as recommended 
by Professors Booth, of Philadelphia, and Stewart, of Baltimore, and other dis- 
tinguished chemists, as the most efficient means to reduce the present high price 
of Peruvian Guano." 

We would prefer to have been excused from meddling with this business, and 
we have been dragged into it very unnecessarily — we will therefore only add for 
the present a quotation from the communication in the Planter, to show what lit- 
tle reliance could have been placed upon the suggestions of this writer Hesays> 
that in 1854 he published that " the use of Peruvian Guano, without any mix- 
ture with other common phosphates, as it is so frequently applied, is costly and 
useless" — therefore he recommended a mixture of the Mexican and Peruvian; 
and yet thousands of the most successful farmers have continued to use the Pe- 
ruvian alone, with eminent success, and could never be induced to substitute the 
mixture. 

One word more, and we are done. We have advised farmers and planters to 
buy the Peruvian and Phosphatic guanos, and mix for themselves — they can do 
it cheaper than by purchasing already manipulated, — but if they are not dis- 
posed to undergo the trouble, then we, as well as several responsible manipulators, 
whose advertisements will be found in our paper, and a number of others in 
Richmond, Petersburg and elsewhere will be happy to supply their orders. 

f&g~ Will our respected friends of the " Southern Planter" do us the favor to 
put us right before their readers, so far as the above is in reply to the remarks 
relative to us in their last issue ? 



With great pleasure we comply with the request of the Editor of the " Rural 
Register" to put him right before our readers as to the charges made against 
him by Dr. Higgins of Baltimore, in a communication of his on the subject of 
" Manipulated Guano' ; lately published in this paper. We should be very sorry 
f',r any on': of our readers to suppose for one moment, that we endorsed the 
charge against our well known friend of the Rural, preferred by Dr. II, and 



186 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [March 

to prevent any mistake, we hereby assure them, that ice had no intention of doing 
any such thing. 

We prefer to let Mr. Sands speak for himself, and therefore publish his 
remarks in response to Dr. H. in full. — Eds. 



Home Embellishment, 
As Affecting the Value of Property and the Habits of the People. 

" Wherever I have had the honor of addressing my brother farmers," [says 
the Hon. L. Chandler Ball, President of the Renssalier County Agricultural 
Society, N. Y-, in an address delivered at Greenbush, N. Y., September, 1859,] 
" I have embraced the opportunity to inculcate a taste and love for the beautiful, 
both in nature and in art ; believing that where this taste and love exist, they 
will be exhibited in a better system of cultivation ; in more comfortable and happier 
modes of living; in increased means of enjoyment, and a more rational use of 
the blessings which God has spread on the earth, — a more pleasing personal 
demeanor, higher graces of speech and manner, and a more correct performance 
of all social and Christian duties. I beg leave to introduce the subject to your 
notice, as one of great practical importance, affecting the value of property and 
the habits of the people. 

" Let the farmer increase the natural beauties of his farm by suitable orna- 
mentation — let him adorn and embellish his house and grounds — let him have 
genial intercourse with his fellow-men, and practice in their presence the highest 
forms of politeness and good breeding. Let him build neat school-houses, that 
shall give visible expression to pure and lofty thought — let him erect beautiful 
churches, and incorporate into their walls and towers, and rising spires, the 
the spirit of piety and devotion. If this was a proper occasion, and time would 
permit, I could demonstrate that a small, dirty school-house, and homely, ill-con- 
structed church edifice, instead of being what such buildings ought to be, objects 
of taste and beauty, and helpers in the great work of human improvement, are 
positive injuries to society; because they lower and degrade, and bring down to 
the level of animal desires and brutish instincts, the exalted idea of human 
intelligence, and the holy sentiment of religious hope and trust. 

" It is not without a purpose that learning has been represented to us under 
forms of transcendent beauty, with her seats fixed in pleasant places, by the side 
of sparkling fountains, and amid groves garlanded with roses and amaranth. It 
is not without a purpose that religion has been invested with pure and shining 
robes, crowned with glory, and with golden harp, filling the courts of Heaven 
with praise. It is not without a purpose that the earth has been beautifully 
formed and gorgeously appareled — diversified with hill and plane, mountain and 
valley, forest and prairie, lake and river, and singing brook — arrayed in robes of 
more than royal magnificence, forever changing, yet forever new, perfumed with 
the spices of Araby, and jeweled with dew-drops brighter than the gems o: 






1861.] THE SOUTHEKN PLANTER. 187 

Golconda, and performing its majestic revolutions in company with ten thousand 
glorious orbs : 

'Forever singing as they shine, 
The hand that made us is divine.' 

" Physical beauty is a power in the' world before which the highest human 
intelligence bows in homage. Goodness has superior charms, virtue stronger 
attractions, and wisdom greater power, when moulded into forms of beauty and 
draped in the flowing robes of elegance and grace. 

" For this reason, because it is one of the essential elements of power, let the 
farmer cultivate and acquire a taste and love for all the bright and beautiful things 
of earth. Let him build handsome dwellings, neat school-houses and beautiful 
churches; let him adorn and embellish the field and the road-side; let him multi" 
ply objects of grace and beauty, until the whole land glows and brightens in the 
light of pure and exalted taste. 

" Then will the fields put on a richer vesture, and yield a more abundant 
harvest. Then will finer flocks and better herds feed in his pastures, and lie in 
the shade of his woods and in his groves. Then will blither songs and words of 
loftier cheer mingle with the sounds of labor. Cords of sympathy will unite in 
one electric circle, whose continuity will never cease, the industry, the genius, 
and the skill of all nations. Then the unity of the world's great Army of Occu- 
pation will be declared, the claims of universal brotherhood recognized, and 
humanity achieve its last and greatest triumph." 

[Transactions N. Y. State Agricultural Society, of 1859.] 



From ihe Farmer and Gardener. 

Why Peter Jobson's Farm Wouldn't Pay. 

Peter Jobson was an honest, well-meaning, hard-working farmer : one of that 
class who had been taught to believe that physical strength was the prime qualifi- 
cations of the man who tilled the earth for a livelihood No man in the neigh- 
borhood labored more industriously than Peter Jobson. He was at it early aud 
late, and yet he did not appear to prosper. His crops were growing 

" Small by degrees and beautifully less' ; 
every year, until poor Peter began to despair of ever gaining an inch of headway. 

It was a bright morning in September when Peter commenced plowing a field 
for wheat, from which, a few weeks previously, he had cut a meagre crop of oats. 
The prospect was not a flattering one to the honest fellow. His last crop of 
wheat on that field had scarcely paid expenses. The corn which followed was 
little more than remunerative, and the oats which he had harvested this year 
scarcely paid for the cutting. He had drawn the contents of his farm-yard to 
the field, and had spread it carefully; but the coating was too thin to give pro- 
mise of a very large return. Peter felt this, and yet he knew no remedy. He 
had been doing " as daddy did," all his lifetime, still he had been going behind 



188 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [March 

hand. His good wife worked hard — his children's services were brought into 
play as soon as they could be of the least assistance — their education was neg- 
lected, in order that they might, at an early period of life, as their father had 
done, " earn their salt." Peter Jobson could not understand this. He began to 
have doubts about the correctness of his, system. His neighbors' crops were 
good, yet thy worked no harder than he, and their soil was no better than his. 
While musing upon these things, his neighbor Jones, a well- to-do and very intel- 
ligent farmer approached the spot. Peter had a great respect for Mr. Jones, and 
therefore determined to make a clean breast of it. He accordingly addressed 
him : — 

"Neighbor Jones, I do not know how it happens, but the fact is, my farm 
appears to be growing poorer and poorer every year; can you explain ihe cause 
to me ? I plow as deep as you do ; I sow the same kind of seed ; I put on all 
the manure I raise on my farm, and yet your crops are always better than mine." 

" That matter is very easily explained, friend Jobson. Let us take a seat on 
the fence and talk the matter over, and see whether we canuot arrive at some- 
thing like a correct conclusion. Sou are aware of one fact, Mr. Jobsou, and 
that is, that all our food, and the food of the animals on our farms, is derived 
either directly or indirectly from the veyetable kinydom, or in other words, that it 
all comes from the earth " 

" Yes, that's so, Mr. Jones," replied Jobson. 

"Well, then," proceeded Farmer Jones, "it follows of course, that if we 
return all the excrements and urine of the human beings and animals 
on our farms to our farms, (that is, supposing, however, that all we raise is con- 
sumed on the farm,) we would be restoring to the soil all the fertilizing ingredi- 
ents which the crops have removed." 

" Just so." 

" But do we do this?" 

" Well, not altogether, Mr. Jones," replied Jobson, musingly, " not altogether." 

" Hold a moment, friend Jobson," continued farmer Jones, " and let us see 
how much of what is grown on our farms is returned to them in the shape of 
manure. Year after year you grow crops of wheat and rye, oats and corn, 
timothy and clover." 

" Yes, that's so, Mr. Jones." 

"Some of these animals you fatten and send to market." 

" That's so, Mr. Jones." 

" Has it ever occurred to you, how much valuable fertilizing material every 
one of these big steers,you sent away last spring carried away with him ? Liebig 
says — you know Liebig is a great writer on agricultural chemistry — " 

" Yes, that's so, Mr. Jones." 

" Liebig says, that every pound weight of bones contains as much phosphoric 
acid, as a whole hundred weight of wheat. Now, if you can calculate how 
many pounds of bones there were in each one of those steers, you can tell pre- 



1861.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



189 



cisely how many hundred pounds of wheat will want that very essential element 
to its growth, phosphoric acid." 

" Yes, that's so, Mr. Jones." 

"Then you know, friend Jobson, there are the meat and the blood, the skin 
and the hoofs, the hide, and the hair, the horns and the entrils, all first-rate 
fertilizers." 

" Yes, that's so, Mr. Jones." 

" Well, all this valuable matter goes to the butcher, and is never brought back 
to your farm again." 

" Yes, that's so, Mr. Jones." 

" You harvest your crops, and thresh them, and all that your family and stock 
do not require you send to the city. I remember seeing you haul considerable 
quantities of hay, straw, and grain to the city, last winter." 

" Yes, that's so, Mr. Jones." 

" I don't remember seeing you bring any manure back with you, and, of 
course, all that the hay, straw, and grain you sold took from the soil, was so much 
lost, because you did not replace it." 

" Yes, that's so, Mr. Jones." 

"Well, all these crops draw largely upon the mineral ingredients of the soil; 
don't they?" 

" I should think they did, Mr. Jones." 

"We feed our stock, and we feed ourselves and families from the product of 
our farms; don't we?" 

" Why that's very certain ; that's what we raise them for." 

"Now, neighbor Jobson, you know as well as I do, that if you wish to keep 
your soil in good healthy condition, you must give back to it just as much as you 
take from it." 

" Yes, that's so, Mr. Jones." 

" All that we withhold, renders that soil just so much poorer than it was; don't 
it?" 

" Yes, that's so, Mr. Jones." 

" The atmosphere, of course, helps to fertilize the soil, but still we must depend 
mainly upon manures." 

" Yes, that's so, Mr. Jones." 

"You told me a moment since, that your family was supplied with a portion of 
the grain, vegetables, and meats grown on your farm." 

" Yes, that's so, Mr. Jones." 

"Now, you know that human excrement is richer in phosphates than that of 
any animal. This arises from the fact that these phosphates are contained 
largely in the food of which we partake." This was all Greek to Peter, still he 
replied, 

"Yes, that's so, Mr. Jones." 

" Well, what do you do with this excrement ? Do you return it to the soil, or 



190 THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. [March 

is it permitted to go to waste? If I am not mistaken you have never used it as a 
manure." 

"Yes, that's so, Mr. Jones," responded Jobson, submissively. 

"You give your stock a portion of the hay, grain, straw, turnips, &c, grown 
on the farm. Then, again, neighbor Jobson, as I passed your barn-yard the other 
day, I saw 'a little black stream' running from it, and if my memory don't de- 
ceive me, I have observed that same little stream for ten years past." 

" Yes, that's so, Mr. Jones-" 

"Well, now, neighbor Jobson, let's sum up all these little matters, or as the 
newspapers say, recapitulate." 

"Yes, that's so, Mr. Jones." 

"First. You lose all benefit from your human excrement." 

"That's so, Mr. Jones." 

" Second. You give back to your fields, all the manure you save, but you 
must suffer great loss from 'that little black stream,' from the exposure of youv 
dung-heap to wind and rain, and sunshine," &c. 

"Yes, that's so, Mr. Jones." 

" Third. You lose all the fertilizing matter contained in the hair, hoofs, flesh, 
bones, &c, of the steers, calves, and pigs you send to market." 

"Yes, that's so, Mr. Jones." 

"When that fine big horse of yours died last spring, you dragged him out to 
the old stone-quarry, and left him there to rot, and poison the atmosphere. The 
worthless dogs of the neighborhood and the carrion crows were the only ones 
benefitted by it; were they not?" 

"Yes, that's so, Mr. Jones." 

"Lastly, you sell all your surplus grain and hay and straw, and do not replace 
it, or any other of the lost and waste material with either farm-yard or artificial 
manure." 

" Yes, that's so, Mr. Jones." 

" Now, neighbor Jobson, if you will think seriously over what I have been 
saying, you will have no difficulty in ascertaining why your farm is growing 
poorer instead of richer." 

"Yes, that's so, Mr. Jones," responded poor Jobson, as he turned, with a wo- 
ful countenance towards his lank-looking team, and with a " Gee up ! Ball !" 
was about to commence plowing again, when it occurred to him that it would be 
well to find out, if possible, where his Neighbor Jones had learned to know so 
much. Drawing the lines lightly to check the forward movement his horses were 
about to make, and resting his arms upon the handles of his plow, he again ad- 
dressed Mr. Jones. 

" Neighbor ! there's a good deal of truth, I think, in what you have been say- 
ing. Where did you find out all these things ?" 

" Why, Peter, I take the agricultural papers, and I read them carefully. 



1861.] 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



191 



Everything I have said to you may be found in almost any one of them in the 
course of a year." 

" You don't say!" ejaculated Peter, wonderingly. 

"Don't you take the agricultural papers, Peter?" 

" No ! father got along very well without them, and I thought I would be able 
to get along too." 

" But, Peter, you tell me you are going behind hand, and I have shown you 
that some of the causes of your failures are to be attributed to your want of 
knowledge of the great leading principles of agriculture." 

" That's so, Mr. Jones." 

" Don't you think you would be benefitted by a little agricultural reading ?" 

'•' Perhaps, I would, Mr. Jones, but I have no paper, and I don't know where 
to send for one — will you tell me where I can subscribe, and which one you think 
the best ?" 

" Yes, I can, Peter. Enclose a gold dollar to Mr. Spangler, of Philadelphia. 
He will send you in return a most excellent agricultural journal, and also a very 
nice book on ' Farming and Gardening' besides." 

" You don't say so, Mr. Jones!" exclaimed Peter, "and all for one dollar?" 

" That's the whole charge, Peter." 

"I'll send that dollar just as soon as I get to the house at noon;" and Peter, 
with a more hopeful countenance, turned to his team again, singing out " Gee 
up! Ball." 

Economy in the Household. 

No young woman ought to feel herself qualified to become a wife until she is 
sure she understands how to do the most that can be done with her husband's 
money. The management of a household is not a thing to be properly and 
safely entrusted to hireling hands. A servant is a broken reed for the head of 
a family to lean upon. There are a thousand little ways in which money must 
be expended, in which real shrewdness and enterprise are requisite in order to 
use it to the best advantage, and there are a thousand other ways of saving- 
money, open only to those who have studied aright the art of economy. The 
Turkish proverb has it, that " a prudent woman is a mine of jewels," and like 
many other Oriental sayings, this is beautiful for the truth it embodies. A 
wasteful housekeeper not only robs those for whom she undertakes to manage, of 
the comforts it is her duty to provide for them, but actually keeps a husband 
head over ears in debt, and makes the domestic life of a poor man a continual 
series of experiments in shinning it from one day to the next ; in keeping the 
stomach full though the purse be empty. 



Remedy for Chapped Hands. — Half an ounce of quince seeds boiled in 
a pint of water ; when cool add half teacupful of brandy, rub on at night, and 
wear kid gloves. 



192 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



[March, 1861. 



CONTENTS. 

A Premium Essay on the Practical, 
Economical and Profitable Arrange- 
ment of a Farm of 300 Acres de- 
voted to the Cultivation of Com and 
Wheat as Staple Crops. By Edmund 
Taylor, . . . .131 

Love of Flowprs, . . . 138 

Management of Cream in Cold Weath- 
er, . . . . .138 
Farm Account of Th. J. Randolph, Jr. 139 
The Miller, his Son and his Ass, . 142 
Improvement of Hogs — Selecting Bree- 
ders, .... 143 
Draining Orchards, . . . 144 
Practical Hints about Poultry. By C. 

N. Bement, . . ■ .145 

Treatment of Young Mares, . . 146 

Col Pratt's Dairy Farm, . . 147 

A Concert by the Cow-, . . 148 

The Cultivation and Management of 

Tobacco, .... 149 
Southern Patronage to Southern Indus- 
try, 160 

The Improvement of Old Pastures, 162 

Rural China, .... 167 
Useful Hints to Planters Wives, . 168 

The Blood Horse, . . .170 

Discrimination in the Food of Stock, 172 
The Object of Agricultural Journals, 174 
Power of Horses at Different Rates of 

Speed, . . . .175 

The French Method of Transplanting 

Trees, . . . . 17f5 

Hay and Root Crops — Their Compara- 
tive Value, .... 177 
French Mustard, . . . 17S 

Top-Dressings upon Wheat — Sugges- 
tions for Experiments, . . 179 
To our Exchanges, . . .182 
The Farmer and Gardner, . . 182 
Fine Asparagus and Fruits, . .182 
The Old Spirit of the Times, . 183 
"Origination" of Manipulated Guano, 183 
Home Embellishment, . . 186 
Why Peter Jobson's Farm Wouldn't 

Pay, . . . .187 

Economy of the Household, . .191 



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